Archive for News

Naughty and 40

November 18, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged , , ,

Have you ever had that experience of waking up, looking in the mirror and being a bit shocked by what you see? I had that moment over the weekend when I looked and welcomed another significant wrinkle. Not content with adding to my collection of laugh lines, this one actually crosses over the laugh lines forming a nice mesh, reminiscent of fishnets but far less alluring.

Apparently the phrase ‘aging overnight’ is based on fact, not fiction. It’s true, people don’t age gradually, but in ‘clunks’ and after the age of 35 we’re in aging freefall.

Having a second non-sleeping baby at 34½ apparently gave me a double whammy of aging. My ‘overnight’ seemed to stretch for one blurry four-year period and then when my focus cleared enough to look in the mirror, I was 38 and not the youthful flower I had been seven years earlier when I breathlessly announced my first pregnancy. (Incidentally, women feel at their most beautiful at age 32).

Searching the web on all things aging, I was thrilled to discover ‘Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome’ which is the sudden aging of soap characters. Like when Bridget Forrester suddenly got old enough to be in a love triangle with her mother and Deacon. And I’m wondering if all those university hours spent watching ‘The Bold & The Beautiful’ was detrimental to my health and somehow it twiddled with my gene structure to leave me stuck with that syndrome. You see, in my mind, I’m still 25. Which is weird, because my daughter turns 9 next birthday and she’s nearly as tall as me.

Actually the truth is that I’m pondering all these things because I’m turning 40 this week. And no matter how I try to deny it, people keep doing things like giving me birthday cards with ’40 and naughty’ on the front and cheery messages like “you’re another year more wonderful”. The sentiment is sweet, but I can’t help but think of people saying, “gee you must be lucky” when a bird craps on your jacket. They’re trying to make you feel better, but really, it’s all a little bit bullshit.

So sticking with sweet, it seems right to do a chocolate slice recipe this week. And when you bite in, think of me, huddled in the old lady corner, lamenting the loss of my youth.

Happy birthday to me, I live in a tree…

Chocolate slice

1 cup plain flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup desiccated coconut
1/2 cup oat bran
40g butter, melted and cooled
140g tub apple purée
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 eggs, lightly whisked

Icing
1 1/4 cups icing sugar mixture
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2-3 tbsp water
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 180c. Line a lamington/slice tin with baking paper (leave some to hang over the two long sides).

Sift the flour and cocoa into a large mixing bowl. Add in the sugar, coconut and oat bran. Mix lightly.

In a separate bowl or jug combine the butter, purée, eggs and vanilla.

Pour the wet into the dry and fold until totally combined. Spoon the mixture into your tin and patiently spread with a spatula until even. Bake for 25 minutes until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the tray.

Sift the icing sugar mixture and cocoa into a bowl. Add in the water and mix well then pour over the slice and leave it to harden in the tin.

Use the sides of the paper to lift out and slice into 20 pieces.

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Pass me the berocca

October 30, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken, News · Tagged , , ,

Gee I like holidays. Even with my kids I like them. And without my kids I liked them even more. Here’s how it went…

Wake up (at a time of my choosing). Swim. Coffee. Eat. Chat. Sun. Read. Swim. Chat. Eat. Rest. Drinkie. Chat. Snacks. Chat. Swim. Sunset. Chat. Eat. Perhaps a wee cocktail or three.

Now whilst I don’t condone excessive drinking, I must admit that I did toss back quite a few, which I blame entirely on the delirium we experienced being a bunch of women away from small children for the first time. Somehow the years slipped away and it felt more like schoolies week all over again. Except we’re pretty wrinkly now. And way beyond the acceptable age range for such shenanigans. We’re not schoolies. Not even toolies. Quite possibly we’re moulies – the mother version, who drink with gay abandon, delirious in their solo-ness and removal from menial tasks such as preparing vegetable purees.

Time though, for something far more healthful.

Easy to make and will get me back on track on no time.



