Breakfast snails

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Cashew -raisins snails

Cashew -raisins snails

Ingredients:

  • 1 pre-rolled puff pastry
  • 50g dry raisins
  • 2 teaspoons sugar
  • 200g cashew butter (or smooth peanut butter)
  • Vegetable oil for the baking tray

 

Cashew -raisins snails ingredients

Cashew -raisins snails ingredients

Method:

Preheat the oven at 180°C.

Measure 50ml water and dilute the 2 teaspoons of sugar in it. Now add the raisin and soak for 1 hour, then drain and pat dry. Set aside.

If the butter you are using is slightly hard place it in the oven for a few minutes to soften then, kneed with the back of a spoon or a spatula to make as creamier and as spreadable as soft butter.

Unroll the puff pastry on a flat surface but, keep it on its baking paper.  Spread on it
the soften cashew butter then sprinkle on top the now drained raisins and roll the pastry length ways. (follow the sequence in pictures below)

HJ Cashew -raisins snailsHJ Cashew -raisins snailsHJ Cashew -raisins snailsHJ Cashew -raisins snails
Now, using a very sharp knife, cut the pastry every 1.5 cm then squash each of them with the palm of the hand and place them on a lightly oiled baking tray.

HJ Cashew -raisins snailsHJ Cashew -raisins snailsHJ Cashew -raisins snails

Cashew -raisins snails

Cashew -raisins snails

Place in the oven to bake for 12 minutes at 180°C.

Leave to coll for few minutes before serving.  Enjoy!

Breakfast and elevenses

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Making cranberry & mint jam

Making cranberry & mint jam

The mid-morning is usually when I reach out for  a chocolate bar. So, whenever possible, I pack with my lunch pack a some crackers and jam or a yogurt to help me restart after 10-11am.

mid morning snack Cranberry jam and cracker

mid morning snack Cranberry jam and cracker

If you’ve got left over fruits, make a quick jam, that way you won’t waste them. Sever on a [piece of toast my cranberry jam and crackers make a great snack!

Rye bread and peanut butter

Rye bread and peanut butter

A great snack would be toasted Rye bread with peanut butter served with ginger & lime tea.

Other fantastic idea for snack would simply be, fresh fruits, raw not, or boiled peanuts.

 

The best breakfast for me is porridge! It keeps you filled up for longer…

Morning porridge for 1

  • 4 table spoons porridge mix (I make my own mix out of dray raisins, chopped peanuts, pumpkin seeds
  • 100ml soy milk
  • 1 kiwi
My porridge mix

My porridge mix

Method:

Mix the milk and the porridge stir and place in the microwave for 2 minutes. Take the bowl out, stir and place it back in the microwave for a further 1 minute.

Finish it by topping with peeled and chopped porridge. The fruit will provide just the right amount of sweetness needed.

Serve as suggested.

HJ's preferred BF

Enjoy!

 

Check out the next post t see my morning breakfast ‘Snails’. x

Hello February!

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Nutty Pain aux raisins

Nutty Pain aux raisins

January is well and truly over and so are for most of us the good resolutions for 2016!

Did you managed to give up chocolate, wine, meat or dairy for 99% of the time? How about 50% of the time or even 25% of the time during January? Build up on that!

You have probably discovered like me that you are not addicted to coffee, but just like it. You have discovered that eating meat and dairy free meal is an eye opener… how about those new exercises?

What are you going to do to build up on? What you have learnt? For me, I will be building up on my racket sports and have just signed up for a 6 week tennis course. I will consume less coffee and buy less chocolate bars.

To help you build up on the January resolution to eat less meat and dairies, I will be posting for you here few ideas for snacks that are meat & dairy free, suitable for vegan and also breakfast ideas.

Porridge and fruits

Porridge and fruits

For February, you can decide to replace at least one meal/snack a day with a healthy option or even sugar and dairy free… I have decided to make 2016 my healthiest year yet and continuing with my daily 30 minutes Pilates… How about you?

Since this webpage is all about being on budget, all the suggestions will be as cheap as I can find or make it.

Thank you for checking in…

Please do post your comments below.

Happy New year for the last time. x

#Veganuary salad – Caramelised Tofu salad

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Caramelised Tofu salad

Caramelised Tofu salad

Caramelised Tofu salad

Serves 2 as mains or 4 as a starter

  • 70g wild rocket – washed

    Salad components

    Salad components

  • 150g beansprouts – blanched & drained
  • 200g tofu – fried in caramelised sugar
  • 2 fresh tomatoes – Cut and de-seeded.
  • Teaspoon of Sesame seeds

For the vinaigrette

  • 3 tablespoons mustard oil
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 generous pinch of ground ginger

    Prepping the tofu

    Prepping the tofu

  • ½ teaspoon of caster sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • ½ small red chilli – very finely chopped
  • Garlic granules

 

Prep:

Tofu sticks

The tofu is sold as a block that will need to be cut and fried. Use the DragonFly pressed tofu as they are much tastier and absorb flavours.

Just cut as in the picture. Rub with salt and ground ginger. In a hot pan, add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil with 1 teaspoon of sugar. Leave the sugar to brown slightly. Then add the tofu sticks and swirl to allow the sugar to coat the sticks. Allow 1 minute for each side to crisp before turning them from side to side.

Once that is done, set aside and prepare the other components of the salad.

