Recipe Round-Up: Cadry's Kitchen (Blog)

Hello and welcome to part two of my three part round up of the wonderful Cadry's Kitchen! You can see other recipes I've made from her blog here. Let's get into it!

Spring Roll Tortilla Wraps with Peanut Sauce: This recipe is technically with spicy peanut sauce, but of course I left out the chili for a classic, thick peanut sauce! I did cheat and use some Soyco Japanese Marinated Tofu instead of marinating and baking some from scratch, because I was after something very quick. And this is quick, and delightfully fresh! Full of lettuce, carrot, cucumber and coriander... of course I left out the capsicum. It's all wrapped up in a big tortilla.
Rating: :)



Beer Braised Bratwurst with Sauerkraut with Mustard Mashed Potatoes: Tapping into my German heritage with this one! I used Tofurky Beer Brats (RIP Tofurky, please come back to Australia soon!), pale ale, and some lovely sauerkraut. I halved the recipe to make two servings. Served over Cadry's great mustardy potato mash. I used Dijon mustard in the mash.
Rating: Bratwurst :), Mash :)



Cheeseburger Pizza with Special Sauce: Cadry makes a lot of fun pizzas, and I knew I wanted to try this cheeseburger one from the moment I saw it on her blog. I assembled it using Coles Kitchen pizza dough, Leggo's pizza sauce, Fry's mince, and a mix of Follow Your Heart cheddar and mozzarella. The Fry's mince I've talked about before, it has a particular taste, but it worked OK in this sort of thing. The cooked pizza is topped with lettuce, tomato, and pickles (I left off the raw onion) and a very quick and easy special sauce.
Rating: :)



Eggy Tofu: Cadry's Eggy Tofu is so quick and easy and delicious, it can be used in so many ways! Have a dedicated block of tofu that use slice some off for each day, or use some leftover tofu. It certainly has become my favourite way to use up leftover tofu! I've used it in a bunch of things, but the first time I used it I went simple, serving it on some avocado toast. The next time I went a bit fancier, making a toasted sandwich with A&T bacon, cheese, and BBQ sauce.
Rating: :D





Tofu Satay and Bok Choy with Peanut Sauce: This was meant to be all done on the grill, but I hope Cadry will forgive me for making it a bit easier for me by doing it all as a stir-fry. I scaled down the tofu marinade for a 300g block of tofu, that I cut into large chunks. To stir fry I used peanut oil, added some scallions, then the tofu until brown, then bok choy stems,and finally leaves. The peanut sauce was a little bit coconutty for me initially, but I added half the leftover tofu marinade and a squeeze of lime juice and then it was great. I just stirred the sauce through the stir-fry and served the whole lot of some jasmine rice.
Rating: :)



Cilantro and Basil Pistachio Pesto: My interest was piqued when I saw this recipe show up on Cadry's blog, it sounded like a fun pesto combination. And it was! I made a half recipe, which still made loads. I used garlic powder in it rather than raw garlic, and I enjoyed that this recipe didn't call for a lot of oil. I used most of it to make some pasta for dinner, stirring it through some cooked spiral pasta and white beans, and served over spinach. There was some leftovers of this, so I chilled it and turned them into a pasta salad the next day by adding some mayo, roasted zucchini, tomato and peas. Finally, I had kept a bit of the pesto aside so I could make a wonderful sandwich with mayo, tomato, baby spinach, and a sauteed portobello.
Rating: :)







I have one more post about Cadry's recipes to come! So keep an eye out for that.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Saturday was one year since Dim Sim passed away. It was an incredibly hard day.

Midweek Munchies

We'll be back to rounding up recipes from Cadry's blog soon, but for the moment, it is time for midweek munchies!

Thes Ratio Chocolate Dark Chocolate Speckles are basically Freckles, but they are cut into a square shape rather than a round one. Are Freckles a thing outside of Australia? Imagine chocolate covered in 100s and 1000s... no, not sprinkles. US sprinkles are not the same as 100s and 1000s. They are a stalwart of Australian lolly shops. These Speckles were so good! There is something so fun about crunching through those sweet little balls on top of the chocolate.



I had some tinned spaghetti in the cupboard that had been purchased during the dire COVID times, and needed using up. It is hard to find tinned spaghetti that doesn't have cheese in it, but the SPC Spaghetti in Rich Tomato Sauce is vegan! I hadn't had tinned spaghetti in ages, and it was so nice on a piece of buttered toast. Very nostalgic.



