Stuffed Pancakes

The other members of my household are meat heads... literally. I am always finding ways to make their food different and "manly" and I have to admit there have been times I have felt left out and really miffed about it. So when they came up with the idea of cheese and bacon pancakes for breakfast I sat back and thought. "Well... what about me !!!" On this particular day I thought it might be a good idea to do what I did for them but using vegan cheese and mushrooms and I did ... and it was lush so I figured I better share it before i have my arm chewed off by someone!!!! 

Oh and just out of interest.... my son asked me to make him some of these for him too !!! There are some days you winder if you are winning or not !!!! 

STUFFED MUSHROOM AND CHEESE PANCAKES

1 Cup            Gluten free plain flour

1/2 Cup         Buckwheat flour

1 Tabespoon Ground Flaxseed (Xanthum Gum works too) 

1 teaspoon    Baking Powder

1/2 Cup        Almond Milk (or whatever your preference of non dairy milk is)

250g             Mushrooms (sliced)

100g             Cheddar style Vegan Cheese

50g               Vegan butter for greasing the pan 

First off you have to mix up  your first ingredients together to make a fairly thick pancake batter. Leave to rest

Next you need to cook off your mushrooms in maybe some vegan butter and some herbs. Whatever work for you I used thyme and garlic my favourite flavours for mushrooms. Once they are cooked through and browned a little set to one side.

Slice your cheese fairly thinly but thick enough for it to hold its shape. 

Heat up your pan or skillet or griddle for your pancakes and lightly grease. USe a medium heat not a super hot one, you want them to cook through and not burn on contact. 

Once bubbling add a half cup of mix and if very thick smooth it out a bit so the mix is around 3 mm thick. as this slowly cooks add a couple of slices of your cheese to the top.

Add then your mushrooms on top and carefully pour more mix over the top of the mushrooms to cover. 

It is important that the mix completely cover the mushrooms like so... 

When you start seeing bubbles through the top of the mix on the edges and  few on the top you need to flip it fast. Have confidence and get your flipper right underneath it and flip it quickly, don't give it time to fight back !!! 

As you can see it does have a loverly golden brown base and yes those bits on the side are the extra batter poured over the top. 

Of course make as many as you need and keep them warm in the oven on 50C till you have made them all. 

Inside turns into a wonderful cheesy gooey mushroomy goodness ....

I have to admit I made a good half dozen of these. I got 1. Yeap apparently stuffed pancakes are a hit in our house whether they have bacon in them or not !!! 

Cuppa Soup!

It is getting chilly around here, I love autumn, actually I love all seasons, I love the fact we have seasons altogether but September comes around and all of a sudden the temp drops enough to notice.
To me this is soup weather. Running around all day and needing something quick to eat because some of us are very good at forgetting. I put this recipe together today to make sure this wouldn't happen.

I love soup I love thick soups and stoop style soups and creamy soups and cold soups and fruit soups ... but most of all on a day like today when I have loads and loads to do .. all I want is a cuppa soup. Something I can drag room to room with me and drink up like a cuppa tea or coffee... perfick for today ... and being as its the day before payday it generally means there is precious little in the fridge so chucking it all together in the pot sounds about perfick!!!

So here we go ...

CUPPA SOUP 

I wrangled together 

CAULIFLOWER

BROCCOLI (or what was left of one)

ONIONS

GARLIC

CHILL FLAKES

NIGELLA SEEDS

HOMEMADE CELERY SALT

 Me being me I chunk chopped everything and chucked it in the pot with a little vegan spread and some water

 after covering it and simmering it all for about 20 minutes you end up with a mix that looks a little like this.

 Into the blender it goes

 back in the pot and add almond milk

 then straight in my cup ... ready for slurping!!!

 When you are making soup .. use everything .. all the veg.. why waste anything ... unless of course its an icky bit and needs to be cut out... but honestly this was made stalks and all and you can do that with mushrooms and carrots and anything really. 

Waste not want not is a very canny saying and one that quite honestly is a big one in our kitchen. If I can use it somehow I will... 

This of course is me ... researching other recipes and working out modifications for much loved "traditional" recipes. Not alot of time for this at the moment what with Bloo and Perkle Foods being set up and off and running in the next few days ...so taking this moment to get on with things and find some newer yummy bits and bobs is always something I like to do when I can. Cuppa Soup at the ready of course!!!!

"Quiche"

I have to admit this is one recipe that I really really really wanted to work out .... I LOVE quiche and I miss it soooo much. It truly is one of those dishes that is so easy to grab a piece of for a quick munch or make little ones for a party ... To be fair as well the amount of different falvours you can make them is in uncountable so I figured I really really really have to find an alternative I can make because if I don't I am going to go a little insane!!!

So I did .... and here it is ....

