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‘Desserts/Sweets/Baking’ Category

Vegan Coconut & Lime Drizzle Cake

May 14, 2012 by peasoupeats

One of my favourite things in the world to do is host dinner parties. Whilst I’m not exactly the ‘hostest with the mostest ‘ (although I do try) they used to be a regular occurrence (try once a week) particularly when we lived in Chicago – I miss my American chums – but have been a little scarce of late due to us settling back into London life. Still adjusting but we’re getting there.

Even in Cornwall we were marginally more sociable and enjoyed having friends and family over for drinks, nibbles and homecooked grub. I’m a self diagnosed feeder. You come to mine, be prepared to eat.

I don’t why then it’s taken us so long to have a guest over to our new London abode. It’s silly really. Of course, my parents came to stay over Christmas and I did plenty of cooking and feeding then but that doesn’t really count because well, they’re my folks, not guests. Not that I don’t treat them like guests but……ach, you know what I mean. Talking myself in circles again!

Anyway, we had a guest. I went with a (loosely) Mexican theme (it wasn’t ‘themed’ per se, just inspired by, if you get my drift…) and started with some guacamole and chips – blue corn, from a fancy grocery store in East London, called unsurprisingly The Grocery. Catchy!

I’d been marinading some potato wedges all day (cumin, cayenne, smoked paprika, chilli, salt and pepper and a little oil), which I roasted until golden – they would’ve been perfect had my guest showed up on time….

The wedges accompanied the main event, which was a large dish of enchilladas (spring greens and kidney beans – ooh, that rhymes!), which were pretty freakin’ spicy but also pretty freakin’ tasty. As this was our guests first vegan meal I kept the menu relatively safe and I think it paid off, having got a resounding thumbs up, which I believe was genuine. Or at least I hope so. If not, I know where they live…

A dinner party wouldn’t be a dinner party without afters and so I popped a little vegan cake in the oven. A coconut, lime flavoured number made with polenta and gr0und almonds – and some white flour but this could easily be subbed to make the cake entirely flourless. Let me know if you try this!

Our guest was surprised how moist it was, which never fails to surprise me – I mean their surprise surprises me, not that I was surprised the cake tasted good…. there I go again!

I’m not exactly sure where this notion all vegan baked goods are dry as cardboard has emanated from, do you? Maybe I haven’t had the misfortune yet to sample such underwhelming morsels but I can honestly, truthfully say I prefer vegan cakes, cookies, etc to their ‘normal’ counterparts. Besides, the good news is, apparently you wouldn’t know this cake is vegan until told so as per the words of our guest. He can come again.

Here’s how the recipe goes…..

ingredients

1/4 cup white flour (or any of your choosing)

1/4 cup fine polenta (cornmeal)

1/4 cup ground almonds

1/4 cup palm sugar

1/4 cup desiccated coconut

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp bicarbonate soda

zest of one lime

1 mashed banana

1/2 cup coconut milk (from a can) including some of the water

1 tbsp coconut oil

juice of one lime

pinch of salt

pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius/350 fahrenheit.

place the flour, polenta, ground almonds, palm sugar, desiccated coconut, baking powder, bicarb, salt and zest in a bowl. Gently mix to incorporate.

Whisk the mashed banana, coconut milk, coconut oil and lime juice together in a separate bowl.

Prepare a cake tin by either lining or greasing it.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the coconut, banana mixture. Using a spatula fold gently to incorporate fully and immediately transfer to the cake tin. Tap the tin on the surface a few times to get rid of any air bubbles. Place in oven and bake for 30-40 minutes, turning after 20 minutes to ensure it bakes evenly. After the recommended time insert a skewer into the centre – when it comes out clean, it is ready.

Allow to cool fully before piercing the top all over with a cake skewer.

For the drizzle….

1 tbsp coconut oil

juice of one lime

2 heaped tbsps palm sugar or agave nectar

bring to a boil and then reduce to a rapid simmer allowing it to reduce for a few minutes until you achieve a syrup like consistency.

Gently pour over the syrup allowing it to seep into the holes – I also like to use a pastry brush to ensure even coverage. Do this in two steps until all the syrup is used.

Before the second drizzle, layer the cake with freshly sliced lime and use the pastry brush to coat them with the sugary syrup – this will make them almost like candied limes.

Sprinkle with desiccated coconut and serve. Would be excellent with some sweetened whipped coconut cream or do as we did and have a dollop of banana soya yoghurt on the side, yum!