Health Lab has brought out some new chocolate bars... again weirdly named after Sex and The City Characters. The new ones are only available in Coles, while the originals are only available in Woolworths. Sure, whatever. Anyway, the Miranda's Delight Bars are Turkish Delight on top of some coconut in dark chocolate, and they are very good.



Sandwich time! A couple of sandwiches featuring Soyco BBQ Tofu, which sadly no longer seems to be available in supermarkets. First up, a tangy and creamy combination of BBQ tofu, Bread and Butter pickles, Tofutti American Cheese, and mayo. Maybe it sounds weird, but it worked.



And a BBQ BLAT, with avocado, baby spinach, tomato, mayo, and BBQ tofu.



The final thing in this MM post is the Vegie Delight Pepperoni... which was really good. I saw was because of course they have discontinued it, even though it was a good product. Oh well. I used it to make a pepperoni and olive pizza, and also a pepperoni pizza toasted sandwich. Both were good.







Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Wishing she'd come back to me, that we never had to be apart.

Recipe Round-Up: Cadry's Kitchen (Blog)

Welcome back to regular programming, after that epic week of eating out. For my next batch of recipe round-ups, I am going to be highlighting some delicious things I have made from Cadry's Kitchen! If you don't know Cadry, she is a fantastic vegan cook who has a whole range of incredible recipes available on her blog - that's right, they are there and ready for you to make right now! Cadry is also a total cat lady and Buffy fan, and we have a lot in common. I was lucky enough to meet her at Vida Vegan Con in Austin, where I almost didn't go and say hi in person because I am the most socially awkward panda that ever was. But I am so glad I did. Even though we live far across the seas from each other, we have exchanged some packages and chat online, where she posts lots of photos of her wonderful cats. You can see a few other posts I have made about her blog here. But for now, lets get into the first part of this round-up!

Blueberry Banana Smoothie: A simple classic to get started, with this icy cold smoothie. It also has chia seeds and spinach in it (hence the colour), so it is a great way to start the day.
Rating: :)



Veggie Quesadilla with Apples & Caramelised Onions: This is a wonderful autumny munch! I scaled the recipe down as I only had 4 mini tortillas, so I made 2 very cute mini quesadillas. They are filled with spinach, caramelised onion, fresh apple slices, and smoked cheese. I used Daiya Smoked Gouda (which sadly we can't get here anymore). I had included some BBQ sauce on my plate for dipping, but the be honest the flavours are so lovely that it didn't need anything extra.
Rating: :)



Vegan Reuben Jackfruit Sandwich: Cadry loves a reuben, as do I, and she knows how to make a good one. She makes a fantastic corned jackfruit recipe, simmering shredded jackfruit with a beet-based liquid until all those flavours and colours are absorbed. I had to simmer mine for a bit longer for all the liquid to be absorbed. Add to bread (I didn't have rye, so I used wholemeal) with sauerkraut, a quick and easy homemade Thousand Island Dressing, and avocado (my addition) for a great sandwich!
Rating: :)



Jackfruit Reuben Nourish Bowl: Make sure to have some leftovers of the corned jackfruit and thousand island dressing so you can put this easy bowl together. The bowl comprises of roasted potatoes (I just roasted some quickly, rather than making the breakfast potato recipe suggested), spinach, baby cos (which I used instead of raw cabbage), sauerkraut, avocado, and dressing. I added some sliced dill pickles as well.
Rating: :)



Creamy Gnocchi Soup with Sausage and Kale: My photo of this is terrible, got and see Cadry's (she also has mad skills with food photography). But this soup is delicious! I had never thought to roast gnocchi before. Just cook, drain, dry and roast and you will have a hard time not snacking on them all before they get to the soup! I made a triple batch of this recipe so I could use up my whole gnocchi package. I used Field Roast Apple Sage sausage, and I used baby spinach instead of kale. The creamth (TM to Chelsea from Like A Vegan) from this recipe comes from a wonderful cashew-based broth. I took half the sausage out of the pot after sauteeing, so I could add back at the end to keep some crispy. This is such a wonderful recipe, I know you Northern Hemisphere friends are in the cooler months now, so make this!
Rating: :D



