Eating In with Amy: Pizza and Baked Goods (and some bonus greens)

My friend Amy recently moved much closer to where I live. I mentioned her in a recent post, she was the lovely person who brought me Vietnamese food and comfort right after Dim Sim passed. Christmas was extra hard this year, being my first one without Dim Sim and also falling on the four week mark of her passing.

On Boxing Day (the day after Christmas, I don't think that is a universal thing?), I went over the Amy's place and we watched a lot of Disney movies, and I hugged her sweet kitties. We also ordered a lot of pizza from Pizza Hut, which has several vegan options. We got two pizzas (magherita and vegan deluxe), cheesy vegan garlic bread, potato gems, and some of their recently released vegan chicken wings. Their pizzas have vegan cheese, but no vegan meats, it is all veggies. The only vegan meat they have is their chicken wings. Which are actually chicken nugget type things. And they weren't so much smothered in BBQ sauce as they were lightly drizzed. But still, if was fun.







A few weeks later we had another day at her house. This time we only watched one movie on Disney Plus.... and then followed that up by watching the entire series of Fate: A Winx Saga. On my way to her place, I stopped by a doughnut shop called Dough Ma. On Saturday they have vegan doughnut flavours. Their non-vegan doughnuts are huge and are all sorts of fancy flavours. Their vegan doughnuts are much smaller, with only a few flavours. We got jam and PB&J, which got bonus points for having actual peanut butter in it instead of peanut butter icing. Sorry for the messy photo! I think we also ordered ramen to be delivered for dinner that night, but no photos.



Here's the greens as mentioned in the title of the post! So, this wasn't eating in. This was actually eating out. We went to Easy House yum cha for her birthday in February. No extensive photos, you can see the food we would have been eating by looking at my previous Easy House posts. But enjoy this photo of some of the greens we had there.



On the way back from Easy House, we stopped at Flour Of Life (see previous posts here), the vegan bakery. I got some tarts to take home for my family. A strawberry flan for me, passionfruit tart for Mum, and chocolate tart for Dad.



Amy got some Iced Vovos... I think these are an Australian biscuit, not sure if they are anywhere else? But they are a biscuit with two strips of pink cream surrounding a middle strip of red jam, and sprinkled with coconut. They are an iconic Australian biscuit. And Flour of Life very sensibly made some vegan ones! Amy shared some with me after we got back to her place (shocker, we watched Disney... four movies in total... we don't mess around!), and they were not quite the same but very good.



Cute Kitty Photo of the Post

I know I haven't been posting kitty photos for a while... my heart just needed a little break. But I couldn't talk about Amy and not share photos of her two wonderful kitties, my nephew and my niece, Neil deCat Tyson and Kitty Curie.

Eating Out: U-Tong Thai

I'm jumping all over my timeline here. My last post was about some of the food I ate in the worst times after Dim Sim. This post is from food a few months later, when I went out to lunch with my friend Diana. She played a huge roll on the day of Dim Sim's passing, that I am forever grateful for. I was just starting back at work a bit, and finished at midday on her day off, so we met half-way at U-Tong Thai, a vegan Thai place in Clayfield. I've been to U-Tong in its current state once before, but before it was U-Tong it was PingAn Veggie Time Thai, which I went to several times.

I got a Rosella Iced Tea to drink, which is such a wonderful and refreshing drink. I don't know how to really describe it if you haven't had it before, but it is sweet and sort of floral.



Diana and I shared some starters. The Hoisin Duck Bao were wonderful, with fluffy bao buns and a great filling. We also got the Roti and Peanut Sauce, which I had previously enjoyed when it was PingAn. The roti is still amazing, so flaky and savoury and warm. Unfortunately they had changed the peanut sauce, so it was thinner and more a curry-style peanut sauce.





For our mains we went pretty typical. Diana got the Pad Thai, and I of course got the Pad See Ew. Pad See Ew is one of my favourite foods ever, so I have a hard time saying no to it on a menu, even though I've had it at this location a few times before!

Midweek Munchies

CW for this post: Depression, grief, food restriction.

