2023 Vegan Storecupboard Challenge

Brie

@MissRikkiC
I've asked on another board (What am i making for dinner) and hopefully someone there will answer.....must admit it's not something I've tried.

leftatthetrafficlights

I've been awol for a while - lots going on in rl!! 

@KajiKita - I make all my own milks; oat, almond and cashew. For nut milks you can use either nuts or nut butters and for oats it's just the bog standard porridge oats. I do them in my vitamix but they're easy to do in any type of blender - I certainly wouldn't be paying that sort of cash for a milk maker!!! 🤯

Welcome @Pauper1! 😁 I make my bolognese with either hm seitan mince or dark speckled lentils (occasionally with a combination of both) which is dramatically cheaper than the 'fake' meats - if you have the time/inclination to do so it would definitely be worth making a batch of seitan, mince it by pulsing in a food processor (or chop very finely with a knife if you don't have a processor) then freeze it in portion sizes - it can be cooked from frozen so is very convenient. If you're struggling with meal ideas I highly recommend youtube - there is a real abundance of good recipes on there! 

As far as the jacket potato conversation is concerned, I just make them as I want them - 8 mins in the microwave generally gets the job done and if I want the skins crispy I brush with oil then pop them in the oven or bake in the airfryer for a few minutes. I have stuffed them and frozen them previously but decided that it didn't really save me enough time to warrant taking up the freezer space...

Anyway, food recently has predominantly been very simple and plain using garden produce - calabrese, courgettes, a variety of different beans, fennel, beetroot, peas, carrots, salad leaves etc with either potatoes from the garden or grains along with a variety of different dressings and herbs. It's been really nice using what we have grown although I'm starting to wonder if I'll turn into a courgette soon!! 🤣

leftatthetrafficlights

Made soup today - blended cashews in water, added leftover steamed calabrese and cooked potatoes and blended again, then cooked an onion and garlic in a bit of stock, added some fennel herb and shelled peas for about 4 mins and added to the blender. Whizzed it all together and I've ended up with a really creamy and thick soup which tastes amazing! 😋 Other than the stock powder and cashews everything came from the garden 😁

KajiKita

I’m setting myself a challenge this weekend. I’m still eating way too many UPFs, mainly replacement vegan ‘meats’ and the burgers generally taste pretty bad, so I am aiming to make a burger that is high in protein but is moist and tasty and doesn’t have that dryness that most bean burger recipes seem to have. 

So, I am thinking:
- finely chopped, fried mushroom
- precooked in veggie stock, pearl barley 
- small quantity of precooked lentils or small beans, chopped finely
- 1 small, finely chopped, not precooked onion
- finely chopped fresh sage
- finely chopped fresh parsley 
- bound together with flax seed in water.

Not sure if it will need breadcrumbs to protect it during frying. I have ordered some and I will try making both ways and see how it goes. 

KK

Brie

Interesting conversation with a chap at work.....he was saying how much he liked cooking but it's so expensive and he's already depending on some groceries from the food bank.  I mentioned making his own burgers with beans etc and he was completely astonished by the idea.  It seems there are great swathes of the population who have no idea what vegetarian or vegan food is like.  He's well read and seems quite intelligent, he's neither a youngster or an oldie so I'm not sure how he's missed hearing about stuff.  

@leftatthetrafficlights
I envy your excess of courgettes.  I've yet to have a single one as they keep dropping off the plant when about 2 inches long.  Probably stating the obvious - they do freeze very well and can be roasted from frozen.  When I've bought a lot in and can't use them all I prep them along with any excess onion, beet, carrots, small tomatoes, potatoes and pop them into a bag directly into the freezer for when I need a bit extra to go with whatever else I'm having.  

