Caramel Walnut Bourbon Cake

February 25, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

You may already have guessed by now, but I’m not great at making cakes and take a lot of inspiration from others.

My inspiration for this particular recipe has come from this lovely blog: http://fragrantvanillacake.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/banana-walnut-caramel-cake.html

I used the exact same recipe and method, however I used 5cl of Jack Daniels rather than a teaspoon and all the UK ingredients rather than the American ones.

I took it to work and received mixed reviews. Some said it was too sweet and others couldn’t help coming back for more. Me personally I loved it, but yet again it proved that I’m rubbish with cakes. 😛

What I Ate Sunday

February 16, 2014February 16, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

Today has been a really productive and non-stressful day and for the first time in what seems like forever, the sun was out. I woke up at around 07:15 but didn’t bother to get up until 08:30 due to having lots of snuggles of felines, a large white woof and a beardy man times. I left the bearded one in bed and made an epic smoothie, which subsequently I spoiled him with in bed.

This is a banana, mango, spinach, peanut butter and raw cacao powder smoothie. It tastes like a peanut butter and banana milkshake.

That did me for the whole morning because it was so filling, however on return from our 6k walk with Bailey Woof I was getting a tad hungry so I made a wholemeal spinach and pasta “cheesy” bake with a cucumber and tomato side salad.

A little while after this we hit the gym where we lifted some seriously heavy shit. I needed a protein hit after that so when we got home I rustled up some cashew nut cheese on some wholemeal sweet onion crackers. (I’ll be posting a recipe for this soon.)

For dinner Mykey made a kale, bean, mushroom, spinach and breaded tofu stir fry which totally hit the spot.

So there you have it. Simply, tasty and healthy vegan food. 🙂

Leek & Potato Soup (Cheap As Chips!)

February 12, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

It feels like we have had two days of sunshine since the beginning of 2014. In fact the weather is so bad that there is a severe weather warning across most of the country with mass flooding and possible tornado warnings. I’ve never known anything like it in my life! Whether you believe it’s the human race’s fault or it’s happening on it’s own, you can’t deny that the weather and climate are certainly changing.

With that in mind, is it any surprise that I am once again providing you with a delicious and healthy dose of comfort food to keep you warm? Not really! 😉

I rustled this up from scratch after a walk on the beach with the dogs and my family. I believe this might have been the first time my sister Donna has tried my food and she seemed to like it, so get in! 🙂

Ingredients for 5 adults:

3 leeks, chopped

6 small potatoes, peeled

4 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 vegetable stock cube

1 pint of unsweetened soya milk

1 tablespoon wholegrain mustard

Seeded rolls to serve

Method:

Fill your largest pot to the half way point and place on the stove on a high heat.
Place the potatoes, leeks, onion, garlic and stock cube in the water and turn down to a simmer for 20 minutes.
Drain the water and place back on the hob, this time adding the mustard and soya milk. (If you want it to be extra creamy, here is the place to add a dollop of vegan butter if that sort of thing takes your fancy.)
Turn off the heat.
Use a hand blender to turn the soup into a thick and filling mixture.

Serve with “buttered” half stale rolls that your Dad picked up for 8p. 😉 (Or some nice fresh ones are just fine too.)

It has also been mentioned in a lot of my outreach work lately that people believe vegan food is expensive. Here is proof that it isn’t. The total cost of this dish per head was less than £1. Please enjoy and share far and wide.

Lentil Stew & Sesame Rice

February 4, 2014February 4, 2014 / Frankie Mouche / Leave a comment

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: my family are difficult to feed. Each one has a different food that they dislike. Some won’t eat peppers, some won’t eat anything green, some won’t eat spices and others won’t eat mushrooms or tomatoes.

My way of eating changed dramatically when I left home. I started to experiment with world cuisine and ate foods I’d never have dreamed of eating before, which goes to show that a lot of people who are fussy eaters, me previously included, carry a lot of their dislike in their head rather than in their taste buds.

I am often tasked with cooking when I stay at my parents because I am adept at cooking large quantities of tasty food in a relatively short time. I decided to make this lentil stew and add various ingredients that I am constantly told won’t be eaten. Needless to say, it was all eaten.

Ingredients:

285 g red lentils
2 tbsp. coconut oil
2 large white onions
1 tsp salt
5 cloves garlic
1 cube of frozen ginger
2 tbsp. ground cumin
1 tbsp. cayenne pepper (All of them hate spice.)
2 tins of chopped tomatoes (My mum and little sister hate tomatoes)
1 lemon
700 ml vegetable stock
Fresh parsley
400g brown rice
65 g sesame seeds (My little sister won’t eat seeds.)

Method

Do the rice first because it takes forever!

Place rice in a pan of boiling water and allow to cook on a low heat for about 45 minutes.
When rice is cooked, drain and mix with sesame seeds.

In the 45 minutes it takes to cook, get on with the stew!

Rinse the lentils under cold water and leave to drain.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan. Add the onion and salt and cook until the onion is soft.
Now add the garlic, ginger, cumin and cayenne and keep stirring.
Add the vegetable stock, lentils, half of the lemon cut into slices and chopped tomatoes.
Simmer on a low heat for about 30 minutes.
Finely chop your parsley and sprinkle with freshly squeezed lemon juice from the remaining half of the lemon.
Serve to your fussy family and watch them all eat it! 🙂