Just Humans Being...

        Because I prefer to make life easy...  I like to keep my burger (& bhaji) recipes as simple as possible, so the method is pretty much the same every time & it's just the ingredients which change.There are so many different combinations to choose from & it can be a good way of using up leftovers... Basically, I use the same amount of pulses or nuts to grain, so in this recipe I used 200g cooked chickpeas & 200g breadcrumbs. As well as a large courgette, 2 carrots, 2 red conions & 4 cloves of garlic. Chop the veg & fry in water for about 10 minutes until soft, I added a teaspoon of cumin & a few drops of soy sauce & a blob of tomato paste. In a bowl, place the chickpeas, breadcrumbs, a good handful of fresh coriander & juice of half a lemon. Salt & pepper can be added at this point too. Add the softened vegetables & whizz with a hand blender (add a little hot water if too dry). Preheat your oven - it's need

Back in 2004, on a cold January day... The Smith family ventured out.  We had lived in Cornwall for nearly 2 years & enjoyed any days off exploring together. This day we decided to visit Tintagel Castle, we had a home educating family membership & wanted to visit all the English Heritage sites we could. We had  Tintagel Castle  pretty much to ourselves, apart from 3 other people. We said Hello to them & thought that perhaps they were Dutch... As we were leaving, Hugo fell & grazed his knee, Maggi offered some herbal cream & we got chatting... Maggi, Pierce & EJ were an American band called the MPE Band & were on tour in the UK, then were going off into mainland Europe. Maggi asked if we home schooled & did we know a book called  Stargirl ? In their teens, Sal & Rose were massive readers & yes they had read the book... They all talked about their love for the story, so much so, that we read it very shortly after that meeting... W

We haven't eaten at  The Eden Cafe  for a while & thought we would pop in & see what's on offer... Hugo had a mushroom burger with fries... And we both had a bowl of vegetable & peanut curry. Which was delicious & a gorgeous colour... We paid £5 each & could help ourselves to their artisan bread, which was nice dipped in! We were looking for the meteor shower at 1am this morning... Didn't see it, but the sky was beautiful!!! Kay & Sime xx    

Not a great picture, but these pancakes are delicious & so easy to make... They also got the thumbs up from our American friends! Vegan Pancake Recipe 1 cup (250g) self-raising whole wheat flour 1 cup porridge oats 1 heaped teaspoon ground linseeds or egg replacement powder 1 heaped teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon cinnamon pinch sea salt 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1/2 cup water 1 cup plant milk Method Chuck all the dry ingredients into a bowl or large measuring jug. Gradually add the wet ingredients & mix well. Finish by whizzing with a hand blender... We made them for breakfast at the weekend. (Little D wasn't keen on Sime's porridge) We get the hob ring hot & use a non-stick pan, so no need for oil, etc. Pour enough mixture in the pan & cook until it starts bubbling fiercely. The pancake should just flip over easily. We burnt this one, so D (isn't she a cutie?) gave

Sorry for disappearing again, the drugs I'm taking for my heart are knocking me sideways... I'm on light duties at work (meaning Sime won't let me do much), but I'm fine sitting here. I still can't believe I ended up in hospital last week, such a shame after having a great time in Stoke. It's always lovely to see our folks (hope you're feeling better, Nana Stip-Pep) & so good that we managed to visit Shelley, an old musician friend of Sime's (they were in a band together: The Hidden Persuaders). Though disappointing that we didn't have time to see Grenson, an old work mate who had been in hospital (sorry - next time)! My GP has left a message wanting to know what happened & I'm reluctant to phone back, because I know there will be a lecture... Anyway, time for some food photies & I'm slowly trying to catch up with other blogs. You might remember that our first night in Stoke we were going to eat at the pu

The day we were travelling back from Stoke, my thyroid - out of the blue - decided it was time to have another storm... My heart beat had been sitting around 90, which is just about ok & I was taking my herbal remedies, but I started having palpitations & on the way home. My heart just got faster (180 bpm), which made me feel really anxious. As soon as we arrived home, I called the surgery & was told to get to A & E. And so began the nightmare... I was taken into the resus room, wired up to a monitor & the staff tried to persuade me to have an adenosine injection to drastically slow down my heart, I refused - as I know that it can stop the heart altogether. The doctor told me that he was not sure if it would work, because they had no evidence of use with Graves Disease & the procedure could cause a permanent heart defect... Why would I want this? My heart was healthy, just running fast as a result of my thyroid problem & I really didn't

