Members Cafe - Tate Modern - London

Exhausted from having done 5 floors of the Tate Modern I used my flatmates members card to go up to the members cafe and have a rest. Everything is pre made in boxes and I had to pick out the mozzarella but for an on-the-go snack this was freakin delicious. Rocket, wild mushrooms, ennoki mushrooms and a light dressing I was surprised at how sophisticated something could be coming out of a box. But pre-made meals is what London does WELL. Always fresh and made on the day you can get various kinds of salads and sandwiches at ANY supermarket (Waitrose is the best for pre made salad). Australia has a lot to learn on this respect, but I guess we have a slower life with time to eat as opposed to the 13 million day time population of London.

I enjoyed with a really super spicy ginger beer called Belvoir.

deets: Bankside London http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/
$$: Salad £4.10 ginger beer £2.35

(I am assuming that you can buy this in the non member cafe as well)

Native Foods - Westwood - Los Angeles

Theres a tendency for vegan food (especially in LA) to be really substitution based. This is not really the kind of food I like but its good every now and then for a pig out. Native Foods fits this category. They have an impressive menu and make all their own tofu sour creams/fake meats etc which are all delicious but you cant help feeling like your colon is impacted for a few days afterwards. In moderation this stuff is fantastic.

We had:

Soy Amigo Taco Salad
A blend of romaine, cabbage, Native Taco Meat, and salsa fresca. Topped with corn, green onion, cilantro, tortilla chip croutons. Served with our original creamy chipotle dressing on the side. Soy good with avocado.

Native Nachos
Freshly made tortilla chips topped with black beans, Native Taco Meat, Native cheese, salsa, and guacamole. Topped with corn, green onions, and cilantro.

Soul Bowl
Southern fried Native Chicken with hearty red beans and "jazzman" rice, steamed veggies, organic greens, ranch dressing and served with a freshly-made corn bread wedge.

The restaurant is fast food style (order at the counter and your food is delivered to your table) the first restaurant is small but the second space next door for seating is more spacious. It gets INSANE around dinner time, people were lining up out the door. The service is polite, friendly and helpful and they have a dedicated gluten free menu. Definitely one to try if you are in LA and feel like some junk food!

deets: All over California (we went to the Westwood location) Locations

Website

$$ $30 plus sales tax

Real Food Daily - Santa Monica - Los Angeles

Favourite. Vegan Restaurant. Ever.

I first went to RFD in I think 2006 and was astounded at the food that Ann Gentry makes (particularly the nut cheeses). I make a bee line there every time I go to LA this time we literally headed there straight from the airport. I had the RFD burger with the works (RFD burger plus avocado, tempeh bacon, melted cashew cheese) served with a choice of salad (I had the RFD Ceaser) and Karim had the Pizza You Can Eat-za (wheat, gluten & yeast free, Herb corn meal crust, sun-dried tomato pesto, tomatoes, spinach, basil, melted cashew and mozzarella cheeses, sautéed daily greens & cannelini beans). Both were mouth wateringly delicious.

Add that the service is always immaculate, friendly and funny and the Santa Monica restaurant space is warm and friendly this is the best casual vegan food gets for me. RFD is not cheap but Ann Gentrys philosphy that she has been working for almost 20 years is something that makes me so happy as a human being.

RFD I love you.

deets: RFD have 3 locations in Los Angeles clicky clicky and their website with menus is here.
$$: my burger was $14.75 and Karims pizza was $14.25 add a bottle of organic red $30 plus sales tax and 18% service tip and you have yourself an expensive but worth it meal.

Babycakes NYC (LA)

Seriously. All vegan, mostly gluten free (some things are made with spelt) and most things are sweeten with Agave. We had (not in order) cinnamon scroll, chocolate, vanilla, red velvet and carrot cake cupcakes and a chocolate chip cookie sandwich.

Our favourites? The carrot cake cupcake and the chocolate chip cookie sandwich (this was the BEST!!!!!!!!!).

I didnt really like how soy tasting the icing was on the other cupcakes, it drowned out the flavour of the cakes. The cinnamon scroll was just too full on! Too heavy with spelt. Having said all that they were definitely the fluffiest and cant tell they're vegan/gluten free treats I've ever eaten. I cant wait to go back and try some more! I bought the cookbook when I was there so I'm looking forward to baking out of it.

deets: NYC and LA locations website: http://www.babycakesnyc.com/
$$: Cupcakes $3.95, cookie sandwich $5 cinnamon buns $5 (USD)

Monday Melbourne Roundup - Los Angeles and London edition

Well peeps, my travels have begun and I am knackered. Man have a eaten a lot of food over the past week but reviews will just have to wait for the singular posts. I will say that its been ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!

