Sweetie Pie & Cuddle Cakes.

My friend Mai has just started a vegan and gluten-free cupcakes/cakes business called Sweetie Pie & Cuddle Cakes.

The grand opening was last weekend and OMG was it tasty.

Basically I stumbled into vegan HEAVEN and possibly found myself in a sugar coma about 23 minutes later...

It was worth it.

Check them out!!

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French lentil bolognese.

I've been making this bolognese for a long time and it's a proven winner.

It's hearty, rich and wonderful, PERFECT for an icy winter night.

I use this Veggie Num Num recipe but change the tin of condensed soup for a tin of diced tomatoes as I find the soup way too sweet.
It's GOOD.

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Scrambled tofu.

So my Soulfood scrambled tofu addiction was getting a bit out of hand...

My bank account can't keep up with my social life/eating habits some times.

This resulted in me experimenting with re-creating my caramelised love at home.

It changes depending on what's in the fridge but I've pretty much got this down to perfection.

I don't cook with specific measurements so bare with me and give this a go, it's YUM.

Ingredients;

Scrambled tofu

• 1 packet of firm/crumbly organic tofu

• 1 brown onion, sliced

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 cup of mushrooms, diced

• Large handful of baby spinach leaves

• Small handful of fresh parsley, chopped

• Pinch of cumin

• Pinch of tumeric

• Pinch of paprika

• About 3tbs light soy sauce

• About 5tbs kecap manis (dark sweet soy sauce)

• S&P

To serve:

• Thick slices of sourdough toast

• Fresh avocado with lemon

• Cherry tomatoes

Method:

1. Throw the onion in a large non-stick pan with a good slosh of olive oil and brown over a low heat for at least 10-20 minutes until it caramelises (yes it's a long time to cook onion but it's worth it as the sweet caramelised flavour MAKES this dish).

2. Crumble in tofu along with mushrooms and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until shrooms are softening and garlic is aromatic.

3. Add spices and soy sauces, stir and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or so.

4. Throw in spinach and parsley and cook for 2 minutes, season with S&P.

5. Serve on toast with tasty sides and lot's of lemon juice!

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Mister Nice Guy Cupcakes.

Yeah so I am surprised at how long it took me to find these.

Nearly three months of living in Melbourne and I finally got my hands on some.

Mister Nice Guy provided some very nice vegan treats.

Pictured is banana/hazelnut/chocolate and chocolate/coconut.

Both were intensely enjoyable.

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CERES.

I'd been meaning to check out CERES Community Park for ages as my roomies love it.

Finally made it out there one sunny day when my mum was visiting and had the most amaaaaaazing falafel baguette (with roast pumpkin, olives, spinach, alfalfa and pesto! All grown organically on the grounds).

The cafe is very vegan-friendly and lovely to sit at (outdoor patio surrounded by bushland).

The park itself is really cool and has produce farms, animals everywhere, two cafes, a dam, an organic store, organic produce markets and some nice hippy stalls thrown in too.

Next sunny day I am going back for seconds.

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Heidi.

Move over Whittakers (not really, I still live you and your gooey peppermint perfection), Heidi is my new chocolate BFF.

This strange Lindt rip-off (packaging-wise) is DELICIOUS!

Dairy-free, super creamy and full of crunchy nuts and sweet pear essence.

AHmazing.

Available at the Brunswick IGA (have not seen anywhere else yet).

DUMPLINGS!

 Pre-steamed beauties

 Post-steamed tasties

Yes the title gets capitals, that is because THESE ARE THE TASTIEST THINGS YOU CAN PUT IN YOUR FACEHOLE!

Seriously, these are crack dumplings and I've been known to trade them for goods and services :)

About 18 months ago when friends and I got home from a Melbourne trip, we were bummed about not being able to access dumplings easily in Brisbane.

We decided to make some and I took a few different recipes I found online and combined the best parts to make this recipe.

Surprisingly, it worked.

Not only worked but was like, wow.

SO this is another dish that is for weekends only as it takes me 45mins to finely chop all the filling ingredients and another hour or so to fold 60 dumplings and steam.