BASIC QUICHE RECIPE

Gluten Free Pastry

 So I used HAZELNUT MILK but you can use Soy or Rice or Oat or whatever your preferance is 

VEGAN CREAM CHEESE

VEGAN CHEDDAR

BROCCOLI

COURGETTES

ONIONS

 Chop your veg up into bite sized pieces ....

 Saute them off gently in a pan or pot

 Add your cream cheese to your milk

 and mix well

 grate your "cheddar"

 Make a roux using vegan spread or olive oil and cornflour

 add some of your milky cheesy mix to the roux and mix well until it becomes a paste and then add a bit more ... just like making a white sauce ... only thicker

 Once you have a very very thick sauce in the pot add your grated "cheddar"

 Roll out your pastry and add it to your tin or whatever you are using for your quiche... line the base with your veg ...

 and then pour the sauce over the top ....

 Pop into a 200C oven for around an hour or until the pastry is golden ....

You will need to let it cool ... preferably over night in the fridge.... if you cut it now you will have a plate of goo... thick goo but goo none the less... 

Please remember this is my first attempt and I will try another again in the future.... 

right now though this will fix my raving me thinks even if I have to wait until tomorrow to eat it !!! 

Just as a side note the browny colour is the hazelnut milk ... different milks have different colours and if you want your quiche to look more eggy add some saffron water to the wet mix or a little pinch of turmeric.

Until next time 

Enjoy 

xox Pam xox 

Thai Inspired Salad

I'm not going to call this what it isn't really it is inspired by a Thai Tuna Salad that I used to adore and could eat by the bucket load but having to really think about putting things together that I miss, I thought I really had to do something with this salad.

So here it is ....

THAI INSPIRED SALAD

Ok so my main ingredients are those that I would put in the original salad and a couple of addition
MINT
CORIANDER
RED ONION
CUCUMBER
PEPPER

I decided that due to the lack of protein element in this one that I wanted to bulk it out somewhat.. So I grabbed a bag of mixed crunchy salad .... I like the crunchy freshness of this one It is perfect for this salad.

 I made a dressing out of cider vinegar, olive oil and a Dry Thai Spice Blend that I put together myself and have just in case ....
CHILLI
GARLIC
SHALLOTS
GINGER
LEMONGRASS

 Last minute the decision was to grab the last of the cherry tomatoes and chuck them in with the salad and then dress it with the dressing...

A really fresh and lush salad that if you wanted to add some vegan cheese or sauteed mushrooms too they wouldn't be out of place at all...

It was a bit of a quick fix this one but sometimes thats all you need.

Until next time

xox Pam xox

Carrot and Orange Juicer Soup

I hate waste.... can't stand it, it drives me nuts. When I started drinking more smoothies and juices it really bugged me that all that wonderful pulp was left in the juicer. The only thing different between it and the juice was that it had substance.

I thought about it for a while and one evening Himself and I decided to have different juices... he is fine with fruit and me I prefer veg. He made an orange, lemon and lime juice and I made a carrot and celery juice and to be honest that is when it struck me. Soup !!! I can turn this into soup !!!

And why not ??? all the pulp is is the fruit or veg with the water removed. So I decided to make a Carrot and Orange based soup .... and this is what I did.

Oh first off I made the base a couple of days ago and then got distracted!!! oops !!!! so I finished it off this morning instead!!!


First off this is the pulp with a little veg stock added and some spices to pick up the flavours a bit. I added flaked chilli some nigella seeds and cumin.

 It's getting close to when the stores run out and these carrots normally would get biffed but i thought why not add them too ... add a bit more to the soup.

 So i saved the last of the red onions as well chopped them all up and sauted them off with some olive oil.

 Once that was warmed through I added to juicer pulp mix to the sauted veg.

 you can add more veg stock to it if you want but i would suggest you don't need to add that much more.

 I popped the lid on and turned down the temp to a simmer and walked away for half an hour

 When i came back it was looking pretty good and ready for the next step...

 Time to blitz the mix !!! you can do as I have here and use a stick blender or chuck it all in a bench blender or put it through a food mill if you choose too.... whichever way is best for you ...

 I like either creamy soups or clear soups .. those in between tend to leave me feeling a little unwell .. texture is everything to me... so I decided to add some almond milk to smooth this one out ...

 A litre of almond milk I added and now I have enough soup for the next week ... possibly even to pop some in the freezer for again...

 This soup was great and I cant wait to find other recipes that I can use the pulp from the juicer.... This pot here has made around 4 litres of soup.... now that has got to be worth it .... best part is if i served it at dinner I'm not sure anyone would notice it is Gluten Free and Vegan ...

Catch up with us on Facebook as well ...I have started a support group there for people like me who have health needs or have chosen this way of life for what ever reasons and are sick of the politics of other pages.... so please feel free to come join us and contribute to the page you are most welcome  But I Can't Live Without Hollandaise

Until Next Time ...

