Just for you

Yup, a post just for you guys, the most wonderful readers of all- the email subscribers!

As you may know, we’ve moved. We’re now located at Blogspot and would very much love for you to hop on over and subscribe to the new site…

I mean, come on, can you reeeally say no to our faces??

It’s super duper easy to subscribe [see below]…

ALSO, I wanted to thank each and every one of you. I started this blog a year ago as an incentive to try out some vegan recipes and never imagined the support the Hungry Birdie would get. The blogsophere is a funny thing, isn’t it?

Anyway, you guys are awesome and I hope you continue to follow the Hungry Birdie journey.

Lots of love!

Robin

The Hungry Birdie is moving!

picture by kev chapman (flickr)

It’s moving day around here and I couldn’t be more excited! As of today, the Hungry Birdie will be flying over to Blogspot. We love the clean, modern look of the new site and really hope you do too!

To all our lovely email subscribers, we ask that you pleeease sign up on the Blogspot so you can continue to receive updates.

The site address will still be http://www.thehungrybirdie.com so no worries there (you can check it out this minute at this link). Please join us in the move and let us know what you think!

I also wanted to explain for my relative lack of recipe posts lately… school is really demanding right now and will be until December 21st, so I’m sorry for neglecting the blog. On the plus side, I’m already brewing up tons of holiday recipes and my mum is even excited about writing a guest post!

Finally, thank you ALL for following my journey. The Hungry Birdie will be turning one year old very soon (aww little baybay), and it’s all thanks to you, the readers!

xo Robin

Friday Five: Jess N.

Hi all!

It’s Friday (and almost December?!), crazy! This week the lovely Jess from Cupcakes and Kale was kind enough to answer the Friday Five. Her blog is the perfect balance between sweet and savoury, which is great for vegans like me who are considerably baking-challenged. These cupcakes are her recipe and- let me tell you- they were a huuuge hit! So check out her answers (and her site!) and I’m sure you’ll like this sweet vegan lady as much as I do 🙂

Happy weekend friends! xo

The little things

Soooo I’m in the thick of it right now. School is pretty all-consuming these days. I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel though, cannot wait to spend time relaxing with family and friends over the holidays. Before I get back to work I wanted to remind myself of the things that I love, and that I’m thankful for, some of which I’ve been enjoying lately, some of which I’ve been craving desperately…

Things like massive mugs of tea. accidental good hair days. singing while alone. doing puzzles. the smell of vanilla. sleeping in. late night movie dates. long drives. cooking for people i love. freshly painted nails. impromptu naps. winter walks. clean skin. giggling with friends. the first sip of beer. fresh sheets. perfectly crisp apples. good dreams. good songs. the colour a ripe mango. compliments on a bad day. half awake i love yous. board games. yummy kitchen smells. hauntingly beautiful photographs. lingering hugs. cracking my knuckles. peppermint lattes. wearing something new for the first time. the perfect chewy cookie. feeling cold air on my face. homemade soup. confessions to new friends. long chats with old ones. the first day of a holiday. family dinners over wine. and so so much more… xo

What little things make you happy?

Guest post: Curry in a hurry

Hi everyone!

My name is Caroline and I’m super excited to share this post with you all. Like the Hungry Birdie herself, I am also a law student – studying across the pond in a town called Canterbury (yes from the tales!). As a self-professed cheese aficionado, I have to admit I wasn’t always so thrilled with the idea of vegan cooking. I expected the ingredients to be completely foreign and inaccessible, but reading Robin’s blog inspired me to try a few new recipes (Winter potato salad, Penne with sun dried tomatoes and walnuts… Mmmmm!). And while you probably won’t catch me with a forkful of tofu any day soon, I’m getting a little closer… Enjoy!

Vegetable curry

Serves: 4

1 onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp curry paste
4 plum tomatoes, or similar
2 red bell peppers
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
½  can coconut milk
4 cups of spinach or other dark green

Halve and peel one onion and slice into very thin half-moons. In deep pan, sauté onions in olive oil and a pinch of salt until golden and translucent (bonus points if you have the patience to caramelize them slightly). When golden, add two finely chopped cloves of garlic and two tablespoons of your favourite curry paste.

Add a few chopped tomatoes, sliced bell pepper and one can of chickpeas. Shake and pour in half a can of coconut milk. (I freeze the other half in an ice cube tray, pop them out and keep them in the freezer for next time!) Add about a cup of recently boiled water until you are happy with the consistency. Simmer away for a few minutes, add salt if needed.

At the end, wilt in a few handfuls of dark greens – I used organic spinach here. Serve alongside rice, quinoa, or nan bread, and a cold ale if you so fancy it. Enjoy!

If you’re in the mood for a nice light dessert to go with your spicy curry, try…

Baked Plums with Golden Sugar and Allspice

Serves: 4

4 plums, halved and pitted
2 tbsp golden brown sugar
1 ½ tsp allspice

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Coat the exposed side of each plum in the allspice and sugar. Bake cut-side up for 20-25 minutes, until slightly scorched and soft in the middle. (This works better with firm plums.)

Serve warm or room temperature, with chopped nuts or a nice soymilk ice cream!

Friday Five: Nikki H.

Hi little birdies!

Many of you may already know the lovely lady featured in today’s Friday Five. She’s Nikki of the amazing blog, The Tolerant Vegan (seriously, these are making me drool!). Her site is chock-full of great recipes, step-by-step photos, and plenty of pics of her adorable cats! So what are you waiting for? Click click!

P.S. Guys! I’m being all 21st century lately, I just got Instagram! My username is TheHungryBirdie, come follow me 🙂

Lazy fare

Some days I feel like preparing fresh dough, making homemade tomato sauce and scouring the freshest ingredients in order to make knock-out vegan pizzas. Lately though, amidst the mountains of readings, case comments, and legal memos, I’ve started to think that less is more. Less work in the kitchen that is! I’m not quite back to my undergrad days of Kraft Dinner, canned soup and peanut butter off a spoon (okay, fine, I still do that last one sometimes…), but being so busy has forced me to come up with quick and satisfying weeknight dinners. These vegan pita pizzas have become a staple around my house. I recommend using whole wheat pitas, broccoli, and chia seeds to up the nutritional factor on these bad boys!

Easy pita pizzas
Makes 2 

2 whole grain pitas
1/2 package of Daiya mozzarella
1/2 cup broccoli florets
1/2 cup tomato sauce
2 tbsp of chia seeds
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp chili flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Place pitas on baking tray lined with aluminum foil and preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread tomato sauce on the surface of both pitas, sprinkle on the oregano, chili flakes, salt and pepper before adding a generous layer of Daiya. Next, add the broccoli florets and chia seeds and bake for about 20 minutes or until crusts are golden brown and cheese is bubbly.

Aaannd then get back to studying!