DUMPLINGS

Ingredients;

• Approx 60 dumpling wrappers (Gow Gee)

• 3 cups shitake mushrooms, chopped finely (I use button mushrooms when I'm not as cashed up, shitake are expensive but taste better)

• 1 cup pak choy or Chinese broccoli leaves, finely shredded

• 1 cup firm tofu, finely chopped

• Thumb size piece of ginger, finely grated

• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 2 shallot stalks, finely sliced

• 1 cup coriander, finely chopped

• 1/4 tsp white pepper

• 3 tbs soy sauce

• 2 tbs sesame oil

• 1 tsp chilli sauce/sambal oelek/chilli powder

• 1/2 tsp veggie stock powder

Method;

• Mix in a large bowl

• Spoon into wrappers, fold (Youtube dumpling folding videos! It takes practice)

• Steam

• Faceplant

Serving suggestions;

• Dipping sauce - most part soy sauce, dash of white wine vinegar, few drops of sesame oil

• Chilli sauce/sambal oelek

• Wok tossed Chinese greens with garlic

• Steamed rice

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Dal Kofta.

This dal kofta is one of my faaaavourite dishes to make (if you haven't already noticed, Veggie Num Num is my go to guide for delicious winners!).

It's SO tasty and makes about six serves.

The catch?

It takes a long time to make.

I make it my Sunday dinner so I have two hours prep time.

It's SO worth the wait, seriously.

The kofta balls are crunchy and packed full of flavour and the curry they float in is really rich and creamy.

I forgot to take a picture of it plated up as I faceplanted very quickly.

I serve it on brown rice and top with LOT'S of fresh lime juice, chopped cucumber and a huge handful of fresh coriander leaves.

P.S This pic was taken just before I added the coconut milk, it gets a LOT creamier :)

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Laksa.

Even though I've been dining out a looooooot since I moved to Melbourne, I have still been cooking (this is proof right!)

It's REALLY hard to find a vegan laksa paste by the way, most have shrimp in them.

This Osha brand is the only one I've ever found/used and it's delicious (luckily).

Here is the recipe but I kind of make it by feel so nothing is exact...

Ingredients; (See pic)

• Noodles, prepared as per packet instructions and set aside (I like chow mein)

• Laksa paste

• Tofu puffs (available in Asian grocers)

• 400ml coconut milk

• Fried onion/shallots (available in Asian grocers)

• Handful of snow peas

• 2 shallot stalks, sliced

• 2 cups button mushrooms, quartered

• A few handfuls of Asian greens (I used baby bok choy)

• 1 long red chilli

• 1 lime

• A handful of bean sprouts

• Bunch of coriander, chopped

• Handful of nuts (I used cashews)

Method;

1.) Cook the jar of paste with a tin of coconut milk and about 1L of water for a few minutes (back of laksa paste jar will be more specific with liquid quantities).

2.) Prepare noodles then set them aside.

3.) Add mushrooms and tofu puffs to the soup and simmer for about 10 mins.

4.) Add snow peas to the soup and some coriander stalks. Cook for another 5 mins to soften the peas then turn off heat.

Now for the assembling;

1.) Add noodles to bowl

2.) Add raw Asian greens, the hot soup will cook these

3.) Add soup

4.) Top with lime juice, bean sprouts, fresh sliced shallots, fresh sliced chilli, coriander, fried onions and nuts

5.) FACEPLANT

Melbourne lately.

Being vegan in Melbourne is too easy.

This is an epic post, with all the tastiness I've captured on my phone this month.

... and I wonder where my money goes...

Camy Shanghai Dumpling

DUMPLINGS and garlic fried greens

Vegie Bar

Mushroom with stew/salad/cheese

Tofu veggie satay stir-fry

Luncheonette

Avo on sourdough with chilli, lemon and olive oil

Smashed chickpea and tahini sandwich (YUM!!!)

Soulfood Cafe

Scrambled tofu (TOOOOOOOO GOOD!)

Monster vegan breakfast (tomato, scrambled tofu, relish, toast, avo, spinach, beans, mushroom)

Trippy Taco

Nachos

Burrito

Taco and trippy fries

Milkwood

Baked pumpkin baguette

Raspberry, banana and hazelnut cupcake (OMFG!)

The Premises

Vanilla jam cupcake

Africa Town

Pancake with veg curries (this was amazing!)

Tabet's Bakery

Veg/oregano pizza wrap with lemon and chilli ($3.50!!!)

Take-away spicy hommus and beetroot dips with Lebanese bread

Discobeans.

 

So I remember Discobeans as a Japanese sock shop but turns out it's even better now.

An art space/gallery/performance area and vegan-friendly Japanese eatery!

Yes, it's perfect.

We had TASTY dumplings that were ginger-heavy (love).

