Did someone say pancakes? On a weekday?

Now before I get started I feel that I need to offer a bit of a disclosure. You see I feel that I have already written this post but I just can't seem to find it. Which perhaps means that my feeling is wrong. Maybe I didn't write it I just though really long and hard about it. Stranger things have happened I know.

Of course if the Blogger search box widget was working properly I would be able to have a really good look and know for sure one way or another but sadly that is not the case. In fact the Blogger search is so useless that I have removed it from the side bar. Which is more than just a little frustrating but what can you do? I fear I was the only one that ever really used it anyway so little sleep will be lost.

Apparently the only other time I have mentioned pancakes was here,
which was not the post I thought I had written and was looking for,
it is however a super cute photo.

Pancakes are one of our most loved breakfasts here. But then that is not really surprising. Who doesn't love a good pancake for breakfast?

A better question might be who actually has time to cook pancakes in amongst the weekday morning hustle and bustle?

Well put the mixer down and hold the phone because have I got the best news for you.

Cooked pancakes can be frozen and then simple zapped in the microwave as needed.

AMAZEBALLS huh?

I was totally gobsmacked when I first read about it. In fact I went and whipped up a batch right away, stuck them in the freezer and gave it a go. And then when I discovered that it was true I felt like my life had changed forever. So much so that I was certain I went and blogged about it right away but apparently not.

Anyway I am sharing the news now and that is all that matters. And in case you don't have a fail safe pancake recipe I am going to share mine with you.

The most awesome pancake mix ever*

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup almond meal or oats or combination of both or any other similar substance

2 eggs

3/4 cup milk

1 grated apple

1/4 cup golden syrup

2 teaspoons vanilla essence

Grab a large bowl and throw all the ingredients in

Get the electric mixer and mix it all together until you have a lovely smooth batter.

If you wish you can sift flour, pre beat eggs and milk and then add gradually but experience has taught me that at the end of the day it makes little difference other than mixing for a bit longer.

Heat pan with some butter and oil in the bottom. Tip excess oil and butter into glass jar to be reused between each batch.

Spoon desired amount of batter into pan and cook until little bubble appear. The bubble indicate it is time to turn. Flip and cook until golden brown on both sides. Repeat until batter is all gone.

Serve with your favourite toppings, ours include maple syrup, sugar & lemon, honey (& lemon), fresh fruit, yogurt, nutella and on some days even ice cream and chocolate sauce.

Whatever doesn't get eaten layer between baking paper and whack in the freezer till you next want pancakes. Even on a school day.

Frozen pancakes can be zapped for around 30 seconds each I think (I am fairly confident you will be able to work it out for yourself)

* I feel it would be remiss of me not to say that I rarely actually measure the quantities used I think this is about what I would use. If it is too thick add more milk, too runny add more flour. The apple can be optional as well if you leave it out put in a little more sugar.

Blogging on a Tuesday #IBOT

Usually by now on a Tuesday I have had a post up for hours and read at least twenty different posts. Blogging on a Tuesday is just what I like to do. Which is lucky and all, since I am a member of #teamIBOT. (Which essentially means me and my IBOT buddies race around like crazy on a Tuesday trying to  makes sure that everyone who has linked in with the ever lovely and IBOT host Jess, has received some sort of comment love, just in case you were wondering.)

There are a thousand and one reasons why I don't already have a post up and read a hundred times by now. They mostly revolve around me being disorganised and lackadaisical. Both of which are issues I have been meaning to do something about but just haven't gotten around to yet. The joy of procrastination I guess.

So here we are, ten past six on Tuesday night, patiently waiting for the little Domino's delivery man (or woman I guess, person is probably easier, but just seems to stunt the sentence, driver maybe?) to erratically drive up and start beeping, indicating that our dinner has arrived.

As it turned out, midway through typing that paragraph the driver, who was in fact a man, well male, I think technically he may have been in the pre man stage if you know what I mean, but whatever, again probably not all that relevant, arrived. He did not drive in a manner that resembled even the slightest form of erratic and nor did he beep his horn. 

Instead he quietly parked his vehicle and brought our boxed meals right inside the front door. Despite me pushing Mr Awesome out into the car park to greet him in a bid to avoid an unknown person bearing witness to the disaster zone that my front living area so often appears to be.

