Category: Recipes

Gingerbread
Recipes · Sweets

Gingerbread

thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment
Perfect Gingerbread

Ingredients

  • 400g flour
  • 2 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
  • 175g brown sugar
  • 150g dairy free butter
  • 1 tbs molasses
  • 100g golden syrup

Method

  • Preheat the oven to gas mark 5/180c.
  • In a saucepan on a low heat melt the sugar, butter, golden syrup and molasses, just melt it do not let it boil.
  • In a large bowl add all the dry ingredients.
  • Pour the wet ingredients in to the dry and stir together until a dough forms. It will be quite a soft wet dough.
  • Put the dough in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes.
  • Flour the surface lightly and roll out the dough. You can cut it in to any shapes you like.
  • Place on to a baking try lined with baking parchment.
  • Bake for 8 minutes for chew gingerbread or 10 minutes for hard gingerbread (watch your teeth!)

Tips and cheats

Once the dough has been cooled you can roll in to a sausage and freeze it, you can cut out the shapes and freeze those too. It is a really versatile dough that I use as a pastry case for my Christmas chocolate torte and my son even made a viking longboat from it. If you want to build a gingerbread house then cook it for a little longer. In the oven the gingerbread will fluff up as you take it out it will then settle down and that is what makes it nice and chewy in the the middle. To store the biscuits pop them in an air tight container and they will last a week unless you eat them first!

Stuffed Jackets
Recipes · Week Night Winners

Stuffed Jackets

thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment
Stuffed Jackets

Ingredients

  • 4 large potatoes
  • 2 tbsp of dairy free butter
  • 4 spring onions
  • 1 cup of grated dairy free cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Method

  • Cook your jacket potatoes. I personally like to blast in the microwave for 10 minutes to give them a head start and then pop into a medium oven for an hour until the skin is crispy.
  • Cut the jackets in half length ways and scoop out the filling, please don’t burn yourself but it does need to still have some heat in.
  • Put the potato filling into a large bowl and add in all the other ingredients. Give it a good mash together and watch the cheese melt!
  • Take the filling and refill the potato skins.
  • Pop them under a hot grill until the tops brown.

Tips and cheats

You can put anything you like into these stuffed jackets. My children like some yellow pepper rather than the spring onions. You can add in some kidney beans for extra protein along with some sweetcorn for a more Mexican feel! Get as creative as you like. They are great for hot picnics (something we like to do in winter), or even on a buffet. I really like the Sainsburys grated dairy free cheese or the Violife in this as they both melt really well and have a nice mature flavour. If you don’t like dairy free cheese you can leave it out and just add in some dairy free butter along with your fillings.

Angel Cake
Cake · Recipes · Sweets

Angel Cake

thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment
Angel Cake

Ingredients

  • 250g self raising flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 150g sugar
  • 70ml vegetable/sunflower oil
  • 210ml dairy free milk (I use oat)
  • 1 tbsp vanilla extract
  • pink and yellow food colouring
  • 300g icing sugar and water to make icing.

Method

  • Preheat oven to gas mark 5/180c
  • In a mixing bowl add the flour, sugar, baking powder, oil, milk and vanilla. Beat until smooth.
  • Split the mix in half and colour one half pink and one half yellow. (This is totally optional!)
  • I use a small roasting tin to cook the cake in but you can use any tin you wish. Line the tin with baking paper.
  • Pour in the pink mix and spread evenly.
  • Carefully pour over the yellow mix and very gently spread it out.
  • Cook for 25-30 minutes until a skewer comes out clean.
  • Allow the cake to cool
  • To make the icing put the icing sugar in a bowl and add in a tsp of water at a time until you get a thick icing. It should just be able to pour.
  • take out 3 tbsp of the icing and colour pink.
  • Pour the white icing over the cake and then either using a piping bag or a spoon drizzle over the pink icing in a pattern of your choice!
  • Allow the icing to set before cutting.

Tips and cheats

This cake really is a chuck it all in and mix cake it is so easy. You don’t have to colour the batter and you don’t have to colour the icing. Depending on your oven cooking time will vary slightly by 5 minutes so just watch it from 25 min so it doesn’t burn.

