Some New Jewellery Designs: Ethereal Plant Beings Pendants

It's been a while since I talked a bit about what I've been up to with my handmade jewellery making. I try to fit in some jewellery making into my schedule, as I find it very relaxing and I haven't stopped enjoying it ever since I started. I've recently explored more with air-dry clay and stamped style jewellery. These are some new pieces I've made, Ethereal Plant Beings Pendants:





These imprints are actually drawings, made by Boyfriendlovlie, that I've nicked used.
Here are his original drawings:









These are entitled 'Observing the Observer' © 2012 Kevin Mangaroo.
They are also available as t-shirts...
Boyfriendlovlie has been drawing all his life, from monsters to cute characters, environment and landscapes, comic book and concept art. With illustration and graphic arts as his specialization, he has worked in various fields. He particularly enjoyed his last job as a Concept Artist at Realtimeworlds UK which was a game production studio.

A few samples of his work here:









See more of his other works.
If you would like to say hello to him, don't be shy, or if you have any need for illustrations / drawings / some digital paintings, just email him. He'd be delighted. :)


For my part, I've sent these drawings to be made into stamps that I then applied on the clay. The indentation are then enhanced with acrylic paint, after which I coat the pendant with a layer of eco-friendly resin to protect the paint and increase durability.
I really like how they've turned out.

Here's another one I've made inspired from nature. 'I Heart Trees Pendant'. This one is my own drawing made into a stamp.





How do you like them?

Pendants are available in my Etsy store. They all come in a handmade linen bag and kraft paper pillow box, ready for gifting.

Purple my Taste Buds!

One of my favourite childhood food was undoubtedly boiled tapioca, yam or sweet potato, just plain smeared with butter. I was particularly fond of tapioca mashed in a little milk as well, apart from the butter. Vivid images of Mum making these for us after school came to my mind when I saw an array of yams and other root vegetables at the Asian market last weekend. I can still recall the aroma of melted butter on those hot root vegetables!

While sweet potato is a staple in my kitchen, I had never seen the purple ones in my local store. Yams and the rest would have been a staple too if I didn't have to make the trip to the Asian market to buy them. So, I got some of those purple sweet potatoes. Infact I had never had them before!



When I came back home, I checked the internet to see what people usually make with these. Just as I anticipated, these little purple babies go in anything from cakes to soups, even cheesecakes and flans! Now I had too many choices. Most of these recipes would need to be veganised; that wasn't a problem though.

Well, I end up making them exactly the way I liked root veggies as a child - plain smeared with vegan margarine.



I thought they would taste like the regular (orange) sweet potatoes but these ones were like a cross between tapioca and sweet potato. Very nice indeed. Colour and taste - gorgeous!
These for me make a good breakfast, although I wouldn't mind having them for or as part of any meal.

Sometimes the best meals are the simplest ones! Next time though I will definitely try make a cake or muffins or a pie or a cheesecake or a ...

My Way of the Salad

What's your concept of a perfect salad?
Most of my work lunches are my own packed salads which I make the night before. I prepare and pack the dressing separate. While I make salads at least 4 - 5 times a week, I don't actually blog about them that much.

If you eat salads that regularly, you start to try and find ways to make them more interesting and creative.
I have been improving my salad making skills over the years of being vegan and while I now have just gotten into the habit of it, I realise that I have intuitively adopted a kind of concept for making my salads more appetising and satisfying as a meal in itself. This is something I need to share, I thought!

So, here's my take on salad creation.

First, I pick a base, i.e. the bland part:
This is usually a bed of green leaves - spinach, rocket, watercress, lettuce or a mixture of these..., or I sometimes go for brown rice, couscous, quinoa...

Then, something sour:
Green olives, capers, pickles, citrus fruits like sour oranges, grapefruit, even sour grapes (if you've bought some grapes that are too sour to eat, toss them in a salad!)

After that, something sweet:
Beetroot, sweet cherry tomatoes, sweet potatoes (boiled or roasted), sweet fruits (strawberries, pineapple, apples...), dried fruits

Last, something oomphy (my favourite part)! Something that takes the taste to another level:
For this one I mostly like to use something spicy like spicy peppers, chillies, jalapenos or I go for things like seaweed, exotic flavours like fresh coconut pieces, lemongrass, ginger, fresh herbs like mint, basil, parsley, coriander, preserves or pickles like sundried tomatoes, pickled mushrooms...