Apparently it was too difficult for them to juggle three pizzas, a bottle of coke, garlic bread, the most delicious little chocolate lava bombshell thing I have ever tasted and $38 in two dollar coins in the car park. I am sure two women could have managed such an exchange with a toddler on their hip.

Thankfully I was able to hid out of sight of tonight's knight in shining armour. Leaving Mr Awesome to appear as some poor bloke that feeds his kids pizza for dinner. I might not be able to look the pizza guy  in the face and say yeah so what if my kids have pizza for dinner but blogging about it is not a problem. 

That's just the way I roll you see.

Image found here
I was searching for roll, in case you were wondering.

An hour has passed now since started this post. Actually that is not quite true. I began trying to write it first thing this morning. I didn't get past opening it all up and getting ready to go. It has merely been an hour since I first managed to spit some form of a sentence out.

A teacher's strike this morning meant that the girls had the day off and a couple of extras came over for the day. Which was all very lovely and I wouldn't really have it any other way but it was not exactly conducive to blogging. The few moments that I managed to steal away on the computer were no where near long enough for my many jumbled thoughts to sort themselves out. A feeling I am tiring off yet know I am not alone with.

For now though it is bedtime for some little ones and the pleasure tonight falls with I.

Joining with Essentially Jess and the Gang for all the fun of #IBOT

Writing rather than cooking

With a little over an hour to get dinner sorted, read school readers, tidy up, get the washing in, fold it and put it away, it seems only natural to throw it all in the too hard basket and blog instead.

With so many thoughts bustling around my head trying to make sense of themselves, I am sure I will be much more productive if I write first.

Well that is what I tell myself in a bid to justify my selfish desire to forget about my responsibilities and just write instead. 

 Can't wait to share the story that goes with it.

Normally Monday sees me confessing with the lovely Kirsty over at My Home Truths. Only this week she is on holidays (lucky thing) Last week when I read of her impending break I did plan on a confession anyway as I am always keen to get things off my chest,  however, we all know how my plans go, so naturally it didn't happen.

deep sigh

Where was I? Oh that's right.

As predicted last week was massive.

Meeting Samuel Johnson was certainly a highlight. We might not have spoken as much as we could have but truth be told if I had of spoken to him any more than what I did, I would have ended up as a blubbering mess. And let's face it, nobody, least of all someone as amazing as old SJ, needs a blubbering mess on their hands.

For those who don't know the intimate workings of my inner thoughts, I am an incredibly emotional person. I cry a lot and easily. For the most part I can hold it to a simple eye well. A few deep breaths and I can generally get it all under control but not all the time.

There are some topics that there is just no avoiding a tear or two when I think of them. Let alone actually talking to someone who may be going through said grievance.

*Which reminds me.
Princess Ladbird Week
starts on Wednesday. 

Losing a sister is one of them. Losing a child is another*. Throw cancer into the mix and it is all over. I am a goner for sure.

Tears will be shed. And quite possibly a lot of them. Not sob your heart out tears. Just roll silently down your cheek tears. Not that it really makes much difference. Neither are easy to ignore and carry on a conversation with.

It actually makes feel uncomfortable. I start to wonder what right I have to get all teary over their heartbreaking sadness. Worsened when strength and resilience are shown.

Now that's all out the way, make sure you pop back in tomorrow to find out what Sam had to say after his swim with Chopper.

For now though it is best I get back to that whole being responsible thing and get dinner sorted.

double deep sigh.

After all the fun and antics of feeding multiple numbers twelve year old girls the last thing I feel like doing tonight is feeding the troops that make up my family. Ok, ok I know, most nights the last thing I feel like doing is cooking dinner, it's just I couldn't let it slip when I had such a good excuse tonight!

Healing Foods - Artichoke

It wasn't until after I published last week's post that I realised perhaps going in alphabetical order would have been a good idea.

Live and learn I guess.

With that in mind today I present some handy info on the humble artichoke.

Image from here

Artichokes have been on dinner plates since Roman times. However it was not until the 16th century the artichoke was discovered to aid digestion. Artichokes are believed to be of assistance for the gallbladder, liver and kidneys as they increase the bile output of the body. As eating artichokes also increase the flow of urine they can also be of use to relive fluid retention.

It is also believed that the artichoke may help maintain blood sugar levels. Traditionally artichokes have been recommended to diabetics as they contain inulin. Which is a form of starch that resists digestion as well as limiting the rise in blood sugar levels after eating.

