Our first vegan Christmas ...

This has been the best Christmas ever and we enjoyed  beautiful food as a Christmas feast.

Breakfast was not super healthy but hey ...it's Christmas !!!!! Kellogg's Rice Krispies are a favorite for the kids but we save it for special occasions and celebrations like birthdays, holidays and Christmas.

And this year they asked for crakers at the breakfast table.

I dont like processed foods like box cereals so gave it a miss and started the day with Hibiscus tea and homemade raw organic chocolate.

I make these chocolate in cupcake wrappers. Pour a thin layer melted chocolate in to wrapper then put an flat blob of chunky peanut butter on top and finish off with with more melted chocolate till completely covered. Let it cool overnight in fridge.

Lunch was our main meal and it stayed on the table to snack on during the afternoon.

Salad

Fruit salad topped with choc sauce
 

Oven baked potatoes

Hot dogs

This 5 ingredients cake was beyond delicious  ... Made with only blueberries, cacao, coconut sugar, baking powder and vanilla. Looks like cake but when it touches your young it melts like mouse ... this is not a desert it's an experience !!! Topped with whipped coconut cream.

I also made chocolate black bean brownies for high tea. They are gluten and refine sugar free !!

Dinner was tofu wraps and/or butternut soup ...

Christmas day  was a rainy cold day, so cozy and filled with love.

Living healthy ...

We have been fortunate to enjoy supernatural health as a family. I went through 4 pregnancies never to see a doctor, and only went for few scans at my friend who is a sonographer, just for fun actually. All four girls were born at home unassisted. Non of my girls have ever visited a doctor or clinic sister. Only Lexi had a few fillings at the dentist, but that's it. I really see this as supernatural and do believe first of all it's GRACE and truly being blessed with the wisdom to steer clear from the medical industry and to really have faith in our body's ability to heal itself. I have learned how to wait and be patient when kids do get sick, and without exception we got through every bug that made us unwell even whooping cough. Our bodies are strong and our immune systems wonderful.
But I do believe we do a few things in the natural to aid our bodies to be this strong and enjoy amazing health, and that's what I want to list here :

• Natural birth ( SUPER BIG AND IMPORTANT ONE ) 

The two main reasons I think this is such a biggie are 1) a baby is born with a sterile gut and the first breath she takes will take healthy or unhealthy gut flora to her intestines and that first breath is what will colonize the gut with flora. A baby born through her mothers vagina will smear her nose and mouth with the perfect bacteria and with her first breath she will inhale the perfect healthy bacteria to colonize the gut and give the immune system a perfect start. And then 2)  The benefits of delayed cord clamping for the baby include a normal, healthy blood volume for the transition to life outside the womb; and a full count of red blood cells, stem cells and immune cells.

• Vaccine free ( MOST IMPORTANT ONE )

Not one of my girls has ever gotten any vaccines, not one ! This is in my opinion the the biggest reason for our good health.

• Avoiding pharmaceutical drugs

It's not that we have never taken any meds but besides for a pain killer here and there we avoid it at all cost and always use a natural option and vitamins in mega dose especially Vit C. I have NEVER given my girls antibiotics and doubt I ever will !!!

• Avoid sugar like the plaque

We have gone through phases were we did consume a little sugar, mostly organic brown, but also store bought sweet things. But it's always begrudgingly that we as parents allowed it. We are now again 99% sugar free and happy to say it's with ease.

• No fizzy drinks

I have always had a huge problem with kids drinking fizzy drinks and this is something I've never allowed. My girls dont know what it tastes like and therefore dont miss it.

• Don't use a microwave 

We have not used a microwave in 6 years.

• ONLY drink RO water

We only drink RO water which we make with our purifier. We drink from glass bottels.

• Don't use commercial cosmetics  

We dont use any commercial cosmetics such as shampoo, creams, lotions, soaps etc. We only use Castile soap for EVERYTHING and a homemade body butter.

• Steer clear from domestic chemicals

We clean 90% of our house with vinegar and bicarbonate of soda, or just plain water. We dont use any chemically filled cleaning agent to clean with. So our air inside our house is not toxic.

•     Avoid processed food 

We do enjoy some vegan chicken nuggets and occasionally mayonnaise but in general we barley eat processed. The girls are not use to it so dont tolerate it well and we leave it for "emergency" meals or special treats.

• Avoid gluten and wheat products

This have actually been a easy one to drop from our menu. There are so many wonderful alternatives and creative options to choose from. We love rice noodles and prefer it to pasta. A market near us sels awesoem gluten free bread. We dont eat bread often but if we do it's gluten free.

• Enjoying a vegan diet

Before we were vegan we sought after the absolute best quality animal products to avoid all the antibiotics, hormones and toxins crawling through it. But a year ago we changed to a 100% strict vegan diet and loving it more than words can say.   
 

• Seasonal fruits and veggies

I have a lovely veggie garden going and we enjoy a lot of produce from it. The goal is to be self sufficient with fresh produce ... but its not so easy. I the meanwhile we buy organic when we can and eat loads of fresh veggies and fruits.

..... I will be adding to this list as I remember more points ....

What this vegan family ate today #4

Marble maize porridge for breakfast. This was the first time I made it and it was a hit !!! Kids loved it,

Make a pot of maize meal porridge, ensure it's GMO free !! Dish up in a bowl. Put a few blobs of peanut butter and date paste on  top, allow few minutes for it to sort of melt. Then gentle give it a few stirs, just enough to get a marble effect. Top with banana, dates and coconut sugar ... devour ;)

Morning snack was freshly made carrot juice.