Category Desserts/Sweets/Baking, Vegan | Tags: | 6 Comments
Cocoa Coconut Cups

April 15, 2012 by peasoupeats

There’s no point in denying it, I clearly have a thing for chocolate. This honestly comes as a great surprise to me, as I’d always maintained it was something I cared very little about. But looking over my posts recently I can see a pattern emerging and it undeniably involves chocolate.

Coconut may very well be a close second when it comes to most used and loved ingredients in my kitchen. Coconut milk. Coconut water. Coconut oil. Shredded coconut. And now coconut butter.

Alright, so I may have given up 20 minutes into the making of aforementioned coconut butter (I stopped when smoke began emerging from my hand blender – never a good sign) but the pulp that remained gave me an idea for some super delicious raw treats.

Whereas I usually roll my raw treats into balls, here I smooshed (technical term) my mixture into silicone cups and refrigerated them for a day. Holy smokes. They are good!

Both mine and Hubbies eyes widened when we bit into our first one. What made it all the more surprising was my ‘here goes nothing’ statement just before consumption – I really didn’t expect much from these morsels.

Be warned though, they are sweet. Very sweet. If you’re not a raisin fan then I recommend two to three medjool dates, prunes or any other dried fruit with a sticky consistency. Personally I’d go with the dates and that’s exactly what I’ll be making them with next time – and there most definitely will be a next time!

ingredients

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup walnuts

1 tbsp ground almonds

1 tbsp cocoa berry flaxseed meal or just plain flaxseed meal

1 tbsp raw cacao powder

1/2 cup raisins or other dried fruit

method

place the shredded coconut in a hand blender and blitz for 15-20 minutes until you achieve a pulp like consistency – you will have to frequently scrape down the sides. No biggie.

next, add the walnuts and grind to a fine rubble. then add the ground almonds, flaxseed meal and cocoa and blend to combine.

finally add the raisins and blitz until they are completely incorporated.

divide between six silicon muffin cases and press firmly with the back of a spoon until the mixture is firmly compacted into the moulds. refrigerate for at least 6-8 hours or ideally overnight for best results.

eat!

Category Desserts/Sweets/Baking, Vegan | Tags: | 5 Comments
Happy Easter!

April 8, 2012 by peasoupeats

My Husband is the best. I woke up this morning to not one but TWO delicious vegan easter eggs!

I’ve been eyeing up the booja booja egg for a couple of years now – the truffles come in the most gorgeous hand painted egg. Look how pretty it is! I cannot wait to get my hands on the goodies inside either but we’re waiting until a little later before devouring any chocolate mainly because we are still so full from the sugar and soy free vegan chocolate pancakes I made for brunch.

Before I shunned dairy, I was a major white chocolate lover. I know many people think it is too sickly sweet but I loved that gooey milky texture, which, whilst it’s not something I’ve missed that terribly, I must admit to being pretty excited about this Choices dairy free white chocolate egg to see if it can capture any of that dairy clad greatness. I have high hopes – will report back soon on that one.

In the meantime, enjoy what is left of your Easter and make sure to eat plenty of chocolate!

Category Desserts/Sweets/Baking, personal, Vegan | Tags: | 2 Comments
Vegan Chocolate Banana Bread…..and a very important PicMonkey mention too!

April 5, 2012 by peasoupeats

Okay, so I’m not sure why I felt the need to prefix my recipe title with ‘vegan’ because that’s kind of a given, right? Although I think it may be useful for googling purposes and I thought it might be helpful to newbies to the site. Helpful?

Before I continue down the banana bread route though, let me just pause for a second to mention a very exciting discovery. PicMonkey is essentially the new Picnik – the same photo processing site I was bemoaning the demise of not so long ago. To say I was fuming would be an understatement. I’d already come very late to the picnik party, so when it was announced they’d be shutting the site down I felt like someone who’d been told to leave early without my slice of cake.

Out you go.

Door slammed behind me.

Sobbing in the hallway.

In that time I’ve tried to find a replacement site to run my photos through but none matched the ease of picnik – I tired of lightroom a long time ago and to be honest my little laptop doesn’t cope very well when I do use it. Poor little laptop.

You can imagine my delight then when I opened up picnik today to discover an announcement informing me of the launch of another, better photo processing site. I reserved judgement, of course, until I tried it myself but I was super impressed when I did. It is excellent. So, if you’re looking for a replacement for picnik, look no further, picmonkey is where it’s at yo!

