​I don’t want to exaggerate but shop bought vegan yogurt can be one of life’s greatest disappointments. When I first saw it for sale I was a little bit surprised by the cost but I decided that taking out a second mortgage and selling my first born child into slavery was ok because…yogurt. So, I threw it into the trolley and hurried off home with my prize. Only to discover that it tastes like blended up shoes with a side order of insecticide and artifical sweetener.
 
They say that the best way to get over getting bucked off a horse is to get right back on, so since that devastating moment I’ve tried pretty much every brand of vegan yogurt that I can buy. And while some have been pretty good (thank you coconut yogurt) they are generally rather underwhelming.
 
Our journey into making vegan yogurt has so far been paved with coconut cream and we have left behind us the ghosts of failed batches, though their memory lingers on. But fear not, gentle reader, for you can learn from our mistakes and hopefully in no time you too will be whipping up beautiful batches of dairy free yogurt.

​This recipe has been stolen from Matt Frazier at nomeatathlete.com but I justify my theft by pointing out that it is so good, so versatile and so easy that it deserves to be seen as far and wide as possible. It's not even a recipe really, it's more like a formula that you can adapt to suit whatever ingredients you have in the cupboard and the fridge.
 
Go you good thing!
 

​I’ve never understood the concept of the eggnog. I ate eggs as a child and well in to my early adulthood but I was always a little grossed out by them, I mean – it’s kinda like eating a baby chicken, but not really. What’s to like about that? Ok, ok, I loved the salty goodness of an egg burger with tomato ketchup on a cold morning at the Melbourne three-day-event but if the egg was under- or over-cooked look out for me gagging in the corner!
 
So I guess this ALWAYS meant that raw eggs were out of the question, even heavily disguised. Enter the Horchata. Not really an eggnog replacement at all, but a light milky coloured drink that’s yum and especially good on Christmas morning to enjoy during present opening!
 
I’ve experimented a fair bit with the horchata recipe looking for the perfect mix of rice, cinnamon and almond. I’ve tried rice only, almond only (gross!), more sugar and less sugar, but the winner was rice, almonds, plenty of cinnamon and just the right amount of sugar (plus a few extra teaspoons for the kids!).

You’ll want about a third of a cup of rice and a cup of almonds to 5 cups of water. Plus a couple of cinnamon sticks and as much fine sugar as you like for sweetness.

One of the things that I thought I would miss went I became a vegan was pizza. I used to love cheese – blue, cheddar, Swiss, processed, melted... I wasn't fussy. But here's the thing, I hate vegan cheese. I've tried to like it, honestly I have, but it tastes like a combination of armpits and the tennis shoes of a teenage boy. And plus, I'm not big on food substitutes. Cheese and eggs are from a long-gone part of life's journey and I don't want to eat facsimiles that undoubtedly taste inferior. I'd rather just let them go and move on.
 
This is why I like this vegan, pumpkin pizza. It's pizza but it's so different from the pizza of my past that I don't miss the cheese. You could put cheese on it, but it's probably redundant.
 
We use gluten free, pre-made bases but you can use regular bases if you're not a celiac. You could also make your own dough which I have done lots in the past. I love bread dough, every single time it seems like a miracle. You make it and it rises, smells amazing and tastes even better. Every time I make it I show it to the kids and try to get them to join in my marveling. They humour me but I don't think they really get my excitement at the wonder and mystery of bread.

​On our way home from Sumatra we spent some time in Kuala Lumpur which is a great place to visit if you love food, amazing public transport and crazy festivals. Because Sophie is a coeliac she can only eat gluten free food, a fact that complicates matters a little, particularly when you pair it with a vegan diet. To help us out we downloaded some cards with the coeliac dietary guidelines on them in both Malay and Bahasa. These were great because, as we have discovered in the past, when there's a language barrier it's really hard to mime "please don't serve me food that contains either wheat or barley".
 
On our first night in KL we decided to eat at an Indian restaurant that specialised in Southern Indian food as it's often vegan and gluten free. The restaurant Annapuurnam was within walking distance of our hotel, the staff were cool and really coeliac friendly. As a definite bonus the food was delicious and we made disgusting pigs of ourselves and ate way too much.
 
When we came home we decided to make our version of our favourite dish. It's really easy but you will need to buy some curry leaves from an Asian deli.

Chop and partially cook about 6 large potatoes in boiling water. When they're almost done, add half a head of cauliflower that you've chopped into bite sized pieces and keep on boiling until both are cooked. Don't cook them too much or they'll turn to mush. Drain and set aside.
 
In a big pan or a wok, fry an onion and two chopped carrots in a couple of tablespoons of whatever oil you've got in your pantry. (We don't bother with coconut oil because it tastes too much like tanning lotion and gives me flashbacks to the 1980's.) Throw in some mustard seeds – about a tablespoon, star anise, a cinnamon stick, a bay leaf, two dried chillies, a few cardamon pods and a couple of cloves. When that smells really good add in a tablespoon or so of cumin and coriander powder, some tumeric, black pepper and about two sprigs of the curry leaves that you've stripped and roughly chopped. Spices burn really easily so keep a bit of water by the pan and throw some in if you think it's getting too hot. Trust me, don't throw in some of your gin and tonic, it doesn't really affect the taste of the dish, but you'll miss your drink when it's gone.

When I hit my late 30's I felt as though I was too old to be chowing down on another mammal's breast milk. It's just personal preference. I have no problem with other people doing it (in fact two of my kids do it by the litre) but it's not for me.
 
After weighing up the pros and cons of other types of milk (like soy and almond) we decided that rice milk was the best fit for us as it was less processed and not as greedy on resources as other milk alternatives. We're really happy drinking rice milk - it's not too expensive, requires no animal welfare considerations and tastes nice in a cup of tea.
 
After drinking shop bought rice milk for a few years we decided to make our own. If you have five minutes and a decent blender, you can too. It's definitely not rocket science. Here's how it goes...
 
Put one cup of cooked rice, four cups of water, a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar in your blender and whizz it all around for a couple of minutes - basically until it looks like milk and not like small chunks of rice floating in water. White rice makes a pretty, white milk while brown rice milk is slightly less sparkly but way better for you. And how does it taste? To be honest, quite a lot like watery rice that's been whizzed in a blender. I have to admit, we are not DIY rice milk converts - but that again, is a matter of personal preference. If you're into alternative milks you might just like it and it certainly saves money. But we reckon we'll stick with shop bought rice milk for now.

​PJ