Come and have a chat

  Bring out your bloggers:
Thursday 31 October from 7-8pm at Woodcroft Library

Who blogs? Who reads blogs? Come together to share your favourite blogs and to meet three of Adelaide’s bloggers. Check them out!

Clare Coulter-A New Hope http://foodsnewhope.blogspot.com.au/

Alicia Parsons-Atypical Type A http://www.atypicaltypea.com/

Amanda McInerney-Lambs’ Ears and Honey http://www.lambsearsandhoney.com/

To book please phone 8384 0050 or book online http://tinyurl.com/bloggingevent See More

 

Raw Strawberry Chia Jam

I love jam but I don't love eating jam that is 60% sugar and 40% fruit. I have started playing around with making "quick" jams or things which can be used in the place of jam but have a much shorter lifespan. This is one variety which I made to have with some rye scones- which were a bit of a flop but the jam was delicious. It takes about two minutes to make and has only three ingredients, it will keep in the fridge for about 3-4 days, but you could freeze it to make it last longer.



Ingredients

1 punnet of strawberries (or frozen and defrosted would work too)
1 tbsp honey or brown rice syrup
1 tbsp chia seeds 

Process

Rinse and remove the stems of the strawberries and place in a small bowl. Mash the fruit roughly with a fork until your desired consistency is reached (you could use a blender but I like a few fruity lumps). Stir in the chia seeds and honey and pour into a glass container. Place in the fridge for at least an hour to allow the chia seeds to thicken the "jam". Enjoy as you would any other jam- on toast, on scones, dolloped onto porridge, let your imagination go wild!

Corn bread muffins

It has been quiet around here... that is on the blog because things in life have been anything but quiet. So I'm sorry for the lack of recipes popping up, I promise I am getting back on the cooking/ blogging horse. So although I haven't been cooking much in the last month I have.... been to first birthday parties of my special nephew, had my kitchen tea for my upcoming wedding, got MARRIED and been on a honeymoon.... so a little busy. So it has been a crazy busy but very fun few weeks.

These cornbread muffin were something I made to go with a big pot of vegan chilli to see us through the crazy weeks and trust me it went down a treat. The muffins taste a little cheesy that's to the nutritional yeast and are also very high in B12 for the same reason. They can be entirely gluten free if you don't use any plain flour. The best things is these guys freeze really week and can be chucked in the oven while you warm up a bowl of chilli and then you have "fresh" corn bread and a hot comforting bowl of beans in no time.

Ingredients 

2 cups polenta

1/2 cup plain flour 

1/2 chickpea flour (or another 1/2 cup of plain flour)

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chilli powder or smoked paprika

1/2 cup nutritional yeast flakes (really worth it)

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Oil a muffin tin and set aside. Throw all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Spoon mix into prepared muffin tin and place in the oven for approximately 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them, you don't want to dry them out. Serve warm with coconut oil or vegan butter. Yum. 

Happy first birthday!

I somehow completely forgot that my little blog has just turned one! If I had time (and wasn't planning a wedding that was only SIX WEEKS away) I would make this cake to celebrate. Thank you to everyone who reads and most importantly try my recipes. A huge thank you to those who have written to me to let me know how they have turned out, I love to hear from you. 

Here is to another year of wonderful healthy vegan food. 

Clare x

p.s picture is of an amazing cake from My New Roots. Check it out here. 

Spring clean detox: green smoothie

Spring has sprung! What better way to welcome the change in season than with a gentle cleanse. Cleansing can seem like a lot of hard work but really it can be as simple as eating lots of fresh fruit and veg and doing some extra exercise. When I cleanse I like to cut out all caffeine, sugar, alcohol and limit grains. I increase my vegetables and exercise and try to remember to dry brush in the morning and that's about it. I find that how I start the day sets the tone for the rest of the day and sets me up for success. There are lots of little changes you can try to add into your morning routine to promote detoxification and get your energy levels going. Some of my favorite things to do include:

• Start the day by drinking a big glass of room temperature water with the juice of half a lemon in it.   
• Dry brush with a few drops of rosemary oil. 
• Take some probiotics.
•  Do some yoga. 
• Get outside in the fresh air for a jog or a walk. 
• Scrape your tongue. 
• Have something super clean for breakfast.
• Drink smoothies and green juice. 

Other detox ideas include:

• hot yoga. 
• Detox baths with ginger and essential oils. 
• Herbal teas including fennel, ginger, peppermint, lemon balm. 
• Eat lots of soups and salads. 
• Get some sunshine.

When I am doing a gentle cleanse I like to start the day with a big green smoothie. There are HEAPS of recipes out there for green smoothies but I find this one is a winner every time and it is packed full of veggies to keep you full until morning.  

I love green juices but I tend to make more smoothies as the clean up is so much easier. If you are trying not have sugar replace the banana with a tablespoon of chia seeds and use coconut water instead of water.

 
Ingredients

1 banana
1/2 a cucumber
1 handful kale or spinach
1/2 avocado
juice of half a lemon
Big handful of fresh mint
1/4 cup of chopped fresh fennel

optional extras
1 tbsp almond butter
vegan protien powder
bee pollen
chia seeds

Directions: Combine all the ingredients in a blender with 11/2- 2 cups of water. Blend until smooth. Enjoy. 

So tomorrow I am starting a cleanse for a little while. I am going to aim for at least a week but maybe longer depending on how things are going. I'll keep you posted!

Clare x

Super calcium and protien smoothie

This smoothie is packed with natural protien and calcium (no powders required!) and tastes far more indulgent than it is.  You can use any berries that take your fancy, it is great with raspberries, blueberries and even strawberries or a combination of them all. I'm not going to try and be an expert of proteins and minerals and all that but I have put a few links to some interesting articles about vegan sources of protien and calcium. If I could recommend one source of information in would be the book Vegan For Life. It has so much wonderful information for creating and maintaining a healthy vegan diet across all parts of the lifespan. 

But on to the good stuff! Not only is this smoothie full of protien, calcium and antioxidants (from all those berries) it tastes more delicious than healthy. Try it with coconut milk for a an extra creamy treat. 

Ingredients
1 cup berries
2 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp seeds (hemp, sunflower, flax)
1 cup water or milk of choice
1 tsp bee pollen
1 banana
1 tbsp almond butter 

Protein sources: (see here for more information)
Seeds
Bee pollen

Calcium sources: (see here for some interesting information)
Tahini 
Almond butter

Optional but delicious:
dates for extra sweetness
raw honey
coconut yogurt
pro-biotic powder
dash of pure vanilla

All you have to do is pop all the ingredients in your blender and mix until well combined and then Enjoy.

Summer cooking inspiration: Vegetable sushi

It is a long way off summer here in South Australia but if it was warm this is what i would be trying to recreate. While we were in Japan we went to an amazing Vegetarian sushi place in Ginza. Here are some photos to help share the experience. Seriously amazing food, handmade in front of you. I wish i could remember the name of the place so I could recommend it to you!