Glorious food, the self-sufficient way

I'm a huge foodie. Having been veggie for about 15 years, last year I dabbled with veganism. I sort of dipped in and out of it, mainly because of cheese. I found it hard to give up cheese completely, especially when faced with stilton after a glass of port! 

Anyway, on my journey to being vegan I've picked up a few good recipes, hint and tips, and I am now able to use ingredients that I've never even heard of before like nutritional yeast flakes, tapioca flour and vital wheat gluten. I am able to make Setain (no, not like the devil!) which is basically the vegan version of quorn (yup, quorn's not vegan because it uses egg white).

I've also found out some surprising facts like some granulated sugars may not be vegan because in the manufacturing process bone char is used to decolourize the sugar (always ask or read the label). Also some wines may not be vegan. Blood powder or egg white is occasionally used to clear the wine, so always read the label.   

In my quest to give up cheese for good I've done some research. It turns out that dairy cheese and milk contains quite a lot of udder pus. Because cows get pumped with hormones and all sorts of crap to over-produce milk, they end up all inflamed and much of the pus ends up in the milk and cheese we eat. I wonder if that's enough to put me off cheese... I hope so! Also, quite contrary to popular belief, milk may be damaging to bone health as well as increasing your risk of breast, colon and prostate cancer, Epstein, S. S. Potential public health hazards of biosynthetic milk hormones. International Journal of Health Services, 20:73-84, 1990.

So enough of this. Now for the food. Here's my typical, lovely breakfast! Chopped fruit sprinkled with organic flaxseed, topped with a dollop of fresh homemade live soy yogurt and homemade jam (made with homegrown berries). Delicious and nutritious! 

Since we have grown lots of fruit and veg on our allotment, we've been trying to eat as much of it as possible. I've become incredibly good at making stuff from potatoes, sweet and savoury. Later on I'll put up a pic of my lunchtime potato and cucumber soup. For this evening I'm planning Gnocchi with tomato sauce (all homemade and home grown!). Can't wait. Must get on with crafts now!

4 hours later...

Right, break from crafting means lunchtime. Daniel and I have grown enough potatoes and cucumbers to last us for a year or so! So for the past few weeks, since we've dug them up and picked the cucumbers, we (mainly me) have been inventing recipes that will allow us to eat everything we've grown before it goes bad. 

I've always loved making and eating thick vegetable soups because they're so easy to make and so delicious. So far this one is my favourite one: Spiced potato and cucumber soup with natural soy yogurt and mint. 

It's pretty simple. You just boil some potatoes and cucumber until tender. Add a tablespoon of vegetable broth powder (I use the vegan version of Marigold Swiss bouillon powder) and a good pinch of salt, cayenne pepper, ground cumin and ground coriander. Blitz it with a stick blender and top with a dollop of yogurt, and a mint leaf (optional). Eat!

This soup reminds me of when I was a Polish kid, living in Poland. Two of my favourite soups were zupa ogórkowa and zupa ziemniakowa. In this recipe I just combined the two and it's heavenly :) From what I remember, zupa ogórkowa recipe used gherkins and dill, and just the thought of it makes me salivate madly. Being a Pole, I love all pickled and sour things like gherkins, sauerkraut, curdled milk, pickled beetroot, and before my vegan days pickled eggs. My recipe used fresh garden cucumber, like the ones you buy from a supermarket for salads, and it still imparts a lovely cucumber taste so use whatever you have :) 

Ooh, I should also point out that if you have a cucumber in your fridge that's gone a bit soggy and you don't fancy it in our salad or sandwich anymore, this soup is the perfect place for it! You should always aim to waste as little as possible :)

Later on I'll post pics of my Gnocchi with tomato sauce.