Sticky Hoisin Tofu
Recipes · Week Night Winners

Sticky Hoisin Tofu

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Ingredients

  • 1 XL pack of extra firm tofu (we like Tofoo Co)
  • 4 tbsp Cornflour
  • Veg oil
  • 2 small sachets of Hoisin sauce (Sainsbury’s is labeled vegan)
  • 1 1/2 cups rice (this serves 4 of us easily)
  • 1/2 pack beansprouts
  • 1 cup peas
  • Spring onions and black sesame to garnish (not needed but adds flavour and extra calcium)

Method

  • Pop the rice on to cook. I like to pour in to a pan of boiling water and cook until just tender.
  • Open the tofu and drain the liquid. I give it a squeeze in my hands too but not too much.
  • Slice the tofu block in to 1/2 cm strips and then each block in to 4.
  • Sieve over the cornflour to coat the tofu.
  • Heat 1 cm of oil in a pan and when hot drop in the tofu. Turn it until each side is crispy but not burnt!
  • Drain the tofu by scooping out and laying in a bowl lined with a paper towel/muslin cloth.
  • Just before the rice is cooked chuck in the peas and bean sprouts (last 3 minutes of cooking).
  • Heat the hoisin sauce in pan and add in the cooked tofu coat the tofu in the sauce.
  • Drain the rice and serve. You can garnish if you wish!

Tips and Cheats

Tofu is a bit of a minefield for new vegans. Silken is great for sauces but for this dish you need firm or extra firm. I love the Tofoo Co one as it has a great texture and flavour but all firm tofu will work. You can cut it how you like. My children like sticks as they call them sticky ribs but squares work too! Please watch when heating oil I don’t want oil pan fires! If you are nervous you can do it on a lower heat and it still works. If you are dieting or wanting to be healthy you can spray the coated tofu with olive oil spray and bake it in the oven for 15 minutes until it starts to brown. The garnish is a lovely touch but not needed. I like to add sesame seeds as they are full of nutrients and add a little extra calcium. If you don’t like hoisin sauce then use black bean or sweet and sour or even sweet chili. It is okay to use packet mixes from time to time everything doesn’t have to be made from scratch.

Quesadilla
Recipes · Uncategorized · Week Night Winners

Quesadilla

thelittleredpinny2 Comments
Cheesy Quesadilla

Ingredients

  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 cup mushrooms in small chunks
  • 1 tin kidney beans
  • 1 small tin sweetcorn
  • 1 yellow pepper (or red or orange!) diced
  • 3/4 cup almond milk
  • 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp arrowroot powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • Good pinch of salt
  • 14 small wraps
  • Vegan butter for frying

Method

  • Heat a little oil in a saucepan and add in the onion and peppers and saute for 5 minutes.
  • Add in the rest of the veggies and cook for a further 10 minutes until the beans are cooked.
  • In another saucepan add the milk, nutritional yeast, onion, garlic, paprika and salt.
  • Whisk the milk until it thickens and then turn off the heat and pour into the veggie mix.
  • Spoon a good dollop of the mix in to the center of a wrap and spread out leaving about 1 cm gap around the edge put another wrap on the top.
  • Heat the butter in a frying pan and on a medium heat put the stuffed wrap in the frying pan and fry for about a minute until it starts to brown. Flip over and brown the other side.
  • I keep them warm in the oven until I have fried them all.
  • Cut in to 1/4 and serve with either wedges or rice!

Tips and cheats

You can add in any veggies you like! If we have courgettes we chuck those in diced, peas chunks of pre-cooked sweet potato anything that is lying about really! The mix will store in the fridge over night so it is great to whip up the night before you need it and it makes after school dinners really quick and easy. It is also really nice on a picnic!

Banana Bread
Cake · Recipes · Sweets

Banana Bread

thelittleredpinny2 Comments
Banana Bread

Ingredients

  • 4 squishy bananas
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 cup oat milk (or any vegan milk)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup sugar (brown or white)
  • 2 cups self raising flour
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • pinch of salt

Method

  • Heat oven to gas mark 5/180c
  • Mash the bananas with the other wet ingredients
  • Add all the dry ingredients and beat together
  • Line a loaf tin and pour the mixture in
  • Bake for 50 minutes or until cooked
  • Allow to cool in the tin

Tips and cheats

So many options with this! you can take out the cinnamon and add in a cup of dark chocolate chips or a cup of dried cranberries. You can add a cup of chopped nuts or you can add a layer of nuts to the top before cooking. If you don’t have a loaf tin just bake as a cake in a square or round tin and reduce the cooking time to about 30/35 minutes.

Fridge Raider Soup
Recipes · Waste Not Want Not · Week Night Winners

Fridge Raider Soup

thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment
Fridge Raider Soup

Ingredients

  • All the veg left at the end of the week in the bottom of the fridge!
  • A little oil
  • 500ml veg stock
  • Crusty bread

Method

  • Chop all the veg to the same size.
  • Heat some oil in a big pan and chuck in all the veg.
  • Pour on the stock (if it doesn’t cover the veg add more water)
  • Boil until the veg is soft
  • Blend to smooth and serve with crusty bread.

