I am finally posting this in for #Veganuary an event hosted by @naturalmedicine.
When it was first introduced I thought it would be cool to be part of it since I am on a plant based diet. Then I found out that you had to buy Lotus. It was not a lot and I understood why but the how was a whole other story. I was going to not get involved. Then @riverflows suggested that I join. I told her I don't know how to buy lotus so she wrote a post on how to do it. It had very simple instructions that anyone with half a brain should be able to follow. Apparently I had less then half.
I decided to forget it. Trying and failing was making me realize that the entity inside me from birth was still there. It's the one that has always whispered to me telling me that I was no good, stupid ugly and worthless. I thought for some past years that it was gone.
Then @lizelle suggested I participated so I gave it another go. I appreciated that friends here try to help pick you up and get on your feet again.
I failed again. Then @blackberryskunk came to the final rescue and clarified things even more also writing a poston how to buy and also find the transaction record which was my second problem that sent me back into the dark cloud.
So now I realize that this community is a very caring and helpful one and I have much less fear. This gives me some hope that I can get through hard times with some help. I really appreciate the friends here on Hive.
Having said all that, I would like to share my recent afternoon tea.
Usually I don't have a sweet tooth but it does happen sometime like the other day. It was snowing and we were off work for the day. It was a lazy day just sitting around watching cute animal videos. Before that I thought the time had come for afternoon tea. This happens once or twice a year.
For the tea I decided to slow brew a chai tea with the spices from my cupboard.
For desert which was not overly sweet I made a pina colada panna cotta. I had purchased pineapples that were ripe for a dollar each. This doesn't happen in Canada very often. So to make use of one of them I put it in the blender and turned it into a jelly with agar agar.
Pineapple jelly
1 cup of Water
1 1/2 tbs Agar Agar
4 tbs raw cane Sugar or maple syrup or agave nectar
4 Cups of Fresh Peeled Pineapple, blended
Mix everything while cold then put in a pot to cook until agar agar dissolves and starts to get a little thick. It sets pretty fast so put it in the dish or molds and put it in the fridge to set around twenty minutes. I didn't have molds so I used what ever I could find.
Panna cotta
1 can of Coconut Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
1 Cup of plant Milk (I used soy)
4 Tbs of Corn Starch
1/4 tsp
4 Tbs cane Sugar Maple syrup or agave
I cooked the coconut and all of the ingredients not knowing if it was going to turn out, but it ended up setting as well as the pineapple which was pretty thrilling since I have never made this before.
I did the pineapple part first thinking that I would turn it upside down. I didn't bother in the end.
Black berries were a decent price so I put some on top along with fresh pineapple and shredded coconut.
Meanwhile I had the chai tea brewing in a pot with the spices. I have never made it myself but I have bought the tea that had chai flavor. It wasn't that great.
I bought a box of black tea and used that.
The spices that I used were 2 sticks cinnamon, 2 star anise, 8 or nine cloves, a piece of fresh ginger, 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, 8 or nine cardomom pods, 8 or 9 allspice berries and a few black peppercorns. I used 5 tea bags.
It boiled then simmered for around forty minutes on low heat.
After that I strained it, put it back on the stove on low heat, added soy milk and agave nectar.
After I scooped out the dessert onto the plate, I did the unthinkable.
My favorite grocery store down the street always has something on sale for ridiculously low prices. This time it was vegan ice cream. I eat ice cream around once a year. This would be the time again even though it is colder outside than the ice cream. It was on sale for a dollar a tub. I couldn't resist. I should have though.
My dessert wasn't too sweet but with the ice cream on it I was sent into that place when you start eating something sweet after a while and you just can't stop. I felt kind of cheap but I loved every moment of it.
If you are trying out a plant based diet or just thinking about it and you're afraid you won't enjoy food anymore. You can bet that just because it's plant based doesn't mean that it can't be fun. I have heard people say that they can't go plant based because they hate tofu and vegetables as if that's all there is. I continue to discover new things that people eat around the world and things that I didn't think of eating.
Thank you for stopping by and thanks to all that have supported me one way or another.