Now. Bread. Banana bread. Chocolate banana bread. VEGAN chocolate banana bread. Sweet mama this is a good one. Spread with smooth peanut butter? Oh lordy, I may just pass out and start frothing at the mouth. THAT GOOD!

vegan chocolate banana bread

2 cups plain white flour

1 cup unrefined dark molasses sugar

1 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 bicarbonate of soda

pinch of seasalt

3 small very ripe bananas

3/4 cup oat milk

1/4 cup soya yoghurt

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1/3 cup sunflower oil

handful of large chocolate chips

Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees celsius/350 fahrenheit

Put all the dry ingredients in a large bowl and gently combine.

Mash the bananas and add the oat milk, soya yoghurt, balsamic vinegar and sunflower. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

Grease a loaf tin with vegan spread/margarine.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and add the wet. Gently fold until everything is incorporated before gently stirring through the chocolate chips. Don’t overwork the mixture – you have been warned!

Transfer the batter to the loaf tin – it should be quite thick – and bake for 20minutes before turning the tin. This will ensure the loaf will bake evenly and the top won’t be more raised at one end – a little tip I picked up from Sweetapolita.

Bake for a further 20 minutes before inserting a caker tester into the centre – if it comes out clean the loaf is done! If not, don’t panic, let it bake for a further 5-10minutes and test again.

Remove from oven and allow it to cool for at least 20 minutes before attempting to remove it from the tin. Let it cool completely before slicing and spreading with smooth peanut butter (obviously that last bit is optional but highly recommended).

Category Bread, Desserts/Sweets/Baking, Vegan | Tags: | 1 Comment
Chocolate Pastry Puffs

March 15, 2012 by peasoupeats

I am an unashamed ready made pastry fan.

Yes, I’ve made pastry.

Yes, I know it’s not that difficult but truthfully the lure of that convenient roll of frozen puff is just too appealing.

It’s that ‘bish bash bosh’ element.

Defrost. Unroll. Slice. Fill. Bake. Eat.

What’s not to love?!

This recipe, admittedly, is stolen from Nigella – I’ve added the almond, coconut, icing sugar bit but the rest is all Nig. Obviously, I swapped the egg wash for almond milk too….

Are they any good?

Well, we polished the lot in one sitting so you tell me.

ingredients

1 pack of ready made vegan puff pastry

12 large dark chocolate buttons

1/4 cup of almond or hazelnut milk

1/4 cup of chopped flaked almonds

1/4 cup of desiccated coconut

2 tbsp icing sugar

method

1. pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees celsius/338 degrees fahrenheit.

2. Unroll the pastry and divide into 12 triangles.

3. Place a chocolate button on the widest part of the triangle and then fold in the edges before rolling carefully to the tip. Secure the roll by pressing closed any open sections. It doesn’t matter of it looks messy at this stage.

4. Brush with almond milk and top with the flaked almonds and desiccated coconut. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes.

5. Eat immediately or allow to cool before dusting with icing sugar.

Category Breakfast, Desserts/Sweets/Baking, Vegan | Tags: | No Comments
Black Bean Chilli & Vegan Cornbread Loaf

February 9, 2012 by peasoupeats

That title is surely stuff dreams are made of and yet I am even hesitant to post this two parter recipe for several reasons.

Remember when I said I was trying to chillax when it came to my blogging? Not putting myself under too much strain? Pffftt, who am I kidding! I’m fairly certain all my fellow perfectionists out there would agree that is easier said than done. Would I be right? Nod in agreement.

So, the lighting in my new flat is essentially pants. Couple that with having to shoot all my photies at night and you get a batch of pretty dreadful shots of food looking either anaemic or at the very least underwhelming – there’s only so much my limited photography skills and fancy dslr can do!

Nether the less, I shall upload this anyway because, quite frankly, it’s a little winner. The cornbread – which I am still perfecting – was a peculiarly massive hit, particularly with the Hubster and the chilli was made even more delectable with the addition of dark chocolate. Of no great surprise to many of you I am sure, chocolate and cocoa are magnificent additions to any great Chilli.

I hope then that you will forgive the below par photos and instead merely enjoy the food. After all, that’s what really matters.