I sometimes add in some sprouted pulses like mung sprouts or alfafa if I happen to have them and for natural fat (as I don't like adding oil in my salads) I toss in some avocadoes. I don't add seeds because I'm allergic to them but they are a great addition and, by all means, I really recommend them in salads.

Now for the dressing, I usually identify the most overpowering component of my salad and counteract it with the dressing. So, if my salad is on the spicy side with chillies etc, I will make a somewhat sweet and sour dressing. If my salad is mostly on the sour or bland side, I will add a bit of spiciness or sweetness in the dressing. You get the point...

Texture: you may want to play with the textures in the salad; most ingredients will probably be crunchy but I like to add in a few mushy textures as well like roasted sweet potatoes, aubergines, boiled beans...



So, for this particular salad, I happened to have some green mangoes that I picked up at the Asian market. I really love green mangoes eaten as lightly pickled in a bit of vinegar, sugar and salt. As a kid, I would eat green mangoes, wink with every bite, until I could no longer handle the sourness!

Beetroot, Green Mango and Arame Salad
The ingredients:
Base: spinach leaves, and a mix of a few other leaves
Sour: green mangoes
Sweet: beetroot (raw grated)
Oomph: arame sea vegetable (rehydrated in hot water. Soak for 10 minutes.)
Dressing: shoyu soy sauce, cranberry sauce, balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, salt (to taste if required), cracked chillies (optional)

In this case, the green mango is the most overpowering taste in the salad but it is already balanced with sweetness of the beetroot. So, I made a sweet and sour dressing just to blend into the salad.



The next day when I had this at work, I added some dried goji berries for a bit more flavour.
I hope you enjoyed this and please tell me what's your favourite salads and dressings because ... I think salad creations are endless!



While writing about this, I remembered something interesting that I found a while back on the Ayurvedic Concept of the Six Tastes in which all the important nutrients that we need for life, such as fats, proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins, etc. are contained in a meal that consist of all six tastes - sweet, sour, salty, bitter, pungent, and astringent.
I do not actually follow the ayurvedic concept but it seems I have been applying this concept quite instinctively in meal preparation and cooking...

If you don't already do so, follow me on Facebook or Twitter. I've also recently created a group on Facebook - Help me Veganise. Come and join the discussions, share tips, advices, experiences with fellow vegans and those interested in veganism.

Beancurd and Veggie Congee

Congee is something that I've recently had the chance to taste. I had never had it before but after some recommendation (from the same colleague who recommended Dehli-O-Deli) I decided to try it out at Yamamori Oriental Cafe in Dublin. I ordered the Mushroom (oyster mushroom) Congee soup. While it was quite nice and the mushrooms really complemented very well, I didn't like the amount of oil they had put in this soup. In fact, it was the oil in which the mushrooms were fried that was draining into the soup. There was the option for boiled mushrooms; I should have gone for that one instead. I'm sure a lot of people would have liked the fried version but for my taste I would have found it far tastier without the oil. Oil patches floating on soup is quite a turn off for me. But I did like this soup and have been thinking of re-creating it (minus so much oil) at home.

After I googled for a few congee recipes, I found that it was very easy to make at home. Most congee recipes online are not vegan though but this is so easy to veganise, infact I don't think it needs any recipe as it is very versatile. But I've written it down if you wanted to try this.

Congee, in many Asian countries, is eaten quite differently. While some eat it like a savoury porridge for breakfast, others have it as a replacement for rice dishes.
We had this for dinner as a soup and it was very satisfying. It was a soothing meal, easy to digest. The only thing is that the first time, I made far too much and we had this 3 days in a row! Rice cooked as a soup yields much more that boiled to be eaten as such. So, initially I've put the same amount of rice as I would have if we were to have this as rice dish with curry. I've adjusted the quantity in the recipe though.

I chose to use beancurd in this recipe. I usually buy beancurd as dried sheets or strips (in the Asian market). Beancurd, also known as tofu skin, is a film that forms on the surface of the liquid while making tofu. It is then collected and dried into yellowish sheets.
I break it into pieces before soaking. Beancurd also is quite nice in curries.