Chicken & brown rice salad

5-6 cups cooked brown rice
600g poached chicken breast (see below for how to poach), sliced
1 carrot, peeled, grated
4 spring onions, finely sliced
Handful green beans, sliced
410g can corn kernels, drained
¾ cup raw cashews, roughly chopped
½ bunch parsley, roughly chopped
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1-2 tbsp maple syrup

Add all the salad ingredients into a large bowl. Whisk together the vinegar, oil, mustard and maple syrup. Drizzle over and stir through.

Serves 2 adults & 3 kids. NOTE kids might like to have theirs served before you mix in the parsley.

HOW TO POACH CHICKEN
I like to halve my chicken breasts horizontally, so they’re nice and thin. Fill a medium saucepan with water (add some vegie or chicken stock powder), 10 black pepper corns, a fresh bay leaf or two and any other herbs you have handy. Cover and bring to a vigorous boil. Remove from the heat, slip in the chicken, swish them about, cover quickly and leave for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.

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You go girlfriend

October 19, 2012 · Filed under News · Tagged

Matching sunnies, polish and cossie and a kindle. All packed.

Keeping perspective in the midst of raising small children is a nearly impossible task. Any mother who can maintain mental balance whilst cleaning up smeared shit, sorting out tantrums, opened cupboard catastrophes and other misadventures deserves a medal. I have never been one of those women.

Parenting for me has been the most life altering, fantastic and horrific adventure. Full of the highest highs and the lowest lows. My children have shown me what life is truly all about. They have taught me what love means. They have made me understand my own mother better and forced open parts of my own personality that were previously ignored by self-interest and self-absorption. Because of them I am kinder, more patient, more empathetic and less uptight. They have been an enormous blessing. But still, most days, at some point, I generally want to kill one or the other of them as they manage to find mischief that leaves me slack-jawed.

I suspect that I’m similar to most people and found my world closed down a lot during my first few years of motherhood. Most of my girlfriends didn’t have kids yet, so we spoke less. Everyone is busy. And then the years go by.

A couple of years ago, it occurred to me that I’d lost all balance in my life. My whole world revolved around my husband and kids, with a trickle of time left over for myself. And I never spoke to my girlfriends anymore, who by this time were also knee deep in shit and nappies and love.

For the past couple of years, with my kids getting a bit bigger and life calming a little, I’ve made a definite effort to get back in touch with the women who I’ve known all my life, who have been through it all with me, who saw quite a few boyfriends, jobs and adventures come and go, who were at my wedding, came to visit my newborn then drifted off into their own adult lives.

With 50% of marriages ending in divorce, it is quite likely that it will be these women who are there at the end of my life. We will have watched (some of our) husbands come and go, our children mature and leave home. They’ll be there for the health scares, deaths and upheavals. Well hopefully they will be, but I guess it will only happen if we can consolidate our friendships throughout this middle, busy stage of life.

Which is why I’m so pleased that we’re all dumping our families and kids and heading away together next week. 5 nights! It’s taken 18 months of planning and all sorts of personal logistics to make it happen. We’ve vowed to leave the mummy guilt behind and go and do something for ourselves for five whole days. We’re all turning 40 you see, and it feels really important to celebrate it together, to celebrate who we are, without all the other bits of life that keep us so busy.

It’s a good feeling to have these women in my life. I treasure them.

Even if you’re reading this, with a toddler on your feet crying, or a baby who needs a feed or another load of washing that needs doing, I urge you to take the time and get in touch with that wonderful woman who has been in your life for years, who you haven’t seen much of lately. I reckon it’s an investment worth making.
________________

While I’m flitting around, e-book orders will continue to be delivered, but all orders for hard copy books placed from Tuesday will be filled from Monday Oct 29. Thanks for your understanding.

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Fat bum? Empty wallet? Try these cheap school holiday ideas.

September 20, 2012 · Filed under Craft for non-crafty parents, News · Tagged , , , ,

DISCLAIMER: This is a Levis curve ID ad, NOT my ‘ass’.

Bracing for the chaos of school holidays, I scheduled in a bit of ‘me’ time this week. I planned a long overdue hair appointment and time afterwards for a masochistic quest for a new pair of jeans and a vaguely flattering cozzie.

