Cookbook Mondays: Choco Chia Shake

I have a confession to make. I don't eat properly when I'm by myself. I eat too little, just snack, and mostly can't be bothered. It's not that I eat junk, I just don't eat enough, and I eat snacky things like vegemite on toast, or just a banana. The Beloved has gone away for a few days and so this week I'm making an effort to eat properly while the hubby isn't here. He knows I do this and will undoubtedly ask what I've eaten. So I decided I would have a look in Gorilla Food by Aaron Ash. I like raw vegan, and some stuff is truly amazing, but I mostly can't be bothered soaking, sprouting, and dehydrating something that will take four days before I can eat it. Plus, by the time its ready its more than likely I want to eat something else. If I'm going to eat raw, I like simple fast recipes or just eating au naturale -give me a whole pineapple, or half a watermelon or whatever. I like the Gorilla Food book because it has a really good combo of fast and simple, and more complex. I decided a shake would be the perfect thing, but I wanted something comforting. Let me tell you, I think The Oh My Choco Chia Shake is the best choc shake I've ever had! Serious. Vegan or otherwise. And my gut is thanking me for it, even better! It's rich and creamy thanks to some cashews (which I didn't have to soak- phew!), not overly sweet (even better, my face isn't going to tingle from a sugar rush), and I got two servings of fruit and a protein boost (ha, its a complete meal bonus points!) It's like drinking a chocolate pudding its so velvety and delicious. If you are going to buy a raw vegan uncook book I would definitely recommend this one simply because of its variety and intensely flavoured recipes. I'll be making this shake over and over again I know!

Strawberry & Grapefruit Smoothie

I'm taking pictures from my phone today so I apologise for the not so great photo and somewhat boring post. Thursdays have recently become the day I spend volunteering at  Greyhound Rescue. They are pretty full at the moment, due to the bushfires earlier in the week some had to be evacuated from another kennel, so lots of dogs to walk today! Being hot weather I don't really feel like eating much but wanted to keep hydrated. I blended 500ml water with a whole punnet of strawberries, two pink grapefruit and an orange. I really don't understand these people who blather on about not eating fruit because its full of sugar and it will make you fat...blah blah blah...while they simultaneously stuff their gobs with a piece of poor dead cow. Give me fruit any day! Keeps me full and hydrated, and gives me lots of energy for all that walking! Try walking two or three greyhounds at once desperate for a pee and you'll know what I mean. Arm muscle people!

Chocolate Chai

I can't vouch for the authenticity of this at all. But then, I'm not claiming it to be authentic, it has chocolate in it. No doubt Haviwah and Winnie can vouch for a much more authentic recipe (you can check out their adventures here). And who knows, maybe eventually we will make our way over to India for our much belated honeymoon and they can actually make me a real cup :)

Ok, so all you chai die hards are probably groaning or throwing your hands up in horror. Or not. Maybe you might give this a try – it isn’t one of those crappy syrups after all, this is made with real spices!

I am quite fond of chai, it’s a nice little pick me up on a cold afternoon or evening. Or, when you are still in a funk over a certain recent election, but you don’t want to take up the bottle to cope for the next three years. Ahem.  

I used Twinings Australian Afternoon Tea blend (forever known in our house as Kev) as it a is a full bodied strong tea which I believe is the basis for a good cuppa chai. I also used couverture dark chocolate bits, but you could use any decent quality dairy free chocolate and grate it instead. Some people like to make chai half water half milk, but I personally like this chocolate one made only with milk. I use Bonsoy at is very rich and creamy which seems to carry the spices really well. I like mine very gingery, so feel free to adjust spices to suit your taste.

Ingredients

125gr loose leaf Kev (or another strong tea)

2/3 cup dark chocolate bits

¼ cup ground cinnamon

½ cup ginger powder

¼ cup crushed cardamom pods

¼ cup ground nutmeg

2 tablespoons ground black pepper

1 tablespoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons ground coriander

Method

Mix all ingredients together and keep in a tightly sealed container.

To make the chai, use 2 heaped  teaspoons of the mix per 250ml non dairy milk, bring to the boil, and simmer for a couple of minutes, to allow chocolate to melt.  Let stand for five minutes, strain and serve. Add sugar to taste.

Superhero Snacks: Pink Flamingade

Who's snack is next from Pack of Heroes? One of my favourites, pink power Flamingal! What would she have  to power up her game? With a throat as long as hers you would need a big drink to keep hydrated. Ordinary humans would drink powerade, but she has Flamingade!  Of course, us mere mortals can drink it too. The pink colour comes from iced tea syrup made with strawberry tea and earl grey. Drink it mixed with soda  for a fizzy fix, or plain iced water. The flamingo straw is optional, but without would certainly be less fun!And once again, to check out the game and give some support to this fun project go here.

Ingredients

T2 Strawberries & Cream tea (if you don't consume dairy another strawberry tea brand will do)

Earl Grey tea

1 litre water

1 kg sugar

Method

Make up 1 litre of tea at triple strength, 3 parts strawberry leaves to 1 part earl grey leaves (remember this is a syrup concentrate, you will water in down, not like regular tea) and leave to steep for half an hour.

Strain, and put back into a saucepan with the sugar.

Bring the pan to the boil and turn down to a simmer for 10 minutes. Allow to cool, and bottle. Keep in the fridge.

