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I couldn’t help but think of PSY when I wrote this title, my son does a lively rendition of ‘Gangnam Style’; he was shown the moves in his Cultural Studies class at School (!). Watching a 5-year-old ‘bust a move’ is very entertaining!
So back to the bread rolls – Vegan (not Gangnam) Style. If you have been following my blog you will know that my son is severely allergic to dairy (and quite a few other things) so I need to source new recipes and flavour sensations as a necessity. Recently he told me he didn’t like the commercial crackers we buy for him – they are by ESKAL and they are called ‘Deli Crackers – Original’, they are safe for him to eat and quite tasty; shame really, as finding something commercially prepared and safe for him to eat is a bonus as my cooking schedule is pretty full!
I did a google search and found this great blog with a recipe for Cheesy Bread Rolls. The cheese substitution is Savoury/Nutritional Yeast, I have never used this before, so it is a first for me.
Of course I changed the recipe slightly, because it is hard-wired in my DNA (sometimes my changes to recipes work, sometimes they don’t!), happy to tell you that this recipe worked. The bread was light and tasty, subtle but very moorish (all 8 bread rolls gone!).
Cheesy Bread Rolls – Vegan Style
- 1 tablespoon instant dry yeast + 1 tablespoon sugar in 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 small white onion, finely diced + 1 tablespoon minced garlic, sautéed in 1 tablespoon of garlic until translucent
- 1 cup of whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup of besan or chickpea flour
- 4 tablespoons savoury/nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
Mix the active yeast, sugar and 1/2 cup water until the yeast dissolves and set aside. Gently saute the onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent and leave to cool. Mix the dry ingredients together, add the wet ingredients, you can use a fork or your hand, until combined into a dough ball. Roll sausage shape pieces of dough and place on a well-greased baking tray. Gently brush the tops of the dough-loaves with olive oil and leave for 30 minutes to prove/rise – place in a warm area covered in cling film. Bake in a moderately hot oven at about 200′C for 1o minutes.
The bread rolls come out golden, thanks to the chick pea flour and nutritional yeast, and are delicious. My son didn’t like them at first and later decided he did, unfortunately there was only one left…looks like I will be making them again.
Do you have any vegan cracker recipes? I did set out to make crackers but as you can see I got side-tracked! Would love to hear from you!
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November 16, 2012
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Yes I know, you are looking at these home-made golden coins, and you might be thinking – why not buy them – why go to the hassle? Well, one outrageous, life threatening allergy to dairy, and a 5-year-old boy who wanted gold pirate coins ~ need I say more. The gold chocolate coins you buy in the store are typically made with dairy, so a no go for us.
So for ‘Talk like a Pirate Day’ all I could do was make some chocolate buttons; not enough notice…only found out three day’s before that the Teachers were handing out gold chocolate (dairy) coins to all the pre-primary children. However, since then I have been on a quest and have found a golden chocolate maker at a local store for $11!
You need to add your own chocolate
The box comes with only four chocolate moulds
Chocolate coin making station
Pressing out the foil, ready to stamp onto the coins
The making of this Pirate Treasure is tricky, like following a treasure map! And the embossing of the pattern, near on impossible, you must have the chocolate at the right temperature, but all of this is not important, because my little boy loves that the chocolate is in golden foil, chocolate coins are now in the realm of magic and wonder!
What is it about packaging that makes the ordinary – extraordinary? His feedback “delicious – can I take the golden coins to share with my class?” Love his generosity.
For the record, there are four chocolate molds in the box, and we made a huge total of 8 coins! Ha! My son and my husband had one a piece – hence only 6 for the photograph!
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October 16, 2012
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When I was little, my Dad used to take my sister and I to the Perth Royal Show. Fast forward several years and my husband and I were delighted to take our 5-year-old to the Royal Show, a first time for him.
What I love about the ‘Show’ it is wonderful blend of country and city: agricultural events, mining equipment, old farming machinery, fast rides (very scary), performers, best in show events – from cakes, quilts, dogs to livestock, tourism showcases of towns and produce from Western Australia, fast food, games alley, equestrian events, show judging of animals, chair lifts, show games, and of course the much treasured show bag!
It was refreshing to see some great free activities for the kids, and we had a great time at the ‘Scouts’ enclosure, where they had a ‘boot camp’ bouncy castle and some fun games, including a popular air-pressured, rocket launcher.
My son played the clown game for the first time and managed to win an Elmo! He was thrilled, and I was so surprised! It was good to see somethings never change, like the carnival atmosphere around the ‘House of Horrors’ and the ‘Ghost Train’ which was well away from the children’s section, but had to be traversed to get to the chair lifts, it was spooky, noisy and fun!
Entry for children under 13 is free, show bags can set you back $12-24, rides and show games around $6-8. Our little guy lasted 2 hours, we were grateful to get home!
view from the chair lift
spider man show bag – much treasured!
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October 5, 2012
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You can’t catch me, I’m the gingerbread man
I’m the gingerbread man and I’m out of the pan!
Got him!
It’s always fun to bake gingerbread, and as you can see my son loves them! He couldn’t wait to take a bite out of this one, albeit he was competing with a blow-up crocodile!
