Day 32 - moving

Just a quick note.

Since my blog was created for my 10-day vegan challenge without as much as a thought about what will happen after day 10, the URL of this blog reflects that impulse decision.

So after 32 days I realized, I need to change that.

I moved this blog to a new location. Nothing changes, but the URL. So please, update your bookmarks:

almostveganchallenge.blogspot.com

I'll continue my ramblings there and delete this blog, eventually.

Day 32 - rambling

With not much to report I just feel like rambling a bit. I am still not sure about today's lunch. I mean, I'm hungry and all, but lack motivation to head home to cook. So maybe I'll just wait until the working hours are over and then made me a tortilla... which will require a grocery stop first for lettuce, since I ate all of it yesterday evening in one of my extra large salads. He he :)

I might stop at a local vendor. I don't know about your country, but we are fully packed with ex-Yugoslavian people selling fruits & veggies in small shops, that are not even built, but just a tin house or some other prefabricated solution. They do tend to have good quality products (in sense of taste & appearance, but I highly doubt they're anything close to organic) but at a high price (strawberries at 14 €/kg, whereas in a regular shop you can get them at 6€/kg). And if I want a really good watermelon I'll usually buy it there, no matter the price. Yeah, I'm sensitive when it comes to watermelons.

I'm lucky to live close (like, 100m) to the most important facilities. We have a bakery, this fruit man is a new addition, pharmacy, a regular shop and an small organic shop, where yesterday I spent a fortune, just buying some bars, a traditionally baked bread (from bakers oven on wood fire - really YUM!) and ... wait for it... hemp protein powder! Actually, I entered the store to buy me some coconut water and left it minus 30 eur on my bank account. I still don't know how this actually happened, but when I spotted the hemp protein powder on the shelf, I just had to have it. Anyway, haven't tried it yet, just opened the package for a smell, curious me. It actually smells like... powdered hay, who would have thought, ha :) So I guess I'll try mixing it in a banana smoothie, for start. Just need to gather the courage to give it a try.

And I still need to try a green smoothie, I have plenty of organic spinach but it's not the most appropriate for raw consumption, since it has been growing the whole winter. My mom actually already planted a spring crop that should be ready for consumption in 2 weeks. Now THAT is something that will go straight into my salads and smoothies!

I'll leave you with a cute picture of our 2,5 year old female beagle, stretching in the sun. La vita e' bella, right?

Day 31 - tomato risotto with leek & zucchini

TOMATO RISOTTO with leek & zucchini
with addition of ground dried wheat sprouts
serves: 2

spoon of olive oil
1 small leek

150 ml of tomato sauce

200 g rice (arborio)
0,5 l vegetable stock
1 small zucchini
water (optional)
salt, pepper
spices to taste
1 spoon of ground dried wheat sprouts (optional)

In an iron-cast pot heat a spoon of olive oil until hot, then add leek and stir-fry. Add rice and fry briefly, then add tomato sauce, mix well and pour vegetable stock. Mix and cook on low heat according to producer's instructions (usually 12-18 minutes). Stir only if needed to prevent sticking to the pot. About 5 - 10 minutes before the rice is done, add the zucchini. Season to taste. If the rice absorb all of the liquids, add water if needed to continue cooking.

Serve hot. Optionally, you can top your rice with a spoon of ground dried wheat sprouts, for protein.

Day 30 - first run

I just couldn't pass the opportunity. As soon as I got home from work, I changed into my running clothes and gave a kick in the ass to the old man's lazy ass (just joking!).

We went running for the first time this year. I've been so waiting for this. Being the first recreation at all since autumn when we finished with hiking and after a whole winter of hibernation, a 1 km run must be enough. I don't want to like die tomorrow. The rest of the path we walked (it's something like 5 - 6 km).

photo: johnnyberg

I was almost high. Such energy, such spirit! And 1 whole kilometer without any problems after so much time of doing nothing! If I remember two years ago when my partner took me running with him for the first time... I ran possibly 200 m, in breaks of 50 m... and almost died there. It took me quite a few tries to reach 1 km, but I don't think I ever got further than 4 km... it's also true I usually exchange running for biking in summer, and last year hiking in autumn.

I hope for another run tomorrow, before the weather turns bad on weekend (they're saying it's going to snow again. SNOW?! We had like 16°C today!).

I'm contemplating another goal this year. Not only vegan (which I simply adore!) but maybe a mini marathon, too? 10 km suddenly doesn't sound so frighting anymore and I know I'd have a great support & company in this challenge.

I'll let you know.

Day 30 - sunbathing

With the lovely sunshine and warm temperatures we have been having these days, it seemed a sin to pass the opportunity:

Lunch on the balcony!

Some leftover zucchini, leftover gnocchi and even leftover viennese style soy steak, which I crumbled in. Mixed altogether with cream and voila'! Minimal 20 g of protein on that plate!
Oh, and some aloe drink in the glass.

And I spent a good 15 minutes soaking up vitamin D.

Day 30 - not finished yet

Day 30 came and I'm just not ready to quit yet.

In my 30 days I had 2 non-vegan donuts, a few eggs (breakfast, mostly) and 1 canned tuna (that's 50 g of tuna) that I did not particularly enjoy.

photo: macleod

In my 30 days I lost 4 kg, 7-8 cm in waistline, 2 cm on my hips and 2 cm on my thighs (and losing) - which is the area I want most to work on. And all this without even cutting on my meal portions. If anything, I'm eating more than ever. The past week I have eaten so much junk food that - any other day - it would have shown on my waistline, for sure. Well, my PMS is gone now and so is the junk food out of my menu.

My jeans are really coming loose. Skirts that were a bit tight, are fitting great now. The one thing no one speaks about: my digestion improved dramatically. In my PMS times I used to be really blocked, for like days, and needed extra magnesium and digestive mineral waters for help. Well, all great in that department as well this month!

I feel great, I mean, really great.

As my partner is currently suffering from some kind of spring fatigue and needs sleep, I have been adjusting myself naturally to the summer clock (waking up at 6.30 on my own, but still going back to sleep until 7am). Well, truthfully, I mostly fall asleep by 11pm tops on the couch, so I do get my beauty sleep. I also regularly consume Vitamin C supplements (I don't believe you can have too much Vitamin C in spring time), so I guess that helps, too.

Not eating meat the past 30 days has been great - physically and mentally. But I do believe this is not a decision to be taken on a whim. I have been preparing myself for this for a long time. Thinking about it. Trying a day or two. Reading about it. Researching it. Supplying myself with cookbooks. Thinking about what to cook & eat. And, also very important, informing my family about it for support.

If you're a bit picky about the food you eat, going vegan means more effort. I admit, I am picky. I don't like beans, at all (sometimes I eat them in soups, though - where I cannot see them). I also hate mushrooms (because they're... you know.... fungi. Like... mold and skin-infections stuff, eww). I also have trouble with some greens, sour food and beets. So preparing meals means double trick. I am trying my best and over the past years have learnt to eat & enjoy more vegetables than ever. But with some food it's just plain struggle and I really fear eating out :) Like, you order vegetarian you get cheese, you ask no cheese you get mushrooms. Familiar?

