YUMMY MENUS CALENDAR | A YEAR FULL OF HOMEMADE VEG RECIPES

WIKI NOTE: A calendar is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. This is done by giving names to periods, typically days, weeks, months, and years.  

Ancient documents and inscriptions, such as those from Rome and China, include early forms of calendars. The modern calendar evolved alongside others such as almanacs, which collected religious, cultural, meteorological, astronomical, and astrological information in a table format; practica, which gave astrological predictions for the year ahead; and diaries for personal and professional use. 

The term calendar is taken from calendae, the term for the first day of the month in the Roman calendar, related to the verb calare "to call out", referring to the "calling" of the new moon when it was first seen. Latin calendarium meant "account book, register" (as accounts were settled and debts were collected on the calends of each month). 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• JANUARY MENU

• FEBRUARY MENU

• MARCH MENU

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• APRIL MENU

• MAY MENU

• JUNE MENU

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• JULY MENU

• AUGUST MENU

• SEPTEMBER MENU

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• OCTOBER MENU

• NOVEMBER MENU

• DECEMBER MENU

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• HALLOWEEN MENU

• EASTER MENU

ST. PATRICK´S DAY | 4 GREEN RECIPES

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WIKI NOTE: The colour green has been associated with Ireland since at least the 1640s when the green harp flag was used by the Irish Catholic Confederation. Green ribbons and shamrocks have been worn on St Patrick’s Day since at least the 1680s. 

The Friendly Brothers of St Patrick, an Irish fraternity founded in about 1750, adopted green as its colour. However, when the Order of St. Patrick (an Anglo-Irish chivalric order) was founded in 1783 it adopted blue as its colour, which led to blue being associated with St Patrick. During the 1790s, green would become associated with Irish nationalism, due to its use by the United Irishmen. This was a republican organisation (led mostly by Protestants but with many Catholic members) that launched a rebellion in 1798 against British rule.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Grapes apple juice / vegan 

• Zucchini cake / vegan

• Kiwi melon slushie / vegan

• Irish cake / +vegan version

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• RELATED POSTS

• Zucchini soup / +vegan version

• Fruit hedgehog: green grapes / vegan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• MARCH MENU

 

• EASTER MENU

XMAS SWEETS | 4 RECIPES

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• Roscos de vino (Sweet wine doughnuts) / vegan

• Chocolate Cake Pops /+vegan version

• Polvorones (Spanish crumble cakes) /+vegan version

• Chocolate Turrón /+vegan version

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• RELATED POSTS

• Fruit hedgehog: New Year´s Eve, 12 grapes tradition / vegan

• Snowpaperman | recycled craft 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• DECEMBER MENU

APPLE CAKE | VEGAN RECIPE

WIKI NOTE: Apple Cake VS Apple Pie - The apple cake differs from the apple pie in that it is a sponge cake baked with fresh apple pieces in it. An apple pie is a fruit pie (or tart) in which the principal filling ingredient is apple. The pastry is generally used top-and-bottom, making it a double-crust pie, the upper crust of which may be a circular-shaped crust or a pastry lattice woven of strips.

APPLE CAKE

YOU WILL NEED:
DRY INGREDIENTS:
1 and 1/4 cups wheat flour (plain or all-purpose)
1 cup panela sugar or unrefined cane sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
A pinch of salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup roughly chopped apple
1 cup walnuts, chopped  (optional)
WET INGREDIENTS:
1/3 cup sunflower oil (or veggie oil, any neutral flavored)
3/4 cup vegetable drink (oatmeal, soy or hazelnut to taste)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
NOTE: Put raisins in a glass with a dash of water and the raisins plump up.
TOPPING
Thin apple slices, to decorate
Sprinkle brown sugar on the top

NOTE: Homemade measurement units



LET´S COOK!

1. Preheat the oven to 180 º C. Grease a bread pan with margarine or sunflower oil.
NOTE: Standard dimensions for bread and loaf pans start at 8 ½ by 4 ½ inches. It's the perfect size for that amount of ingredients. If you multiply the amount by the number of times that you want,  you will get a bigger cake. You have tons of different sizes of baking pans depending on the final amount.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl: brown sugar, flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom), and a pinch of salt until well-mixed. Optional: add chopped walnuts.
NOTE: Sift the flour for cakes. Sifting helps to remove any lumps and/or unwanted debris from the flour and also helps to combine the flour with any dry ingredients. If you don't have a strainer handy, you can also mix flour with a wire whisk or a fork.
3. Add roughly chopped apple to the bowl of dry ingredients. Mix it well with a wooden spoon.

4. Combine wet ingredients in a bowl:  veggie oil, and vegetable drink (oatmeal, soy, or hazelnut) until well mixed. Optional:  add raisins.

5. Pour the wet mix into the dry bowl. Mix everything slowly with a wooden spoon.

6. Pour the mix into the bread pan.
7. Arrange the thin apple slices around the cake decoratively. Sprinkle brown sugar on the top. 

8. Bake for around 40 minutes, until browned.

NOTE: Don't open the oven, you can always leave the cake in the oven for a few more minutes.