Tips and cheats

So my favourite combination is carrot, leek, potato, squash and an onion however you can chuck in literally any veg! I tend to avoid cabbage as the children aren’t keen and we get lots of Gansta Granny quotes! It you want it to be smooth always make sure there is a potato of some sort in there.

I like to add a swirl of Elmlea plant cream if we have some on serving but it isn’t needed!

Grilled Mushrooms on Toast
Breakfasts · Recipes

Grilled Mushrooms on Toast

thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment
The Best Breakfast!

Ingredients

  • 300g mushrooms sliced
  • tsp vegan spread (Vitalite is our favourite)
  • 2 tsp oil (olive is nice but I love hemp at the moment)
  • Salt and pepper
  • 2 tomatoes halved
  • 2 slices of sourdough (Sainsburys have a vegan one)

Method

  • Heat 1 tsp of oil in a pan and add the mushrooms. Chuck in the spread and season.
  • In a frying pan heat the rest of the oil and add in the tomatoes flat side down.
  • Toast the sourdough.
  • Cook the mushrooms stirring occasionally until the are soft and browning slightly.
  • Flip the tomatoes once brown.
  • This should serve two (I say should) so once it is cooked plate up and enjoy!

Tips and cheats

You can cook a couple of hash browns rather than the toast, the Co-op and Sainsburys ones are really nice. You could add garlic to the mushrooms or even sprinkle generously with parsley. Or serve as a full English with tofu eggs, and a couple of shroomdogs!

Vegan Crumble
Recipes · Sweets

Vegan Crumble

thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment
Poached Pear Crumble

Ingredients

  • 150g self raising flour
  • 50g rolled oats
  • 100g sugar (brown or white or half and half)
  • 100g vegan butter (I love Vitalite)

Method

  • Set oven to gas mark 5/ 180c
  • Prepare your fruit filling (see note below)
  • Put all the ingredients in to a bowl
  • Rub the butter in to the dry by rubbing your thumb and fingers together.
  • Put the fruit in to a pie dish and put the crumble mix on top (thickly!)
  • Cook for 25 min or until golden brown.

Tips and cheats

Who doesn’t love a crumble? You can use any fruit you like in this, just make sure you cook it a little first.

  • Apples – use twice as many apples as the size of your pie dish. Peal and core them and cook them in a little water with a table spoon of sugar until they start to soften.
  • Apples and blackberry – As above but chuck in two cups of blackberries.
  • Rhubarb – use twice as much as your pie dish will hold. Chop in to inch size pieces taking off any thick skin. Bring to the boil in a small amount of water with 2 tbsp sugar.
  • Rhubarb and strawberry – half and half but don’t pre-cook the strawberries toss them in once the rhubarb has cooked.
  • Poached pear – use twice as many pears as the pie dish holds and peal and half them. Put in to a pan of water with a thumb of ginger and 1/2 cup of maple syrup. Poach until soft.

There are so many more options to play around with! you can add some orange zest into the crumble mix too or even some ginger and cinnamon.

Farmer Pie
Recipes · Week Night Winners

Farmer Pie

thelittleredpinnyLeave a comment

Ingredients

  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 large carrot sliced into half moons
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 cup diced mushrooms
  • 1 veg stock cube (My fav are Knorr or Sainsburys)
  • 1 tin baked beans
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
  • 1 tbsp brown sauce
  • Vegan soya mince (Our favourite is Sainsburys)
  • 6 large potatoes

Method

  • Heat oven to gas mark 5/ 180c
  • Boil the potatoes in one pan.
  • Heat your oil in another pan and soften the onions and carrots for 5 minutes.
  • Add in the peas, mushrooms and mince.
  • Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir.
  • Simmer the mix for 20 minutes, if it looks to dry out then add a little more liquid and stir occasionally.
  • Once the potatoes have cooked, drain and mash them.
  • Pour the mince mix into a pie dish and top with the mash.
  • Pop the pie into the oven for 15 minutes or until the mash is a little crispy.

Tips and cheats

You can really play with this dish. If you don’t like soya mince you can use 2 cups of red lentils and a handful of oats or you can make mushroom mince by blending 300g of mushrooms. You can add a little more brown sauce, I like the tang it gives the dish. feel free to add in two sweet potatoes to the mash and we often sprinkle vegan cheese onto the top before it goes in to the oven.

If you want to make this in advance you can do the whole things and pop it in the fridge and just cook in the oven when you want to eat it. You can also freeze the mince mix although if you are using lentils they don’t defrost great.