So, to sum up. Expanding this to 90 days!
With spring approaching and more goods in season (mom will soon start providing), this should be fun!

Day 29 - wrap it up

After my whole-day fasting I returned home so hungry as you wouldn't believe. Something very quickly prepared was my only option. So:

TORTILLA with Viennese style soy steak
Serves: 1

1-2 tortilla
1 viennese style soy steak
vegetables (whatever is in your fridge - lettuce, carrots, zucchini, bell peppers,...)
sauce (optional)

Quickly pan-fry the soy steak (3-4 minutes) alongside with veggies (zucchini, peppers,...). Remove from pan and add tortillas to heat them up (1 minute each side, or less). Prepare other veggies (lettuce, carrots,... wash, peel, slice,...)

Assemble, wrap it & enjoy.

Day 29 - water

I can't believe it's day 29 already.

I have a medical examination today (actually just an ultrasound of my kidneys) and need to be fasted for several hours. My ultrasound is at 17.20 and that means I only get to eat breakfast today and then dinner (probably salad). So, water, more or less.

Today I feel a bit weird. I feel lightheaded and... just plain weird. Like I cannot turn too fast. Or sit up too fast. I'm also cold, colder than usual. I hope it's just a day and tomorrow I will feel better. And no, it's not because of fasting, because - seriously - I did eat breakfast and that was only 2,5 hours ago :)

So, I guess nothing new to report today.
And about yesterday's meals: some gnocchi for lunch and leftover broccoli soup for dinner (delicious, I might add). Oh, and banana cake. And peanuts and some cookies. Oh, gosh, I munch like a hamster.

So, in a way, this fasting comes in handy.
After all the junk food I ate the previous week, I really should be cleaning up a bit.

Day 28 - bread

Last time, I shared a recipe for rye bread with seeds, this time I voted for a more regular one.

BREAD
makes: 750 g

500 g flour + 200 g flour
pinch of salt
42 g yeast
sprinkle of sugar
500 ml hot water


Sift 500 g of flour into a big bowl (with a cover) and sprinkle with salt. Make room in the middle of the flour for the sourdough, creating a hole.

In another bowl prepare your sourdough: Crumble the yeast, sprinkle with sugar, just a bit, and add hot, but not boiling water, quickly mix the yeast to dissolve it, cover the bowl with a napkin and leave for 10 minutes for the yeast to activate.

When the water turns bubbly and rises, pour the sourdough little by little into the hole in the flour and with a fork, proceed to mixing, gradually adding more sourdough as you proceed.

When you have used all the water and the flour, mixing roughly (don't bother creating a smooth dough), just cover your bowl and set aside for 1 hour. Remember, to keep your kitchen draft-free and warm the whole time!

After one hour, it's time for hand-kneading. Your dough should have risen to double the size by now. Just bury your hands in the dough and knead away, adding more flour as needed, until you achieve a smooth dough that no longer sticks to your fingers. You can do this best on a counter or table, not in the bowl, because you need room for kneading. So, place your dough on a working surface, covered with flour, knead away, and then top the bowl with flour and insert the dough back in, cover and set aside for another hour.

After an hour, knead your dough one last time, this time shaping it in a desired form. I made a loaf. Grease your baking tray, top with flour as well, and then place the dough onto the tray. Cover with napkin and set aside for yet another hour.

By this time the only thing left to do is to bake your bread. Uncover the bread, place it in a cold (!) oven a heath the oven to 180°C. Heating should take about 10 minutes and the bread should rise further more in the oven. After this 10 minutes, just leave the bread to bake for another 30 minutes.

When the bread turns a golden color, remove from oven, brush with some water (use a cooking brush) and then with regular oil (just a bit). Wrap in cloth and leave it to cool down. You can remove the bread from the baking tray to cool it from bottom as well.

The water will render the bread soft, leaving only a hint of crust (so if you like crust, skip this step), and the oil will keep the bread moist longer.

Serve warm for dinner (sandwich) or breakfast the next day (we did both!) :)

Day 27 - veggie burger

Not the McDonald's kind, but a tasty home-made version without artificial flavors.

Yum!


VEGGIE BURGER
Serves: 1

1 bread roll (I used a burger-shaped with sesame)
lettuce at will (1-2 leaves)
red bell pepper (a few slices)
Chinese cabbage (2 leaves)
some meat alternative (like seitan, tofu or in my case - some burger version my mom provided and I have no name for, grain or soy burgers would be fine as well)

If you're using tofu or similar, remember to marinate it first!

With my version it was simple - already marinated, seasoned and I think cooked as well, all I had to do was throw it in a pan for a few minutes, to heath it well, remove, heath the bread, remove, cover with lettuce, burger, cabbage and bell pepper and it's ready!

One thing about the sauces: if you like, feel free to throw in there sauces like, I don't know, ketchup, mayo,... I don't like sauces in general. Hate mayo, really. Ketchup it's sometimes ok, but I'm better of without it. Mustard, no go. So I'm never using it, except rare occasions.

Day 27 - vegetable stock

As you have noticed, I often use (and is always good to do so in cooking) vegetable stock soup in my recipes. It's good to enrich flavors and add extra aroma to the dishes. Usually I use it when making some kind of soup, so it doesn't come out bland, but it's also good for sauces, risottos and similar.

That said, one should always have some stock at hand. The easiest way (and the one I usually go for due to lack of time) is store-bought, but always make sure it doesn't contain animal products.

The other way is to make your own stock and store it for future use - like freeze in ice-cubes, which are always handy and ready-to-use (you just throw a stock-cube in the risotto and let it melt).

Actually, before going vegan I only knew how to make beef of chicken stock. Knowing it takes a lot of cooking time (and well, animal products), I never gave it a go on my own.

Then I found an easy-peasy vegan recipe and - hop it went into the pot. The beauty of this is (besides not having animal products), that it only takes like 30 minutes and you've got your own soup.

VEGETABLE STOCK
makes: cca. 2 litres

1 large onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 medium leek
2-4 carrots
2 celery stems (leaves and all)
a bunch of parsley
salt, pepper
spices to taste
2 l water (or more)

First thing first. Wash your veggies, always. Then, coarsely chop them - don't bother too much, you'll be draining the soup afterwards.

In a pan, heat a sprinkle of olive oil and saute the veggies (or if you prefer, just steam in a bit of water).

Then, add the veggies to a large pot, cover with water, season to taste, bring to boil and then cook for about 30 minutes on low heath until the veggies turn soft and the soup a beautiful color. If your soup is too strong, just dilute with more water.

Remove the veggies and drain them. Compost veggies and serve the soup :)
I threw in there some soup pasta and slices of the cooked carrots.

Day 27 - lead me not into temptation

Yesterday, I gave in.

You probably cannot see it, but there is tuna in there. Fish. A dead fish. In my salad.

If nothing else, it was a good lesson. Cannot say the salad was that much better with tuna as it is without it. It was a bit too salty. It was alright, but I always had some bad feeling in the back of my brain. Like, I shouldn't.

Needless to say, I got up this morning feeling a bit sick. But maybe it was due to all the food I consumed yesterday (chips, again) and not the tuna.

Anyway, one more reason to stay off meat.

Today I'm preparing vegetable stock soup and veggie burgers for lunch. And need to do something with all those extra ripe bananas.