Black Bean Chilli

1 onion, diced

2 peppers (1 red, 1 yellow), roughly chopped

400g or approx 2 cups chopped canned tomatoes

1 tbsp tomato puree

400g/approx 2 cups cooked black beans

3 minced garlic cloves

1 red chilli, de-seeded, sliced and chopped finely

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chipotle powder

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

splash of vegan worcester sauce

few drops of tabasco

4-6 small squares of best dark chocolate

pinch of sugar

salt and pepper

oil

heat a little oil in a heavy based saucepan. add the onion, season and allow to sweat for several minutes before adding cumin and then the peppers. clamp on lid.soften the onion and pepper for a few more minutes before adding the garlic and chilli.

stir in the tomato puree until everything is coated before adding the tomatoes. add a pinch of sugar and the remainder of the spices, worcester and tabasco sauces, season, stir to incorporate and simmer for around 20mins.

tumble in the beans, season, taste for spice and add a little more chilli powder is necessary. simmer for a further 15-20mins and then just before serving stir through the chocolate. the sauce will turn thick and glossy. close lid and allow everything to amalgamate before serving.

serve with freshly chopped cilantro (coriander), sliced avocado and cholula hot sauce. tortilla chips go well with this dish, as well as…..

Vegan Cornbread Loaf

1 cup finely ground polenta (this is crucial – it must be fine ground)

1 cup plain all purpose organic white flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp bicarbonate of soda

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp ground black pepper

1/2 cup sweetcorn puree

1/2 cup sweetcorn kernels (canned or frozen but obvs. thawed)

3 tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped

1 cup soya milk

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup maple syrup, agave or sweet freedom

1/4 cup canola( rapeseed) oil or oil of your choice

pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius/390 degrees fahrenheit. grease a loaf tin with vegan margarine spread – or coconut oil?

mix the polenta and flour and stir through the baking powder, bicarb, salt and pepper.

in a separate bowl whisk together the sweetcorn puree (basically sweetcorn kernels whizzed in a blender with a little soya cream), soya milk, water, oil and sweet freedom (or whichever sweetener you favour).

make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet. using a spatula gradually incorporate ensuring not to overwork the mixture. gently stir through the sweetcorn kernels, chopped tomatoes and a good grinding of black pepper. immediately pour into the prepared tin. sprinkle over a little sea salt and fresh grind of black pepper. bake in oven for 40 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the middle.

cool for 20 mins before removing from the tin and allow to cool completely before slicing.

enjoy x

Category Bread, Desserts/Sweets/Baking, Mexican, Vegan | Tags: | 1 Comment
Soy Free Pancakes with 5 minute Blueberry Sauce

January 17, 2012 by peasoupeats

Wow. An actual recipe. On an actual food blog. Wonders will never cease!

I’ve been doing what I proposed and taking things slowly with my blogging of late, posting random stuff and just generally not being too hard on myself , which I’m pleased to say seems to be working. I’ve taken a few photos (these ones) that I don’t hate and have been thoroughly enjoying my more laid back cooking approach.

Being a total ~~perfectionist~~, ~~control freak~~, general nutcase, I tend to beat myself up when things don’t go swimmingly, i.e. I make mistakes, make a fool of myself (or so I think) etc etc. I’m beginning to realise that these tendencies, whilst useful in some circumstances, are not so helpful in the ‘real world’. They ultimately lead to panic stricken moments when, knowing that you are very much not in control, you flap about like fish out of water and the phrase ‘arse about tit’ comes into play.

Today was one such day.

In a nutshell.

I fell.

Humiliating.

Humiliated.

If that wasn’t bad enough I was dragged (and I do mean dragged) to my feet by a male passerby when I needed a moment to gather myself only to feel sick and faint. By that stage my ‘kind Samaritan’ had kindly buggered off and I stumbled into House of Fraser (yes, I will name and shame you!) to be further ignored by the entire make-up counter staff even though I had flopped onto their mac make-over section like a drunken fool panting and breathless.

Suffice to say, it was fairly obvious I wasn’t in fact drunk and the offer of a cup of water or an ‘are you feeling okay Madam’ would have been greatly appreciated. But no, not one ounce of sympathy or concern. I spent ten minutes getting myself together before heading back to the office.

The afternoon went downhill from there and I began to realise that I’m not 100% ready for the real world. I mean, I want to be ready and it will happen but up to this point I’ve lived what some might deem a very odd existence that put creativity before everything else.

Deadlines?

Erm…..

Yep, not so hot on the deadline thing it transpires.

Also, not great on prioritizing.

These are problems when you want to work in the world of journalism.

That’s not to say I’m giving up though. Heck no. Just like the little tumble I took today, I shall dust myself off, put on a brave face and endeavour to learn, adapt and eventually conquer.

