Veganize this: Mashed potato

My friend told me she found an amazing recipe for mashed potatoes that involved baking the potatoes first and since I hadn’t tried making mash since I became vegan I decided to see if I could veganize it and still have it taste amazing.

● 1.5kg royal blue potatoes, with skins

● 500g rock salt

● 150g vegan butter, softened (I used Buttery Nuttalex, but you can also make your own)

● 200ml vegan cream, heated (soy or nut)

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

2. Spread the rock salt over a baking tray and place the potatoes on top of the salt. Place the tray into the preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

3. To make the puree, remove the cooked potatoes from the oven (don’t let them cool as the potato will become gluey). Cut the baked potato in half and scoop out the hot, tender flesh. Set a mouli or fine sieve over a clean saucepan and pass the flesh through the mouli/sieve. Set the fine sieve over another saucepan and use a potato masher to push the mash through the sieve. This is quite a lot of effort but you will achieve a silky smooth potato mash.

4. Place the saucepan over a low heat and, using a heat-proof spatula, beat in the hot cream and softened butter, season to taste with salt.

5. To serve the mash reheat in the saucepan, stirring constantly, but don’t allow the mash to boil as it will split. Pour the mashed potato into a bowl and serve with vegan gravy.

When I made this I used coconut cream but found the flavour to be a bit intense, so I think in the future I am going to buy a soy cream or make my own cashew nut cream instead. Other than that I was really impressed, it's a bit fiddly but the results are great, even my omni friend and boyfriend enjoyed it. For the vegan gravy I used this recipe (and followed some of the comments suggestions) which was really delicious, but you can use gravy from a packet too.

Like most people growing up I was told that dairy was important in my diet for my bones, but now am I finding out that this is not only not true, but there are many cruelty-free sources of calcium such as leafy green vegetables and almonds. So please, if your dairy consumption is linked to the belief that calcium only comes from one source try to replace it with healthier options as much as you can.

Animal tourism

When I was a child I loved elephants and wanted nothing more than to ride an elephant one day. Now that I’m an adult I much more aware of the cruelty surrounding animal tourism. Though I’m going to admit now, I have participated in it. A few years ago I went to Indonesia with a friend who really wanted to go to an animal safari. I wasn’t particularly interested but with her insistence I came along. Below is a photo of me holding a baby orangutan.

I wonder how old he was before being taken from his mother?

It pops up in the news often, recently a man was killed by a 'tame' elephant. Thanks to the internet people are becoming wiser on the topic. Why is it so terrible? Because of the torture and stress these animals have to endure daily in order to entertain the masses. Animals are being taken from their mothers at a young age and forced to perform, give rides to people and are sometimes sedated in order for us to have our photos taken with them. The statistics are shocking too, there are more tigers in captivity than in the wild.

This is another case of supply and demand, if we stop supporting these injustices towards animals then it will happen less. No sentient being deserves this treatment. The same goes for circuses and places like Seaworld. I have vowed to never to support these kinds of trades again, and I hope you can too. Places like Indonesia and Thailand are still amazing without needing to ride an elephant or take a photo with a drugged up tiger. Enjoy the amazing food, traditional performances and beautiful scenery! 

Veganize this: Tuna fried rice

I went to the Asian grocery store the other day and found vegan tuna and today I decided to try to find a way to use it. Based on this recipe.

Nothing special to look at, but the taste is great

·       350g Rice (or use 4 cups leftover cooked rice)

·       2 tabespoons olive oil

·       1 garlic clove, crushed and chopped

·       1 small onion, chopped

·       1 cup of frozen peas and corn

·       ¼ soy sauce

·       1 can vegan tuna

1.       Cook rice, then drain and refresh.

2.       Heat oil in a wok over high heat, add the onion and garlic and fry until browned.

3.       Add rice to the wok, stir-fry for 1 minute, then add the peas, tuna and soy sauce. Stir-fry quickly until heated through.

It’s a pretty quick simple dish, enjoy! Why use vegan tuna instead of real tuna? Tuna, particularly Bluefin tuna are victims of overfishing and are now endangered. To help not upset the delicate ecosystem of the ocean it’s better to reduce our consumption of all marine life.

