Soup & Bread...

It is about time we use up the last of the Pumpkins & Sweet Potato so thought A soup was in order....

Pumpkin & Sweet potato Soup....


1½ onion, chopped

4 cloves of Garlic, crushed
1.5kg Kent Pumpkin, chopped into 2cm pieces
500g Sweet Potato chopped into 2cm pieces
1½ dessert spoon of Curry powder.
100g of Mushrooms chopped
1L of Campbell's Chicken Stock

Brown Onions & garlic in pan
Add Curry powder & cook for 1 min
Add Pumpkin, Sweet Potato, Mushrooms & cook on high for 3 min
Pour in stock & bring to the boil then simmer until Pumpkin & Sweet Potato are soft...
Pulverise with stick blender or in food processor..

Bacon, Onion Herb bread....
To begin with, ½ an onion & 100g  eye Bacon were finely diced & fried off...

To the bread maker pan I added 375ml of water with a tsp of Chicken stock powder mixed in & 2 Tbsp of oil...  A bag of  normal bread mix was then added along with a tsp of bread improver & 1½ tsp of dried yeast...

The Bacon & onion Mix was added in along with a dessert spoon of Parmesan cheese, ½ a cup of grated tasty Cheese,  ½ tsp each of dried Thyme & Sage when it "Beeped" at me at the add in stage...

They soup was served with a "swirl" of Coconut Cream.....
Very Tasty !!!!
Have a great one all....
: )»

Grilled/Fried Veggie Burger...

We have started to harvest the Eggplants.. **Does Happy Dance**
1 of my Favourite ways to use them is in a Grilled/Fried Veggie Burger...



We sliced a few small Sweet potatoes, an eggplant, some Capsicum & onion... These were all fried in a small amount of oil & crushed garlic until soft...
The veg were then served on a bun with some cheese, meat patty, & topped with some fresh Lettuce, Tomato & Basil straight from the garden... YUMMO !!!

This Post was lifted from Our Simple Savings blog...
Feel a tad lazy tonight... ; )»
Have a great one all....

: )»

Snakes Alive...

 We went to a Reptile Show at the Ipswich Turf club yesterday.... Saw some great looking specimens & got some ideas for alternate housing for Eddie.....

 The Green Tree Python below is a snake I have always been fond of, but due to price & what I have been told  about their temperament, it shall be one I shall appreciate from afar....

This Blackhead was a bit of a highlight for me... It is a new Variant  & the difference is quite striking as you can see from the picture in the centre... (Centre Pic taken from freesnake.com)     

On a sad note for me, we came across a local dealer who we sold Queenie to.. She was on display & he said she was one of the nicest Spotted Pythons they had bought ..   : (»
they had seen none of the snappy behaviour she had given us... He also said that She was a HE & it could explain some of the snappy behaviour she displayed as some males can be quite territorial.. This is something he said he had seen before in his own collection... I felt like buying Him back & renaming him Baldrick, But B☼ said no ... : (»    At least I got to have a cuddle & another goodbye...

Have a great one all...

: )»

Baking with the girls...

Have been at it in the kitchen again the last few days... Yesterday we used the the Chickpea & Bean Salad recipe from the other day to make up a Quinoa version... Is basically the same except for cooking 1 cup of Quinoa in 2 cups of water with 1 tsp of Chook stock powder... This was cooled & added to the other ingredients...Went down a treat with the family & we still have heaps left for dinner tomorrow night...

 Chocolate Maccadamia nut Brownie.....
Also made up a batch of Chocolate Maccadamia Brownies to help "Grease the wheels" at B☼'s work....
 This is a "Coles" recipe I grabbed from Simple Savings & have altered slightly.... (just can't help myself)
 

Fudge Brownies...

200g unsalted Butter
150g chocolate, chopped
1 2/3 cups sugar
4 eggs
 2tsp vanilla essence
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 cup chopped Maccadamia Nuts
Method
1. preheat oven to 180
2. Lightly grease and line a 180by280cm shallow cake pan (I use a square Silicone "pan")
3. Melt Butter & Chocolate in Microwave or in a double boiler on stove
4. remove from heat. stir in sugar.
5. beat in eggs, one at a timethen stir in Vanilla
6. sift in dry ingredients and mix.
7. stir in nuts.
8. pour into prepared pan and cook for 35 -40 min
9. Allow to cool completely in pan, then remove cut into desired sized pieces...

 Vanilla Essence...
A few of the Vanilla beans that I bought a while ago were finely used to make 700ml of Vanilla Essence today...

