Christmas Drink #7 - Coconut Cinnamon Milk

Drink #7 - Coconut Cinnamon Milk

I love the taste of coconut.
But when I eat it part of my inner being is very aware of the large amount of saturated fat in contains!
Here is a great coconutty drink without any guilt!

Whisk together :
250ml soymilk
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon coconut essense

YUM

So smooth & such a lovely coconut flavour! Perfect movie-sipping if you ask me!

This is lovely to have either warmed or cool.
My preference is cooled - but perhaps that's just because its been quite warm here lately!
Also nice with a shot of rum if desired!

Christmas Creations

Here's some more Christmas pictures to get your creative juices flowing!
I post these pictures to give you some ideas of things you can do! I hope they encourage you to get creative!
This will possibly be the last of my 'Christmas creations' that I'll post as I don't have too much left that I plan to do before the big day!

A collection of food I've made recently:

Reindeer cupcakes

Christmas tree chocolate chip cookies with no-egg royal icing

Christmas tree waffles - I want to make this for our Christmas breakfast! 

Here's an advent calendar that I sewed - little pockets, like decorations for each day to put our Santa hat in!

And a Christmas set that I designed and sewed for my daughter!

I want one in grown-up size!!!

 

There's just one more week til Christmas day!


I LOOOOOOOOOOOVE Christmas time soooooooo much! 


I look at our tree and it makes me smile - there truly is something that feels so joyful about seeing a decorated tree for me!






But I also think it's really important to remember the true meaning of Christmas so I'll leave you with this thought.....



Something to remember..... 

This is the hushed and holy season.

 

When we leave the confusion of our busy world.

 

To seek a star, and a stable, and a manger.

 

 

 

End of my Unprocessed Challenge!

So Sunday ended my unprocessed challenge!

I can't say that I was completely unprocessed the whole time. The first 6 weeks I was, but the last couple of weeks I have stuck to unprocessed meals, but allowing snacks of rice crackers & other such nibbles that are somewhat processed.


I'm pleased that I could largely stick to this challenge, and feel like its made a positive difference in the way I view food.
It has made me realise how little processed foods I generally eat anyway!

That said, Monday morning I had raisin toast with fig jam & strawberries on it for breakfast! hehehe & I can't wait til our family BBQ at the end of the week when I'll have some Veggie Sausages! I don't mind a treat every now & then!


The last 2 weeks I have relied heavily on frozen leftovers, making bigger batches & fall back easy meals. I have also been going out a lot for meals - I think that comes with this time of year!

Here's the last collection of unprocessed meals that I'll be sharing for a while!

Soaked oats with raisins

Carrot salad with bean burgers & oil-free home fries.

Spinach chocolate smoothie

This is an example of the most processed that any of my meals have been: Canned baked beans with store-bought bread!

Bread bean pies with corn    

Chick peas with spinach on mash

Stir fry

Potato salad with chick peas, spinach & home-made tofu sour 'creme'

Corn pasta with lentils and spinach!
Still undecided if pasta is processed or not!!!!

Christmas Drink #6 - Sparkling Gingered Apple Juice

Drink #6 - Sparkling Gingered Apple Juice

Here's a great festive drink that you can serve either alcholic or non-alcoholic. 
I decided that I would make a drink that had a slight resemblance to ginger beer but wasn't actually ginger beer as I don't like it at all!

I LOVE this mixture - it has the perfect balance of enough tang & spice to make a fantastic drink - but without any bitterness! 
What a great Christmas treat!

To make 1 litre:                                                To make 1 cup:

1 litre sparkling apple juice                                   250ml sparkling apple juice
1 lime, juiced & zest removed                               1/4 lime, juiced & zest removed
1 teaspoon ground ginger                                   1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Mix the ginger & lime juice into the apple juice & whisk until the ground ginger has dissolved. This will form a froth on the top.

Pour into glasses and serve topped with lime zest.

To make alcoholic - simply add a shot of apple schnapps!