Now I have never had much to do with artichokes. Something to do with living in the tropics I suspect. Apparently though you can thinly slice small artichoke heads, sauté them and them to dishes such as risotto. Which kinda sounds pretty yummy.

Thanks to a bit of googling I discovered this handy how to, on eating and cooking artichokes. Really there doesn't seem to be much to it. You simply boil in water till tender. If you wish to keep the colour fresh rub with some lemon juice or squeeze into the water while boiling.

One of the things I love though, is that all the goodness of this wonder vegetable is still available even when pickled. Which makes these beauties a little more easier to find out of season. Where I live everything is often out of season.

With that in mind I am off to give this little beauty a try.

Please remember I am not a professional, this is not advice,
just some stuff I have read and wanted to share.
The best medical advice always comes from a professional,
so make sure you double check with yours.

If you want to share there are buttons below

How to make a 'Pigs In Mud Cake'

A month or so ago our IBOT hostess with the mostess liked a picture on Facebook. Knowing that her birthday was just around the corner I took it as a hint. After all it is not every day that you turn thirty.

All in all not a bad effort.
Even if I do say so myself

While I am no cake baker I closely examined the picture and decided it was well within my capabilities. Really all it was, was a chocolate cake surrounded with kit kat bars and a couple of fondant pigs wallowing on top.

Easy as!

Though I did decide that a trial run was in order as well. Which worked out well because then that gave the birthday girl a cake to have with the kids and a cake for the adult party. Win, win. Though according to my girls a better solution was to let them have the trial. I foresee a few more pig cakes in my future this year.

Since I am a sharing, caring kind of blogger I am going to let you know how I went about it all.

First up you need to have some chocolate cakes. I cooked made three from the recipe that I found on the side of the self raising flour that I purchased for the occasion. I tried going to their website to link it in, but would you believe that it is not on there?

There is this one for a rich chocolate cake which I must admit does sound rather nice and not unlike the one I used. Alternatively you can try and copy it from this photo

This is not a sponsored post, just me telling it how it is.

or perhaps head down to the local supermarket and check out the backs of self raising flour packets.

Anyway even though I cooked three you probably only need two. I just wanted one to practise with. Also if your cake is a lovely rising high cake you may only need one. Mine were dense and heavy and not very high at all. But since there were two of them the same it worked well.

Now because two cakes sitting upon each other is a lot of cake so I broke it up with a raspberry cream filling. Again totally easy.

See that yummy raspberry cream in the middle there?

Get a cup and a half of frozen raspberries, whack them in the blender with a bit of cream (about 200ml) and blend away. Spread in between the two cakes. Don't worry too much about spreading all the way to the edges of the cakes. The pressure of the top cake will push the mixture out to the edges.

For the top of the cake, as in the mud, I made a chocolate ganache, which sounds rather flash I know, but again, dead easy.

My cupcake friend explained it easily when she said you just get twice as much chocolate as you do cream. Melt them together and stir for a while. Let it cool and you are done.

I was doubtful, but it turns out that was pretty much all I had to do.

Using the ganache I stuck the time out's to the edge of the cake. It went much easier than I expected. For the trial run cake I used finger biscuits and only did a single layer. This also worked quite well, especially if you didn't want a huge rich cake.

The trial cake with chocolate fingers instead of time out or kit kat. 

Probably could have squeezed a second layer of cake in, if it weren't a trial. 

Mind you once the pigs and mud were own the empty space on the fingers wasn't so noticeable..

Seriously can someone please pin this shot for me?

Surely this is pin worthy material?

Possibly more cake photos than you really need to see but it didn't seem right to leave any out

So the only part left to tell you about is the making of the fondant pigs. These were not exactly dead easy like the rest of the cake but they were not exactly to tricky either. I have actually a whole post lined up on handy fondant tips. It is just a matter of getting it out of my head.

Fondant is lots of fun and can be used for a whole range of things. It is possible to make your own, but since a decent size box from the super market is only around $5 it is a worthy investment in my mind.

Fondant is essentially just yummy play doh

It is best to prepare the fondant shapes a few days before you actually need them. To get all the low downs on making pigs out of fondant check out here or give it a quick google. 

