Pumpkin, Tomato and Mixed Bean Soup

Although I usually think of November as weather that is starting to warm up, we are sure still having plenty of cold and rainy days here at the moment. So I figured that's a good enough reason to have soup! I'm sure many of you on the other side of the world appreciate soup for this time of year anyway as you're heading into the cooler months!
Pumpkin soup is always delicious, but this one is made even tastier with the addition of some beans and a hint of curry.

Pumpkin, Tomato and Mixed Bean Soup 

You'll need:

1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
500g pumpkin
1 carrot
1 small sweet potato
2 cups veggie stock
2 tins 400g diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons lime juice
1 generous Tablespoon curry powder
2 tins mixed beans



Chop and saute the onion and garlic in a large pot using a little amount of stock.
Chop the veggies (peeling the pumpkin), place into the pot and bring to the boil with the remaining stock. Once boiling, simmer until veggies are soft.
Add tomatoes and use a stick blender to blend til desired consistency, either with a few chunky pieces remaining or til completely smooth - whatever is your preference.
Add the drained beans and spices. Return to heat and simmer til warmed through.
Serve with fresh herbs or croutons.

Question of the day:
Do you only eat soup during the cooler months, or also during the warmer months?

Kids Lunchbox Club - Salted Bean Snack

My daughter's latest obsession for morning tea break:

SALTED BEAN SNACK

It seems that she just can't get enough of these lately! 

I'm just glad that she is enjoying healthy food so much!
She calls these "green chips" - far better option than 'chips' if you ask me!

Simply top and tail a large handful of beans, place them in a microwave safe dish with just enough water to cover them. 1-2 minutes in the microwave depending on how crisp you like them to be.
Drain, place in a cool coffee mug (the kids will love that!) and crack some sea salt over the top!


Sometimes simple things really are the most satisfying!

What's something really simple that you enjoy eating?

Filo Fillers

Confession time:
I've had this post sitting in my drafts folder since February.... waiting for me to re-do the recipes and take better pictures. However, since filo pastry is such a rare treat in our home it hasn't happened! And we have refined our diet even more in the last few months so the chances of filo making a re-appearance are now even more rare than previously!
So you'll just have to trust me when I say that even though the pictures are not the greatest, that each of these is totally delicious!!!!!

Filo Fillers - Tasty Pastry Options

There is something tremendously comforting for me about rolling up filo pastry. 
I don't really know what it is..... 
Perhaps it's having to be so tender so the pastry doesn't tear.
Perhaps it's experimenting with the many different types of fillings. 
Perhaps it's the excitement of feeling like we're having something a little bit fancy for dinner even though it's really easy to make.
Perhaps it's the fun of brushing over them knowing that their pale skin is going to come out brown and blistered when it's baked.
Perhaps it's just knowing they are a real treat....

Whatever it is, I recommend you try these fillings! 
And be sure to let me know if you find rolling filo pastry just as comforting as I do!!!

Although they reheat well, the pastry is never quite the same as when they are fresh from the oven. 

For each of these recipes I will give quantities to make 4-5 pastries depending on how generous you are with your fillings.
The instructions are the same for each filling - just different ingredients are used. 
I recommend using 2-3 sheets to roll each pastry. I find that using just one sheet will tear and/or get soggy. And no-one like a soggy bottom ;-) 


Basic Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl. 


Place approximately a 1/2 cup of the filling onto 2-3 sheets of the filo pastry in the center and roll the pastry up, being sure to tuck the ends in to minimalise leakage. 





Place on a lined baking tray and brush with plant milk. 

Bake in a preheated 200C oven for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Tomato and Bean Filo Rolls
4 chopped fresh tomatoes
1 tin drained borlotti beans
1 teaspoon salsa spice mix

Curried Pumpkin Filo Rolls
1/4 small pumpkin - cut into cubes and cooked til tender
1 tin 4 bean mix, drained
1/2 cup corn kernels
1 zucchini, chopped and cooked
1 teaspoon curry powder

Potato and Pea Filo Triangles
2 cups mashed potato
1/2 cup frozen peas, cooked
1 teaspoon Rogan Josh spice blend

(I boil the potatoes and peas together to make life easier. I also like to wrap these ones into triangle shapes just to be different!)

(This is an example of what happens if you overlook the milk-brushing part, still delicious but the pastry ends up really dry.)

