Banana Bread

Made this recipe, substituted margarine (bleurgh) with olive oil and soy milk, vanilla soy with regular, etc etc. Turned out very well. Thoroughly recommend it.

So far, this month hasn't been too challenging at all. I have noticed a few things:

1. Being semi-vego helps me to make decisions with regards to eating. The rules are so simple - no dairy; no meat; some fish; whole grains where possible (challenging in Japan). So, instead of the usual conversation I have with myself:

Hana: Should I have some chocolate?
Hana: No, it's not healthy and you want to lose weight.
Hana: But, I deserve it.
Hana: Okay, just a little.
Hana: Man, I'm hungry.
Hana: Okay, a little more because you walked to work.

Blah blah blah.

Now, it's like:

Hana: Does chocolate fit the rules?
Hana: No.
Hana: Okay, I'll have some fruit.

2. I feel like I'm having a lot more salt - but probably because I'm cooking from scratch more, or using salad dressings / soy sauce, which seem to be high in salt.

3. I don't get cravings like I used to. Also, I don't get food-caused mood swings.

4. I feel healthier and have lost about 1/2 kilo.

Anyway, I do still get urges for sweet things and I was thinking about that delicious orange almond cake that I saw in all the cafes in NZ when I was last there. I found a recipe, but it has eggs, so then I found a list of egg substitutes and came up with this recipe.

1 cup almond flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 orange boiled for 2 hours or nuked for 20 minutes (I cut it up and put it in a bowl with a little water)
A pinch of salt
1/2 cup of soy milk (egg replacement)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder (also egg replacement)

Blend orange until liquid, add other ingredients, put into greased cake tin and put into oven. I'm trying 180C for 20 minutes at first. It's like the easiest recipe I've ever seen. Hope it works!

UPDATE: Baked the cake for 40 minutes in the end. It came out very moist, but gorgeous.

I also baked bread for the first time in a very, very long time, using this recipe - perhaps the easiest bread recipe in the world. Mix, leave for 12 hours, bake. I didn't bother with any extra rests / kneading. It was delish with this potato soup (adapted to be vegan - oil in stead of butter, fish stock instead of chicken, well, yes, that isn't vegan, and soy milk instead of milk). Fantastic dinner!

Vegan for a month challenge

Just for fun (ha ha) I'm going vegan (well, actually, pescetarian, also known as a peskitarian) for a month. So far, actually very fun. I went to the local Mitsukoshi department store, which has an organic foods section, bought some soy milk and a few other things. Then I went to Mujirushi (MUJI), which has a very fun range of meal sets - I got Tom Yum Kun (spicy Thai soup), spring rolls (Vietnamese?) and Pad Thai (Thai fried noodles) and a whole lot of frozen shrimps to put in them all. Couldn't resist the do-it-yourself tiramisu kit as well - will try it with soy milk : )

Cooked gorgeous banana and blueberry whole-wheat pancakes this morning.

What's all this in aid of? Well, I just read two books:

"Skinny Bitch"

and

"The China Study"

Both very compelling. I also want to extend my cooking repertoire, and this seems a good way to do it (limits release creativity and all that).

Cooking 6 - chickpea curry with roti

Last night, I cooked tortillas for the first time. I must admit I used a packet mix, but it must be dead easy to do from scratch. They were great. Can't believe I waited 33 years to make them!

Tonight, I am making chickpea curry (a variation of this recipe, with kidney beans and potatoes added) and roti bread (continuing the instant bread theme). This video makes roti bread look ridiculously easy. We'll see!

Cheesy songs I love - Number 2

Speaking of the soundtrack to my life, I distinctly remember the first time I heard Chris Knox's "Not Given Lightly". I was with my father, Terry. We were driving to the Crofton Downs supermarket to do our weekly shopping and this song came on. At the end, we looked at each other and said "That was a REALLY nice song". An absolutely clear-as-day memory from almost 20 years ago...


Chris always seems to be breaking guitar strings - I remember him re-stringing his guitar and making up little tunes as he did it.




Beautiful Wellington on a fine day : )

The soundtrack to my life

I've been feeling like my life is a bit bland lately. Even though I live in Tokyo and go out a lot and am able to experience cool shopping and international type people, well...something is missing.

Then I realised in the car this morning what it was - no soundtrack. I haven't bought a CD or downloaded new music for years. The extent of my listening (dis)pleasure is usually YouTube videos and songs sung on American Idol. Lately, Rai and I have been listening to Lady Gaga, Pink and Adam Lambert while doing our weekly baking, and it is just not doing it for me. I need to get some new music and FAST, or these three years in Japan are going to afford no nostalgia value for me in the future whatsoever.

Icecream-in-a-bag with Lady Gaga

We attempted to make icecream in a bag today with this recipe. We didn't shake it for long enough, so it didn't quite freeze. We'll try again later.

What you'll need:

* 1 tablespoon sugar
* 1/2 cup milk or half & half
* 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
* 6 tablespoons rock salt
* 1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
* 1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
* Ice cubes

How to make it:

1. Fill the large bag half full of ice, and add the rock salt. Seal the bag.
2. Put milk, vanilla, and sugar into the small bag, and seal it.
3. Place the small bag inside the large one, and seal it again carefully.
4. Shake until the mixture is ice cream, which takes about 5 minutes.
5. Wipe off the top of the small bag, then open it carefully. Enjoy!

Tips:

A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don't increase the proportions more that that -- a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.

There's a video here:



Rai and I recommend dancing to Lady Gaga while making this - adds something to the whole event, I think. A little class, perhaps?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkOx3DaeA_Y