Things I eat when I'm home alone.

For some reason, I am a very lazy cook when Andy goes away. I don't know why – I love cooking, and I love eating, but I kind of can't be bothered for just me. So I tend to eat a lot of quick things, like noodles. Sometimes I don't even bother with food and just have a juice-meal.

Every now and then, however, I muster some motivation and come up with some pretty good results.

For St Patrick's Day I made a tiny loaf of Irish Soda Bread, from Joy of Vegan Baking. This was enough for me to have dinner and breakfast the next day (with ginger marmalade, yum).

With my soda bread, I had a small batch of Potatoes with 40 cloves of Garlic from Urban Vegan, and also which I saw on Nigella Cooks the weekend before. The squishy roasty garlic went really well on the bread.

A whole block of slightly-jiggly tofu without much flavouring is a major turn-off to some, but I kinda dig the flavour of plain tofu. I did marinate the outside of it for a bit in soy sauce and sesame oil before sprinkling some sesame seeds and nori flakes on top and baking.

Since the oven was on, I made Porcupine Potatoes, inspired by the Radioactive Vegan, sweet potato medallions, and a bit of roasted garlic. I also had a giant salad of cos lettuce which was reduced to clear, with creamy miso dressing. And a flashback to my childhood – quick pickled cucumbers (cucumbers, vinegar, sugar and salt, left to sit for a few hours or a few weeks). We used to call them 'super pickles' and eat them like there was no tomorrow.

Tofu scramblde doesn't require much inspiration, nor effort, although this one did have ceylon spinach from the garden which is a bit of a pain to harvest.

With a few onions that really needed using, and inspiration from VegNews magazine, I successfully made caramelised onions for the first time ever. I usually get impatient and burn them. They made a beautiful topping for foccaccia.

Seitan burgers from the freezer are a great home-alone dinner, especially with a quick side of home fries, and a pile of Ceylon spinach (quickly wilted by putting it in a colander and pouring boiling water over it). And a dill pickle, because I really love pickles.

My fruit-shopping requirements are eased when friends drop off backyard bananas, perfect for adding to morning muesli and smoothies.

In preparation for dinner with a friend of mine, I made some BBQ sauce based on Pomegranate BBQ Sauce from VwaV. Instead of pomegranate molasses, I used plum sauce which goes really well with the five-spice in the recipe. I poured it over some tofu to have for dinner the night I made it (with plenty left for later), with cooked rice and cucumbers and eventually made into yummy wraps.

For a nice relaxed weekend breakfast I made Pumpkin Pie Pancakes from Vegan Planet, which were a little disappointing.

Both the pumpkin and the spice were hardly noticeable.

And finally, to cap off a massive post, I marked easter weekend by attempting Hot Cross Buns. But I'm not religious, and my cross material was hard to work with, so I made maths symbols instead – plus signs, minus signs, multiplication signs, a fraction, and division signs. Here they are before baking.

Unfortunately, they didn't go so well. The tops didn't brown and just got kind of dry and crunchy, and the bottoms overbrowned and went chewy.

But they were edible, and saved me walking to the store.  And that's really what most of my single-food is about -- minimal effort.  Now that Andy is home, however, we have been cooking exciting things again.

And a happy new year.

Happy 2009, everyone.

We were happy to carry the lazy holiday period over into the earliest days of 2009. We rang in the New Year at a friend’s party, drinking cocktails on the balcony overlooking the beach and watching the fireworks from above the crowds at midnight.

We woke up on the first day of 2009 feeling... not quite hungover, but tired and thirsty. I made a lazy batch of pancakes, which we topped with jam (rhubarb for me, four fruits for Andy) and had alongside some fresh mango.

We spent the morning doing nothing much—some uni work, some reading—so weren’t too hungry for lunch. So, I made some mango-orange-carrot-apple-beetroot-ginger juice, which left us feeling full and healthy.

A movie, some dilly-dallying in the kitchen and more reading made up the bulk of our afternoon. For dinner, Andy made some “sausage rolls”—puff pastry filled with deliciously-spiced lentils—and I made some seitan enchiladas.

For dessert, I tried to recreate my all-time favourite food I had while in Thailand—khau neau mamuang, or sticky rice with mango. I didn’t have sticky rice, so I made a thick coconut rice pudding instead. This was good, but I’m going to get sticky rice next time I’m at the asian grocery because it wasn’t quite what I remembered.

