"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

"Cheesey" Toastie with lots of nommy bits

Ok so I got rather excited finding a Vegan Cheddar in our local wholefoods shop. That very night I decided that i must have a cheese toastie... something I have missed for months and months and really really love and to be fair I'm pretty sure its one of the basic things we all miss when we first walk this path.

So yes I have add ons in mine but these are entirely up to you... I have to say however I have found out that the both the bread I am using and the Quorn bacon strips have reconstituted egg white in them so if you have to be a little more stricter than I do then use what you choose too. I have to admit that eggs seem to be ok at this point for me. Who's to say that wont change later on though ???

So here we go ...

CHEESE TOASTIE

Ok so these were my ingredients ... add your own according to your taste.

 4 slices of bread

 butter your bread .... BUT ... on the wrong side of the bread

 add whatever is less wet as ingredients first against the bread to save it from soggyitis from tomatoes or whatever

 then add your wet ingredients in the middle like these overly quickly sliced tomatoes...

 CHHHEEEEEESSSSSEEEEE GROMIT!!!!

 yeap slices like cheddar, smells a little like feta... but it definitely gives the impression of cheese and that's all i care about right now!!!

 top slice on .... if you wanted to you can add your favourite mustard or whatever on the top slice ... i was far too excited for fripperies!!!

 straight in a pan that you have preheated on a medium temp.. not hot or your bread will burn before anything has time to cook or warm up inside !!!!

 flip your loverly golden nomminess

 I did turn the temp down at this point and popped a lid on as it did appear to be cooking a little too quickly and I wanted the filling to be hot and gooey

 and I did charcoal the other side of my toastie which is why its sitting side up on this one... ready to eat ... I don't mind a bit of charcoal I have to say it stops the "vegan butt ruptures" for a little while at least...

They were utterly yummy but in my haste of wanting a toastie I forgot the A toastie and made the 2 and paid for it ... 

Oh well ... I know we all think it's worth it .. but really really it isn't ... pain isn't a good thing it means we did something bad... in my case my body is desperately trying to cope with solid food and it really isn't. This is a learning curve not just for me but everyone. My lesson today has been 1 is enough!!! 

Until next time 

xox Pam xox 

My First Sighting Of Vegan "Cheeses"

Today was a bit exciting for me today, I found vegan "cheeses" in Greenlife in Totnes. YAY!!!

This means that I can now experiment with them and see what I can come up with which could be quite exciting this weekend...

I'm thinking of trying out a recipe I have for Gluten-Free and Vegan Quiche with the creamy cheese and I'm not sure yet with the cheddar type. I think something that shows how it melts (if it does) and what can be done with it. I do miss cheese toasties I have to admit! I know it's boring but when you are stuck for choices you have to go with what you can make up as you go along.

Personally I think trying out the recipes that you miss the most is the best plan of action altogether. It's from those recipes that you can feel like you are eating the same as everyone else and not being different or left out.

I will let you know my progress and how I get on over the weekend.

Until next time

Remember leave the rabbit food for the rabbits and eat to live!!!

xox Pam xox

Green Vegetables in a Creamy Sauce

I love creamy sauces ... in fact it is one of the hardest things I had to give up. I decided however to try something out. I found soy cream ... and yes I was very skeptical at first like many would be but then I thought, you know what ... if you don't try it you won't know .. so I tried it... and you know what ... it worked .. not only did it work but it tastes like cream but without the fatty residue left in your mouth afterwards. Which can I just say I never noticed until I stopped having cream and then all of a sudden I had it one day and it almost made me puke ... the lining that is left on the roof of your mouth is awful. Not something I ever want to put myself through again.

So my first experiment was to use up some of the green veg in my fridge. I am the only one who eats them really here so I thought best be getting at it before they rot. This recipe is what came out of that experiment.

Green Vegetables in a Creamy Sauce

I got together my ingredients first ... 

Courgettes

Green Pepper

Onions

Garlic

Soy Cream

(I know there is Hazelnut milk in the pic but i didn't end up using it) 

Chilli Flakes

 

 In a pan I melted a spoonful of vegan spread and a spoon of olive oil

 Whilst that was melting I chopped up my veg... I like mine chunky anything little tends to go soggy and that's just nasty!!!

 Roughly chopped the garlic

 Once the oil was melted I tossed in the veg and garlic to saute gently... I also at this point added the chilli flakes and a little dried thyme and the "cream" and simmered for about 5 minutes....

 Not too shabby right !!!???!!! and I have to admit it was lush!!!!

I know people say cream sauces can be tasteless and you would be right however I think if you saute your veg properly make sure you use enough seasoning ... there is no reason it cant be one of the loverliest meals ever!!! I have to admit as well ... anything that takes the 10 minutes it takes to cook rice to make is ok in my book and quite frankly this is one of those dishes. 

Go I hope you enjoy and if you work out a different way to do it please do share I would love to hear it.

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