The Whimsical Wife

The Kitchen Hutch Reveal

2013-04-04T08:00:00.000+10:00

I thought I would finally reveal the finished product of this Kitchen Hutch. It's been sitting in my dining room for nearly two weeks now wanting it's minute in the spotlight so I though I should give it one. Being the great blogger that I am I forgot to take a complete before photo. I thought I had one stashed away somewhere but I can't seem to find it. So this is the best one I have below.

I have been hinting and showing sneak peaks of the finished product on facebook and instagram over the past few weeks. So no more guessing of what the whole things looks like.. here it is!

Gotcha again... Hey I have to show you how I did it before I go ahead and show you what the finished product looks like. What is the fun in that. I will give you a quick run down on how I painted it because I am tired today and don't have the mental energy to go into a lot of detail. I did the usual sanding and undercoating with my favourite primer. I then painted the first of the top coats in my signature "clotted cream". This was the first stage of my design. We were going for a two tone look for the finished product

I got the original idea for this off Pinterest. You can follow my Furniture Inspiration board here if you want to see what I am pinning. This cabinet below took my breath away - I just loved the two tone effect and the rustic nature of the cabinet. I wanted to include the rustic mesh into our cabinet somehow but couldn't come up with anyway to do it. We ummed and ahhed for ages if we wanted to do it like this and if so what colour to use.

Pinterest Inspiration......

This is what the cabinet looked like for quite a while as we tested and re-tested different combinations of paint colours. We wanted a bluey-green colour for the main outside colour that wasn't too dark but wasn't too light. We couldn't end up finding one we liked so ended up mixing one ourselves from two different paint colours.

Once we had decided on our final colour it was all system go and time to newpaper up the section of the cabinet that we didn't want painted in this newly created colour. Thankfully hubby had a day off when this needed to be done and he helped me do it. It probably took us a good hour to tape off the inside of the cabinet protecting it from the next layer of paint. I then rubbed a little bit of candle wax here and there in preparation for Operation Rub Back once the top coat had dried. This helps the top coat of paint sand back to reveal the base coat underneath.

I used my trusty spray gun to give it's final coat. Things were a little dicey there as I thought I wouldn't have enough paint to finish the top coat. Thankfully we had more than enough with a little bit left over. After letting the paint dry over night it was time to do the unveiling. This is my favourite part. Once unveiled I gave her a sand to give her a little bit of character. It was under the watchful eye of husband as he didn't want it too "shabby".

TA DAH! She's all finished and put back into place. I dressed her back up and gave her some flowers to finish her look off. I'm really happy with the final colour and the combination of the cream and the greeny-blue top coat.

I cannot get enough of these roses at the moment. They are on there last flush before winter and I am trying to fill the house with them to enjoy them to the end.

As you can see in these photos the wax worked a treat. I only had to give these areas a light sand and the top coat came off no problems giving it a lovely worn look.

I would love you to pin it if you can!

blog directory

A Simple Autumn Salad

2013-04-02T08:00:00.000+10:00

How did you go with your chocolate consumption over the weekend? I didn't over indulge in the chocolate department but I may have had my fair share of homemade hot cross buns. They were just too irresistible for me.

If you're anything like me and need to get back on the healthy eating wagon after a weekend fuelled by junk food and chocolate a healthy but simple salad generally is the best way to start things off.

This simple salad is made up of a number of seasonal ingredients that I had on hand at the time of preparation. I didn’t go out and buy anything special to prepare it. That being said if you want to make this salad and you are missing an ingredient don’t despair. Simply replace it with something else you have in your pantry. Replacing the pear with an apple, or maybe pecans or almonds instead of walnuts, salmon instead of tuna or chickpeas instead of lentils. You get the gist of where I am going with this. Just make do with what you have in your cupboard but if you so desire to make it to the exact recipe go out and get the ingredients that you need.

I don’t love autumn as much as spring in regards to the seasonal produce that it brings. However I cannot deny my love for fresh figs and I am glad they are in season at the moment. I also picked up these beautiful “sensational” pears at our local stall at the markets we attend every weekend. Both types of roasted beetroot (golden and red) were picked from our vegetable patch that morning and roasted to sweet perfection. I generally roast a big batch of beetroot up and keep in the fridge to toss through salads for lunch and dinner. I also pickle the beetroot for safe keeping in the long term. I also make up a big batch of lentils every week or so and keep them in a container in the fridge. They make a great salad filler when your stuck for something to bulk up your salad a bit. I recommend adding a pinch of bicarb soda to the cooking water when cooking these to help reduce the unwanted gas-eous effects they give! :-)

A good, satisfying, exciting salad is bursting full of many textures, colours and flavours and that is what my kind of salad is about. I cannot stand a boring salad of wilting lettuce, hard, bland tomatoes and cucumber. When I eat a salad I want to get something back from it. A sense of fulfilment and excitement wondering what the next mouthful will taste like. A good salad has to been full of different contrasting colours such as the heirloom yellow & red roasted beetroot and the creamy, green avocado playing off against the golden red tones of the fresh fig and the gorgeous red skin of the pear. You may not consciously notice these things but when dressed and put together it looks thoroughly pleasing to eye and appealing to the stomach.

