Tag Archives: Youtube

May22

Plant based recipe of the week – Week 15 – Ikarian Stew

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Apologies for my lack of recipe posting, but the writing muse has put her slippers under the bed and my new novel is taking most of my time at the moment.

I discovered the Ikarian Stew recipe on The Happy Pear Youtube page, and now it is one of our weekly staples. Packed full of anti-oxidants, vitamins and minerals, it’s a real whole food plant based super stew. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AXpf3YiuIU&t=165s

I’m thrilled to say, the last batch I made had chickpeas, lentils and black beans that I’d cooked myself from scratch,rather than using tins. You can find out how here https://wendysteele.com/2020/04/23/how-to-cook-dried-beans-and-legumes/

In the next few weeks, I’ll also be able to use my own home grown kale, which is starting to get going in one of my raised vegetable beds.

This stew is simple, hearty and delicious. As long as you keep the basic recipe, variants are fine. Our last one was abundant in carrots but lacking a leek, but still tasted scrumptious.

Ikarian Stew

 2 medium onions

2 cloves garlic

2 carrots 150g

2 leeks 400g

½ teaspoon salt (I left this out)

1 tin black beans -240g drained

1 tin chick peas

1 tin cooked lentils

150g dry wholewheat pasta (or brown rice)

200g broccoli (I use 1 head)

100g kale

1 tin chopped tomatoes

100g tomato paste

2 tablespoons tamari (or soya sauce)

2.5 litres vegetable stock

½ teaspoon black pepper

 

1 Chop and sweat onions and garlic in a large pan without oil – add 2 tablespoons, or more if necessary. of the veg stock to stop it sticking

 

2 Add carrots, leeks, broccoli and kale stalks and salt and 50ml stock. Put lid on and sweat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

3 Add rest of ingredients. Lid on, simmer for 10 minutes. Taste, adjust seasoning and add chilli flakes if you like. I then simmered for another 15 minutes, again with the lid on, then turned off the pot and left it. It thickens up beautifully.

Depending how big your portions are, this feeds 6-8 people, and it freezes well. Enjoy!

Check out other tried and tested plant based recipes by typing ‘plant based’ into the search box on the Home page.

I’m not only a passionate eater and advocate of delicious plant based food, but a writer, healer and crafter. Check out my Youtube channel Phoenix and the Dragon for free stories and updates on my riverbank. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw3ee9CuNdek9ZC1Im8I_iA?view_as=subscriber

 

 

May22

The Writing Muse has unpacked her suitcase!

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The Writing Muse has moved into the spare room. She’s unpacked her case and greets me on my return from my morning walk, with ideas, thoughts and perfect words. I’m spending as much time as I can attempting to take her perfect words, and create a novel with them. ‘Lowri’s Forest’ is appearing on my screen, still in first draft, but 43k words to the good.

I’m struggling to write anything else, so I’ve started TFFFM – The First Fabulous Five Minutes. Join me on my riverbank to hear five minutes from the beginning of all my novels, in the order I wrote them.

The first one is Destiny of Angels, the first book in the Lilith Trilogy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaYuNYOG8YY

Here’s a few reviews to give you a taste of what to expect….

Engrossing – “I loved this book. I don’t want to spoil the plot but I’ll just say that it’s totally different from anything else I’ve read. The character descriptions are so good, I could totally imagine what they all looked like and I particularly liked Jenny and her family. I couldn’t put this down and read it in two days. Hope we don’t have to wait too long for the next one:-)”

 

Unusual story, excellent read – “I really enjoyed this book. I wasn’t sure what to expect but without giving too much away, it’s a revenge/ redemption story with a spiritual twist, where the mundane and the mystical intertwine. Looking forward to the sequel.”

 

Fantastic! – “Angel meets up with old friends and acquaintances at a school reunion, she’s changed since school and not only is she stunningly beautiful, her success stands out!
Wendy Steele’s characters are wonderful, her tale gripping as she takes you to a world of ritual and suspense, the best revenge is to succeed against all odds. I bought this book on Kindle and in paperback IT’S THAT GOOD!”

 

Magnificent, fantastic, enlightening – “I loved Destiny of Angels. It was a captivating read from page 1. Touches on friendship, love, struggle, power, control, achievement issues. Wonderful read for someone going through a life-changing experience. I was absorbed by the plot and the pace of the story was spot-on. Great balance of suspense and romance. Wendy Steele has a refreshing style of writing and I will be definitely reading the next instalment in the Lilith trilogy. Recommended read!”

Check out all my novels and stories on my Amazon author page https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wendy-Steele/e/B007VZ1P06

and for my friends and readers across the pond https://www.amazon.com/Wendy-Steele/e/B007VZ1P06

I do hope you enjoy my videos. Please like and subscribe to my channel and ding the bell to be notified of new content. Stay safe out there. Sending new moon blessings to you all

Apr10

Plant based recipe of the week – week 14- Bean Burgers

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I enjoy discovering new channels on Youtube with recipes, thoughts and ideas on plant based eating. At the end of last year I discovered Brian Turner. Yes, he is handsome and ripped, and his approach to eating is to complement his fitness regime, but his recipes are simple and nutritious, and definitely worth a look.  He’s been incredibly honest about his battle with acne too, which has helped a lot of people. This is his channel https://www.youtube.com/user/HumerusFitness/featured

Today, I’m sharing his recipe for bean burgers.

Brian Turner’s Bean Burgers

Sauté in a pan:

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic

6-10 oz (170-280g) mushrooms

(You could soften these without oil if you wish, add a tiny drop of water if it begins to stick)

In food processor, blend 1½ cups of oats.

Add mixture from the pan.

Rinse 30 oz of beans from a tin (½ black, ½ pinto) and add.

(If you’re struggling to get pinto beans, buy a cheap tin of baked beans, tip into a seive and rinse off all the sauce. If you’re struggling to get black beans, use any beans!)

Add ½ cup of barbeque sauce

Blend all.

Dollop scoops onto two lined baking sheets and bake in hot oven for 40 minutes.

(We have no working oven at the moment, so these can be cooked in a frying pan if necessary)

I make my own barbeque sauce, but you could buy it ready made if you like:

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons tomato purée

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons of tamari (or if you can manage wheat, you can use ordinary soy sauce)

These freeze really well, so they’re perfect for lunch or dinner.

I know you’ll enjoy this recipe, so pop back for more, and some tips about cooking beans and legumes from dried, at this time when we’re relying on staples from our pantries. Have a wonderful weekend…stay home, stay safe xx