Delicious Dahl

2 tablespoons, coconut oil

2 small onions

4 garlic cloves

1 teaspoon, salt

1/2 teaspoon, black pepper

2 teaspoons, curry powder

1 teaspoon, turmeric 

1/2 teaspoon, chilli powder

1/2 teaspoon, chilli flakes

400ml coconut milk

3 cups, water

2 cups, red lentils

Cook onion & garlic in oil, stirring frequently, for around 5 minutes.

Add spices, coconut milk, water & lentils.

Bring to boil, stirring.

Reduce heat & simmer for around 15/30 minutes. It may cook quick so stick around and stir every so often to ensure it doesn't burn.

Can be served a number of ways. Some fresh parsley or coriander is a nice addition. I like chopped spinach too!

Knitting: a rainbow pixie hat!

x Shara

Made By Hand

~ 'Made By Hand' is a weekly creative show and tell, with an aim to foster community, conversation and inspiration.

With an aim to craft a life of homemade, home grown happiness. ~

:: thinking some homemade touches are in order to 'spruce' up the bedroom for Spring/Summer. A crochet blanket and some fabrics for new pillowcases.

:: looking forward to being creative in the kitchen more, now I no longer have the hindrance of pregnancy induced nausea. Of course, a few new cookbooks were in order! 

What are you creating right now?

Join in over at Christina Lowry Designs, for a weekly 'show and share'!

X Shara

Mulberry Pie

You may have noticed in my garden tour that we have a large Mulberry Tree in our yard, and while I love just eating them picked straight from the tree, many people said they have wonderful childhood memories of Mulberry Pie! Then last week, I pulled down one of my old, faithful recipe books, opened it randomly (looking for a muffin recipe), and lo and behold, there was a recipe for Mulberry Pie. Of course I took that as a "sign", that we should make it.

Dad brought round a ladder and Kaleb, with a little help from Leonardo, picked us a big bowl of juicy, ripe, purple Mulberries! Here is what we did:

 

Mulberry Pie

 

Pastry:

1 cup of self raising flour

1 cup of plain flour

pinch of salt

125g butter, softened

125g sugar

1 egg

 

Sift flour and salt. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and beat well. Add sifted ingredients and mix to a dough. Pat out one portion to fit a 20cm dish. Roll out remainder of pastry on a lightly floured board.

 

Filling:

5 cups mulberries

1/2 cup water

1 cup sugar

3 tablespoons arrowroot

1 cup stewed apple, drained

 

Cook mulberries with water and sugar for 15 to 20 minutes until soft. Strain through a course sieve, into a bowl, pushing gently with the back of a spoon. Discard seeds. Return puree to saucepan. Mix arrowroot to paste with a little water, add to puree and cook, stirring constantly until thickened. Add apple and allow to cool. Spoon into pastry-lined pie dish and cover with remaining pastry. Brush top with milk and sprinkle with extra sugar. Bake at 230c for 10-15 minutes until browned, then reduce to 200c and continue cooking for a further 15-20 minutes.

 

x Shara

Strawberry Picking

A few weekends ago, we took the boys strawberry picking at on of the many local farms. It was such a lovely set up, with a playground, plenty of running around space and lots of tables and chairs. There was even a birthday party happening in one of the sheds! What a great idea! We picked a load of strawberries, about $30 worth, but it was so fun, particularly for Roman.

When we got home, we washed all the berries, and then made some fresh strawberry milk, then some strawberry syrup for pancakes, then we ate the rest, some plain, some with cream, some with icing sugar, and on pancakes! Delicious!

This is the strawberry farm we went to.

Another 30 before 30 activity checked off!

x Shara

Chocolate & Courgette Cake

Part of my 30 before 30 challenge was to bake a different cake every month, one I have never made before. This cake is also from the book What Shall We Cook Today?. I chose it because I had some Zucchini's to use up!

With the help of Roman, the cake was whipped up in no time at all, ready in time for Saturday afternoon tea! Roman was a bit unsure that vegetables really belonged in cakes, but he gobbled up a piece of cake with his thumbs up!

Do not be tempted to put icing on this cake! It is so rich and moist, that it really isn't needed.

Chocolate & Courgette Cake

3 courgettes, peeled

250g unsalted butter, softened

250g light brown soft sugar (I used much less than this and my cake was super sweet)

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 eggs

125ml milk

350g self-raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

greaseproof paper, 30 x 20cm cake tin

1. Preheat oven to 180c (350F) and prepare your cake tin.

2. Grate the peeled courgettes, using the fine grater.

3. Cream butter, sugar and extract, until soft, creamy and pale.

4. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

5. Add milk and mix together.

6. Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa into bowl and fold into wet mixture gently.