The vinaigrette. In a small jar with a lid, add: mustard oil, soy sauce, ground ginger, caster sugar, salt, garlic granules, and chilli. Shake well to combine. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Mixing bowl

Mixing bowl

Caramelised Tofu salad

Caramelised Tofu salad

Now into a large bowl, add: rocket, sprouts, tomatoes and toss. Add the tofu sticks, sesames seeds drizzle the vinaigrette, serve & enjoy!

See the original post on my vegan blog here.

#Veganuary soup – Beetroots red pepper and mustard

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Beetroots red pepper & mustard soup

Beetroots red pepper & mustard soup

Beetroots red pepper and mustard soup

Serves 3

  • 4 small precooked beetroots
  • 1 big red sweet pepper
  • A hand full of fresh coriander
  • 1 small red onion
  • 1 tea spoon wholegrain mustard
  • Salt
  • Mustard oil

Method:

Peel the outer layer of the beetroots, rinse and roughly chop. Do the same for the onion, cut the sweet pepper and the coriander. Rinse all and place in a deep pan with 1L water or stock. I did mine just with water and salt to keep it simple.

Add 2 tablespoons of mustard oil and 1 teaspoon of wholegrain mustard. Cover and place on the hob to simmer for 20 minutes. This will allow the vegetables to soften.

 

To gauge that the soup is ready, taste the hardest to cook vegetable in the pot. Here it would have been the beet if they were not precooked. So, I tasted the onion quarters and sweet pepper.

Adjust the seasoning, take away from the hob and using a hand blender. Liquidise the soup to your liking.

I like my soup with bits in it and others prefer theirs smooth.

Beetroots red pepper & mustard soup

Beetroots red pepper & mustard soup

Serve with croutons or… potato wedges on a skewer.

Enjoy. x

See original recipe on my vegan blog here

#Veganuary mains – Creamy Spinach & garlic roast potatoes

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Creamy Spinach & garlic roast potatoes

Creamy Spinach & garlic roast potatoes

Dinner for 2

Ingredients:

  •  150ml Alpro cream

    Creamy spinach ingredients

    Creamy spinach ingredients

  • 1 medium carrots
  • 200g bag of spinach
  • 2 white shallots
  • 6 small potatoes
  • 25g soya mince
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 4 Brazil nuts
  • 1 spring onion
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Groundnut oil.

Prep:

Re-hydrate the mincemeat in boiling water for 10 minutes, then sieve and set aside.

Ready to roll!

Ready to roll!

Wash the spinach and set aside.

Parboil the potatoes in salty water and halve them.

Peel and chop the carrot, garlic, shallots & spring onion. Keep them separated and leave aside.

Grate the Brazil nuts.

Method:

Preheat the oven at 180°C.

In an oven dish, place the halved precooked potatoes with 1 chopped garlic and spring onion, a pinch of salt and 1 table spoon of groundnut oil. Toss to mix well. Place the potatoes face down in the dish then, using the potatoes masher press the potatoes down to mash them a bit. Place in the oven for about 10-15 until they start crisp.

Crushed potatoes

Crushed potatoes

Crushed potatoes 2

Crushed potatoes 2

Crushed potatoes 3

Crushed potatoes 3

In the meantime, in a hot pan with 2 table spoons of groundnut oil, fry the shallots until brown, add the mincemeat with salt, pepper & garlic.  Stir until the mince starts to crisp. Now add the chopped carrot. Hope fully the latter has been chopped thinly enough not to take too long to soften. In this case, it took about 2 minutes. As all that starts to brown it adds flavour to the dish.

Now add the grated Brazil nut and the cream. Leave to simmer for about 3-5 minutes then, stir in the spinach, adjust the seasoning and leave to soften for about 2 minutes.

All this shouldn’t take more that 10-12 minutes and the potatoes should be ready by then. Serve.

This dish is the worst nightmare of a person with nuts allergies make sure none of them is around.

Enjoy!

See the original recipe from my vegan blog here.

#Veganuary – Cinnamon pear Tatin

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Cinnamon tatin with Single cream & poppy seeds

Cinnamon tatin with Single cream & poppy seeds

Cinnamon pear Tatin for 10

(see original post from Nash’s vegan creations, my test kitchen here)

Ingredients:

  • 7 medium pears halved and corked
  • 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
  • 125g of sugar
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1 lemon zest
  • 125g butter
  • 1 rolled pastry (made with dairy free butter, sugar and flour)
  • Cream for serving (use alpro soy cream)
  • A 25cm tart dish

Pre heat the oven at 200°C

Method:

Pear zest and poppies

Pear zest and poppies

Pour 100g sugar and 100g of butter in a pan, melt both stirring until they start to brown. Add the peeled halved pears in the mix, all the cinnamon, lemon zest and salt. Cover to simmer for 20 minutes until the pears soften.

Meanwhile, coat the inside of the baking dish with half of the remaining butter and dust with the remaining sugar.

cinnamon 2Place the pears in the baking dish one by one and face down, then cut the remaining piece of butter and deposit the chunks on top of the pears. Now cover with the rolled pastry. Use a fork to prick the top of the pastry all over so it will let steam out while the cake is baking.

Place the dish in the oven and cook for 40 minutes at 200°C.

Once it is ready, take the dish out of the oven and allow it to cool down before serving.  and leave to cool before serving.

cinnamon pear tatin

cinnamon pear tatin

I served mine with cream and poppy seeds to finish. Alternatively use roasted almond flakes.

I use very little sugar because I am not a big fan. If your guests have a sweet tooth, serve the cake with a coulis or ice cream.

ENJOY!

Don’t forget to post a comment!

To see the original recipe from my vegan click here.