Happy VVP Saturday, beautiful soul!

If you’ve been around these digs for a while now, you’ll remember how much fun we had at the Virtual Vegan Potluck parties last year with Raw Red Velvet Cake Ice-Cream and Taco Salad Bowls.

Well it’s BACK, baby, bigger and better than ever!

This time more than 160 bloggers worldwide have joined forces to bring you an incredible smörgåsbord of vegan dishes to delight and inspire you!  Click on the buttons below to follow the drool-worthy trail around the world.

A huge thank you to An Unrefined Vegan, Vedged Out and Vegan Bloggers Unite for hosting this amazing, global party.

And without further ado, I bring to the table: Fast, Simple, Beetroot & ‘Goat Cheese’ Tarts!

Print

Virtual Vegan Potluck Beetroot & 'Goat Cheese' Tarts

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 25 -30

Author Rebecca Weller - Vegan Sparkles

Ingredients

• 3 sheets frozen Puff Pastry check ingredients to ensure it's vegan
• 1 large tin 850g/30oz Baby Beetroots

Vegan 'Goat Cheese'

• 1/2 cup raw Cashews
• 1/4 cup raw Macadamias
• 1/4 cup raw Pine Nuts or more Macadamias but the flavour is better with a mix
• 1/4 cup filtered Water
• 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
• Pinch Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil or more filtered water, but oil gives a silkier texture

To Serve

• A handful of sprigs of fresh Thyme

Instructions

• An hour or two before you are ready to make these tarts, pop the 'Goat Cheese' nuts into a large bowl of water and allow to soak.
• When you are ready to make the tarts, preheat oven to 200C/400F (or slightly less if fan-forced).
• Remove 3 sheets of Puff Pastry from the packet and allow to thaw slightly for 10 minutes.
• Drain nuts and combine all 'Goat Cheese' ingredients in a high-speed blender. Blend on high until smooth and creamy and then transfer mixture to a small bowl or jar.
• Grease a muffin tin or arrange small patty pans on a baking tray (either one is fine but a tiny muffin tray works best).
• Use an upturned glass to cut circles out of the pastry and push them into the muffin holes on the tray (or patty pans).
• Drain Beets and pop a small one into the centre of each pastry cup. If there are some large beets, just cut them in half and divide them among two cups - round side facing up.
• Pop the tarts into the oven for 10 minutes or until golden brown.
• Remove tarts from oven and arrange on a serving plate. Drizzle with 'Goat Cheese', garnish with Thyme, and enjoy!

And now it’s off to enjoy the rest of the party! Click ‘Go Forward’ to continue the tour. Have fun! xx
 

The post Virtual Vegan Potluck Beetroot & ‘Goat Cheese’ Tarts appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

I’ve always been a big fan of Farmers Markets but did you know that the Subi Farmers Market is a paradise for vegans??

Having recently moved to the area, Dom and I headed down there for the first time last weekend and discovered a haven of health and happiness!

Sunshine, live music, gorgeous local produce, puppies, and free copies of health magazines, WHOOHOO!

Plus an incredible vegan-and-gluten-free bread stand, just brimming with delicious loafs, cakes and cookies!

We bought the Multigrain and Sourdough Loaves (oh, okay, and the choc cake and choc-banana muffin) and they were scrumptious!

I tried to get a shot of the muffin before it jumped into my mouth but my camera was too slow.  Bad camera.

Silky smooth oils and fresh, crunchy dukkah!  We treated ourselves to an extremely salad-dressing-worthy Extra Virgin Olive Oil infused with Lemon.

SuperFood Central!  The store holders were really helpful and knowledgable too – great if you’re new to the SuperFood world – and with prices that rival the health food stores.

I was probably most excited to discover the Little Shop of Plenty stall, filled with incredibly healthy, raw, vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free treats.

After we sampled everything (twice!), we settled on the Living Buckwheat ‘Bark’ ($9), Brazil Nut ‘Cheese’ with House Dried Tomato & Smoked Chilli ($6) and the Living Buckwheat Granola with Cacao, Hazelnut & Chia ($10).  Pure bliss!

Fresh herbs!

And a little ladybug stow-away who came home with us!