Out.

MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) Los Angeles.

This is a gorgeous building nestled into the LA Design Centre complex (which is an astonishing building in its own right). The exhibition is free and it is "LAS VEGAS STUDIO: IMAGES FROM THE ARCHIVES OF ROBERT VENTURI AND DENISE SCOTT BROWN". Denise Scott and Robert Venturi took their photography students to Vegas every year for a field trip from 68 to 72 and thisis a collection of the images. Lush and soaked in dusty glamour the photos are beautiful. Highly recommend.

The Farm Tavern - Brighton

My friends favourite local. Great pub, friendly staff, dogs welcome, free left over roasted potatoes on a Sunday. Best.

Los Angeles

Best for: Op shopping. FREAKING BEST.
Vegan food
Santa Monica
Venice Beach
Bagels

London

Best for: Theatre
Opera
Modern Art
Public Transport
Sandwiches

Brighton, England

Vintage clothes in the North Laines
Sweets
West Pier
Pubs
Being too cute for words

eats.drinks

Babycakes

Gluten free (mainly) and refined sugar free (mainly) vegan bakery in the heart of downtown LA. Yum yum yum. Review here.

Real Food Daily

My LA must do for everyone. Review here.

Native Foods

Another vegan restaurant, too heavy on the fake meat for me but still good! Review here.

Soul Mama - St Kilda

Ahh Soul Mama. The service is outwardly rude, you have to line up like hospital patients for the bain maries, its outrageously expensive, theres nowhere to park and its in St Kilda. What more can I say.

I thought I would try a different tack this time and go for the menu option (to quell my rage of having to line up and pay $14 after being treated incredibly rudely for something I could get for FREE with Food Not Bombs), and I might say it did help. My burger was pretty good, it was nice to sit in the sun with my friends (we went for a friends birthday) and the service was kinda of present, if not still rude.

My dessert for $10 was an eye watering rip off. A small portion of sticky date pudding with tofu whipped cream. At the Vegie Bar you get a slice of cake and soy ice cream to feed two for $7. Soul Mama doesnt have soy ice cream.

Overall Soul Mama is my most disliked vegetarian restaurant in Melbourne. With the space that it is in (gloriously looking over St Kilda beach) it should be a dining experience like Shakaharis. Instead its just mediocre at best. And you have to go to St Kilda for it.

Deets: 10 Jacka Blvd, St Kilda(03) 9525 3338
$$: Burger $15 (I think the menu isnt correct on the site) dessert: $10

chilli oil

Lots of chillis a few weeks ago with the vegie box. I LOVE chilli but even I thought I wouldnt be able to get through them. Inspired by Bimbos Deluxe I decided to make my own chilli oil.

There are a few different techniques out there on the web. I was concerned about the chillis going bad in the oil, so I cant guarantee this wont happen (as it hasnt been long enough for them to go bad) but I'll keep you posted, so far so good.

ingredients
10 long or birds eye chillis
500mls of olive oil (or your preferred cooking oil)

1. Scrub the chillis well (be mindful of what you touch afterwards!), slice and cook them in the oil for 10 minutes on medium. They should almost be boiling when done. Apparently this heat for this length of time is sufficient to kill any bacteria.

2. Pour the oil into a thoroughly washed and semi steralised jar (I just sit boiled water in the jar until it goes room temperature). Enjoy! Mine tasted lethally hot but all chillis are different.

banana chocolate smoothie

Welcome to my breakfast, a different smoothie a day keeps me happy. This is my most basic and naughty one. Double up on the frozen bananas for an extra creamy shake.

ingredients
1 x frozen banana (freeze in the skin and leave on the counter for 10 minutes to soften before you are able to cut the skin off easily)
1 x cup of milk (maybe more its totally up to you)
1 x tub yoghurt (I like the vanilla kind)
2 heaped tbsp of Aktavite (NINJA VEGAN! - is not, please read the comments)
1 x portion of Arbonne chocolate protein powder (I now do this instead!)