I decided that I could just wing it and just between you and me I don't think I did too bad a job! It really is just a matter of rolling a few different shaped balls and gently pressing them together. A dab of water also helps hold the fondant in place.

So what did the birthday girl think of it all...

Excuse the dodgy lighting, apparently that is what it is like
when you go out

It is Tuesday and I have blogged.

You should too.

Wordless Wednesday - Baking

Today the little one and I are cooking up a storm.

Actually it is more of a super secret surprise full of awesomeness.

So hard not to spill the beans.

Make sure you check back tomorrow for my Healing Foods series kick off.

For now though it is back to the kitchen for me as I get my bake on. Don't worry though all will be revealed Friday so make sure you pop back then as well.

Till then,

Healing Foods

It is no secret that food and diet impact our health and well being. It also doesn't take a rocket scientist to at least vaguely know a good and bad difference. However, how do you know what food is more beneficial for a particular problem?

Well unless you are some dietician and nutritional expert you probably won't. Unless of course you like to keep  your finger on the pulse and do a bit of light reading on a range of topics. Like my real life Bestie who reads all kinds of amazing books just because she wants to learn more and look after her body as much as she can.

Thankfully for me I have her and she is only too happy to pass on any important tidbits that she thinks I might be interested in. Which is great because unlike her there is no way I can find the time to read and raise three children and keep house. Mind you she does not have distractions like a blog or Facebook to rudely chew into her precious time.

Back to the point though.

One of the books that she raves on about most is this one

Healing Foods by Miriam Polunin can be found here
No that is not an affiliate link
I just thought I would be helpful to those interested in more info

While it is only listed on Amazon for a couple of bucks it is more than I am prepared to fork out in this super tight economic situation, only a few short weeks away from the highly anticipated #DPCON13.

Plus why buy it when I can just ask Bestie to check it out for me?

Inside this wondrous little book is information on fifty foods and the fantastic things that they can do for your health. There are also a bunch of yummy recipes to help inspire some new dishes to your table.

Sick of me always asking her to look something up Bestie has left her book with me for a few days so I can absorb some of the information within it's covers for myself. Being the kind and sharing gal that I am I thought I would also share that info with my lovely readers. Plus it means when I give the book back I will still have something to reference.

Mind you working out which bits were the most important to remember and write about was no easy feat. Even though there are only 160 pages in the book, there is a lot on each page. As such I have decided that I will do a bit of a series about it all. I can hear you all cheering from here.

The whole series thing will also give me a chance to schedule posts for while I am kicking my heals up at the afore mentioned #DPCON13. Have I mentioned how excited I am about it?

Make sure you pop back soon for the first instalment, around Thursday. Better yet head over to the side bar whip in your email address and then have each of my awesome posts sent straight to your in box.

Could life get any better or easier?

Joining Jess and the gang for IBOT

And of course feel free to share all over the place. Plenty of buttons below to help you out there

Chocolate Caramel Brownie

Now before you go any further you must be warned.

This is ridiculous sweet and full of lots of icky sticky goodness that can only be found in copious amounts of chocolate and gooey caramel. If you are on a diet or restricting your sugar levels in anyway you should probably just walk away now. There is no healthy component to this delicious goodness other than the joy and endorphins that come with eating the pleasurable delicacy that is chocolate.

Mr Awesome and I can have a particularly sweet tooth at times. Which is both a good and bad thing. Thankfully we are generally able to portion control out our sweet treats. Since they are reliant on me actually baking them they are not something we have all the time.

However, when I do get my bake on, I get my bake on and create a sugar hit that will send any sugar fiend crazed. For a while my specialty was caramel slice but I really found it a bit of a pain and particularly messy. There were saucepans, bowls, baking dishes... too many for my liking really. Not to mention all the different process that involved heating, cooling and waiting.

In the past I have made a rather mean brownie however it did not have quite the same sugar hit as te caramel slice. When I discovered this chocolate caramel brownie recipe today I was sure I had hit the jackpot. After making it I think I can safely say that this is the sweetest most yummiest thing I have made in a very long time.

The recipe, which is so easy and do able in one jug, was found on the tin of caramel. It can also be found here

Only I did things a little different because the recipe is actually for a Caramel Choc Pecan Brownie, but I didn't have the pecans. What I did have were some super yummy caramel drops though and they worked just as well (if not better).

So here is what you need to do.

