oh my gosh yum...

Yesterday I made these raw brownies from the blog My New Roots. What an excellent blog, and what amazing brownies! They are made from nothing but nuts, dates and cacao! It's amazing that something so healthy can taste do decadent and delicious! They're sweet and chewy, as all good brownies are!

I have loved fresh dates forever. Fresh medjol dates are so sweet syrupy! They've always reminded me of caramel or something. I'd never thought of using them as a sweetener though! Such a good idea.





These brownies would be so great for vegans, raw vegans and the gluten intolerant.



My poor ol' blender didn't do too well with the mixture though. I would recommend dividing the mixture into two and doing them separately if your blender is not the best.

If anything I think these brownies are a little too full on. I think next time I might put in a few less dates and not as much cacao.

On the whole though, AMAZING! Such a decadent and amazing treat!



xxx

a perfect day for...

HAHA! Today is a rainy old day, with lots of wind and frequent sprinkles of sunshine! I am excited to spend the day sewing, reading and making vegan chocolate brownies. I might pop on my gumbies this afternoon and head out on a long walk too!

xox

Peachy!

Recently, I have been craving all things peachy. Sadly, it’s the beginning of winter, so fresh peaches are not easy to come by! I’ve been satisfying my craving with Schweppes “Peachee” soft drink. Yum! And last night I thought I’d have a shot at making my own vegan peach cupcakes!



I was a little disappointed that they weren’t quite as peachy as I was hoping. BUT they were still delish! The mashed peach makes them more moist and dense which is ratherrrr nice.

I got my original basic cupcake recipe from Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero’s book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. Such a great book! I changed it a little too. And this time, I peachified it!



Peach Cupcakes

2 cups soymilk
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 ½ cups plain flour
4 table spoons cornflour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
2/3 cup of neutral tasting oil
1 ½ cups of sugar
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 whole peaches

Pop the soy milk and vinegar in a mixing bowl together. Give them a good whisk with a fork and set them aside. The mixture will go all stinky and curdly, but don’t worry, this is meant to happen. Then beat in the oil, sugar and vanilla extracts. Now pop your peaches in a blender, til they’re nice and smooth. They should be somewhere between juice and puree. Mix the peaches into the mixture. Then sift the dry ingredients in and mix it all together. Line your muffin tray with patty pan liners; I didn’t do this as I’d run out, so you can just grease the tray if need be. Fill them up to about ¾ full and pop them into a moderate oven. It should take between 20 and 25 minutes for them to be ready.

Peach Icing

2 cups of icing sugar
1 tablespoon vegan margarine
½ peach

Pop the peach in the blender (or do it along with the cupcake peaches, then put it aside). Beat the margarine while slowly adding the sugar. Then add the peaches sporadically until the icing is the right consistency.

When the cupcakes have cooled, stick the icing on top of the cakes and enjoy!

xox

finished!

So I've finally finished uni. It's such a strange time and I have such mixed feelings. Part of me is glad it's all over and another part of me is sad - like I didn't make the most of it. This is what I've been working to for the part three years - a little BA to put at the end of my name. I did a Bachelor of Arts, with a double major in linguistics and art history. Above all, I'm looking forward to having time to just do whatever I feel like, without feeling guilty.

These are the things I'm most looking forward to:

Reading!
Of course, doing a Bachelor of Arts, I've spent a huge part of the last three years reading. I often felt like it was impossible to keep up to date with all the weekly readings. When I did read books for my own pleasure, I usually felt guilty, like I should be doing my recomended readings instead. As a result, I haven't read nearly as much as I would have liked to over the past few years. I have a huge list of classics that i can't wait to get into!

Cooking!
So I've been vegan for quite some time now. I'm really lucky to have a family who supports me in my choices. Everyone is always happy to make a special vegan alternative for me. But as a result of this, I haven't done nearly as much cooking as I should have. I get home from uni/work late and someone has usually already made dinner. But now that i have more time on my hands, I'm really looking forward to having time to improve my cooking skills, both savoury meals and yummy cakes and desserts!

Drawing!
I loveee to draw. I find it so relaxing and rewarding. I draw a bit, but not nearly as much as I’d like to. I’m really hoping to improve my painting skills as well.

Blogging!
I’ve decided that I am really going to commit to this blog. I really like the idea of having a little online journal and I really want to keep writing. What I write may not be of the best quality, and it may not be read by anyone, but I think it is so important to keep writing.

Sally
xxo

Peppermint!

Yippee I finally tracked down a copy of Peppermint Magazine issue 6! I know it’s been out for a few weeks now, but none of the newsagents in my area seem to have it. It would kind of defeat the purpose if I was to drive out of my way to get it, so I decided to wait until I was going into the city anyway. I love it. It’s almost replaced Frankie as my favourite magazine! I think it’s so important that we live our day to day lives with the environment in mind. The best part is that it inspires us to live ethical and environmentally friendly lives, without compromising on looking lovely. Very important for us narcissists with a conscience!

I really enjoyed the article about Mark Boyle, a man who has been living for the last 18 months without any money! So inspirational. I was thinking about joining his freeconomy, but I don’t really have any skills, or things people would want to borrow. I guess it would be good to join anyway. I’m definitely going to buy his book, The Moneyless Man, though.

vegan?

A few days ago, I was sitting, having lunch, with a girl from my art history class. She is a bit of a fundamentalist vegan. She knew I was a vegan too. She complemented me on my boots, saying how hard it is to find nice fake leather shoes. I was like “ooh thankyou. I know, it’s impossible. These are actually leather, I bought them in an op-shop.” She looked aghast. “Oh I thought you were a vegan,” she said. “Well I eat a vegan diet, but I do wear wool and leather if I buy them second hand.” She clearly didn’t agree.

I’ve always been a bit hesitant to call myself a vegan. I tend to say things such as “I’m on a vegan diet,” or “oh I don’t eat eggs or dairy.” But recently, I’ve just started saying “vegan” because it’s so much easier. I’ve been a vegetarian all my life, but for the last year or so, I very, very rarely ate eggs or dairy. I think I was just too scared to label myself.

 

My thirteen-year-old sister doesn’t eat meat, dairy or honey. She will, however, eat the eggs that some from our chooks. Our chickens are ex-battery hens. My mum got them from a battery farm that will let people take their hens when they are considered too old. If someone doesn’t adopt them, they are killed. So my mum go these yucky, featherless chickens with their beaks chopped and their feathers clipped a few years ago. While they were considered too old to lay eggs then, three years later, they are the happiest, healthiest chickens I ever saw and each lay an egg every day. Siena knows that they have a good life, and if it wasn’t for us they would have been killed, so she doesn’t have a problem with eating their eggs.

I think that it is more important that we tailor our diets and lifestyles around our individual beliefs, rather than adhering to a strict vegan lifestyle. I don’t want to support the leather or wool industry, so I would never buy new wool or leather. But If my money is going to charity, and I am making use of something that someone else is throwing away, I think that it is better to buy second hand leather than new plastic boots.

Sally, xxo

hey there

So I’ve decided to start a blog. I want to share my thoughts, ideas, drawings, yummy vegan recipes and things I make and do. Will anyone read it? Probably not, but I like the idea of making a kind of visual diary and putting it out there - just in case.