Mini Quiche

I believe quiche (and omelettes) should never have a set ingredient list. As an example, the photo just above of the cooked quiches have different toppings. 2 mushroom, 2 broccoli, 2 spring onion & 1 cheese. Now my 5yr old daughter LOVES mushroom, but my 12yr old daughter claims she would rather eat dirt. So obviously Miss 5 would take mushroom tops & Miss 12, well she went for the cheese one. Little did Miss 12 know they all have the same ingredients (as you can see by the top photo). Anyway, my point is, as long as you have eggs, you really can put whatever you like in these. Even sneaky vegetables your kids don't usually eat. Here is my list for this batch.

 

Ingredients:

Eggs



Jarlsberg cheese
Broccoli
Garlic
Spring onion
Cherry tomato
Bacon
Onion
Yellow capsicum
Mushroom
Zucchini

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C.
Whisk eggs (I add a little cream) in a bowl.
Add chopped ingredients (set aside a little for toppings) and mix.
Butter a muffin tin (I only did 7, in the empty ones I added a little water).
Spoon mixture evenly, then add toppings.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Can be eaten warm or cold.

Enjoy ;)

Food Photos

Baked egg with asparagus, baby spinach, cherry tomato and cream.

Celery boats with curried egg & cherry tomato.

Poached egg with sautéed asparagus & bacon on a flat mushroom.

Vanilla cupcakes with white choc chips & rosella jam.

Enjoy ;)

Pawpaw & Lavender Soap

You will need:
Double boiler saucepan
1 cup of Pawpaw soap flakes
1 1/2 cups of Pears soap flakes
1 tbsp.Shea butter
10 drops of Lavender essential oil
2 tbsp. heaped dried Lavender flowers
Soap mould

What to do:
Put 1 cup of water in the double boiler, heat to a boil, then turn down to simmer.

Add pawpaw, pears and shea butter to the pot. Stir until melted, around 8-10 minutes. Turn heat off.

Add essential oil and dried flowers to the pot and mix.

Pour into soap moulds (this batch made me 4 bars).

Refrigerate for 30 minutes, then pop moulds out onto baking paper to harden in a cool dry place. Optimum hardening time is two weeks, but mine usually gets used after 1.

Enjoy ;)

Honey & Lavender Hand Scrub

You will need:
1x 275ml preserve/mason jar (with the lid), cleaned
1/2 cup organic raw sugar
1 tbsp. honey
5 tbsp. organic virgin coconut oil
Lavender oil (5-15 drops depending on your liking)

What to do:
In your clean jar, add ingredients. Use your tablespoon to mix thoroughly. Put the lid on. Voila!

Is ready to use as soon as you like. Just scoop some out with your fingers, scrub, rinse off with warm water. Keep it stored somewhere cool and dark, like the bathroom cupboard.

Enjoy ;)

Beetroot Chicken Burgers

Ingredients:
For rissoles:
500g chicken mince
1 medium/large beetroot, peeled & grated
1 cup oat bran
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely copped
50g goats goat's cheese, crumbled
1 egg
Salt & pepper, to taste
Herbs, to taste

For burger:
6-8 burger rolls
Butter
Baby spinach
Tomato, sliced
Red onion, finely sliced
Avocado, mashed
Aioli, added to avocado mash

Method:
In a large bowl, add all rissole ingredients and mix with your hands until well combined. Sometimes I refrigerate for half an hour or so to set it a little better but you don't have to.

Scoop out a palm full of mixture, roll into a ball then flatten to about and inch thick. Place on the grill tray. Repeat until all the rissole mix is used then cook under the grill on high, about 15 minutes each side (but keep checking so they don't burn).

While the rissoles are cooking, slice the rolls in half and butter both sides. Heat a frying pan and cook until golden and crispy.

Starting with the bottom half of the roll, spread on mashed avocado with aioli, place the rissole on top, the sliced tomato (I like to add a little pepper on top of tomatoes), sliced onion, then arrange baby spinach. Top with the top half of the roll and serve.

Enjoy ;)

Sweet Chilli Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients:
8 large Brussels sprouts, halved
Olive oil
2 tsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. sweet chilli sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C. Line oven tray with foil (I do this 99% of the time I cook to save me from having to scrub the tray).

Arrange Brussels sprouts flat side down on the tray, drizzle with oil. Cook for 10 minutes.

During that time, in a small bowl, mix soy sauce, sweet chilli and garlic.

Turn Brussels sprouts to flat side up and pour sauce mixture over, place a sheet of foil over the top. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Serve immediately.

*Served with Roasted Broccoli With Garlic & Parmesan & Prawn Stuffed Artichoke

Enjoy ;)

Roasted Broccoli with Garlic & Parmesan

Ingredients:
4 cups of broccoli, cut into bite size pieces
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup of shaved parmesan
Olive oil
Salt & pepper, to taste

Method:
Preheat oven to 180C. Line oven tray with foil (I do this 99% of the time I cook to save me from having to scrub the tray).

Arrange broccoli on the tray, sprinkle minced garlic on top of broccoli, then 1/2 the parmesan. Season with salt and pepper, drizzle with olive oil.

Place in oven and cook for 20 minutes.

Serve with the rest of the parmesan sprinkled on hot broccoli.