Ingredients (serves 4-6)

8 cups water
1 cup uncooked long-grain rice
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cube Kallo yeast free vegetable stock
2.5 cm (1 inch) piece peeled fresh ginger, grated
3/4 cup oat milk

1/2 cup dried beancurd sheets, broken into pieces
1/2 brocoli head, cut into florets
5-6 shitake mushrooms
1 carrot, diced or sliced
2 bunch pak choi greens, sliced lengthwise
1 teaspoon coconut oil
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Soy sauce, when serving (optional)

• To prepare beancurd, soak them in hot water. Set aside until needed.

• Combine first 5 ingredients in a large thick bottom pot, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
• Cover, reduce heat, and cook 45 minutes to 1 hour or until soup has a creamy consistency, stirring occasionally. You can also lightly mash the rice. 
• Stir in the oatmilk. 
• Remove from heat, keep warm.

While rice is cooking, in another pan you can prepare the vegetables.

• Heat 1 teaspoon coconut oil in a non-stick pan, add broccoli and mushrooms, sautée for 3-4 minutes.
• Add carrots, sautée for another 2-3 minutes. Remove, set aside. (I like my veggies crunchy and half cooked, adjust cooking time to your liking).

• Sautée pak choi for 30 seconds in the same pan (add a little oil, if required). Remove, set aside.

• Drain beancurd.
• Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in the same pan, add beancurd and 1/2 teasponn salt and stir fry for about 10 minutes, or until it is soft and less rubbery.

• Mix the beancurd into the rice soup. 
• Add in the vegetables just before serving. (If you are making this for more than 1 meal, I recommend keeping the vegetables seperate to be added into the bowl just before eating.)

• Divide soup evenly among 4 bowls; arrange vegetables and pak choi, drizzle with soy sauce, if desired.

Savoury Love Bread Pudding

Savoury bread pudding is something that has been lingering in my mind for a while now. I finally decided to give it a go this weekend. I picked up these cute little heart-shaped ramekins in Tesco's the other day and was still deciding what to bake in them. Not that I didn't have any ideas, I had too many and couldn't decide! Well, I went for the savoury bread pudding since I had some stale homemade bread that I was going to use in bread pudding anyway.

This is an easy recipe and it turned out well. Both Boyfriendlovlie and I really liked this. The good things is that it can be made virtually fat-free if you omit the margarine as topping at the end. I didn't put any in the pudding itself.

So, this could be nice as a starter or if made a slightly bigger portion, it can be a main. Having said that though, these were quite filling just that ramekin size.

Ingredients (serves 2)

75g (more or less) stale bread (should make up 1 cup (200ml) when soaked)
Oatmilk (enough to soak the bread)
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Salt to taste
Margarine (optional)

3 - 4 mushrooms, sliced
Handful of spinach leaves

• Preheat oven at 180 degrees Celsius.
• Cut bread into slices or small pieces. Cover with oatmilk and leave to soak.
  Then mash the bread when well soaked. The mixture shouldn't be too runny. It should look like a thick porridge.

• Then, add in the nutritional yeast and cornstarch. Add salt to taste. Mix well.
• Grease 2 ramekins. Place some of this mixture into the ramekins. Fill them up to 1/3.

• Then layer the mushrooms.

• Add a layer of bread mixture followed by a layer of spinach leaves.

• Finally cover with another layer of bread mixture. Add a teaspoon of vegan margarine on top of each ramekin (this is optional, otherwise the pudding is virtually fat-free).

• Bake for 45 minutes.

You can serve in the ramekins or demould. If you want to demould, run a knife around the edge to loosen the pudding, then gently turn over and tap down on a plate.



They went really well with some rocket leaf salad. And for a hot and spicy touch, sprinkle with some hot dried chilli and herbs. Enjoy!





Psst... don't forget to make love afterward! :)

Green Beans Wrapped In Courgette Ribbons with Pesto

Here's a quick and nice way to dress up some plain steamed veggies. I've used some courgettes sliced thinly into ribbons using a vegetable peeler.
Drizzle with a tiny bit of oil and toss them lightly in a pan on medium heat for no more than 10 seconds; just enough to soften them, so they are slightly more 'rollable'.



Take some green beans, trim the ends and steam until tender but still crunchy. Usually only takes a minute or two. Alternative you can blanch them for 15 seconds in boiling water, or just have them raw.

