Super easy delicious Thai noodle bowl

I have to admit that I'm not the greatest cook.. Baking I find easy, but cooking is a whole other ball game, and if I deviate too much from recipes, or try to invent something totally new, well, the results are often barely edible (I once even caught my man trying to discretely put his dinner in the trash).  So when I came across this ten minute Thai noodle bowl recipe over at the Gluttonous Vegan I was very excited. I adore Asian style broths (and soups, and other warm mushy comfort foods heh), and I have often made a similar dish to this involving miso, but this one is much simpler. And even more delicious!

It's also a good recipe with there's not so much in the pantry, I just used whatever vegetables were left in the fridge, in this case it was carrot, broccoli and spring onion, and because this has become my lazy day meal, I added tofu but didn't fry it first, just added it to the broth at the same time as the other vegetables. I like it best with rice noodles (which I also just cooked in the broth), a bit of extra soy sauce, and to garnish, sesame seeds and fresh coriander/cilantro, yum!

In case you missed the earlier link, the full recipe can be found here. (scroll down a bit, the recipe is there!)

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do.

xx
Lucy

Yumbots & the best vegan mousse EVER

For Christmas, not only did my man get me a pair of beautiful pink flamingos for the garden (as shown in this post), but he also got me these great novelty silicone cupcake holders called Yumbots!

Aren't they cute?

It made me want to do some baking asap, but since I had already planned to make a delicious chocolate mousse for some friends who were coming over for dinner, I thought I would make it in these instead, and was quite pleased with the outcome!

The mousse (or pots de creme as the recipe calls it), is rich, creamy and delicious. Although I am only vegetarian, my man is vegan, so when I found this recipe he was really happy, it's incomparable to any other vegan mousse recipe I have tried, and is something that non-vegans will also love!

The original recipe is from the Voracious Vegan (sadly the blog is currently down for maintenance), however I have made a few very small changes, and converted it to metric for you.

Vegan Chocolate Mousse (makes 3-4 servings)
This dessert needs to be made 1 day in advance to ensure it sets.
Ingredients:
 400g Coconut Milk
150g dark chocolate (the better the quality, the better your dessert, but don't use anything over 70% cocoa)
1tsp (heaped) instant coffee
Splash of vanilla
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of cinnamon


On the stove, bring the coconut milk to a simmer, then add the coffee, vanilla, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Turn the heat off, break the chocolate into pieces and add to the hot coconut milk, stirring constantly until chocolate is mostly melted, then using a stick blender, blend it all up to fully combine the chocolate and milk.
Pour mixture into ramekins/teacups/a bowl and chill until firm (preferably overnight).

The original recipe suggests using a blender to combine the (unmelted) chocolate with the hot coconut milk, so if you have a blender, you could do that instead.


Enjoy!
xx
Lucy

Christmas Part 2/3

Christmas part two was lunch on Christmas day at my house with my sister & her partner, and my father and step mother.  I got up nice and early to bake a lemon-sour cream cake for dessert.. This cake is super moist, and has a perfect balance between sweet and sour. I have given the recipe below.

Sour Cream Lemon Syrup Loaf
(Recipe adapted from a Cuisine magazine)

Ingredients
For the loaf:
125g softened butter
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
grated rind of 3 lemons
150g sour cream
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Syrup:
Juice of 3 lemons
1/4 Cup sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
In a food processor, cream the butter and sugar. Add the eggs, grated lemon rind, sour cream and vanilla. Then add the flour and baking powder.
Grease either a 20 x 10cm loaf tin, or an 8inch baking tin, lining the bottom with baking paper, before pouring the mixture in.
Here the recipe says to bake for 30mins, however my cake is usually still too soft in the middle, so I tend to bake mine for about 45mins, or until a knife comes out clean.
Cool the cake for about 5mins, and then turn out onto a cooking rack.

While the cake is baking, heat the lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Turn the cake upside down, and spoon half this mixture onto it, then let it stand for about 10mins. After 10mins turn the cake over, and spoon the remaining syrup on.  This step is important, as it ensures the cake is evenly soaked in syrup!

Enjoy!

Here are a few more pictures from my Christmas lunch.

The white stack at the back is Injera, a sour Eritrean flatbread. It's eaten with many Eritrean dishes and is one of my most favourite foods!

Dress: Second hand
Belt: Vintage (Christmas gift from my Aunt)
Shoes: Sportsgirl

Pink Flamingos! By the front door to greet visitors.
The tall one has been named Diego,
but the short one is still name-less! Any ideas?

xx
Lucy