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!

Banana and hemp seed bread

It is cold! Bone freezing, toes going numb kind of cold. And on cold days nothing makes a better Sunday afternoon treat than something cozy from the oven. This recipe is adapted from one of my all time favorite cookbooks "Wholefood" which has a wonderful range of vegetarian, vegan, gluten free recipes and the occasional meat based recipe. One of the things I love about this book and in fact all books by Jude Blereau is that the recipes are easily modified to suit different dietary needs or if not she will let you know not to bother trying. I have pretty much cooked my way from one end of Wholefood to the other and everything has come out perfectly and deliciously. I cant recommend this book more. 

This version of Jude's banana bread came about in two ways. Firstly I wanted to try making a vegan version of her cake and also I had run out of walnuts but had a fresh bag of delicious hemp seeds sitting on my bench. 

Apart from tasting great this cake/ bread will make your house smell incredible. Defiantly one to make if you want to get your family or guests excited before it even leaves the oven.

Banana and hemp bread- based on the banana cake recipe from "Whole food" by Jude Blereau 

1 cup white spelt flour
1 cup wholemeal spelt flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp dried ginger 
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup dates chopped
1/2 cup hemp seeds
3 very ripe bananas mashed
1 banana sliced
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
6 tbsp coconut oil + a little extra to grease your tin
1/2 cup non dairy yogurt (I used coconut)
1 cup non dairy milk (I used almond) 

Lightly grease a loaf pan and set aside, preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Mix the flours, baking powder and spices together. Add the chopped dates and hemp seeds and make sure they are well combined. Add the mashed bananas, molasses, coconut oil, yogurt and milk and milk gently until just combined. Carefully fold through the sliced bananas.

Pop in the oven and bake for about 50 minutes. Carefully check, and if it requires it pop it back in for another 10 minutes of so. Allow to cool for about 10 before you tuck in. It is perfect still warm from the oven and freezes really well.

Spiced cauliflower soup

A quick wintery soup for a cold and wet weekend. This soup is mildly spiced and creamy. The kind of soup that is perfect on its own but also great with some fresh crunchy bread. If you are a plan ahead kind of person I recommend making this soup the day before you serve it and let it sit over night the spices will come together more and the soup will thicken a little.

Ingredients
1 large head of cauliflower chopped
1 onion diced
1 carrot diced
2 sticks of celery diced
1-2 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 tsp chilli powder
1-2 tsp sea salt
1 can coconut milk
1 cup yellow split peas

To finish
olive oil
spring onions
chilli flakes

Process

Put split peas in a large saucepan with 4 cups of water. Bring to the boil and cook on medium heat for about 30 minutes or until soft and set aside. In another saucepan heat some olive oil. Add the onions and cook over low heat until soft. Add the carrot, celery and spices and cook on low for another 5 minutes. If begins to stick add a little water. Add the chopped cauliflower and salt and 2 cups of water. Cook until cauliflower is tender. Add the cooked split peas and coconut milk and blend with a stick blender adding a little extra water if required. Finish with olive oil, diced spring onions and chilli flakes.

**Please excuse the poor photos, running out of light is becoming an issue in taking photos for this blog- come back summer!!

Winter juice

It is official flu season has officially hit our house, which hopefully explains the lack of recipes on the blog lately as we have both been curled up on the couch with a box of tissues for the past two weeks. One thing I have been doing to build my immune system and to try and fight off this bug is drinking super spicy and warm juice. As soon as the cold weather hits my love for juices and smoothies starts to fade, but with a bit of tweaking this is a super comforting, super nutritious, cold fighting juice which will only take seconds to make. 

What you need: 
1 apple (I like golden delicious)
2 - 4 carrots (depending on how big they are)
a 1/2 thumb size piece of ginger 
warm water
cinnamon sticks to serve

Put the carrots, apple and ginger through a juicer as per normal. Pour into a large glass or mug and top up with warm-hot water. If you like you can serve with a cinnamon stick or some whole cloves for some extra body warming spice. Sip slowly while under a blanket on the couch and feel better (makes one juice).

Acai bowl

This one is for my friends in the Northern Hemisphere where the sun is shining. I made this a while back when the weather here was still warm. This acai bowl is basically a thick berry smoothie which you eat with a spoon with any yummy toppings you like. Perfect for a hot morning for breakfast or a sunny afternoon snack. It wont be featuring on my menu here anytime soon as the winter weather has arrived, but looking at the sunny colours makes me dream about summer coming back.

Buckwheat granola (Gluten free)

I'm a big breakfast person. I love making my own muesli and porridge mixes to have on hand ready to throw together for quick and delicious weekday breakfast. I have been wanting to try to make my own raw granola for ages BUT I don't own a dehydrator and our oven in a furnace. It doesn't matter how low I put it, everything still burns if I'm not super careful. This started as a attempt to make raw granola using the "keep warm" setting on the oven but unfortunately it got a bit toasted but it still tasted amazing. If you own a dehydrator or a oven that will work you can make this raw for sure. But otherwise makes a delicious crunchy granola which keeps really well in a sealed glass jar.

I've been enjoying the granola on top of green smoothies along with bee pollen and hemp seeds. Kev likes it in a more traditional style with nondairy milk and some fruit. However you like your morning cereal this granola is a crunchy, slightly sweet and super healthy way to start you day. It makes a small amount as I've been making a fresh batch each week but I have made double and triple batches as well and they turn out great.