Foodie Fridays: B’s Easy Beany & Cheesy Tacos

12 Comments

Hello all…!  Hope all of you are having a blissful Friday where you are eating merrily.  To celebrate the upcoming weekend of course 🙂

Image

Here’s a gorgeous, easy vegetarian meal for you all to whip up!  🙂  Hope you enjoy it! x

B’s Easy Beany & Cheesy Tacos

Makes: Enough for 2 people with a hearty appetite

Ingredients:

  • 1 can refried beans (El Paso Brand)
  • 6 Taco shells (El Paso Brand)
  • 2 fresh tomatoes, diced
  • Lots of cheese
  • Seasoning:  oregano, basil, turmeric powder (1.2 tsp), cumin powder (1/2 tsp) , black pepper, chilli powder (1/2 tsp), BBQ sauce, flaxseeds (1 tsp)

Method:

  1. Cook refried beans with some BBQ sauce, turmeric powder, cumin powder, black pepper, chilli powder, flaxseeds.  Cook for a few minutes. Keep aside.
  2. In a bowl mix tomatoes with oregano, basil and pepper.
  3. Fill tacos with bean mixture then tomatoes.
  4. Lastly top up with cheese.
  5. Bake till cheese melts!

Easy meal for a busy day – and I tried to sneak in flaxseeds and my husband didn’t know!  Yaey!  🙂

xx

B

B’s Oregano Cashew Spread

15 Comments

Hello everyone!  I’ve finally tried a cashew spread that I’ve become reading on vegan blogs forever…  Although, a Vitamix seems to do a much creamier job.  Maybe one day I’ll finally invest in on – or maybe I’ll win one! Haha!  There’s always a benefit to being optimistic.  Or maybe Vitamix will read this and want to give me one. OK SO MAYBE.

 

Image\

It kind of resembled Ricotta Cheese but a lot healthier 🙂

Image

I’ve been using it as a dip for carrots 🙂

 

B’s Oregano Cashew Dip

Makes: Enough for 2-3 people as a side

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup of soaked cashews overnight
  • 1-2 tbsp of lemon juice (depends on preference)
  • 1-2 tbsp of water
  • 1 tsp or more of oregano
  • Salt, Pepper and any other seasoning you like!

Method:

  1. Put everything in a food processor.  
  2. Taste and add anything else you might want 🙂
  3. Refrigerate a few hours and store in an air-tight container.

Hope you enjoy this vegan dish!  I absolutely loved it as a healthy alternative.  It’s very easy too 🙂

xx

B

B has been nominated for the SUNSHINE AWARD!

15 Comments

You are my SUNSHINE! MY ONLY SUNSHINE.. YOU MAKE ME HAPPY.. DA DA DA DUM DUM *And so the song goes!*

sunshine_award

Thank you for the nominations:  Ginger, Elaine, Danielle, and Upasna!  I thought I’d blog about this.  Blog awards make me feel happy 🙂

Rules to Accept the Award:

  1. Include the Sunshine Award icon in your post
  2. Link to the blogger who nominated you
  3. Answer 10 questions about yourself
  4. Nominate 10 other bloggers to receive the award
  5. Link to your nominees and let them know you nominated them
  6. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer

My answers are as follows:

  1. Who would play you if your life was made into a movie?
    That would be interesting.  I would want some Bollywood actress to play me!  🙂
  2. Where in the world would you most like to travel?
    I would love to travel to South America, Alaska and other destinations that I haven’t been to!
  3. What is the best thing about blogging?
    Connecting with out bloggers.  There’s so much to learn from everybody!
  4. What is your secret indulgence?
    Sweet popcorn in cinemas.  I could eat an entire large bucket!  But I won’t.
  5. If someone handed you £1000 tomorrow what would you spend it on?
    A ticket to some exotic country.
  6. What do you never leave home without?
    Phone, wallet!
  7. What’s your favourite meal of the day?
    Dinner or Lunch.  Depends what we are having.  I’m not much of a breakfast person although that happens to be the most important meal – I kind of force myself to eat in the morning.
  8. What makes you laugh?
    My family always puts a smile to my face.
  9. Who would be your ideal dinner party guests?
    My family 🙂
  10. What was the last thing you Googled?
    Review sites for Apps.  Would love my App to get reviewed when its out.  Ohhh the excitement.