Pineapple Fried Rice with Eggy Tofu: I love a fried rice recipe! This one has veggies (onion, carrot, peas and the celery I used instead of capsicum), pineapple, and eggy tofu. The tofu is crumbled and sauteed with black salt separately, then added at the end. Though I did find that the eggy taste was lost a little bit when it got bixed through the rest of it, but it was still all good flavours. Make a double batch of sauce, it is great.
Rating: :)



Cold Peanut Noodle Salad: One for us in the warmer climates, a peanut sauce on a pasta salad makes for a pretty great dinner. Or potluck contribution! Is anyone doing potlucks these days? Who knows, in plague times. It is also very easy to personalise, I added some broccoli florets and frozen peas when I was cooking the pasta for some extra veggies. I left out the raw onion and capsicum, and added in some celery along with the grated carrot. I also had to leave out the radishes as I couldn't find any. I added some Japanese marinated tofu, and it made a complete and very nice meal.
Rating: :)



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Dim Sim is always on my mind, I miss her so much. I can't breathe if I think about it too hard. We are coming up to the one year anniversary of her passing, and I just can't believe she has been gone from me fo that long.

Eating Out: The Green Edge

My final eating out adventure to celebrate my birthday was at old favourite The Green Edge (you can see my other posts about it here).

I went with another friend, and they had just launched a new breakfast menu. She went with a classic, the Avo on Toast. This has avocado, hummus, crumbled feta, lemon wedge, and dukkah, with sourdough toast. She also got a hashbrown on the side, because of course.



I got the Mushroom Hot pot, which was a variety of mushrooms braised in a garlic and herb broth, wilted greens, and sourdough soldiers. It was delicious, I asked for a spoon so I could make sure to get all that delicious broth, none to be wasted. I also got a hashbrown on the side, because of couse.



I also got a PB&J smoothie, which was peanut butter, blueberries, cacao, and banana. They use an almond-coconut blend milk as their standard with smoothies, but I asked for mine on oat milk. It came out and it was so beautiful! Almost too pretty to drink, but definitely too yummy to not drink.



I hope you enjoyed this run of eating out posts! I'll be returning to other sorts of posts soon.

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Dim Sim, because I love her and miss her every single day.

Eating Out: Easy House and Flour of Life

Easy House is my favourite place down at the Gold Coast, because I just love yum cha a lot! So in my week of eating last week, my friend Amy and I went down to eat our favourites. It had been a while since we had been. I don't always post when we go to Easy House, because I have posted a lot about it before and we tend to get the same things, but I thought in honour of the occasion I'd share these favourite things again.

While not originally on our radar, when they suggested getting some skewers with satay sauce, we said yes. We'd had these before (as with everything), and knew they were good. They seemed extra good today!



They make these amazing pan-fried rolled rice noodles in XO sauce. Problem is, XO sauce is spicy! But if you ask, they will switch out the XO sauce for some sweet soy sauce, and then I can enjoy them too! These noodles were extra crispy and delicious. But so hot... do not burn your mouth. Restrain yourself and try and let them cool a bit.



An array of favourites! Two lots of steamed BBQ pork bao, some steamed coriander dumplings, and my beloved radish cakes!



And no trip would be complete without some delicious steamed beancurd roll. Oh so good.



No trip down would be complete for us without stopping at Flour of Life, the vegan bakery. I got a strawberry flan (my favourite) and a blueberry crumble for me, a passionfruit tart for my mum, and an apple crumble for my dad.



My friend Amy is also a magnificent seamstress. She makes all her own close and they are so cute, she has amazing style. For my birthday, she gave me a super cute pair of pyjamas made in this adorable Pusheen fabric. I feel so lucky to have some talented and generous friends!


Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Abby being very cute on top of the cat turret.

Eating Out: Cafe Vie

Hello hello! I've been back at work the last two days, and heading off to work again shortly, but I still have some food adventures from last week to share. Starting off with this trip up to Cafe Vie in Buderim on Wednesday with a friend. I'd been there a couple of times before when I spent three days up at the Sunshine Coast earlier this year, and I was keen to go back. Though the one and a half hour drive is a bit of a drag, thankfully the food is worth it!

