Sablés de Noël.

Merry very late Christmas everyone!

(Pour la version française descendez ;))

As I am wondering my house (well my dad's) looking for something to eat, I just remembered I had a brilliant recipe, easy and quick, for some christmas shortbread biscuits. Of course they are vegan as always, and you'll need ingredients that you almost always have at home, which is the good point to me! This is the improved version after several attempt at baking them! Hope you will enjoy.

You need:

- 100 gr margarine (any kind would do)

- 150 gr flour

- 50 gr white sugar (I liked both with white and brown, it's up to you!)

- 1/2 cup of raisin (or 4 small hand full, but here again it's up to you)

- cinnamon to taste.

First you'll need to "marinade" the raisins in tea. A christmas tea would be perfect, but when I don't have any I just use regular ceylan tea, right now I am trying out with chai tea! Just make sure the tea is strong so that the flavours do go into the raisin.
In a bowl, mix in the sugar and cinnamon, then add margarine (make sure it's well blended). Finally add flour and use your hands! Then add the raisins (previously drained) and mix. Create a big ball with everything, wrap it and leave it in the fridge for at least 30 mins.
Preheat your oven at 160 °C.

You can then spread the dough on your kitchen bench (don't forget to use flour) until it is about 0.5 cm thick. Use some cookie cutter if you want to make nice shapes (but I just use a glass sometimes). Place biscuits on a cooking trail and bake for about 10 to 15 minutes (keep an eye on them).

And tadaaaaa :)

PICTURE TO COME / PHOTO A VENIR

Je vous souhaite à tous un joyeux Noël, super en retard. J'espère que vous avez passé un moment agréable et que vous avez été gâtés :)
Je suis en retard, mais aujourd'hui j'avais envie de quelque chose de sucré et de saison, et ces sablés sont vraiment hyper simples à faire, et vous aurez besoin d'ingrédients que vous trouverez quasiment tout le temps chez vous! C'est parti.

Ingrédients:

- 100 gr de margarine (si vous êtes vegan vérifiez bien les ingrédients, en grande surface les margarines contiennent quasiment toute du lait ou dérivés de lait...)
- 50 gr de sucre
- 150 gr de farine
- 4 poignées de raisins secs environ
- de la cannelle (à votre goût pour la quantité, je pense que j'en mets une cuillère à café environ parce que j'aime vraiment ça)

Tout d'abord mettez les raisins secs à trempez dans du thé. Un thé de Noël serait parfait, comme je n'ai ai pas j'utilise un English Breakfast classique mais c'est moyen pour les saveurs. Aujourd'hui je viens de tester ça avec un chai tea, et c'est vraiment top! Il faut juste que le thé soit bien fort pour qu'il "infuse" bien les raisins (je laisse en général le sachet avec les raisins).
Dans un plat, mélangez le sucre et la cannelle. Puis ajoutez la margarine et mélangez. Il faudra ensuite ajouter la farine, et là mieux vaut y aller avec les mains. Mélangez scrupuleusement puis ajoutez les raisins secs égouttés. Formez une boule avec la pâte, emballez-la dans du cellophane et mettez la au frigo pour au moins 30 min.
Quand vous la ressortez, préchauffez votre four à 160 °. Étalez ensuite la pâte sur un plan de travail (n'oubliez pas de bien le fariner sinon ça va coller). il ne faut pas qu'elle soit trop épaisse (moins d'un centimètre). Utilisez un verre ou des emporte pièces pour former les sablés. Et disposez-les sur une plaque de cuisson. Enfournez pendant 15 minutes, en surveillant toujours parce que ça peut varier d'un four à l'autre (le mien est lent je pense...)

J'espère que vous aimerez :)

Halloween Dessert

Hi there!

 (pour la version française, descendez)

I'm a bit late, but I just tried it today, and I did want to try before puting a recipe up here. Yes I also know it's been ages... but well I'm apparently bad at being constant, hopefully I'll just get better.
So I tried to do a Pumpkin pie, I was a bit scared to be honnest but I quite liked the result, and it is a really simple recipe so why not sharing it!

You'll need:

- 450 gr of pumpkin purée (I bought frozen one, just because I didn't have the time to make some myself, but of course I guess it'd be even better with home made one)
- 350 gr of silken tofu (or soft tofu) (blended until smooth)
- 3/4 cup of sugar 
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ginger
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 pie crust (check the ingredients but it's easy to find vegan one, you could also make one yourself)

you can also put a bit of clove, I'm sure it'd be even better, I just didn't have any so I did put a little more ginger and cinnamon.