It's good to have a quiet sunday morning all for myself. The man is doing a photoshooting and I can rumble about the house as much as I want without worrying to wake him up.

I've done the dishes, 2nd laundry wash, need to clean the dust and do some ironing. And maybe some running in the afternoon. Should be fun :)

Now I'll put on some music and off to work!
Good morning!

Day 26 - pasta in tomatoe sauce with asparagus

Had still some asparagus left so I voted to sneak them into a sauce of some kind. Not my best shot, though. You've been warned.

PASTA IN TOMATOE SAUCE WITH ASPARAGUS
Serves: 2

200 g pasta
olive oil
1 small onion
1-2 cloves garlic
200 ml tomatoe sauce
salt, pepper
3-4 green asparagus

Cook your pasta according to producer's instructions. Drain and set aside.

In a cast-iron pan or skillet heat some olive oil and stir-fry onions & garlic until tender. Add tomatoe sauce, season to taste and cook on low heat about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquids drain. About 5 minutes before the sauce is done, add roughly chopped asparagus and cook until tender.

Add the sauce to the pasta and serve.

Day 26 - broccoli soup

This soup turned out much better than expected, actually. I had so much veggies left from my past Saturday's market visit and thought it was high time to put them to good use. I'm surprised they survived this far, at all.

BROCCOLI SOUP
serves: 4

olive oil
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 small leek
1/2 head broccoli
2 medium potatoes
4 asparagus (optional)
water
salt, pepper

Wash the veggies and coarsly chop them. It doesn't need to look good, we'll blend everything at the end, just keep in mind that various veggies take different cooking times. So, either you chop them accordingly to bigger / smaller sizes or evenly, and you add them to the soup later. So, I usually opt for the second option.

In a cast-iron pan, heat the olive oil. Stir-fry onions, then add garlic and leek, stir-fry for a few minutes. Add potatoes & broccoli, cover with water (just enough to have veggies covered, when you decide to blend the soup you will preffer to have less water and add it to the blended mixture if neccessary, because once you blend it, you cannot remove the excess water anymore), season to taste and simmer on low heat about 15 minutes. When the potatoes turn slightly tender, throw in chopped asparagus and cook another 3-5 minutes, until they turn soft.

Remove from heat and blend with a hand-blender. Now, add water if your mixture is too thick & serve with some cream and croutons.

Day 25 - so fast

Back from my 3-day blogging eclipse, although I did return home yesterday morning, but... had so much work that I actually left the office at about 6 pm and at 8pm I was already asleep on the couch. At 11pm I so much so as lifted my butt from the couch, washed my teeth and replaced the couch with the bed and slept the whole night until the alarm clock woke me up this morning at 7am.

Not much of a life, is it.

In these days the only thing I cooked was a wok pasta for my dad's birthday, while mom did pretty much everything else (including a delicious vegan chocolate strawberry cake), am ashamed to say. That's what happens when you spend 60% of the time in the office and the rest sleeping or having drinks with friends.

Regarding friends. Not only did I receive a wedding invitation as I have predicted, but 2 wedding invitations! My friend is getting married on July, 30 to her long-term boyfriend, which will lead to a lot of partying this year - a party for their house renovation & moving in together, a bachelorette party of course!, and a party held a few days or a day prior to the wedding, when you gather at the house of the bride or groom to celebrate the upcoming wedding and to decorate the outside of the house, usually by making an arch from greens, flowers or, most recently, balloons - this is a tradition very common to my hometown, but also very local, as it is not known in other regions of my country. And then, of course, the wedding.

And another wedding (and all the parties involved) on September, 3, when no one else but my brother(!) is getting married!

So, lots of partying this summer and great excuses to:

1. buy new dresses
2. focus even more on the vegan diet & lose more weight (this part going really well so far! my jeans have really become loose and by now I would really need a 1-size smaller cut)

Not only, am I steadily losing weight and inches, but I'm generally feeling much, much better than I have felt in years. I seldom need coffee (I now drink it, because I like coffee, not because I would actually need it), I'm really centered and self-aware, feeling awake (well, most of the time anyway). I remember times when I would go out with friends and at 8pm yawn like crazy. That went away now. After lunch I never feel tired anymore, or feel the need to just "rest for 5 minutes" or maybe even go to bed. I have more energy, more will for working (at my job and in the household) and it's all really, really great. Who knew that I could have achieved all that simply by going (almost) vegan!

I would really recommend a simple test like this to anyone who is considering trying. You've got nothing to lose, really, although I do admit veganism is not for everyone, because you really need to have a reason to succeed and stay on track, be it compassion, health or other.

Unfortunately, meat consumption is so centered in our lives (& propaganda) that unless you have great support (and even then), you need to really try to stick to the new lifestyle. Restaurants are only slowly beginning to think of vegetarians, but it's still a long, long way to having vegan options. Every party you attend tends to have buffets centered on animal products, be it meat, cheese or combinations. Even fast foods center on meat. Like a few days back, I ran out of time for either cooking or visit a restaurant, so I voted for the Mac. I only had 3 options: mixed salad (or fruit), fries and a really awful veggie burger, that I chose without thinking and ate on the way. And will choose that again. Like, ever, so help me god.

Day 22 - oh, gosh

Today, nothing is going right and I don't like the way things are coming out. I need to head to my parents for the next days, tons of work to finish and something just always goes wrong.

I said bye to my partner and said we'll see tomorrow or in a few days.
"What? Why?"
"Oh, no, I DID tell you!"
Turn out, I didn't. Or so he says.

The same thing happened yesterday when at 6.30 pm I was still making phone calls to business partners fixing dates last-minute, because it turned out I forgot to tell people about activities. Darn, and I was so sure, I did!

I skipped breakfast today and made me some "to go" snacks.
A banana shake that I forgot to add lemon juice to. Turned (of course!!) an awful brown color and went down the drain.
2 leftover cupcakes, that I admit were a bit old, but I never expected to see what I saw when I broke them open. Eeeew!!! Into the garbage!
A yogurt that I don't even want to know what contained, but at least I can be sure, it's organic!
I only have an apple left and God knows what surprise will that yield.

So far, I'm staying on water, just to make sure.

Lunch time is under question. I just may run to McDonald's and buy me a veggie burger (no sauce) and fries and eat on the way.

I still have to go buy my dad a birthday present, pack my things, and please please don't let me forget my laptop and the camera!! And extra clothes! Socks! Oh God, and I still need to finish that contract!!

Then, one of my best friends (going back to high school, that's 12 years of friendship!) invites me to have drinks with her tomorrow (and I do suspect she has a big news to tell, like wedding-news! although she says it's to celebrate March, 8th), so I need to buy her and the other girls (all high school friends) present some flowers, of course. And tell my partner I'm not coming home tomorrow, but Thursday.

Gosh, I better calm down. The last time I felt this hectic, I ended up with a semi-smashed car.

I won't have time to report these days, but having a birthday cake and all, you might expect some new recipes and reports later. Like Thursday later.

See you!

Day 21 - garlic soup

Just an easy soup for dinner.

