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What in your kid’s snacks? Little Bellies giveaway

24 May

I have never claimed to be a nutritionalist, nor a dietician.

I am a mum and a cook, and I know what my kids will eat if I only give them the choices. I believe education with food is the biggest thing for both carers and children.

I was recently very fortunate to be invited to a ‘Blogger Playgroup’. Being a mostly hermit blogger I jumped at the chance, and lucky I did because I met the lovely Mandy, from Little People Nutrition. 

little-bellies-4-jpg-300x200

She’s got me thinking more about not just WHAT we feed our kids, but HOW we feed them. I’m not referring to TV on, or eating with hands, all sinful traps I’ve fallen into much to Grandpapa’s horror (Hi, Dad!).

We’re teaching our kids habits for life, and there are simple things that we may not realise we’re doing that can impact them forever.

Responsible portions. So simple.

We eat too much. We like to be full after a  meal, but in reality, we should stop before we feel full. Kids don’t eat until they’re stuffed, like some people I know who shall remain nameless (ok, it’s ME).

That said, when our kids say they’ve had enough, we need to respect that they, as a general rule, have a natural full point that they stop at. Bribing kids to finish what’s on their plate to get dessert is only creating bad habits.

Doh. I bribe.

Often.

D Man will also sometimes say he’s full before he even has a bite… little stinker.

What then?

This usually only happens if he thinks he doesn’t like it, so I encourage him to have one bite of each different thing on the plate. If he still doesn’t want it (rare), fine. I’m not going to battle, but there is no Plan B. No cooking multiple things until he likes something, because, well, frankly, I’m sitting with them at the table having my own entree in liquid form and chatting about our day as they try to look past me at the telly.

Making Hungry Little Caterpillars out of vegetables....brilliant!

Making Hungry Little Caterpillars out of vegetables….brilliant!

I’ve noticed schools and pre-schools talk less about good food and bad food these days but more about sometimes foods and every day foods. This is a much healthier way to look at food. With eating disorders and a ‘diet’ mentality starting in our kids earlier and earlier (I’ve heard children as young as 7 are becoming diet conscious WTF? Eat ice cream and run it off, kids), we need to arm them with as sensible and rounded a way of looking at what fuels their little machines as we can.

Using positive communication about food like ‘this food makes me feel strong‘ or ‘helps me see in the dark‘ may help with positive associations from a young age.

Snacking is great as a way to tide our little Energiser Bunnies over until the next meal, but too many snacks means they won’t eat their meals. Not rocket science, but a trap I can fall into if I’m not paying attention. D Man loves to snack.

So do I.

Little Bellies Ginger Bread Men

Little Bellies Ginger Bread men….. just waiting to be eaten

If I’m buying snacks, I always read the sugar content. I’m not super mega-anti-Satan’s sweetener but I don’t think we should hold illusions that we’re giving our kids ‘healthy’ snacks if we’re not i.e. some brands of kid specific yoghurt have four teaspoons of sugar in a pouch.

4mg of sugar is one teaspoon, so if you start doing your four x tables, you’ll soon see how the numbers add up.

I’ve been so focused on my sugar factor, than I’ve barely given salt a thought.

Have you?

Mandy brought to my awareness that sodium content in snacks is equally full-on for our kids. Their kidneys struggle to process it thereby putting their systems under stress. So if you opt not to feed your darling the packet of Tiny Teddies, and reach for the Rice Crackers (like me) then perhaps you’re actually not being as goodie-two-shoes as you think you are.

When I was told that a good low salt option snack would have no more than 100mg sodium per 100 grams, I turned to my cupboard to see what I was feeding my kids.

My cupboard has three difference types of rice crackers, corn crackers and wheat crackers all of which I feed my young. They range from 275mg (relatively low) to a whopping  900mg of sodium per 100g.

SALTIER THAN A WHALE’S SCROTUM, PEOPLE!

I’m not going to throw out all of the food in my cupboard, but I will mix it up with some better options. Knowledge is power, or at least, less salty snacks.

The main reason for the Blogger Playgroup, hosted by Brand Meets Blog, was to introduce us to a new product range by a fabbo Aussie company called Little Bellies.

Little Bellies is an Australian owned company that makes organic and healthy snacks for the munchkins. They’re thoughtful about the salt and sugar quantities so you don’t have to be. Winning!

I was lucky enough to nab a bag of goodies and we’ve been munching our way through them with fantasmagorical results. The Fruit Choo Chews were a winner and the Muesli Choo Chews were pretty close behind.
There’s a cereal (which D Man loves) and biscuits that are sweetened only with grape juice concentrate rather than sugar. You can’t see the Ginger Bread Men in my picture because they were eaten.
Check out their website for full range.

I met the family behind the company and I really liked them. Their ethos was great, and their whole vibe is about teaching good habits, forming healthy associations and setting kids up for life.

Little Bellies have offered a free goodie bag to be sent out to one lucky Holsby-ite, so I’m a hostin’ a give-away…..

Little Bellies product range

All you have to do is be an Australian resident, and be sure to like my Facebook page.
You don’t have to follow my blog by email, but if you wanted to I would surely be much obliged.
If you wanted to like the Little Bellies Facebook page you would also potentially have seven years great sex. Not from them. Or me. You’ll also stay abreast of all their exciting news.