• Get a microwave glass jug that hold around four cups of stuff. In there put 150 grams of butter. Whack that in the micro and melt it.


• Add half a cup of baking cocoa to the melted butter and mix it in.


• Then add a cup of sugar a teaspoon of vanilla essence and mix some more. 


• Add three lightly beaten eggs and keep on mixing.


• One cup of self raising flour can now be added and mixed in well. If you are super keen you can sift it but I never have. I have all of this going into the same glass jug that I melted the butter in because I don't want to wash up more than I have to.

• Once the flour is mixed through, gently stir in some caramel drops. I tend to go about half a packet. But remember I after super sweet.
  
• Pour mixture into 28cm by 18cm lamington pan that you greased and lined earlier. Pour tin of Top'n'Fill caramel over mixture and oh so gently swirl the two together.
  
• Pop in the preheated 180 degree oven for around 35 minutes or till the skewer comes out clean.
  
• Stand in pan for ten minutes or so before turning over.
  
• Eat and enjoy

Ten Fairly Simple Pastry Ideas

Technically speaking this is the 350th post that I have written.  However since post number 349 is currently scheduled for publishing on Friday my numbers are all a bit haywire.  Go me for having my Things I Know post all ready to go on Tuesday though.  The fact that it is actually left over from last week when I didn't get it done is only a minor detail.  I guess I should also mention that since I imported all my posts from previous old blogs so my 350 really is a bit hit and miss but still worth a little mention.

Moving right along though.

As you are probably aware today is Tuesday which means Jess over at Diary of SAHM is hosting the iBOT (I blog on Tuesdays) which is why I am trying to pull together something that resembles a decent blog post.  Easier said than done at the minute but I will plod along anyway.

Sif also has a link up today called Ten Things Tuesday and whenever possible I like to join the two together.  I had thought about doing my Christmas Wish List to Santa but I wanted to include some awesome photos and since my Internet is slower than slow at the moment that is not going to happen.  Stay tuned for it though so you know what to get me (just in case).  Keeping with the Christmas theme I contemplated doing a list of all reasons I love the festive season but after a night of sleeping on the floor with a sick child which followed a night of waking up with sick child and wondering if she was planning on emptying her stomach contents on my bed festive is far from what I am today.  But again stay tuned as I have some pretty awesome Christmas things to share this year.

So without further adieu I am going to share with you ten fabulous things you can do with puff pastry.

1. Apple & Raspberry Scrolls
   Slinky an apple and then chop finely.  If you don't have an apple slinky (I suggest you get one as they are awesome) then peel the apple the old fashioned way and finely chop.  Get some frozen raspberries out and crush them.  Cover a sheet of pastry with the apple and raspberries and sprinkle with sugar.  Roll up and brush with milk and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Slice log into 4cm (or there abouts) lengths.  Squash cut ends to make a flatish shape. Place on tray (lined with baking paper) and brush once more with milk and place in moderately hot oven for about 15 minutes or until pasty looks brown and flaky.
2. Cheese & Vegemite Scroll
   Spread vegemite over pastry, sprinkle with grated cheese.  Roll up, slice and cook as per the apple and raspberry. 
3. Spinach & Feta Slice
   Line a shallow dish with baking paper then place pastry inside.  Spread a thin layer of sauce (tomato or BBQ).  Sprinkle a little grated cheese.  Then put down some baby spinach leaves, roast pumpkin or sweet potato, red capsicum and feta cheese.  You could also add a bit of ham or salami if you so desire.  Place in oven and cook for about 20 minutes
4. Left Over Party Pies
   One of the staples in our house is Dirt & Worms.  As I like to cook for the masses there is always some dirt left over which when you line some deep muffin trays with pastry turn into delicious little party pies.  Left over meat from taco night can also be used the same way.
5. Chocolate Twists
   Cover a sheet of pastry with Nutella or the like. Roll up and slice into 2cm chunks.  Now I am not really sure how I do the next part but somehow I manage to stretch and twist them so they look a little like this
   

   