Enjoy yourself

xox Pam xox

Steamed rice and veg 3 ways

In our house there are 2 meals per meal unless the kids are around and then its 3 or possibly 4 ... I prefer to put out food on platters at this time so no one feels weird for having what they want and if they want to try something new they can.

However on the days when it is just Himself and I the last thing I can be bothered doing is cooking something big and elaborate. Take last night.... his Crohns was playing up and I wanted something quick but not liquid with not alot of washing up.

I had bought all these gorgeous veg yesterday and wanted to make the most of them. Although to be honest I really kind of need them to last for at least another week... I sooo can't wait for the allotment to be done.

Anywhooooo ... I was exhausted after running around all day... having one of our sheep put down and getting other things done ... the last thing I wanted to do was eat ... but I had to ... we all have to....  So yesterday I decided that I would be a bit clever... as there were lots of bits of veg about that needed using before diving into the new bits I thought stir fry... and then I thought ... nah with rice or noodles that will take 2 pots .... I really really really didn't want to do any more washing up !!!

So what I did was pop the veg on top of the rice when it came to the boil... any green leafy veg went on in the last 5 minutes.

As is always the case with dishes like this though there is always loads left over.... in fact enough for 2 more meals and If you think for one second I was going to eat the same thing for 3 nights running then you is dreaming !!!!

Night 1 - I added a little lemon juice, some hot sauce and a little soy ... nothing fancy but enough to bounce the flavour a little bit

Night 2 - I fried off a selection of middle eastern herbs and spices and fried it off just to give it that extra kick.

Night 3 - Fresh herbs ... there is nothing nicer than adding fresh green herbs to a dish .. it livens up the palate and really gives dishes that fresh flavour.

Never think for a minute that food has to be complicated or that you have to spend hours and masses of washing up to get anything made in a hurry. during the week food like this is perfect if it is just you eating it. It can be a bit of a spoil depending on what you add to it.

either way it isn't hard ..

Enjoy your food whatever way you choose to have it.

xox Pam xox

Bolognaise Pasta Bake

I am a big fan of my food looking like everyone elses. I don't like my plate looking different and I see no need for that to occur. When it came to making dinner tonight, my poor partner was a bit worried he was getting what I was having. He was right only mine was Gluten Free and Vegan and his was traditional, weeeell mostly traditional. I am really lucky to have such a wonderfully supportive partner. Although he due to his Crohns Disease can't eat much fibre I do sneak things into his meals to make sure he gets his 5 a day where I can. This is the sort of recipe you can do just that. as the veg is all blitzed in the food processor. Sneaky right !!??!! Oh Yeah!!!

Anyway enough of this and onto the yummy stuff. I do hope you enjoy it.

Bolognaise Pasta Bake

Ingredients

2            Carrots

1 stick   Celery

1            Red Onion

10          Mushrooms

1 cup      Dark TVP Mince

5 cloves  Garlic

1 Tbspn  Veg Bouillon

1 Tbspn  Homemade Fahijta Seasoning (or 1/2 packet of bought) 

5 large    Fresh Tomatoes (or 1 tin chopped tomatoes)

1 jar        Homemade Mother Sauce (or store bought tomato pasta sauce)

1/2 pack Gluten Free Penne

1 serve of Vegan "Cheese" Sauce

First off get out your favourite food processor this will make life soooooo much easier. If you don't have one dont worry just grate the veg. Only place the carrot, celery, onion and garlic in here to start with.

 

 (If you add the mushrooms at this stage it will go a funky colour and I don't mean get down and boogie!!!)

Pop them in your pot and saute slowly in some olive oil or vegan margarine. 

Let them soften stirring occasionally so they dont stick. 

Meantime chuck your mushies in the processor. 

(Yes I know not the most gorgeous ones out there but this is the best way to use up the ones that maybe have a day left if they are lucky) 

 Once they look like this ... Pop them in the pot too .... and saute with the rest of the veg... 

At this point we can add the TVP... 

Add your stock powder and 500ml of water....

 

 Then your toms and your sauce and your fajita seasoning and you will end up with a pot of wonderfulness that looks like this ....

 Once your pasta is cooked .... add it to the pot and mix well

Pop it in an oven dish and top with the Vegan "Cheese" Sauce

No pop under the grill until the top is loverly and golden brown. 

I was lucky enough to have a wonderful concoction with this of Orange, Apple, Mango, Raspberry, Strawberry and Banana Juice. 

Now in case you are wondering ... No I didn't eat all of it... only a quarter which is enough for anyone. A really loverly salad would go with this or some homemade garlic bread... might have to look into both of those options.  Tonight though was a quick fix as it has been a long and tiring couple of days.

I do hope you will enjoy it I will post up the recipe for the Vegan "Cheese" Sauce this evening as well. 

Until then Eat Well and Enjoy Life. 

xox Pam xox