The main thing you need to do is leave a comment on the blog or Facebook page telling me the worst thing that you have found in your child’s mouth or caught your kid eating.
I once stopped D Man from putting a stick in his mouth at the park, before discovering it was a little dog poo. Ewwwwwww.

Can you top that???

I will choose a winner in 7 day’s time. Just click link below and you could have a SUPER MEGA LITTLE BELLIES SNACK ATTACK PRIZE PACK ON IT’S WAY IN A JIFFY!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer : I don’t think whale’s have scrotums.

Flogging my blog on Friday over at With Some Grace. Go see who else is flogging.

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Altruistic Pizza

21 May

homemade pizza ingredientsMister H’s favorite food is pizza.

When we first met he probably had a pizza once a week. A big greasy, cheesy yummy one with pepperoni and anchovies. We had some rockin’ pizza delivery places in our old ‘hood.

Many evenings, when exhaustion ringed my eyes, he would altruistically suggest we get a pizza delivered.

If I called him at work saying I was having a terrible day, he would suggest pizza.

When I’m sick and unable to cook, he will suggest pizza.

If my arms were broken or amputated, he would suggest pizza.

He will always take one (‘za) for the team, my man. (Disclaimer: may or may not have exaggerated slightly – sorry, darling.)

Since moving to the ‘burbs we’ve been in a pizza wasteland. With much anticipation and hope in our hearts we’ve had deliveries of all kinds of pizza.

Too cheesy.

Hard to believe there could be such a thing, but when your entire mouth is cloyed and cemented, you gotta call it how you see it. We could barely make it through a couple of pieces and we threw the rest away. Sacrilege!

Too greasy.

Shouldn’t drip oil down to your elbow. Just wrong.

Too doughy.

Shouldn’t need a set of Jaws of Life to chew through your pie.

Too much by way of topping.

Suburban pizzerias think more is more when it comes to their skyscraping pizza. The Godfather would roll in his grave if he saw these atrocities against Italy.

I started making my own, and I have to say, I’ve actually mastered the art, except that one time I was talking myself up hard but in the midst of my dough making the police arrived to take a statement about a break-in and I forgot where I was up to. I forgot to add the olive oil to my dough and it is integral it seems. That was a sad day.

Stolen goods, and dodgy pizza.

homemade pizza dough A chip off the old block (of cheese), D Man loves pizza, so this is an awesome recipe to do with your kids. It’s easy for them to be involved and not create too much havoc.

For the best dough, you need a good strong gluten filled dough, as the gluten is what gives it the brilliant elasticity needed to fling that pizza dough like a real pizza man, but in light of the wheat reduction around these here parts, today I’ve use half wholemeal spelt, and half gluten-free flours.

It didn’t get the stretch, but I rolled it out, and it crisped nicely…. no complaints from the two pizza connoisseurs anyway!

This recipe will make four pizzas.

What you will need :

  • 1 cup lukewarm water
  • 2 teaspoons dry yeast
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons sugar
  • 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil, plus extra, for greasing
  • 4 cups flour, plus extra, for dusting. I used 2 gluten-free, 2 wholemeal spelt, but I reckon plain i
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons salt
  • tomato paste
  • garlic
  • basil and oregano, dried and/or fresh
  • your favorite pizza toppings

What you will need to do :

Mix the lukewarm water, yeast and sugar together in a small bowl until combined, then leave in a warm place for 5 minutes or until frothy. Stir in your olive oil.

Pop your flour and salt together into a large bowl and whisk it to remove any lumps because we’re too lazy to sift.

Pour the yeast mixture over the flour and use your hands to bring the mixture together to form a dough. Turn the dough out onto your clean counter and use the heel of your hands to work the dough for 5 minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Gluten free flours do not become elastic, so don’t panic if you’re trying a reduced gluten dough.

Lightly grease the inside of a clean dry bowl with oil and place the dough inside. Chuck a tea towel over the dough and leave in a warm place to prove for 45-60 minutes.

Normal flour will double in size, but wholemeal spelt, or GF only rises a little.

Dust a clean work surface lightly with the extra flour and tip out the dough. Give it a couple of hits to knock back any air, and roll into a nice ball, then cut into quarters. Roll each quarter into a ball and then work it into your desired shaped.

I used rectangular baking trays instead of the traditional round, just because it’s what I have. D Man preparing his own pizzaPlace the dough balls on a lightly greased baking tray, cover and leave in a warm place to prove for 15 minutes, while your prepare your toppings.

I squirt a wad of tomato paste on the dough, and throw my crushed garlic on top and then sprinkle dried herbs. That way, when I smear it all over the pizza it all combines.

Then I do a modest sprinkle of cheese for myself and D Man, whilst Mister H likes it a bit cheesier. The thing about making them at home is you can create them exactly how you like them.

Perfect for a control freak pizza connoisseur. C’est moi.

perfect homemade pizza Some topping suggestions are -

  • thinly sliced potato, rosemary and Italian sausage
  • roast capsicum, olive, pepperoni, sliced tomato and fresh rocket on top
  • pumpkin, fetta, bacon and spinach
  • Super Supreme – The Lot!

Chuck into a preheated 200C oven and cook for about 25 minutes, until browned and crisp.

Cut into pieces, and allow to cool for a minute so as not to burn the knobbly bit behind your teeth as you bite.

D Man eating pizza

Hooking it up with Jess because I blog on Tuesdays…. Hiya, L’il J.

