19/52 Weekly Stills

1. First pre winter fire in the back yard. Just missing some marshmallows!
2. With very good friends visiting on the weekend, we took the opportunity to visit this local winery- which was fantastic for small kids and great for the adults. Gorgeous spot on the Murray!
3. Lazy sunday morning……. Pip squeak and the dinosaurs!
4/5/6. Some freshly potted colour.
7. Oranges almost ready to pick!
8. And just like that, the pomegrante tree lost all her leaves and exposing what fruit is left to pick!
9. A momento from our wedding day.

Hope you had a good week x

Breakfast on the go- Two ways!

Do you have mornings that are just so crazy busy that you totally forget to have breakfast? Or perhaps you just aren't really a brekky person. I'm definitely a breakfast person (it's probably my most favourite meal- which makes me sound incredibly boring, I know….) but my problem isn't that we are crazy busy in the morning racing out the door to be places, but rather crazy busy feeding, changing nappies, cleaning up, getting dressed, deploying my conflict resolution skills targeted specically at toddlers, setting up activities, cleaning up, making coffee, changing another nappy, reading books, drawing princess castles, picking up crumbs off floor, wiping hands and faces…. and did I mention cleaning up???

Breakfast for me at best is often cold toast, leftover from the kids…..or a bowl of soggy cereal or cold porridge. I tend to fill up on coffee these days! So, in a way to get back in control of the most important meal of the day, I've been making home made granola and muesli bars so there is no excuse for not starting the day with some goodness. Here are two quick and easy recipes to help you get through your morning with something healthy in your tummy.

 Home made Muesli Bars

3 cups rolled oats

1/2 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped (or other nuts of your choice)

1/2 cup wheatgerm

1/4 cup sesame seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup pepita seeds

1 tablespoon chia seeds

1/3 cup dried cranberries- or your choice of dried fruit or choc chips

3/4 cup honey

1/4 cup soft brown sugar

1/2 vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 130 deg cel and line a baking tray with baking paper. Tray should be approx 25 cm x 35 cm in size. Put oats, coconut, wheatgerm, almonds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, pepita seeds, chia seeds and cranberries into a bowl. Put honey, brown sugar and oil into a saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar has dissolved. Pour over the dry ingredients and mix really well- might need to pull up your sleeves and use your hands to really mix through the syrup. Press mixture into tray  and bake for about 45-50 minutes or until it is golden brown. Allow to cool. Best to cut into slices whilst still a bit warm as the slice will go a bit hard when cool. If you slice whilst too warm, it will crumble. Store in airtight container. Will keep for up to a week in a cool place or 2 weeks in fridge.

Extra- Try drizzling some melted chocolate on top for something different!

Recipe found in my old recipe journal from 20 years ago- source unknown

Home made Granola-
4 cups rolled oats
3/4 shredded coconut
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup pepita seeds
1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped (or other choice of nuts)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch of salt
50 ml sunflower oil
3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup dried fruit or choc chips

Preheat the oven to 140 deg celcius. Combine the oats, coconut, sunflower and sesame seeds, pepitas, almonds, spices and salt in a bowl. Place oil, honey and sugar in a suacepan over medium heat and stir until combined. set aside to cool slightly before adding the vanilla. Pour this syrup mix over the dry ingredients and mix in well-again, hand action required, if you want too! Spread mix onto two trays, each lined with baking paper, and cook for about an hour. Check regularly and stir granola around to ensure that it cooks evenly. When finished, allow to cool, before storing in an airtight container or jar. When warm, it will still feel 'wet' but once it cools, it will be a lovely sweet, crunchy texture.

Perfect as a breakfast muesli, sprinkled on yoghurt and fruit, add a handful to your smoothie, a healthy energy snack throughout the day or a quick and easy crumble mix to add to some stewed fruit, served with warm custard. Also makes for a lovely gift- just thinking!!! For those on the go, try adding some to a small jar on top of some poached fruit and juice- my current favourite is poached quinces. Pop it in your bag and voila!!!

Recipe inspired & adapted from Sophie Hansen's Local is Lovely 

So, there you have it- two simple recipes that share very similar ingredients, which can be made into very quick and easy breakfasts depending on what you prefer. I try and keep all my nuts and seeds together in the pantry, along with the oats, wheatgerm, etc- so prep time is always quick. I also like that you can basically pick and choose what you add to both. As my husband would say, Welcome to Birdseed City!

Are you a breakfast person?

Enjoy x

It's a Jumble kind of Day …….

Last week  in the lead up to Mother's day I was feeling a tad nostalgic, thinking in particular about my favourite foods as a child and what my kids now like eating. I came across a recipe for these Iced Jumbles and had an instant flashback to my childhood. My mum (although an excellent cook) never made these but rather would buy the occassional pack from the supermarket- which was a very big treat! I do remember my Grandmother used to make Matchsticks though which looked similar- flaky sheets of cooked puffed pastry cut into fingers with whipped cream and strawberry jam layered in between and pink icing on top.

There really is something quite delicious about the thick gingerbread flavoured biscuit with a sweet icing on top. Our eldest licked the icing off- not really a big fan of cakes or biscuits- just the icing! The youngest two devoured them….they do look a bit like rustic yet pretty rusk sticks! I enjoyed them with a simple cup of tea!!!

Iced Jumbles

60g unsalted butter
2/3 cup Golden Syrup
2 cups Plain Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon mixed spice

Preheat oven to 180 deg cel and line two baking trays with baking paper.
Stir the butter and golden syrup in a pan over medium heat until the butter has melted, then bring to the boil and remove from the heat. Leave to cool for 15 minutes. Sift the flour, baking soda and spices together, then stir into the syrup mixture.

Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth, and then divide into four. Roll each portion into a log about 1 cm in diameter, then cut into lengths of 6 cm pieces. Place these logs onto the trays and allow some space for logs to spread out. Bake for 10 minutes, or until light golden in colour. Cool on wire racks and then spread with icing.

Icing
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 cups icing sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
food colouring

Stir together the the egg white and icing sugar until smooth. Add the lemon juice and a few drops of food colouring and stir well.

 -Recipe from Bill Granger's EveryDay Cookbook

Do you remember eating Jumbles when you were a child?

Perhaps you still eat them…..

Hope you enjoy x