GARLIC SOUP
serves: 3-4

1 spoon olive oil
8 cloves garlic
1 small leek
400 g potatoes
1 l vegetable stock / water
salt & pepper

Peel, wash, chop & slice the veggies to a desired size. In a pan, heat the olive oil. Add garlic, stir fry for a few minutes so that the garlic starts to turn color, quickly add the leek, stir fry until the leek turns tender, if needed add a sprinkle of water. Add the potatoes, cover with vegetable stock or water and cook 15 -20 minutes, until the potatoes turn soft. Season to taste. Serve hot. Voila'!

If you want, you can even puree the cooked soup, but I like it better this way.

Day 21 - penne with broccoli florets

I can't believe it's day 21 already. Almost done with 30 days! Will of course continue with my (almost) vegan quest, although I might treat myself with tuna on day 30 / 31 :)

The morning was hectic, having jumped out of the bed and being in the office quite before 8am already. I did manage to eat my breakfast: strawberry jam on home-made rye bread.

Lunch. I decided to put to use the beautiful broccoli head I had stored in the fridge.

PENNE WITH BROCCOLI FLORETS
serves: 1

100 g penne pasta (choose "rigate" style, not smooth, conchiglie work as well)
1 clove garlic, chopped
spoon of olive oil
a few broccoli florets
1 dcl vegan cream (I use soy cream)
salt, pepper, red paprika

In a pot heat salted water until boiling, then add pasta, stir well and let it cook on low fire by manufacturer's instructions. Cook "al dente", then drain.

In a pan, heat the olive oil and fry the garlic briefly . Then, add the broccoli florets, stir-fry for a minute, then add a drop of water and steam it. Season to taste, then add the vegan cream, mixing all well.

Add the pasta to the broccoli cream, mix well and serve. Top with red paprika.

Once I started mixing the ingredients together I realized, I used way too little broccoli. Noted for next time. You could also avoid the cream, use a bit more oil and top your pasta with a garlic/broccoli topping only. In that case, use more garlic to taste.

A word about broccoli.
Broccoli can be eaten even raw, so don't overcook it - esp. boiling leads to lost of anti-cancer elements, which does not occur when steaming or stir-frying. Best is to steam it 3-4 minutes.

Full of vitamin C, this vegetable is also great in anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-cancer activity.

Day 20 - wok rice and all

I told you, I really like this dish. So today, I made it again, just because :)

Unfortunately, I ran out of Chinese cabbage (which I adore), but it didn't occur to me that I could add some broccoli in there. Oh well. I need a lunch tomorrow as well :)

I made such a big bash, I had leftovers for dinner, not that I minded at all, although what I really wanted to eat was just potato chips, which of course, I had none. The best method to resist temptation is to just not have such food at hand, right? What I did have was a large supply of pistachios (which we adore), so I munched on that instead.

Anyway, Sunday was another lazy day (sometimes you just need that, right?). Well, I did do my chores, laundry, lunch, ironing and such, but really, I managed to watch like 3 really long movies on top.

Day 20 - home made bread

As I mentioned before, I used all my flour supply to make a home-made fresh rye bread this morning.

HOME-MADE BREAD
makes: cca. 1 kg of bread

300 g rye flour
500 g all-purpose flour
2 packs dry yeast
big pinch of salt
0,7 dcl hot water
seeds at will (sesame, sunflower, flax & pumpkin seeds)

Put the flours & yeast in a large plastic bowl (with a cover, you can also use a cloth for cover). Sprinkle with salt and gradually add the water, mixing well with a fork. Add the seeds and proceed to kneading by hands. Knead the dough really well, the more you knead, the better the bread will rise. You can even get creative and like throw the dough a few times onto the working area or punch it. The yeast really likes that. When you obtain a uniform smooth ball of dough, sprinkle the bowl with flour, place the dough on top and cover the bowl. Let the dough rest & rise for 1 hour in a warm place. Pay special attention not to cause drafts or let cool air in the room.

After an hour, knead the dough once more thoroughly. If you have time, you can let it rest for another hour. Otherwise, proceed to shape the dough into a desired form. I made 4 smaller loaves, but you can make a big one, or rolls or any other shapes. Depending on the shape you will need to adjust your baking time. The larger the shape, the longer the baking time.


When you shaped your bread, place it in a greased baking tray, cover with a cloth and let it rise for a good 45 - 60 minutes. If you want to have seeds on top, you will need to spread the dough with egg whites in order for the seeds to stick. I spread with some margarine and it did no good. Milk is a bit better, but I think egg whites are the way to go.

Heat your oven to 200°C. Gently (!! don't be to robust or clumsy at this point) place your bread in the hot oven and bake for 10 minutes. Then, reduce the temperature to 180°C and bake another 30 - 50 minutes, depending on the size of your final product. Do not open the oven for at least the first 30 minutes of baking or your bread will collapse. You really want it to develop a crust before going anywhere near the oven door.

I usually bake the bread on the middle, but maybe 10 minutes before it is done, I place it on the bottom rack, so it gets evenly baked on the bottom as well. But I have a weird oven (came with the apartment, not my choice).

If you can resist the aromas at all, let the bread cool of - cover the freshly baked bread with a cloth or two (you can even "soften" the crust by placing a wet cloth on the bread) and let it rest for 10 - 15 minutes, then remove from baking tray,wrap it in cloths and let it cool off completely.

It may sound complicated, but believe me - it's not. Making your own bread is really easy, it just requires time to rise (when you can do other things or even go out). Your own actually consumed time is 15 minutes tops when mixing and kneading.

Day 20 - his and her smoothie

Sunday morning went by without the usual pancakes. There are a few reasons for this:

1. we slept late, he even longer
2. I used all the flour to make bread
3. he slept really late and I didn't want to spend another week eating leftover pancakes
4. I used all the flour
5. Had no flour left.

Damn. Since I - ha! - used all the flour to make bread (actually, 4 small loaves of bread), I had to come up with some other breakfast idea.

Well, speaking of leftovers, how about some leftover cupcakes that none of us really like due to the peanut butter and well, maybe some smoothies?

You would never guess, but my smoothie is actually the yellow one: a full quarter of pineapple turned into fresh juice with my Tribest blender. His is the regular strawberry/banana/milk combination.


PINEAPPLE JUICE
serves: 1

1/4 of pineapple
2 dcl water

Clean the pineapple of the peel and remove the tough inner kernel. Cut in small cubes, place in blender, add water and blend away!

If you don't like the smaller pieces or chunks left, just run the juice through a strainer.

Did you know, pineapple is actually great for reducing body fat cells? Plus, it is a great source of manganese and vitamin C.

Day 19 - salad on the couch

This is no special recipe with strange ingredients. It just meant that for dinner I ate my salad on the couch, not at the table.

The reason? The table was so damn crowded from various things (and being Saturday and lazy and all) I just opted not the clean and eat on the couch instead :) In my defense (about the crowded table) I can say that we live in such a small appartment that sometimes you just can't find a spot where to place things, not to mention the problem with dirty dishes.

The salad was bought today on the market and, I must say, you don't buy such a salad in a hipermarket. We always buy from the same vendour - the one that has the longest line of people waiting :) Always a success! It took me like half an hour to eat this bowl of delicious veggies and now I call it a day.