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Mad Cow and Gluten-Free Chocolate Biscuits

23 Apr gluten free, guilt free chocolate biscuit

I wasn’t planning on blogging these tasty little morsels but, after I bragged about them on Facebook on Saturday, I was asked for the recipe.

I was stuck in the house on a torrentially wet day. It was the kind of day you wonder if you should crack out the Paddle Pop sticks and start building an Ark, but my glue gun is AWOL and GluStick was never gonna cut that shit.

D Man had had a bad night with a fever and I thought an early morning dose of Panadol was a wise move.

Au contraire, mon petite chou fleurs.

His morning milk curdled and my Big Gay Salmon (official colour title) couch was the recipient of a candy-pink Linda Blair special. Of course, I felt for him, but I also felt for the BGS couch, oh, and my hair. Once it’s in your hair you’re smelling da vom-vom all damn day.

sick d manHe dozed on and off for hours, with his fever ebbing and flowing. He’d pop his head up for a few minutes, like a little blonde meer cat, then rest it back down as if it was too heavy for his neck.

It really breaks your heart when they’re poorly.

My head goes to all kinds of weird places thinking it’s some horrible exotic disease, rather than some 24 hr bug. Maybe the fever will give him brain damage or spark epilepsy, or, or, or any one of many other horrible fates…I’m a rather dramatic type.

As sad as it was to see my external heart ailing on the sofa, it was nice to have a few moments of peace.

Straight to hell, me.

I needed distraction. There was only one thing for it.

Biscuits.

Not for him. He was sick.

For me.

After a couple of abysmal false starts, I’m really enjoying experimenting with coconut flour.
It definitely has a slightly cakey consistency but I can work with that.

Coconut flour is very high fibre so needs more liquid, and you use much less of it than you would wheat four…..which is lucky because it ain’t the most economical of flours. It does last quite well, however, as you actually use about a quarter as much as normal flour. That said, you don’t cook with it like normal flour at all.

It will never make an awesome crusty sourdough (I discovered it kind of ferments in the process and goes somewhat boozy smelling and bubbly – could be my get  rich quick scheme? Boozy bread), but it can make for some interesting and healthy baked goods.

I’m learning that the fats in coconut oil and coconut flour can actually aid in weight loss. The medium chain triglycerides are digested differently than other fats. I won’t bang on about it, but if you’re interested, read about it. I’m not actually trying to lose weight, but many people would contest that coconuts are full of fat.

It’s good fat, that’s all.

These chocolate biscuits cheered me up no end. All thoughts of childhood disease were banished.  In fact, the reason there’s only one in the picture is because it’s the last one left… I needed to be sure I banished them bad thoughts good.

gluten free, guilt free chocolate biscuit

What you will need :

  • 1/4 cup butter or coconut oil
  • 1/3 cocoa powder
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 tablespoons sugar, plus 15 drops of stevia (if you’re not watching your sugar, use 1/3 cup sugar)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 cup coconut flour, whisk it separately in a bowl to remove lumps first.
  • a few cheeky dark chocolate chips if you’re so inclined

What you need to do:

Preheat oven to 175C

In a saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add cocoa powder and stir to combine. Remove and leave to cool.

In a bowl, combine eggs, sugar, salt, and vanilla, and stir in your cocoa mixture. Whisk your coconut flour in ensuring there are no lumps.

Leave to rest for 5 minutes, it will thicken and puff slightly as the flour absorbs the liquid.

Add choc chips now if you’re going to.

Drop teaspoon sized dollops onto baking paper on a tray and whack in the oven for 14-15 minutes. Makes about 16-18 cookies.

Store in the fridge.

Easy, ready in 20, and yummy! The recipe was courtesy of the Bruce Fife, N.D. Cooking With Coconut Flour Book.

It turns out that we do have something a little bit exotic, if you like a little farmyard with your childhood illness.

Hand, foot and mouth disease.

Just the words make me think of Mad Cows going crazy and eating each other.
Apparently, it’s super common in kids, and highly contagious.

After my blues last week, I’d filled my week this week with great, fun, nurturing outings for us, but now we are sentenced to a week of quarantine.

That should lift my spirits.

Better make some more biscuits….. think this calls for some real ones, no?

Are you a comfort eater?

Eat to live or live to eat?

 

Hooking up with the fabbo Jess, for Ibot. Head to EssentiallyJess for some more blog love.

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A Prehistoric Birthday and a Dinosaur Cake

16 Apr lighting candles on the dinosaur cake

I found out recently that children with above average intelligence are referred to as Gifted and Talented, or G&T.

I imagine you’d want to be pretty careful going around calling your kid G&T, though, as people may lick them inappropriately.

Awkward.

I’m not entirely sure what the criteria is to be classified as Gifted and Talented.
I think my kids are awesome but I don’t know if they are displaying evidence of superior intelligence.

Talent? Hells yeah. D Man recently busted out some Hammer Time and I damn near called Johnny Young…. except his reinvention flopped like Donald Trump’s coiff in the rain.

Gifted? A picture speaks a thousand words.

That's what gifted looks like, no?

That’s what gifted looks like, no?

I heard recently that children that show a deep interest in dinosaurs may possibly have superior intelligence. If that truly be the case, then my boy is a genius.

We’ve been all about primordial beings for ages.

Eons.

Not technically eons, as he’s only just turned three, but the train obsession turned into a dinosaur obsession about a year ago and it’s stuck like poo in a bear’s fur.