Lunch was black bean burgers. I've been experimenting with vegan patties and this is the BEST one ever. Whole family loves them. I made a big batch, and kept the bean mix in fridge to make patties the next day.
Oh my soul these were sooooooooooo gooooooooood !!!!!

Black bean patties recipe :

500g black beans ( soaked and cooked and cooled )
1kg oven baked sweet potato (peeled, roughly mashed and cooled)
2 cups oats ( give it a quick blend in the blender till a coarse flour)
2 onions chopped fine and fried
1 cooked potato grated ( any veg works well, like marrow, broccoli, carrot ...)
2 tablespoons of kelp powder ( optional ) ... spice as you prefer
Salt
Refrigerate till cold, about hour or two

Give it a good mix, roll in to balls, flatten and coat with CHICKPEA flour !!! I've tried a few other flours and I tell you chickpea flour is awesome !!! I bough some at Woolworths.
And pan fry till golden brown on each side.
I think it will bake well as well, but I haven't tried it.

These patties stay beautiful after cooking and nice to pack in a lunch box, they are even yummy cold.

Afternoon snack was rice cakes with date paste, coconut sugar and choc chips.

For supper we had more of the patties but this time wrapped in salad leaves and avo.

Pretoria Farmers market

One of our absolute favorite outings are going to the farmers market in Pretoria on a Saturday morning. The market starts at 5:30am, meaning we leave the house at 5am to get there early. This is so much fun and almost feels like a little holiday.

When we arrive we get coffee and stone ground panini and go sit next to the duck pond. We buy the most beautiful veggies and fruit on this market.

The kids have a ball playing around the museum walls and beautiful green lawn.

Time for a quick nap for Emma and more snacks.

Browsing through the relaxed market stalls so much fun.

Lots of family love time.

I bought the most divine Indian spices that I used to cook a delicious rice and veg currie dish when we went home.

My first Hugelkulture bed ...

Hugelkultur in a Nutshell

• Hugelkultur basically means “hill culture” in German.
• Hugelkultur has been practiced in Europe for a long time and it is considered to be a very sustainable method of gardening.
• In layman’s terms? A hugelkultur bed is just a big pile of rotting wood. And then you plant stuff on top. It’s a permanent bed and gets better with age.
• Over time, the wood decomposes and creates a sponge-like bed underneath. This holds in moisture and produces lots of nutrients.

Why I am Loving Hugelkultur so Far

1. There doesn’t really seem to be a right or wrong way to do it. That is totally my style.
2. It requires less water than other gardening methods. Some sources I’ve read say that they only have to water established beds a couple times per summer.
3. It uses up stuff I have laying around my yard.
4. It was totally FUN to build   

I started with a small bed to see how it goes and I decided to keep it level with the ground as I dont want a hill in the back yard. So we first dug the trench. 

Then a put in some cut up tree trunks a had laying around. They were painted before as I used them on a kiddies party.

Then added some sticks all around.

Then some branches and garden ruble I wanted to get rid of.

And some leaves.

Finally topped it with soil. I will let it sit for a week or two and then cover with shadow netting cloth and then plant strawberries.

I am super exited to see how it's going to work, and it was such a fun project to do with the kids.

What this vegan family ate today #3

 Tofu scramble on toast topped with fried tomato ...

 Super quick and easy. Fry some onion and yellow or red pepper, or any veggies you like and crumble in some tofu and stir fry for few minutes. I love mine with some hot sauce on the side.

Mid morning snack. Apple Nachos !!!

Cut apple in slices, drizzle over some peanut butter and top with nuts, dried fruit and choc chips. This is sooooooooo delicious !!!!


More snack food ... Lily invented this little snack all by herself, and it's super yummy !!
Buckwheat bites she calls them :)  

I make a huge jar of sprouted buckwheat that I then roll in some maple syrup and then dehydrate in oven on lowest temp setting, so its a raw dish. They stay crispy for weeks and it's yummy as a cereal covered in non dairy milk. Also nice in and on top of basically anything you want to kick up with some crunch.
But here Lily mixed them with some peanut butter, rolled in balls and topped with a choc chip. They are a bit messy, but worth it !!

Lunch was falafels with guacamole and tahini dip. Oven baked sweet potato wedges and gluten free bread. 

Supper was waffles made with chickpea flour and topped with left over tomatoes from breakfast and tahini sauce from lunch.

Lily's new books

There's no real schedule or curriculum we follow, and each child develop at their own pass and according to their own interests. Lily loves "school work" and such a eager learner. She is always ahead of me and can never get enough of alphabet and maths work.

I never sat down and taught her the alphabet, she basically just picked up all the letters all around us, always asking me what the letters are and taught herself the alphabet in english and afrikaans. I encouraged her the learn it phonetically first and then the "name" of each letter. In the last 2 months she started recognizing small words and said she wanted reading books. We looked at a few different sets and she liked these two and she helped me order it online. I am trying to get her to read Afrikaans well before we go over to English but there's no stopping her and she'll try read anything she sees.

Her books were couriered to her and she signed for it. She loves her books and truly treasure them.

   
Empowering herself with knowledge is her own desire and for this reason she just cant stop or get enough ! She desires knowledge ... battles for it ... and then owns it. Something nobody can ever take away from her. It is so different from being parrot forced fed something you care nothing for. I love seeing her pursue after what she's passionate about and being there only to help when she wants it.