Straight edge, and proud.

So I feel like this is the best place to put this, as I personally see my veganism as much more than a diet it's a philosophy for living well. I also think that my straight edge stance reflects this.

Straight edge is the basic beliefs that drugs and alcohol are not needed and should be rejected. That one should live against the grain of popular society and live by rules and standards from themselves and not the ones dictated by society.

Much alike veganism, I am constantly finding people who seem to have a go when you mention the word 'straight edge' or when you say "No, I don't drink alcohol."
WHY, why do you feel the need to badger on about it? No, I don't smoke, drink or do drugs. I honestly never thought this could be considered a bad thing!
Yes, I eat sugar, if someone spiked my lemonade that doesn't count as an edge break, having to take medicine for surgery is not an edge break, having a red bull is not an edge break, having sex before marriage is not an edge break *insert obvious answer to stupid irrelevant question here*

This is more of a vent than a productive post, but at the end of the day. I guess this is my blog!

“When a slave was drunk, the slaveholder had no fear that he would plan an insurrection…. It was the sober, thinking slave who was dangerous, and needed the vigilance of his master to keep him a slave.” -Frederick Douglas

Banoffee pie

Crust:
You can either make a digestive biscuit crust or a plain one, this time around I opted for plain
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons soy milk

Preheat oven to 180C
Mix dry ingredients together and then add wet ingredients quickly mix until dough - like
Roll out on a flat floured surface and then place into a 9inch pie tin.
Neaten edges and prick the bottom in at least 7 places with a fork on the bottom of the crust.
Bake for about 15 minutes until golden brown and set aside


Banana toffee mixture

2 bananas
100ml milk
4 tbsp caster sugar
3 tablespoons of agar agar powder (optional but preferred - toffee will hold better)

1. Blend the two bananas with the milk until well combined and smooth
2. In a pan over high heat melt the caster sugar. Don’t stir, just gently tilt as it melts to a dark caramel colour
3. Add the banana milk mixture to the toffee, stirring until the toffee melts back into the bananas
4. Add agar agar powder and cook for a further minute then take off heat
5. Pour into the pie case (immediately) and freeze for 20 minutes or refrigerate for a few hours.

Cream
300ml coconut cream fat (separated from rest of can) To do this refrigerate canned coconut cream overnight and scoop out (and use) the thick white fat from the top of the tin. You will probably need about 3 tins.
1 tbsp camp coffee (optional, vanilla essence will work fine)
3/4 cup of powdered sugar.


Beat coconut cream and sugar on high for about 7 minutes until well combined gently fold in vanilla essence or camp coffee.



To assemble rest of pie:
cut up another two bananas into generous slices and cover the banana toffee
place cream on top of this, no need to be neat

For a fancy extra you can either add some powdered instant coffee or coco powder on top of the cream or large chocolate shavings, Enjoy!

choc-mint cheesecake!

Sorry it's been so long since I posted! I was robbed just over a week ago now of all my technology, and I have only just replaced my laptop.
I come bearing choc-mint cheesecake goodness!!!

Yes, I realise that is not actually mint on the top of the cheesecake. But I figured for photo purposes there had to be some green in the picture!

You will need:

Crust:

20ish Digestive biscuits, crushed

1/2 cup dairy-free margarine, melted. I used nutellex.

3 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons of raw sugar

Method:
Combine all of the above ingredients until mixed well
Tightly pack crumb mixture into either a spring form pan (just on the bottom) or in a tart casing
Place into fridge while you make the cheesecake mixture

Cheesecake:
1 tub of tofutti cream cheese
150g of firm tofu
5 heaped tablespoons of stevia sweetner powder (or sugar of choice)
3 heaped tablespoons of corn flour
1/3 cup of soy milk
1 tablespoon of canola oil

** for choc mint you can do a few things, you can use a few tablespoons of a mint liquor or mint extract (for these options you will also need to add about a tablespoon of cocoa to the mix) or get your hands on a few vegan chocolate mints and put these with the cheesecake mixture. Or you can forget the whole mint thing and go for a really chocolatey cheesecake!

Method:
Blend until smooth - it's that easy.

Place blended mixture onto biscuit base and bake in 180c oven for about 45 minutes or until the outside is cooked and the center is still a bit wobbly.

Place in fridge for about 4 hours before cutting and eating.


For the topping on mine I have also added some dark and white chocolate shavings.
To get the larger shavings you need to scrape a knive along a block of chocolate towards yourself.


Enjoy :)

Cookies n Cream Cupcakes

You will need:

1 cup soy milk
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/5 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup oreos - chopped coarsely

Preheat oven to 180°C and line a muffin pan with paper liners. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract, and other extract, if using, to the soy milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK). Mix in the sandwich cookies. Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

Vegan Fluffy Buttercream Frosting

1/2 - 3/4 cup of nonhydrogenated margarine (I used nutellex)
3 1/2 cups of icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. plain soy milk

Beat the shortening and margarine together until well-combined and fluffy. Add the sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes. Add the vanilla and the soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until light and fluffy. Just fold in chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs to make it match the cupcakes. If not fluffy enough, add more icing sugar and beat.

Smear or pipe onto cupcakes and then sprinkle with crumbled oreos.


ENJOY!