A day is not done until I have pierced my instep with a triceratops, or discovered a velocoraptor in my butt crack. Twelve months ago I didn’t know my sauropods from my theropods but I’ve had a crash course and I’m hoping someone may soon label me as gifted. Or at least a dino-nerd.

Or maybe they’ll stick with special.

When D Man’s third birthday loomed, it was obvious that it must be a Dinosaur Affair.

dinosaur costume

One of his favorite things in the whole wide word is a trip to see the dinosaurs at the museum, and we went on Monday to kick off his birthday week.

visiting dinosaurs at the museum

Po’face, anyone??? He’s having a great time, I swear.

We also had an archeological dig to mark the occasion. We chipped and hacked at the plaster block to reveal the Tyrannosaurus Rex bones.

archeological dig digging for dinos

You know I love a little cake challenge. You may remember my Hoot Cake from last year, so this year I knew it was all about dinosaur cake. I had never seen one, and the Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake bible didn’t have one so I was flying blind.

I was never going to try to get a gluten-free, sugar-free cake past the toddlers, so I decided I would make a big-ass lamington cake. I thought it would have less sugar because it doesn’t have icing. Does it?

Probably not.

I used 70% dark chocolate and thinned it with milk to make a ganache sort of chocolate coating rather than icing. Many lamington recipes use heaps of sugar in the chocolate icing, so I reckon we came out just on top.

But, you know, it’s a birthday cake after all.

The sponge turned out more dense than I expected, I would say it’s more like a butter cake, but it was yummy and there was only one little piece of dino left, so I reckon he was a RAWRRRRRRing success (except that momentary intake of breath when Mister H suggested it looked like an angry kangaroo.)

I based my cake recipe on this one from Eat, Little Bird, and I doubled it, but she used a KitchenAid, which I don’t have (are you reading this KitchenAid???), so I used ye olde worldy electric beater.

Such a peasant. dinosaur birthday cake

I made the method up, and winged the rest.

This is to make a birthday cake for 25 people.

What you will need :

For the cake -

  • 370g plain flour, sifted (I really did it this time)
  • 370g butter, room temperature
  • 6 eggs, room temperature (which should also weigh about 370g in shell, funnily enough)
  • 460g caster sugar (I know, I know!!)
  • 80g cornflour
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla paste, or extract
  • 250ml milk

For the icing :

  • 150g 70% chocolate, broken into pieces
  • 150ml milk
  • 1 1/4 cups of dessicated coconut
  • green and red food colouring
  • a squeeze of cream cheese icing with cocoa for claws, I had some left over from cupcakes or you could cut liquorice.
  • a marshmallow for an eye
  • Tic Tacs for teeth

Preheat oven to 175C fan forced, or 180C if it’s not.

Line a deep flat cake tin or baking tray with baking paper. Mine is 3 x 9 x 2 inches.

Cream together your butter and sugar until creamy and pale. At least 5 minutes of good beating.

Add your eggs one at a time and continue beating on high for a further 5-7 minutes.  Add vanilla, and milk.

Turn beater onto medium and combine your flours and baking powder in a few batches. Try not to beat too much at this stage, but ensure it’s all combined.

Pop into your tray and stick in the oven for about 45-50 minutes, or until a skewer comes out clean. If the top browns too quickly you will need to cover it with foil.

Turn out to cool on a rack, bottom up, and then freeze overnight if you have the time. It will make the cutting part a lot easier. The flat bottom is now the top of your cake.

dinosaur cake ready to cut

Remove from freezer and divide in half through the middle. The best way to do this is run the knife around the entire edge, where you think the midpoint is, first. Then ensure that every cut around the knife is on your line.
Spread your raspberry jam on the bottom and sandwich together.

raspberry jam for lamington cakeUsing a small knife trace your shape on the top before making any bold moves. You can see how I shaped mine. When you’re happy with it, cut away!

I put foil on my serving tray and then a layer of baking paper on top as the decorating was MESSY! I removed baking paper before serving.

Rearrange shapes to suit and secure the tail with cut skewers. I did the spikes separately, as an afterthought because I had left over bits.

Screen Shot 2013-04-15 at 9.43.59 PM

Create a bain marie in a bowl over a saucepan and add your chocolate and milk and stir until melted. Leave to cool slightly. Meanwhile, put one cup of coconut into a bowl, add a few drops of green colouring and mix through with wet hands that you’ve shaken the excess water off. Do the same with the final quarter cup of coconut and the red colouring.

Take your chocolate sauce and gently spoon in on the top and push it over the edges. You will need to get your hands in there and smooth the chocolate sauce on every single little nook and cranny. It will drip on the baking paper. Spoon chocolate over your triangles and gently press the red coconut on all but the side you will stick to the cake.

chocolate on dinosaur lamington cake

Once satisfied you need to sprinkle your coconut over the entire cake. It’s tricky to get on the edges, so I pressed it and threw it!
I had left over chocolate icing from the cupcakes in the week to make the claws, but if I didn’t I would use a liquorice strap. Super easy.

Dab some Tic Tacs in your chocolate and stick them on, then cut your eye to your taste.

head close up for dinosaur cake

We had a little party, with a couple of friends. I organised all sorts of fun games, but didn’t play a single one because I was eating sausages and drinking wine.

I am officially shit at kid’s parties.

But I make up for it in cake.