Mix together the pumpkin purée and sugar first. Then add the tofu (previously blended until smooth, I don't have a blender so I used a whisk and it turned out pretty good) and the spices. Put everything onto the piecrust (previously unrolled on a baking trail).
Let it cook for 15 mins at 220 °C and then about 40 minutes (I cooked mine around 10 mins more) at 175 °C.
let it chill and serve :)

Tarte au Potiron

Il était temps pour une petite recette d'Halloween, même si je suis un peu en retard! je voulais être sûre que celle-ci valait le coup d'être partagée! et c'est le cas, en plus elle est super facile.

Vous aurez besoin de :

- 450 gr de purée de potiron (j'ai pris la mienne surgelée, car je n'avais pas le temps de la faire, mais bien sûr fait maison c'est encore mieux)

- 350 gr de tofu soyeux (à passer au blender ou mixeur d'abord pour qu'il soit bien lisse)

- 150 gr de sucre

- une demi cuillère à café de sel

- une demi cuillère à café de gingembre en poudre

- une cuillère à café de cannelle en poudre

- une pâte brisée (vérifiez les ingrédients mais il est facile d'en trouver des végétaliennes, je prends la mienne pour essayer d'éviter l'huile de palme, chose parfois difficile)

vous pouvez également mettre quelques clous de girofle, je n'en avais pas donc j'ai juste mis un peu plus de gingembre et de cannelle (mais tout cela, c'est à votre gôut!)

Mélangez la purée de potiron et le sucre. Puis ajoutez le tofu préalablement "lissé" (je n'ai ni batteur ni blender donc je l'ai juste bien battu avec un fouet et ça a fait l'affaire), le sel et les épices.
Mettez le tout sur votre pâte brisée (n'oubliez pas les petits trous à la fourchette avant) et enfournez d'abord à 220 ° pendant 15 minutes, puis à 175 ° pendant environ 40 minutes (j'ai laissé la mienne environ dix minutes de plus)

laissez refroidir et voilà :) 

J'espère que vous aimerez et que vous avez passé un bon week end de la Toussaint.

A bientôt (hopefully)

Paris

I finally got to go for a trip in Paris as a vegan. During my year in Australia I was still following what was going on I. The capital to know how things were evolving in France on this point.
Some places opened while I was away and I was really happy to check them out at last.

First thing I really wanted to visit was Vegan Folie's. I thought it was a cafe but it is more of a vegan patisseries where you can buy sandwiches, cheesecakes, cupcakes, cookies and others drinks or sweets. Everything is 100% vegan which is always a great feeling for me (not having to ask about what I can have or not). I tried their chocolate cheesecake but also the blueberry one, their brownie and their cookie (yes I have just been there once but well...). There were 2 of us and all of this with 2 drinks cost us 19€ which I think is pretty cheap for home made vegan delights (and organic drinks). My favorite were the cookie and the brownie, just totally loved them!! The cheesecakes were really nice as well (just have a little preference for the cheesecake I used to have at Invita)

Second place I wanted to try was East Side Burgers, a new vegetarian fast food. Well after a year in Melbourne and some regular visits to (all mighty) Lord Of The Fries, I might say this was not something new. But well, after more than a month back in France, I was starting to miss vegan junk food. and I was not disappointed! Tasty burgers (I'm sad I couldn't try the hot dog, but I'll be back!) and vegan cheese option (which is pretty awesome for France!) and home made fries are always making me fall! Oh and also just totally LOVED the pear and chocolate tartelette and the cookie (might say I still have a preference for the cookie from Vegan Folie's, but you know I love every cookies anyway, no discrimination here). (Yes I tried all of this in a day... no judgements!)

if you just had one thing
to buy for the summer: THIS IS IT

I also had the opportunity to go to the shop Un Monde Vegan (a Vegan Wolrd in English...) that I had already mentioned earlier in here. I don't really like to do my grocery shopping on the internet so that was nice to have time to go "for real" to their shop (and yes the rest of the time I am really grateful that their website exists!). Good other point is that they also have the brand vegetarian shoes that you can try and everything! They have everything they have on the website, and I finally got to buy some vegan croissants and pain au chocolat (that I have yet to try!! I will let you know)





So that's it about Paris. I also did some pic nique by the seine, and I might in summer it's always pretty easy to just have a vegie salad and fruits so no problem about this! this little holidays in Paris showed me that things are starting to change in France (or at least in Paris) and that veganism is coming around here little by little. (again I am not preaching for everyone to become one, I just want my life to be a bit easier by having more choices and options in general!)
have a great day/night wherever you are!