method
1. Whizz in a blender or a food processor. The frozen banana makes it so creamy and the hint of chocolate is a match made in heaven.

zucchini fritters

I just winged this recipe, a combination of a couple from Veganomicon. The mixture was almost like pancake batter which I then pretty much cooked just like a pancake. They were super yummy!

ingredients
2 zucchinis - grated
1/4 cup of chutney
1 tsp of tomato paste
1/2 cup of flour
1 small onion diced
1 clove of garlic - minced
salt
pepper

method
1. Combine. Heat a pan with a thin layer of oil on medium heat. Scoop with a ladle into pan and thin out the surface of fritter so it resembles a thick pancake. Flip when brown.

note: I served with Nanna Pats tomato relish and rocket pesto. This would rocked with some grated Cheezly in it as well, you could also add some corn!

Monday Melbourne Roundup

I am the period monster blargh blargh

out.

Julian Clary - MICF

There is only so much anal sex innuendo I can take in one night (NO I hear you gasp). I loved it though, hes so super fab but yes it made me feel very old as apparently I was the only perverted child into flamboyant gay men because the crowd were all over 50. Julian Clary roller blading? Worth it alone.

Tosca - Opera Australia

I love the opera more than anything, the costumes, the music the high drama. So seeing Tosca in a 'modern' setting with Tosca strutting around like Roberta Williams at Chadstone was really disappointing. The modern set and clothes did just not work with this opera. The music was beautiful and of course the scene where Tosca murders Scarpia is totally engrossing but the rest of this fell flat for me. Really sad. Boo hoo.

Hurt Locker



Boring. 2/5

Territorial Pissings at the new and improved Utopian Slumps

It was a total TOTAL circus. Seriously. I staye for 10 minutes and left. Lovely hipster watching.

Book Club - The Character of Rain - Amelie Nothomb

I don’t have the energy to write about this book, I did love it though. It was more long poem than novel. Here is the synopsis:

"The Japanese believe that until the age of three children, whether Japanese or not, are gods, each one an okosama, or “lord child.” On their third birthday they fall from grace and join the rest of the human race. In Amélie Nothomb’s new novel The Character of Rain, we learn that divinity is a difficult thing from which to recover.
"

eats.

Soul Mama

Review.

Moreland Organic Food Co-op

I've just joined the co-op (about a month ago) and I have to say it AWESOME. Going to a local house once a week to get all of my fruit and veg. The more people we have in the co-op the greater variety we will have in the boxes. If you are interested in joining please read the welcome letter below.

Hi there,

Thanks for inquiring about the Moreland Food Co-op. We are a collective of houses that pool our money to buy bulk wholesale organic vegies. We save money by cutting out the middle man and are volunteer run with no profits.

We have $25 boxes and $50 boxes of mixed vegies and fruit available each week. The boxes will generally contain three different types of fruit and five types of veg and they’re seasonally influenced - we only buy what is in season from Australian organic suppliers - so the mix is different every week. On average, the $25 box contains around 4-6+kg of fruit with the $50 box being twice that size.

Ordering is as easy as transferring funds to the co op bank account by Monday night and you can order on whichever weeks you like, ie you don’t have to order every week because it’s not a subscription service. Member households take turns sorting the delivery into the $25 and $50 boxes ordered that week.

Our supplier is a local distributor and delivery is made to the co op host house in Brunswick, and this is where you pick up your box on Thursday’s in the weeks that you order.

Here’s how it all works:

Ordering and pick up:

You order a box by transferring money on by Monday night to the co-op bank account (details on the over leaf). In the comments on the transfer you need to include your address and your name, the text should read something like “34BrunswickStSarah”, so we know that you’ve ordered a box. You then pick up your box of vegies on Thursday at 7:00pm from the host house in Brunswick*.

Extra fruit (and now honey!) can be ordered by adding an extra $5, $10 or $15 to your order and the text “+fruit” or “+honey” in place of your name in the transfer comments. Depending on availability (and what $ your transfer) this will get you a net of oranges, bag of apples, box of berries, jar of honey (min $10 for the honey).

Membership:

You can trial the co op for a month to see if it’s for you. If you decide to join, a membership fee is $30 is payable and this covers co-op maintenance costs, admin, etc. The fee is transferred to the same account but make a note in your description, eg “34BrunswickStjoining”

Cooperation:

After joining, you will be put on a sorting roster to help sort once every couple of months. Sorting takes less than 30 minutes and you will have another household there to help you. Sorting happens at the Brunswick host house at 6pm on Thursdays. We also occasionally also have co-op meetings (around once every 3-6 months) to make collective decisions about the co-op. Attendance at these meetings isn’t mandatory but it is the best way to meet the other households and have a say in how the co-op is run.