Tomorrow, as they say, is another day.

soy free pancakes with 5 minute blueberry sauce adapted from Post Punk Kitchen’s Puffy Pillow Pancake recipe

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt

1 cup rice milk
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 mashed banana
1/2 cup water (opt. in my opinion)
3 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 tbsp vegan sunflower spread

Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl.

Combine all the wet ingredients in another and whisk thoroughly to incorporate.

Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, pour in the wet mixture and gradually incorporate using a spatula until everything is combined.

Heat the tablespoon of sunflower in a large frying pan/skillet and pour into the batter. Whisk to incorporate.

Pour approx 1/4 cup of batter into the already heated pan (keep it on a medium/high heat throughout). When it begins to bubble on top and the edges turn flip over and cook for a further minute or two on the other side. Transfer to a low/warm oven to keep warm. Crucially, never overload the pan – no more than two pancakes at a time.

Repeat until all the batter has been used.

blueberry sauce

1 cup blueberries

1 tbsp powdered sugar

juice 1 clementine

2 tbsp agave nectar

Wash the blueberries and place in a hand blender with the powdered sugar, clementine juice and blitz until smooth. Sieve the juice to remove the skins.

Return the juice to a small saucepan (a milkpan is ideal) and pour in the agave nectar. Heat until it begins to bubble and then reduce to a simmer for a minute or so.

Remove from the heat and allow to sit for a minute before serving.

Serve pancakes with sliced banana, toasted almonds and desiccated coconut for sheer pancake perfection.

Category Breakfast, Desserts/Sweets/Baking, Vegan | Tags: | 4 Comments
Candied Clementine and Cranberry Sauce Bundt Cake with a Pomegranate Glaze

January 5, 2012 by peasoupeats

I don’t know about you but I’m still feeling festive and I refuse to entertain any thoughts about the end of the Holidays until tomorrow, when I will finally relent and take down our tree and decorations.

Until then, we’re soaking up the last remnants of these precious yuletide days, hours, minutes, seconds – can you tell I’m a Christmas nutbag? – and squeezing in a few more treats and traditions before we reluctantly say goodbye to Christmas for another year. Sniff.

We’ve just indulged in our final official meal of the Holidays, the details of which I shall upload tomorrow. For the time being, let’s just say we are full to the gills, glass of red in hand (dram of whiskey for Hubbie) and awaiting the Christmas pud, soya custard and cream combo. Oh goodness:)

I’m also using up every scrap of food left in the fridge because I loathe waste, especially of the food variety. Very little gets chucked in this house, even fortnight old cranberry sauce, which is how this little bundt cake variation came about.

Because the candied clementine one was such a hit I thought I do my own spin on it. Hope you like it!

Make the most of the last official day of Christmas folks. After all, it comes but once a year. I, for one, cannot wait until it arrives again in 2012. I’m such a sap. But I loves it.

candied clementine & cranberry sauce bundt cake

2 cups flour

1 1/2 baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup candied clementine puree

1/2 cup cranberry sauce (pref.homemade)

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup soya (or other plant) milk

pomegranate glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp pomegranate juice

pre-heat the oven to 175 degress celsius/350 fahrenheit.

grease the bundt tin – get into every crevice.

combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. take a spoonful and use it to coat the inside of the greased bundt tin patting the excess back into the bowl.

whisk together the wet ingredients, pour into the dry and gently fold in until everything is fully combined ensuring not the overwork the mixture.

if it appear a little too dry add a touch more soya milk.

transfer to the bundt tin and make sure it is evenly distributed. give the tin a good tap on a solid surface to rid the mixture of any air bubbles.

bake for 45-50 minutes. turn the oven off and allow it to sit for a further 5-10 minutes.

remove from oven and allow to cool before placing a plate on top the tin and turning it over. it should slip easily out of the tin, if it has been greased well enough.

allow to completely cool before glazing the cake.

for the glaze, mix the powdered sugar with the pomegranate juice until smooth and using a pastry brush paint the cake until evenly coated.

slice.

eat.

*tip: using a skewer, pierce holes in the cake and feed/inject it with the candied clementine syrup before glazing.

Category Desserts/Sweets/Baking, Vegan | Tags: | 2 Comments
Me on Marcus plus 8 vegan recipes you may or may not know!

January 2, 2012 by peasoupeats

Noodle Salad For One

If you’re not already privy to my Marcus Samuelsson contributions, let me fill you in. Since May of last year Marcus has kindly featured two weekly PeaSoupEats recipes (one savoury, one sweet) on his rather fantastic website, which has many amazing cooking tips, dishes, as well as a boat load of info on food and health. My kind of site.