With the kids dropped off, I made it to the shops just in time to dash to the loo and discover that my period had started. Profusely. Obviously, it was a bad sign. But we all know how precious and hard-won a few hours to ourselves is – NOTHING was going to stop me.

Three hours and $250 later I left the hairdresser feeling drab. Stuck in that female twilight land between young and cool and old and forgotten I looked like a nice sensible newsreader. But I persevered. It was my ‘me’ day, after all.

Searching for swimmers was no more gratifying. I’m too stretch-marked for bikinis, but about 25 years too young for one of those scary pre-shaped nanna cozzies.

Feeling my nerves fraying, I gave up on that and headed for jeans. With only an hour until pick up, I grabbed several pairs and headed for a change-room where I analysed my arse up close for the first time since I last bought jeans. It wasn’t pretty. I tried to remember if the rule is that small back pockets make your arse look fat, or if it’s big pockets will make your arse look fat and then realized that actually my arse just looked fat because it IS fat. Despairing, I chucked my own old favourite jeans back on, only to discover that they indeed ALSO MAKE MY ARSE LOOK FAT. Sigh.

I bought a scarf. Abandoning all hope I headed to the car only to discover that I’d slipped over into hour 5 and now needed to pay $25 to get my crappy old car released from this hellish torture centre known as Chatswood Chase.

On the bright side, after a terrible day of focusing on myself, I’m now more than happy to shift over to simpler places and focus on the kids for a couple of weeks. I’ve done some planning and researched a few free, fun ‘Spring’ activities to keep us busy. Which is lucky, considering in my unsatisfying vanity quest, I’ve spent all our money.

Miss F will be delighted to combine her two favourite things (pressing flowers & rock collecting) in this project to make a decoupage paperweight. Once that’s gotten boring, she can move onto making coasters for Nanna (sorry Nanna, we won’t mind if they disappear after a couple of visits).

More on the flower theme, girls of all ages will enjoy whipping up these Martha Stewart tissue pom poms.

Boys might want to skip the florals and head straight for bugs, with these cool critter craft ideas. And here’s a weird little spider to make. You need an empty soft-drink can for the last one, which you’ll have after you’ve introduced your kids to the joy of a spider you can drink. Not healthy, but hugely fun, place a small scoop of ice-cream in a really big tall glass, then pour over enough soft drink (lemonade is the least offensive, but traditionally you should use creaming soda) to get a good fizz going. Serve with a big long spoon. Your kids will not believe their luck. Ice cream AND soft drink all in one dish.

While they’re on a treat theme, why not astonish them with your awesomeness by helping them make honeycomb. Practically sunshine in your mouth, you make it by boiling up sugar and golden syrup, then popping in some bicarb. There’s a nice easy recipe for it here.

With sunshine in your mouth and sugar in your veins, it’s time for a holiday YouTube disco (with a sunshine theme of course). Go retro with Katrina & the Waves – Walking on Sunshine, Stevie Wonder – You are the sunshine of my life, The Animals – House of the rising sun, Len – Steal my sunshine or Dario G – Sunchyme (remember that video clip with all the people being animals? The kids will love it).

And if they’ve still got energy to burn, then head to the park for some running about. There are some great activities to choose from here. (I particularly like the ‘giant, wizard, elf’ game, which is a whole body version of ‘scissors, paper, rock’ that ends with chasings).

And with all that to keep you busy, you won’t have to go anywhere near a shopping centre. Praise the lord.

______________________

For more school holiday ideas, visit here (with the psychedelic marble cake) or more ‘on the cheap’ ideas here.

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The easiest cupcake recipe ever

September 9, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged , , , , , ,

It’s true that I own an embarrassing amount of cookbooks. It’s a compulsion that lures me into every second hand bookstore I pass. There are cookbooks for baking with yeast, Danish sandwich making and Pritikin diets. Most are curiosities, mostly unused. But amid the novelties are essentials and the Sally Wise cookbooks are ones I refer to over and over again. Possibly because her food is a perfect fit for me and how I cook. Family food. Flavour over fancy. No smears, no complicated reductions, just page after page of family winners. Her gluten free book should be a first port of call for those of you needing help in that area. Her slow cooker book is fantastic and her preserves books are the only ones you will need (should that be your thing).

