Just Humans Being...

We've been making hippy slop ever since we became veggie, back in 1988! It took a few times to learn how to cook lentils, but since then - we probably eat them more than anything else... If asked, both of us would say - lentils are our favourite food! They are warming, comforting & just delicious... Not only that, but they are nutritious too... Lentils not only lower cholesterol, they can also prevent blood sugar levels from rising rapidly after eating. Lentils contain B vitamins, important minerals, fibre & protein. We cook them gently with onions & garlic, herbs & spices. And just adore them! We're going to Hugo's home education group for a day long Halloween party... Hope you all get plenty of treats! Kay & Sime xx

This cake is also gluten free... The recipe is adapted from a hand out at our local farm shop. Lemon Polenta Cake 3 oz polenta 6 oz natural caster sugar 4 1/2 oz ground almonds 1 oz dessicated coconut 1 teaspoon baking powder Zest of 1 lemon Juice of 1/2 lemon 2 teaspoons ground linseeds 6 oz apple purée Topping 2 oz unbleached icing sugar Juice of  1/2 lemon Method Preheat oven to 180C & line a 7 inch tin. Place all cake ingredients into a bowl & mix well. Transfer into the tin & bake for 30 minutes. Sieve the icing sugar into a bowl & stir in the lemon juice. Pour onto the warm cake & leave to cool. Hope you enjoy it! Kay & Sime xx

Pease pudding cold, Pease pudding in the pot... Nine days old. Only kidding, they wouldn't last that long here! Tonight's dinner was a strange concoction... Bean burger, sweet potato wedges & mushy peas. Sime had mustard & houmous on his too! We absolutely adore mushy peas... & they are so easy to make... For 3 of us, we use 300g split green peas. Put into a large bowl with a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda & cover with at least a litre of boiling water. Leave for 2 or more hours to soak. Rinse the peas thoroughly & place in a large pan, cover with cold water & bring to the boil. Simmer for 30 - 40 minutes, stirring frequently. You can add any herbs & spices, but tonight - we kept them simple & added a dollop of miso, a pinch of herbamare & some black pepper. The sweet potatoes were just dry baked in the oven for 45 minutes, shaking the pan every 15 minutes, so they didn't stick. The burgers were b...

We often turn leftover pasta sauce into a chilli... We added some quinoa, tofu, more kidney beans & a fresh chilli. Then instead of  serving it with cornbread... We topped the chilli with it...  Added some pumpkin seeds... And baked it in the oven for 30 minutes. Cornbread 150g polenta 100g whole wheat self-raising flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 1 teaspoon ground linseeds 1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley or coriander a teaspoon of the dried leaves 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder 2 tablespoons agave syrup 2 tablespoons apple purée 250ml plant milk Method Line a 20cm tin if baking separately. Preheat oven to a medium temperature (180C). Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until it has become like a thick batter. Transfer into the tin or spread over pie filling. Bake for 30 minutes. Chilli Pie... With all the trimmings... In between jobs yesterday. We're off a...

                                                                      Butternut squash, mushroom, kale, red lentils & creamed coconut. With lots of sliced onions & garlic. Served as usual with brown basmati rice, cooked with turmeric.  The lentils & coconut make the sauce naturally thick & creamy, especially when left to  simmer nice & slow with your favourite spices... Make sure you make a large pan full - as it always tastes better the next day! Kay & Sime xx

This recipe is adapted from a vegan chocolate fudge cake recipe in  Demuths  first cook book -  Postively Vegetarian Recipes For Life. We'd eaten at the restaurant in Bath a couple of times, loved it the first time, but found it to be really expensive & full of snobby city folk second time around, but the books are good. Some friends bought us Demuths first book when it was first published 15 years ago... The cake is so easy to make... As you can see - we've used this recipe a lot. Sal & I can just whip it up in no time. We have tweaked it over the years & have served it up on many a birthday or special occasion. Here is the original  recipe & below is my latest version without oil or margarine, though there is still a huge amount of sugar... Vegan Chocolate Fudge Cake  ( Serves 8) Ingredients Cake 300g self raising whole wheat flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 50g cocoa  250g dark brown suga...

We're really busy again with work this week, lots of last minute bookings for half term. I'm trying to finish off last years accounts - to submit before the end of the month & Sime's making sure we eat well... Last night's pasta dish had lots of garlic & onions, peppers, courgettes, mushrooms & sweetcorn.  Also some kidney, borlotti & black eyed beans, as well as chickpeas. Sometimes Sime will add tofu too, which he fries in a little water & soy sauce first. He simmers the onions & garlic in water first, then adds other vegetables as they are chopped. Chucks in dried oregano, basil & smoked paprika. He wanted to make a quick sauce, so used 2 tins of chopped tomatoes & some tomato paste. Using fresh tomatoes is better though - especially when baked in the oven first! Some freshly chopped garlic & basil added just before serving is delicious. We also add a pinch of  Herbamare , black pepper & once se...

Our home made organic hops & lavender beer! Sime has been passionate about real ale for many years, but unfortunately - not a lot of it is vegetarian, let alone vegan... Most breweries use fish finings (isinglass) or egg whites to clear their beer... We don't use anything & within 3 weeks of making - it is sparkling clear & ready to drink! This recipe contains approx 200g dried hops, 100g dried lavender, 2kg malt extract, 1kg raw sugar & 5 teaspoons of dried yeast & along with about 25 litres of filtered water makes just over 40 pints of delicious home brew... We simmer the hops & lavender  for about an hour in our largest pan (holds about 5 litres). Put the malt extract & sugar into the fermenting bin with more boiled water, then strain the herbs & add the lovely smelling liquid to the bin. Top up with cold filter water & once hand hot - pitch the yeast. It takes about 1 week to ferment & once it's stopped bubbling,...

        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 ...

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 aft...

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...