Food Diary 2

Saturday, August 20, 2016
Breakfast:
For breakfast, I had multigrain toast with some vegan butter.  When I say some "some", I mean a lot. I also had a mug of tea, which is perfect for my slight soar throat. My perfect mug of tea consists with an english breakfast tea bag (left in for only a few seconds), a spoonful of sugar (teaspoon, don't worry), and the slightest amount of milk, the amount were it actually seems pointless to even put any in there as it will not effect the taste in the slightest. But it does. To me at least. And, I did have a little piece of a vegan jam tart my aunt made me, which was VERY good. And no, I did not eat all the tarts in the picture, just one. Was it the biggest one? Yes, indeed it was.








Lunch:
I went to Ocean Basket for lunch, with all my sisters and cousins. It was really fun, I stuffed my face, ate fried stuff, and was overall a great big pig! YAY! But, all jokes aside, the fish was very good (Yes, I eat fish), as well as the chips. ESPECIALLY the chips. I also had an ice tea. It was a good time. Sorry I didn't manage to take a snap. It was eaten way to quick! By me.




Dinner:
Since we had a big lunch, we had a small dinner. Just kidding. We ordered in pizza, but I didn't eat too much of mine. I had a calzone without cheese, but it was filled to the brim with mushrooms, which was nice. Overall, all food of the day was VERY good.


Hope you enjoyed todays food diary!
XXVL

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

Hi guys! This recipe might just be the holy grail of everything chocolate and cookies. The base of this is from the minimalist baker book, but I have made tweaks that suit me personally. I absolutely adore her book "Everyday Cooking", and it is an absolutely amazing book to have as a vegan. Everything is so fast, simple, and yummy. I have taken some more pictures this time in order to give you very clear step to step instructions, as all steps are necessary and important in this recipe.These cookies are crispy on the outside, soft on the inside and cover inside AND outside your mouth with chocolate. What more could one possibly wish for? As soon as this touches your tastebuds, your frown will MOST definitely turn upside down.





Prep and Cook Time: 50-60 min.
Makes: 15 cookies (various sizes)
Virtuousness Level: 2/10 (apple sauce? Nope)


Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups flour
1/4 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 cup of any vegan butter (softened)
3 tbsp. HOMEMADE applesauce (I will explain)
11/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 500g Dark chocolate bar (My fav is Bournville)
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 tsp. Salt

1. Take your chocolate bar , and cut it up into chocolate chips. Aim for a range of different sizes, small to VERY BIG. Once you have achieved the desired size, plop HALF into a bowl, and send to the freezer. This is so that half of your chocolate chips melt into the cookies and half don't melt, and stay big chunks of chocolatey goodness. This gives a really great texture to the cookie.



2. Now to make the apple sauce. It is important that you make this yourself as it gives you the perfect compliment of cinnamon with your cookies, rather than store bought ones that give another sweet element to the cookie. My recipe for the perfect apple sauce will be linked here.

3. Now to start on the actual cookies, you will need your butter to be in a big bowl. Whisk this for around one minute with an electric mixer and 3 minutes by hand. It should be a lot lighter at this stage.



4. Now add in your sugars, and your vanilla, and mix for the same time as before, one minute with an electric mixer and 3 minutes by hand.



5. Add the apple sauce to the mix and beat until incorporated.



6. Set a piece of parchment paper down and and sift your flour, baking powder, baking soda, cornstarch and salt on top of it. Then pour it into the mix and whisk until incorporated.





7. Add in both chocolate chips, fold in, and place the bowl (with some clingfilm over it) into the freezer for around 15 minutes (Now, you CAN place them in the fridge for 30 minutes but thats just another 15 minutes without cookies, and who wants that?)





8. Once the long 15 minutes have gone by, take the dough out and shape into balls around 1 tablespoon full, place on a tray around 1 inch to 2 inches apart. Flatten slightly.

9. Sadly, you must part way with your cookies once more and place them into the freezer again, for another 15 minutes, so that they do not spread too much in the oven, and instead give you a really nice, thick, fudgy cookie instead of a flat one.

10. Preheat oven to 175 degrees celsius.

11.  YAY! Take them out of the freezer and plop them into the oven. Let bake for 12 -13 minutes. Give them time to cool on the tray for around 3 minutes and then transfer to a cooling rack. Don't worry if they are a little soft before coming out of the oven, they will harden when out.



These are so good! I highly recommend that you make these sometime. Today. RIGHT NOW.

