Also

5 Dogs

No not that!!!!

THIS:

5 DOGS in Brunswick St Mall in the Valley is a complete win. They do a vegan hot dog complete with vegan cheese, BACON!, fried onion, all the toppings and condiments you could want on a delicious traditional tasting bun. SOOOOO GOOOOD. It isn't the cheapest at $9.00 but it is the best!

This is a photo of the non vegan ones but the vegan ones are just as jam packed and amazing looking :)

Oh AND the staff are awesome and completely happy to get you anything you like. So go GET A DOG IN YAH!

T is for Tasty and for Tempeh :)

Hey friends

Tempeh is the less popular but way more attractive brother of Tofu. It’s less processed, has more protein and fiber and actually has a delicious taste. You can buy is from health food stores and also now at Coles, at least the one in Toowong has it. I’ve used it for a while, as a meat substitute for Spag Bowl but last night I tried searing it instead and it is INSANELY good and crazy simply. I got this recipe here.

Ingredients:

1 pkg Tempeh

2/3 cups water

1/3 cup soy sauce

1-2 cloves of garlic

1” grated fresh ginger

Method:

Mix all the ingredients aside from the tempeh in a bowl. This is the marinade.

Cut tempeh into triangles, or any shape you like really. Then in a med/hot pan, brown the pieces on both sides, so that they’re nice and crispy. At this stage it’s up to you how much oil you want to use, I’m a believer in more is always tastier.

Add the marinade to the pan and let boil for 3-5 mins, then reduce and let simmer uncovered for about 25 mins. By this time all the marinade should be soaked into the tempeh but I did find my marinade absorbed quickly so just add extra water as needed.

It’s done!

I cut this up into stripes and we had it the next day on wraps for lunch. It was soooo tasty and filling. The flavour does remind me of my favourite meal as a kid, honey and soy chicken. My mum used to serve it with fried rice so next time I’m going to try adding a little rice syrup and serving it the same way as a main meal!

Smile, it's Sunday :)

Melbourne - vegan heaven.

So I just got back from my bi-monthly Melbourne trip and it was amazing, as always.

The most vegan-friendly city in this country always ensures that we eat about six meals a day to cram as much goodness in as possible.

This visit was too short to explore and try some new eateries off my list (getting longer all the time) so we just stuck to the ol faithfuls;

Bimbos

Cnr Brunswick Street and Rose Street, Fitzroy

1 x vegan pizza - pumpkin, pine nut, soy cheese, rosemary and olive oil

1 x mushroom pizza minus the cheese and plus garlic

Soulfood Cafe

273 Smith Street, Collingwood

1 x pot of AMAZING soy chai

1 x monster vegan breakfast - delicious sourdough grain toast, spinach, grilled spiced tomato, homemade hash brown balls, marinated mushrooms, tasty relish and THE MOST AMAZING SCRAMBLED TOFU I HAVE EVER HAD! It's filled with spices and caramelised onion. Not all shown as Jeff stole a lot of it on his plate as we shared this epic meal.

The Veggie Bar

380 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy

1 x Crispy baked brown rice balls with satay sauce (holy CRAP these were amazing)

1 x Moroccan pizza with pumpkin, eggplant, olives, mushroom, onion, sesame seeds etc.

1 x portabello mushroom with a rich onion stew, melted soy cheese and quinoa topped with fresh salad

Lord of the Fries

Corner of Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street (also one in Flinders Street Station and one coming soon to Fitzroy!)

Over multiple visits we had;

1,000,000,000 x chips

1 x mini parma burger with napoli, vegan chicken, bacon and cheese

many x original burger - lettuce, mustard, pickles, vegan beef, cheese, mayo and onion

1 x hot dog with mustard, ketchup, pickles, onion and vegan sausage

Camy Shanghai Dumpling

25 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne CBD

1 x serve of 20 steamed veggie dumplings

1 x serve of 20 pan fried veggie dumplings (both serves only $6.80ea - BARGAIN!)