Keen to start?

Just email your contact details (address, phone number, email address) to morelandvegiecoop@gmail.com and you will be set to start ordering!

Please email if you have further questions.

Happy organic eating!

Margarita

Secretary, Moreland Vegie Co-op

morelandvegiecoop@gmail.com

* I have removed the address for privacy reason, please contact Margarita at the co-op if you are interested in joining to get the bank account details and address for pick up.

rocket pesto

We got a tonne of rocket in this weeks vegie box (if you are interested in joining the Moreland Organic Fruit and Veg CoOp please let me know!) so I had to find a way of using it all up.

ingredients
2 bunches of rocket (this filled my standard food processor bowl)
2/3 cup of almonds lightly toasted
1 tsp of miso paste (mellow barley or white - do not use if you want soy free)
juice of one lemon
1 to 2 cloves of raw garlic
1/4 olive oil (though you may want more)
fresh pepper

method
1. Lightly toast the almonds in a fry pan and then whizz all ingredients in food processor.

notes: This was seriously DELICIOUS. I served on toasted ciabatta with fresh chilli and chipotle. I ended up eating this by the spoonful. Soooo lovely!

new york baked cheesecake

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen. This was fraught with a fair bit of nail biting, so please read the recipe before you decide to tackle it but if you do, it will be the most amazing post vegan dessert you've ever eaten. You're welcome.

crumb crust
1 packet of biscuits, ground
8 tablespoons of margarine*, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

cheesecake filling:
4 packages of Kingland cream cheese, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
zest one lemon
6 egg replacers
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

berry topping
1 punnet of berries or a cup of frozen
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water*

first things first, make the biscuit crust:
1. Whizz biscuits in a food processor until the crumbs are fine. Gently mix margarine, sugar and biscuits together until you get a dough. Press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of a deep dish 9inch spring form pan stopping one inch shy of the top. Voila! Your cheesecake crust is now ready for your filling.

2. Next pre heat oven to the highest it will go (original recipe says 290 Celsius but I had success at 250). Beat together cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla, egg replacer and zest until smooth. That’s it! Pour into prepared pie crust, peeling off any crust that the filling does not reach. Bake in pan or place a pan underneath (seriously do this step! There can be some major leakage from this cheesecake) in the middle of the oven for 12 minutes or until it starts to puff. Reduce the temperature to 200 degrees and continue baking until cake is mostly firm about one hour more (mine was done at 50 minutes). Your cake will still be wobbly in the middle to the outer edges but browning on top.

3. Run a knife around the top edge of the cake to loosen it and cool the cake completely in spring form on a rack, then chill it, loosely covered. Mine was set within an hour though the longer you can wait the better.

4. Make berry topping (optional): Bring all ingredients to a boil. Once mixture is boiling, cook for an additional one to two minutes then remove from heat (I had to 'reduce' a lot longer for it to be syrupy for me, so maybe dial back the amount of water, especially if you use frozen berries). Cool completely.

5. Once cheesecake has set in the fridge, top with berries and wow your peeps.

notes: I used Orgran egg replacer, Kingland soy cream cheese, both of these are widely available in large Safeways and Coles (see my vegan substitutes post on best places to find these http://northsideladies.blogspot.com/search/label/Vegan%20Substitutes). I recommend using half the amount of margarine for the biscuit base, then adding if it is too dry. Peeling off the crust that the filling doesn’t reach means there is not gross burned as fuck crust on your pan to peel off later. At the 50 minute mark mine was browning on top but still very wobbly when shaken, I opted to take it out then anyway and it worked out, a vegan cake isn't going to bake that firm.

Bimbo Deluxe - Fitzroy

Another sunny rooftop day. I knew I wouldnt like it as much as the Napolitana but I thought I would try it anyway. The new vegie pizza with no cheese. It really did nothing for me, just big chunks of vegies on top of some pizza sauce. Back to the Napolitana for me (incidentally, if that pizza had roasted garlic on it it would have been much better).

deets: cnr Brunswick st and Rose St, Fitzroy http://www.bimbodeluxe.com.au/
$$: $4!!