Then texture comes into play adding avocado's brings creaminess, a handful of nuts adds crunch, a spoonful of puy lentils adds some good fibre and toothiness and a lovely garlic tahini dressing drizzled over the whole thing combines it together and brings the finishing flourish to the dish. This salad is bursting full of goodness, fibre and protein. It’s really simple to make and you will feel a thousand times better after eating it knowing you have started your journey back onto the road of healthy eating... until you are faced with another chocolate egg or hot cross bun. Hmmm.

The tahini dressing that I used in this recipe is great on any type of salad. I keep a bottle of it made up in my fridge and drizzle a little bit on top of my lunch time salads. Is is delicious and creamy with a bit of a kick from the apple cider vinegar and is finished off nicely with a bit of tang from the mustard's. For those who have not dabbled with tahini before it is paste made from grinding up sesame seeds. It is used a lot in Mediterranean cuisine as the basis for dips (hummous) or dressing and can be used on its own to drizzle over food.

A Simple Autumn Salad

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 20min

Cook Time: 5 min

Keywords: salad main dairy free fall

Ingredients (serves 1 -2)

1 x 90g tin tuna, in springwater, drained
2 cups , diced, roasted beetroot
1 x pear, cored and sliced into thin wedges
1 x avocado, flesh cut into fine slices
1/3 cup walnuts, lightly roasted
1/3 cup cooked puy lentils (or tinned)
2 x fresh figs, cut into wedges
2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce/or rocket

Tahini Dressing

1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 x clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon seeded mustard
1 teaspoon rice malt syrup (maple or honey)

Instructions

In a large bowl place all the salad ingredients leaving aside the beetroot.

In a large jar or blender place all the dressing ingredients and shake/blend to combine. Place into a container to store and pour over salad later.

Toss the salad ingredients lightly together and serve on a plate. Sprinkle over the beetroot to avoid staining the rest of the salad.

Lightly drizzle over the tahini dressing and sprinkle with a few extra walnuts and a scattering of fresh coriander.

Happy salad eating .......

blog directory

Happy Easter.....

2013-03-29T08:00:00.000+10:00

Wishing everyone a happy easter from The Whimsical Wife and her little easter bunny sidekick.....

Yes I couldn't resist dressing the little fella up.

He is going to thank me for these photos when he's 21.

Since it was J.D's first easter I thought I would make a celebration of it and take some photos to mark the occasion. Much like I did at christmas time. When he grows up and looks back on these photos I think he will look at me and say ... Why mum? Why? Hahaha.

I saw these cute little bunny ears and tail pack at BIG W along with some plastic easter eggs to get into the easter theme. To mark the special day I also bought him a Peter Rabbit book which I will write a special message to him in as a keepsake.

He LOVED rolling around the rug chewing on the plastic eggs. The ears didn't bother him at all and he certainly played up to the camera like he always does. I think he has had it pointed at him a few million times to know what it is.

Ahh mum do you really have to?

I hope everyone has a relaxing and safe break and remembers what this season is all about .... not chocolate bunnies and eggs but the story of Jesus rising again.

blog directory

A Whimsical Nursery

2013-03-28T08:00:00.000+10:00

I have been meaning to write this post for the past 7 months since little J.D was born. I wanted to show you his nursery and what I did to decorate it. The time seem to get away on me and I can't believe it's been 7 months now. My little boy is growing up WAY to fast.

I did a post this time last year on my nursery inspiration. Some of the photos don't seem to be coming up on that post so you will have to click through to view them. I was going for a light, airy, whimsical feel for both the boy and girls nursery. Of course I was leaning towards a girls room - don't all mums? But had to make a fast U-turn when little J.D made his way into the world.

Below is the original room before we bought and re-painted the house. The walls were a ghastly bright purpley-pink colour with seriously gross shag pile carpet.The inside of the wardrobe also had lovely pine panelling to finish the room off nicely. Blergh. This room is inset from a overhanging porch out the front so it does not get a lot of direct sunlight to brighten the room up. A blessing in disguise when you want your baby to sleep in but can make the room feel gloomy and dreary on a cloudy day. Maybe that's why they painted it such a eye wateringly bright colour.