Kitchen of Mai

Mai is my friend (and an amazing vegan baker) and does not have an address, sorry!

1 x orange and poppy seed cupcake

About half a cake of apple tea cake - SO. GOOD.

Melbourne - get in it.

vegie head.

stuck for meal ideas, or just feel like drooling over some veg-friendly photos of food?
i know we all use vegan yum yum as our culinary bible, but have you heard of vegie head?
i've been following vegie head on facebook for about 4 months, so it's probably time for me to share her with you...

adele (a.k.a. vegie head) creates recipes (and evolves old favourites) which are vegan (vegetarians welcome, too!), often raw, and all very healthy (desserts included!)
there are a wealth of recipes available on the website, and she's releasing a cook book very soon!
she's from melbourne, australia which makes sourcing the required ingredients (and for the extra-enthusiastic; attending her cooking classes) very easy for like-minded aussies.

here's an example of vegie head's deliciousness:

'chard, leek and cannellini bean soup'

have fun getting inspired and playing :)

<3 ginny

Hard Gel - for hair.

The Organics Care range is getting bigger and bigger - YAY!

Jeff found this hair gel cruelty-free winner.

Natural Skin Expert.

OH HAPPY DAY!

EPIC WIN YOU GUYS!

I've spent 12 months looking for cruelty-free face wash that wasn't St Ives apricot scrub.

Don't get me wrong, that scrub is awesome but using it every day can be a bit harsh.

It was the only brand that I could find that didn't test on animals.

So I needed face wash the other day and was hesitantly reaching for the apricot scrub when I thought I'd give it one last go, and search the back of every product in the isle for a cruelty-free stamp.

Turns out I hit the jackpot!

Natures Organics has released a new face wash/scrub/moisturiser and they're all cruelty-free!

AND they were on special for $3.50ea so I grabbed a handful.

YAY for Natures Organics, they've added budget facial products to their collection of budget hair products which means - all the bargain shoppers are funding cruelty-free by default without even knowing!

I vote world domination from Natures Organics, they're got the right idea :)

Black pepper tofu.

Ok so I've had this on my 'to cook' list for months but somehow put it off.

Tried it last week and OMFG!

I need it in my life every single day now.

It's called black pepper tofu but I like to call it ginger/garlic/chilli/soy/pepper PERFECTION.

The tofu was crispy, the sauce glazey and rich and I served it on a bed of sesame oiled, wok tossed, Chinese brocolli and snow peas.

Dudes, do this.

Su Life.

Ok, second new awesome vego/vegan place in Mount Gravatt - Brisbane.

Su Life Vegetarian.

This place is two weeks old, no online presence so I will have to take charge!

We stopped in to the Palmdale Shopping Centre (weird old dodgy shops opposite Garden City) for Nandos chips on Christmas day.

Yes, we are obsessed with Nandos chips and yes, we find Christmas day a fitting time for them.

Anyway here I am heading towards the Nandos door and Jeff decides to run like a crazy person in the opposite direction across the huge carpark.

Although I did not know why, it did not surprise me, he does stuff like that.

I assumed he saw an awesome dog/shoe/leaf etc.

I yelled out "what the hell!? NANDOS INSIDE ME NOW!! Come back!"

Then I saw it, a shiny new sign above a tiny little new place across the car park.

Su Life Vegetarian Restaurant.

I then decided to join him on the manic run :)

YAY!

Another new place!

We took a menu and started planning when we'd come back for some.

 

Epic story aside, this place is AWESOME.

It's fast, cheap, super friendly family-run style and TASTY!

First visit we got;

Dumplings - 10 for $7.90

Fried rice - about $8

Rice noodles and veggies - also about $8-$9

Japanese "chicken" curry with rice and veg and tofu and pakora - $10.50 (HUGE and DELICIOUS)

Japanese bento of fried "chicken" steak with rice and veg and pakora - $10ish

There were three of us and we almost finished it.

So very good.

Immediately planned a return trip.

Second visit not as successful.

Got the curry again as it was stupidly good.