Her name is Lacey and she likes basil plants and posing for blog photos.

Not to mention very cool coloured beets!

Now if that’s not inspiration enough to pack up your carry bags and head on down to your local Farmers Market this weekend, I don’t know what is!

Do you know where the Farmers Markets are in your area?  Are there any new ones you could discover this weekend?  What gorgeous things have you discovered at your local?

The post Subiaco Farmers Market (and why you need to rediscover yours!) appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

Easter can be a tricky time if you’re a new vegan – or even an experienced one.  My strategy is to focus on the positive and double up on the raw chocolate!

Here are 6 Delicious Vegan Easter Recipe ideas to see you through the holidays in sparkly, healthy vegan style!

The Fast and Healthy Chocolate Shake Smoothie

Vegan Nutella (with Banana Crepes!)

Chocolate Fudge Brownies with Candied Pecans

Healthy Hot Chocolate Fudge Sauce

And some Eggcellent savoury dishes!

Broccoli & Pine Nut Quiche

Easter Bunny Vegan Potato Bake

 
 
Have a happy and healthy Easter, bunnies! xx
 
 

The post 6 Delicious Vegan Easter Recipes appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

My grandmother was Irish.  I think that’s why I love a party so much and often break into inappropriate spontaneous dance.  Perhaps it’s also why I’m so fascinated with green food and pots of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Traditional Irish food is heavy with meat and potatoes and not really conducive to getting you into your skinny jeans and dancing shoes, so let’s veganise this jig!

Naturally, there’s THE GREEN:

Mint Choc Chip Smoothie

Pea & Pesto Risotto

Green Spaghetti

Or the even healthier version – Raw Green Spaghetti

Pea & Pesto Soup

And then, of course, THE POTATOES:

Quinoa & Mushroom Gravy Shepherd’s Pie

Vegan Potato Bake

And lastly, THE BEST OF BOTH WORLDS:

Creamy Potato & Pesto Soup

Farmers’ Market Roast Vegetable & Pepita Salad

Have a craic of a St Patrick’s Day, lovebugs!  Dance for me! xx

The post 9 Vegan St Patrick’s Day Recipes appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

Remember how excited I was about the impending Cruelty-Free Festival WA and how much fun I had at last year’s festival?

Then you can imagine just how much fun I had on Saturday (excited squeeeal)!

This year the festival was bigger and better with even more stalls, demonstrations, friendly people, great music and amaaaaazing food.

I went one better this year too and volunteered to help out on the cake stand to raise money for the amazing work that Animal Rights Advocates do and bring vegan cakes to the masses!  Because vegans do it better!  YEAH!

(To the Bloggers out there:  as you can see, I’m going cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs over the new Pixlr O-Matic toy I’ve only just discovered.  Please do not adjust your television sets.  Normal viewing will be resumed in the next post.  Maybe.)

With help from my gorgeous friend Dom, Festival Eve was all about baking Mum’s Amazing Carrot Cake, cupcake style.

And then up at Crazy O’Clock on Festival morning to get those bad boys iced and ready!

A heap of other gorgeous vegans donated their time and cakes too.  You don’t need to tell a vegan to bring it.  Game, set and match.

10am and the cake stand was ready to go!  I volunteered for the PR role – talking to people about veganism, answering questions and signing them up to the ARA Mailing List to receive all of our cake recipes and info.

The crazy fun cake stand crew!

Assuming position in my (vegan) Star Wars boots, ready for action!

Total ‘nawww’ moment!  Feeling the love.  ♥

SO many people turned up, despite a few rainy patches.  I got excited!

And I may have missed snaps of all the delicious food I ate that day (oops, hungry), but I did get one of me getting very happy with my very first ever young coconut!

But wait, there’s more!  To check out more photos of this amazing day including live music, face painting, puppies, demonstrations, eco goodies, organic spa products, happy people, animal love and amazing food from the likes of Loving Hut and Heavenly Plate, just click HERE.  Tell them I sent you.

Until next time, have a beautiful day, glitterbugs!
Love and sparkles,
Bex
xx
 
 

The post Sparkles at the Cruelty-Free Festival WA 2012 appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

Happy Halloween, sparklebugs!    ♥••*´¨`*•.☆•

 
You know what this means?  We made it through Vegan MoFo, HURRAY!!!

