I am still here, though obviously haven't blogged in a couple of months. Sorry about that. It wasn't for lack of wanting to, or ideas, just life getting in the way, as it tends to do!
I've had some inspiration with Christmas having just been, and also been busy trying new ideas in the kitchen.
More to come, our little one is suddenly awake and, well, here is life keeping me away once more ;)
Friday, January 9, 2015
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Old fashioned lemonade
I borrowed a book from the library recently that included this recipe. I can't remember the book's exact title, but it was along the lines of "The way Grandma did it", and it was mostly recipes, house-keeping and gardening tips.
My Dad scribbled down the recipe for Old Fashioned Lemonade and after he'd made some and liked it I decided to try it too. It was very simple, took maybe 15 minutes and made a very refreshing drink that will do well over the coming Summer months.
I made it with tap water the first time, but I am tempted to try it with sparkling to make it more "like soft drink", and I am also keen to try different juice flavours. As we have a few Mandarin trees, a Lemonade tree, an Orange and a newly purchased Lemon tree, I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to try combinations over the years :)
Ingredients
1 cup of tap water
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of freshly squeezed juice (I strained my to rid it of pulpy bits)
Extra water, still or sparkling, to taste (the recipe I used called for 3-4 cups, but for my taste I added closer to 6 cups, otherwise it was far too strong!)
Method
Mix 1 cup of water with sugar. Dissolve the sugar over a low heat, stirring slowly. You can tell it's done when the water is clear, and no longer cloudy.
Squeeze juice and strain if desired.
Add juice and sugar syrup to a 2 litre jug, and fill to taste with extra water.
Notes
I gave the jug a quick stir before pouring so the consistency and flavour remained even. Approximately 2 litres of this kept well for 5 days in our fridge, I suspect it would last longer but we drank it all ;)
My Dad scribbled down the recipe for Old Fashioned Lemonade and after he'd made some and liked it I decided to try it too. It was very simple, took maybe 15 minutes and made a very refreshing drink that will do well over the coming Summer months.
I made it with tap water the first time, but I am tempted to try it with sparkling to make it more "like soft drink", and I am also keen to try different juice flavours. As we have a few Mandarin trees, a Lemonade tree, an Orange and a newly purchased Lemon tree, I'm sure I'll have plenty of opportunities to try combinations over the years :)
Ingredients
1 cup of tap water
1 cup of white sugar
1 cup of freshly squeezed juice (I strained my to rid it of pulpy bits)
Extra water, still or sparkling, to taste (the recipe I used called for 3-4 cups, but for my taste I added closer to 6 cups, otherwise it was far too strong!)
Method
Mix 1 cup of water with sugar. Dissolve the sugar over a low heat, stirring slowly. You can tell it's done when the water is clear, and no longer cloudy.
Squeeze juice and strain if desired.
Add juice and sugar syrup to a 2 litre jug, and fill to taste with extra water.
Notes
I gave the jug a quick stir before pouring so the consistency and flavour remained even. Approximately 2 litres of this kept well for 5 days in our fridge, I suspect it would last longer but we drank it all ;)
Tuesday, October 28, 2014
Our new chooks
We are still relatively new to chook keeping (we got our first little flock not long after Miss 2 was born), but it is one of those "frugal" things I cannot recommend enough. We had a sad time about a month ago, where our dogs suddenly attacked and killed our 2 girls, Nugget and Icecream. We've since done some re-planning on our chicken set-up, and have decided our new girls won't have as much free-ranging time as the other two did, but they still have plenty of room in the safety of their coop and pen to safely forage about, peck at grass and make us some delicious eggs and compost for our garden!
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| Introducing Elsa (white), Anna (black) and Ariel (brown). I will get some better photos, but this one was snapped the afternoon we bought them home. |
Aside from thier physical presence in our lives, I really missed their eggs, especially when I realised to buy a dozen "free-range" eggs in a major supermarket chain in Australia is now about $6. I never really rationed eggs before, but since the price had jumped up so much in the past 2 years, I found myself almost second-guessing using them. Also, I now know I've become one of those people who cry, "They taste so much better fresh!".