KajiKita

Vegan food fair was okayish but not big (maybe 10 food stalls in total with a crystal stall, wildlife and plant charity stalls) with a lot of sweet stuff. Not much inspiration but did come away with awesome olives and two nut based vegan cheeses - instead of the endless, stomach-ache inducing, coconut oil stuff you get in standard shops. 😊 Didn’t spend too much either! 😉

KK

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - it is surprising when people seem to be so clueless about vegetarian/vegan options in this day and age! 😳 when I first went vegan a couple of decades ago most people just looked blankly at me which I totally understood at that point but it's so widespread now I just don't get it when I'm asked what it means!! 😅 Thanks for the courgette ideas - at the moment I'm just making masses of courgette and tomato based sauce, I cook a massive pan of it with lots of other veggies in it and then blitz and freeze. I use it as the base for bolognese, chilli etc throughout the year - saves time and means I can sneak veg into the grandbaby! 😉 if your courgettes are falling off when tiny it may be worth trying to pollinate by hand - I know a few people it has worked for....

@KajiKita - sorry the food fair wasn't great, glad you came away with some goodies though! 😉 fingers crossed on the burgers!! I know that there are lots of burger recipes online so you can always have a go at some of them too! 😁 

Yesterday I rearranged my kitchen cupboards and in the chaos I mislabelled my wheat gluten and bread flours! 🤦‍♀️ I discovered this last night when I was making a batch of seitan after I'd poured the liquids into what I thought was wheat gluten!!! 😂 Not wanting to give up, I put some wheat gluten in it and pressure cooked it - it came out surprisingly okay (although not quite right!) so I whacked it into some tomato and courgette base and its in the slow cooker now - hopefully it will be okay to mince once I pull it out 🤞🤣

Brie

re courgettes - don't forget that the flowers are edible as well.  That might be my only way to get anything off these plants.  Of course there's also courgette cake/bread but I've never found a recipe that didn't involve eggs.

As for misunderstanding about vegans and vegetarians....when one of my SiLs had a baby my mom was all upset as the newborn was very very small (barely 5 lbs) and my mom said it was because SiL didn't have a "proper" diet  as she's vegetarian for the most part.  I had to point out to her that given SiL is only 5 foot tall and wears a size 2 and my brother is only 5'3" you couldn't really expect them to be popping out giants.  And beside SiL is a fabulous cook and knows full well how to get all the right nutrition.  And she followed her midwife's advice and had a pint of Guinness most days too!!!

leftatthetrafficlights

@Brie - I had similar conversations with people when I had my youngest - I was veggie at the time (she's in her 30's now) and was warned that she'd be low birth weight etc ... she was 8lb!!! 😂 

Well the bread flour/wheat gluten thing really didn't take to mincing so I blitzed it with walnuts, onions, carrots, courgette, garlic, chickpeas, rye berries, oat groats and brown basmati and made it into haggis 'burgers'! 😉 we had it with carrots, green beans, calabrese and potatoes from the garden and served with gravy - it was very nice and I've got several left which I have frozen. It's a good autumn/winter meal so it's been a success after all!! 😂 

Tonight we'll have pasta with some tomato and courgette sauce - I've get the grandbaby so want something simple and quick...

leftatthetrafficlights

Made pizza with the tomato and courgette sauce as a base and m&s grated mozzarella- I was impressed by the cheese, melted really well and tasted nice! I'll definitely buy it again...

Breakfast this morning was a mountain of papaya that I bought last week and dinner will be something from the freezer as I can't be bothered to cook today! 

I've got another couple of enormous courgettes to get through- I obviously missed them on my last harvest - so I'm going to make more of the courgette and tomato sauce in the slow cooker later. Once it's done, I'll be blitzing it and adding some of it to a tin of jackfruit along with some chilli and blackbeans to make enchiladas for later in the week. I'll freeze the rest. 

I've got loads of runner beans, broad beans and French beans to harvest so I'll use those along with some more calabrese (and one of the smaller courgettes in the fridge) and make a Thai style curry- I just need dh to get some lemongrass and galangal from the ethnic supermarket near his work as I grow kaffir lime leaves at home. 

I found some fake tuna yesterday at the supermarket so have bought it to try (not the tinned ones, they are genuinely horrific! 🤢) I'm not hopeful but it was relatively cheap and I was feeling brave!! I'll let you know how it goes when I try it!!