For my previous trip to Bimbos

Monday Melbourne Roundup

I was just... speechless when I cracked open the next weeks diary to find it COMPLETLY blank. Nothing was organised this week. I could have gone to a few comedy fest things if I had the money but alas I did not. I did manage to go to one gallery opening and see a film.

Out

Paperwork @ Thousand Pound Bend














The Men Who Stare At Goats

Four stunning men on screen for an hour and a half. The film? Meh. 3/5.

vegan substitutes

A fair few people have been asking me about veganism lately, so I thought I would offer up some of my favourite substitution products that may help people transition a lot easier (I try and not eat much soy or mock meat but its great as junk food occasionally!). Most of these products are available at any major supermarket in Australia with a big health foods section, however if you are having trouble finding them Jewish supermarkets are always excellent for vegan products, or of course if you are in Melbourne get yourself along the the vegan supermarket in Brunswick, Radical Grocery.

Milk

I drink rice milk, its sweet and light and great in baking, I really dont like the taste of soy milk (that and it gives me tonnes of gas!). I try and buy organic rice milk or I also like So Natural products.

Where to find it: In the "longlife" milk section of your supermarket.

Cream Cheese

The Australian Kingland brand is the best. I dont like Toffutti products, they are full of hydrogenated fats and nasty ingredients and they don't taste great. This cream cheese is delicious, spread straight onto a bagel or in a cheesecake. It may take your palate a bit of time to adjust to the difference, so if you're spreading straight onto a bagel you might want to flavour your cream cheese first, with onion or garlic or blueberries. Cream cheese is also great to give that creaminess to things you miss, like pasta sauces.

Where to find it: This is usually in the fresh vegetarian section of the supermarket fridge (where all the vegie sausages are - this is how Coles and Safeway usually arrange them) however in some places they put them alongside with the other cream cheeses.



Cheese

Ahh the mystical, most missed item. I would advise going cold turkey on cheese for a while. Dairy has tryptofan in it, which puts the body into a drugged like state (sleepy, high feeling of well being) so when people say they are addicted to it or COULD NEVER GIVE IT UP, there is a chemical reason for it. After a while you just get over your cravings. Having said that, there are 2 products that are really good (the rest are disgusting so please don't even bother) there is Cheezly or Sheese. They both melt well and taste great (though I haven't tasted ALL the flavours).

Where to find it: Its kind of a specialty item so you will need to go to a healthfoods place for this or Jewish supermarket, they dont stock it in the supermarket yet. (Melburnians these are both at Radical Grocery).





Yoghurt

I haven't tried the Kingland kind, their tubs are just too big for single serving me. I used to love the Soy Life yoghurts but just found out they have animal derived vitamin D in them. Any suggestions would be mightly loved!

Ricotta/Feta

This you have to make homemade but it is so easy and so delicious! My recipe is here.

Pouring cream/whipped cream

Soyatoo! Thats all you need to know.

Where to find it: Again healthfood stores.

Homemade: get a can of coconut cream and pop in the fridge overnight (or until dead cold) and scrap the thick, set cream from the top of the can into a bowl and whip it with a whisk with a bit of sugar. I want to also experiment with putting coconut cream with a bit of arrowroot in a whipped cream canister, I think this will work but I haven't had access to a canister to try.



Butter/Margarine

I usually use olive oil, however sometimes its nicer for baking if you use marg. Up until recently I've been using Nuttelex but apparently they use palm oil now in their spread. Can anyone recommend another non dairy spread?

Where to find it: In the marg section of your supermarket.

Cooking milk/evaporated milk

There is a Nestle evaporated milk product though I wouldn't really recommend buying Nestle products. I usually use coconut cream. Yum yum.

Mock Meats

The Sanitarium range of most things are great (though a fair bit of their products have egg whites in them so read the back of the packets). Their fresh mince is excellent, I prefer Zoglos for burgers, especially their faux chicken schnitzels. "Facon" and salami by Cheatin are amazing.

Where to find it: Sanitarium is at every supermarket (Australia and New Zeland). In Victoria I've only seen Cheatin in Radical Grocery, Zoglos you can find at a few Safeways and Piedemontes. Good luck with your searches!

There is of course for Melburnians, Vincents Vegetarian Supermarket thats all the crazy mock meat products anyone could ever wish for.