Product Review: Betty Bossi Veggie Twister

I think in any kitchen where some fun is needed then a spiralizer is needed also!I didn't want to spend too much money on one, so I did some hunting around & found this Betty Bossi one that wasn't too expensive.

Here's my review and also some instructions on how it works.

Pros:

• I love how easy it is to use

• Goes in the dishwasher - or easy to handwash

• 2 shapes of noodles - which I love

• Inexpensive

• Doesn't take up a lot of cupboard space

Cons: 

•  Having to un-wind it is a bit annoying

• Can't use it for thick vegetables at all (they won't fit in the case itself)

• Small part of the vegetable is leftover and can't really be used with the spirals (not a huge issue, to be honest - I usually just eat it!)

• Only thing I find frustrating about it is having to unwind it to put the next piece in.

 

How it works:

The twister is comprised of 3 parts. 

The two dark green parts slide into the light green part, which makes for compact storage.









The 2 dark green parts are for the different types of noodles.

Either wide, like thick rice noodles, or stringy, like spaghetti.








Cut the end off your desired vegetable. Chop in half & position one half on the spikes at the end of the light green part to hold it in place.


Cover the vegetable with the dark green part of choice, and twist until the noodles begin to press out.
 




Continue to turn the light green compartment until it is all the way down, pressed against the dark green compartment as shown below.



That is when you have to re-wind the whole thing again before you can insert the other half of the vegetable to twist that also!

A small part of the vegetable will be leftover & cannot be spiralized with the rest.

It makes fantastic noodles & spaghetti!

Best of all - it is dishwasher safe! Anything I don't have to wash up is good! ;-)

Here's some of my recipes using the spiralizer:
          Lentil bolognese
          Zucchini fettucini
          Pumpkin cheeze sauce

Overall Rating: 4/5
Definitely worth getting one if you'd like to try out a spiralizer without spending too much & don't have the cupboard space for a larger one.

I got mine from Victorias Basement, they are also available online at Amazon.

Christmas Drink #5 - Christmas Spiced Mocha

 Drink #5 - Christmas Spiced Mocha

You didn't think I was going to leave coffee off the drinks list did you??
Coffee is very close to my heart!

This is the perfect way to enjoy your coffee and make it feel like a real celebration!
Surprise your guests when they pop over with this wonderful spice-mix :-)


You'll need:

hazelnut flavour coffee (you can use plain but the hazelnut flavour just adds a wonderful aroma & taste to this mix)
150-200ml plant-milk
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch ground cloves

Warm the coffee machine for about 15 minutes before using.
Place the cocoa powder in a mug & then run your coffee on top of the cocoa. Stir to combine. Add the cinnamon, ginger & cloves. Stir well.

Froth the milk & pour on top of the coffee-spice mixture. 
Sprinkle with cinnamon or cocoa.

Don't have a coffee machine? Use a plunger & a milk frother instead! :-)

Serve with treats of course ;-) 

WIAW - 2nd week of December!

Welcome to another week of what-i-ate-wednesday! 

It's nearly Christmas! Are you feeling the mad rush start to get to you yet?

I relied on leftover a lot today - fairly standard for my Wednesday really!

Breakfast was bluberry 'yogurt' with oats! One of my favs!

Lunch was a wrap with leftover Mexican spiced black beans.

Afternoon snacks were fruit salad and a few crackers.

Dinner I went to a friends place where a heap of people gathered for a Christmas celebration. I had taken some polenta & red kidney bean stew but being the social butterfly that I am was so busy chatting & enjoying company that I completely forgot to take a picture! Doh - that is 2 weeks in a row now! lol
So, as a replacement picture for dinner, I have included the gift that I scored in the Secret Santa! 
I don't know if there is an official name for when you just pick a gift out of the sack & then another person can 'steal' the gift or not?!? But that is how it worked! I originally had picked out a French cookbook! Was a little disappointed when it got picked from me, but I don't think this is too bad either! Can't wait to put some nice family pics in these for our coffee table :-)

Hope you have a great Hump Day everyone?
How many days left of work for you all?
My last day of work is next Wednesday! Hanging out for my 2 week break!