I've had a lot of photos back logged, so all those mid-week munchies I have been posting over the last few weeks... they were from the before times. The times when I knew time with Dim Sim was limited, but I was trying to give us as much time as possible. The time when I still had hope. Then she was gone, so suddenly. Honestly, I didn't eat anything for three days, and then I spend the next couple of weeks barely eating. It took a long time for my appetite to come back to any semblence of normal, and my desire to cook or do anything was next to none. During these times I relied on things like microwave meals, juices, snack bars, and biscuits for when I did get to a point where my body was demanding some sort of food. So the next many midweek munchies posts will be covering some of those foods, that were there for my when I needed. Why did I keep taking photos of them? I don't know. Some sort of compulsion? Some attempt at connecting to life even though there was a long time there when I didn't want it? Anyway, if you are sad in Australia, here are some foods you could turn to.

Two of my wonderful friends sent my care packages from The Green Edge. To be honest I can't remember which package these were from. Biscuits are easy, and I could eat half a pack to get my blood glucose up and then go back to bed. I liked the Chocolate Fingers the best, they were jam sandwiched between short bread cookies and dipped in chocolate.



Dinner as a concept was not something I was able to cope with too much. It involved having and appetite, making an effort, and also some sense of timing. So I just ate whenever, even if that meant dinner at 3pm. I ordered/bought a bunch of different microwave meals. This one was actually pretty good. The patties were fine, the gravy was nice, and it was a good mix of vegetables.



This Super Pulses Vegan Bolognese was a bit meh, and I had to pick out capsicum (yes, even in my darkest moments I won't let capsicum slide). The pea protein pasta was a bit grainy. I added nooch.



I randomly picked this up one day at the shops. Grocery shopping is hard during grief they say. And it was. But at sometimes I just felt like I couldn't stay in the house for another moment. I needed to get out for a little bit, and the shops were just the easiest option. This was on sale. It sat in my cupboard for quite a while before I actually ate it, because it was about to expire. It was really nice, soft bread and the flavour was good. I had it fresh with some hummus, but you can also heat it up. (Not pictured anywhere but how good are tubs of hummus when you just feel like you need to put some food in your face?)



I mentioned juice. I drank a lot of juice and iced teas and things. Maybe I didn't feel like I could eat anything, but juice at least as a bit of energy in it and some sort of vitamins or whatever. This juice was mostly apple and orange, but as you can see with echinacea in it it is a little bit of a silly drink.



This juice is less silly, but was very nice. I was quite dehydrated during this time (more so than usual), and something about this combination really did quench that thirst.



Final one for this post is this Nature's Kitchen Cottage Pie. Nature's Kitchen is the in-house vegan brand at Coles. These meals are sold in the fridge section, but I freeze them all the time, then just thaw and heat in the microwave for when I feel ready. This was pretty nice. Kind of soupy, but I liked it.



Also a huge shout out to my beautiful friend Amy, who came over a couple of days after Dim Sim passed just to sit with me and talk. She brought me silly juices, as well as pho and banh mi from Cafe O'Mai. The filling of that bahn mi was the first thing I ate in three days. And I managed the pho the day after.

Eating In: Sushi, Drinks, Noodles, Sweets

Though eating out has returned occasionally, there has still been lots of deliveries or takeaways!

A new sushi place called Sushi Hub opened in Garden City, so I got some to take home for lunch. I got vegetarian, avocado, terriyaki tofu, and seaweed salad. All really good! I love sushi.



One of my favourite place to get drinks is Huey's, which is a sugar cane juice stand but they have so many more. This is their delicious rose lemonade with rainbow jelly.



I'd ordered delivery from Noodle Box before, they have a vegan section on their menu. This is their Mongolian Tofu, which is a lovely peppery sauce. I was a bit under the weather when I ordered this and the burn from the black pepper was really good. Even though this is from Noodle Box, I ordered this with rice because that is what I was feeling.



Another lovely drink from Huey's, this is their lychee and rose drink.



