Thursday's Dinner

Thursday night for me are hectic ! I come home from school, prepare dinner, go to cycling training for two hours, come home and cook dinner for my fab fam.
I try to make each Thursdays meal different. Each recipe including skills I don't already know, so I can learn and become a more experienced cook.

This week I wanted to create something delicious and vegan. So delicious that my parents wouldn't even question that it is meatless (as they are not vegan themselves). I find vegan food scrumptious but I know a lot of people look down on it and just think it will taste bland and boring, that is why I wanted to prove my parentals wrong and cook up a pumpkin, pasta loving storm.

Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sage and Pine Nuts

My end result

I found this recipe whilst pondering on Pinterest for yummy vegan meals. Luckily i came across this recipe created by 'The Kitchn' seeing as I absolutely love pumpkin and pasta I thought this would be the winner. 

The Kitchn - Pasta with Butternut Squash, Sage and Pine nuts

These are all the ingredients I intended on using when I began cooking, I did though not use the zucchini but instead I used about a cup of spinach in its place; I did this to add an element of greenery to the pasta recipe. The place i thought best to add the spinach in, is when the recipes instructions call on you to add the toasted pine nuts, this will give the spinach enough time to heat up and wilt a bit.

I would recommend using the freshest sage possible I grow some in my veggie garden so I just picked a few leaves and was ready to go.

Before roasting the butternut pumpkin; mixed with sage, onion, garlic, oil and salt and pepper.

A little tip for avoiding your pasta sticking together is to add about a tablespoon of olive oil when boiling your water for the pasta to cook in.

I like to toast my pine nuts myself so I can be sure there is not added salt, sugar or oil. If you are interest in doing the same as I, add natural pine nuts to a small sauce pan, heated to medium. Be sure to keep string the nuts so they do not burn but only become slightly browned. They burn easily(I learnt the hard way many times)

Be sure to run hot water over the pasta once drained in order for the pasta not to stick together.

I thoroughly enjoyed cooking and especially eating this meal. I made sure not to add cheese so the recipe would be completely vegan. Feel free to add as much cheese as you like, put some in bowl so you can sprinkle it on top if you wish to do so. Next time I make this pasta dish I would roast more pumpkin so there is enough to puree about 1/4 of it. I would then add it to my pasta when frying it off so my end result will be more creamy and saucy.

- Grace

Discover. Cook. Then just show the world.

Why i Stopped Eating Meat - Tim Sheiff  http://www.youtube.com/user/99timshi

Direct link to the AMAZING video

I never thought I would actually truly consider going vegan. I always though maybe vegetarian that would be easier, 'just no meat'. But really if your going to do it do it right. 'Go hard or go home'

I have had chickens as pets all my life... I never really took it in that I am eating my pets basically for dinner about 5 times a week !
My most recent chickens were battery hens saved from an old caged chicken farm. I used to think wow we did something really good by saving them and bringing them to a free life. Whilst I was still able to eat eggs and chicken nearly everyday. I can't even comprehend the pain my chickens and billions of other chickens go through day in and day out when caged. Ever since they were 'lucky' (really how could I even use the word lucky) enough not to get slaughtered, they still are forced to live their life in cages that they can't even walk in; so small their feathers are worn away from how tightly squeezed they are into these cages.

I always thought I was dong the morally right thing by not buying caged eggs from the food store, which I defiantly was but why haven't I ever taken it to any further and really made the right change to my life. As I have always felt strongly about animal rights I should of come to this conclusion long ago but to be honest the only reason I hadn't tried going vegan or vegetarian before is because I though secretly 'that would be to hard' gosh how selfish can I be. I also never realised how much energy, carbs and protein you can get from an all vegan diet because I am a cyclist I never wanted to miss out on eating food that would give me energy for the best result but really as this video says you can get all the energy you need from the most natural and raw source there is, FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.

My recipes will still be no vegan but hopefully soon when i gain more knowledge i will be able to give advice on how to make them vegan.

Thank you Tim Sheiff. This video was amazing it has influenced me to try being vegan for myself. It is going to be tough I know! Defiantly coming from a Italian background and because our family eats chicken nearly for every dinner meal. If I fail I will got vegetarian and if that fails i will cut out all major meats, or go vegan a few days a week, trying as hard as I can to make the difference one person at a time to improving this major problem in the world.

Quote from Tim Sheiff  'Pigs are as intelligent as 3 year old children'

- Grace

Discover. Cook. Then just show the world.