My friend gave me a good idea on what challenge to do. It is to try different countries' foods. She also said I could make Estonian foods, to which I decided to combine the two and make it into a challenge!

So first one was... Estonia!

Potato mash with grouts, fried onion and sour cream - vegetarian dish

The most difficult thing about this challenge is not to waste food. I try not to and hope for the best.

To make this dish, I cut up some potatoes and added them to a pot with some water, then added some handfuls of grouts and salt. At the same time I fried some onion.

When everything was ready and boiled, I mashed to potatoes and grouts with a fork in some remaining liquid and served it up with some sour cream. This is Southern Estonian food, usually not vegetariand/vegan, but I made it as such.



I am sorry about the pictures - the lightning is quite bad in the evening and I don't have anything to help me. :D I hope you will forgive me, the idea is what counts!

Anyway I really liked this food and my sister also enjoyed it. You could say I nailed Estonian food and we will make it again if we are in a hurry and need something quick.

Vietnamese style spring rolls in rice paper and peanut butter sauce

I have made springrolls once before, but they kept breaking apart. So I thought that I still have some rice paper at home left and I should use it up. The idea for this is from Estonian vegan recipe page. I made something different from it, but for an idea, it was good.



My version is probably not really Vietnamese, but I used some salad mix, carrots, cucumber, bell pepper and green onion. For the sauce I mixed peanut butter, soy sauce and garlic powder. This is definitely not an authentic recipe, thus I am calling it Vietnamese style.



Not the easiest to eat it, but they held together better than last time. Or not really. :D I cut them in the half as well, as I probably made them way too big.

I really liked the sauce, I have used the same sauce for pasta, and it was really good. Especially with pasta where you add bell pepper and tofu, I recommend to try it. I didn't measure up the things for the sauce, but it was good for dipping. Don't make it too liquidy!

My sister again said she liked it and wanted to have just pure sauce later. :D So I guess this was a success as well!

Thai style Pad Thai

The recipe is again from Estonian vegan recipe site. I followed it quite well this time, which I usually don't do.

Pad Thai seems to be really popular so I am surprised I haven't made it yet. Anyway, I was lucky - rice noodles were on sale. :D



Making this was super easy and fast, definitely way simpler than last night's meal. Anyway, it was ready super fast and tasted awesome.

I really like tofu but I quite rarely use it. I think I should add more of it into my menu, it has good macros. And it is such a good and versatile thing, it takes on seasoning really well. You can even make vegan cheesecake from tofu. I have never tried it sweet, but it sounds good, maybe I should try making something.

I was doubtful about adding lime to Pad Thai, but it really fit there well and I absolutely loved it. You also guessed it - my sister again approved. :D

Mungoa bean sprouts are really good! I got a whole box of them and added them in the end. It tastes like fresh peas. Anyway I am really glad I am doing this challenge, because I have managed to try so many different things and there are still some good things to come.

Italian style mushroom pasta

I thought that I want to try something Italian. This recipe is from another Estonian vegan recipe site. Anyway, I don't understand how I lived so long of my life without mushrooms!



Pasta is also one of my fear foods, so this day was a challenge in many ways. At the same time I can say that I have made pasta 3 times in last two months, and I am still alive. :D

Pasta itself was amazing. Again, I was doubtful of adding lemon to it, but it was a-ma-zing! At the end of this challenge I asked my sister to pick her favourite and she said she can't decide between the potato mash and this. :D Even before the last day she asked me "Signe, hey, if this challenge is over, please lets make these foods again." :D Great success.

Mexican style Tex Mex salad with sweet potato

Obviously it is not Mexican food, but I found this recipe on the Estonian vegan site again. :D Me and my sister love all kinds of salads and "bowls" as we call them, so this was an easy choice.



I didn't add an avocado, simply because there weren't any good ones at the store. And I was too lazy to check another supermarket. Let it be, it was good anyway.

For the base I added salad mix, black beans, red onion, tomato, corn and lime juice. Then I roasted some sweet potatoes and added them.



Seasoned them simply with salt, pepper and chilli. This was the end result:



I think it looks quite good and colourful and it tasted well. I added some dried coriander (I think it was also in the recipe, I didn't have fresh one).

This challenge was super fun. It was a bit annoying trying to take pictures, but oh well. :D Usually I asked my sister to do the dishes while I was taking the photos and then we could enjoy the food together.

I have no idea which was my favourite. Maybe pasta and potato and grout mash, even though Pad Thay was really nice as well (and completely new, I have never used sprouts or lime). I really loved the tex mex salad too, because I loooove sweet potatoes (even though I bet it would have beend good even without it + with avocado). I liked spring rolls the least, but probably because they were breaking apart so much. :D Though the sauce was amazing, recommend to try it.

Next challenge is already coming soon and I have also thought about one more, which I will try next weekend. :D If there are any more ideas, I would love to hear it. Please tell me in social media somewhere or write a comment here.

What more - I wanted to clear that I didn't waste any food during this challenge. I managed to use it all up. So I was a good planner. This also shows that no, you don't have to have same foods all the time and cooking can actualyl be fun. I recommend to try similar thing.

Also I am sorry that the recipes haven't been authentic. But I am glad I managed to try all kinds of vegan alternatives and discover so much new. :D