Breakfast of champions

Oats, flaxseed,cinnamon and  mixed berries with  cream and coconut nectar. Fills me up till lunchtime!

Been having lots of fun making rejuvelac and using it to make cashew cheese. Also made brie which is lovely and very cheesy in flavour. The butter I made the other day is just the best flavour and texture, I much prefer it to dairy butter. I got a silicone rose shaped mold at a garage sale yesterday so will start using that it put the butter in and may even use it for some cheeses.

Yeah yeah more food....

Spent the day cooking when I wasn't on the phone organising the biggest garden event ever.
Came up with these

Skinny Figgy Bars from the Fat Free Vegan

 Also made Gorgonzola and Garlic Herb Gournay and Banana Cream Pie. All from The non dairy Formulary. All very yummy. Might be changing the name of this blog to the 300lb vegan!

NDF

stands for Non Dairy Formulary

A fantastic book by Skye Micheal Conroy the Gentle Chef.
I cooked the Colby Melt and then used it for the Twice Baked Cheesy Broccoli Potatoes.

There were a couple of issues but I am sure they can be overcome with a second cooking. The recipe was not at fault as the flavour was just delicious. The problem came about because I used a soy milk that has additives. It has tapioca syrup in it and I am sure that it mucked up the amount of tapioca flour I should have used. This is an american chef so I am not sure if he uses a 15gm tablespoon or a 20gm one. I will be asking the question. Australia typically uses a 20gm tblspn.

This yummy looking food is whipped coconut milk. Yeah who knew you could whip coconut milk just like dairy cream? I sprinkled coconut sugar over the top of it and yes it was absolutely delicious. That is the last of the Raspberry Tart under that coconut cream.

Food lately.

Mom's Polenta with Rice and Beans from The China Study Cookbook by Leanne Campbell.
Absolutely delicious and very filling.

Homemade bread with sun-dried tomatoes. 
Sliced and ready for the freezer.

Creamy Strawberry Tart made with raspberries instead.
Who knew cashews could taste so good as a tart.
From Artisan Vegan Cheese by Miyoko Schinner

Asparagus and Mushroom Quiche with a 

Brown Rice Crust from Fat free Vegan

Todays lunch. Homemade bread topped with avocado tomato vegan cheese kale and vegan sour cream.

How come?

I remember the date, place and  time very clearly.
 It really was a lightbulb moment in my life.
Tuesday August 6th 2013.
The day my life fit a bit better together.
A garden club bus trip, nearly over. We had time on our hands so decided to do an extra stop on the way home. Called in at Canungra and I, along with lots of others, hit the op shop. I found a couple of things then discovered I had no cash. I went to the ATM across the street and headed back into the shop. It was on the way back in that I saw the card stand of free dvd's. I had walked straight past it the first time. I looked at the counter and the lady was busy serving someone else so I stopped to look at the dvd's. The usual religious garbage, the conspiracy theorists, the alarmists, the chicken littles, then around the other side, the foodie ones. I saw the David Gillespie sugar one so grabbed that, a salt one, what are they spraying, and then a fairly innocent looking one called Forks over Knives. I stuffed them all in my bag and went and paid for my other stuff.
That night I put in the Forks over Knives dvd and started watching. What a revelation!
Why has this info been so hard to find, so tramped down so nobody notices it. Dismissed even. I now know why. Big industry, as in cattle and dairy does not want us knowing their products are doing so much harm. Poor farmers they scream, they will go broke if nobody buys their products. Well to hell with them. I care much more about myself and my health than any lousy ill informed farmer.
I have been reading about nutrition for many decades now (yes I am that old) and have never come across this research before. I am the worlds best dieter. I can deny myself anything. I did deny myself everything. I also denied that I was not really comfortable eating meat, I hated buying it and cooking it. I did it because it was the only way I knew to eat. So the leaner the better, the skimmer the better and it made not a blind bit of difference to my health. I was still overweight and had increasing health issues. I took a look at my family, both immediate and distant. What a bunch of sickos. Autoimmune diseases, cancer, heart disease, dementia, diabetes , the list goes on. And on. And on. It was all there waiting for me. All I had to do was continue eating the SAD. Standard Australian Diet.
Well NO MORE.
NOT FOR ME!
No thank you, I have stepped off the merry go round.
Even before I finished watching the dvd I had jumped online and bought the associated cookbook. I must add in here that the idea of the dvd is not to sell cookbooks. It is to inform. Just so happens the cookbook will help to transition to a plant based diet. Now that all my cookbooks were just books on how to kill yourself slowly I needed a whole new bunch of them. I started with Forks over Knives and now have gone so far as to get the cheese making ones.
I am thoroughly enjoying this new eating experience and am only sad that I have taken so long to get here.
My entire pantry has changed and my fridge and freezer are completely different.
I spend around one third of the money I used to on food.
I never have to worry about 'thawing something out for dinner'.
My diet is now rich and varied and cooking is an absolute pleasure.
I have never eaten so well.
I do not deny myself anything. If I want chocolate I will have it. If I want cake I will have it.
Life is so much more interesting and I have begun to feel really comfortable using ingredients like millet, quinoa and agar agar and kale.
Who knew cashews made lovely tarts and cheese?
Soy milk is delicious. So is tofu.
Breakfast is still the same old oats but now jazzed up by being cooked in soy milk and topped with tofu cream and berries, with a couple of tspns of ground flaxseed and cinnamon thrown in for good measure.
Tea. My god. Who knew berry tea was so delicious! and peach and peppermint and strawberry cream and mango sancha and and and..........
I bake my own bread.
And most importantly of all I am now off track to get those above listed diseases so readily.
I also had to figure out what to do with the next 50 years as I am going to live so long.
Yeah yeah back to uni. Sucker for punishment I know. Applied, just waiting to hear.

And

Cows, chickens and pigs and fish love me and I can look them in the face again!