Tried szechuan tofu - $10ish and a dumpling noodle soup - $9ish.

Curry won again.

Tofu not so good, too silken and gooey and not quite my type of flavours.

I had never had szechuan before so I'm glad I finally tried it at least.

Soup was good but not overly seasoned.

Dumplings good though.

We've marked all these dishes off the menu and intend on going back to try it all!

I HIGHLY recommend, bring all your friends!

This place is vegan heaven.

I worry about Brisbane businesses staying alive, let's keep them going and cruelty-free! :)

Green Vegetarian restaurant.

So Brisbane is not known for having many vego/vegan eateries but in the last month I have found two newbies right near my house!
This is crazy as it means Brisbane's vego places is up to about eight (ish?) and my suburb alone is up to THREE!!
Awesome!

Anyways the first place we found was just up the road from Loving Hut in Holland Park - called Green Vegetarian on Logan Road.
This is the only online presence I can find.
Anyway after two dining experiences here, I have mixed emotions.

The first time I had wontons as an entree - $6ish (yum, but no pics) and BBQ pork and dumpling noodle soup for a main - $11.50 (double yum!)

Second visit though I had a rice "chicken" roll and samosas as an entree (both around $6 I think) and they were less exciting.
The roll was interesting, very crunchy and the "chicken" was pretty good.
The samosas were as can be expected, hard to go wrong but not overly interesting.
We got "beef" and potatos and "pork" and chilli lemongrass for mains.
The "beef" dish was $15 and only had a few strips of "meat" and was mostly potato, kinda weird and boring.
The "pork" was much better (also $15 but a much more generous serving).
So I've had hits and misses but I think I'd stick to the cheaper soups as it's much better value (and flavour) for money.
All that aside, every vego place that appears is a total win for man/animal/planet-kind and I am so happy to have more options around Brisbane :)

Hong Depot.

We finally tried Hong Depot in West End last Friday night and it was so good!

Being a Korean BBQ restaurant, it was fairly meat-heavy but the vego options were easily vegan-able.

We got the vego combination BBQ and it included a HUGE plate of marinated veggies and tofu (that you BBQ yourself at the table), a bowl of rice with veggies and seaweed (that you roll into rice balls yourself), a mushroom/veggie salad thingy, raw veggies and kimichi pancake (which I asked about three hundred times and it definitely had no animal products).

The serving could have fed three people and was $39.

I loved it and will definitely be going back with all my friends in tow!

Here are the hot coals they brought over with side salads.

Here is me, having a bit TOO much fun making the rice balls.

Finished rice balls. YUM.

The marinated veggies and tofu arrive.

Tofu, corn, asparagus, mushrooms, pumpkin, potato and capsicum!

The mushroom salad thing that I forgot it's name. It was tasty.

Kimichi pancakes were crispy and fried and DELICIOUS!

Some amazing condiments came out too, we cleaned those bowls out pretty well :)

Cruelty Free Super Fund.

Wow, this is something i would NEVER think of.

A cruelty-free super fund.

Seen here on easy as vegan pie, it actually looks awesome and i am considering moving my funds over soon.

Check it out!

Vegan Era

It's been a while...

I've met some great people through my make up course at the Academy of Makeup.
Ann Lodberg (a student/model from my class) asked me to help her help a friend out.

The segment being filmed was a story for Today Tonight featuring Amanda Rootsey (eco model/co-founder of Vegan Era) & her partner David Rafter (Earth Hour nominee/environmentalist/co-founder of Vegan Era).
Two beautiful vegans & their beautiful vegan dog, Trudy.

(Among other things) they have a blog/organisation/fashion label called Vegan Era which raises awareness and offers support for those making the change to a vegan lifestyle. Here's the facebook page.
They're hosting a free seminar on Tues 6th Dec 6pm @ Albion Peace Centre.
There'll be amazing vegan treats and free Vegan Era packs for those who attend.

...Got anyone you want to convert?

Prirodna Cosmetics.

Prirodna vegan cosmetics for the win!