Yesterday was our first Saturday off in a long time, so what better way to celebrate than with a late brunch... Home made toast covered with baked beans, baked tomatoes, mushrooms & tofu scramble. For this scramble, we fried red onions & garlic in a little water & soy sauce. Then added half a teaspoon each of turmeric & cumin, about 150g firm tofu & a handful of rocket. We finished off by whizzing it with our hand blender & added some black pepper. We also like adding smoked paprika & fresh parsley to the tofu, leftover potatoes & mushrooms are delicious with it too! We're off up to Stoke now & when we get back I'll be sharing some dessert recipes. Tonight we're eating at a pub next to the hotel - Sime phoned ahead & spoke to the chef, so we shall see what he comes up with... Have a lovely Sunday! Kay & Sime xx   

One of the things most people seem to think is that vegans don't get enough protein, but what lots of folks don't realise is eating vegetables can provide even more protein than meat... Dr Michael Klaper explains more... Hope you all have a great weekend! Kay & Sime xx

If you consume a lot of processed foods then please watch this film:  Hungry For Change   It's only available to watch for just over 24 hours, so don't miss it. Jason Vale is in the film, he is the author of several juicing books... I first came across this book in St Austell library & the juices are fantastic. We go through phases of juicing lots & then not at all, but we love drinking fresh vegetable juices - though we hate the waste... We do compost it & have tried simmering the pulp & using the liquid as stock, but it tastes odd to us. I've been very interested in raw foods since the 90s, when I came across a  Leslie Kenton  book in a charity shop. We started drinking juices with either spirulina or wheatgrass twice a day, but we've never fully embraced a raw diet - we love our cooked food too much! Though I do believe that raw organic vegan food is the best way to heal the body.   From the same charity sho

We're not really auditioning for a vampire film... Or preparing for the Zombie Walk in St Austell... It's just easy to get into a mess... When drinking a dark juice... We juiced 5 small beetroot, 4 carrots, a bunch of celery, 3 apples, a whole lime & a knob of ginger! Which made nearly 2 pints - a delicious quick lunch between jobs. We've been really busy today, catching up with work now our car is back on the road. We were hoping to go away for a couple of weeks in November or December & had been looking at cottages in the Scottish Highlands, but the car has cost us the holiday money, so looks like we'll be having a staycation instead, a very local one...  Perhaps we'll stay in our guest room & just pretend we're away! Kay & Sime xx

Tuesday meals are usually made up of whatever we have left, as our organic veg box arrives every Wednesday. We buy our grains & pulses in bulk from a wholefood warehouse, so we just add any vegetables left in the box... This is a spicy mixed bean stew served with basmati rice cooked with turmeric. There's onions, garlic, mushrooms, red pepper & courgette all fried in a little water, then herbs & spices added, as well as a tin of tomatoes & soy sauce. Simple, delicious & filling. Kay & Sime xx

It's that time of year when comfort food is needed & this is one of our favourites... Brown Lentil & Mushroom Cottage Pie Brown lentils & mushrooms are really good together in such a savoury dish.  You can also add a few chopped walnuts & more vegetables, green lentils work well too. You'll need :  2 large onions, chopped 4 cloves garlic, crushed 2 sticks celery, sliced 8oz (225g) brown lentils 6oz mushrooms, sliced 1 teaspoon each of cumin, sage & thyme Approx 1 1/4 pints (650mls) boiling water or stock 2 heaped teaspoons miso paste or 1 teaspoon yeast extract 1 tablespoon tomato  purée salt & pepper to taste Topping 2 lb (900g) potatoes, washed & chopped A sprinkle each of seasme seeds & nutritional yeast (Engevita) Method Boil & mash the potatoes, we put soya or oat milk, a teaspoon of mustard & some chopped mint in our mash. Simmer the onions, garlic & celery in a large saucepan

        Being carless in rural Cornwall is quite a challenge, our car is in the garage & we had things to do... We were at the train station early this morning... Waiting for a train to Truro... It takes about 20 minutes to get from St Austell. On arrival, we were hungry & wanted something to eat - we walked into town & just couldn't think of anywhere to go... Until we caught sight of the cathedral... We decided to visit the cathedral cafe...  We were sure we could get something cheap, cheerful & vegan, but we were wrong... They do breakfasts from 8.30am, but the only thing we could have was toast & jam. Instead we ended up at BHS for a not so cheap or cheerful beans on toast & a cup of camomile tea. We were soon ready for lunch & saw a sign for lunch time deals at an Italian restaurant, so we ventured in & were pleased to find out that they could provide us with vegan food. It's the first we've