   Please excuse my dodgy photo

6. Jam Twists
   Very similar to the chocolate twists mentioned above only you use your favourite jam instead of a chocolate spread.  These little beauties take about 10-15 and you can have the oven quite hot when you put them in.  Alternatively if you feel like being fiddly cut small circles out of the pastry with a cookie cutter and stack them on top of each other with the jam in between each layer.
7. Vanilla Slice
   I haven't actually made this before as I only saw it on the pastry box this morning but I love a good vanilla slice so I imagine it won't be long till I give it a go.  I would have linked to the recipe but apparently the brand I buy isn't up to date enough to have a website.  Basically cook the pastry sheets, make some custard put the custard on top of the pastry then another sheet of pastry on top of the custard and refrigerate over night.
8. Ham & Cheese Scrolls
   Ha! Bet you thought I had moved away from the scroll thing. Tricked you.
   Spread sauce (BBQ or Tomato) on a sheet of pastry, sprinkle ham and cheese over said sheet.  Roll, cut, squash and cook as per other scrolls.  This time sprinkle cheese over the tops rather than sugar though.
9. Sausage Rolls
   OMG! I can't believe I got this far down the list without mentioning sausage rolls.  Get some sausage mince from your butcher, whack it on some pastry, roll it up brush with milk and cook for about 40 minutes.
10. Vegetable Pockets
    Yes some might call them pasties but previous experience has taught me that children are not that receptive to the word pasty.  But that might just be mine.  Dice whatever vegies are in your fridge.  Potato, sweet potato, pumpkin, carrot, swede, whatever.  Include some greens like beans, peas and even  broccoli.  The beauty of this one is that it is wrapped in pastry so they can't see what they are eating (esp if you add some sauce).  For this one I like to cut the sheet into four, place the vegies in the middle and then somehow enclose it.  If you are clever, or a chef you can make it real pretty like.  If you are me you just push all the ends together and hope for the best.  These ones take about 30 minutes.

So there you have it, ten pretty simple things to do with pastry.  I wish I could say this was a sponsored post and I have some pastry to share with you all but I don't.  My PR kit is still not even in the pipe line let alone out and about to the masses.  All in good time though.

Today saw me try to recreate my lovely lasagne from the other week.  The house has been a little unwell the last few days so I have been trying to cram in as many vegetables as possible.  Last night it was a delicious chicken and vegetable soup and tonight lasagne.  The thing I love most about lasagne is that it makes it super easy to pile in the veggies with little to no complaints.  

When my kidlets sit down to lasagne I can rest assured that they will gobble it all up and happily declare it the best meal ever.  They are totally unaware of exactly how much wonderful goodness they are getting.  You see my meat sauce consists of garlic, onion, capsicum,  spinach, broccoli, mushroom, cauliflower, carrot, zucchini, eggplant and tomatoes. Oh and celery.  And yes that's right over ten veggies all at once.

Possibly a bit of an over kill but when we are all a little run down I think the more the merrier.  Plus it was more than just a little yummy.  The other great thing about having lots of different ingredients is that it makes it easier to make larger quantities.  We have enough lasagne for at least another three meals.

Lots going on this week.  But when is there not?  DD2 turns five on Saturday and we are thinking of a joint camping trip with her bestest buddy and his family.  There will also be a party in the morning.  All very exciting.  Busy but exciting.

I also need to start doing some serious work towards the school's fortieth birthday celebrations.  Agreeing to be on a committee always seems like a good idea at the time...

I could actually just curl up and go to sleep.  Which would make for an incredibly early night which does have an alluring appeal.  However my mum and DD1 are returning home from their weekend getaway which means a midnight airport pick up.  I am just a little jealous.  They got to go and hang with my beautiful sister.  Thankfully she comes to visit fairly often, well she used to.  I fear (but understand) that the visits may come further apart in the not too distant future.

Meatless Monday-Cheesy Potatoes and Veg

Now a little while ago Nic over at From Highlights to Housework started a Meatless Monday link up.  Now she has been busy having a baby and what not but I thought that I would still create a MM dish so here it is.

In case you are wondering the inspiration behind this particular masterpiece? It was all that I had in the fridge!  

8-12 baby potatoes, quartered and tossed to fry in butter it one roughly chopped onion.  Add a few cloves of crushed garlic or a couple of shakes of garlic powder.

Chop two carrots into 2inch square cubes (or there abouts)  Add to potatoes.  Gently move around fry pan to avoid sticking and burning.  Once a light crispy outer has appeared transfer to oven proof dish and sprinkle with your favourite cheese.  Place in a moderate oven for around 20 mins or until potatoes and carrots are soft.

