Orange and Raspberry Smoothie - Cheers!

I don't care that we are just over one week from winter (one week!!!), the weather has been so gloriously warm that I couldn't resist something fruity and cool with lunch today.

I give you...

The orange and raspberry smoothie!

Pretty sure this isn't an original idea, but it was so basic to make and so incredibly delicious that I thought I'd share it anyway.

Ingredients:
2 oranges - cut in wedges and peeled
Approximately 1/2 a cup of frozen raspberries

Put ingredients in food processor (I used the jug that came with my Bamix) and process till it's basically smooth.

Pour into a pretty glass and enjoy!

I will say that this makes enough for a large glass - or 1 1/2 smaller glasses. And I did have to fight the boys off to get ANY. Little Clam would have drunk all of it if I let him (he got the half glass), and Baby Starfish (who's not really a baby anymore) tried to scarf all of my glass full.

So go on, get off your computer and go make one! You can come back and thank me later! ;)

Cleaning out the Fridge

I can't believe we have been home almost a month, and I'm only now just getting back into my blog space! The Jelly fish is back at school for his second year, Swimming lessons are just kicking off again, and there has been a parade of visitors through our front door ever since we got home. But what I really wanted to share with you today was this little bit of tastiness...

The Roast Pumpkin and Beetroot Wrap.

It's what you do when you arrive home late in the day from holidays and couldn't be bothered dragging yourself to the shops for groceries and everyone is hungry AND the fridge is basically empty. It's just a layer of mashed white beans (tinned) with some herbs/garlic salt mixed in, some thin sliced "fingers" of cheese, grated beetroot, some thinly sliced fingers of pumpkin that are fried in olive oil till just soft, and some shredded sweet potato leaves (because you don't have any lettuce in the fridge, but you DO have sweet potatoes growing out the back!) all wrapped up in a multi grain tortilla. YUM.

If you give it a go I'd love to hear what you think.

Bon appetit!

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Nifty Thrifty Sunday

Mini Christmas Puddings: A Tradion in the Making

Here we are, only week till Christmas Eve. The last few days since J has finished school have gone past in a cyclone of activity - yet I don't feel I've actually achieved a whole lot. Today was one day that I thought I'd actually DO something purposeful with the boys. We made mini Christmas Puddings. The boys have been asking to do them for the past two weeks - how could I deny them the pleasure it gives them? So the date was set for today. And so, I guess, a Christmas tradition of our own is born.

They took turns crumbling up sections of the cake, and breaking up the chocolate while I cut glace cherries into halves. The whole process seemed to go so quickly, yet watching them do their part in turn was a heart warming sight. Mixing the melted chocolate in and rolling them into balls took a bit more effort with the big bowl of crumbly mess. I'm pretty sure the temptation to lick their fingers was there, but they worked on with a determination that kids twice their age might not have shown ( I'd promised them that they could have one when the last cherry was placed on top).

So here they are in all their small handmade glory (those that haddn't already been eaten by their creators, that is!)...

{Make It!}

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Ingredients:

1 Dark Christmas Cake

1 block of Cadbury Old Gold Chocolate (Or other dark chocolate of your choice)

1/2 cup (approx) White chocolate Melts

1/2 cup glace cherries (or as many as you think look good)

1. Crumble cake thoroughly in a large mixing bowl.

2.  Melt chocolate in microwave on a medium heat for about 90 seconds and stir until all lumps are melted.

3. Mix thoroughly through crumbled cake.

4. Roll into balls about the size of a golf ball or a little smaller.

5. Melt white chocolate on a medium heat for 60 - 90 seconds (If you choose to use more white chocolate, you will need a little more time than 60 seconds - it will also depend on your microwave).

6. Use a teaspoon to dollop white chocolate on top till it looks like custard running down.

7. Top with glace cherries and pop in the fridge till the chocolate sets.

These will keep in the fridge... till they all get eaten - it won't be long! ;)

They will keep in the freezer a bit longer than that.

   Bon Appetit!

Button Biscuits - {Gluten Free, Dairy Free + Soy Free}

I searched high and low on the net for a good button biscuit recipe. There were lots of cute ones around, but the recipes seemed more complex than I wanted to deal with. So I got out my Big Book of Beautiful Biscuits and browsed it's pages till I found something that I thought I could tweak to suit my needs. (MY Brother is both Gluten and Dairy intolerant, and my nephew is Soy intolerant, so that sometimes makes things a little bit of a challenge). It was actually Little Clam that found the recipe - Hundreds & Thousands Biscuits.

Here are my adaptations:

{MAKE IT!}

Print Recipe      

50g Nuttelex Lite
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon (Sanitaruim) Almond Milk
2/3 Cup Gluten Free self-raising flour
1/2 Cup Gluten Free Plain flour
A range of different sprinkles, and coloured fondant**
extra Almond Milk

Round Cutter *

Cream the Nuttelex, add sugar in small amounts till mixture is light and fluffy. Add beaten egg, almond milk, and vanilla. Sift in self-raising flour a bit at a time, followed by the plain flour untill the dough is firm enough to handle. Refridgerate for a couple of hours (while you go off and do the millions of other things that you needed to do today). Roll out dough to a 3 - 4mm thickness (the type of flour we used makes the biscuits puff up quite a bit) between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper. Cut with a floured cutter. Place on a biscuit tray lined with greaseproof paper, brush with almond milk, and sprinkle with hundreds and thousands. Press on slightly. Bake in a moderate oven for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool on trays.