Roll'd is a Vietnamese chain that also recently opened at Garden City. These are their Tofu Soldiers (rice paper rolls) with vegan fish sauce.



Finally, some sweet treats! I was picking up some stuff from The Green Edge, and that always means a sticky beak into their sweets cabinet. I got myself a wonderful lemon meringue tart, and a very decadent marshmallow and Tim Tam brownie for my mum.

Recipe Round-Up: 1000 Vegan Recipes

Another mini-round up for 1000 Vegan Recipes (by Robin Robertson). Doing a post with just a few recipes seems much more manageable right now, though I do have so many other books waiting for their regular-sized round-ups. But for now, let's dive back into a few more recipes from this might tome. Today's are all pasta recipes! You can see all the other posts about this book here.

Pasta Arrabiata: Oh boy, and I late posting about some of these recipes. This photo was taken 10 years ago! Good thing I take photos and keep notes in my books! Anyway, this is pretty simple mox of garlic, tomatoes, and red wine. This was back in the day when I still had some form of tolerance for chilli, however I did remark that using a whole tsp of chili flakes made it quite spicy. Question for my US friends, are red pepper flakes the same as chilli flakes? Or is this yet another thing we don't quite have here in Australia? Anyway, I only used half the amount of pasta,as per usual, and I used a fancy pasta called cesarecce rather than gemelli. Served with a Fry's Schnitzel and a green salad.
Rating: :)



Radiatore with Aurora Sauce: I've never been able to find radiatore pasta here, so I just used some spirals, and again I only used half the amount of dry pasta. I like my pasta saucy. This is a tomato based sauce, but with cream cheese mixed in (there is also the option to use blended soft tofu as well) to give it a creamy taste and a more 'blush' appearance. I also stirred in a tin of kidney beans and half a bag of baby spinach to make this a more complete meal.
Rating: :)



Fettucinni with Puttanesca Pesto: I love puttanesca, so I was excited to try it in pesto form. The pesto has pinenuts, basil, tomatoes, olives, and capers in it. However, that bold punchy puttanesca flavour didn't quite translate as well into pesto form. It was still good, just not as much flavour as I was expecting. I used half the amount of pasta and added a tin of kidney beans to this. I also did not need to add any extra pasta water to thin the sauce out, which would have diluted the flavour further.
Rating: :)



Gemelli with Green Beans, Potatoes, and Basil Pesto: Pasta and potato together is just such a lovely combination of carbs and carbs, and the green beans and a bit of crunch and sweetness. This has a pretty traditional basil pesto on it. I decreased the oil and used some water to make up the rest of the liquid for the pesto. Because I also halved the amount of pasta, I didn't need to use any extra pasta water to thin out the pesto when I mixed them.
Rating: :)



(% 1000 Vegan Recipes blogged: 30.3%) - over 30% now blogged, whoo hoo!

Midweek Munchies

Munch munch munch...

I had some jarred horseradish leftover from some recipes I had made, and I discovered mashing it with avocado made for a delicious sandwich spread! Or in this case, Ryvita spread. Does Ryvita exist outside Australia? I don't know, but they are rectangular crackers made entirely out of rye (or sometimes mutli grains). I added some fresh tomato and some dill and garlic seasoning salt for a lovely summer snack.



Vegan frozen meals are becoming more available in the supermarkets, which is handy if you need a quick dinner and don't have any leftovers. This Ruffie one has schnitzel and pasta in a tomato-y sauce. The downside is it does have little bits of capsicum in the sauce that I needed to pick out. But served with some microwaved baby spinach and peas, and topped with some FYH parmesan, it made for a nice dinner.



I love these little mochi ice creams, even though they are made with coconut milk. It is not high enough in coconut fat to make me sick, and they are such fun little bites. I picked up the chocolate flavour, which was nice. Not the deepest chocolate flavour in an ice cream you can get, but it definitely hit that little chocoalte spot.



