Coconut Ice

When I was a child, my mum had a stash of cans of condensed milk. It was left over from when we lived on a remote island and she had to order food for 8 weeks at a time, to come in by barge. Somehow they just sat in the back of the cupboard for years, after we moved back to the mainland. When we finally opened a can, we discovered that it had turned to caramel all by itself, over the course of time. So if you have a spare decade, this is an easy way to make caramel!

In my opinion, condensed milk should be a food group all of its own - rich, creamy, sweet - and yet I can pass it off as dairy, and therefore good for us, right??

Coconut ice is a great recipe to make for your next church fete. Or just because it is yummy!

Ingredients:

5 1/2 cups icing sugar

2 1/2 cups dessicated coconut

1 can condensed milk

1 egg white, lightly beaten

Method:

Sift the icing sugar into a large bowl. I squish mine through a sieve, to get the lumps out. This is quite important, to get a smooth consistency. If you use the icing mixture (with cornstarch in it), instead of pure icing sugar, this step is a whole lot quicker!

Then, add the coconut to the sugar and stir together.

Tip in the condensed milk and egg white, mix well together. The mixture will be very thick and sticky. Yum.

Press half the mixture into a tray lined with baking paper. Then add pink food colouring to the other half, and press it in on top.

Refrigerate for 3 - 4 hours, until completely set. Slice into small pieces and enjoy!

This is a good recipe for kids, as it is just measuring, mixing and squishing into a tray. However, it does require some patience, waiting for it to set. I make it before nap time, and then take Naomi off to bed for a while, to pass the time.

Chicken, corn & tarragon pie

I am not much on buying magazines - I can usually think of better ways to spend the money (like feeding my fabric addiction). But the cover of the Notebook: magazine does grab my attention, whenever I see it on a shelf. They look more like real women than those on the cover of any regular glossy. And there are usually some very pretty flowers, or vintage type furniture or something. So this month, I went ahead and bought it.


What does this have to do with the title of this post? Well, there were some totally scrumptious sounding recipes - including this one for chicken, corn and tarragon pie. Naomi and I baked it on Monday night - it was received with the great accolade of "mmm... alicious" from Naomi, and a totally scraped clean plate from Brad. It is going in the family favourites recipe book.

Apologies for the dodgy photo - for some reason, I can cook food but photographing it nicely is beyond me!

• Ingredients:
• 1 tbsp olive oil,
• 4 chicken thigh fillets, cut into small pieces
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 celery stick, chopped
• 2 tbsps plain flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 large (420g) can sweet corn, drained
• 1/4 cup cream
• 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp chopped tarragon (I used dried tarragon)
• 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
• 1 egg, lightly whisked

Preheat oven to 220 deg C (hot oven). Heat oil in a pan and brown the chicken. Remove from pan. Brown onion, carrot and celery in the pan, for 5 minutes. Add flour to vegetable mix and stir for 1 minute or unti well combined. Add chicken and stock and stir until mixture starts to bubble and thicken. Add corn, cream and mustard and stir. Remove from heat, then add tarragon and salt/pepper to season.

Spoon into a pie dish (or 4 individual dishes). Cover dish with pastry sheet and brush pastry with lightly beaten egg mix. Bake for 15 minutes, or until pastry is golden and puffed.

Yummmm.... and just as good for lunch the next day!

This post is part of Thursday's Ultimate Recipe at www.lifeasmom.com . Head on over there to read more yummy things to do with food.

Menu Plan Monday - the comfort food edition!

It must be something about the cooler weather. Or the delicious recipes I have been reading in magazines lately. Or even just the feeling that life in a country town moves slower, and gives you more time to enjoy things like home cooking. Whatever it is, our menu this week is packed full of comfort food.

Chicken, sweet corn and tarragon pie, baked potato and veg (new recipe)

Homemade pizzas

Lamb and bean casserole with rosemary dumplings and mashed potato

Homemade sausage rolls, corn fritters and veg

Cottage pie, cauliflower with cheese sauce and beans

Roast chicken with baked vegetables

Spanish omelettes with bacon and toast

Spaghetti bolognaise with zucchini, pumpkin and carrot

Kimberly at Raising Olives commented that she does a weekly menu plan, but doesn't allocate specific days. That sounded nice and flexible to me, so that is what I plan to do.

Brad told me tonight that he wished we'd moved to a small town ages ago, as his palette is definitely enjoying the delicious meals I am serving up! What a sweetie.... little does he know, it just takes a plan, and a shopping list.

Don't forget to head to Organizing Junkie, for more great menu plans.

Warm fluffy goodness ... and some menus!

Here is a photo of what my sweet Naomi (and her daddy) gave me for Mothers Day. Soft lambskin slippers, perfect for keeping toes warm on our timber floors.... yummmm..... They are so comfy that I got all the way to the car as we were going out for dinner with my Mum last night, still wearing the slippers -- Brad came back in the house to get me a pair of 'outside' shoes!

I have been thinking lately that my repertoire of meals seems to be getting smaller - or is it just that I am cooking less and less imaginatively?? So I am determined to start some proper menu planning, and consciously expand the range of homecooked meals that I prepare for my family. We are definitely eating at home more often (less takeaway options in a small town!), and I want everyone to enjoy variety, rather than the same few dishes each week.

So here is my first try at a menu plan...

• Monday - Winter vegetable soup, garlic toast and spring rolls
• Tuesday - Beef and burgundy casserole (new recipe to try)
• Wednesday - Chicken and mushroom risotto
• Thursday - Spaghetti carbonara
• Friday - Roast chicken and vegetables
• Saturday - Lasagna (double size, half to freeze)
• Sunday - Sausages and mash with onion gravy

For more great menu plans, check out Laura's blog at www.orgjunkie.com .