Tips
* Round Cutter - I made mine from  a strip of a soft drink bottle taped together with packing tape since I didn't have any cutters small enough.

** I only put sprinkles on half of the cookies. The rest I baked without topping them and then cut out fondant circles later with the same cutter. I used a drinking straw to make the two holes in the middle of each one, and glued them on the biscuit by lightly brushing the back of the fondant with almond milk.

*** For ease of putting the sprinkles on neatly, place cutter of biscuit and sprinkle inside the perimeter.

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Nifty Thrifty Sunday

Cottage Cheese & Brown Rice Patties

For Baby Starfish's Cute as a Button first birthday celebrations I whipped up a big batch of Cottage Cheese & Brown Rice Patties. They are my favourite patties to have on hand. They are reasonably low in fat, freeze well and they taste AHH-MAZ-ING. I have even served them before for a family Valentines Day Dinner.

The difference this time was that I made them small. Teeny tiny by patty standards actually. About the size of a twenty cent piece, actually, they were a bit smaller than that. They take forever to shape when they are that small, let me tell you, but they were SO worth it! They didn't last very long on the table and even the birthday boy and his sweet little friend (who is six weeks younger) gobbled them up in a very short space of time.

So whip out your ingredients (or pop to the shop if you need to) and get cooking!

Cottage Cheese and Brown Rice Patties 

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Ingredients:

2 Cups cooked, day old, brown rice

500g (2 cups) cottage cheese

1 packet French Onion soup mix

2 eggs, beaten

1 onion

Olive oil (Just enough to pan fry with.)

1. Pre-cook the brown rice the day before according to the instructions on the packet. I use the absorption method.

2. Quarter an onion and place it in your food processor (you can grate it if you don’t have one). Add the eggs and turn on food processor till the onion is finely chopped and the eggs are beaten (unorthodox, but it’s quick and it works!)

3. Place rice, cottage cheese, French Onion soup, and the egg/onion mix to your mixing bowl and mix till combined.

4. Shape into patties, and roll in bread crumbs.

5. Fry till golden brown. Set aside on a tray lined with kitchen paper to drain any excess oil off.

Enjoy!

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Nifty Thrifty Sunday

On the Table: Creamy Tomato Gnocchi

In the midst of party planning here again, so I was keen to make something that wasn't too involved or time consuming. I had some gnocchi in the cupboard, but the site of the jars of pasta sauce was about as interesting as licking the gardening fork after a morning session of digging (although if you were my one year old, then the appeal levels go right up when it comes to consuming dirt and sand!!!). Slight dilemma. So off I went further rummaging through the pantry.

Ahhh yes. A can of Campbell's Tomato soup. MUCH better. Enter two carrots, a bunch of tiny broccoli florets, and a dash of cream and this is what I came up with.

Creamy Tomato Gnocchi. Yummm. It was such a hit with the family I thought I'd share the recipe with you.

{Make It!}

Print Recipe         

Ingredients:

1 package of Golden Pasta Gnocchi Baby

1 tin of Campbell's Tomato Soup

2 Medium carrots - peeled , quartered and sliced

1 cup of broccoli florets - cut up small

Enough water to ½ fill the soup tin

Dash of cream (up to a scant ⅛ cup)

Parmesan and parsley to garnish.

1. To a pan of salted boiling water, add the carrot and broccoli.

2. Wait till the water comes back to the boil and add the gnocchi. Continue to heat till the water returns to the boil, and the gnocchi rises to the top.

3. Add tin of tomato soup to a separate pan, enough water to ½ fill the the tomato soup tin, and a dash of cream (add to your taste). Stir till it thickens and changes colour (It will get a more translucent look and you will know that the soup is ‘cooked’).

4. When the gnocchi starts to sink again, remove from heat and drain. Add the sauce and stir through.

5. Serve gnocchi with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan and garnish with parsley.

Bon Appetit!

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Baked Pear Custard

I've been a little bit absent lately, haven't I? Or perhaps that should be a LOT. I still can't believe that I basically missed Autumn! Not for lack of making things - although the opportunities for such has been pretty limited - I'm making the most of the little snatches of time that I have.  I thought I would share the baked pear custard with you that I have been making with all the lush, juicy pears that have been around (the ones that didn't get eaten, that is!) for dessert. I don't tend to make desserts all the time, but I do like to treat my boys a couple of times a week.

With the change in the seasons kicking in strongly this week, I thought it high time to make something a little fitting with the change. This dessert is great because you can eat it hot or cold - and both are equally lovely. It's so simple and quick to whip up it makes you wonder why you don't make it more often (this is the second time I've made it).

Baked Pear Custard

Print Recipe                   

2 pears, thinly sliced
1/3 cup caster sugar
2 tsp custard powder
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 cups of either milk or So Nice, heated

Arrange pear over the base of lightly greased ramekin dishes or  baking dish.

Combine sugar and custard powder, then whisk in eggs and vanilla. Gradually add hot milk to egg mixture.

3. Pour egg mixture over pears. Bake in a slow oven, 150 degrees C, for one hour or until set.

Enjoy!

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