Happy birthday, my darling little stinker. I love you more than life itself.

lighting candles on the dinosaur cake
birthday boy blowing the candle

Hooking up with Jess for some hot tuesday group action. Thanks for having us, as always, Miss J!

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A treat amongst the boredom….Gluten-free Orange Cake with Sugar-free Chocolate Ganache

9 Apr

Gluten free orange cake with sugar free ganacheMy name is Danielle and I’m a food addict.

I rarely eat fast food, except sushi. I love good food, and I love healthy food, but it doesn’t make me less of an addict.

I’ve ascertained something in the last few weeks and that is that I’m addicted to sugar and wheat. There’s a very good reason why wheat and sugar are so addictive.

It’s because they’re yummy.

It’s because majority of the yummiest things contain one or both of them, so even when we think we’re not specifically eating sugar or wheat, you’ll probably find you are.

This makes cutting down, or giving up incredibly hard.

And boring.

So, so boring.

After two weeks of no sugar and no wheat I have drawn some conclusions.

  1. Coconut flour biscuits sweetened with banana puree should never be referred to as biscuits. I couldn’t give them to children who eat anything, and neither would adults eat them, even in the name of politeness.
  2. Stevia tastes like crap. A little in a coffee is passable, but in yoghurt, biscuits or anything edible it leaves a wacky tang on the back of your tongue that lingers like a fart in an elevator.

My girlfriend suggested I stop trying to substitute  and just get used to not having these treats in my life.

What kind of life is that?

Pass me a noose.

I’ve been like a mad scientist. I pretend I’m Heston Blumenthal on the trail of molecular gastronomy but my molecules are flour substitutes and my gastronomy is baking. Sure, there’s been some schtummers, but I have also made some delicious discoveries.

My sourdough recipe made with half gluten-free flour and half wholemeal spelt, rolled in sesame seeds before baking is a noble loaf. It could hold it’s doughy head high in Bourke Street Bakery and I bet the GF hipsters would be right into it.

Coconut flour is an awesome flavoured flour. Super low in carbs and high in protein and good fats. It’s exxy but you use only about a half as much of it. It is notoriously tricky to work with as it’s sucks moisture like a sponge. That said, I made a spicy salt and pepper crust out of it for fish, and coconut flour banana muffins?
Helllllo…..delish.
Slightly odd texture but I had my fussy 5 year old neighbour here and she scoffed two of those little puppies straight from the oven.

She usually makes Kerry Vincent, Ice Queen of Cakes, look like a pussy. She’s turned her nose up at more of my creations than she’s actually eaten. Not a word of a lie.

My piece de resistance, however, was not a new recipe. I’ve made this cake a million times, never once thinking how good it was for me. Now I know it’s practically a health food.
I would usually put a Grand Marnier cream cheese icing on it, but that would have needed too much stevia and we know how I feel about that, so I made a thick, lucious, chocolate ganache out of sugar free chocolate. Yep, diabetic chocolate.

Diabetic chocolate is sweetened with a product called maltitol and while it’s not as bad as the cancer producing aspartame, it’s probably not actually better for you than sugar.
I was just experimenting with it to see if the integrity of the ganache would be maintained with this product… and boom. Just like the real deal.

Bear in mind it was for my Easter table so I did use a little sugar in the cake but much less than usual. I didn’t eat the bunnies on top. They’re full freight chocolate.
Forgive the lack of photos but I wasn’t planning on blogging it but after I put this image on Facebook, my wall went nuts for the recipe……

gluten free orange cake with sugar free ganache

And what my peeps want, my peeps get.

What you will need :

For orange cake -

  • 4 oranges
  • 6 eggs
  • 100g sugar  plus 1/2 teaspoon of stevia (if you’re not watching your sugar intake, you can just use 200g sugar)
  • 250g almond meal
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder

For ganache -

  • 100g sugar free chocolate, broken up
  • 100ml cream

Boil your whole oranges in water for about 1 hour. Drain and cool. When they’re cool, chop off their ends and cut in half to disgard any visible pips.

Puree the fruit in a blender until it is a thick liquid.

Preheat oven to 18oC.

Beat your eggs and your sugar (and sweetener) until creamy, then add your orange puree, almond meal and baking powder.

Place into a greased and lined tin. Make sure it’s a big enough tin because it’s quite a large cake.

Pop into your oven for about an hour or until a skewer comes out clean.

Cool in the tin. Then transfer to a plate for serving.

Pop your cream on a moderate stove in a heavy based saucepan. Add your chocolate and stir until it is all melted. Leave to cool for 5-10 minutes before pouring on your cake.

I start with it in the middle and gently push it out to the edges so it can dribble down in a most enticing fashion.

Iboting with EssentiallyJess cos she’s da bomb….

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Self Portrait Birthday Cake… cos I’m weird like that.

24 Mar

self portrait cake ingredients (1 of 1)I  can’t believe it’s been a year since I wrote my first post. I just reread my ‘about’ and realised I must update it, as it feels like it was written by someone else.

I guess in many ways it was. I’ve had a hell of a year, don’t you reckon?

After poodling around and seeing some truly awful cakes online, I promised you I would try my hand at cake decorating to celebrate Keeping Up With The Holsbys birthday…..nothing beautiful, I promised.

Something fugly.

Well, after I threw out to you, my peeps, I got a few responses worth mentioning.

A water birth was suggested.