Meanwhile back at the fry pan, squeeze in some lemon juice and add some asparagus stalks, capsicum, mushrooms broccoli and a few sliced beans.  These really only need to be cooked for around 10 mins so time it to be ready at the same time as the potatoes.

Once potatoes and carrots are soft remove them from the oven.  Place a few spoonfuls in a bowl.  Add a few spoonfuls from vegetables in the frypan.  Sprinkle with a little more cheese,  (I actually tore up a few shaved slices of jarlsberg.

Eat and enjoy!

Now I know that this is supposed to be a meatless post and so far it is but I just wanted to mention that if you were cooking this on a meaty day then you could easily and some bacon and salami when the potatoes are cooking.  Another meaty alternative is some sliced chipolatos.

I must say that I was rather surprised at how well this meal was received by everyone.  When DD2 asked what was for dinner  and I said potatoes and vegetables she kicked up a right fuss.  When I put the food in front of her she gobbled it up in like two seconds flat!  Go figure!

Masterchef Returns!

Which I am just a little bit excited about.  I am not exactly close to the Masterchef standards but I certainly do appreciate lovely food and would love to be able to improve my skills in any way possible.

In honour of the return of the Masterchef team to our screens I am going to share with you a little apple creation I just cooked up for dessert.  Hubs and I cooked a marvellous  roast pork dinner tonight and as a result of me being rather over zealous in my apple peeling there was a some leftover apple sauce.  The apple slinky I got for my birthday has really made peeling and cutting apples so much fun that I tend to over use it whenever possible.

Not wanting to be wasteful I thought a bit of an apple dessert might be called for.  So I cranked the old gas oven back up and grabbed a piece of puff pastry out of the freezer.  Once the pastry was soft enough I sliced off about a third of the sheet and lay the bigger piece in a greased shallow ceramic dish (about 15cmx5cmx3cm)

I then spooned the apple mixture over the pastry.  There was probably about a cup and a half of apple all up.  Which I had just cooked on the stove for about 10-20 mins with a little sugar and water.  I then stretched out the remaining pastry strip and after turning in all the dish edges placed over the apple.  The top actually turned out to have a few overlapping thin layers.  I then covered the top with cinnamon sugar and brushed lightly with milk.

If you can't find a dish an alternative is covering a sheet of pastry with a thin layer of apple and then loosely rolling.  Gently press down on the roll the blunt side of a bread and butter knife.  Again cover with cinnamon sugar and brush with milk.

Place in oven and bake until pastry is light and puffy.  About 20-30 mins (I think...times and measurements are not really my strong point)

Anyway the real kickers for this dish were the tinned caramel, melted chocolate and whipped cream that I served with it.  To make the cream just a little sweeter I added a bit of icing sugar.  I know I know not exactly weight loss approved but very very yummy which is what I love most about Masterchef.  They don't worry about the weight loss factor either...it is all about taste

Point + Shoot: Cake and flowers

I really like this Point +Shoot game over at Sunny + Scout

This is a snap of the fondant flowers that I made to decorate the birthday cake I made for my SIL's 21st birthday cake on Saturday.  As it turned out I did not use most of them and they didn't really work in the way that I had hoped but I did have fun and the end result looked rather lovely

I have plenty more but I am hoping to use them for my application for the Mummy Blogger position.  Time is running out for me to get that in.  I really don't want to leave it till the last minute but every time I try to write for it my mind just goes blank.  Nothing like cracking under pressure hey?

At least it is something

Despite the burning eyes and the ridiculous hour I feel I should make an appearance.  After all if I can sit around and play silly Zuma blitz or whatever I should be able to spit out a few words here.

(Long deep sigh)

To tell you the truth I feel a bit drained.  This is just such a busy time of the year for me (when isn't though?)  In a few short days DD1 (who I am now considering calling Miss L) will be turning 10.  Hard to think that I will have been a mother for a decade....

Anyway I would actually like to be in bed but I need to wait for the cake to cool down.  Miss L requested a chocolate cake to take to school tomorrow. Being the good mother I hope to be, I baked her requested cake.  Unfortunately though I didn't put the baking paper in properly so there is not an even round edge.  I am trying to convince myself that it is a flower shape but I am just not sure.