We painted and re-carpeted the entire house before moving in which was a relief to my OCD tendencies. Don't get me started on the kitchen though! We painted the walls in Dulux Hogsbristle and trimmed the skirting and architraves in Dulux Fair Bianca. The room became many things in the period of the first year we lived here. A spare bedroom, a craft room, a food photography studio and all the while I was yearning for it to be a nursery. The day we finally found out we were pregnant my mind went into overdrive about decorating ideas and possibilities. I didn't explore any of them though until we reached the 3 month mark and announced we were pregnant. Then the fun began.

In the early stages of getting the nursery together.

You can view my Pinterest Nursery inspiration board here. I think I spent a lot of time on pinterest while I was pregnant looking for inspiration and ideas. I was leaning towards owls or birds if it was girl and something with animals if it was a boy. Soft pastel colours would be featuring in both types of rooms with a base of neutral tones. The initial projects that I completed before J.D was born was the Pendant String Light and the photography collage wall. They were unisex and would go with whatever colour I was given to work with when bub was born,

We were trying to be as thrifty as possible in decorating this nursery so a lot of furniture was lined up to be painted starting with the cot. Thankfully husband did that job for me as I think I was getting quite big by the time we got round to finally painting it. The cot was given to me by my sister-in-law which had serviced her 3 kids. It was in great condition but just needed a facelift. We painted this in Dulux Fair Bianca (acrylic) to match in with the bookcase I had painted.

Another project which I completed during my pregnancy was painting this laminate bookcase in Dulux Fair Bianca. I used Enamel Gloss paint to paint this and I would honestly say I will never do something like this again. I had to wear a mask because the fumes of the paint were quite strong, enamel paint is a PAIN to work with and after I finished my last coat of paint on it, rain poured down and left nice little divots all through the paint job. I managed to fix it as best as I could and you can't even see it with all the things filling it up. I vow and declare though never to use enamel paint again OR to try and paint a laminate piece of furniture!

A job to be done once we knew what sex the baby was once born was painting my old bedside table I had as a teenager. I wanted this to be a bit of a feature piece to bring some colour into a already neutral room. So I chose to paint it a lovely blue - Robins Egg Blue to be exact. This was one of the colours I went with as part of a colour scheme for the room. Other colours I used were yellow, grey, bright green & white.

I created the Vintage Crackle initials of bub once he was born and you can read my tutorial here on how to make some yourself. I had the old suitcase for a few years before which I picked up at an old garage sale for a few dollars. The vintage books were a baby shower gift and the ornaments on the side table are from my child hood. The silver moneybox train is from Nanny & Poppy.

My brother-in-law made this gorgeous Noah's Ark tapestry for J.D as a Christmas present. I just love it and I am sure J.D will too when he's old enough to identify all of the animals hanging out of Noah's ark.

Once J.D was born and I was back onto my feet again I jumped straight in to finishing the room off properly. The first thing I made was some bunting to hang over the window which is also mimicked in the quilt I made for J.D's cot and the pillow sitting on the nursing chair. I used a range of different patterned material in my chosen colour scheme to add some texture to the room.

Since I was going for a bit of a carnival theme I decided to embellish the cushion I made with a cute little elephant with J.D's first name (which has been photo shopped out for privacy reasons) embroidered under it. I think it finished it off nicely. I also got some photos printed off to put into the photo collage for the wall. Some of them are our maternity photos and some are off him as a newborn baby. I will obviously swap and change these photos and even add some cute prints in there as well eventually.

After my sisters baby shower I was left with these blue and yellow tissue balls which I had created as part of her high tea table. Since they matched in nicely with the room I decided to hang them from the roof over the change table to give J.D something to look at. When I first initially put them up he was pretty enamoured with them just staring at them in awe. Now he just wants to pull them off the roof!

So that's the room in it's entirety I will write a list at the end of the post of where I got most of the items in the room if you are interested in something particular. I will leave you to browse the rest of the photos in peace.

Mothercraft Avoca Glider + Ottoman Package - White // Baby Care Nursery

Change Table // Super Amart

Change Mattress // Super Amart

Set of Frames // Target

Yellow Lamp Shade // Target

Lamp Base // Target

Cube Baskets // K-mart

Angel Care Baby Monitor System // Pramwarehouse

Cot // Second Hand

Side Table // Second Hand

Cube storage unit // Kmart (similar here or here)

blog directory

Hot Cross Scrolls

2013-03-26T08:00:00.000+10:00

I've been experimenting a bit in the kitchen over the past few weeks trying to come up with the ultimate quick and easy but still tasty easter recipe. I love hot cross buns and I have been experimenting with the flavour combination of the hot cross bun in other ways such as biscuits, muffins and now these super tasty scrolls.