As I had promised no suggestion was too weird, I don’t want to point any fingers, but I did think perhaps my cake decorating chops weren’t ready to wrap around this one.

A Tony Abbott cake was definitely  unappetising, although the ears alone would have provided cake for a small African nation. Sadly, he would have left a bit of a crappy taste, but hey, let’s not talk politics so early in our relationship.

Tony Abbott's ears

Not tasty…..

A lap top? Julia Gillard?

The suggestions were not many, but certainly very varied.

When Emily from Have a Laugh on Me suggested self portrait cake, I shot it down in flames.

That’s just silly, I thought…..

I fashioned myself upon this image.....

I fashioned myself upon this image…..

…..and then my megalomania kicked in and I remembered that silly is my middle name.

This cake is most certainly not fugly. In fact, it’s kind of awesome.
It is definitely on the weirder side of awesome though.

Carving me up like a Christmas ham and feeding me to loved ones, smacks of Silence of the Lambs or something equally macabre.
My body was gone and just my head was in a container in the fridge…….. wow.

I don’t think I need to go into too much detail on how to make a Mrs H cake, as I doubt many of you will give this particular cake a crack, however, I do have a few tips if you should hanker to make baked goods in your own likeness.

Ummm, yeah, nah

Ummm, yeah, nah.

Life-like was never gonna fly, for two reasons.

1. I couldn’t fit a life-size me in the fridge without cleaning out the various unrecognisable furry things that lurk in the back, and that was never going to happen.

2. I don’t quite have the requisite decorating chops.

So, with these in mind, I chose a photo that had some recognisable accessories that I could caricature.

To create this cake I used a portion and a half of my favorite cake recipe. I made a big rectangle to carve and a small bowl-shaped one to cut in half for my boobs.

After the cake had cooled, I popped it in the freezer overnight for ease of shaping.
Then I cut out the shape I wanted.

nice cans.

nice cans.

I used cream cheese butter icing. I made a big white batch and just coloured different portions as required using red, yellow and blue food colouring. For the fringe and glasses I actually added some powdered drinking chocolate to the icing. I was hoping to make and pipe ganache, but I was up against the clock.
For a few moments I felt like I was in a surreal episode of Masterchef where Zumbo had set The Fugly Cake Challenge.

It was a fun project. When my friend arrived to help me film the Holsby birthday video, her first response was -

You have way too much time on your hands.

Au contraire.

Do you want a piece of me?

Do you want a piece of me?

I’m linking this creation up with Our Growing Edge monthly foodie link up.
You still have a week to get your submissions in and I’m loving what we have so far!

I’m totally loving finding new foodies to follow and share fantasy meals with!

If you need to refresh on what Our Growing Edge is about check this out, or this from it’s fabbo creator, Bunny. Eats. Design.
What’s floating your food boat this month? Hurry up and share it with us all.

our-growing-edge-banner

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Toddler Guerilla Tactics and a Sausage Roll

15 Mar Homemade sausage rolls

sausage roll ingredients Before I had children I had a very clear image of the type of parent I would be.

I would always maintain cool composure, because everyone knows children can smell fear. I would never, ever smack, nor allow junk food, and enforce a strict bedtime. My children would be clean, and my house would be tidy with just one little play area for toys.

Oh, and I would always remain fun. Naturally, I’d be the funnerest mum ever.

Fast forward almost 3 years and I can pretty much see y’all sniggering into your cup of tea.

Lego, Little People and dinosaurs are all over my floor, my kids’ faces are smeared with snot and breakfast and the piles of washing, both clean and dirty, are mammoth, and I’m sitting at my computer instead of getting onto it.

I’d like to say I’ve learned to pick my battles, but I probably haven’t. Sometimes I feel like I’m getting beaten by a little guerilla toddler.

Toddler terrorism is rife in my house, and I’m ashamed to say that I am not above bribery, and depending on the circumstance, I may even just succumb to the tyranny.

One fine example was at oh five hundred hours this morning, after I’d been up a gazillion times with a sick Kiki, and having a supremely snotty nose myself, I heard D Man saying he didn’t want to sleep anymore.

I wasn’t havin’ that.

rolling the sausage rolls

Usually, I can stealthily commando in, shove Ratty in his arms, cover him up, and be out of the room before he could say ‘I want milk’, but this morning he said -

I want the fluffy blankie.

Shit. I’d put it away. In Kiki’s room.

I said gently, No darling, it’s sleepy time now, we’ll get the fluffy blankie out of Kiki’s room in the morning. Stay in bed until it’s light outside. Night night.

I WANT THE FLUFFIE BLANKIE, shrieked my little dictator, (and I’m sure I heard a German accent – is that reference kosher? Probably not.)

A few things ran through my mind, and of course, I know I should have stood my ground, but all hell would have broken loose, everyone would have been crying and up for the day and I just wasn’t ready for that shit.

So, Mini Despot got his blankie.

And I got half and hour more sleep.

Was it worth it?

Yes.

Another one were having currently is over tomato sauce. Boy has discovered the joy of the tangy, sweet/sour condiment from the Heinz Gods, and I agree that some foods must have sauce. A pie, fish and chips, hell, even shepard’s pie, but not everything to cross the dinner table needs to be doused.

Broccoli, for instance, does not need sauce.

I put my foot down over this one, and I put it down good.

Perhaps it’s easier to stand my ground in the light of day……thankfully, these little sausage rolls a begging to be loved with sauce.

