Wheat free?

I was chatting with one of the other parents after school one day earlier in the week, as you do, and we got on to talking about Food Allergies, again as you do, these conversations can head in all sorts of directions.
Anyway, she was saying she knew someone who couldn't eat wheat, and was wondering if there were such things as "wheat-free vegans". I assured her there were, but the whole conversation got me thinking.
So I made a list (I am by nature a list maker), of what you would / could eat as protein and carbohydrate sources if wheat, and by extension Seitan and Flour and VWG flour were off the (vegan) table. Its quite a long list, and I'm sure it is not exhaustive.

Wheat-free Protein Rich Foods
Beans and dried Peas
Lentils
Nuts
Seeds
Tofu
Tempeh
Processed Soy Stuff, like TVP / Soy Curls
Quinoa

Wheat-free Carbohydrate Rich Foods
Potato
Sweet Potatoes and Yams
Cornmeal / Polenta
Yuca
Masa Harina based items like tamales / arepas / tortillas
Buckwheat
Quinoa
Millet
Oats
Rice (in all its many guises)
Plantains
Barley **
Spelt**
Flours made from all of the above
Commercial Wheat-free Pastas and Baking Mixes

** means Not Gluten-Free, as I was only thinking about wheat itself.

If you think of anything I've missed I'd be interested in hearing in the comments.

No photos today, just musings.

Pro-D Day Cookies

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies, originally uploaded by Vegan Year.

No school for mine, and the day-care kids, today so I have a house full.
What else to do but make cookies! These ones are one of my girls' favourite flavour combinations, Chocolate Chip MInt. For them they have to have the right level of minty-ness, neither too little or too much, and have to be just green, again neither too little or too much. You see the green best in the bottom cookies in the shot.

I used white and semisweet chocolate chips, just to change it up a little.
I can't wait for school to be back tomorrow!

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes

Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, originally uploaded by Vegan Year.

M had a playdate yesterday after dancing so R and I made cupcakes to take along and share at pickup time. Went over a treat with everyone. This one was made for H who is a frosting hater, the others were a little more loaded!

Both recipes from Q&E Vegan Bake Sale - Vanilla Bean Cupcakes, and Buttercream, More or Less

Happy Birthday Cake to me!

Made by me, of course.

The recipe is in need of a little tweaking so I'm not ready to share, but it was still good. How does a Banana Carrot Cake sound to you? How does it look....

The girls and H got me an Aveda Spa gift voucher, and a La Senza voucher, and I also got an Aveda Spa voucher from the cakes I made (the flower one and the ladybug one) so I have enough for one amazing spa relax out time..... now I have to decide what I want and when...

Princesses crowned!

Princesses crowned!, originally uploaded by Vegan Year.

The girls school hosts a welcome back BBQ each year (boring veggie burger with salad fixings so no food photo) and this year there was a face painter! Crowns all round, matching and everything.

Free Chard!

Tina, at my husband's work, brought in a huge pile of chard from her garden for us to use! I knew I had to make something with it to show it off and think I succeeded!

Thanks for the chard, Tina!

Spanish Fritattas are like big, fat omelettes loaded with potatoes and cooked in a skillet, sliced and served. I’ve taken the basic idea, added some chard for green and cooked in an egg-free omelette mix.

When shredding the chard I slice out the hard stems, cut the leaves into thirds, (so as not to have huge long strings which don’t mix in very well), pile these pieces on top of each other, roll into a cigar shape, and finely slice with my large knife.

As always when using chickpea flour, don’t taste the mix prior to cooking!!

Potato and Chard Fritatta
Serves 4 to 6

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
4 cloves Garlic

2 medium Potatoes, cut into ¼” dice, about 12oz or 2 Cups once cut

1 bunch Chard, stems removed, shredded, about 3 Cups, packed

6oz firm Silken Tofu
½ Cup Soy Milk
¼ Cup Coconut Milk
2 Tablespoons Chickpea Flour
2 Tablespoons Corn Starch
1 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
1 Tablespoon mild Yellow mustard
1 teaspoon Salt
½ teaspoon Cumin
¼ teaspoon Turmeric
¼ teaspoon White Pepper
¼ teaspoon Black Salt

Heat the oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and allow to sizzle.
Add the potatoes, stir to mix with the garlic, then cover and cook, turning frequently, until tender about 7 to 8 minutes.
Add the chard, mix in well and allow to wilt until reduced to bout ⅓ of the original volume, roughly 3 minutes.
While the potatoes and chard are cooking, blend the tofu through black salt together in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Once chard has wilted, pour in the blended mix and stir in well to evenly distribute the potatoes and chard.
Reduce heat to medium-low and cook without stirring until the centre looks a little more opaque and the edges look firm and a little browned, 10 to 12 minutes. While this is cooking, heat the broiler.
Broil the top of the frittata until lightly golden and firm, 8 to 10 minutes.
Stand 5 minutes prior to cutting and serving.