Delicious apple cake

I recently saw this recipe on KimC's blog, Life in a Shoe. It sounded delicious, and also had few steps, making it perfect for a cooking project to do with a 2 year old.

I am pleased to report that the results were just as good as it sounded, and it was indeed a good kids project - plenty of measuring, tipping and stirring, and then just straight into the oven.

So the recipe is:

German apple cake

2 eggs

1 cup oil

2 cups sugar (I used brown sugar)

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

2 tsps cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 cups of peeled, sliced apples (I used 1 large can of pie apples instead)

Beat the eggs and oil together in a large bowl, until well mixed. Add all other dry ingredients, except the apples. Mix together well - the mixture will be very thick at this stage. Stir in the apples - mixture will soften up nicely now. Pour into a 9 x 13 cake pan, and bake for 45 - 50 mins at 170 deg C (350 Fahrenheit). This does make a large size cake - halve the ingredients for a regular round or square cake.

Serve warm with cream or icecream. Or cold, straight from the fridge (as I am eating it at this very moment!)

Totally Decadent Mars Bar Cheesecake

With the only other adult in our house being Type 1 diabetic, it's not often that I make the effort to bake sweet things. But this one, I just couldn't resist. I have not tried making cheesecake before, but this one was so easy that I am now afraid that I might become addicted.... at least I have an excuse, while I am pregnant!

Mars Bar Cheesecake

Ingredients

2 cups chocolate biscuit crumbs (approx 15 chocolate cookies)

5 tablespoons butter, melted

500 grams cream cheese

1/2 cup caster sugar

1/2 cup thickened cream

3 level teaspoons gelatine, dissolved in 1/4 cup boiling water

2 large Mars bars, chopped as fine as you want

Method - Base

Place 15 chocolate cookies in a large zip-lock bag and seal. Crush the biscuits with a rolling pin or anything that will whack them down firmly (feel the stress relief already!). Measure to make sure you have 2 cups of crumbs and place in a mixing bowl. Add melted butter and mix well. Press crumb mixture into the base of a greased springform pan. I found this quantity just covered my large pan - if you have a smaller pan, it will make a thick base and you may want to adjust quantity accordingly. Or you may like thick layers of crumbled choc cookies... mmmmm. Put the pan in the fridge while you mix the filling.

Method - Filling

Chop Mars bars and set aside. Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add caster sugar and cream, beat all together and set aside. Sprinkle gelatine onto hot water and stir gently until almost dissolved. Stir gelatine mix into cream cheese mix, making sure all ingredients are thoroughly combined (no lumps). Gently stir in the chopped Mars bars. Pour the filling onto the crumb crust, in the springform pan. Refrigerate at least 3 hours, preferably overnight.

When set, run a knife around edge of the tine and unclip the springform tin. Decorate with whipped cream, or grated Mars bars/choc biscuits. Anything you want, really!

Of course, you can change it up by substituting honeycomb, cherry ripe, or your favourite fruit, instead of the Mars bars.

Frugal cheese

What is working for me this week? Well, a number of things aren't working for me, but this one sure is.

Miss Naomi likes cheese. Oh, boy, does she like to eat slices of cheese. And not the cheap processed stuff - it has to be the real McCoy block cheese that costs an arm and a leg. So how to make this fit into the Cherished Household budget??

Take 1 vegetable peeler. Take your block of cheese. Apply one to the other. Voi'la, as the French would say!

I use the peeler to shave off very thin slices of cheese from the block - enough to satisfy the tastes of our little cheese monster, but frugal enough to make the block last for ages, and soooo easy to cut. I am useless at cutting straight slices off with a knife - they are too chunky, hard for little ones to easily eat and wasteful of the cheese. But this way, everyone is happy! And it makes slicing cheese for sandwiches so easy as well.

Now head on over to Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer for more great tips.

Mince Casserole for toddlers (and anyone else!)

Just a quick post to share - here is Naomi's favourite food at the moment (and I love to make it, because it is so darn easy!)



Crock-pot Mince Casserole



1/2 kg lean beef mince
1 beef stock cube
2 carrots (diced)
1 potato (diced)
frozen corn kernels and frozen peas
crushed garlic
herbs
rice (about 3 handfuls)
1 can diced tomatoes

Brown the mince and place in the crock pot with the can of diced tomatoes. Add stock cube and about 1/2 a cup of water, and the diced carrots and potato. Stir in about 1 teaspoon crushed garlic. Simmer for 2 hours. Add the frozen corn kernels and peas, and the herbs of your choice (I use dried mixed herbs). Add several handfuls of rice and continue simmering. Keep an eye on the liquid level - the rice will absorb excess water.

When vegetables and rice are cooked, allow to cool. Serve into individual portions and freeze. I get about 7 meals for Miss 15 Months from this quantity.

Ooops....

One resolution down already.

It should be illegal to give women handmade chocolate delicacies for Christmas, when they have resolved to at least watch what they eat this year..... Well, I did watch these.... I watched them from the box to my lips, and I watched the number in the box quickly dwindle.... but I have avoided watching them appear elsewhere - such as on my hips! As my engineer hubby says, for action there is an equal and opposite reaction....

So, to Nina, of Nina's Handmade Chocolates, whoever you are -- thank you for the delicious treats... but, really.... thanks for nothin', kid!

I have been doing better at the resolution to smile in the mornings... there again, maybe I have been smiling in the mornings because I knew a scrumptious chocolate selection was waiting for me, with my morning cup of tea!