When it came to these, Boy had his way.

sausage rolls fresh from the ovenHealthy Mini Sausage Rolls

Yield : 25, depending on how big you make them

What you will need :

  • 350g pork
  • 1/2 onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 zucchini, finely grated
  • 1/2 carrot, finely grated
  • 2 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
  • 3 sheets ready rolled puff pastry
  • 1 egg yolk
  • sesame and poppy seeds
  • sauce to serve

What you need to do :

Preheat oven to 200C

Place your fennel and mustard seeds in a dry frypan over a medium heat and toast until lightly golden and fragrant. Pop into a mortar and pestle and give them a good bashing.

Lightly fry your onion until it is translucent.

Toss your pork, veges and onion and spices into a bowl and mix together thoroughly. Season well.

Cut your sheet of pastry into three equal slices and using a tablespoon to measure out your mixture, roll up your little sausage rolls until the mixture is finished.

Brush rolls with egg yolk and sprinkle with the seeds, before popping them into the oven until they are golden brown – about 20 mins.

Serve with sauce, of course.

Homemade sausage rolls

If you need inspiration for Toddler Friendly food, why not check out my ebooks?
For a measly $15 you can have two books worth of kid friendly food ideas that the whole family will love!

I’m flogging my blog with Grace today over at FYBF

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A Pie in the Sky is Worth Two on the Plate…..Beef & Lentil Pie with Parmesan Pastry

8 Mar

Beef and lentil pie ingredientsI’ve had a really crazy week.

A week of cooking and shooting and I tasted the dream and as I was riding that wave it actually sucked me under and dumped me, complete with sand graze on the chin and pants full of shit grit.

Have you ever started something and it suddenly grew to be bigger than you imagined, so you kinda freaked out and wished you never started, except that you really want to finish so you just hide in a deep hole for a second? Or two?

Or ten.

As you know I’m currently turning my ebooks from cyber books to real booky books, that will smell like books and turn like books and that’s really exciting.

I’ve already done the hard work, right? So, it’s easy right?

I’ve followed my standard formula, which is surround myself with people who are professionals, so no one will actually realise I’m a busker.
It’s a brilliant scheme…..until one of the professionals notices that you have made a rookie error and ALL of the photos you’ve taken from the very beginning are perfect for a blogger, but not for someone who actually wants to publish their images.

Danielle….. You. Muppet.

What exactly does this mean?

Reshooting EVERYTHING.

Except one, measly, image that somehow made the cut.

So, first I tried to blame someone else, but my finger prints were all over it. So I tried to worm my way out of it, and then I squeezed out a few tears that seared my cheeks with frustration.

My ego was bruised. I decided it was all too hard. I’d spend my time in the kids’ sleep eating soft centred chocolates and watching Doctor Oz talk about which groceries are best bought in bulk instead of working on this crazy, pie in the sky dream that I have.

Good plan.

beef and lentil pie with parmesan pastryI gave myself an upper cut, told my ego to take a hike and suggested I stop being such a snivelling wimp and just get on with it. It’s the perfect opportunity to test all of the recipes again.

That seemed to do the trick, which is lucky because I never liked Doctor Oz anyway.

Also, our cover shoot got rained out. We shot something, and that something is perfectly lovely, but it’s not IT. It’s not the image I have in my head, so I must try once more to make it happen.

I have set a date to reshoot the cover and pleaded with the angels to please grant me a weather wish for just a few hours of one day. I can control many things but I can’t control this freaky assed weather we’re having. Begging for divine intervention is about all I have.

So, I guess you could say, I’ve had a little on my plate. It was all a tad overwhelming.

While I was cooking beef and lentil pies tonight, I received a message from one of the very first people to purchase my ebook.

She sent me 2 photos of my food that she and her husband had cooked, and told me she was working her way through my books and she loved them.
She said I inspired her to be a better mum, which is insane because I bet she never left her toddler to watch her baby, who subsequently fell off the bed.

As I put those little pies on the plate I cried and cried.

Mister H came into the kitchen and caught me and when I explained myself he was perplexed.

“But this is a lovely message to receive, right? What’s wrong?”

The tears were because just when I thought I was drowning, the Universe sent me a pair of Floaties. Divine intervention, indeed.

I have a dream, and even though it may be pie in the sky, it’s a damn good dream, and without dreams what do we have?

Do you have a pie in the sky dream? Will you share it with me?

Beef Lentil Ramekin Pies with Accidental Parmesan Pastry

You could use bought puff pastry for your top, like I was planning to, but when I went to grab it I was out…..oh, balls.
I was forced to whip up a quick pastry and I wondered what it would be like if I added parmesan…….OMFG, yum!

parmesan pastry

If you can be arsed, do it. If not, I will judge you not. I served it with smashed cauliflower, pumpkin and peas.

D Man ate this as is, and I gave Kiki a couple of spoons of pie mixture with the vege mash…..food for the whole family, my peeps. Cook once…..not thrice.

D Man eating pie

What you will need :

For the filling -

  • 300g beef mince (I used left over rare roast beef, minced)
  • 1 tin lentils, drained
  • 2 bacon rashers
  • 1 large leek, white only, chopped
  • 1 large carrot, finely chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
  • 1 handful of fresh green herbs (thyme, oregano)
  • 1 handful of fresh chopped parsley
  • zest of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 1/2 cups of beef stock
  • a slug of worcestershire sauce
  • a big splash of red wine
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 2 tablespooons plain flour
  • salt and pepper

For the pastry - 

  • 1 1/2 cups plain flour
  • 100g chilled butter, chopped
  • 50g parmesan
  • a good pinch salt
  • 3-4 tablespoons iced water

Make the pastry first as it needs to rest in the fridge for between 1-4 hours depending on how impatient you are…..