Veganize this: spinach and ricotta puffs

So today I went to the cruelty free shop (AKA vegan heaven in Melbourne) for no particular reason and came across vegan ricotta on sale. I had never tried it before  and since I had spinach at home that needed to be eaten up I thought it was a good excuse to buy it. This is an adaption of the recipe I found here. 

·       250g vegan ricotta cheese

·       250g frozen spinach, thawed

·       2 tablespoons of chia or flax seeds

·       6 tablespoons of water

·       2 teaspoons dried basil

·       1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste

·       2 tablespoons olive oil

·       200g puff pastry sheets

1.       Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

2.       Mix the seeds with the water and leave for a few minutes

3.       Mix the ricotta cheese, drained spinach, seeds, basil, salt and pepper.

4.       Lay a filo sheet on a work surface then place a spoonful of the spinach and cheese mixture on it and fold into a triangle. Continue with the remaining ingredients.

5.       Put the triangle in a baking dish and brush with olive oil.

6.       Bake for 20 minutes.

That was pretty much it! A very quick and easy meal for dinner today after a busy day. As for the taste, they aren’t exactly the same as non-vegan ones but I’m pretty happy with them. Before I was vegan I was a vegetarian for about 6 years and these were often something I would eat so it was nice to have them again! If you are like how I used to be and thought ‘free range eggs are fine to eat because they don’t harm the chicken’ then you are misled. Not only do they kill thousands of make chicks each year but many farms who claim to be free range are actually not. It’s sad but the best way to reduce the cruelty is to stop eating eggs altogether, and with so many different kinds of good egg replacement, why wouldn’t you?

I don't use shampoo! (No Poo update)

For those of you not familiar, 'no poo' is the movement of not using shampoo or conditioner to wash your hair (read my earlier post). Since I last blogged about it, I have moved back to my home country Australia from the UK. I have travelled a lot this year and can’t say I’ve been 100% faithful, but I won’t give up.

clean hair without the use of shampoo!

Until this year I didn’t realise the struggle of hard water. Sure I’d heard the term before but I had no idea how it impacted people trying to go no poo. It’s still possible (I mostly got by with soap nuts) but challenging. Now I’m back home and using a combination of bicarbonate (baking) soda as my shampoo and a green tea rinse as conditioner. I have a new found respect for people in hard water areas! If you’re thinking, this sounds like too much hard work, consider how many animals get tested every year on beauty products like shampoo. Many of the big brands do it unfortunately. It’s true, you could just chose a product that claims it’s cruelty free, but then there are all the other negative impacts (such as environmental) which aren’t taken to consideration.

Anyway if you are intrigued by the idea, I 100% recommend this Facebook group, with a massive library of resources you’ll surely be able to start your no poo journey, hard water or otherwise!

Why not use hemp?

We've all heard of hemp, the sister of marijuana, but do you know how many uses it has and how good it is for the environment? According to this article, it is a much more sustainable resource than trees for paper, and can reduce deforestation.

hemp only takes 12-14 weeks to grow (image © raygirl)

From oil, to clothing to building materials hemp is a versatile plant that should be utilized more. I personally would love to be able to buy a notepad made of hemp from my local shop. Right now this is difficult... Doing a quick internet search I haven't found any retail stores that supply this in Australia, but with a growth in demand this can change in the future! For now lets reduce the amount of non-recycled paper we consume and keep demanding sustainable alternatives!

Why buy when you can borrow?

It seems we are all a little too caught up in consumerism. Needing the newest model phone or adding a new appliance to the collection. I, like most people, have too much stuff. Some of it is invaluable but some of it is collecting dust. Libraries are a perfect example of how we can borrow rather than buy, only in rare cases do I read a book more than once, so borrowing is perfect. I can grab a new novel, a cookbook or learn a new language!

A plethora of resources! (image © kippa2001)

I recently heard about a website where people share things in the community, for example, I might need a drill to use once, rather than buy one I can use this site to see if anyone in my local area has one. This saves us money but also reduces the amount of stuff created which helps the environment. On the topic of saving money, there are other great websites where you can get things your local area for free including freecycle or cheap such as gumtree or craigslist. Maybe you're wondering, why bother when you can get new things so cheaply? Well one example is shown by this article demonstrating how fashion companies are polluting waterways with dye for fabric. We don't *need* new clothing when so much already exists. Next time you're thinking of purchasing something, why not try your local library, thrift store or have a look at these websites first to see if you can't reduce your environmental impact.