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| Our first two new-chooks' eggs. We used to have just Isa Browns, and they both laid quite large eggs. Our new girls are 1 Isa and 2 leghorn bantams, whose eggs seem teeny by comparison! I'm not sure if I'll subsequently need to use more in baking, I guess we will see :) |
I was shocked in the month of being chickenless how much extra food wastage we had. Chooks eat so many more kinds of food scraps than I ever imagined before owning them.
I am so glad we have our new girls. I think I can officially say I'm a chicken-keeper-convert!
Baking Scrolls
I started this recipe post a few weeks ago - the scrolls featured are now pretty much finished! I've been jotting down stuff to blog about but have been a bit busy actually doing stuff rather than blogging about it, but there are plenty of more posts to come ;)
I had a big baking day yesterday, and filled a big container with 2 kinds of savoury scrolls and a big batch of Banana and Weetbix muffins (previously posted) to have some frozen snacks for lunch boxes on hand. I'm lucky in that my kids do generally eat fruit or carrot sticks without much fuss, but I am still trying to sneak in goodness where I can, so this time I added some pumpkin seeds in the muffins, and no one has even noticed! Miss Almost 6 is fussy with food, so if I find something she likes that isn't chips or chicken nuggets, I get excited.
A friend posted on Facebook that she was baking cheese and Vegemite scrolls and some pear muffins for her kids. INSPIRATION! Why hadn't I thought of baking savoury scrolls? My fusspot loves stuff like that from Bakers Delight, so I figured making them myself was worth a go, so she can have them and feel like it's a treat without it costing me. Success! Miss Almost 6 gobbled up four scrolls (only about a scone-size) for afternoon tea, and has asked for me to make more when these ones are done!
This is the base-recipe I used, though I doubled it and I made a batch with just Vegemite (Miss Almost 6 requested no cheese with them) and a batch of bacon and cheese too.
Scrolls:
2 cups of Self Raising flour
A pinch of salt
85 grams of unsalted butter
2/3 cup of milk (though I added more when kneading it, as it was too floury)
Method: Mix flour and salt. Rub butter in with fingertips. Mix in the milk until dough forms. Knead on floured bench until all the flour is worked in (I had to add a little more milk as mine wasn't sticking together. You don't want it wet, just like play dough). Roll the dough out to a thickeness of 1cm, it should make a good 30cm circle. Top with whatever combination you like (bacon and cheese; cheese and sweet chilli sauce; Vegemite and cheese; tomato paste, ham and cheese), and roll dough into a log. Slice into approx 2cm slices and bake on a lined pizza tray. I glaze mine with milk, and bake for 12-14 minutes on 180 degrees Celsius.
Recipe notes: A single batch of these made 12 or 13 scrolls. I don't really do the sums on this sort of recipe, but given the most expensive ingredient would be the bacon, and the rest are pretty much pantry staples, I class these as pretty cheap!
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| Vegemite scroll dough all rolled up ready to be sliced |
A friend posted on Facebook that she was baking cheese and Vegemite scrolls and some pear muffins for her kids. INSPIRATION! Why hadn't I thought of baking savoury scrolls? My fusspot loves stuff like that from Bakers Delight, so I figured making them myself was worth a go, so she can have them and feel like it's a treat without it costing me. Success! Miss Almost 6 gobbled up four scrolls (only about a scone-size) for afternoon tea, and has asked for me to make more when these ones are done!
This is the base-recipe I used, though I doubled it and I made a batch with just Vegemite (Miss Almost 6 requested no cheese with them) and a batch of bacon and cheese too.