Question of the day:
Do you use filo pastry?
What are some of your favourite fillers?

Mexican Lunch Muffins

With Term 3 starting back this week, my daughter is missing her warm lunches that she got on holidays. She asked me to share this recipe.
Created by herself, it's a simple meal that she can easily make while Mummy is working from home.
So here you have it, Miss Vegans favourite school holiday lunch.

MEXICAN LUNCH MUFFINS

What you need:
Wholemeal English Muffin
Mild Salsa
Avocado
Refried beans from a can
Tofutti "Cheese" Slices

Split the muffin in half and toast it in a toaster.
Spread the muffin with the salsa, avocado and refried beans.
Put a slice of tofutti on top and then bake it in the oven until the cheese is melted.
Serve warm.

Question of the day:
Are there any simple little meals that your school age children can make themselves without needing your help?

Fallback food: Easy Mexe-Pasta

We all have those days when we walk in the door after work and need dinner on the table in less than half an hour. 
In fact, sometimes that happens more often than not in our busy lives.
Here's a super easy meal to fall back on for those days:

Easy Mexe-Pasta

 

You'll need:
pasta of choice
canned mexican bean mix
bag of baby spinach leaves
salsa spice mix of choice 




 


Bring a large pot of water to the boil and cook the pasta for the recommended time.
Drain the pasta and return to the pot along with the mexican beans, spinach and spice. 
Stir over low heat until warmed through and spinach has wilted.

Serve sprinkled with nutritional yeast.

You can adjust the quantity of ingredients as needed.
To serve 3, I used 250g pasta, 160g spinach, 1 can mexican beans and 1 teaspoon salsa spice mix.


I have discovered a new range of spice mixes! They are from an Australian Company called "Your Inspiration at Home". They make amazing products that add a wonderful taste to food and are super easy to use. They offer a HUGE range of spice blends, dip mixes, chocolate powders, baking spices, flavoured sugars and salts, along with tea and coffee. All the products have no added preservatives, MSG, gluten, or anti-caking agents. That means no numbers or letters! A big tick in my opinion!
If you'd like more information about these products and how to purchase them contact me on this facebook page.

Christmas meal and using leftovers

Sorry I didn't post this sooner after Christmas. I have been enjoying spending time with my family whilst we are on a break from work and school! 

I guess I feel like this post isn't really about a traditional 'Christmas meal' as such, but more about using up leftovers - regardless of what they are left-over from! Its about finding different ways to use what you have, instead of just reheating it and eating it.... again!

And also to share a few salad recipes that I love, which are quick & easy to make when large family gatherings require a variety of dishes! 

Let me start by sharing a picture of our Christmas dinner table:

As I saw it all sitting there it truly felt wonderful! Such healthy food! I love being able to host eating occasions and Christmas is no exception to the rule!

A huge range of salads always makes me smile!

I have mentioned before that I'm a huge fan of this couscous salad from PCRM.
It's really delicious and seems to be like equally by omni's and herbies.
 
 





 


A garden salad never goes astray! I love to add fresh basil leaves from our garden and I love the added colour that a red onion gives. 

I really enjoy making a rice salad too. 
I'm a big brown rice fan so I enjoy turning it into a sweet salad.

Here's how:
Simply combine
2 packets microwave brown rice
2 chopped spring onions
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup seed mix (pumpkin & sunflowers seeds and pine nuts) 
2 teaspoons dried cumin
1 teaspoon  dried coriander
juice of one orange

Serve with the zest from the orange.
 

We made veggie kebabs for the BBQ which worked out way better than I was expecting! I enjoyed them even with the tomato!!! The veggies cooked really well and they were very tasty, even without oil or any dressing/marinade.
Corn pieces on the BBQ always work out exceptionally well too.





















There were quite a few kebab sticks leftover.
So I just used a fork to remove the vegetable pieces and warmed them in the microwave. Added them to leftover garden salad along with some dressing I had made to be a 'leftovers lunch'.

 Another PCRM recipe that I regularly make is this three bean salad (I just use whatever canned beans I have on hand, picture shows butter beans and a four bean mix).

The leftovers from the bean salad turned into a pasta meal for our family.

I just boiled some pasta and added the salad along with 1/2 cup tomato paste.

Super simple meal but totally delicious!