After all, she is taking this to school.  I would hate for her to be picked on because of my baking inadequacies.  Sure she should be thankful that her mum has gone to the effort to make her a cake but if it looks silly...

See for yourself

Hopefully in the morning it will look better covered in a beautiful chocolate icing, hopefully.

For now though I need get this silly editing job out the way.  Oh what's that? Didn't I mention that, in amongst everything else I try and do a bit of freelance editing here and there.  Actually I really only have one regular client and she is not exactly regular.  She has been seeking my services for well over 12 months now, possibly even close to two years.  She translate Korean into English and I polish it up for her.  Sometimes it is an enjoyable read, other times, like tonight it seems more like crazed jibberish.  But hey, makes me feel important and gives me some money to play with.

Don't forget to vote for me at Top Mommy Blogs, all you need to do is click on the box below and wait for the window to open.  Easy as! No sign up no nothing just one single click every time you stop by :)

It is party time!

In many different ways as well.

This is one of my favourite times of the year. So many great things seem to happen to me in March and April. I mean aside from my birthday, there is also St Patricks Day, Easter, a couple of kids birthdays, school holidays, the start of a change of season... It seems like the list could almost be endless.

Aside from all of that I also have reason to celebrate with the addition of a new follower. It really does make me rather chuffed to know that someone took the time to click that little button. I have been adding myself to quite a few blogs of late in the hope that it may somehow get a few more people to join me. Hence why it is so super exciting to see that it may have actually worked. If you want to bring about some more happiness for me you will find the follow button off to the right. I also have a fb page that you can go and like (I am yet to work out how to but a fb 'Like' button here but it is on my to-do list)

Tomorrow is DD3's first birthday party. She is sharing the event with two of her new little buddies. One of them shares the same birthday as her and the other is just a few days beforehand. Their mums are also members of the mum's group I joined late last year. Since we have some mutual friends we thought a joint party would be loads of fun.

I am just waiting for the cake to cook, then I will head to bed. It is amazing how relaxing a joint party is. Having the workload shared three ways is just the most awesome idea ever. I can't ever remember feeling so relaxed this close to a party. Normally I am a flurry of activity trying to get everything done. Certainly not in a position to idly sit around writing blog posts.

I had hoped to have some photos of my cake making skills. I was thinking that a step by step story board could have made for an interesting read. I am making a giant cupcake. Unfortunately though I was rushing a little and didn't take one of the batter in pan before it went in the oven.

Since photos do make a post look a little interesting I went and found one to include. Heading over to the ever faithful stock.xchng I searched for the words party time and received a mere 7 hits. Removing the 'time' part however gave me 17 pages to choose from. Thanks go to Jan Willem Geertsma for my final selection.

For now I return to the kitchen to check on cake, but I go with my camera in hand.

Meatless Monday

The wonderful Nicole over at From Highlights to Housework has started a link in with the theme of Meatless Monday's. Now to be quite truthful there would be a revolt in this house if I said we were going meatless once a week. My family is very happy in the carnivore category. However what they don't know won't hurt them.

You see if a meatless dish is just placed before them they will devour it in an instant. (Hunger is said to have that effect on people) Yet if they were to be told that they were venturing down the path to vegetarian there would be protests and false claims in the hope that I would cease to consider feeding them such food. So tonight we will be dining a very yummy cheese mac served with a side salad (and if I had of thought of it a bit earlier garlic bread)

Now I know that there are some wonderful (sic) boxes that you can get microwavable cheesy mac, but I don't have a microwave and making your own is really really simple.

Ingredients

pasta

4 eggs

cream/milk (about 250ml in total use one or both)

300 grams grated cheese

Instructions

Cook pasta as per normal, only drain and remove from heat 2 minutes earlier

Beat together eggs, cream and cheese.

Pour over pasta while still in saucepan, mix in

Gently heat saucepan while stirring. Continue to cook until egg mixture is no longer runny and is sticking to pasta.

Remove from heat and serve

Optional extras for the pasta include peas and corn (not very popular with some here) and if it weren't for being a Meatless Monday recipe some fried bacon and onion and garlic are a nice touch.

The salad tonight will probably be a bit boring, just lettuce, baby spinach leaves, cucumber, and tomato. The kidlets are such pasta fans that is all they will probably eat so the salad is really more for me. Which means I am thinking the corn and peas I didn't add to the pasta can go in the salad!