I hope you enjoyed it as much as we crazy bloggers loved bringing it to you.  It was my first time participating and I had a blast!  21 posts in 31 days, countless experiments, a whole lotta mess in my kitchen and a heap of giggles!

And now in true Vegan MoFo fashion, I give you a round-up of the most popular Vegan MoFo recipes from the Vegan Sparkles kitchen!  (and it didn’t escape my attention that the top three were Tex-Mex.  YEAH!  You guys have great taste).

Spicy Bean Chilli & Rice Tacos with Guacamole & Cashew Sour Cream

Tomatillo Salsa Verde Black Bean Nachos

Elote – Mexican Street Corn

Melting Moments

Tandoori Cauliflower & Cucumber Raita Wraps

Creamy Portobello Stroganoff

And a round-up of my fave bloggers during this Vegan MoFo! Prepare to be astounded by their awesomeness!:

Vedged Out

Keepin’ It Kind

Fork and Beans

An Unrefined Vegan

Vegan Richa

Bite Me, I’m Vegan

And now it’s PARTY TIME!    ♥••*´¨`*•.☆•

 
The Virtual Vegan Potluck party kicks off again TOMORROW to celebrate World Vegan Day and this time it’s bigger and better!  More than 100 bloggers from around the planet have teamed up to bring you a sensational feast for your eyes that you won’t want to miss!  So get your dancing shoes and your forks ready and come join in the fun!  xx

photo credit: LexnGer via photopin cc

The post Holy Halloween, Batman! That’s a Vegan MoFo wrap! appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

Today marks the start of the one month countdown until the annual Cruelty-Free Festival WA takes place once again!   *cue sparkles*

When I rocked up to last year’s festival I was newly vegan and had no idea what to expect.  I was thrilled to discover it was a beautiful day amongst friendly people, great music and incredible food.  I had such a great time trying all the vegan beauty products, chatting to stall holders and stocking up on free vegan cookbooks and ideas.  You can check out my review of last year’s festival here.

And now it’s just one month until another magical day of dancing to live music beneath the trees with vegan cupcakes.  Ohhh, did I mention the food?!  Trust me – skip breakfast that day and bring take-home containers for surplus goodies.  You won’t regret it.

This year’s event is on Saturday 3rd November from 10am – 4pm at Earthwise Community Centre, 315 Bagot Road, Subiaco.  Check out the Festival Website, Facebook page and Facebook event for more details.

If you’d like to help out on the day or leading up to it, Kim of Animal Rights Advocates would love to hear from you at kim @ ara.org.au.

Hope to see you there and if you’re quick, you might even be able to snap up a slice of my Mum’s Amazing Vegan Carrot Cake from the cake stand.  NOM.  xx

The post Cruelty-Free Festival WA 2012 appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

During that first month when I was suffering from huge cheese monster cravings, I stumbled across an on-line event called Vegan MoFo – The Vegan Month of Food – where vegan bloggers worldwide devote themselves to furiously writing about all things related to vegan food for one month. Genius! This event was such a huge help to me when I needed it most. At the time I didn’t know any vegans personally and I adored reading along with these amazing vegan bloggers who inspired me with their creativity and positivity every day. Many of the blogs I discovered during that month I still follow and love today.

That’s why I am so excited to be able to give back this year and do some Vegan MoFo blogging of my own, potentially and hopefully helping other people who are toying with the idea or are just curious about veganism.

And it all kicks off on my Veganniversary! Perfect! It’s a month-long celebration of everything that is amazing about this lifestyle, like this and this.

* Cue Sparkles! *

So the big question is… will I be able to blog every day throughout Vegan MoFo? It’s a big call but baby, I’m up for the challenge and I have a secret weapon. *wink* A good luck charm arrived in the post the other day from my gorgeous sister…

Yup, it’s official. I have the best sister in the world. It’s stirling silver, hand-made by these guys and comes with built-in super blogging powers and love.