XXVL

Apple Sauce

Hi guys! So a few weeks ago I was making Chocolate Chip Cookies and needed to make applesauce for them. I found that making it at home was so easy, and made the cookies even better. So, I thought I would share my recipe for an extremely simple applesauce that spreads the smell of love through your kitchen. Here it is!

Prep ad Cook Time: 5 mins

Makes: 6 tbsp. Applesauce

Virtuousness Level : 10/10

Ingredients

1 apple

2 tsps. cinnamon

A few drops of water

1. Chop up the apple into pieces.

2. Put in a microwave safe bowl, mix with cinnamon, and microwave at 30 second intervals until VERY soft.

3. Blend with a few drops of water until gloopy, but still reasonably thick. It doesn't have to be perfect!

There it is! You can either add it to a recipe or eat it alone (it kind of tastes like baby food). It is a really good recipe, that I se often! Hope you enjoyed!

XXVL

Food Diary 1

Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Breakfast:
I had a reasonably healthy breakfast today, especially since I normally have none at all. 2 peaches and an apple, thrown into a bowl gives you a lot of energy for the rest of the day. Excuse wet hair, as I had gone for a morning swim, not a usual venture, if you must know.





Lunch:
I have had the same lunch for the past couple of weeks, but, I must say, this NEVER gets boring. It is so yummy.  Traditional maltese bread, Conserva (a version of ketchup but better), olives, and spinach. All the different colors ad flavors work so well together, and it is such an easy thing to do. Afterwards I had a cheeky little popsicle. This was one of my childhood popsicles, and brings back so many memories. There is no other way of describing the popsicle, other than: blue. Take from that what you will. 







Dinner:
I ended up going out with my family to a pizza place for dinner, which was extremely pleasant. I had a pasta with clams (I eat seafood as a vegan), which was not that great, but company was lovely. But for some reason, the picture couldn't upload, so I cant show it you.... THESE DAMN ELECTRONICS. 

Hope you guys enjoyed! When I cant bake, I'll do food diaries. Please comment and subscribe!

XXVL

Chia Eggs

Hey guys. I'm going to be giving you some basic how to's for how I make simple vegan things like this. Chia eggs are really helpful to know how to make when cooking vegan. While they may look like literal goop before mixed into the batter, they really do provide that perfect rise in cakes, and I use them a lot. I have found the perfect way to make them, so, I shouldn't be selfish. Let me explain how to make the easy, yet essential yolk like chia egg.

Ingredients:
1 tbs chia seeds (no need to blend!)
5 tbs water (room temperature)



1. MIX TOGETHER AND THATS IT.
2. Oh, and leave for 5 minutes before use.









You really do want that gloopy texture, just like an eg yolk. In a lot of other recipes I have seen, they put around 3 tablespoons of water, but I always put 5, as I find it gives a lot of a less stiff chia egg, as they soak up a lot of the water in 5 minutes.

I hope you guys enjoyed this kind of basic post, if you want to learn more, leave a comment down below. Please subscribe!

XXVL

Vegan Pantry Essentials

Today I will be sharing some of the things you should always have lying around in your pantry and your fridge, what you should buy when going vegan. These things are pretty simple, and you should be able to find these cheeky little things at most supermarkets. If these are too expensive for you, I will be giving out a few alternatives, but I really do recommend using the initials. I will be giving you the price range they are normally in, how good they are for you, how much to have of them at your house at a time, as well as my favorite brands. I hope you guys enjoy using this , and it makes things a tad bit easier, as it can be overwhelming in the beginning.

Vegan Butter

Virtuousness Level: 3/10

Favorite Brand: Alpro Soya

Always have: Around a tub (250 g)

How Much?  1-2 euros

This is something I need in my fridge a lot. While some people might be insanely healthy all the time, thats not me, and if I want to make vanilla cake, I'm probably going to use some of this. One of the good things about this butter is that it is half the calories of regular butter. I know calories is not everything, but its not nothing either! It is great for cakes, pastries, and even just a little on toast. It opens you up to a lot more recipes than just ones involving bananas. Alternatives could be oil, but you must make sure that the liquid to dry ratio is no tipped over the edge. It might react differently with the ingredients. By the way, sorry about the price tag, I forgot to take it off!

