Sometimes life takes over

What a  time we have had of it this past week and a bit …. all our plans have been turned on their heads and I am more than a little discombobulated by it all!  I actually had  started a whole rant blog about everything then after some sleep (two days of 4am mornings can really alter your perspective on life) and a few days to process all the changes to our plans ahead I decided I wouldn’t bore you with it 🙂

Let’s just say that 3 breakdowns, 2 mechanics and 1 tow truck later our bus home has decided it has had enough of travel for a while.  Thankfully we were able to get her back to our base in the North Island (after she overheated at 6am on our way to the ferry) and sadly there she sits for the next few months …. until we can solve the root issue and get her back on the road.

So here, as promised 2 weeks ago, is another recipe rather than a mad rant about our first world problems 🙂  This week is a super easy vegan sausage recipe that I found when our boy decided that being Vegan wasn’t enough and he wanted to be gluten free and sugar free also.  That meant that the quick and easy tea option we had of store bought veggie sausages and salad was out the window; so began my search for something just as easy.  Thanks very much to Vie de la Vegan (click on the link to see the original recipe) for her awesome, quick and easy ideas ….. of course I have altered it to fit our cupboard contents, and when I was trying to cook it from memory, but hopefully that justs shows how easy, awesome and adaptable the recipe is.

Quick and Easy Bean Sausages

• 400gm can of beans
• 1/2 cup of buckwheat flour (or other gluten free flour)
• 1 Tb tomato paste
• 1 Tb tamari (this is the GF version of soy)
• Dried herbs to flavour

-Mash the beans up and then add the other ingredients until it forms a ball.

-Divide the mixture up, into 4 for large sausages or 8 for smaller ones.

-Roll into sausage shapes and put into the fridge of a little bit before frying.

-Add some oil to a frying pan and heat before popping the sausages in.

-Fry until golden brown.

See it is that easy and very delicious.  You can easily double the recipe for bigger families.  We have also experimented with different beans and herbs which has been great though we are yet to reach a consensus so I hope you have better luck with that one 🙂

Ready to munch

Hope this finds you just where you planned to be and enjoying life.

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz

Vegan Goulash

Goodness two weeks in a row and I’m on here writing …. It seems I’m on a roll!! With the extra sunshine and daylight we are getting now it certainly makes it easier to fit in using the computer without depleting our solar energy supplies. The other added bonus is that themselves have been outside playing around the farm and exploring much more which equals undisturbed head space for me 😉  I love spring time especially when you’re out in the country.

Themselves taking the compost down to the hens

This week is a recipe that is becoming a strong favourite in the bus and one which I’m more than happy to make as not only is it a ‘one pot wonder’, it also gets lots of veggies into themselves.  I found this recipe when himself first decided to become vegan and I was doing due diligence to ensure that I wasn’t going to leave him malnourished ;).  The original recipe has long since been left behind though as I have adapted it, once again, to our cupboard stock.  It is a super quick and easy meal to make which has the bonus of being very filling too.  I find it great for those days when we are out late as I can just cook the veg and pasta a little less then leave it all sitting in the pot (off the heat of course) to keep ‘cooking’ in the heat until we get home to warm and eat.  Himself has taken to sprinkling nutritional yeast on it while herself prefers grated cheese.

Ready to eat

• Gluten free pasta (around 125gm dry)
• 400gm can of beans (kidney or cannellini)
• Can of diced tomatoes
• Tomato Paste
• Veg boullion
• Onion
• Vegetables of your choice (celery, carrot, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beans etc)

– Bring water to the boil, add pasta and par cook the pasta in a pot until it is nearly soft. Turn off the heat and leave in the water.

– Rinse and drain the beans

– Dice the onion and cook, using a little bit of oil, in a large pot until it is soft.

– Add chopped veggies to the onion and fry off a little more, adding oil if needed.

– Add veg boullion (we use a heaped teaspoonful to start with) and then add the diced tomatoes.  Fill the can again with water and add this too.  If it isn’t covering all the veg then add a little more water until it is.

– Cook until the veggies are soft or to your preference.

– Add a few tablespoonfuls – sorry I’m a bit useless with the measurement side of this adapted recipe 😉 – of tomato paste, the beans and the drained pasta.

– Taste and add salt and pepper, more veg bouillon or other flavourings you like.

– Mix until combined and cook a little longer to warm the beans then you’re ready to serve.

– Enjoy by itself or with some chunks of bread.

Hope this finds you with the sunshine warming your body and the wind at your back, blowing out any cobwebs 😉

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz

 

Vegan Pizza

Here I am … back again in NZ and in the bus blogging about food.  We have just spent a wonderful 2.5 weeks away in Thailand immersing ourselves the culture, food and heat.  It took us a while to get used to a new rhythm of eating out for each meal, not having to do dishes, seeing amazing sights, getting our chores done for us and relaxing however not really that hard to adjust to. 😉  Being able to see the food being cooked and going through the markets was a real eye-opener for themselves and one I’m sure they will remember for a while to come.

One of our eating spots in Bangkok

With the heat there tends to be more liquids comsumed and the appetitie just doesn’t seem as big. Now that we are back though the body is definitely feeling different and the difference in diet ….. going from lots of rice and noodle soups to our usual (and a bit stodgy) fare has left it feeling more than a little ‘blah’.  In addition to this it was our boy’s birthday over the weekend so there appeared all the treats that he had requested and missed by him while in Thailand.

Aside from some Vegan baking there was also a request for vegan pizza which I have recently been making with a damper base.  This damper base super quick and easy to make and much more obliging to be stretched or rolled into shape than my usual pizza base.  So it is my number one go to base at the moment ;).  While himself didn’t want anything much on his … as the photo bears witness …. this is delicious with more veg (grated root vegies, sprouts, mushrooms and fresh herbs) or with some refined beans, avocado, cornchips and salsa for a different twist.  For those of you non-Vegan (to which I am assured are the majority, by himself) a bit of cheese and/or sour cream on top finishes it all off.

A little sparse but just as requested by our boy.

Vegan Damper/Pizza base

makes one large pizza or 2 small (22x27cm)

• 1.5 cups white flour
• 1/4 cup wholemeal flour
• 1 tsp Baking powder
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 3/4 cup cold water
• Pinch/grid of salt
• your selection of dried herbs (basil, sage and thyme are nice)

– Pre-heat the oven to around 180-200 Celsius

– Combine all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until they form a dough.  There is no need to knead however you may want to stick the dough together a bit with your hands.

– Divide into half if you are making two pizzas or leave in one lump then stretch and roll out the dough onto a baking paper lined tray.

– Apply topping as you wish and bake for around 10 mins or until cooked.  I gauged this by the base rising up a little in ‘bubbles’ or by the cheese melting on non vegan ones.

– Enjoy!

Until the next blog (whenever that may be) I hope this finds you happy, healthy and enjoying life to the full.

Arohanui

Y

www.becominghealthy.co.nz