Everytime I have a salad I appear to have a crisis over the tuna. That is, because I always used to eat this salad with tuna. Today, I contemplated like 5 minutes whether or not to include tuna. Finally, I decided I couldn't have come this far only to fall over a stupid can of tuna. Maybe for day 30 I'll treat myself but for now, I vote no.

My partner's advice was to "have what I want". Always the politic. After I have eaten my salad, he suggested that "it would do me good to eat some fish here and there" and that "even many of those who eat vegetarian consume some fish here and there for omega-3".

We'll see. Today, I won, not the tuna.

Day 19 - zucchini steaks

This is actually a favorite of mine in summer times, because these steaks are especially good when served cold (and zucchinis are in season).

ZUCCHINI STEAKS
Serves: 2

1 very large zucchini or 2-3 small ones
1 egg
a few spoons of breadcrumbs
a few spoons of flour
salt & pepper
other spices to taste (fennel should go well)
ground sesame / flax seeds (optional)
drop of olive oil

Wash the zucchini & grate them in a large bowl. Season with salt and let it for 10 - 15 minutes. In this time the zucchinis will let some water, so then you just press the flesh together and drain the water, removing it from the bowl.

Season with other spices (and seeds) & beat an egg. With a fork, mix the egg with the zucchinis, combining everything well. Then, add a few spoons of breadcrumbs, so that it soaks the remaining waters and the mixture thickens. Add 2 spoons of flour as well, mix well. By this time you should be able to form steaks with your hands. Get a big ball of zucchinis and press & form a steak. Roll in flour.

Heat a pan with a drop of olive oil and place your "steaks" in the pan, frying on medium heath. When they brown on one side, flip over and fry on the other side as well. Remove from pan.

You can serve hot or cold, but I do preffer them cold, so I would usually make this the day before or in the morning and let them cool off. Ideal also as a lunch box meal.

Day 19 - asparagus in hollandese sauce

ASPARAGUS
Serves: 2

6 asparagus
pot of water
salt (optional)

Heat a pot of water (optional: you can salt your water, I forgot to salt mine and it was still ok, although a bit bland - you can always salt the asparagus later). When boiling, add the asparagus and cook cca. 10 minutes, until the asparagus turn soft, but still firm (I slightly overcooked mine). Remove from pot and drain.


HOLLANDESE SAUCE
Makes: 200 ml or about 6 servings

180 ml dairy free milk
pinch of salt
a sprinkle of black pepper
2 spoons cornstarch
2 spoons melted vegan butter
a sprinkle of fresh lemon juice (to taste)

In a saucepan heat 120 milk, but don't boil it! Pour into a blender pot with salt & pepper.

In the same saucepan heat the remaining milk, add cornstarch & mix well. Cook over low heat, whisking. The mixture will thicken quickly. Add the melted butter, keep whisking. When you recieve a smooth uniform sauce, remove from pan and add to the blender pitch. Blend well. Add lemon juice to taste (that means, taste occasionaly until you get the flavor you like) and continue blending until you get a smooth thick sauce.

Serve warm.

The remaining sauce you can refrigerate and re-heat when needed, pouring over steamed veggies. This sauce contains no eggs so it should keep a day or two refrigerated.

Day 19 - baked potatoes with rosemary

BAKED POTATOES WITH ROSEMARY
Serves: 2

0,5 kg potatoes
drop of olive oil
pinch of salt
a small branch of rosemary

Preheat the oven to 190°C. Lightly grease a baking tray with olive oil.

Peel the potatoes, wash & slice them. Spread them on the baking tray, sprinkle with salt & rosemary. Put in the oven and bake cca. 30 - 45 minutes (depending on the size of your slices). Stir occasionally, making sure the potatoes get an even share of heat exposure. When they develop a brown crust, they should be ready, but just to be sure, taste a slice or two. The crust should be quite firm and the inside soft.
Serve hot.

Day 19 - asparagus time

Well, technically, the asparagus are still not in season, but I have been wanting to make them for a few days now, so I just settled with aspargus of mexican origins. Boy, did they travel a long way to my plate!

 (c) photo by the man of the house for change, not my usual htc wildfire lousy production

Our lunch today (recipes follow): asparagus in hollandese sauce, baked potatoes & zucchini steaks. We even had some instant soup that happened to be vegetarian. Not the healthiest choice, but we got home at almost 1 pm and I was already starving. I'm planning for some healthier soup choice tomorrow as a sunday lunch.

I must say, I was especially proud of my partner for eating this vegan dish without so much so as a complaint (well, he did question why would anyone eat asparagus or pay the price for it). But, he does have a reward planned for tomorrow (sausages & sauerkraut!), and not to mention it's sunday tomorrow, so - pancake time for breakfast! :)

Man, all this talking about food got me hungry again. Maybe I'll eliminate some of today's fruit aquisitions.

Day 19 - market time

Today it's Saturday. No work means I got to sleep until 9 am! Can't remember the last time I slept this long (mind you, I went to bed at around 10 pm!)

I decided for a measurement check. After all the shit I eat the past days (I didn't mention a full bag of chips I consumed the past 2 days) I was a bit worried.

The scales gave no surprise. I'm still at my -3 kg solid, although the device I use is a bit tricky and you can in fact be anything from -/+ 2 kg!

Given my measurements, I'd say I could take off another kg and count -4? :)

So, since the beginning of my (almost) vegan diet, I lost -8 cm (!!!) in waistline, -2cm hips and -1,5 cm thighs (which is where I want to lose the most). I must say, I'm VERY pleased.

The occasional junk food gives me no problem. I'm mostly not hungry :) if I am, I just eat (or drink smoothies).

So, this morning I eat a cupcake or two, had my regular juice, no coffee and managed to convince my partner to accompany me to the town's market (I needed his strong hands to carry the goods!).

My oh my. I almost went in ecstasy. The fruit! The greens! The vegetables! We got home with like 10 kg of goods and minus 40 eur in the wallet! Half a pineapple and 2 pears = 5 eur. A bunch of bananas and 5 oranges = 5 Eur. 0,5 kg of pistachios = 5 eur. Do you get the idea?

Day 18 - Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

As it happened a day ago, had to ensure some sweets for cravings.

This time I decided for a combination I have never tried before. It's not like we're Americans and are constantly consuming peanut butter. I can't even decide if I like peanut butter (I mean, really like) or is it just... ok (?) on its own. But in a recipe? Any recipe?

It was almost my duty to give it a try, especially since the author wrote so highly of it.

CHOCOLATE PEANUT BUTTER CUPCAKES
serves: 16 units

Dry ingredients:

• 280 g flour
• 12 g baking powder
• pinch of salt
• 5 spoons of sugar
• 3 spoons of sifted powdered cocoa

Wet ingredients:

• 300 ml milk (dairy free)
• 1 ripe banana, mashed
• drop of vanilla extract
• 3 full spoons of peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 180°C & cover your cupcakes tins with cupcake baking papers.

In a bowl, combine the dry ingredients, mixing well.
In a separate bowl, combine the wet ingredients, mixing well with a whisk (I used a blender to blend the banana, soy milk & vanilla, then added the mixture by spoons to the peanut butter, mixing well until I got I nice smooth mixture and used all of the milk).
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, whisking away. If your mixture becomes too thick, just add more milk.
With a spoon, place the mixture in the cupcake tins. I usually use 2 spoons of mixture per tin.
Bake for cca. 20 minutes, then remove from oven and let the cupcakes cool before removing them from the tins.