So I was keen to get her new book, ‘Sweet’. It’s perfect for those of us heading towards a spring season of cake stalls and fete days.

Our school fundraiser was last weekend and I’d pledged 24 cupcakes. Thinking I’d be making my life easier, I went to buy a packet mix. Looking on the back I saw I’d need to add my own eggs, oil and milk. Soooo…. ummmmm…. what exactly is in the packet then? Just flour, sugar-like substances and a stack of preservatives, thickeners and colourings. I popped it back, pretty sure I could do better.

So straight to Sally and she came to my rescue. This cake mix is SO incredibly easy and the cakes were really good.

sally-wise-chocolate-cupcakes

A tiny teddy never goes astray.

Sally Wise’s Chocolate Cupcakes (from Sweet!) My comments are in italics.

Makes 10 (although I made a triple batch and ended up with about 3 dozen).

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
½ cup milk
1 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup cocoa powder
90 g butter, melted

Heat oven to 160C. Line a muffin tray with paper cases.

Place all ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat for two minutes until thick & creamy. (YES, TRULY, THIS IS ALL YOU DO!!!!)

Fill cases to 2/3 full and bake for 12-15 minutes or so until the middle of the cake is springy (IN MY CRAP OVEN, THE COOKING TIME WAS ACTUALLY JUST OVER 20 MINS)

Cool completely, then ice.

Icing
180g icing sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tsp softened butter
boiling water.

Sift the icing sugar and cocoa into a bowl, mix in the butter and enough boiling water to make a smooth consistency.

I dipped my iced cakes in sprinkles and topped with a tiny teddy. I noticed during my time of the cupcake stall that lollies and really colourful toppings were MUCH more popular than the more measly, spartan looking ones.

vs-promo-1

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‘A mum turns 29, looks 55’

September 3, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Chicken, News · Tagged , , ,

Do you get those spammy ads in your Facebook sidebar? The ones with a pic of a supermodel labeled as a ’55–year old mom’? Apparently that’s possible with a facemask. I can’t decide if I like them more or less than the emails I get from ‘Arnold A Hornymaker’ offering me Viagra so that my husband can make me moan all night. Excuse me Mr Hornymaker, but I need some SLEEP.

In fabulous advertising fashion, all of these ads are designed to make me feel bad about myself and offer me a trip to the promised land of eternal youth, beauty and wild all-night sex. Because apparently life was so much better back then, when I was 29. Or was it?

Caught up in the nostalgia for parties, clubs, beaches and restaurants I forget how fraught that time was. Monday comedowns. Horrible bosses. Existential angst about if I’d find the right man, nauseating first dates, Sunday morning walks of shame. All more fun in hindsight I reckon.

So here’s the thing, spammers. I’ve already been youthful and agree that it’s wasted on the young. I’ve been more beautiful than I am now but was so insecure I didn’t know how to handle it. And I’ve had all-night sex. And it got me pregnant. So BAM, you can take your facemasks and horny-making pills and shove them.

I like my life more now. I like my kids, my husband, my friends and my home. They’re a comfortable little niche that I’ve carved out of this crazy world. Cuddling my children takes me closer to the Divine than anything else I’ve experienced. The wrinkles seem like a fair trade for a piece of contentment. Besides, I don’t think my equilibrium could cope with a sudden burst of youth or beauty or passion.

To celebrate the simple, here’s an easy stir-fry recipe. It’s not fancy, but neither am I. And that’s just fine.

Simple. But good.



Chicken & cashew stir fry

1 tbsp peanut oil
500g chicken thigh fillets, finely sliced (you can buy pre chopped breast fillets, but I find they dry out and aren’t as yummy)
6 spring onions, sliced
1 carrot, peeled, finely sliced (or batons are good too)
1 celery stalk, sliced on the diagonal (just so you look authentic)
½ cup raw, unsalted cashews
½ red capsicum, cut into strips
125g can corn kernels, drained
1 bunch bok choy, washed and sliced across- ways (so that you’ve got crunchy bits and separate leafy bits)
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp tomato sauce
Fresh coriander (optional)
Serve with hokkein noodles or jasmine rice

Prepare all of your ingredients first so that everything is ready to go.