My nominees are (I’m trying to nominate my new blogging friends):

Check out these bloggers as they add sunshine to the blogosphere!

Enjoy your weekend everyone!

xx

B

B’s Vegetarian Chinese Crispy Noodles

9 Comments

Hello all!  Today we felt like having noodles – okay when I say we I actually mean more my husband than me.  I rather make something that would be appreciated to be eaten.  The chef needs to be appreciated.  When the eater goes hmmmm – it makes the chef feel good about the hard work that went into it 🙂  Ok – I have absolutely no idea why I’m calling myself a chef and speaking in third person today! I’m going to stop. LOL 🙂

Chinese Crispy noodles involve deep-frying and I didn’t feel like something so unhealthy so I made the exact gravy and had it with boiled noodles.  However – for those of you who want to try it crispy – you can deep fry it or acti-fry it (less oil and same result).

I loved the way it looked.

ImageDoesn’t it just look delish with the veggie chicken topped on it?  It gave it a really new chewy texture!

B’s Vegetarian Chinese Crispy Noodles

Makes: Enough for 3-4

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp minced ginger
  • 1 tbsp sesame oil
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots
  • 1 can of Water chestnut
  • Baby corn
  • Chinese dried mushrooms (soaked in hot water for 10 minutes – cut the stalks off)
  • 1 cup of vegetable stock (I used OXO cube)
  • 2 Chicken fillets (You can use Quorn steak strips too!)
  • Sauces/Seasoning: 2 tbsp-Soya Sauce, 1 tbsp-Dark Soya Sauce, 1 tsp-Sweet Sauce, 1 tsp-Chilli Powder, 2-3tbsp-Mushroom water, Cornstarch (1 heaped tablespoon mixed with water)

Method:

  1. Saute ginger then add carrots and brocolli in sesame oil.
  2. Oven bake chicken and cut into strips. (Yummy!) 🙂
  3. In a separate pan, boil thin egg noodles. Drain the noodles once done.  (To fry the noodles- deep fry the cooked noodles)
  4. Mix sauces/seasoning in a bowl with vegetable stock.
  5. When vegetables are cooked and sauces to it and bring to a boil.  Add water-chestnut and mushrooms.
  6. Lastly, add cornstarch mixture and let it thicken to desired consistency.

Makes a one-pot vegetarian meal.  Easy to make and healthy 🙂

Enjoy!

x

B

B’s Basil Pesto Brushchetta (Without Garlic)

23 Comments

Yummy.  Home-made pesto cannot be compared to the store bought kind at all!  It simply melts in your mouth. I made the pesto a day earlier as I wanted it to sit in the fridge overnight to make it more flavourful.  Pesto and Brushchetta are both notoriously famous for their garlic flavour.  I however do not like garlic.  I find the smell rather pungent and the after-taste deadly.  So here you have it Basil and Brushchetta without garlic.  Feel free to add garlic if you like the taste as it does enhance it for garlic-fans!

Here’s a picture of my masterpiece 😉

Image

Doesn’t that just look gorgeous?  YES – food can look gorgeous.  😉

Here’s what I did..

First I made the pesto…

ImageBlend. Blend. Blend.

Then I used my home-made bread (pan-toasted first) and topped it with everything.  Ready to go in the oven!

Image

And out it comes!  All ready to feast on.  It screams EAT ME NOW! 🙂

B’s Basil Pesto Brushchetta

Makes: As many as you spread! 

Ingredients for pesto:

  • 2 cups of basil leaves (removes stems of course!)
  • 1/4 cup of olive oil
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1/3 cup of cheese (I used cheddar as that’s what I had at home!)
  • Salt and pepper

Ingredients for Brushchetta:

  • Pomodoro Fresh Tomatoes
  • Bread (toasted first)
  • A bit of cheese
  • Fresh Basil leaves (torn for the garnish)
  • Salt and Pepper

Method:

  1. Blend basil leaves, pine nuts and cheese together using a food processor.  Add olive oil and blend again.  Add salt and pepper.
  2. Toast home-made bread.  I like doing this on the pan as I love how it comes out 🙂
  3. Spread basil pesto on bread, top with chopped tomatoes.  Add salt and pepper.
  4. Top with some cheese.
  5. Put in oven (about 190 C) till cheese has melted.