Scrolls:
2 cups of Self Raising flour
A pinch of salt
85 grams of unsalted butter
2/3 cup of milk (though I added more when kneading it, as it was too floury)
Method: Mix flour and salt. Rub butter in with fingertips. Mix in the milk until dough forms. Knead on floured bench until all the flour is worked in (I had to add a little more milk as mine wasn't sticking together. You don't want it wet, just like play dough). Roll the dough out to a thickeness of 1cm, it should make a good 30cm circle. Top with whatever combination you like (bacon and cheese; cheese and sweet chilli sauce; Vegemite and cheese; tomato paste, ham and cheese), and roll dough into a log. Slice into approx 2cm slices and bake on a lined pizza tray. I glaze mine with milk, and bake for 12-14 minutes on 180 degrees Celsius.
Recipe notes: A single batch of these made 12 or 13 scrolls. I don't really do the sums on this sort of recipe, but given the most expensive ingredient would be the bacon, and the rest are pretty much pantry staples, I class these as pretty cheap!
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All baked and cooling down
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| Dough rolled, cooked bacon pieces and grated cheese sprinkled |
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| Bacon and cheeses all ready for the oven |
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| Having tub full of home-baked snacks on hand makes me feel super organised |
Monday, October 13, 2014
Some more op-shop bargains
No idea why this won't let me flip it round, but this tutu I bought for $4.99. Perfect condition and made Miss Nearly 6's day.
This red skirt, looks new, Pumpkin Patch, $3.99
Long sleeved dress, a size too big for Miss Nearly 6, but it was $1. Yep, ONE FREAKING DOLLAR (and there is not a thing wrong with it).
More to come this week, I've been busy crossing lots off my gardening to-do list, and had a big day baking some yummy treats today! I love being busy but it's nice to put my feet up tonight!
Thursday, October 9, 2014
My weekend garden to-do list
Just a quick list today. It's a school day and Miss 2 is at day care, so I have about 5 hours to myself. It's literally been months since I spent any time gardening, but today and tomorrow are when I am diving back in. I sort of went into hibernation over winter, but now spring is here in full force I am ready to get back out there. We don't have any vegetables growing at the moment, just a little potted herb garden, but we still have our fruit trees and ornamental garden beds to look after, and boy do they look neglected :( Onward and upward though.
We are having friends over for a barbecue tomorrow night, so Anthony will spend a few hours mowing tomorrow while I potter around with the kids ticking the remaining things off my list. I love showing them how to do things in the garden, and teaching them what my parents have taught me. I hope they continue to love nurturing and reaping the benefits of gardening as they grow up.
My to-do list:
Weed all garden beds and pots
Feed fruit trees
Plant new herbs (a lovely friend sent me and Anthony a gorgeous planter of fresh herb seedlings for our birthdays, but I am transferring them into our bigger herb pot so they can grow a bit, and we will keep the planter as a little feature, it's really pretty)
Water all pots on the patio
Compost flowering cherry tree
Trim the front hedges
Transfer the compost in the blue bin to the black one and move the blue bin to new location
Re-fence the side of the chook pen (We did have a couple of chooks, but a few weeks ago they got attacked by our older dog. He had never so much as licked them before then, but we adopted a new smaller dog about 2 months ago and we think his 'pack mentality' may have kicked in to overdrive, and unfortunately the chooks kept escaping their pen and copped it. The kids especially miss them around the garden, and so do I! Plus having to buy eggs sucks after having them fresh from our own chooks for 2 years. I am hoping to introduce some new ladies soon though. Watch this space!)
Fix the gate on the chook pen
Clean the BBQ
All this plus my normal house work makes for a busy day! I'd better get to it. Happy weekend! xx
We are having friends over for a barbecue tomorrow night, so Anthony will spend a few hours mowing tomorrow while I potter around with the kids ticking the remaining things off my list. I love showing them how to do things in the garden, and teaching them what my parents have taught me. I hope they continue to love nurturing and reaping the benefits of gardening as they grow up.