7. Stir in courgettes and mix well.

8. Pour into cake tin and bake for 35-45 minutes.

9. Remove from oven and place on rack to cool.

Enjoy!

x Shara

Winter Sun and a New Recipe

 I made some scrumptious Sweet Potato Hummus. You can find the recipe HERE.

Today we continued to enjoy beautiful Winter weather. Crisp, clear blue skies and lovely warm sun.

I really love Sunday afternoons!

x Shara

Biscuit Bears

Sometimes for kids, a certain book becomes an instant favourite. In Roman's case it was a library book we borrowed some weeks ago. We read it every night before bed and then, I would often find Roman flicking through on his own, by now knowing the story off by heart.

"When Horace bakes a biscuit in the shape of a bear, little does he know that his edible treat is going to turn into Biscuit Bear! For in the middle of the night, when all is quiet, that is exactly what happens, and Biscuit Bear decides that it is time he made some friends of his own. He makes a whole circus of friends and the fun begins."

Of course, when Roman happened upon a bear shaped cutter in his playdough kit, he immediately wanted to make his very own biscuit bears!

Using a basic cookie recipe, and some coloured icing, this is what we came up with:

Do your kids have a favourite book?

x Shara

 

Fresh Orange Cake

Another part of my 30 before 30 challenge was to bake a different  cake every month, one I have never made before! I love to bake so this is kind of an easy challenge for me, but I kinda get stuck in a cake rut. Do you know what I mean? Chocolate, Banana, Chocolate, Banana... you get the idea, right? I flicked through my recipe books, started a list, searched some of my favourite foodie blogs, added to the list. I still don't have 12 chosen, but I'm sure I'll find them!

Fresh Orange Cake ~ What Shall We Cook Today

(More than 70 fun and easy recipes for kids to make)

1 unwaxed or organic orange, washed

175g of unsalted butter, very soft

250g caster sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

250g self raising flour

1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

100ml milk

3 tablespoons natural yoghurt

3 tablespoons granulated sugar, for the topping

a 900g loaf tin, greased  greaseproof paper or non stick baking parchment

makes 1 large loaf cake

1. Preheat oven to 180c (350f). Prepare cake tin.

2. Cut orange in half. Save one half for the topping. Remove pips from the other half and cut into 8 pieces. Put pieces, as they are with skins on, into a food processor or blender. Run machine until the orange is chopped into very small pieces. Add orange to mixing bowl.

3. Add soft butter, sugar and eggs to bowl with orange.

4. Sift flour and bicarbonate of soda into the same bowl. Then add milk and yoghurt. Beat with a wooden spoon or electric mixer on speed 1, until well combined.

5. Spoon mixture into prepared cake tin, and spread surface evenly.

6. Bake for about 50 minutes, test with a skewer. If skewer has mixture on it bake for another 5 minutes. Remove from oven.

7. While cake is baking, make the topping. Squeeze the juice from the remaining half of the orange, into a small bowl. Add the granulated sugar and stir to make a syrupy glaze.

8. While cake is still hot, prick holes all over the surface. Drizzle glaze over the top so it trickles into the holes. Leave until completely cold before removing from tin. Store in an airtight container and eat within four days!

This cake is so delicious! Make it today!!

This is actually the cake for May, and I did bake it yesterday, but couldn't get a picture! Stay tuned for June's yummy offering.

x Shara

Mini Mouthfuls of Yum

Last weekend we attended a lovely birthday party for a one year old boy. There was food galore, including some yummy mini quiches... They were so tasty and what's more both my boys gave them a go!

Today I made some for our lunch and a batch to take to my Mum, who has sustained 3rd degree burns to her right hand in a kitchen accident. I'm sure she will love them too!

Puff Pastry

Eggs

Cream

Spring Onion

Corn

Parmesan Cheese

Ham

Salt and Pepper

Easy Peasy!

x Shara

Lately, in the kitchen (and some sunshine)

Homemade Lemonade

Sweet Cheeks Granola (Grain Free)

Crusted Chicken (Grain Free)

Meatballs (using Almond Meal instead of breadcrumbs)

Cool mornings call for cooked breakfasts! (isn't Roman gorgeous?!)

Roast Pumpkin Soup

Green Smoothie (Dairy Free)

Making pasta for the first time!!

Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni

Lemon and Poppyseed Muffins

Choc Chip Cookies (Grain Free)

The sun is finally shining today. A great day for washing. Except I've run out of washing powder ;)

x Shara

A Fortnight of Food

We are a family on a budget, a tight budget. And we have just implemented a new savings program, so it's going to queeze a bit tighter. As I am a full-time at home mama, I am the manager of our home. I manage the finances, the cooking and the shopping. It is my job to ensure our money is spent wisely and that good meals are produced from our kitchen and that we have yummy snacks! I always gave us a small grocery budget as I could cook meals every day on very little money (a good skill to have, for when times get real tough), however I feel now that we were pretty much carb overloading due to the frugalness of pasta, rice and potatoes.

Pizza!

I had to make a decision to invest more of our money in our family's health. I had to up our veggie intake and buy better quality ingredients. But I still have to stick to a tight budget. Our income varies from fortnight to fortnight, so some weeks I have a bit more to play with than others. On these weeks I ensure I stock up on pantry items that are a bit more expensive (coconut oil, nuts, maple syrup etc). To give you an idea, I usually spend around $100-$120 fortnightly, for our family of 4, and then I keep $50 aside for the second week of the fortnight for fresh fruit and vegies. That's a total of $150-$170 including meat. I always keep a well stocked pantry and freezer, which is helpful for fortnights when I've had only $70 for the entire shopping!

I am now running down some things (like pasta, pasta sauces etc) in my pantry and will start making more of these from scratch. I love experimenting in the kitchen and look forward to some new challenges.

Roast Dinner

I am also going to start adding more vegetarian dishes to our menu to help increase our veggies and save our dollars. Thankfully we all love vegetarian food. We also only eat fish when it is given to us by our fishing friends, so this is another cost saver for us.

Kaleb is fed at his work, depending on whichever shift he does, so sometimes lunch, sometimes dinner. If he is working over dinner, I make our main meal at lunch time, and have our family mealtime then.

Sweet Cheeks Granola

I also like to add some new meals to our menu each fortnight to keep things interesting, sometimes these are winners and I add them to our list of favourites, other times they are not so good.

I've marked our new meal ideas with an *, and any meals that are vegetarian with (v).

Monday:: Creamy Vegetable and Almond Korma with Pilaf*(v)

Tuesday:: Leftovers (v)

Wednesday:: Meatballs and Vegetables

Thursday:: Roast Beef and Vegetables

Friday:: Beef and Vegetable Pie (Potato/Cauliflower Top)

Saturday:: Risoni Patties and Vegetables*(v)

Sunday: Homemade Pizzas

Monday:: Homemade Fish and Sweet Potato Fries

Tuesday:: Fish Balls and Vegetables

Wednesday:: Roast Chicken and Vegetables

Thursday:: Chicken and Vegetable Pie (Potato/Cauliflower Top)

Friday:: Vegetarian Pasta Bake(v)

Saturday:: Spinach and Ricotta Canneloni(v)

Sunday:: Homemade Pizzas

Breakfast Ideas:

Moist and Cakey Almond Flour Pancakes*

Homemade Hashed Browns*, Bacon and Scrambled Egg

Sweet Cheeks Granola

Poached Eggs on Toast

Lunch Ideas:

Potato Gnocchi Tater Tots*

Toasted Sandwiches

Dinner Leftovers

Chicken Noodle Soup (using carcass from Roast Chicken)

Pumpkin Soup

Green Smoothie

Snack Ideas:

Pumpkin Choc Chip Muffins*

Homemade Hummus with Veggie Sticks

Cheese and Crackers

Nuts

Fruit

I make my own bread using these 2 recipes:

Who Bread

Paleo Bread

So that's it!!

I'll try to remember to let you know how our new recipes go!!

x Shara

Sewing Snacks

With a full week of sewing ahead, I thought it would be a good idea to have some snacks handy to have with a cuppa. This is my favourite muffin recipe:

Muffins

50g butter, softened

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

3/4 cup wholemeal flour

3/4 cup plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup of milk

Cream butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat in egg. Sift wholemeal flour, plain flour, baking powder and salt together. Return husks from sifter to bowl. Dissolve soda in the milk. Add sifted ingredients alternately with milk to the creamed mixture, mixing just to combine. Spoon mixture into greased muffin tins. Bake at 200c for 12 to 15 minutes. Makes 12.

Add as many choc chips as you feel is neccessary!

I make a double batch and freeze them...reheat in the Microwave as needed, they are much nicer warm, with the chocolate all ooooozy :)

Enjoy

x Shara

Hot Cross Buns - A Recipe

After yesterdays This Moment post, I thought I would share this recipe.