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over high heat.

Cook the chicken in batches for 5-6 minutes until turning golden and just cooked through. Remove and set aside. Continue until all the chicken is cooked. (Please take the time to do this, you’ll get a much better result).

Return all the cooked chicken to the wok and add the carrot, celery and cashews. Keep everything moving constantly for a minute or so, then add in the capsicum, thick stalk bits of bok choy and spring onions. After another minute, add in the corn, bok choy leaves and the sauces.

Stir until well combined and the bok choy has turned a beautiful deep green (just another minute or so). Serve over noodles or rice.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 2 KIDS

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“What would my mom do?”

August 27, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Red meat · Tagged , , , , , ,

I’ve got a parenting dilemma on my mind, so I’ve been surfing the net and having a think about ethics, decision-making and how to raise ‘morally courageous’ children.

There’s a nice PBS story here (watch the video) about a fella who spends his life teaching people how to make ethical decisions. Not just any old decisions, but life’s tricky and less obvious ones. When a question has two right answers, which one is REALLY right?

He advises taking the ‘stench test’, which is a gut level response to something. How badly does does a particular response smell? And beyond that you can take the ‘mom test’ which is “what would my mom do?” Which is great advice, except when you’re the mom and you don’t know what to do.

Not that my problem is large – it’s just that Miss F has qualified for the next round of her year 2 public speaking competition. Which of course isn’t the problem. The problem is that her speech focuses on what a MEANIE her mum is, and spins an entertaining story of her horrible mum FORCING her to do ballet instead of karate. It’s a thrilling tale, full of arabesques and kung-fu kicks that was a hit with the 7-year-olds. And now in the next round, I can go along to cheer her on.

The problem for me is that the entire speech isn’t true. Not a word. She doesn’t do ballet OR karate. She does netball. And that was her choice. So do I stand in a hall and cheer her on as she slags off her mum in front of 3 classes of kids and their parents? Do I suck it up and clap and cheer for her at the sake of my own humiliation?

The STENCH TEST tells me that I have to. Other ethics articles I read talked about keeping a strong sense of ‘ethical goals’ in mind. Which for me, means that I want to be a supportive parent and regardless of subject matter, I need to be there for my child. The WHAT WOULD MY MOM DO test is tougher. My mum would definitely have been there. But to be fair, I would never have made a fictitious speech out of being mad at her. Tricky.

Your dilemma this week is simpler. Do you make this beef goulash in a pot in the oven or in your slow cooker? It’s another yes/yes decision and whichever you choose, there are instructions below. Best yet, there is no stench test, just a delicious aroma to enjoy.

Finish up winter with this delicious dish.

Beef goulash (two ways)

2 tbsp olive oil
3-4 tbsp plain flour (omit this for slow cooker)
1 kg chuck steak, cut into 2-3cm cubes
2 onions
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 large carrot, peeled, diced
1 parsnip, peeled, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp brown sugar
1 litre beef stock (slow cooker variation: ½ litre)
400g tomatoes
¼ cup tomato paste

You need a stove to oven casserole dish for this version of the recipe.

Preheat the oven to 160C.

1. Heat the oil in your casserole dish over medium/high heat. Toss the steak in the flour to coat. Shake off excess and cook in batches, turning to brown on all sides. Remove and set aside. Repeat until it is all done. (Take your time, it’s worth doing this properly – I always get this bit underway then chop up the rest of the vegies in between turning). Remove and set aside.

2. Add more oil to the pan if needed and sauté the onions, celery and carrot for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften. Add the parsnip then the garlic, stirring constantly.

3. Return the meat to the pan. Sprinkle over the paprika and sugar. Cook for another minute or so before pouring over the stock, tomatoes and tomato paste.

Cover with a lid, transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours.

Remove, season to taste and serve with pasta, peas and sour cream.

SLOW COOKER VARIATION.