I also made my carrot salad recipe, just with the added addition of a grated apple too. This salad is quite sweet which makes it great for getting children used to enjoying some salads.

Leftovers also make wonderful carrot cake simply by combining wholemeal self-raising flour, a flax egg and some soymilk to the salad!!! ;-)

I made 3 kilograms of spiced wedges!
Clearly I over-catered when it provided our family with a whole other meal. Though, I'm grateful for that really! We LOVE potato nachos!
Our toppings were the leftover carrot, peas and corn mix with refried beans and salsa!

Super easy and tasty meal :-)

This brings me to the last salad I'm sharing today.
Mexican salad. One of my favourites lately. 
Lettuce, red kidney beans, tomatoes, capsicum, corn, spring onion and avocado. Topped off with home-made tofu sour cream.

It makes a great fresh burrito filling!

Particularly nice on warm days when a heated filling isn't necessary.

I can't finish this post without mentioning dessert of course!
Chocolate coconut whipped cream with dark chocolate shavings.
Everyone loves this and its so super quick & easy to make.
A few cans of coconut cream left in the fridge overnight. Scoop out the top thickened layer being careful not to add the water below. Whip the cream using beaters. I add Your Inspiration at Home chocolate powder but cocoa powder works too.

I was so very very pleased with how well my trifle worked out.
I made a basic vanilla cake (like this cake minus the cocoa), whole and blended raspberries, made soymilk custard and assembled them in layers. Topped with fresh berries to make a delicious vegan trifle :-)
Everyone agreed it was super yummy!
 
And I don't think you need to know how to use up leftover dessert! You just EAT IT! ;-)

Question of the day:
Do you enjoy eating leftovers? Do you re-purpose them or just reheat and serve how it originally was? 

WIAW - Trade

I'm sure by now you know that on Wednesdays I have oats for breakfast, salad for lunch and soup for dinner! Today I also enjoyed snacking on these delicious pumpkin cookies from Kari @ Bite-Sized Thoughts:

Try them - you won't be disappointed!

So this week instead of showing you yet another What-I-Ate-Wednesday, I decided I would trade Wednesday for the weekend (same letter after all so I can still call it WIAW)!
That's because we went camping last weekend!
How is it that something so simple can be so fun & relaxing....???

I love going away camping (when its not too long).

I thought I'd share with you our camping stew.

This is such a great meal to prepare when you don't have your full kitchen available & especially in cooler months. 
Its very easy to transport the food needed for this stew too.
I pre-chopped all our vegetables at home before we left just to make it easier.

Camping Stew
 
3 medium potatoes
1 zucchini
1 carrot
1 onion
1/2 chili
1 tin butter beans
1 large tin diced tomatoes
Sprinkling of italian herbs

Chop all vegetables.
Put all ingredients in a large pot. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 40 mins. 

Serve with fresh crusty bread.

 Sit in front of the fire and enjoy your steamy stew!

Now for camping breakfast:

Soaked oats! This was too easy.

We boiled water in our billy. Poured it over the oats and left their lids on for 5ish minutes. Then added apple sauce, raisins and cinnamon.

Delicious warm camping breakfast!

Is it just me or do the oats on the left remind you of the 3 bears??? ;-)

Question of the day:

Do you have certain meals that you always eat when you go camping?

Potato and kale stew

I love a meal that is easy to prepare but also very satisfying. 
I must admit that I don't mind a bit of chopping and stirring - that is my idea of relaxed cooking. This stew is exactly that! :-)

You'll need:
4 potatoes
half bunch of kale (approx 5-6 stems)
1 zucchini
1 can butter beans
4 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon stock powder
3 cups water
1/4 cup tomato paste


Chop the potatoes into rough 1-2cm cubes - no need to peel them though I do recommend giving them a brush first!
Chop the zucchini into slices.
Remove the leaves from the kale stems. 
Drain the butter beans.
Place all these ingredients into a large stock pot.
Crush the garlic over the veggies, add the stock powder and pour the water over the top. You may need more water depending on the pot size - you need enough to just cover the vegetables but not drown them. 
Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and leave to simmer with the lid on for 20 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste and serve. 
You may want to add some fresh herbs to serve :-) I recommend parsley.

This is my contribution to Healthy Vegan Friday for the week.
You can add your recipe at these blogs:
carrie on vegan                    veggie nook                    greenthickies