I rocked it down at the beach today and brainstormed a Vegan MoFo theme…

And the Vegan Sparkles Vegan MoFo theme for 2012 shall be… *drum roll please*… ‘Fast, fresh and simple’!

Because you’re busy, right? But you still want to feel amazing and have skin that glows so much, everyone wonders what you’ve been up to.

So tomorrow and throughout Vegan MoFo I will bring you a heap of fast, fresh and simple vegan recipes to make you sparkle from the inside out! Start your engines! xx

The post Vegan MoFo and My Veganniversary! appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

Sunday arrived full of Spring sunshine and we headed on down there with empty bellies and big smiles to check it out. A huge sign on the South Perth Community Centre told us we’d found our veggie heaven. Inside, the venue was huge, well-organised and full of delicious aromas.

We headed straight for the ticket booth and each bought ten tickets for $10. The joyous man working the ticket booth laughed and joked that he’d see us again soon for more tickets. Little did we know how right he would be.

I love fairs that have a ticket system. It always reminds me of being a kid and being so excited deciding which ride to go on next and how to get the most out of my remaining tickets. True to form, we commenced a tour of all the booths and food available, trying to pick which yumminess was most worthy of our precious tickets.

Apologies for the quality of my photos but I forgot my camera and had to use my phone, plus I was just so super excited to see these ‘vegan’ signs on about 95% of the food on offer, WHOOHOO!!

Yummmmmm. In the end we just couldn’t go past these fresh ingredients waiting to become Thai Pancakes…

And the finished product! $6 for this amazing veggie goodness. I could have easily eaten another one. SO GOOD.

I found Yuni serving these delicious dumplings at another stall, so we tried them next. Five dumplings for only $4 and they were so incredible that I was barely able to snap a quick pic before they were gobbled up.

Unable to decide what to try next, we did another circuit and became dizzy with all the amazing vegan options. As always, the Pad Thai caught my eye…

As did the vegan cakes…

But after trying so many free tasters from each stall, we were starting to feel pretty full. So we did what any savvy vegan would do – we headed over to the take-home stand to stock up on treats for dinner.

Just as the gorgeous Ticket Booth man predicted, we ran back to him for more tickets but check out the bounty! This was our take-home dinner – fresh, spicy, delicious and only $6 per container!

All up we each spent $20 and had an amazing feast of a lunch and dinner and a beautiful day among lovely, friendly people.

Bring on next year’s fair!

The post International Veg Food Fair appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.

Once upon a time there was a hungry vegan who caught the train through Claisebrook Station every morning and wondered about the ‘Perth City Farm‘ rumoured and signposted to exist behind the large stone wall.  An organic oasis and shining beacon of sustainability in the middle of the city??  She was curious, but not curious enough to drag herself down there before they closed at Noon each Saturday.

All that was about to change.  Last Saturday there was a perfect storm of a gorgeous, sunny Spring day, a lack of other responsibilities to fulfil, and a friend who was itching for a big breakfast somewhere unusual.  We arrived at about 10:30 and were lucky enough to nab a table amongst the big groups of friends and families relaxing over brunch.

There weren’t a lot of vegan options on the menu so we both ordered the Crushed Avocado & Lemon on gluten-free toast ($9.50) with a side of grilled mushrooms ($4) and a soy cappuccino ($4.30).  Despite the café being so busy, our food and coffees arrived fairly quickly and were hot, fresh and absolutely delicious.  The only complaint my friend had was that it wasn’t man-sized and he would have liked more of it.  Nom!

Luckily the farm is also home to a gorgeous farmers market on Saturday mornings, complete with organic produce and lots of vegan goodies to munch on if you still have room after brunch.  By 11:30, all the crowds had moved on and we were free to wander around by ourselves and really lap up the sunshine and relaxed vibe.

With live music, raw chocolate and an organic veggie patch to skip through, this place is a gorgeous and delicious haven of serenity in the middle of the city.

Park your bike and stay awhile…

Soy Cappuccino ($4.30)

Smashed Avocado & Lemon with Grilled Mushrooms on Gluten-Free Toast ($13.50)

Best seats in the house.

Vegan goodies!

Live tunes!

The post City Farm Cafe, East Perth appeared first on Vegan Sparkles with Rebecca Weller.