Ps: better quality pictures next time... this was not really taken to be put on here but well

I'm back! (well at least I'll try)

Hey there!

so yeah I know... I'm coming back from the deads, and now we can all say that apparently having a blog (where I would keep on posting regurlarly) does not seem to be my thing. But I still want to give it a shot... Who knows ;) I just think I still have things to say and post about travelling as a vegan, where and what to eat and how to stay vegan as well as staying healthy (in some places it seems more challenging to do both).

so lots of things have happen since my last post. I finished my year as an excahnge student in Melbourne University and had to fly back home, to France. I thought I would have to go back to being vegetarian but no, I'm holding up and I find it easier and easier to be vegan here as well! and as time goes by, I might say I don't really imagine eating in a different way or going back to my old diet.

I've had the opportunity to go back to London and to Paris, and that was my first time as a vegan in those cities so I'll have things to share about this! I don't know if there's still any point for me to share my experience about my trip in Asia as it was so long ago? but if it does interest anyone let me know ;)

I will also have some more recipes and ideas hopefully coming soon...

Please excuse me for that long silence, and hope you'll enjoy the new start of this blog!

see you soon on here :)

Ps: is there anyone who would still want the French version?

Ps2: you can follow me on Pinterest or on Tumblr as well

Asia trip part one: Bali

I feel like being back from the dead on here! I thought I would be able to keep this blog running regularly but apparently I am not getting much better. I'll try to do my best now :)
Here I am back to school in Melbourne for the second semester of my exchange. But before that I was lucky enough to get a (very) big summer break during which I ended up doing a trip to South East Asia with some of my friends. It's really exciting for me to tell you about that first trip in a new continent!!

Monkey Forrest (Ubud)

Our first stop was Bali, one of the isles of Indonesia. We stayed there for 5 days, and I must say that I remember saying how much I liked it but now that I've seen the other countries I'm going to tell you about soon I am not so sure. Don't take me wrong, it was great! Problem is it was really touristy, lots of Australians going on holidays there and acting as "kings of the world" because yeah you have a bit more money in that country than what you have in yours by comparison. And that's the kind of behaviour I don't like to see when I'm on holidays.
Anyway, we had really great time over there, trying watersports that we could not even think to afford in Oz. Parasailing was just incredible, a great memory! and I might say the food was great and (as I was about to discover) being vegan in Asia is pretty easy, way easier than in France or in Europe in general I'd say.

First meal in Kuta

The centre of Bali was also really nice, a different atmosphere and more peaceful than crazy Kuta (but crazy is good sometimes ;)). If you have time in Bali I would definitely recommend Ubud and the Kuntamani (one of the volcano in the centre) for the beauty and peacefulness, and Kuta for the night life and a bit of shopping. Don't forget to bargain, the first price is never the "real" one.
Oh and Balinese massage... What I would give to go back there just for a massage!!!

"Creamy" Macaroni

Another thing I missed, especially going back home cause it was something my dad used to do for me, a pasta and cream dish. Here I found an alternative that everyone (including meat eaters) loved! Don't be afraid by the list of ingredients or things to do, it is really simple.

What you need:

- 500 gr pasta (I chose elbow pasta)
- 250 gr raw cashews
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- a bit of pepper
- 1 can of diced tomatoes

=> First of all and most important if you don't want to be stuck, soak the cashews in water for at least 4 hours (I  always do it the night before if I'm doing it for lunch, or in the morning if it's for dinner).

In a food processor, put the drained cashews with oil, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, garlic, salt, paprika and pepper. Mix together until the cashews are chopped, then add 3/4 cup of water and mix again until smooth.
Preheat oven to 250°C.
Oil the baking dish and cook the pasta in water as usual.
Once the pastas are cooked, drain them and put them back in the pot. Then add the cashew mixture and the can of diced tomatoes (I kept all the juice, it's a bit up to you if you wanna drain them or not, I prefer not) and stir well.
Put everything in the baking dish and in oven for about 30 minutes until you can see it's heated through and golden on top!