YUMMYYYYY!

Enjoy 🙂

xx

B

Technology Tuesdays: Air-popped Popcorn

6 Comments

I’ve been eating popcorn on and off in the cinema lately.  I know I shouldn’t –  but I can’t help it.  Sometimes, I make it at home, my stove-popcorn style.  However,  the popcorn only pops with at least 3 tbsp of oil!  Ok, that’s to feed two very hungry people. LOL 🙂

So I went on amazon and decided to order a fat-free popcorn maker.  It was 20 pounds with free shipping.  Really a good deal! It just arrived – and I couldn’t resist but try some!

Image

Thought I’d add the pamphlet – incase anyone wants to order it too (all the info is on there!)

Pros:

  • Fat Free
  • Takes less space than my blender (it’s tiny)
  • Pops the corn in 3 minutes
  • Minimal clean up needed (just wiping with damp cloth and washing the measuring spoon)
  • Melt your butter in the same measuring spoon as the kernels (ONLY ONE SPOON TO WASH!)

Cons:

  • Only a small quantity can be made (about 4 cups of popped corn).  We eat a lot. LOL.  It’s good for portion control though!
  • Wait 12 minutes for it to completely cool down before a second batch can be made
  • Not as crunchy as popcorn made with oil

Having said all this, I would recommend it.  It makes a very easy snack when you are in a peckish mood. 🙂  Also, popcorn is rich in fibre and low in fat.  It’s oil-free with this device!

TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY?  TO BUY

xx

B

Foodie Fridays: B’s Kitsune Udon Recipe (Japanese Noodle Soup)

13 Comments

Hello happy humans!  It’s Friday 😉  I love sleeping in on Saturday – the feeling is just magical.  So I’ve had a busy day involving completing my App’s ICON!  How amazing is that?  I’m terribly excited.  🙂  Coming back to Foodie Fridays –  I’ve been eating healthy food at home to compensate for fatty food that will be coming my way (weekend).  I had udon noodles and veggies at home – and thought it would be a healthy vegetarian lunch for my husband and I.  It’s been so cold in London, so it was really comforting as well. This is an easy meal to whip up too when you are busy but do not want to eat out of a packet! 🙂

FYI: Work with two pans – it’s faster and easier to serve the noodles then pour the soup mixture on top!

Image

And the end result:

Image

Healthy veggies & tofu 🙂

B’s Kitsune Udon (Japanese Noodle Soup)

Makes enough for 2 people

Ingredients:

  • 2 packets Udon Noodles
  • 2 carrots, chopped
  • 5-7 mushrooms, chopped
  • Asparagus, chopped
  • Some tofu, chopped in cubes
  • Seasoning:  1 tsp Mushroom Seasoning Powder, 1 TBSP Miso Paste, 1 cube of OXO Vegetarian Stock, pepper, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1/2 tsp soya sauce

Method:

  1. Cook Udon noodles – boil in water (follow package instructions)
  2. Put about 1 tbsp of sesame oil and stir fry mushrooms.  After a few minutes add carrot then asparagus.  Add a bit of water and cook.
  3. Add water and miso paste.  Keep stirring till fully dissolved,  Add soup stock and all seasoning.  Add the tofu.
  4. Serve on top of noodles!

Note:  Kitsune Udon is usually prepared with fried tofu which is available in Asian Shops.  It has a spongy texture and absorbs flavour very well.  However the fat sitting on my stomach right now is not allowing me to eat that kind of tofu.  SO THERE YOU HAVE IT. Low fat.  You can change the veggies to your liking –  I just used up what I had in my pantry!

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!  I’m going for some retail therapy this weekend.  It’s been a hectic week -that’s why I’ve barely posted!

xx

B