In a food processor chuck your flour and salt, add your butter and parmesan and pulse until in resembles bread crumbs, add water one spoon at a time until it comes together in a ball.

Take from processor, form into a cool shape and wrap and fridge it.

cutting the pastry tops

In a heavy based frypan, add your bacon to a little olive oil, and when it’s getting nice and cooked add mince. When cooked throw in your leek, stirring until it’s all broken down and soft. Add your carrots and celery.

Chuck in your stock, worcester and herbage, then add your lemon zest and wine. Season to taste. When your carrots are soft, toss in your lentils and stir. Add more wine if it’s too dry.

beef and lentil pie with parmesan pastryMix your flour into your water and when it’s well combined toss it into your mix. When you sauce is slightly thickened, turn her off and leave until you’re ready to roll.

Spoon into ramekins or pie dish (you could use porcelain cups if you were being cute).

Preheat oven to 200C

Roll out your dough until it’s about 5mm thick. Cut circles using a bowl or something similarly sized to ramekins and pop your tops on.

Stick in heated over until the tops are golden brown.

Steam up some veges to mash on the side and you are good to go!

Im flogging my blog with the lovely Grace today, so check out my fellow floggers if you have a spare mo.

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The Holsby Lunchbox Experiment

28 Feb lunchbox 4 result

lunchbox 4 resultWhen the divine Zanni, at Heart Mama asked if I could do a Nurturing With Food post for her site, I was thrilled. Zanni’s gentle mothering techniques are an inspiration to me, so I wanted to do something really cool for her readers.

I thought I’d do a little study on lunch boxes. I get sick of sammidges, so I wanted to offer some easy, yummy ideas that were sure to be eaten.
I did a 5 day study of before and after shots to see what he was actually eating, and what came home untouched……

It was fun. Sometimes surprising, and sometimes depressing!

My toddler, D Man, started pre-school a couple of weeks ago so I’ve had to turn my hand to the art of the lunchbox.

Easy enough, you may scoff, but alas, I discovered the taste bud of the toddler is most discerning in the matters of the boxed lunch.

The Earl of Sandwich would be sorry to see how outdated his mode of lunch is these days, but if you don’t sandwich, what do you do?

I’m determined not to send any pre-packaged food, and I really want to keep his lunch boxes interesting and delicious, but of course, they must also be healthy, nutritious and nut-free.

To read more, click this.

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Big Daddy’s homecoming and Oat, Date and Ginger Biscuits

24 Feb date and ginger cookies finished

ginger and date biscuits ingredientsAt the very second I type this we are T-2hrs until picking Mister H up from the airport.
It’s been a long ten days without him.

D Man is allowed to stay up late tonight and just he and I are heading off to the arrivals gate to see Big Daddy walk through. I think both chaps will get a buzz out of that….and I’m not embarrassed to say I’m looking forward to a pash. I reckon a public pash at the arrivals gate is totally acceptable behaviour.

Mister H left on Valentine’s Day and I didn’t write a Valentine’s post. I read a few spectacularly schmaltzy ones and it made me wonder if I was unsentimental, or perhaps my relationship was lacking….

You are the air I breathe and my sun and moon, just don’t quite describe my feelings for my husband but I’ve done some thinking in the last ten days.

I was 30 when we met.

I had lived a very full life and I’ve always relied on myself. I’m very independent, strong and fiery and I can get by just fine on my own. The majority of the  day-to-day ‘kid stuff’ I do anyway because he’s out of the house early and home late, so it wasn’t a biggie.

I haven’t missed not having all of the training clothes to wash, nor have I missed all of the shoes in the lounge.

What I realised was, though, is that Mister H is like the tonic in my gin. Gin is pretty good on it’s own, a complete thing, if a tad harsh, but when you add tonic?

Wow, now that’s a real marriage.

Mister H is the cheese on my pizza, the sugar in my coffee and the bubbles in my bath.

He’s the date and ginger in my oat cookie.

I have missed the kisses goodnight, and my friend coming home and chatting about our day.

I have missed the sound of he and the kid’s laughing, and I’ve missed cuddles in the kitchen…..so I made a batch of these chewy, spicy date numbers to ease us through the final days of his absence!

date and ginger biscuits licking the beater

What you will need :

  • 85g softened butter
  • 50g castor sugar
  • 60g brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
  • 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
  • 1/2 teaspoons bicarbonate of soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • A pinch of salt
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 80g chopped dates

What you will need to do :

Preheat oven to 190C

In a large bowl cream together the butter and the sugars until nice and pale. Then add the egg and vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.

Stir  together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt and gradually beat into the spread mixture bit by bit.

Finally, stir in the oats and dates.

Pop teaspoon sized balls onto baking paper and stick in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden and delicious. Leave for a few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Chewy, moist, sticky, spicy, sweet and yummy…..I ate 4 while they were still hot, and felt instantly better.

date and ginger cookies finished

Ironically, after I had already written this, Mister H gave me a present from his journey……

It goes perfectly with tonic.

Hendricks Gin

 

 

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