I make mine up one part syrup to three parts soda, but you may like it stronger or weaker.

Vegan MoFo: Virgin Sangria

I'm a little behind on my MoFo posts, I missed two last week, and was too tired to attempt the Ironchef challenge, as much as I wanted to. Firstly, I've been way too busy and tired to make anything remotely worthwhile posting. I mean, I really don't think you want to see pictures of avocado and tahini on toast. Plus, I was busy working on the Beloved's birthday cake, which took up a lot of my time last week. So, here's a easy one to get me back into the last full week of Mofo. We had this tonight with nachos, and it was ridiculously yummy if I do say so myself.

Sangria has to be one of my favourite summer drinks. The problem is, it's a bit too good, so it's easy to have more than you should. It also tends to make me a bit too thirsty due to the alcohol, so I end up drinking a heap of water anyway. This one tastes just as good, and you can drink a bucket of it without too much regret :) So break out the tacos, cook some beans, whip up some guacamole and have a Mexican fiesta! 

Ingredients

400 ml pomegranate juice

250 ml cranberry juice

1 orange, juiced with pulp

200ml pineapple juice

250 ml ginger ale

strawberries and frozen cranberries, and slices of orange to serve

Method

Juice the orange with the pulp. I did mine in my blender so it was more of a smoothie. Add all the other ingredients, give it a good stir, and serve in a large jug or punch bowl with slices of strawberries, orange, and frozen cranberries. The cranberries act like ice, without watering down the drink. Word of warning here. Due to some strange reaction I put the orange in the blender with some pomegranate juice and created a fluffy mousse monster. Goodness knows why...so I suggest blending the orange separately and allowing to settle in the fridge before mixing it with everything else! Alternatively you could just use orange juice, but I like the pulp, it gives a better orange flavour.

Blood Orange, Ginger & Star Anise Cocktail Syrup

Blood oranges are in season, and they are absolutely delicious! These oranges have lovely flecks of red on their outer skin, and streaks of crimson through their flesh. Their taste is different to that of regular oranges, some can be quite sweet while others have a more tart taste. I got my hands on some beautiful sweet ones to make this syrup. Try it in non alcoholic drinks with soda water, or add some Bacardi for a bit more punch.

 

Ingredients
juice of 3 blood oranges
water to make up 300ml liquid
few zest slivers from one blood orange
thumb size piece of fresh ginger cut into sticks
1 star anise
300g sugar

Method

It is important to have a 1:1 ratio for fluid to sugar for this syrup, so whatever juice you get make up with the right amount of water to reach 300ml. Put all ingredients into a saucepan, and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer for approx 15 minutes, and then stand aside to cool. Leave covered overnight to steep. Strain into a bottle, and keep in the fridge for up to six weeks (if it lasts that long!)

The ginger and star anise go really well with the blood orange, a perfect warming end of winter pick me up!

Bottoms up!

Raw Vegan Green Smoothies

I have to admit, I've fallen off the wagon a bit with these smoothies the last couple of weeks. Probably because it's been so darn cold in the mountains and I'd rather a bowl of a oats or some toast. But there is currently a tide of the dreaded man flu sweeping the office at work, so I'm ramping up the smoothies again to try and ward it off. They might not look like the best thing in the world to drink, but trust me, all you taste is the sweetness of the fruit. I love taking these with me to the gym in the mornings as a speedy breakfast after a workout, it nourishes and rehydrates, and with all that fibre it keeps me full through the morning. When I first started having these, I had heard that your tastebuds change and you start to crave more greens. I didn't quite believe it, but it is true. If you have kids, why not try getting them to eat some greens this way? Tell them Dr Seuss left it out of the Green Eggs and Ham book...okay, so that might be stretching it, but I don't have munchkins.

Sometimes I will have these as meals, so I'll make a blender full (mine is a 2L) and have some for breakfast, and then the rest at lunch and snack on some nuts, or some hummus and crackers or carrot sticks. This gets me through to dinnertime no problem.  I feel really good when I've been having a lot of green smoothies, and if you don't believe me, see what Anand and Runi at Raw Power have to say and join their Green Smoothie Challenge http://www.greensmoothiechallenge.com/ 

The Beloved bought me a high speed blender, but any one will do, it just won't be as smooth. If you get into these, I recommend getting a really good blender, it does make a difference.

In summer, I was making these smoothies with mostly bananas, with some peaches or mango thrown in. But with bananas being so expensive due to cyclones and floods, I've had to come up with some different combos. Feel free to change the leafy greens, spinach seems to be a good option for starting off, but you can also put in dark lettuce varieties, kale, comfrey... adding some fruit high in vitamin c in my opinion, would proably also help absorb the iron from the greens. While I certainly don't have a medical degree, it surely can't hurt!

Pineapple and Lime Green Smoothie

500ml water

1 fresh pineapple, peeled and cored, chopped into chunks

2 peeled limes

1 apple, cored, not peeled cut into wedges

1/2 cup of mint leaves

3-4 handfuls of baby spinach, or other leafy greens ( I like a mix of kale and spinach)

Put fruit and water in blender and whizz for about 30 seconds. Add the greens and blend for another 30 seconds. Enjoy!

Or why not try...

Orange and Cranberry Green Smoothie
2 oranges
1 cup frozen Cranberries
500 ml water
3-4 handfuls of leafy greens