If you're going to frost your cupcakes, make sure they cool off completely. I preffer mine non-frosted, so I just leave them as they are.

Day 18 - pizza

I'm just a bit late with this report. I had such a busy day yesterday that I found no time to blog at all. Funny thing is, if I didn't have it photographed, I would have even forgotten what was on the menu.

In fact, I can't remember my breakfast very well. I know there was 1 leftover croissant involved along with some orange juice, no coffee, cause I'm cutting it off these days... and maybe bread & marmalade. Yeah, I guess cause I was washing the marmalade container yesterday :)

Lunch was - again - pizza.

This is how you make pizza with different toppings. Cut in half the rolled dough and top each half with different toppings, making extra sure no salami or cheese comes to your side.

My toppings: zucchini, green bell pepper & corn, tomatoe sauce & oregano.
It's pizza. But a healthy version.

Day 17 - mini croissants with hazelnuts

In the afternoon I began craving something sweet. I just opened my The Joy of Vegan Baking when also the man asked "is there something sweet in the house?"

Of course! I jumped up and started investigating. He didn't want anything fruity. I was contemplating making Chocolate Peanut Butter Muffins (never done before), but he wanted something with nuts & cinnamon.

Alright then.

MINI CROISSANTS WITH HAZELNUTS
makes: 8 mini croissants

1 package of pre-made vegan pastry (about 200 g)
4-5 full spoons of ground hazelnuts
1 teaspoon vegan butter
2 flat spoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
vegan milk (soy, oat, hazelnut,...)

Take the vegan pastry and, if needed, flat it out. I had some rolled pastry which comes with baking paper, so I just opened the package & unrolled the pastry on a flat surface.

Cut your pastry in narrow triangles, making about 8 of them.

In a pan, melt the butter on low heat. Add ground hazelnuts and fry briefly, always on low heat. Add sugar to taste, cinnamon and just enough milk to achieve a spreadable paste. You don't want the spread to be too thin, cause it will flow out of your croissants. If the batch is too thin, add some more ground hazelnuts & maybe sugar to taste.

Spread the pastry triangles with the hazelnut paste, a thin layer is enough. If you run out of the spread, just make a new batch. Then, roll your triangles from the wider side to the narrower, don't bother with the paste being secured inside the pastry. If it's not too thin it will cause no problems. Place the croissants on a baking tray, covered with baking paper. Spread on top with some vegan butter (optional) and bake on 180°C for 15 - 20 minutes until the croissants turn golden brown.

If you want to save some for later, you better hide it!

Day 17 - nothing new

I've fallen into routine by now.
Breakfast: bread with some spread (chocolate Valsoia this time), strawberries (don't even ask how big my supply is) and lemonade for change (it only means I ran out of oranges or orange juice).

Lunch was the leftover cauliflower soup, some spinach & grain burgers. For recipes look at the top "Recipes", not a new dish. This time, I passed the potatoes and was still more than enough. Nice lunch, huh? :)

This time I cooked the spinach slightly less time and it showed in a greater amount of the final product (remember my 0,4 kg chard?) So I have plenty left, which will probably make for a spinach soup tomorrow.

About the burgers: I don't fry them in oil (such as french fries) but rather in a non-stick Teflon pan, so I only use like a drop of olive oil. Just clarifying it, cause the man teased me about my lunch having 50% fat. Not true. Full-stop.

For the afternoon I made me a yogurt smoothie (blueberry yogurt, banana, strawberries, lemonade) but was so full I only managed to consume like half of it.

In late afternoon I made lunch for the man of the house where I replaced the burgers with chicken and the spinach with salad. Oh my, did the chicken smell nice! I almost took a bite!

Day 16 - soup for dinner

Arriving home I inspected the content of my overstocked fridge. From the variety of veggies & fruit available I selected those that were closest to parishing.

Some leftover cauliflower that started to turn brown was my priority. I decided to make a rich soup for tomorrow, but when the full pot of soup was done cooking, I went ahead and served myself a dish with some toasted rye bread.

I already blogged about this soup here, and since this is a regular of mine (peas being the newest addition) I presume you'll heard about it a lot more in future. Starting tomorrow, since this is to be part of my lunch.

I'm done with food for today and have even abandoned thoughts on the green smoothie. But tomorrow is another day.

In other news, the past days I have noticed a real boom in my energy level. So much so that my body cannot follow my pace. I feel great, otherwise, and I haven't felt this great the whole winter and maybe beyond. No tiredness, full mind focus and with a will to turn the world upside down. Even my mornings, which usually take me a while to get going, are a head-on attack, and I'm not even consuming coffee these past days.

As I said, my body cannot compete just yet. From the cleaning process (I figure) I have an outburst of akne like in my pre-menstrual times (and no, I'm not there yet). I don't feel bloated or sick anymore (sometimes when still consuming meat I felt like throwing up, especially in the evenings). And when also these newest annoyances disappear I guess I'll just be unstoppable :))

At least the upper-right wisdom tooth hurts no longer.

Day 16 - eggs & yogurts

Yes, I had eggs today. Which is not vegan, but at least vegetarian. And still ok by my rules, of course :)
My aunt supplied me with a dozen of super fresh eggs. And I only consume these eggs because I know the hens & the feed they consume & where they live. And they are some happy hens.

I still crave for tuna today, so I wonder if there is some mineral that I am not getting on my diet or not enough protein (which leads me to think I would crave red meat, which I don't).

Anyway, I'm more on fluids today. So far at least. This was my snack & lunch:

Some hazelnuts, a regular strawberry-banana smoothie (more like shake, since I added some soy milk) and blueberry yogurt. I saved the apricot/passion fruit shake.

I'm thinking about dinner, but I have such a variety to choose from that I'll probably end up eating a sandwich.
Man, I should at least make me a green smoothie.

Day 15 - leftovers & tuna cravings

Whenever I'm visiting my parents, my mom always stocks up like there's 15 of us visiting and then insists I take everything that I don't eat there with me home.

It's a bit annoying, since I have to eat leftovers for the next 3 days.

And so today there was absolutely nothing worth photographing, documenting or sharing a recipe... cause I made nothing new.

Pancakes (leftovers) for breakfast.
Strawberry smoothie for snack.
Barley minestrone leftovers for lunch (with homemade bread she baked for me) & I threw in there a big spoon of powdered wheat sprouts.
An apple and soy yogurt for dinner.

Booring, I know :)
But I am done with leftovers now and tomorrow will perhaps bring some inspiration in the kitchen.

Today I had a bit of a crisis over a can of tuna. I LOVE canned tuna (that is, I only eat Rio Mare). I yearned for tuna today. It was really hard to resist and although I already told myself that cravings are allowed and not subject to explanation (see Rules on top), I really didn't want to give in.

And so far I'm still resisting, even though the urge is really strong.
I hope I make it.
Need to find something to snack on and occupy my thoughts, until it's too late to eat anymore.

