Friday, November 30, 2012

happenings...


Afternoon M'dears

I have been away from facebook most of this week getting orders finished up and in the post, I'm hoping to have the rest posted out by next Thursday (at the latest!)

I have had so much fun sewing with the latest mama skirt fabrics...
so summery!

Here's a pic of some of the skirts that left for their new homes yesterday.

 
 
Aren't they pretty!!!
I was tempted to keep the one in the middle ;)
i've also sewn up OVER 150 little hand quilted coasters in the last 2 weeks! Whoa!!

I've also been giving our blog a spring clean/face lift! Hope you like it! It only took me 12hrs! ;)

We added to our brood 2 weeks ago....
Here name is Lou~Lou and she is such a JOY!


 
Lou~Lou was a rescue kitty from the dump! Our girls wonderful/fantastic/special family daycare educators looked after her and hand fed her for the first 8 weeks of her life!
Below is a pic of Lou~Lou before her eyes and ears opened...awww!



Best get back to it, I have a hot date with a sewing machine and my order book.... then searching for a sugar free cake recipe for miss 11's, 12th Birthday this Sunday!.....Oh and maybe think about making a  start on organising and  packing for our move on the 21st! Eeeek!

Ps...Any sugar free cake recipies would be appreciated...just link me in the comments! TIA xx

Love

Share Winner


Evening lovelies!! Sorry for the delay in announcing a winner! I've had this post ready to go but forgot to push PUBLISH! Eeeeek! Sorry xx

I'm here to announce the lucky winner of our "SHARE" competition!!

BUT before I do i'd like to take the opportunity to Thank those lovelies who took the time to share!
Thank You!! xx

Without further a do....

The Lucky WINNER is....

Kelly Brown! Yay Kelly!!

Please email me at convo_1rubyroad@yahoo.com and we can arrange delivery of your prize!!


Sunday, November 25, 2012

Food...glorious FOOD!

Evening dear ones,

I promised a recipe for apple pikelets...sans sugar!
so here it is!!

1.5 cups of S/R flour ...white spelt flour works as long as you turn it into S/R first!
(1 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 to 1/2 of a teaspoon of salt to every 1 cup of all-purpose flour.) Wholemeal flour does NOT work! Lol....I tried!!
300ml of butter milk
1 egg, lightly beaten
1tbs xylitol or 2tbs caster sugar, stevia/natvia
1/2 cup pureed apple (fresh preferably!)
butter for frying

Method
combine flour and sweetener of choice in bowl, make a well in the centre. Whisk egg and buttermilk together in a jug. Add egg mix to flour, whisk till smooth. Stir in puree.

Heat fry pan over medium, melt a dob of butter and spoon batter into pan. There good to turn when small bubbles form. Eat cold...OR straight away with butter!! YUM...

My kids went NUTS for these! The apple adds a natural sweetness and is a great way to use up apples that have lost their crunch!!!

Eat for brekky or in a lunchbox cold.



These were all that was left after brekky....they were all gone by lunch!!


Other things we have had this week are:

Simple coconut cake

Preheat oven to 180

1cup shredded or dessicated coconut
1cup S/R flour
1cup full cream milk
1/2 cup Xylitol  OR 1 cup sugar
 (we used just under a half a cup of Xylitol...note when using xylitol you won't get the same rise results as sugar)

Method:
In a medium bowl add all ingredients and mix well till combined. Pour into a greased round cake tin and bake for approx 35mins.

Tastes yummy warm for afternoon tea

I also discovered some fresh whole egg mayo in the fruit section at woolies so we've been enjoying using that!

Crunchy Tuna wraps..
Whole wheat mountain bread
Large can of tuna (good quality) in pure olive oil (chilled would be best!)
stalk of celery (chopped into tiny pieces)
1 cob of sweet corn removed from husk OR small tinned corn
about 2-3 good dessert spoons of your fresh mayo
alfalfa or shredded lettuce
makes about 5-6!

method
drain oil from tuna, add to bowl. Add your chopped celery, corn and fresh mayo stir till combined.
On your piece of mountain bread add mix down one side (like a tuna sausage!) then put your alfalfa or lettuce on top or beside (be careful not to over fill!) then roll them up and enjoy!
My Father in law had 2!

Miss 5 LOVES beetroot so today I made a simple beetroot dip for her. It consists of a decent sized baby beet chucked in the food processor and chopped tiny but not pureed. Along with about half a tub of cottage cheese pulsed in the food processor to combine.
It still has the beetroot flavour but can now be spreaded onto a sandwich or use plain crackers to dip!
I broke up pieces of the mountain bread, drizzled with olive oil and cracked some sea salt over them and placed under the grill....YUM!

I have to say that eating healthy has been more expensive...initially BUT I've found some GREAT Organic, Additive free, Low or NO sugar alternatives at Woolies and Aldi that are in our budget without the usual sugar and preservative laden foods we'd buy...and I'm feeling so much more confident in feeding my kids Fresh foods!
Just a side note: We use full fat milks, cheeses and yogurts. I believe in getting back to basics is eating foods as close to their natural state as possible and osteoporosis runs in females in my family so I'm dosing myself and girls up on calcium now!!! Lol

Hope you got some ideas there for healthy snacks for your family


Love

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Chocolate Chip Cookies (wigth chickpeas!!)


Evening Lovelies :)

As promised a recipe for the chickpea/choc chip cookies!!!!!

Preheat your oven to 180 degree (moderate)
line a cookie sheet or baking tray with non stick baking paper

Ingredients:

half a cup of Xylitol (sugar free, diabetic)  (I used just under half a cup and they were sweet enough for us)
OR 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup of organic butter (or reg butter or marg)
2 large organic free range egg whites (save the 2 yolks for homemade mayo!)
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 425g can of chickpeas drained and rinsed
2 cups of choc chips (I used pure cocoa nubs from the health food shop, and only 1 cup....this ingredient is expensive!!) Lol
3/4 cups of chopped walnuts or macadamias (optional)
3/4 cups of raisins (optional) raisins will increase the sugar/fructose content
2 cups of organic all purpose flour (or reg...I'm on an organic diet)
1/2 old fashioned steel cut oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Method:

in a bowl cream the butter and xylitol (or brown sugar), when nice and creamy smooth beat in the 2 egg whites and vanilla till mixed.
Add in the choc chips and drained/rinsed chick peas (might want to use a tea town around your bowl if using beaters or a kitchen aide...they fly everywhere!! LoL) (add in the nuts and raisins now too)
Add the flour, oats, baking soda, salt. Mix on a low speed until a thick dough forms.

Roll into tablespoon size balls and place onto baking tray, press gently with a fork.
Bake till golden...Approx 12-15mins.
DO NOT OVER BAKE!
Transfer to a cooling rack and ENJOY!

Store in an airtight container for around 3+ days.

Next time I cook these I'll be adding some chai seeds to gibe them some added extra nutrition wise. About a table spoon should be plenty :)

These are SUPER yummy and my hubby and 4 kids have not even batted an eyelid at the chickpeas or xylitol! There is NO yucky aftertaste with xylitol compared to stevia or natvia also! Yay!!!

 
I'm currently turning this
 
into homemade slowcooked, sugar free tomato sauce!
 I'll let you know the results!!!!!
 

Love