Maple Syrup

Virtuousness Level: 5/10

Favorite Brand: Buckwud

Always Have: One Bottle

How Much? 6 euros

Maple syrup is a really great thing to have in the kitchen. It is a lovely sweetener to use, instead of sugar, and actually has some really great health benefits. I definitely recommend it for using on pancakes, in cakes and all that fun stuff. I use it in most of the the things I bake. Alternatives could be agave, but that does not have as much nutritional value as maple syrup does and is the same price.

Vegan Snacks

Virtuousness Level: 1/10

Favorite Brand: (N/A)

Always Have: A packet or so

How Much? 2.50- 3 euros

This is something that I really like having at home in my pantry and can really be interpreted any way. I love to have a really nice easy snack at hime, whether its a pack of raisins, these crackers, some ryvita, anything you want really. It shard to always WANT to have fruit as a snack, so I always like to have a not SO healthy snack running around, ready to go, just in case.

Peanut Butter

Virtuousness Level: 5/10 (Depends)

Favorite Brand: Whole Earth

Always Have: A jar

How Much? 3-4 euros

This is great, not only in cooking but on any type of vehicle. A piece of fresh bread (swoon), a slice of apple, celery, and more. It makes everything good.

Dark Chocolate

Virtuousness Level: 5/10

Favorite Brand: Bournville/Lindt

Always Have: Half a bar

How Much? 2-3 euros

Dark Chocolate is everything. Even if you do not like dark chocolate, keep at it, and you will forget al about milk chocolate. As a starter dark chocolate, Bournville is really nice, because it is sweet. If you really like dark chocolate, Lindt is also nice.

Apple Cider Vinegar

Virtuousness Level: 8/10

Favorite Brand: None

Always Have: Half a bottle

How Much? 2-3 euros

You will soon notice that in basically all vegan baking apple cider vinegar is needed. It is mostly needed in order to create a buttermilk with soy milk, and to help replace the missing eggs. Tis is a very healthy thing to have, as it  prevents colds. In fact, doctors recommend you take shots of this when you have colds coming on, in order to send it off. Substitutions are things like lemon juice or brown rice vinegar, but they don't have the same types of health benefits.

Frozen Strawberries

Virtuousness Level: 8/10

Favorite Brand: None

Always Have: A bag

How Much? 2 euros

These are really great to have. Whether they are for smoothies, popsicles, or anything of the sort, strawberries go with everything, and are such a beautiful and vibrant summer fruit to always have on the go-go. And they are good for you.

Coconut Oil

Virtuousness Level: 7/10

Favorite Brand: Biona

Always Have: Half a jar

How Much?  6 euros

This si really great for cooking. I use it in a lot if my baking, and it is a lot better for you then other oils are. I definitely recommend getting this. If it is too expensive you may use canola oil, but that does not have any health benefits for you, so try not to.

Coconut Milk

Virtuousness Level: 5/10

Favorite Brand: None

Always Have: A can

How Much? 3-4 euros

This is a really nice substitute for milk, that you should really use in ice-cream to achieve a lovely texture, popsicles, and in many baking endeavors. 

Chia Seeds

Virtuousness Level: 9/10

Favorite Brand: Bio Organic

Always Have: A packet

How Much? 7 euros

These are a really great egg replacer in cakes. They have SUCH good health benefits and bring a really great rise to cakes. Find out how to make the perfect chia eggs for my recipes on my blog ( I will link below). You could also use flax, but I prefer chia.

Cocoa Powder

Virtuousness Level: 2/10

Favorite Brand: Cadbury

Always Have: 1 cup

How Much? 2-3 euros

I love having cocoa powder for baking. It a very simple and great thing to have around the house. If you find yourself without you may use chocolate milk powder, but of course, it is not as good. In this picture I show kakao powder which is different (more healthy), and not as sweet as cocoa, but both work pretty well with cakes. Kakao is also more expensive.

Brown Sugar

Virtuousness Level: 1/10

Favorite Brand: Silver Spoon

Always Have: Half a Packet

How Much? 2 euros

Great for baking and sweetening, and is a pretty great price. If you do need to substitute,  just use caster sugar.

Almonds

Virtuousness Level: 9/10

Favorite Brand: none

Always Have: A few handfuls

How Much? 2-3 euros

Almonds are a great healthy snack to have, as well as a great thing to make a trail mix with or sprinkle over things. Other great nuts are cashews.