LadyBug Cake

The sweet little niece of a friend turned 2 on Saturday and I was asked to make the cake. They chose a pink lady bug with chocolate button spots - have a look!





Its the basic Vanilla Cupcakes from Quick and Easy Vegan Bake Sale, baked in a pudding dish (and a cupcake cup for the head) and iced with the Buttercream, More or Less recipe also from that book. What do you think??

Coming up

Posts to come, that I have not yet written but will, once I upload the photos and get the time to do them.
LadyBug Cake.
Free Chard!!
Happy Birthday to me.
See I have not forgotten you dear blog, I just haven't got around to a proper update/

Pesto Request-o

Tofu with Tapenade Pesto, originally uploaded by Vegan Year.

So, you voted, and the winning request was this one -Tapenade Pesto, a lovely flavourful combination of Pesto and Tapenade, Basil and Olives. You can think of this as a thick Basil Tapenade if you’d prefer, and use it like you would a pesto, or take it as it is and smear onto bruschetta, crudités, or crackers. Salty, Olive-y, Basil-y YUM!

Tapenade Pesto
Makes about ¾ Cup

½ Cup Black Olives
¼ Cup Green Olives, with or without pimentos
2 Tablespoons drained Capers
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Garlic clove, minced
1 Shallot, minced

1 Cup fresh Basil, packed

Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine olives through shallots in a food processor or blender and blend to well combine. Some texture here is fine so don’t over process.
Add the basil and pulse until well mixed.
Cover, and chill for at least an hour.
Taste and adjust seasoning as required prior to serving.

Oh, my

Where did last week go?!

It was the first week of school, and dancing, and it seems to have passed in a blur, hence the lack of posts and I do apologise. I made mini cupcakes for a back-to-school treat for the girls classes and teachers, and then on Friday made waffles for the annual "Pancake Breakfast" the 7th graders put on for the rest of the school, just so the girls would have something to eat with the rest of the kids. Busy has started again.

M also had a playground accident on Friday so that afternoon was a write-off at the hospital (she's fine, just bruised and sore but we had to get it all checked out), so I have no more exciting food related information or recipes for you.

Here's a photo of dinner from the other night, just so I can continue to say this is a food blog! Aduki Bean Pancakes, anyone?

P N E

Pacific National Exhibition. aka in our house as "The Fair". We had our once yearly trip to the PNE the other day, its only on for 4 weeks or so every summer, and we only ever go once as it costs a HUGE amount of money for entrance and then rides, about as much as going on a camping holiday for 5 days! Here's some photos -

Just in time for back to school....

Try Tri-Pesto Plate

Tri-Pesto Plate, originally uploaded by Vegan Year.

I made 3 types of pesto yesterday, having scored a huge bunch of basil and needing to use it up, and made a Try-Pesto Plate with them for dinner!
On the Broccoli we have Lemon Walnut Spinach Pesto, and on the tofu (which I coated in a seasoned cornstarch / cornmeal mix and fried) Arugula Pecan Pesto, and a Basil Tapenade (or Tapenade Pesto if you'd prefer!). Served with plain brown rice.
H's favourite was the Arugula Pecan Pesto, and I preferred the Tapenade Pesto, though thought the brightness of the lemon in the Lemon Walnut Pesto went really well with the broccoli.
Now, I'm going to set up a survey thing to the side of this post, and you can vote for which recipe of the three you want. (or if you'd prefer you can leave a comment). I'll post the winning recipe next weekend!

White Chocolate Icecream!!

White Chocolate Icecream!!, originally uploaded by Vegan Year.

My brother and his girlfriend were visiting last week on one of the first stops on their epic North American Holiday. They're in the process of moving from Australia to the UK and decided to travel while their stuff was being shipped but that is a whole other story. They bought me some white chocolate which I blogged about before, and I decided to turn it into icecream, seeing as it was so very hot the other day, and the children where asking for icecream. They only ever ask for vanilla but I thought they'd eat this, as it looks like vanilla and is a mild chocolate taste. I was right, they loved it!!

Visitors

My younger brother, I, and his girlfriend, N, have been visiting us as part of their extended North American holiday which has been so much fun, especially for M&R. School is back next week so right now we're pretty busy so I do apologise in advance if I don't get a food post, or any interesting post, done in the next wee while!