Quick Meals - (and widely available in America) is Amys - organic meal range (most of them are vegan). I've seen the soups here in Safeway but they're like $7 a can (I work on a factory and cant get even vegetarian food most days so they're good to have as an emergency). I go to America a lot and its good to have a couple in the fridge. I would love to see more of their range out here.

What are your faves?.

blueberry struesel muffins

I'm obvs into the baking lately. Especially weekend sweet brunchy treats. I really liked the creamy yogurty texture of these and they're really quite low fat in comparison to other muffins. A packet of frozen berries serves you so well on the weekends, put them straight into a smoothie, muffins or pancakes. Its always best to use them straight out of the freezer and into the oven/smoothie/pancakes.

Recipe from 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes

ingredients
2 1/4 cups plus 2 tbsp flour, divided
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tbsp of baking powder
1/8 tsp of salt
1 1/4 cups of milk
1/4 of cup plus 2 tbsp of oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp of yogurt
1/2 tsp of vanilla
1 1/4 of berries (fresh of frozen)

topping (I didn't have enough left over flour to do this step - so your muffins will look different to mine)
1/4 cup of flour
2 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of margarine

method
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 12 regular or 6 jumbo muffin cups with margarine or oil or line with paper liners.

2. For the batter: In a large bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups of flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl, combine milk, oil, yogurt and vanilla.

3. In another bowl toss blueberries with the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Add berries and gently combine.

4. For topping: In a small bowl, mix flour and sugar and cut in margarine with a pastry cutter or with your fingers until mixture is crumbly.

5. Spoon batter into muffin tin, filling each cup until almost full. Evenly sprinkle topping on each muffin. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes for regular muffins or 20 to 25 minutes for jumbo, until muffins are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan and then transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.

Green and Blacks

I was devastated a few months ago when I went to buy some Green and Blacks from the supermarket and noticed their 'suitable for vegans' line was missing from the back of the packet and "Organic Milk Powder" was listed as the last ingredient on the pack. I finally got off my butt and went to their website to read what was up:

"Q: The vegan statement has gone; has the product ever been suitable for vegans?

By definition vegan products contain no ingredients derived from animals within the recipe and this still remains true for Green & Black’s dark chocolate. However as our dark chocolate is made on the same production line as our milk chocolate there is some risk of cross contact. As a result, the desire for clearer allergen labelling now conflicts with the vegan statement and we have removed it from our labelling.

Q: The ingredient list will show organic whole milk powder. Is this now an ingredient in Green & Black's dark chocolate?

No, the decision to show milk as an ingredient was simple. Unfortunately we can not guarantee that our dark chocolate will be free from traces of milk as it is made on the same production line and we have therefore included it as an ingredient to ensure consumers, especially milk allergy sufferers, are aware of the possibility."

So essentially the product is still exactly the same, has been made to the same recipe since 1998 they just feel the need to list the possible trace amount at the end of the ingredients list.

How do you guys feel about this? I know Rachel went down the same path with Haighs. I'm inclined to still keep eating it. I drink alcohol and eat sugar that was possibly refined using animal products (I don't check) and some of the products I eat are processed in plants that process milk products (though do not feel the need to label that yet).

Thoughts and feelings would be awesome. Personally I'm still inclined to keep eating Green and Blacks. They are the only green, organic, free trade chocolate that doesnt taste like burnt ass hair.

Grigons and Orr - North Melbourne

Crispy pan-fried tofu with spinach, mushrooms,with spice infused soy honey dressing. I had it served with gluten free toast.

This traditional corner store is straight out of the Sixties. Lollies in jars under the counter, hand written price tags on the piled-sky-high canned items behind the two gorgeous owners in front. Laminex tables with miss matching chairs and Sixties soul playing in the radio. Whats not to love?

My dish wasn't great. The tofu could have used more soy sauce dribbled over it, the spices rubbed into the tofu were bland. I was pretty underwhelmed by this dish. I will try the other scramble tofu they have on the menu as I will be going back. $4 for a pot of tea with no milk is really expensive and adding up everything I had I realised that I was overcharged and yet I will still go back! Just a nice little spot away from the hustle and bustle of North Melbourne to sit in the sun and read the paper.

deets: 445 Queensberry St North Melbourne http://grigonsorr.com.au/
$$ $12.50 for the tofu, $4 for a pot of tea, $3 for espresso

chickpea noodle soup

This is vegan comfort food at its best. Slurpy noodles, soup, chickpeas, herbs. It really hits that 'ahh' spot. Sorry for the terrible photo. Another winner from Veganomicon.

ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion thinly sliced
1 cup of peeled, thinly slice carrots (really thin)
2 cloves of garlic
2 cups of mushrooms thinly sliced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp of celery seeds (I didnt have these)
1 tsp of thyme
1/4 tsp of dried rosemary
2 tbsp of mirin (optional)
1/3 cup of brown rice miso (I used vegie stock instead)
6 cups of water (or vegie stock)
2 cups of drained, cooked chickpeas
1 packet of cooked thick asian noodles (I used soba)

method
1. Saute the onions and carrot in the oil for about 10 minutes (I always find mine are cooked quicker).

2. Add the garlic and mushrooms, herbs and saute for another 5 minutes. Deglaze the pot with the mirin (or just a splash of water).

3. Add the 6 cups of water and the chickpeas, cover and bring to the boil. Once add the boil, leave to simmer until all vegies are cooked, chuck in the noodles for the amount of time they need to cook. Add the miso and stir until its incorporated. I then threw in a couple of thinly sliced spring onions. Mmmm vegan comfort food.

Bowl of Soul - Closed!

The ever wonderful Port Melbourne eatery have closed their doors. That makes 3 awesome vegie places this year!!

RIP Bowl of Soul one, two, three, four.

also RIP Tart'n'Round and Idea Food and Wine.

I will untag the locations off these posts and remove them from my google map. Sad fase.

whiskey and date cake

My entry for the vegan bake off.

ingredients
300 gms of fresh dates, pitted and roughly chopped
1/2 cup of water
30 ml of whiskey
125gm of margarine
1 cup of sugar
2 egg replacer
1 tsp bicarb soda
1/2 cup of milk
200 gm of self raising flour
pinch of salt
2 tbsp of demerara sugar

method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a 20cm spring form tin with baking paper.

2. Cook dates in the water until soft and liquid is absorbed. Stir whiskey through.

3. Beat marg and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg replacer. Add dates and combine. Add bicarb of soda to milk and stir through batter to combine.

4. Fold through flour and salt and pout into tin. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake for 30 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

5. Remove from tin and cool on wire rack.

notes: I wouldn't recommend icing this like I did, I think it took away from the simplicity of this cake.

Jamie Oliver wins TED Prize

I love Jamie Olive and I was chuffed to see that he won the TED prize this year. Please watch his speech he gave in accepting the award. His campaign to get people connected with food and aware of how food (especially meat) is produced is nothing short of awe inspiring. This is ultimately (and of course on a MUCH smaller scale) why I do this blog, I want to show how easy and delicious eating vegan can be, whether you are out or have the time to cook at home.

http://www.tedprize.org/jamie-oliver/

Monday Melbourne Roundup

Super busy week again. News with me, well this year was the year that I conquer all of my fears (well most of them I mean, I'm a pretty phobic person). So I have started running. I would like to say its all about health but its also about vanity. I want to lose weight and I want to stay hot and the only way I can do this is either getting an eating disorder or learning to love running, for the rest of my life. I'm choosing running. I'm doing the Princes Park track which is right near my house (its 3.3kms) and I'm following a training plan. Next step will be to get comfortable in gyms (I will tackle this in the later half of the year, one baby step at a time). I have to say its getting easier each time I go and I'm on my 4th lap this week. I'm vaguely shooting to do the Harbour Bridge run in September with my Aunty. Its 9kms. I would be super stoked if I could run that, but I will most likely be overseas so will have to find something equivalent (I was locked into it at my sisters wedding when I was pissed and optimistic I would get super fit this year).

