Re-Usable Baby Wipes

Where are all our eco-friendly old handkerchiefs?
I was determined not to use disposable baby wipes for my baby, or anyway to use them sparingly (only when I was out for example) For two reasons:
I don't like the idea of washing my baby's bottom with chemical detergents and leaving them on with no rinsing.
I don't like disposables. I am trying to recycle everything and babywipes go in the "mix bin" because they can't be recycled.
So I made myself about 30 cotton baby wipes ( 30 x 20 cm. ) cut in rectangular shapes. I find them very handy: I keep them near, i take one and I rinse it in warm water, clean my baby and throw it in the basket. I don't use soap more than once a day and my baby has never had nappy rash. I use these cloths also when the baby is messing about with food, water, milk...(if you're a mum you'll know what I mean) So I don't need to buy kitchen Paper. I use them once and then I wash them at 90° C. hottest temperature if necessary. I really cannot count how many kitchen paper rolls and baby wipes I have spared. And these are Trees!

Pasta with Green Pesto

Sorry for not posting anything new recently but I have been really busy with my Tshirt business, We took the photos on sunday and monday and must say I am quite happy with them, I found vegan models and that was great because they were so enthusiastic about the whole thing that it was a pleasure to work with them... thank you guys, you were great!
Coming back to our recipes I want to post this really simple pesto for pasta that originally comes from Liguria, same italian region where Farinata comes from. By the way, my parents just bought a small apartment in Rapallo, Liguria, and that's where I am going for a little break next week... I will post some photos of the place if you wish.
Ok this pesto doesn't need any cooking, you just need to mash and mince finely all the ingredients, preferably with a pestle and mortar...
30 basil leaves
2 cloves of garlic
2 tablespoon of pine nuts (or walnuts)
1 small glass of olive oil
salt to taste

I love to cook one or two little potatoes and some french beans (cut into little pieces) together with the pasta. Remember that potatoes and french beans go in first, boil 5 minutes before adding the pasta, then continue to boil all together for the time suggested on the package of the pasta. When it is cooked, drain and add the pesto, enjoy!

Vegan Barbecue!!!

We cannot survive summer without a barbecue, here's some ideas...
Red Polpettine

Zucchini, Red Pepperoni and Onions

Bread with rocket salad and cherry tomatoes

I made the Red Polpettine with minced seitan, concentrated tomato puree, salt, garlic and enough breadcrumbs to combine. Remember to brush them with olive oil before serving otherwise they get too dry, use a rosemary twig if you don't have a brush like me.

I love cooking outside!

Piadina Party!

I think this is a great idea for a Veg Party because there is very little to do, it fills everyone's tummy very well and you can prepare in advance so you can enjoy yourself rather than messing about in the kitchen while your friends are relaxing and enjoying themselves in the other room.
Basically there are plenty of Piadinas, or pita bread (flat white bread), and every guest can fill it with all sorts of nice things, for example:
Crusty Seitan and toasted almonds
Heat the pan with a very little oil and soy sauce, cook the seitan until it becomes dry. Toast the almond flakes on their own before adding them to the seitan.

Tofu with sesame seeds
Just plain tofu chunks, same as seitan but with the sesame seeds.

Cucumber, red cabbage and carrots

Tzatziki Sauce with soy yogurt, mint and plenty of garlic
Yogurt, salt, chopped mint leaves and one/two cloves of garlic finely chopped. Keep it in the fridge, serve it cool, it's nice with cucumber.

Spring Onion Sauce
This is my recipe, I love spring onions!
2/3 soy yogurt and 1/3 mayonese (no eggs!), I use Plamil's,
salt

I missed Falafel, i ate them before taking the pictures, sorry!
Keep the piadina, seitan, the tofu and the falafel in a warm oven until guests arrive. Keep the sauces and the veggies in the fridge, good luck

Macedonia with Lavender Flowers

In Italian Macedonia means fruit salad with a sweet juice and it eaten in small glasses with a spoon. You can choose several different fruits or just 2 like I did this time: Peaches and Strawberries. The juice is always made with lemon juice and sugar, some people add a dash of white wine. We leave the Macedonia in the fridge for a few hours before serving to let the juices and flavours out. The juice will become pink or red, depending on the fruit. I added some fresh lavender flowers from my garden, and I absolutely like these colours together. Lavender is not poisonous and you can also use other edible flowers! Experiment!

My Tshirts are almost ready!

I shouldn't say this as I wanted it to be a surprise but I can't keep this secret anymore. As I am an eco-vegan graphic designer I have been dreaming about designing Tshirts with vegan graphics and slogans for too long so I did it! I have been working on it for a year now and the website is almost ready. There are about 10 different Tshirts in different colours. I can't wait to see my tshirts online and I can't wait for your comments!! I put my mind, my soul and my heart into this.

UPDATED: the website is now up and fully working!
www.tippitappi.com

vegan

Mini greenhouse at home

I bought this mini greenhouse from BioSnacky last week in a shop NaturaSì, I have seen it at my friends home for the first time and I thought I should have one too. I just place the seeds in a layer, water them and close the lid, I don't keep them in a dark place. The are usually ready in 3/4 days. Ideal temperature: 18/22°C.

Sprouts are rich in vitamins, minerals, enzymes. I mix them in salads or put them in sandwiches. Washed and drained they keep well for up to 2 weeks. I prefere AlfaAlfa (Erba Medica), Lentils, Mungo bean, Clover because they have a mild flavour. Cress and mustard are too strong for me, I don't like them.
These in the picture are Alfa Alfa sprouts, the richest and more nutritious sprouts. They contain a complete range of vitamins and minerals, all the essential aminoacids and eight enzymes essential for digestion.

Emergency: Empty Fridge!

I panic-ed the other day when my boyfriend was crying out for food and my fridge was almost empty. He threatened to go to a pizzeria and get a fatty horrible margherita pizza, I had to cook something at once! All I had was a little carrot and one onion. I never run out of pasta so I made this simple recipe:
I chopped the onion and the carrot and fryed them in olive oil. Low flame. I boiled the pasta. When the onion was slightly brown I mixed it in the pan with the pasta, soy sauce and yeast flakes. I added some chopped chives from my garden at the last minute to give a little colour.
Result: my boyfriend was delighted, it really is a nice simple pasta!
When I have few ingredients, I come out with new recipes, ...but they are not good all the time :)

Tortino di Pomodorini

This is a savoury tart made with tofu and cherry tomatoes, delicious and very easy to make.
I wanted to go for a walk with my boyfriend and baby this afternoon but the weather wasn't too good so we stayed home and I made this nice Tortino.
Ingredients:
Pastry... ehm... I bought it this time but I promise to post the recipe next time!
30 Cherry Tomatoes
1 package of Tofu
Breadcrumbs
1 clove of garlic
Parsley
pinch of salt
Put all ingrediedients (except the pastry and the cherry tomatoes) in a food processor and blend. This is like a white pesto, taste it and add more salt if necessary. Spread the pesto on top of the pastry evenly, it shouldn't be more than 1/2 inch thick. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and take out the water and the seeds with your fingers, this will make them more tasteful and less watery. Place the halves on the pesto like in the picture. Fold the edges and bake for 1/2 hour until golden. Enjoy....

THE MEATRIX

Take the red pill and watch the critically-acclaimed, award-winning first episode of The Meatrix Trilogy.
http://www.themeatrix1.com