I have to say out of all the experiments these scrolls take the ~~cake~~ ...~~bun~~... er ... scroll for me.

I love hot cross buns and I love making them but you do need a free afternoon to make them fresh unless you cheat and buy them from the supermarket. If you are time poor and have a hankering for a hot cross bun these can be made in under an hour and a bit from start to bite. These scrolls would be a great project for the kids to have a go at making with a little bit of adult supervision. I am sure they would have a ball getting their hands in the dough and giving it a good mix and stir. So if during the easter break the kids are driving you a bit crazy send them into the kitchen to make these. Hopefully you will still have your sanity when these come out of the oven.

These scrolls mimic the flavour of a hot cross bun beautifully. The dough is dotted with plump juicy sultanas, currants, goji berries and a zing of peel. The baked scroll has a tender and moist crumb which is spicy and fragrant. Each bite sending wonderful flavours of cinnamon, mixed spice and cloves up your nose. Spreading the warmth and cosiness through your body with each mouthful. The good thing about these scrolls is they are not overly sweet, which is a nice change to the over abundance of tooth decaying chocolate bunnies and easter eggs spilling out of the kitchen pantry at this time of year.

I do have fond memories of this time of year and it generally involved kilograms of chocolate and a few migraines to boot. My mum would always buy us a Cadbury chocolate Easter bunny. Cloaked in its regal purple foil wrapper. Its delicious chocolate ears sticking up as if listening and waiting for something (probably the sound of salivating humans reading to crack its ears off. It looked so innocent and cute until it's head was gone into my mouth after a few days. I was a chocolate hoarder not a gorger. I would slowly chip away at my bunny eating little pieces here and there over a period of a few days to a week. Starting at my favourite spot the ears. Generally by the time school went back I may of finished my bunny and most of the little chocolate eggs we were also given. I realise now I have to make the hard decision of if and when we will give our little boy chocolate for Easter. I don't want to be mean mum but I am really quite hesitant to want to expose him to this feasting. Is it inevitable that he will eat this one day? Probably but I guess it will be up to me how much.

Anyway back to these scrolls .... got a little off topic reminiscing about chocolate bunnies. When making these scrolls it is important to roll out your dough into a rectangle onto a piece of lightly floured baking paper. This helps with rolling up the dough later on. The middle of the dough is lightly spread with a combination of butter, brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkled with some more mixed fruit and goji berries. I decided to add the goji berries in there for the tartness that they bring. Cranberries would work equally as well here too. When rolling the dough up you roll from the long side up not from the short side.

After a quick chill down in the fridge or freezer you cut off 1 inch pieces of dough and place it onto a lined cookie tray placing the scrolls close together but not touching so there is room to let them expand. Bake them off in a hot oven until golden brown. Let them cool before icing them as the icing will not set and just melt off the scrolls.

They go down quite nicely along side a nice cup of black tea (or coffee) on a beautiful autumn afternoon.

Hot Cross Scrolls

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 20 min + 15 min chilling

Cook Time: 25 min

Keywords: bake Easter fall spring winter

Ingredients (12-15 scrolls)

For the scrolls

2 cups self raising flour
pinch salt
90g butter
1/8 cup castor sugar
2/3 cup milk
3 tablespoon goji berries
1/4 cup dried mixed fruit
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the filling

60g butter
2 tablespon brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1 tablespoon goji berries
2 tablespoon dried mixed fruit

For the icing

1/2 cup icing sugar
1 - 2 tablespoon boiling water

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

In a large bowl sift the flour and salt. Add the butter in and using your fingertips rub the butter in until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add the dried fruit, sugar and spices and mix to combine.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour most of the milk into the center.

Mix the dough together with a flat edged knife, adding the rest of the milk if necessary. The dough should be quite sticky and soft.

Remove the dough from the bowl onto the floured piece of baking paper. Flatten the dough with your hands to form a rectangle. Lightly flour the top of the dough and roll out to rectangle about 1cm thick.

For the filling

In a small bowl add the butter. spices and sugar together and beat together with a spoon. Using a spatula or knife spread the butter mixture on the top of the dough leaving a 1 cm border around the edge. Sprinkle the extra dried fruit evenly onto the top of the dough.

Roll the dough up start on the long edge of the rectangle to form a long sausage shape.

Wrap the dough in the baking paper and place in the fridge for 15 minutes to chill.

Once chilled remove and cut 2cm widths of dough with a sharp knife. Place the cut dough flat on the baking tray and repeat with the remaining dough. Leaving room between each scroll for expansion.