Heat a frying pan over medium/high heat. Add some oil and follow step 2 from the regular recipe. Pour this mix into the base of your 5.5-6 litre slow cooker.

Toss the meat in the paprika & sugar then pop straight into the cooker (yay – no need to brown). Pour over ½ litre stock, 400g tomatoes and ¼ cup tomato paste.

Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

SERVES 2 ADULTS & 6ish KIDS (or you’ll probably get enough for two family meals – stock the freezer).

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Giveaways (with FREE STUFF)

August 24, 2012 · Filed under News · Tagged , ,

Regular readers will know that I generally steer clear of PR posts (and PRs generally steer clear of me).

I’ve discovered the hard way that, ‘we’ll pop some [insert product name] in the mail for you to review’ actually translates as ‘we’ll bribe you with free stuff in return for favourable comments’. So after initial gushing from PRs about the AWESOMENESS of my blog, the silence has been deathly once I’ve posted truthfully about the product they’ve been flogging.

I prefer to make a buck selling my own products and I’ve worked pretty hard to gain the trust of my readers. I don’t want to insult you all by PROSTITUTING myself for the sake of some free biscuits. (Although I must say, I was recently sent a bunch of dairy & gluten free biscuits from Eskal and they were FANTASTIC and definitely worth seeking out).

But sometimes the planets align and I get approached by people who are promoting brands or causes I support and who are happy to offer a giveaway. Then I find myself quite amiable. As Kerry Packer was reported to say, “There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?”. Mine is apparently about $4.35 for a packet of Eskal chocolate wafers. So here we go…

See, I even popped the branded bag in the background!

Giveaway #1

Bakers Delight is launching their new Chia & Fruit bread. I’ve had a munch of it and it’s good. Less sweet than a supermarket fruit bread and much more substantial. I’ve compared the nutrition panels of the chia loaf vs. a regular raisin toast and the BD one wins in every single category (plus it packs in Omega 3s), which makes it a really good afternoon tea or lunchbox option. My preference was for the loaf covered with chia seeds rather than the sunflower kernels. Anyway – cut to the shizzle – Bakers Delight have given me 3x$10 vouchers to give away so that you can buy some a loaves of your own to try. To enter, leave a comment below about what your favourite BD product is and why. Just for the record, mine is definitely their MINCE TARTS. They are so good that I don’t even bother trying to make my own. Just buy theirs.

Giveaway #2

More altruistic, this giveaway is sponsored by Aussie Farmers Direct in collaboration with the GI Cancer institute to help promote their Gutsy Kids challenge. Note, gutsy kids, not gusty kids, which is the typo I keep making (this version would be for those on an all cabbage challenge). You can read all about the fabulous program here.

The challenge helps to encourage kids (adults, you’re welcome to join in) to eat 2 serves of fruit and 4 serves of vegies every day for a week. And while you’re getting healthier, you’re raising money for cancer research. Did you know that 26 Australians die each day from gastro intestinal cancers? I didn’t.

If you have Vegie Smugglers 2 then you can flip to the handy visual reference of serving sizes to see what 2/4 actually entails.

Here’s a suggestion of how to reach your daily quota: have a banana on your cereal, a carrot at recess, some spinach leaves on your sandwich, an apple for arvo tea, some cucumber & green beans for a pre-dinner snack (try serving them with beetroot dip for extra points). Then for dinner… well… welcome to Vegie Smugglers, pretty much any dinner you serve the kids will get you to your target.

To win the Aussie Farmer’s Direct fruit box, comment below about your favourite Vegie Smugglers recipe, including which vegies you can now sneak into your little lovelies thanks to this site or the cookbooks. And please do visit the Gutsy Challenge website.

Right then, tarting done. I’ll pop my bustier and feather boa away and see you all next week with a great end of winter dinner!