Out

Welcome



Beautiful, amazing film. 4/5 (I have seen SO MUCH French cinema lately. Its really great)

Up In The Air (I'm including all 2010 films in out - I watched this on my projector)



BORING. I actually turned this off. I think it was supposed to be some sort of think piece staring a 'hunk' about how our modern lives have disconnected us from like ya know real people n shit. 1/5

Crazy Heart



Duuuuuuuuude, I LOVE Jeff Bridges and this film was O K. Nothing great. Just your average muscian-loser-turning-his-life-around-because-of-a-woman flick. Everyone just goes ga-ga when an actor can sing and act at the same time. Cmon! 2.5/5

Josh Earl vs The Womens Weekly Birthday Cake Book

Let me tell you a little story. I was violently jealous of every kid whos mother would make them their birthday cake out of this book when I was a child. I used to think I had the shittest parents ever. Fast forward to my adult years where we vow NEVER TO BE LIKE OUR PARENTS and I bought the book with the intention of letting my friends pick out the birthday cake they want every year. So when I heard Josh "so-adorable-you-want-to-put-him-in-your-pocket" Earl was doing a show about said book I immediately bought tickets for me and Clare (who was ALSO obsessed with the book as a child but had a far better mother than mine). If you have a fondness for Australiana, cute boys in skinny jeans with a guitar singing funny songs about birthday cakes get thee to this show immediately. I think its on for another week.

Soul a Go Go - April Party

BEST! I went out for.. you know... like FUN. Just for FUN. Not for the opera or theatre or film or festival or food... for FUN. I need to do this more often and I think soul a go go will be that outlet. The new venue is good though they dont sell cider. I repeat, they are in Fitzroy and do no sell cider and their smoking section is like the 'exercise yard' in a prison, but its far better than the old Laundry. AND I stayed out till 12.30!! Woo hoo! Look out nanna!

Eats/drinks

Grigons and Orr

Yes, I'm super late to this party (but its in North Melbourne she whines).

Journal

My favourite hideaway in festival seasons.

carrot, zucchini, apple and walnut loaf with cream cheese frosting

I made this with gluten free flour and it was my best GF success to date. I didnt squeeze the juice out of the veggies as I figured gluten free needs all the moisture it can get. I also didnt measure the veg, I just grated 1 medium zucchini and carrot and a four small apples. Recipe from the Sydney Markets website.

ingredients
2 cups of self raising flour
1 tsp of bicarb soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup of roughly chopped walnuts
3 eggs lightly beaten (I used egg replacer, you could use a small mashed banana or half a cup of mashed tofu)
1/2 cup of oil (your choice)
1 cup of grated carrot
1 cup of grated zucchini (squeezed to the remove the juice)
1/2 cup of grated apple (squeezed to remove the juice)

method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and line a deep loaf pan.

2. Sift flour and bicarb soda, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in sugar and walnuts.

3. Combine egg replacement and oil in a jug. Mix egg mixture, carrot, apple and zucchini into flour mixture until well combined. Spoon mixture into prepared loaf pan. Smooth top. Bake for 50 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then turn onto a wire rack to cool. Ice!

cream cheese icing
I read quite a few recipes on the web, which calls for a tub of toffutti cream cheese (I use the Kingland stuff where possible I think its much nicer) and 1 cup of icing sugar. I just added icing sugar until it was a consistency I liked (I think about 3 cups). It was a BUTTLOAD of icing and iced 3 cakes so beware!

grape, corn, spinach and candied walnut salad

Lets talk about salads. Salads are unreal. I try working on the Ayuverda 5 tastes principle of sweet, salty, sour, bitter and hot/pungent (spicy) for all meals, but this particularly works well with salads.

sweet
Sultanas
Grapes
Candied walnuts/almonds
Apple
Pear
Orange segments
roasted pumpkin
roasted beets
melon slices
fresh corn off the cob

salty
I usually add some salt to the salad dressing or sprinkle on top of the salad
Capers
Olives

sour
I usually sprinkle some lemon juice into my salad dressing or just straight onto the leaves
Cranberries
capers

bitter
A lot of salad greens can be bitter:

witlof
radicchio
rocket
endive
baby spinach
kale

hot/spicy/pungent
A grind of pepper
Some finely diced salad onion
some radish
some mustard in your salad dressing
fennel
rocket
some thinly sliced chilli

and then I try to have some grains in it like wild rice or quinoa or lentils or butter beans.

how to candy nuts: I make a sugar syrup with 1/4 sugar and 1/4 cup of water. Cook in high heat until the syrup starts to turn a light honey colour. Throw in your chopped nuts and toss until all the syrup is absorbed/reduces to a crusty mess in your pan. Wait until the nuts cool down to just warm and move to a chopping board. The sugar syrup should not sticky and you should be able to chop up the nuts easily. If its still sticky wait. The pan looks like a mess but some hot water will wash of the sugar easily.

Try having one of each tastes in your next salad. You can always make up some tastes in your salad dressing.