Still, it was great to have mango for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

I’m a bit sad to see the holidays go. Lazy days filled with good food, swimming and tropical fruit are kind of, well, awesome. But the holidays are well and truly over—I’m in my office on a Saturday. Before 2009 gets going full steam ahead, I’m going to reminisce about 2008…

It was hectic but a good year. I did lots more travelling around Australia, which I’ve been meaning to do since before I moved here (for instance, I went to Brisbane, twice; to Melbourne; to Auckland; and to places around North Queensland like Bowen, Alligator Creek, Mission Beach, Crystal Creek, and Wallaman Falls).

Andy and I watched Nacho grow up into a self-righteous but sooky, playful and still clumsy adult cat.

Andy and I got engaged, and are planning to elope at some point in the future.

I’m another year closer to finishing my PhD—13 months to go until hand-in, so long as I don’t extend.

We both got new bikes so now I can get around with no hassles when Andy goes away for weeks at a time.

We got much better at the DIY lifestyle, with the acquisition of a yogurt maker, a bread maker, and a juicer.

We also discovered chickpea cutlets, which was probably the recipe which has had the biggest impact on our usual repertoire of cooking.

As much as I liked 2008, I’m happy to be moving on to another year. I hope you all had a great 2008, and that 2009 has lots of good things in store for everyone!

Hot and Cold

Although summer doesn’t technically start in Australia until Monday, it has reached Townsville with a vengeance. It has been hot here. Like, really stinking hot. Yesterday it was 34 degrees, which is about 94 Fahrenheit. And since it’s been raining every few nights, the air is thick with humidity.

To give you an idea of the sort of heat I’m dealing with... the sun heats up all the pipes, which means that water coming from the cold tap is warm enough to wash dishes in. I leave the house at around 7:30 in the morning to get to uni before the sun gets up too high—but for the past few days, I’ve been sweating before I even leave the house. Thank goodness there’s a shower in my building!

In this kind of heat, appetites are very different than they are in winter. I’ve been juicing lots of fruit and vege in order to get lots of nutrients without filling myself up too much.

A good meal in summer is simple grilled seitan. Real Food Daily chicken-style seitan, marinated in Urban Vegan’s Classic Marinade, charred in a skillet and served with tomato sauce is quick and easy and requires very little hands-on time in the hot kitchen.

An Urban Vegan Tester recipe

Similarly, Urban Vegan’s Hearty Adzuki Bean Soup was a good meal to make on a hot day. Wait... hearty soup, on a hot day? Really?! Well actually, yes. To make this soup, you literally throw everything into a pot and let it simmer for an hour or so. I stirred occasionally, but most of the time this was cooking I was sitting with my feet up, writing christmas cards.

An Urban Vegan Tester recipe

And today, I got caught in a serious rainstorm on my way in to uni. Warm leftover soup was more than welcome!

But really, what I mostly feel like eating is ice cream. So I jumped at the opportunity to test Urban Vegan’s Unfried Ice Cream. Chocolate ice cream with a yummy coating is a perfect end to a hot day.

An Urban Vegan Tester recipe

I hope that wherever you are, whatever weather is being thrown at you right now, you're dealing with it well!

My fridge and freezer.

I had a hard time keeping up with everyone’s VeganMoFo posts, but a post I saw doing the rounds was the “in my freezer” post. I like it, so now that I’ve got a bit more free time I thought I would let you peek into my fridge and freezer.

Andy and I got our fridge from a guy who sells refurbished second-hand appliances, and we haven’t had a problem with it in the nearly three years we’ve had it. The outside is covered in photos, takeaway menus, postcards, a free movie ticket, heaps of magnets, a budget for November and the bit of paper on which Andy asked me to marry him.

Sitting on top we have: our wok; regular soy sauce; dark soy sauce; balsamic vinegar; a roll of paper towels we never use; cooking salt; and our oils—olive, rice bran, homemade chilli, and sesame.