Then, gather 4 - 5 beans and wrap a courgette ribbon around. Lay on a serving plate and drizzle with some pesto. Here's a pesto recipe I made just recently.



Green, crunchy, quick and tasty!

Dehli-O-Deli, A Restaurant Review

Dehli-O-Deli is a vegetarian restaurant (with a good selection of vegan dishes on the menu) which quite recently opened in Moore Street in Dublin.
I had not yet paid a visit until a few weeks ago. Infact, a colleague had recommended the place and as we were passing by the area, Boyfriendlovlie and I decided to go in.
Inside is quite simple and staff are very friendly. The first good thing was the prices which are really cheap for a good size portion.

Since it was our first time there, we didn't quite know what to expect, so we just ordered a starter each and a main course with a drink.

Boyfriendlovlie had a samoosa. There is a samoosa under this, I swear! And it was tasty.




I had some mixed pakoras with chutney and tamarind dipping sauce. These were nice and filling.




However, we didn't like the masala lemonade. Very weird combination of spices with lemonade. That's going to be a big NO next time. I don't know whether there would be someone who would actually like this drink. I am cringing at the thought of it again! My orange-cranberry juice was alright though.




For main, I ordered masala dosa. It was huge! Didn't fit on the plate.




I would have liked a different filling instead of potatoes and I would have liked it to be a touch spicier.




Boyfriendlovlie had black chickpea curry with puffed naan bread. I really liked the naan bread and they went very well with the chickpeas which were nice too.




By the time we finished our starter and main, we were both full. So, I took some jalebis as a take away dessert to have later. They were excellent! Jalebis are my favourite indian sweets so I couldn't miss the chance of getting some since I don't actually make them at home.



In general, all dishes were a bit bland but they did taste nice. I would go back there from time to time as it's a convenient place, friendly staff and a good price for a simple lunch or early dinner.

Sunday Evening Craft Project

Monday morning blues? I kind of get that on Sunday evenings thinking about the Monday morning. So, I like doing little crafty things on Sunday evenings. It eventually eases off the Monday morning blues as well.

Here's a nifty cosmetic bag I whipped up this Sunday evening. It's based on a combination of this tutorial and this one but I made mine smaller as I needed one that would fit in my bag. So, I started off with a fabric 21cm by 35cm.

The end result is still a little bigger than what I wanted it to be but that's ok, I'll make another one. I can never have too many of these little bags!





So, what's your Sunday evening craft project? Please share as I need ideas!

Groupon With A Green Twist

This week savegreennow.com a company like Groupon (but with eco-friendly products in mind) is offering a 50% discount on Kaia foods ($15 for $30 worth of organic & vegan snacks from Kaia foods & Alive and Radiant Foods).

There's just about 3 days left to benefit from this offer. So, don't miss out, here's their website for the discount!

Vegan Copper Jewellery

Really love those vegan copper jewellery by Susmitha. I particular love the 'Vegan for Life' one. It would be the perfect Valentine gift for a vegan girl! Find more in her shop. Also check out her Veganosaurus blog with loads of yummy food!

Oatmilk Yogurt Cake

Oat milk yogurt was new to me until I came across it on Shin's Vegan Lovin' blog.
The only non-dairy yogurt I've had until now was soy yogurt. When I saw the recipe for oat milk yogurt on Shin's blog, I was intrigued and I had to try it. I usually make oat milk at home so I only had to add some lemon juice to it and leave it to rest for a day.
I am happy with the result, although it isn't as thick as yogurt. I think I need to use a thicker milk. I have another batch that I am leaving out for a few more days; I'll see how it turns out.

The taste is definitely very close to yogurt and I really like it.


Yesterday, I got a request from Boyfriendlovlie for a white cake with raisins. Now, who can refuse such a request?! So, I decided to use the yogurt in this cake since it was a bit too thin to eat as yogurt.

The cake turned out great! This yogurt definitely works well in cakes.

Oatmilk Yogurt Cake

Ingredients
Dry:
2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt

Wet:
3/4 cup sugar (I used demerara, any granular will do)
1 cup oatmilk yogurt (Recipe from Shin's blog)
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla essence
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup (or more) raisins

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celcius.
• Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl.
• Mix all wet ingredients in another bowl.
• Add wet to dry ingredients and mix well with a wooden spoon. Do not beat the mixture.
• Add raisins and mix well.
• Pour into a cake mould.
• Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.