We also had fried mock chicken that tasted EXACTLY like KFC...

It  was served with soy sauce and vegan mayo.

Weird, but so freaking good.

These items were off the snack menu so it was $16 for both.

I will drag everyone I know here when I'm next in Northcote.

Green Field.

Needed a quick feed on Sydney Road a few days ago and Green Field delivered.

$7 lunch specials - don't mind if I do!

Satay veggies and tofu with rice noodles, I'll be back!

Yong Green Food.

Hello!

I just moved to Brunswick, Melbourne so prepare for the eating out section of this blog to explode :)

First up, Yong Green Food in Fitzroy - NOM NOM NOM.

I saw this place reviewed on easy as vegan pie and it went straight to my 'to try' list.

We had dragon bowls - brown rice with fresh salad/veggies and "beef" soy strips with chilli and sesame.

Served with tasty miso.

Dishes were $16 (a little more than my usual lunch budget) but worth every cent.

I felt healthy and satisfied!

Recent food adventures.

So we try and try to save money and cut down our dining out but it's just so hard!

Dining out is our favourite thing to do.

Go somewhere, pick tasty food, eat tasty food, no dishes to be done, total satisfaction.

Here are some recent meals.

Tempo is one of our faves for breakfast in West End.
The big vegan breakfast (not cheap at $18.95) has everything you want.
Sourdough toast, marinated tofu, hash brown, grilled tomatoes, asparagus, avocado, house bean mix, mushrooms and home-made relish!
NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM.
Add a pot of soy chai tea and I'm in heaven.

Sushi Kotobuki is my fave sushi place on south side.

Can't go past the vegetalian (menu typo greatness) with cucumber, cabbage, tofu, carrot avocado and sesame seeds!

A standard avo to accompany is a must along with a drowning in soy and pickled ginger.
My fave $5 lunch!

Jeff got a spoilt birthday adventure to The Green Edge.

Best (and possibly only?) vegan grocery store in Brisbane.

The addition of a little eat-in area and hot food menu was a WIN and resulted in a mushroom and "cheese" burger that was damn tasty.

I can never go past a no-bull pie (not pictured) even though they have so many great pie/roll options in the warmer.

Always so tempting to buy chocolates, ice cream and cakes when we go there!
There was a vegan bake sale that day and all funds raised went to animal rescue. 
CLEARLY I had to donate and buy a vanilla raspberry cupcake and a choc peanut butter one :)

My friend is addicted to Guzmen Y Gomez so I agreed to accompany him and suss the vego options.

I was worried that it couldn't possibly be better than Mad Mex.

Mad Mex always provides TAAAASTY burritos with Mexican rice, beans, salad, grilled veggies, guac etc.

Turns out Guzmen Y Gomez provides pretty much the same thing so that was good.

Slightly more expensive but also slightly more flavoursome.

I WANT MORE NOW.

Vege Rama.

So my boyfriend is OBSESSED with Vege Rama and has been for the past few years.

He will take any opportunity to pass through the city to get some.

Vege Rama is a food court vego eatery and is a total winner.

Cheap, fast, delicious and addictive.

We went there twice over the weekend much to Jeff's JOY.

The menu changes all the time (new curries/salads etc., the main dishes remain the same).

I can never go past the $5 brown rice with dal deal (looks a bit like vom but tastes a bit like AWESOME and is a huge bargain too good to refuse!!)

For the first time EVER I passed on the crispy kofta balls and instead tried something new (craziness) - the Mexican taquito with salsa.

Wow, this is the shiz.

It was crispy and filled with spicey beany goodness and the salsa was TASTY and fresh.

Jeff got the same three curry and brown rice deal ($9) that he always gets with a rice ball on the side.

The curries that day were dal, potato something rather and THAI PUMPKIN.

Thai pumpkin got capitals as it's THE TASTIEST THING YOU CAN PUT IN YOUR MOUTH.

Seriously creamy and rich and amazing.

So yes everybody - go to Vege Rama... now.

Middle Eastern Sunday.

So, yesterday I made hummus and falafel.

I MAY have been a bit heavy-handed with the salt in the hummus BUT, it was still delicious.

I followed this falafel recipe and this hummus recipe (I added a little lot extra lemon juice to the hummus as I like it zingy. I also added an extra garlic clove and a bit more salt.)

Total wins when combined with salad on a lavish wrap and eaten on the deck at sunset :)

BEHOLD!