Continuing down from the top, our uppermost freezer shelf houses: 2 tubs of ice cream—one nearly empty chocolate, and one nearly full vanilla chai (post on this coming soon); a bag of tater tots; a Tupperware of roasted pumpkin; reduced to clear noodles; a jar of farmer’s market coriander (a bit of an experiment; it freezes fine, fyi); organic broccoli we bought on special and chopped and froze; chicken-style seitan, cut into meal-sized pieces; a bag of green broadbeans; 2 jars of cooked fava beans (we pressured cook big batches and store the leftovers in jam jars in the freezer); 2 containers of mango-flavoured silken tofu; a package of puff pastry; a jar of cooked chickpeas.

In the bottom shelf of the fridge you can find: Filo dough, chopped spinach, carrots (cut and frozen by Andy); a blue ice block; a jar of coffee; pizza dough; sliced bread; reduced to clear bread rolls; 2 bags of green peas; about 6 blocks of firm tofu; a jar of cooked white beans; a jar of coriander pesto; and more reduced to clear noodles.

In the freezer door we keep: ground LSA mix; ginger; chillis from the garden; yeast; a jar of cat treats; and some gross fish food.

Down in the fridge, the top shelf keeps: soy milk; a brita filter; a bowl of bread waiting to become crumbs (that’s not usually in there); a few jars of jam; a few jars of olives; and a can of redbull I was given on the very first day of my PhD that I have yet to drink. We usually have a litre of soy yogurt in there as well, but on the day of the photo it was out becoming yogurt.

In the middle fridge shelf, which is a bit bare right now, we have: granny smith apples; a jar of dill pickles; apple sauce; nuttelex; and a bag of jelly beans my parents sent last easter.

The bottom shelf of the fridge is where we keep: a bottle of Yellowtail Pinot Grigio; two bottles of homebrew beer; a cucumber; and a rockmelon.

The fridge drawers are also usually more full, but at the end of the week they had: apples; potatoes; oranges; and a wombok.

The fridge door is where we keep lots of condiments to make dinner taste good, like (top to bottom): fresh rosemary; ginger; garlic; limes; lush lotion (Townsville is too hot for handmade cosmetics); Tandoori paste; tamarind puree; pickled ginger; four types of curry paste; probiotic capsules for yogurt-making; the leftovers from a tin of pineapple chunks; plum sauce; minced garlic; chilli capsicum deli spread; sunflower butter; miso; a block of chocolate; a box of nerds my parents sent at christmas; a bottle of white wine for cooking; basil oil; hoisin sauce; and reduced to clear juice.

Phew! Who knew it was possible to squeeze so much stuff into a relatively small space? And this is when it's on the empty side...

Gifts and other surprises

I’ve been a bit spoiled lately.

Just before I left for Brisbane, I got an email saying I had won last month's contest at aduki and I would be getting a book in the mail. It was waiting for me when I came home.

I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve ever won anything. Needless to say, it was exciting to get my free book and I look forward to a mythical future day when I have the time to read it. Thanks aduki!

Then Andy’s parents came up, and brought with them gifts from some of Andy’s aunties at home. A set of six wine glasses means we have enough to offer if we ever have guests (a big step up from our previous set of two mis-matched glasses). Likewise, a new towel set means that people who stay at our place don't need to use beach towels when they shower. And before they left, Andy’s mum and dad got us a juicer.

We ended up getting the last one on the shelf, which was missing its box and paperwork but had all of its parts—and it was $100 cheaper than it usually is. We downloaded the instructions from the internet and have been juicing all week.

Our first creation involved beetroot, carrot, orange, rockmelon and ginger. It was yummy but I forgot to take photos. Our next batch was similar—orange, beetroot, carrot, sweet potato, mint and ginger (though I don’t think the mint juiced very well).

In order to not waste the pulp from this batch, we decided to make Pulp Nuggets. Before they cooked, I thought they looked a lot like raw mince.

These are basically the recipe for chickpea cutlets, with pulp instead of chickpeas (we picked out most of the clump of orange pulp). Flavoured with korma paste and then formed into nuggets and fried, these were a really yummy way to use the extras from our juice, especially alongside some lime and coriander potato salad, and a mixture of raw corn, tomato and cucumber.

Our latest juice was very different from the others. Half a bunch of celery, a cucumber and two apples made for a very green juice. Andy didn’t love it, but I thought it was pretty good. Another apple probably would have made it a bit sweeter.

And and and, I checked the mail last week to find not one but TWO gift certificates from my family. For my birthday, they’ve treated me to two sessions at Plant Essentials, a vegan and organic spa in town. Wahoo!