My to-do list:
Weed all garden beds and pots
Feed fruit trees
Plant new herbs (a lovely friend sent me and Anthony a gorgeous planter of fresh herb seedlings for our birthdays, but I am transferring them into our bigger herb pot so they can grow a bit, and we will keep the planter as a little feature, it's really pretty)
Water all pots on the patio
Compost flowering cherry tree
Trim the front hedges
Transfer the compost in the blue bin to the black one and move the blue bin to new location
Re-fence the side of the chook pen (We did have a couple of chooks, but a few weeks ago they got attacked by our older dog. He had never so much as licked them before then, but we adopted a new smaller dog about 2 months ago and we think his 'pack mentality' may have kicked in to overdrive, and unfortunately the chooks kept escaping their pen and copped it. The kids especially miss them around the garden, and so do I! Plus having to buy eggs sucks after having them fresh from our own chooks for 2 years. I am hoping to introduce some new ladies soon though. Watch this space!)
Fix the gate on the chook pen
Clean the BBQ
All this plus my normal house work makes for a busy day! I'd better get to it. Happy weekend! xx
Monday, October 6, 2014
Banana and weetbix muffins
Our Family Day Carer passed this recipe on to me a couple of weeks ago. She got it given to her by another parent and assured me they were worth a try. I figured any home-baked treat for the kids lunch boxes that contains fruit and wholegrain cereal is worth a shot. Happily, these were a huge hit with my kids, and a friend's kids whom I road-tested them on when we had a play date.
They did take a little longer to prepare than the recipe I usually use, but the kids and I had a fun morning baking together and they especially loved crushing up the weetbix and taking turns adding ingredients and mixing :)
Ingredients:
Bowl 1
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
2 TBS brown sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Bowl 2
2 eggs
3 TBS oil
Bowl 3
3 ripe bananas, mashed
4 weetbix, crushed (I used the Aldi brand)
1 cup milk
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and line a muffin tray with patty pans
Add each of the ingredients to its designated bowl. Once you've added the banana, weetbix and milk to bowl 3, let it soak for 10 minutes.
Beat the eggs and oil (bowl 2) well
After the 10 minutes is up, add the beaten eggs and oil (Bowl 2) to your other wet ingredients (Bowl 3)
Combine Bowl 1's contents (flour, sugar, choc chips), and then mix in the mixed wet ingredients (Bowl 1) until just combined, do not over mix
Spoon mixture into a prepared muffin tray and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Notes:
This made us a batch of 24 cupcake-sized muffins, but if you use the larger muffin cases I would guess you'd get at least a dozen. These were delicious on the day we baked them, and the left overs froze well for later use in the kids lunch boxes.
They did take a little longer to prepare than the recipe I usually use, but the kids and I had a fun morning baking together and they especially loved crushing up the weetbix and taking turns adding ingredients and mixing :)
Ingredients:
Bowl 1
1 1/2 cups self raising flour
2 TBS brown sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Bowl 2
2 eggs
3 TBS oil
Bowl 3
3 ripe bananas, mashed
4 weetbix, crushed (I used the Aldi brand)
1 cup milk
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and line a muffin tray with patty pans
Add each of the ingredients to its designated bowl. Once you've added the banana, weetbix and milk to bowl 3, let it soak for 10 minutes.
Beat the eggs and oil (bowl 2) well
After the 10 minutes is up, add the beaten eggs and oil (Bowl 2) to your other wet ingredients (Bowl 3)
Combine Bowl 1's contents (flour, sugar, choc chips), and then mix in the mixed wet ingredients (Bowl 1) until just combined, do not over mix
Spoon mixture into a prepared muffin tray and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean.
Notes:
This made us a batch of 24 cupcake-sized muffins, but if you use the larger muffin cases I would guess you'd get at least a dozen. These were delicious on the day we baked them, and the left overs froze well for later use in the kids lunch boxes.
All ready for the freezer
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