Day 14 - nothing like home

So I'm finally home from visiting my parents. I don't know what is it with moms (and grandmothers, for that matter), but they always feed you like it's the end of the world. Which is - in my opinion - not the good approach, because in that case they should teach you how to eat minimum and learn to starve.

Anyway, I'm home, stuffed like a turkey on thanks-giving, my waistline +3 cm and the fridge full of leftovers, home made bread, vegetables and fresh fruit that I got from my favourite supplier.

In case of the end of the world, I think I'm gonna be just fine.

Tomorrow I will resume my usual reporting, along with photos and all. I think.

Oh yeah and one more thing: It's 2 weeks of vegan today. Hooray!

Day 14 - luxurious lunch

Still with my folks.
My mom prepared a real vegan fest.

Seitan in onion sauce, baked potatoes, spinach, fried cauliflower & some weird looking black algae that had no taste at all, so I just went with it and swallowed everything.

Oh my. Good thing I'm not living with my parents anymore. I'd gain like 10 kg in a month.

And I even passed the dessert - pancake with walnut cream sauce. Oh my. I just couldn't put anything in my belly anymore.

Good thing I'm going home tonight. I couldn't stand another day of such feeding :)

Day 13 - visiting

I'm spending the weekend with my folks and thus won't be writing and photographing that much.

Today on the menu:
- cereals, orange juice
- barley soup, coffee
- pancakes and the like :)

But, still (almost) vegan and liking it more and more.

Day 12 - gnocchi in tomatoe sauce

GNOCCHI IN TOMATOE SAUCE
serves: 2

500 g gnocchi
300 ml tomatoe sauce
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
1 spoon olive oil

In a pan heat the oil and add onions & garlic, fry briefly, then add a sprinkle of water and sautee until onions turn soft. Remove from pan, add to blender and blend it to a smooth sauce (if thick, add some water).

Reutrn to pan. Add tomatoe sauce, season well and cook on low heath for about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile heat about 2 l of salted water. When boiling, add the gnocchi, stir well and cook until the gnocchi float on top. Remove & drain.

Put your gnocchi on a plate and top with the tomatoe sauce.

Day 12 - Cauliflower & peas soup

CAULIFLOWER & PEAS SOUP
serves: 2

1/2 small cauliflower
1 cup peas
1 large carrot
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
0,5 - 0,7 l vegetarian stock
salt, pepper
other spices to taste (celery, red paprika,...)
1 spoon of olive oil

In a pan heat the oil. Fry onions & garlic, add a sprinkleof water and steam on low heath until the onions turn soft. Add carrots and sautee for another few minutes, then add the rest of the veggies (if your peas are really soft, you can add them at a later time, like 5 - 10 minutes before the soup is done), and the stock soup. Season to taste. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the cauliflower turns soft. Serve.

I added a few teaspoons of powdered wheat sprouts to my soup, for protein intake.

Day 12 - frutti smoothie

Due to the gross amount of junk food I consumed yesterday, this morning I put my new blender to good use and prepared a really large frutti smoothie, all for myself.

FRUTTI SMOOTHIE

4-6 strawberries
1 banana
1 kiwi
1 dcl water
0,5 dcl soy milk

Put everything in the blender and blend away!

That's 450 ml of smoothie goodie just for myself! And I used my "to-go" lid for a splash-free drinking time on the couch.

Good morning!

Day 11 - the food

I started the day with a simple breakfast (so many of them).

Rye bread with pumpkin seeds, soy margarine & apricot jam, juice, coffee and some fresh strawberries & kiwi.

I had a busy day and by 11 o'clock I was really hungry again.
So for lunch, I chose a cheese-less vegetarian pizza with zucchini, bell pepper, asparagus & fresh tomatoe. I ate the whole thing. I can't remember when was the last time I ate a whole pizza.
No picture since I was @ lunch with some business partners.

In the afternoon I finally got my remaining blender cups delivered, so - of course - it was smoothie time when I got home.

In go strawberries, a banana & some water. Out comes this delicious fresh smoothie:

I blended it really shortly, like 3 - 5 seconds, so the banana was still a bit chunky, but I don't mind that. So just when I was half done with my smoothie, the man of the house returned from work and drank all that I wasn't quick enough to drink. Damn.

We then quickly rushed to the movies to see Rango (yeah, I'm a sucker for such movies & we laughed the whole time), which means it was popcorn time & pepsi. I do believe I didn't get my half of the popcorn since I'm slower to eat these days due to my aching tooth.

And that meant that at 9 pm when the movie ended, I was still hungry and - sadly - indulged in McDonald's fries (although the fries were delicious, I was originally going for the veggie burger).

Shame on me.
And that proves that yes, you can be vegan on junk food, too.
Detox tomorrow.

Day 11 - quick update

Yey! Still going strong on my vegan quest! :)

I'm off to a Friday's Movie night now so perhaps I'll blog about my day (and meals) later on.

But just a quick SUPER news today: my blender is finally complete! I got my 2 large cups personally delivered from the importer (how cool is that?) so I already washed everything and - impatient as I am - tried my first smoothie (banana & strawberries).

YUM!

10-day challenge recapitulation

10 days (almost) vegan.
Got a few eggs and 2 donuts (eggs & milk). No meat.
Valid under my rules :)

-3 kg
-6 cm waistline
-1 cm hips

Success, I dare say.
Let's try with 30 days now.

Day 10 - closing

It's 21:29, last day of my (almost) vegan challenge.

I made it. And not just made it, loved every step on the way. So much so, I am staying vegan. But in order to "have a goal", I'm embarking now on a 30-day vegan challenge. How great does that sound? :)

I still have many vegan recipes I want to try that haven't made the menu.

Today it's thursday, so wiener schnitzel  time at work... but I had a lovely vegetarian plate with soy burgers, fries, rice, zucchini, eggplants, green pepper and tomatoes. Yes, the plate was huge! I sadly left like half of the food untouched and still felt full at dinner time, so I got a soy yogurt & piece of the banana cake (it's just so good!).

So, no food today anymore. The challenge was a complete success and am looking forward to the upcoming days, meals & menus.

Another semi-great (?) news today. A package.

Could it be my blender? For real? Let's open it:

Uh... huh?

Oh!
One, two, three, four cups.
What?
One, two, three, four cups.
FOUR?!
..
Oh NO!
It's not MY blender! Because MY blender should consist of 6 cups!
:(

A quick call to the shop solved nothing, cause it was already 6pm. My only hope left is that they will send me my 2 extra cups tomorrow and (if I am lucky) I receive them sometime next week, and -if I am lucky, which apparently I am not - I get to use the other cups meanwhile.

But of course, until I hear from the shop, I cannot use the blender, at all.
And I paid 120 EUR for this joke.
I repacked the whole thing and hid it from view, so I don't get upset everytime I see the package.

I mean, if I don't get the cups or if I need to send the blender back in order to get MY blender, ... me is going to become one really unpleased customer. And nobody wants me as an unpleased costumer, believe me. Not when I pay 120 eur for the goods.

Day 10 - breakfast celebration

Reaching the 10-day goal successfully does call for a little celebration, doesn't it?

Breakfast this morning was a bit festive with the help of my banana cake (that went along well with the fruit).

With my tooth still aching I haven't had the wish to plan anything for lunch, so I might just consider eating out today - and hopefully still vegan.