It was a weird hot/humid/rainy day, but we still ordered some hot drinks (as well as cold water for the table). I got the dark Hot Chocolate, and my friend got the True Blue Latte, which was butterfly pea, ginger, and coconut blossom. She said it tasted like slightly sweet blue milk, which she was expecting. But it made for a pretty photo!



We both spent some time deciding what to order. I eventually decided on the Where's The Ducking Pancakes! Which is like a giant duck pancake. Hoisin mock duck, pickled daikon, carrot, cashews, spring onion, and herbs in a housemade crisp pancake. It was delicious! Though the large pancake ended up being a little thick and not so crisp. It normally also comes garnished with some fresh chilli, but I asked ahead to make sure it was the only chilli in the dish and got them to leave it off.



My friend ordered The Asian Dons, which was three Baos with crispy Korean chycken, don katsu mayo, cucumber, pickled papaya and carrot, and herbs. Verdict: Also delicious!



Even though we both ordered Asian-inspired dishes, this is not the theme of the food at the cafe. They have a variety of all sorts of things. We also each got a side of fries with aioli, as one should always have potato with every meal. I really liked the fries, they had a great seasoning to them. The aioli was OK, but I preferred the fries on their own.



Afterwards we stopped by Nurcha Maroochydore for a bit of vegan shopping, and we also stopped into the IGA next door, which has yet more fun vegan things. Look out for some of these in future midweek munchies posts!





My friend is great at sewing and makes a lot of quilts. She giften me this super cute quilted tote bag for my birthday. It has black cats on the outside, pink straps (my favourite colour) and the inside is lined with a strawberry fabric (my favourite fruit), so sweet and thoughtful! Also with a couple of lovely little treats!



Even when I got home, it wasn't all over. Cafe Vie stocks Black Lemonade Bakery cookies in their treats cabinet, and I picked up two. A Rocky Road, and a Chocolate Cherry Peanut. Both were so good!



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



Yesterday (the 14th of November) was Boo's 5th birthday! Happy birthday Boo! During the week, she had her bloods retested and her calcium levels are still high, which got her birthday off to a bad start and was had to start her on a new medication where she is not allowed to eat for two hours after, and she was beside herself! However, once breakfast was given, all was forgiven. She spent the rest of the day doing her normally happy Boo things. I got her this birthday bear cat toy, which she has completely ignored (I predicted that), and she also got a creamy treat, which she absolutely loved.

Eating Out: Plant Vibes (Van Gogh Alive edition)

On Monday, Mum and I went to see the Van Gogh Alive exhibit and then went and tried a new to me vegan place for lunch afterwards! I know you are all here for the food (and the cats), so let's start with lunch! The place we went was Plant Vibes Cafe. They are in a place where I was not sure about getting parking, so as we were near there for the exhibit, I figured that if I couldn't find a park we could just go home and it would just have been a small detour out of our way. Luckily I got a park right out the front!

I got the Hibiscus Passionfruit Lemon Myrtle Iced Tea to drink, which was very refreshing!



Mum got the Cheese and Bacon Croissant Special, which was a toasted croissant filled with cheese sauce and bacon bits. I tried a bit and it was delicious, like fondue!



We shared a bowl of chips with aioli. I would like to respectfully request that we phase out shoestring fries, they just aren't as satisfying as a big chunky chip!



And I ordered the Breakfast Croissant, which was a croissant with cheesy tofu scramble, mushrooms, avocado, a potato chive cake, and tomato relish. I also got some Hollandaise sauce on the side. This was nice, but huge! I ended up just pulling it to bits, pouring the sauce all over it, and then eating it with a knife and fork in little bits.



They also have a lovely bakery cabinet at the counter full of goodies, so we got some to take home. Mum got a Loaded Cookie, and I got a Custard and Apple Croissant. It was delicious, such a good combination to put with a croissant!



Now for the arty stuff. That morning we had gone to the Van Gogh Alive exhibit. I had seen some of my friends in Vancouver posting about it when it was there, and I was really excited that it was coming to Brisbane. It was a really beautiful and unique experience. Here are some photos.













Of course, being an immersive experience, photos just cannot do it justice. But if you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it!

Cute Kitty Photo of the Post



After lunch, we came home and I watched the Doctor Who episode Vincent and The Doctor, which is very beautiful and very sad. Then I was really fighting off the urge to have a nap. I ended up giving into it, and having a little nap with Abby on the bed.