*Serve with Sweet Chilli Brussels Sprouts & Prawn Stuffed Artichoke

Enjoy ;)

Prawn-Stuffed Artichoke

Ingredients:
For artichokes:
2 cup of water
2 lemons, halved and juiced (keep the rind too)
4 fresh artichokes
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp peppercorns
5 sprigs of thyme
5 springs of rosemary
4 bay leaves
For prawn stuffing:
250g butter
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 shallots, finely chopped
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
4 bay leaves
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Salt and pepper, to taste
500g prawns, peeled, deveined and finely chopped
Garnish:
1 small tomato, diced
1/2 avocado, diced
Thousand Island dressing or Aioli
Pinch of finely chopped parsley

Method:
In a large pot, combine water, lemon juice and rinds and bring to the boil. Snip the old leaves and tips off the artichokes then add to the pot, turning heat down to a simmer. Add oil, vinegar, onion, coriander, peppercorn, thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes. Once cooked and soft, allow to cool in stock for 30 minutes.

In a large frying pan on medium heat, melt the butter and sauté onion and shallots for 1-2 minutes. Add the breadcrumbs and cook for another 1-2 minutes. Add bay leaves, cayenne, salt & pepper and prawns and cook for 1-2 minutes. Take off the heat and remove bay leaves.

Pre heat oven to 180C. Remove cooled artichokes onto a chopping board and cut in half. Scoop out the heart (I save these to eat another time), then fill with prawn mixture. Place filled artichokes onto a foil lined oven tray and bake for 30 minutes or until golden.

Garnish with sauce, tomato, avocado and parley. Serve.

*Serve with Sweet Chilli Brussels Sprouts & Roasted Broccoli With Garlic & Parmesan

Enjoy ;)

Artichoke & Broccoli Frittata

Artichoke & Broccoli Frittata

Ingredients:
Olive oil
Salt & pepper, to taste
Herbs, fresh or dried, to taste (I just snipped some garlic chives from my garden)
2 shallots, diced
5 cloves of garlic, minced (a great liver detoxifier!)
1/2 broccoli floret, cut into small trees
275g jar of marinated artichokes, strained and roughly chopped
1 cup of baby spinach, roughly chopped
4 free range eggs, whisked
Goat cheese, crumbled

Method:
In a non-stick frying pan (that has a lid) on medium/high heat, drizzle olive oil and add shallots and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and fry for 1-2 minutes.

Add broccoli for 4-5 minutes, in that time, mix the herbs into the whisked eggs. Add spinach and artichokes to the pan, stir, pour eggs evenly over vegetables.

Crumble goat cheese on top (and salt & pepper if you like), *put the lid on the frying pan and turn the heat down low. It takes about ??? to cook through.

Serve warm, but is still delicious cold.

*If I'm impatient I put the pan under the grill to cook faster.

Enjoy ;)

Six Weeks Of Detox

I'm a little excited...

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm a big Bundaberg Rum drinker (yes I do think I'm a pirate). In the last week or two though, I have been drinking more than usual (Territorian here!) and my body is feeling the effects. So, last night I got on google and searched 'body detox' and found this 'six-week detoxifying meal plan'. Had a read through it and it all seemed pretty simple.

Week 1: liver (haha, how's my luck)
Week 2: kidneys
Week 3: skin
Week 4: lungs (mmhmm, I'm a smoker too)
Week 5: lymph
Week 6: bowel

I am determined I can do it (and the family will have to too). So it's going to be a good challenge, which I will be keeping my blog up to date with. Look out for some yummy new recipes for Week 1: liver. Foods are; cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, grapefruit, beetroot, bitter lettuce (radicchio, rocket, kale), turmeric and artichoke.

Enjoy ;)

Fogg Dam; The Window To The Wetlands

Fogg dam is a spot about and hours drive from home. We have visited it many times and will continue in the future. It is spectacular, especially in the wet season.

Transmitting station along the way.



This particular day was great. There was heavy overcast but seemed to slow from pouring to a drizzle every time we got out of the car to walk around.

The wet season makes everything so lush and green, even though this area rarely gets dry, but I think it's enchanting.

The billabong is full of water, fish and probably a croc or two. Most of all, its a big spot for birds (a bird watchers delight).



This mad mushroom was on the side of a monsoon walk.



Monsoon walk, which we did for the first time was terrible. Not the walk itself cause I love all kinds of tracks and trails, but the mosquitos were diabolical. We literally only did about 200 meters before returning to the car (and Bushmans).

This photo is my fave. Took it on the drive home.

Kids Day Out!

On occasion, the kids get together and decide they want, no NEED, adventure. This was one of those days. Even though it was overcast and raining on and off, they didn't let it discourage them from going out and exploring. The upside to heading out on a day like this, is that not too many other people are as adventurous.

Howard Springs is quite a popular place, especially on a stinking hot humid day. But as you can see, we had the whole reserve to ourselves. Yay!

 

 

 

After that we drove out to Channel Island, which is about a half hour drive from home. There were a few 4wds with boat trailers on the back, but no people down at the boat ramp.

 





Breakfast In Bed For Miss 5

Every birthday your youngest child has, always seems the worst one to make you feel old, or that time goes by to quickly. To think that my little baby girl is 5 now is quite horrifying. But in making memories its worth getting excited over.

So, Miss Noa received breakfast in bed. She's a real lover of picnic anything, and a tray of yummy selections seemed appropriate.

That night, my Dad and his wife came around with a special cake for Noa. So the whole family enjoyed the get together.