Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Feijoa muffins and magic bean cake

I'm really lucky that my mum has a wonderful, productive (most years) feijoa tree, and she brought me a bucket full of them in the weekend.  As much as we LOVE feijoas around here, we just don't seem to be making much of a dent in this load.

So, along with needing to use up some homemade yoghurt, I thought I'd try and make some Feijoa Yoghurt Muffins, based on a banana yoghurt muffin recipe I've made before.

I may have gone slightly overboard on the feijoas resulting in a wetter mix, so added a bit more flour.  It took quite a while to cook but looks and smells successful!

Also another batch of "subway rolls" made today for the lunches:
 

I haven't been keeping up with posting about all the things we've made lately (we clearly eat far to much baking!! Haha) but wanted to pop in something about these:
This is "magic bean cake" made into muffins.  They are gluten free and made with red kidney beans, but you really wouldn't know!  The kids think it's a great treat to have chocolate cupcakes, and they have all disappeared.  They stayed lovely and moist for all 3 days they managed to last for.

Monday, 20 May 2013

Pizzas! Dinner and Dessert

Last night's dinner was homemade pizzas.  Here is the meal ready for assembling and cooking:
 After making enough for dinner and today's lunches, I still had dough leftover, as well as some custard in the fridge, so we also had dessert pizzas.
And also made some bread rolls for this week's lunchboxes:


 
Tonight we'd had steamed lemon chicken, but I was too slow to get a photo again!

Friday, 17 May 2013

Gingerbread biscuits (with recipe)

Using my favourite gingerbread biscuit recipe to make a batch of biscuits today. 

Melt 115g butter, 170g brown sugar and 4 tblsp golden syrup together until just melted, but not too hot (using the Thermomix for this was great - set it to 37 degrees, so it wouldn't end up too hot for the next step)
Add 1 egg, lightly beaten, and mix together.
Add 340g flour, 2tsp ginger & 1tsp baking soda and knead until a ball of dough forms

The recipe suggests then chilling the dough before rolling and cutting into shapes, but I prefer to at this stage to roll them into logs and chill before cutting into rounds.  I use my Sushezi to make them nice and even - really handy when making Belgian biscuits or anything you want to make biscuits "sandwiches".

Of course, if the kids are wanting to cut shapes, all that goes out the window, but they are far to busy to help me today!  Playing nicely together which makes a welcome change to the usual antics.  They managed to find a few moments to come and "test" the dough though. ;)

Once chilled, cut and bake at 190degrees for about 8 mins (recipe suggested 10-15mins, but that is far too long in my oven)

And here's the finished product:
 
 

They seem to taste alright too - half a dozen demolished in the first 5 minutes (and not even by me!)

Wednesday, 15 May 2013

More baking

Yesterday afternoon I made another batch of brioche dough for custard scrolls - here they are before baking.

Also on the list was another batch of yoghurt - made a smaller (1 litre) batch this time, with some added milk powder, and it looks a lot thicker and creamier than the last batch.  We'll have a taste test later today after it's chilled.

And to use up the last of the previous yoghurt and some slight over-ripe bananas, there are Banana Yoghurt Muffins in the oven now. 

Last night was sushi for dinner, which was well received, and I was nowhere near fast enough to get a photo.  Always a good sign. :)

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Last night's dinner:


Strangely enough, I'm usually the one in my family who finds fresh ginger overpowering, but I really enjoyed this, while my husband was not too sure!
The kids demolished the lot though.

Saturday, 11 May 2013

Happy Mothers' Day

I was woken up this morning with a "Happy Mothers' Day" from my lovely boy, along with a card he'd made at school.  The message read:
"To Mum
I hope you have a happy day. I lov you.
Lov Anton"

He and his sister (with a little fatherly assistance) made me breakfast in bed (weetbix and a glass of water!), followed by a pancake and cup of coffee all together at the table. 

So a pretty lovely mothers day here!

Since then, it's been business as usual here - have made pizza scrolls for lunch boxes, frittata for lunch and a banana cake to have for afternoon tea today with guests.



Tuesday, 7 May 2013

More than I expected to make today

Since my son brought a friend home after school today, I've managed to get a surprising amount done this afternoon!

Banana muffins for the lunchboxes
 
 
Roast lamb and vege are cooking away - just about to steam a few greens and we will be eating.


Made some hummus for snacks and lunchboxes

And some brioche dough rising to make custard scrolls (custard is also cooling in the fridge)