Une des choses qui me manquaient: les gratins de pâtes, surtout parce que mon père m'en faisait souvent avec plein de fromages... Puis j'ai trouvé cette alternative:

Vous avez besoin de:

- 500 gr de pâtes (je prends toujours des coquillettes pour les gratins)

- 250 gr de noix de cajou

- 3 cuillères à soupe d'huile d'olive

- 50 ml de jus de citron

- 2 cuillères à soupe de nutrional yeast (levure nutrionnelle ou alimentaire, je cherche encore pour en trouver en France...)

- 1 gousse d'ail

- sel, poivre et paprika (une pincée, mais après c'est à votre goût comme toujours!)

- 1 boite de tomates pelées en dès

/!\ A ne pas oubliez avant de prévoir de faire ce plat: faire trempez les noix de cajou dans de l'eau pendant au moins 4 heures (en général je le fais la veille au soir si c'est pour le midi ou alors le matin en me levant si c'est pour le soir histoire d'être sûre).

Mettez dans un blender les noix de cajou préalablement égoutée, l'huile d'olive, le jus de citron, le sel, le poivre, le paprika, l'ail, la levure. Mixez le tout jusqu'à ce que les noix de cajou soit broyées, puis ajoutez environ 170ml d'eau et mixez encore jusqu'à ce que l'ensemble soit lisse.
Préchauffez le four à 250 degrés. Huilez le plat à gratin. Cuisez les pâtes comme d'habitude, en suivant les instructions sur le paquet. Egouttez les puis remettez-les dans la casserole. Ajoutez la "crème" de noix de cajou, et la boîte de tomates pelées en dès. J'ajoute également le jus des tomates, c'est à vous de voir, vous pouvez ne pas le mettre mais je préfère avec. Mélangez bien le tout et versez dans le plat.
Mettre au four pendant environ 30 minutes, jusqu'à ce que le tout soit bien cuit, et le dessus bien doré!

"In Dublin fair city..."

Fleet Street

"...where the girls are so pretty". I have this little song in my head, sung by my friend we visited in Dublin! I was really looking forward to discover Ireland, even if I knew it was "just" Dublin (not the country) and for only 2 days. It was worth it anyway!
I'm really late to tell you about it as I was there around the 18th of December but well never too late to talk about a new city I guess. That might be because I was born and grew up kinda by the sea that I always feel so good when I am near it. Dublin has that special "vibe" that only coastal places can have. As in every other big cities, there are different districts (neighbourhood? don't know how you would call this in English) that all have a different atmosphere. Must dos would (for me) definitely be:

 Grafton Street for the bands that are playing for free outside, whatever the weather apparently. 

O'Connell Street because it is beautiful.

Christchurch Cathedral, you have to pay to enter, which my friend and I didn't do but even seeing it from outside was impressive.

Trinity College, old stone and amazing architecture

Dublin's Castle

Fleet street for all the crazy looking pubs

and of course Temple Bar... And don't forget to go in a Irish Pub! We went to the O'Neills (on Suffolk Street) a classic and famous pub, where there is an Irish band playing every night.

one part of the Castle

Concerning the food, as in the UK, it was not as easy as I expected to find vegan things (I think Melbourne definitely made life too easy for me) but not impossible either! The traditional fish and chips let you just stick to the chips, better than nothing! I think it'd be hard to eat in a pub maybe. But as always Mexican restaurant would do it! and the second day we went to an absolutely amazing place, mixture of a café, tea room an cake shop. It's called "Queen of tarts". There is one on Cows lane and one on Dame Street, if you can go for the first one which is slightly bigger and with a nicer atmosphere I think. Well, I have to say first the big disappointment is they don't have any vegan cakes or sweets.However, even if my choice was limited for lunch, it was absolutely delicious! I had a mexican bean soup (one of the soup of the day was vegan, the other not, so you have to check) with a hummus and vegetable sandwich. The bread is home made and fresh and you can chose the one you prefer. Simple, but good and quality food that makes you want to go back. As a "desert" I had a slice of their home made brown bread with the raspberry jam; home made as well. I hope they'll start making more vegan options soon, but even if not, I'd be happy to go back if I go back to Dublin!

The Liffey by night

French version to come...