16 beans (8 for each bottle) were slit down the middle, had the seeds scraped out, chopped into 1.5cm long sections & then placed into 2 swing top bottles we once used for home brew...
16 x beans was $10.40 &  700ml  Vodka  was $32.00...

All up it worked out to be  $32.40 for 700ml or $4.60 per 100ml of pure Vanilla Essence which is a small savings on the purchased bottles but a lot more fun to make with the kids...
**Sits back & smells Vanilla scented Fingers**


Bread Mix...


Also did up a bulk batch of bread mix for the bread maker...
We make a 1kg wholemeal loaf in an Aldi machine...
 
350g of white flour
250g of ATTA flour
1.5Tbsp of milk powder
1Tbsp of raw Sugar
1.5tsp salt
This is all bagged up in reusable clip lock bags & kept in a 8.5L Decor container until needed....
To use we first add 2Tbsp of oil & 350ml of water to the bottom of the bread pan.. On top of this goes the bread mix followed by 1tsp of bread improver & 1.5tsp of Dried Yeast....

This saves us time when it comes to putting the bread on late at night or as your running out the door in the morning....


Have a great one all.....
: )»

Eddie on the run !!!

Woke up this morning to find a Snake Poo in the middle of the dining room floor...
Apparently when I changed the lock from Queenies old cabinet I didn't close the glass tightly....
So after searching under everything in the lounge room, 3 bedrooms & nervously looking in the motor housing of the Fridge & freezer, where it's nice & warm, we checked in the cupboard under his tank....
I moved the Candle supply box & B☼ saw this little head poke out to see what all the fuss was about !!!! We are very happy that he decided to have a wander around the floor & leave us some evidence of his escape... He could of been out for a couple of days before we noticed as he has been living under his grass matting & only popping out for a feed or quick stretch once or twice a week...
 He has done this once before when he was but a wee whipper snapper of a few months old when Someone  **coughs into hand** didn't close the glass properly after changing the water... He was found in the storage cupboard under the cabinet that time as well....
He be back home & happy now trying to find a way to hide under his grass....



Have a great one all....

: )»

Chickpea & Bean Salad...

This was inspired by "Moroccan Salad made with Chickpeas" .... Thanks Sherrie.... : )» 

 Chickpea & Bean Salad...

420g tin Chickpeas
150 or so grams of fresh bush beans, sliced thinly
420g tin Kidney Beans
340g tin Corn
1/2  Red Capsicum, diced finely
1/3 cup sundried Tomatoes, Slithered
1/3 cup Kalamata Olives, quartered
medium Cucumber, de-seeded & diced small
small hand full of Mint, chopped
1 shallot, sliced finely
2 cups of Cherry Tomatoes, halved
100g or so of Feta, crumbled


All ingredients were added to bowl & tossed... Some sunflower oil, herb & caper mix, that the Sundried Tom's were marinating in, was stirred through..

I will be adding another tin of beans & some fresh from the garden to stretch it out for tonight's dinner...
Might add a bit of Cumin just to spice it up a tad as well...

Have a great one all....

: )»

Mexican Style Stuffed Zucchini....

Mexican Style Stuffed Zucchini

• 1 Large Zucchini Halved Sliced length ways & seeds scooped out
• 3 slices of Shortcut Bacon Diced Finely
• 400g of mince
• Medium onion Diced finely
• ¼ cup Sundried Tomatoes slithered
• ½ cup Spanish Olives
• 2 large cloves of Garlic Crushed
• ¼ red Capsicum Diced Finely
• 1 tin of Kidney beans rinsed
• 1 Cup of Zucchini Sauce with 2 tsp each of Cumin, Paprika & a dessert spoon of dried Oregano added... (This was then blitzed with a stick blender... )(Chilli would of been great added here but the Kids are not big fans.... YET !!!)
• 4 large Silverbeet leaves roughly chopped & blanched
• Grated cheese for grilling... 

- Bake sliced Zucchini halves in oven at 180°C for 20 Minutes..
- Fry off Onion, Garlic.
- Add Capsicum, Bacon & mince, stir until browned..
- Add Beans, Spiced Sauce & stir in well  then let simmer for 5 minutes..
- Take Zucchini from oven & remove any pooled Liquid...
- Stir Sliverbeet through Then add Mixture to Zucchini & sprinkle with cheese.. Grill until cheese is golden brown....
We served it with a generous dollop of Sour Cream..

Have a great one all....

: )»

Thunder & Rain....

Koo's morning Musical Interpretation of our recent weather.... Ha ha ha ha ha ah She so Funny!!!!