Hot Cross Buns (from the Edmonds cookery book)

1.5 cups of milk

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon butter

2 teaspoons of yeast

4.5 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon mixed spice

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons sugar

Heat milk until almost boiling. Stir in first measure of sugar and butter until butter melts. Set aside until lukewarm. Sprinkle yeast over and leave in a warm place for 15 minutes or until frothy. Combine 4 cups of the flour, salt cinnamon, mixed spice and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in second measure of sugar. Make a well in the centre of dry ingredients. Pour yeast mixture in. Beat to a soft dough, adding more dough if the dough is sticky. Mix in any extras (sultanas, peel, choc chips etc). Turn onto a lightly floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic or until dough springs back when lightly touched. Lightly brush bowl with oil. Place dough in bowl. Brush top with oil. Cover and leave in a warm place until doubled in size. Punch dough down in the centre and knead lightly. Divide mixture into 16 even sized pieces. Shape into balls. Place buns 2cm apart on a greased oven tray. Cover and leave in a warm place until doubled in size. Pipe crosses on each bun. Bake at 200c for 20 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and brush with glaze. Cool on a wire rack.

Crosses: Mix 1/2 cup flour and 6 tablespoons of water until smooth, more water may be needed.

Glaze: Mix 1 tablespoon sugar, 1 tablespoon water, 1 teaspoon of gelatine in a saucepan, heat until dissolved, stirring constantly.

My Notes!!

I heated the milk and then added all the ingredients to the breadmaker in the order listed above. Turned it onto the dough setting and let it do its thing. I added dark chocolate chips, but due to the milk being warm they all melted in the kneading process. The buns turned out the lovely dark colour and were very tasty. Baking time was spot on...20 minutes and ready to eat. I do not glaze mine....

Perfect for afternoon tea yesterday and then reheated for brekky this morning :)

We are yet to find an Easter tradition for our family, we don't do eggs, bunnies etc. We would prefer to keep the weekend for what it truly means...What do you do with your family?

x Shara

This Moment

x Shara

Give us this day.....

I finally ran out of the Lauke Sourdough mix....I do love sourdough but was getting a bit over the same bread day in, day out.

Today's loaf comes from The Rythym of Family by Amanda Soule and Stephen Soule.

It's called WHO Bread. Wholemeal, Honey and Oat. You can also get the recipe here.

With ingredients like Honey, Brown Sugar and Cinnamon, this bread is actually quite sweet in flavour and smelt so good while cooking away this afternoon!

In fact, it is so sweet that I am about to put on another loaf right now with sultana's added. This will be perfect for breakfast tomorrow morning...

x Shara 

PS. The striped bread bag was also whipped up today, it's called The Muffin Bag and from the same book as the bread recipe!

Smoothie Love

Are you on the Green Smoothie train yet? If not, I think you should buy your ticket today and hop on! I first saw green smoothies on The Happy Foody probably 2 years ago now but it did take me a while to actually try one!

Now I am hooked and so is my (almost) 4 year old, Roman. I really only flip between 2 recipes but there is heaps out there and of course you could go to town, creating your own favourites.

Roman's favourite flavour combo is:

50g Baby Spinach (that I have frozen from fresh)

2 peeled oranges (we chop and freeze ours at the start of each fortnight)

1 cup of frozen mixed berries

1 large glass of filtered, cold water

2 tablespoons of Chia Seeds

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

1 tablespoon of flax seed oil

This recipe makes enough for Roman and I.

The best thing about this smoothie is it goes purple from the berries, so much easier to get kids to drink it. Roman is happy to eat all his green vegies, but when I asked why he wouldn't drink my really green smoothie, he said he doesn't like how green it is.

My favourite flavor combo is:

1 200ml can of Coconut milk

1 1/2 frozen bananas (peeled, chopped and frozen at the start of the fortnight)

2 frozen peaches (chopped and frozen at the start of the fortnight)

2 tablespoons of Chia Seeds

1 tablespoon of coconut oil

1 tablespoon of flax oil

This combo was adapted from The Un-Conventional Kitchen.

Makes alot of smoothie, I usually have this for lunch as my meal. It is so filling. Also good to put some in the freezer for a bit and makes like a soft serve icecream. Really good on a hot afternoon! 

Check out some more smoothie love from around the web:

Green Smoothie Girl

Protein Pina Colada at Hot Pink Chilli

Green Smoothie at Farmer K's Kitchen

Happy Blending! x Shara