Almond Milk

Virtuousness Level: 5/10

Favorite Brand: Alpro Soy

Always Have: A carton full

How Much? 2-3 euros

Almond milk is a REALLY great thing to have in the pantry because it is such a great replacer for milk. It is good for you, has  a lovely taste, and stays good for a while. Alternatives can be vanilla soy milk, rice milk, or quinoa milk. This, I have found, is the best though.

Bananas

Virtuousness Level: 10/10

Favorite Brand: Dole

Always Have: 5/6 bananas 

How Much? 2 euros for 5

These really are the ultimate thing to have at your fingertips while you are a vegan. They make great things greater. They are the lord of all food. Not only are they amazing in smoothies, but you can make them into cakes, ice creams, add them to popsicles, freeze with dark chocolate an donuts..... THE WORLD IS YOUR OYSTER. They are amazing and you should ALWAYS have some by your side. When bananas are getting to ripe, or are not ripe enough peel, and throw into a ziplock bag into the freezer, and then you have bananas whenever you want. I always have some in the freezer and in the natural state. Sorry but there aren't any subs for this. These are the ONE AND ONLY.

I hope you guys enjoyed! Any questions that may pop into that beautiful brain of yours, leave down below!

XXVL

Vegan Rainbow Bagels

Vegan. Rainbow. Bagels. My mind is trying to wrap itself around the fact that there is something in this world like that. So, I was thinking about summer recently, which is SUPER close (while re- editing, it is now here. WOW SASKIA.), and I wanted to master a certain type of baking. Get it down. It suddenly occurred to me. What about bread! Focaccias, naan and sesame seed loaves sound absolutely divine. So I embarked on my first journey: bagels. But these are no ordinary bagels, these are rainbow, which makes it ten times better. I was so happy that these had minimal rising time but were still so delicious. LET’S GET INTO THE RECIPE.

Prep and Cook Time: 2 hours

Makes: 9-10

Virtuousness Level: 3/10

NOW. ITS TIME.

Ingredients:

2 packets yeast

4 tablespoons granulated sugar

5 teaspoons salt

2 cups warm water

5 cups flour

Gel/Liquid food coloring

1. Pop your water in the kettle for around 30 seconds in order to achieve a slightly warm temperature for your water. Warm enough to activate the yeast but not hot enough to MURDER IT. This is were it could all go wrong. Just notifying any wary little fellows.

2. Add the water , sugar and yeast to a bowl, whisk slightly and leave for 10 minutes in a warm place, like a closed oven or, if in a blistering hot Mediterranean island, outside.

3. Now, gradually add in the sifted flour and salt. DO NOT ADD IN THE SALT BEFORE THIS STEP. NO SHORTCUTS HERE. For a while I did that while making pizza dough, and kept wondering why it wouldn't rise. Then little Saskia payed attention to a science class and clued in.

4. Keep mixing till you form a dough, and then separate into as many parts as you want different colors. I did 4 colors, but feel free to do the whole rainbow if you wish.

5. When dying the doughs just place some dye in the middle of the dough and keep kneading. At some point it might feel like nothing is working, but keep going and it will come together. Beautifully.

6. Now place in separate bowls, and make sure the bowls are big enough to have room to rise, cover in clingfilm, and let rise in a warm space for around an hour, or until doubled in size.

7. Once doubled, take all the dough balls, remove them from their bowl and roll out in to separate squares and pile up one on top of another. Sadly my forgetful mind forgot to snap a picture of this, so if this is confusing in any way, google rainbow bagels, and you will see what I mean. SORRY (But seriously the video is the definition of satisfaction)

8. Now, slice long pieces of the dough brick, twist and connect in order to make a bagel. I will link a video down below if this is confusing. DON'T YOU WORRY.

9. Now, be prepared, this is the tricky part of making bagels. Heat some water up in a big pot, with a tad bit of salt in there, and preheat your oven to 175 degrees. GET READY.

10. Now boil bagels for 30 second on each side, place on a tray and pop into the oven for around 10 minutes. This may not seem hard, but having 3 bagels boiling and 6 in the oven, and having to turn the boiling beauties every 30 seconds, and forgetting the time, and UGGGGGGG.

11. But, at some point you will be done, and, on a side note if you mess up, hey will still turn out great, don't you worry. You can salvage anything, pretty sure that I boiled my bagels to death, and they still turned out YUMMY AF.

12. Top with some vegan cream cheese (I recommend Tofutti), and you have the world most happy peace of bagel in the world. Fresh from the oven.

I hope you guys liked this recipe, and hope you follow this page! Cant wait to share some more recipes soon:)