Homemade Peanut Butter - Yummy

     Peanut butter is seriously a vegan's best friend, as it is packed full of protein and yumminess! I find it crazy to believe that before meeting my American hubby I detested the stuff--but now,  I just can't get enough! 

     This week, Johnny and I have been playing around with different varieties of peanut butter.  We made some naughty jars, chock full of chocolate and trail mix, and some normal batches, made from roasted peanuts and a dab of peanut oil.  Make some for yourself!  And remember, homemade peanut butter also makes for a wonderful gift.  To spice up your peanut butter jars, just place a small cut-out of fabric over the lid, or decorate your jars by other means. 

What you will need :-

1 pound of roasted peanuts 

2-3 Table spoons of peanut oil

Hand full of trail mix (mix of nuts and fruit to add texture)

Prep :-

Mix all the above listed ingredients into a food processor and blend for around 10 minutes or until you have the desired peanut butter texture! Thats it, really it's that simple. 

Hubbies Killer Breakfast

Whenever Johnny and I have time in the morning, we like to cook a special breakfast. Johnny is the king of making morning meals, so today I will share with you my favorite breakfast that he cooks, which is tofu scramble, with beans, toast, and corn bread. If you're a vegan who misses eggs, then this meal is for you!

What you will need:

Tofu scramble

1 red pepper
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
Extra firm tofu
1 table spoon of cumin
1 1/2 table spoons of Turmeric
Pinch of salt
Table spoon of coconut oil

Prep

Heat pan.  Add coconut oil.  Sweat onions with garlic in skillet until soft.  Add peppers, cook until ready.  Fragrance peppers and onions with cumin (1 tbs), and desired spices, etc.  Add tofu, scramble, and then add turmeric(1 1/2 tbs).  Then, add baked beans/black beans (optional).  Serve with toast.

Corn Bread

1 cup of all purpose flour
1 cup of corn meal
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/3 cup of sugar
1/3 Vegan butter/ coconut oil (melted)
1 cup of non dairy milk (we used coconut)
1/2 tablespoon of salt
3 tablespoons of egg replacer (mixed with 9 table spoons of water)


Prep

Mix corn meal, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, in bowl, whisk throughly.  Melt vegan butter.  Prepare egg replacer (3 tbs replacer; 9 tbs water) in a separate bowl, and mix until paste forms.  Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, mixing voraciously.  Let the corn bread mix sit/settle for 5 minutes.  Transfer to loafing tin, place in oven, cook at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Afterward, switch the oven to broil.  Crisp the top of the cornbread for 2-3 minutes, or until top becomes brownish.

Making Napkins

This month my home will be filled with three of my favorite people, my Mum, my Grannie, and my beautiful friend Pinky, which means I have been prepping our home for their arrival. As we plan to do a lot of home cooking during their stay I thought it would be rather practical to make some homemade napkins.  I made the napkins because I hate paper towels, finding them to be extremely wasteful and a luxury I can do without.

Napkins are super quick and easy to make. I simply cut two pieces of the same fabric to the desired size, making sure the fabric designs are visible from both sides, and then I pinned the cloth edges together. After, I sewed the pinned edges with my trusty sewing machine, and within one hour I had made six cute napkins. 

HANDMADE HOME

When Johnny and I moved into our new apartment we made the conscious decision to make as much of our furniture as possible instead of buying it new.  Plus, we built with recycled wood, which meant we were being kind to the planet, and kind to our purse too!

 I'm very excited about the items we have hand crafted so far and have lots of ideas for future furniture projects this year.

The bed's headboard is made from old pieces of garden fencing.  We bought the material from the local recycling center called, Resource, and amazingly the wood only cost $4! Before building, we sanded and varnished the pieces to antiquate the wood's look.

For our kitchen table, we modified an old table, surfaced it with old pine boards, varnished, and  dressed up the legs with Indian blue paint.  I later teamed the table with some chairs that I had up-cylced from a thrift store.

Above is a picture of a homemade shoe rack I made from two old milk crates that I found on the street.

Johnny made this coffee table from recycled material. I love the way he used the odd pieces of wood and pealing paint to create such a rugged aesthetic.

At the moment, I am on the hunt for an old ladder that I can turn into a book shelf. I will keep you posted on my progress.

WATCH - BLACK FISH

This week I watched the oscar nominated documentary, Black Fish (available on Netflix), which is a powerful and well put together film that shines light on the truth behind whales being used as performers at leading tourist attractions, such as Sea World. I am hoping that the film's revealing of such a dark industry will make people boycott Sea World, as well as other companies who exploit animals and remove them from their natural habitat.

365 day Picture Challenge

This year I have started a 365 day picture challenge to document my daily life. Each day I will take a photograph which best represents my daily life. At the end of the year I will print out the pictures to see how my year unfolded, creating a cool album afterward. Why not give it a go yourself? You never know where life might lead you this year, so you better have a camera ready!

You can follow my challenge HERE!

Homemade Hummus - Vegan Quick Snack

This christmas I received a blender /food processor from my mother-in-law, which, in my eyes, is the best gift a vegan can get! Since Christmas day, I have been busy making smoothies, peanut butters, and today I made homemade hummus.  I will share the recipe with you guys.

What you will need:

15oz can of Organic Chick Pea (Garbanzo Beans)
1/4 cup of the juice from the bean can
1 lemon squeezed
Pinch of salt
3 gloves of garlic
1/2 table spoons of  organic tahini
2 table spoons of olive oil (For garnish)

Prep (5mins)

Mix beans, lemon, garlic, tahini and salt in a food processor.   Blend the ingredients until smooth. Serve in a bowl, making a small well in the center of the hummus for 2 table spoons of olive oil. Garnish with pine nuts, and a small amount of chili powder.

This is a quick and easy snack for any busy vegan.