Gluten and Soy Free Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting

Thus far I have resolved to not make any resolutions and instead appreciate what the past year has brought and what 2012 has yet to bring. I’m continually amazed at how unpredictable life can be and I can safely say that my Husband and I are now officially go with the flow people – plans are for suckers.

Super Duper Green Kale Smoothie

Okay, so we still make plans but are more prepared for those plans not to work out. You learn such things after moving your entire lives across the Atlantic only to have to return a mere two years later. These things happen. You deal with it and move on.

Chickpea and Eggplant Stew

If you had told me even a few months ago I would be sitting in my new London apartment about to embark on a fashion internship with the Daily Express I would’ve thought you were mad or at the very least delusional. And yet….here I am. In London. And I start my placement next Monday. Crazy.

Pistachio, Pecan and Goji Berry Bites

Throughout everything that’s happened in 2011 – moving (again!), changing career – the two continuous things that have kept me grounded, happy, sane are my Husband (of course!) and my blog. Obviously, Ma, Pa and Sister get a mention too;)

Humdinger Hummus, Carrot, Cucumber, Avocado and Alfalfa Sprout Sandwich

In all seriousness though, this little blog has kept me going on many an occasion when I was feeling useless and gave me a much needed outlet. More significantly, I believe it has enabled me to flex those rusty writing muscles thus giving me the confidence to enter the world of fashion journalism and for that I am ever grateful.

Peanut Butter, Banana and Chocolate Baked Oatmeal

It goes without saying (although I will say it) that I am so incredibly thankful to everyone who reads my blog. Without an audience this blogging lark would be a lot more difficult and I appreciate every view as if it were gold dust. Quite honestly, you are the reason I continue to write here, so to each and every one of you, thank you, thank you, a thousand times, thank you x

I started with noodles and therefore I will end with noodles – spotting a theme anyone? I think I can safely say noodles, chocolate and kale are my top 3 foods. Not a bad top 3 if you ask me!

Miso and Mung Bean Noodle Soup

Category Bread, Breakfast, Desserts/Sweets/Baking, Pasta/Rice/Noodles, Salad, Vegan, Vegetable side dish | Tags: | No Comments
Vegan Christmas Ideas!

December 8, 2011 by peasoupeats

I’m branching out. Whilst food blogging has been a major focus in my life for almost two years now, I can’t deny my enthusiasm has somewhat waned of late and, as my life evolves, I find myself wanting to write about my other interests too.

That’s not to say I won’t be adding the odd recipe but PeaSoupEats will be diversifying a bit to include most notably a PeaSoupWears (ya dig?) and PeaSoupMakes (crafty!) section, which I hope will be of just as much interest as my food.

I love blogging. It’s what I do. I almost treat it like a journal (I’m not so sure that’s a good thing!) and it has been my salvation on many occasions but recently I’ve struggled to write about my food. Recipes have generally come easy to me and whilst I’m no Nigella, I’ve never really struggled in the kitchen, however, over the last few months my cooking confidence has slowly been dissipating (I don’t know why and where to but it has) and I feel like now is the time I should address it.

My plan of action is simple. Back to basics. No more experimenting in the kitchen. Just plain, simple meals that I know like the back of hand, require virtually no thinking power and taste great. Luckily, I have a long list of those already up my sleeve so my plan shouldn’t become derailed too easily.

I’m also excited about reading more cookbooks, blogs and occasionally making a few carefully chosen recipes and I may or may not feel compelled to photograph them. We’ll see. I’m not putting any pressure on myself, just doing what feels comfortable and going with the flow.

Like many of you, I am ever so slightly freaking out about Christmas and this move isn’t helping. So, over the next few weeks, I’ll be relying on familiar recipes, like the ones below, to keep me sane. These are quick, easy and delicious recipes. Minimal ingredients, short prep and cooking time, exactly what I need at this time of year.

I was pretty relaxed last Christmas and I hope I can breeze through this year in the same fashion. One thing’s for sure, these recipes will most certainly help keep those stress levels at bay.

1. festive slaw and winter fizz cocktail

2. mont blanc cheescake

3. chocolate truffles

4. walnut squash and apple bread

5. mini tofu frittatas

6. sweet potato casserole

Category Bread, Cocktails, Desserts/Sweets/Baking, Vegan, Vegetable side dish | Tags: | 4 Comments

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