A quick dinner I made. Coles was about to discontinue these Beef Style Ravioli and replace them with lentil ravioli, and I was thankfully able to get a box to try before they were all gone. They were fine, I don't know if they were particularly beefy. The filling was maybe a little bit grainy. I just boiled them as directed, drained, and then put back over low heat with this pasta sauce, some baby spinach, and peas.





Behold these silly superfood powders I bought! I got them from Balanced Pantry, which has a deal where you can order a pack of three samples (your choice) with free shipping for $12.95. And I got two so I could get six different powders. They also have a tumermic powder that I didn't get, a 'beauty' one with pearl powder in it, and some detox weight-loss bullshit that I was never going to buy, as well as a selection of some that are just single superfood ingredients rather than a blend. Shockingly, even though these came last year, I have only used one to make one thing. Well, maybe not that shocking given that they came only a week before Dim Sim passed. I will have to remember where I stashed them, so that I can start amusing myself with making silly drinks.



When does a snackball become a dessert? These three are pushing those boundaries. Starting with the Beetroot Raspberry Brownie, this one is still your classic blend of seeds and dates, with some cocoa added as well as the titula beetroot and raspberry. The strawberry chocolate balls go one step further, adding some actual dark chocolate into the blend. Both are good, though the strawberry flavour is pretty subtle and could be stronger. I consider these more for morning tea or after lunch snacks, rather than something I'd start my day with. But that is my own personal preference. As for that Health Lab ball?? I didn't realise until I had opened it early one morning to have it as a pre-walk pre-breakfast snack that in fact it actually is a dessert. Peanut butter, surrounded by a a date/seed/etc ball, completely covered in a layer of chocolate! It was really nice, but something in the future I will definitely be saving for afternoon tea or an after dinner sweets. Again, just my personal preferences. If chocolate in the morning is your thing, go for it! Get some of these!

Eating Out: Cat Cuddle Cafe, Farine Bakery, Botanical Lab, The Green Edge

Life in Brisbane is curious... in general we have no community transmission of COVID, so we can move around (with some precautions) almost as normal. But then occasionally a case will appear, normally linked to hotel quarantine or a hospital, and we have to be ready to go into a snap three-day lockdown followed by two weeks of indoor mask mandates and limits on numbers. So far, it has worked well for us, and that means that eating out is on the cards again. I do so sparingly, but it is nice to be able to catch up with a friend and enjoy some food. Or, in this case, cats and food! I know how lucky I am to live in a place where COVID is mostly undercontrol (thankfully, as our vaccination roll-out has been handled atrociously, we are so far behind in terms of ther).

One day early this year I went to see my friend for a fun morning, and we decided to start our day at the Cat Cuddle Cafe for some feline loving. Have you been missing cat content on my blog? Well here is a bunch! I like the Cat Cuddle Cafe because all the cats are up for adoption, and all the money raised goes back into cat rescue. They have rescued and rehomed so many cats! They also have a cute cafe and op-shop upstairs, and the cafe is all vegetarian with several vegan options. We didn't eat this visit, but you can see a time I stopped by previously for lunch here. This time, we had booked a session to hang out with the cats. So please enjoy some cats.















After catting it up, we stopped by Farine Bakery to pick up some of their vegan treats. I got a cinnamon sugar doughnut and a cherry danish. You can see other things I have enjoyed from Farine here.



We were thirsty, so decided to try a new to me (my friend had been there before) fancy bubble tea shop called Botanical Lab. I had a super cute and super tasty ombre Matcha and Rose Soy Milk Tea with Strawberry Jelly. I also tried one of their Vegan Mochi Brownies, which is a little square of brownie with a mochi in the centre. It was fun, and the drink was delicious, and the place is beautiful. They also have some vegan soft serves there as well. Just be careful and double check the menu and/or with the staff, as not everything is vegan. The only thing on a personal note is why do places think serving things in beakers is cool? It just makes me think of chemistry labs and things you should not be drinking! But it is quirky, I guess.







After dropping my friend off at their place, I stopped by The Green Edge (which I've posted about loads of times before) to pick up my favourite Chickn Caesar Salad. I took it home for a late lunch after a very sweet (literally and figuratively) morning.