*Thanks all competition now closed. Congratulations to Kirsty for winning the Aussie Farmer’s Direct box, and to Claire, Rebecca and Laura for winning the Baker’s Delight vouchers.*

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Chocolate, bran & zucchini muffins

August 19, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged , , , , ,

Well, there was much interest in these little chocolate morsels when I put up a preview pic the other day over on Facebook. So rather than making you wait, I’ve fast-tracked them onto the blog for you all to bake up this week. Rather than being puritanical about food and healthy eating, I like to acknowledge that the vast majority of us mortals WILL eat chocolate; so the least I can do is pack a bit of extra fibre into the mix to make them just a tiny bit healthier.

They’re nut free and easily made dairy free too, which means that most lunchboxes should cope with them nicely.

Now I know you’re all out there, I can hear you breathing. Well actually, I can see my traffic stats. But none of you ever really comment on here. Why is that? I know we all chat over at FB, but my poor old blog gets a bit lonely from time to time. I always love to hear about if you try out a recipe, how it goes and what variations you need to make for your family.

Don’t be shy. Remember then when you post recipe comments with the posts they get kept for future reference. On FB they just get forgotten in the jumble of cyber junk.

Both you and the kids will be happy with these!

Chocolate, bran and zucchini muffins

1 ¼ cups self-raising flour
¾ cup Allbran cereal (or any type of bran bits)
¼ cup cocoa powder
½ cup brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
1 egg
¾ cup milk (soy works great)
¾ cup vegetable oil (I like grapeseed, but canola is cheaper)
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 zucchini, grated (fearless VS testers report back that small/medium zucchini will work best, or a large one may need to have liquid squeezed out).

Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a 12 cup regular muffin tray (I just use spray oil since I’m too lazy to melt and brush on butter).

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, bran, cocoa, sugar and cinnamon.

In a separate bowl or jug, mix together the egg, milk, oil, vanilla and zucchini.

Pour wet ingredients into dry, mix gently until well combined. Divide evenly between your muffin holes and bake for 25 minutes or so, until they spring back when touched and a skewer comes out clean.

Makes 12.

Optional extra: a ½ cup of choc chips will make these extra chocolatey!

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Finding winter time joy (in sugar)

August 11, 2012 · Filed under All recipes, Food experiences, News, Sweets & treats · Tagged , , ,

A couple of weeks ago I slipped on my wooden stairs and slammed down on my arse. It was a graceful, elegant move designed to demonstrate to the children exactly why we don’t run on the stairs in our socks. After a couple of visits to a lovely (medically trained) young man with strong hands I’m now feeling alot better and am knowledgeable about C8, T3 and S4. After giving myself a fair whack, I have several ongoing symptoms, one of which is chronic GRUMPINESS, no doubt helped along by continued cold weather and the fact we’ve not had a decent holiday since this trip, which I sadly see is nearly two years ago.

How are you other Southern Hemisphere folks all travelling? Over it? What measures do you put in place to survive winter? I like to think that I combine a noble combination of exercise, interesting projects and a Zen attitude about the ebb and flow of nature to get me through, but actually I just tend to eat more sugar, wear ridiculous amounts of clothing and whinge. A lot. I whinge about the cold. About how unfit I am. About how much my children whinge. About the consistent stream of people telling me I need to read Sarah Wilson’s “I quit sugar” in order to pick myself up a little. Don’t they understand that sugar is my winter lifeline?

In defiance, here’s a cakey-bread loaf that I highly recommend for a little shot of food pleasure. As with most of my sweet stuff, there’s a silver lining of nutrition to ease your conscience and make that second piece seem more acceptable. It’s delicious straight from the oven, or do the classic banana bread thing, of toasting slices and spreading your sugar with lard.

vegie-smugglers-fruit-nut-loaf

See! Smiling already.

Ricotta, nut & currant bread

250g tub ricotta cheese
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1¼ cups self-raising flour
½ tsp baking powder
Rind of 1 orange
1¼ cups nuts (walnuts, hazelnuts & almonds are good), roughly chopped
¾ cup currants

Preheat the oven to 180c. Grease and line a 14x20cm loaf tin.

In a large bowl, mix together the cheese and sugar.

Sift over the flour and baking powder. Pop the zest, nuts and currants on top and fold it all in together.

Bake in the oven for an hour or an hour and 10, until the top bounces slightly and a skewer comes out clean. While warm brush the top with warmed honey.

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