Bah, not a good day. It's snowing outside, freezing, my tooth aching and I have really a lot of talking to do at work today and if even my blender doesn't arrive today, I'll just call it a day at 4 pm and go to bed.

How's that for a plan.

Day 9 - banana cake

Take 3 ripe bananas that were awaiting the arrival of the blender that never showed.
And take one hungry (almost) vegan girl at dinner time.
Smoothie is a no-go, she needs something more.
Something like this:

BANANA CAKE
serves: 1 smaller "cake", feeds about 4 for dessert

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

In a bowl mix:
200 g flour
1 baking powder
pinch of salt
4-5 table spoons sugar

In a separate bowl mix:
80 ml oil or melted vegan margarine
3 ripe bananas, mashed
a touch of water or soy milk, if needed
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients, stir to mix. Pour the batter in a greased baking tin or other shape and bake 35 minutes until golden brown, Check by inserting a toothpick into the center - if it comes out clean, the cake is ready.

Great for breakfast, too.

Day 9 - Spaghetti bolognese

Today (actually yesterday, since I made the sauce last night) I put to use the minced soy I got stocked in my fridge. To say I was pleased with the result was an understatement. Actually, it was almost like the real deal!

SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE with peas & carrots
serves: 3-4

bolognese sauce:
1 spoon olive oil
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
1 can tomatoes (cca. 400 g)
cca. 200 g minced soy for bolognese sauce
1 large carrot, sliced
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
1 teaspoon flour
water
salt & pepper
ginger, celery, red paprika, chili & other spices to taste

Take a large iron-cast sauce pan. Heat the olive oil and when hot, add onions. Fry for a few minutes until the onion turn a bit soft. Add garlic, fry for a minute, then add a bit of water and sautee for about 5 minutes or until the veggies turn really soft and light brown. Remove from heat and blend into a thick sauce.

Add back to pan, add tomatoe sauce, mix well and cook for about 15 - 20 minutes, until the water slightly evaporates and the whole sauce thickens.

In a cup, mix flour with a bit of water so as to create a thick paste. Reduce with water (at least 1 dcl). Pour into the tomatoes, mix, add carrots and cook for about 10 minutes.

In another pan, heat a spoon of oil and then add the minced soy, stirring and frying for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and add the soy to the tomatoe sauce. Add peas, season to taste, mix well and cook another 10 - 15 minutes.

You can now serve the sauce with spaghetti or gnocchi, refrigerate it overnight for lunch or store it in freezer for later use.

Day 9 - the end is near

So, day 9 today. Tomorrow is the final day of my challenge and I am pretty pleased with the outcome. And yes, I will keep my vegan diet, cause... it just feels right. And will keep this blog too, maybe renaming it.

I still have troubles with breakfast. Maybe if I stopped snuggling in bed in the morning and dedicated more time to the menu that wouldn't be such a problem. Anyway, bread (baguette this time) & marmalade again. Yeah, I know. Dull.

Lunch was cooked and taken care of, but because I was not sure I would actually make it home for lunch time, I packed some fruit (kiwi, strawberries, banana) and a soy yogurt in my lunchbox. I devoured it.

I actually managed to get home at 4.30 pm, finally got my lunch (next post) and then, stuffed, sleepy & tired, made a trip to the post office to retire my latest (and final!) vegan cookbook.

But man, still no sign of my blender?! Can't believe it takes longer for a delivery across town than from UK?!
So, no blending today. Gotta find some other use for those ripe bananas.

Another shopping spree

I ran out of my Provamel yogurts and in order to buy the flavours I enjoy, I needed a trip to the other side of my town to an organic store (that is accidentally the supplier for our market).

The last time I was there, it was not a pretty experience for my wallet. Needless to say, this time it was worse. Since I don't go to that store daily, I need to stock up when I do visit. So, yogurts, cream, soy milk where in abundunce, but I also tried a tofu wiener schnitzel (ha ha) and some minced tofu that is being cooked right now as part of my lunch tomorrow as some kind of bolognese sauce with peas and carrots. Need to stock up on proteins.

Speaking of proteins, I put a hold on my quest for hemp protein powder for now, and instead bought some nutritional yeast, some powdered wheat sprouts and hemp seeds. Gosh, I can't imagine actually consuming any of those (and I have the least problem with hemp seeds, since I have been eating it in hemp chocolate), but I just can't imagine mixing it in smoothies (?!) or sprinkling over sauce (?!). Anyway, I just made sure there was plenty of protein in there, I'll deal with flavors later.

In other news, my blender should be arriving tomorrow, which means we'll be blending away tomorrow! I've stocked up on bananas & strawberries, so I'm fully ready.

Day 8 - vegetarian wok rice

This is actually one of the dishes I like to eat best. Besides Chinese fried noodles, this is one of my top 5 dishes.

No wonder I ate like a whole wok of it for lunch today :)

Anyway, I adore cooking in wok. It's super fast, the goods really maintain the flavors... and it is a bit of fun, too. The one thing to keep in mind is: prepare the food you're going to use before you start cooking. Woking is like formula 1 in cooking. While woking, believe me, you will not have time to do anything else.

So just chop your veggies ahead, heat your wok and you're good to go!

VEGETARIAN WOK RICE
serves: 1 really hungry

1 spoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves chopped garlic
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 cup red cabbage
1-2 cups leftover rice
salt, pepper
ginger, parsley, red paprika
light soy sauce to taste
1 spoon of sesame oil
1 cup Chinese cabbage

1 egg (by choice)

Heat olive oil in a large wok on high temperature. Gas or fire works best for woking. When hot, add onions and stir fry for about a minute. Then proceed to adding garlic and carrots, stir frying all the way. If needed, add a sprinkle of water to steam the veggies for a minute or so. When the water evaporates, you can add your beaten egg (if using) - first move the veggies to the side of the wok, creating a space in the middle, pour your egg and scramble it.

Then, add red cabbage, stir fry. Add rice, stir fry and season well. Add also soy sauce and sesame oil. Stir fry, add Chinese cabbage, mix well.

And you're done! Serve hot, but it's also yummy on room temperature or a bit chilled.

Day 8 - first week completed

Today it's one week since I went vegan. I'm almost done with my 10-day challenge, but, guess what. Yes, I have made the decision to continue vegan, as long as I will feel comfortable doing it.

The desire to eat meat decreases by the day. Various salami and sausages still sound appealing, but I'm fighting the aromas.

I have one concern about my lifestyle and that is - will I get enough protein? Not being a big fan of beans & legumes (but I'm working on it!) I might find that a bit of a challenge. That is why I am contemplating - for a while at least - consuming hemp protein powder that is said to be a wonder. For a price of 17 EUR per 0,4 kg it should be.

I am having kind of a toothache since yesterday (I guess is just my 8th tooth growing at a pace of a snail) so this morning I voted for ... drum-roll... baby food!

Some kind of powdered cereals with chocolate & hazelnuts that happens to be vegan, though not too healthy. Needless to say, one hour later I'm already beginning to feel hungry again, but I have a yogurt and a banana with me and I have an early lunch today. So I think I'll be just fine :)

Note to self: do not consume coffee after 6 pm again!

ps: -2 kg