Stickers for my vegan tees...

This was one of my designs that i made for my stickers... Unluckily it was dumped, but it's cute, isn't it?!
vegan

My Vegan Tshirts

Hi again, my vegan online store Tippitappi.com has been open for two months now and is not going too bad. I sold mainly in Italy, Us and Australia. My tshirts will also be soon sold at thegreenapple.co.uk an online store based in the Uk that sells organic and it's so exciting!
I also donated several tshirts to animal rights associations like AgireOra (italian), VivereVegan (italian), and PETA.

My thirts cost 30 euros but I offer a free worldwide shipping. It is high quality 100% organic cotton and not thin; it sometimens happen when you buy online, that you end up with a very thin tshirt. It's not my case, my tshirts are made of thick natural cotton.
I never had a complaint so far, so that's good! :)))
Ok, enough now, back to the kitchen!
vegan

A snack for my vegan baby

There are a lot of vegan mums that read my italian blog, so I was asked to post a recipe for our little angels too! I posted this quick sweet cream because it's made of nuts and dry fruits. They are very important for vegan kids and I think that this type of food is sometimes neglected. I soak the dry fruits in water overnight and then I blend it into a cream with a food processor.

This time I have used dry apricots, almonds and sesame seeds.

It is up to you to mix the fruit and make different combinations. You could use only one type of fruit (apricots, plums, figs, dates) or add some hazelnuts, walnuts, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds...) Presoak and blend thoroughly. It's a rich source of vitamins, minerals, fat, protein, sugars. Vegan kids need it to grow!

Bubu is 14 month old and wants to eat on his own, but he's no good! :)

Meme!

Amey from Vegan Eats and Treats tagged me for a meme, this is my first meme, I don't want to let you down with this, but I'm not too clever, sorry!

Too many words in tippitappi, although my real name is Jenni Shortt (I have an english name because my father is English, my mum is Italian :)
I'm not not good at this, I told you!
P is for... no I won't say it
P again???
I love vegan food and all vegan people! (Although I once met a vegan girl at VegFestival in Torino called Monica, she was absolutely horrible, unkind and rude to me, I hate her.)
T like Tippitappi.com, my new job!
A lot of imagination... I'm gifted, I know
Pumpkin
Potato
I love you all!

thank you Amey for my first meme! :)
Ps: on the photo you can see my sweet friend Gazelle, the nicest and calmest horse I've ever met. She lives with my boyfriend's cousin in the mountains, in France. In a beautiful place, he sleeps in a caravan with no electricity, no phone, no heating... ahh it's incredible! I want to go again, it's so wild! :)

Homemade Herbal Teas

I found a nice recipe for homemade fruit and herbal teas, that is, natural with no artificial flavourings but with the real taste and goodness of real herbs and fruits. I actually copied the recipe from a nice italian brand of organic teas in bottles called Achillea (see here). The secret is to mix nice herbs like Rosa Canina, it's the red fruit of the wild rose or hybiscus flowers, or any herb you like with other herbs like Raspberry flowers or other healing herbs, make an infusion and use concentrated apple juice as a sweetener. Raspberry leaves are very good for children, they are very rich in minerals and vitamins and also they help to reduce fever. Rosa Canina is a bomb of vitamin C. In Italy we have Erboristeria, which is a shop that sells loose herbs and a trained person that will tell you what herbs are best for you. That's where I go. Adding the apple juice is a good way to make it taste nice, because some teas are sometimes too herby! :)
These teas are excellent cold in the summer.
Ps: A lot of herbs can be picked in the wild and dried at home, like mint, thyme, lemongrass, vervain... It's free and so exciting!

Zucca alla menta - Pumpkin with mint

I used to hate pumpkin and I used to hate mint with savoury foods, now I absolutely adore it.
It was my friend Francesca Davoli that once cooked it for me and I've always made it ever since especially at this time of the year. Oh by the way Francesca is a home stylist, you can see her work here


This is what it looks like before going into the oven


And this is what it's like just out of the oven, quite crispy this time, notice how much the pieces have shrunk!
This is a simple but rather nice recipe, trust me!

Conchiglioni

Pasta again! I know... but I love pasta, I eat it almost everyday and I'm Italian so I can't help it! This is a special kind of pasta, it's conchiglioni which means big shells, and they are usually filled with a rich sauce and then baked to make a nice crust on top. My rich sauce was made today with a nice tomato sauce and tofu, ok nothing spectacular but if you think I have used lots of onion and herbs like thyme and rosemary and the tofu was smoked with almonds and sesame seeds from Taifun make, then I can assure you it was quite tasty.
Ingredients:
200 gr. or 1 1/2 cup of Tofu (flavoured one, like this one it's better)
One big onion
Olive oil
One can of tomato sauce (I used Passata di Pomodoro, which is usually homemade: fresh red tomatoes cooked for a long time with basil and olive oil, much tastier and darker than tomato puree. I don't know if you can find it in the shops)
thyme and rosemary, fresh or dry
salt

Chop the onion finely and fry in a little olive oil and salt for 10/15 minutes or until nicely brown. If you don't want it to burn, put a lid on and use a low flame.
Add the tomato puree and let it cook for as long as you can (even half an hour) always with the lid on and low flame. Add the herbs, finely chopped and the shredded tofu (use your hands to make it crumbly) and cook another 3 minutes. The sauce shouldn't be too dry like I did this time, it is better if it is juicy enough not to let the conchiglioni dry out. Although some people like crispy pasta.
Cook the pasta "al dente" which means a little bit under-cooked, drain and add a little olive oil to prevent the conchiglioni from sticking. When they have cooled down fill them with the sauce. Place on a baking plate or any container you may like and bake at medium high until they are nicely brown on top.
Hope you like it!
Ps: I also put some chopped parsley after baking to give a bit of colour!

Global warming and Vegetarianism