9.  Remove from the oven. Leave to cool.
NOTE: Serve as is or with vegan custard.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• RELATED POSTS

• Grape apple juice / vegan

• Carrot soup / vegan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• DECEMBER MENU

CHURROS | VEGAN RECIPE

WIKI NOTE: The origin of churros is unclear. One theory is that the churro was made by Spanish shepherds, to substitute for fresh bakery goods. Churro paste was easy to make and fry in an open fire in the mountains, where shepherds spend most of their time. Churros are popular in Spain, France, the Philippines, Portugal, Ibero-America and the United States. In Spain, churros are thin (and sometimes knotted) and porras are long and thick. They are normally eaten for breakfast or merienda (meal between lunch and dinner) dipped in hot chocolate or caffè latte (¨café con leche¨). Specialized churrerías can be found in the form of a shop throughout the streets or a trailer during the holiday period.

CHURROS 

YOU WILL NEED:
200g wheat flour (plain or all-purpose) 
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon of baking powder
320 ml water
Olive oil, for deep-fat frying
Caster sugar, to sprinkle /*panela sugar or unrefined cane sugar
Cinnamon, to sprinkle (optional)

LET´S COOK!

1. Put water in a saucepan, add baking powder and a pinch of salt. When the water is boiling, add the plain flour and stir it with a wooden spoon until it comes off the saucepan. If you see that it is very hard, you can add a little more water.

2. Let the mixture stand until lukewarm.

3. Fill the churrera or pastry bag or piping bag (asterisk or star shape - plastic tip) with the pastry. The good thing is that the pastry bag avoids the air gaps in the pastry.

4. Heat the oil in a deep pan (wok-type pan) to 170ºC. Put a lid on the pan. 

NOTE: Use a fryer machine for home, if it is possible. 

5. Cut and place the churros, 2-3 at a time, carefully into the hot oil on a pan and cook for 3-4 mins with the lid on, until golden. Turn them over and cook for a further 2-3 mins, until they are an even golden colour. 

NOTE: It is really dangerous once you are frying the churros, especially because sometimes the churro could explode and hot oil could splash everywhere. Kids are not allowed in the kitchen. 

6. Lift onto kitchen paper to drain. Toss them in the caster sugar until evenly coated. Shake off any excess. Sprinkle over a little cinnamon (optional).

HOT CHOCOLATE (OPTIONAL)

YOU WILL NEED (6-8 PEOPLE):

Dark chocolate *Vegan recipe

400g of dark chocolate

1.200ml of milk or soya / *almond milk

60g of cornstarch (corn flour refined)

A pinch of salt

50g of caster sugar or brown sugar (optional)
Cocoa powder *Vegan recipe

500g of cocoa powder

1l of milk or soya / *almond milk

Caster sugar or brown sugar, to taste

LET´S COOK!

Dark chocolate
1. Put the milk in a saucepan and warm gently.
2. When the milk is warm, add the chocolate chunks, sugar, cornstarch, and salt.
3. Stirring until it's all melted (the consistency of a soup)
NOTE: If the texture of the hot chocolate is too liquid, add a few tablespoons of cornstarch.
 Cocoa powder
1. Put the milk in a saucepan and warm gently.
2. When the milk is warm, add the cocoa powder and sugar (optional).
3. Stirring with the whisk until it's all melted (the consistency of a soup)
NOTE: If the texture of the hot chocolate is too liquid, add a few tablespoons of cornstarch.

• DIP CHURROS INTO HOT CHOCOLATE!

Serve the hot chocolate in mugs with teaspoons. Place the churros on the plate with a sugar jar.
NOTE: It is better to know the amount of churros per person.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• RELATED POSTS

• Torrijas (French toast) /vegan-friendly

• Rosquillas (Spanish ring doughnuts) / vegan-friendly 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• NOVEMBER MENU

PUMPKIN SOUP | VEGAN RECIPE

WIKI NOTE: The word pumpkin originates from the word pepon (πέπων), which is Greek for “large melon", something round and large. The French adapted this word to pompon, which the British changed to pumpion, and later American colonists changed that to the word that is used today, "pumpkin".

PUMPKIN SOUP

YOU WILL NEED: 
1/3 pumpkin
2 medium potatoes
1 or 2 cloves garlic, to taste
1 leek (white part)
A generous splash (about 50g) of extra virgin olive oil or olive oil, to taste
A pinch of smoked paprika, to taste
A pinch of turmeric, to taste
A pinch of ground cumin, to taste
A pinch of hot chili powder, to taste
Salt, to taste
Water (to boil)
Parsley and lemon seasoning (optional)
Crunchy roasted corn (optional)

LET´S COOK!

1. Wash the vegetables well. Peel potatoes, leek, pumpkin, and garlic. Cut the potatoes and pumpkin into big pieces. Chop the leek and the garlic.

2. Heat the olive oil in the pot. Saute the leek and garlic until transparent.

3. Add the big pieces of potatoes and pumpkin. Stir for several minutes with the rest of the ingredients.

4. Cover with water (the water has to exceed a couple of fingers the ingredients) and cook the vegetables for approx. 20 minutes. When the veggies are tender, turn off the kitchen and remove the pot from heat.

5. Mix everything with the blender until it is the consistency of a soup. Add a pinch of smoked paprika, turmeric, ground cumin, hot chili powder,  and salt, to taste.

NOTE: If the texture of the soup is too liquid, add a few tablespoons of cornstarch (corn flour refined).

6. Serve the soup warm. Sprinkle parsley & lemon seasoning on the top of the pumpkin soup. Add some crunchy roasted corn because it makes the soup more yummy, yummy!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• RELATED POSTS

• Pumpkin vomit: guacamole / vegan

• Leek soup + homemade croutons / vegan

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

• NOVEMBER MENU