Saturday, October 19, 2013

'One cup' Fruit medley cake

This has to be THE easiest cake to make. Haven't made this in years, but I used to bake it regularly when the kids were still at home, or when I needed to ' bring a plate' to a get together.
This cake is yummy, delicious and good for you.
So 'ave a go' as we say in Oz... :-)

'One cup' easy peasy fruit medley cake

You will need:
1 cup each of the following:

  1. Fruit Medley
  2. Shredded or desiccated coconut
  3. Milk, Soy milk or any other 'milk' or even water will do
  4. Soft brown sugar
  5. Self Raising Flour.
I left my cake in the oven a little too long! :-)
This is what you do:
  • Heat oven to moderate
  • Grease and/or line loaf tin with baking paper (opt)
  • Mix all dry ingredients together
  • Add liquid (this is quite a runny mix)
  • Pour batter into loaf tin
  • Bake for approximately 45 minutes.
  • Insert knitting needle, fork or skewer to see if cake is cooked.
  • Let cake cool, then cut and spread with butter if desired.
This cake is also yummy hot with custard, cream or icecream.

Variation: Add any kind of raw nuts to the mixture and/or decorate top of cake with nuts before placing in oven. If you don't have fruit medley, you can use any other dried fruits. 

Enjoy!

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Cooking or the lack of same...


You can find my latest recipe contribution by clicking on the Recipe tab above...

As you can see my cooking has become more infrequent than ever. This is not a good thing. Life should be full of good food and yet as I've ( or we - hubby and I) have grown older, we seem to worry less and less about putting in the effort to cook meals regularly. Hubby seems to enjoy the cheese and pineapple wraps he 'cooks' in the sandwich press just about every lunch time. I have late breakfasts because I go to the pool after my school bus run, or 'work out' (a VERY grandiose name for going to the local park and using the new exercise equipment) 2 or 3 days per week on the way home. So I have Organic oats at about 10.30 and don't feel hungry till about 3 pm, which naturally throws the whole hunger/feeding thingy out of whack and then I tend to have a hot drink with several crackers and cheese or sweet biscuits, which in turn throws out my dinner time hunger.

So soups are always a really good option for a quick evening meal. They are satisfying palate wise, fill your tummy up without feeling bloated which is not a good thing before retiring to bed and they are also
Yummy spinach and potato soup.
so simple to make. So when I was browsing through the new batch of gossip mags the neighbour deposits at my front door at least once a week, saw this great spinach soup recipe and knew I had all the simple ingredients available, I jumped to and voila! a beautifully flavoured soup ready in under an hour. Yum Yum!
I was happy that I'd actually got to and created something new to eat and hubby was delighted his wife had actually cooked him a meal for a change. 
I'll certainly be making this one again very soon.
It'a a real winter warmer.
Enjoy.

Remember to click on the Recipe tab under the cover photo to see the recipe...

Creamy spinach & potato soup

Creamy Spinach and Potato Soup

You need:
olive oil - 1 tbsp
rindless bacon - 2 rashers, chopped
onion - 1 chopped
garlic - 1 -2 cloves crushed
potatoes - 3 peeled, chopped
English spinach - 2 bunches trimmed, chopped (or 1 x 250gr pkt frozen spinach)
chicken stock - 6 cups (or 6 cups water with 2 Massell chicken or vege cubes)
ground nutmeg - 1/4 tsp, plus extra to sprinkle over top
cream - 1/4 cup

You do:

  1. In a large saucepan, heat oil on high
  2. Cook bacon 2-3 min until crip. Remove from pan and set aside
  3. In same pan, sauté onion and garlic 2-3 mins until tender
  4. Add potatoes and cook, stirring, 2 mins
  5. Mix in spinach and pour stock over
  6. Add nutmeg and season to taste
  7. Bring to boil, then reduce heat to low. Simmer partially covered for 20-30 mins until potatoes are tender
  8. Using a stick blender or food processor, puree soup until smooth
  9. Reheat gently
  10. Serve with a swirl of cream, sprinkling of bacon and nutmeg
  11. Serve with any kind of bread.
Serves 4 Prep time 15 mins Cook time 35 mins



Thursday, February 7, 2013

Egg plant and ricotta 'lasagna'

I made this recipe last night from my new cook book: Tiffiny Hall's Lighten Up Cookbook.

This is really yummy and quite easy to do.
The half that was left before I took a pic ;-))

Serves 4 

This is what you need:
3 medium eggplants (750gr) cut lengthways into 1.5 cm slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 1/2 cups (or 375gr tub) ricotta
1/4 fresh grated parmesan cheese
3 eggs lightly beaten
1/4 cup torn basil leaves
3/4 cup tomato pasta sauce

This is what you do:

  1. Brush eggplant slices with olive oil and season.
  2. Place under grill 12mins each side until soft
  3. Put into 20cm x 20cm oven proof dish
  4. Beat eggs lightly, stir to combine with basil, ricotta and parmesan
  5. Layer eggplant, pasta sauce and ricotta mix alternately, finishing with ricotta mix.
  6. I sprinkled a little more parmesan over the top.
Bake at 180C for 30 mins.

Enjoy