Gingerbread Recipe
125 grams (4 ounces) of non dairy margarine or coconut oil
1/2 – 3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 of molasses or golden syrup
2 1/2 cups of plain flour sifted
2 teaspoons of powdered ginger
1 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
Mix the non dairy margarine/coconut oil with the sugar until creamy, add the molasses, flour, ginger and bicarbonate of soda. Mix until a smooth dough is formed. Let it rest in the fridge for about 15 minutes. Roll out the dough – you can do this between sheets of non stick paper, if you are a bit anxious about rolling this will make it a snap. Roll out to about 5mm or a 1/4 inch thick, cut out your shapes with a cookie cutter and bake in a preheated oven of about 190′C (or 375′F) for 8-10 minutes until cooked.
To ice you can be as precise or rustic (see my gingerbread!) as you like! I used organic raw sugar milled in my Thermomix to a fine powder and just added a tiny bit of water, and for the final touch we added currants.
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September 28, 2012
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Fabulous Flame, Chorizema Pea Wildflower
Synonymous with being Aussie, the great and much-loved Golden Wattle (Acacia Pycnatha)
When I found this specimen it was like winning the lottery, I love seeing bush orchids in the wild, and I think this might be a Swamp Curly Locks
Not sure of this plant could it be a Leptospermum?
Another beautiful bush orchid?
Guessing Grevillea?
Picture above – Perth skyline – a view from the hills.
Plum Orchard, Pickering Brook
It’s been a while since I posted, where have I been? No where, just thoughts and ideas running through my mind but no energy, time or motivation to get them down! Procrastination has hit hard after a wave of winter illness, rounds of colds, influenza and the like. Today is the first day everyone is better in the family and a good enough reason to finally share these images I took five weeks ago on a family picnic in Kalamunda, Western Australia.
The images show some local flora spotted in and around the ‘Zig Zag’, an old railway turnaround track built to assist trains to get down the hill, it is now a road, used as scenic drive from Kalamunda on your way down to Perth. If you can help with the naming of the flora, I would love to hear from you, please leave a comment! Can anyone spot the local wildlife captured in one of the photos?
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September 17, 2012
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If you asked my younger self, 7 seven years ago, “are you going to be a soccer mom?”
I would have answered “what are you talking about?”
Here I am, 7 years later, with a 5-year-old son, a proud soccer mom, and also official team photographer (grin).
I never knew I had such motivation, interest or perseverance, but I guess that comes hand-in-hand with being a parent.
When I had my son, he opened up this whole new world and I have to say it has been lots of fun, my younger self wouldn’t have understood, I didn’t know then, the joy of cheering for your child, and see him delight in getting his first kick and then his first team trophy (all the players got one each).
Maybe one day he might play for Perth Glory or he might be a future Olympian (member of the Australian ’Socceroos’ Team), I don’t really mind as long as he is having fun and I get to cheer him on the sidelines!
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August 11, 2012
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You can only admire the tenacity and stamina of children, even though my son Bobby is covered in a viral rash all over his torso, with no other symptoms, he was determined to go out and splash the puddles!
Bobby was due an almond food challenge on Monday, we were psyched and ready to go. Sunday night he broke out in a rash, which might have been an allergic reaction, so we immediately gave him an anti-histamine and followed our anaphylaxis action plan.
After consultation with his specialist and because the rash is still present 48 hours later, it might be a response to a virus. Who knows, all I know that whilst I feel stressed and worried, he cheers me up with his good humour, his sense of adventure and the joy of childhood. His sense of fun and energy pushes me ‘to be in the moment’, and how could you do otherwise, when he’s jumping in puddles and making a splash!
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July 31, 2012
Short URL Allergies, canon 40mm 2.8f pancake lens, Children, gum boots, Life, parenting, photography, puddles, rain, Viral rash allergies, Kid's Activities, Photography
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I love crackers, I tend to buy them and have never ventured into the world of making my own. Thanks to the Daring Baker’s July Challenge, I have just made my first batch!
Our Daring Baker’s host this month, was Dana McFarland, she shared some techniques for making crackers and encouraged us to use our creativity and the ingredients we love.
The ingredients I love are spices and herbs so I was really pleased to find an Indian recipe for Nippatu. If you are game you could stick to the original recipe and add a fresh green chilli or two!
Ingredients
- 1 cup of plain flour
- 1 cup of Atta flour (whole-wheat flour)
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- pinch of pepper
- 1 large onion finely diced
- 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1 handful of fresh coriander finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons of dairy free margarine
- 120 ml of canola oil
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/2 cup of warm water
- 20 ml of rice milk to brush biscuits
Method
Sift the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients (but not the water at this stage), gently combine and slowly add the water to make a firm dough. Let the dough rest for at least 30 minutes.
Roll the dough evenly and thinly, press out crackers with a cookie cutter, make indents with a fork on each cracker, place on a cookie baking tray, lightly brush each cracker with rice milk, place in pre-heated (fan-forced) oven at around 150′ C, turn tray 180′ after 10 minutes and then further cook for another 6 minutes. When crackers are cooled place a light sprinkle of sea salt on top. Eat straight away or store in an air tight container for up to 3 days.
Makes approximately 30 crackers.
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July 29, 2012
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