Place into the oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let cool.

For the icing

In a small bowl place the icing sugar and boiling water. Mix together to form a firm but soft icing.

Place into the corner of a freezer bag and snip the corner off to form a piping bag. Pipe crosses onto the top of the cooled scrolls and let it set for 15 minutes. (If you can wait that long)

blog directory

Creating A French Country Table

2013-03-21T08:00:00.000+10:00

I thought I would share with you today how you go about creating a piece of french country furniture. For the novice painter and renovator it may seem a little daunting looking at this beat up piece of furniture and wondering how the heck to get it to something that looks reasonably good to put in your home.

This is what I started with a sturdy but a bit of a beat up piece of furniture. It had some bad scratches and wearing on the table top and was in a dire need of some attention.

The first step to any renovation even before sanding is to decide what you want to do with your chosen piece of furniture. Things such as what colour you want to paint it, what colour stain to use if you are re-staining the top. What are you going to do with the terrible knobs/handles that are attached to the piece. These decisions need to be made before you begin so that you have a vision of what you want the piece to look like at the end plus finding out how much your idea is going to cost. Things such as undercoat, paint, stain, knobs and handles all add up and it is nice to know an approximate cost for these things before you start. You don't want to get half way through and realise what you wanted to do is going to cost too much. I know you want to get started on creating a gorgeous piece of furniture but a little patience goes a long way in the early planning stages. If this is your first time renovating a piece of furniture I suggest going basic in your design. You many have all these wonderful ideas but in reality they are either time consuming, difficult and a pain in the bum. Go simple to start off with to get your confidence and practice up.

If you have no idea of what you want to do with it then I suggest you don't start doing anything to it until you have made a decision. If you are stuck for ideas why not follow me on pinterest and check out some ideas that I have pinned for inspiration or google for some further inspiration. You can also check out the list of projects that I have completed for some other inspiration. After you have decided what you want to do with your chosen piece of furniture it is time to go and buy the materials that you will require to transform your piece of furniture into something fabulous.

Material that you will need:

Orbital Sander *or a sanding block to do it by hand*

Sandpaper - 180 grit is best to start off with.

Breathing Mask (if using orbital sander)

Undercoat - preferably a stain blocker if using it on stained wood.

Paint Colour of Choice

Chosen Wood Stain *if using*

Good Quality Paint Brush

Foam Roller

*or airless spray gun*

Clean Lint Free Rag

Dark Furniture Wax

The first step is to remove any knobs, handles, hinges or hardware attached to the piece. Place these in a bottle with a lid for safe keeping so that the pieces do not get lost. If you think you will forget how the hardware went onto the piece take a few photos to jog your memory to help you put it back together at the end.

Next sand the piece of furniture to remove any glossy surfaces to allow the undercoat and top coat of paint to stick properly to the wood. Make sure you are in an open space where it will not matter if dust is created. I tend to do mine outside to allow for breathing space and to let the dust fly away in the wind. If you miss this step you could be in for disaster at the end with paint peeling or rubbing off. So do it right the first time and it will save you endless trouble in the long run. If you want to create a stained wooden top like I am for this table it is necessary to sand back the table top back to bare wood. I would suggest doing this with an electric sander because if you tried to do it by hand you would be there ALL day long. If you have layers and layers of paint to remove you can try using paint stripper to get the majority of the paint off before going onto sanding back the remaining paint.

Once you have completed the sanding process give it a good dust off with a brush and wipe it over with a damp rag to remove any built up residue from sanding. If you are going for the two tone look with a stained top and a painted base I would suggest staining the top before going ahead to paint the base. This will stop the stain dripping onto a newly painted base and having you to re-paint it again to fix up these mistakes. I use Cabots Interior Waterbased Stain to stain my furniture with. I have found it easy to apply, quick drying and I love the colour range that they have. You can buy pre-tinted colours in this range or buy a tint base and get it tinted to you specified colour. I chose a lovely chocolate stain for this table as I wanted something rich and lustrous to contrast with the light white base of the table. I recommend reading the instructions on the back of the tin before going any further with applying the stain.

The first step in apply the stain is to make sure the table is thoroughly clean and free of any dirt or dust. I then wipe the top over with a soaking wet rag so that the table top is slightly damp. By doing this it will stop the stain from soaking in too much allowing you control over how dark the stain will be. If the table top was dry it will soak it up very quickly leaving you with a stronger colour than you may of originally wanted.

Using a good quality paint brush, brush the stain onto the top in the direction of the wood grain. Working quickly use long firm strokes applying the stain evenly along the top in sections. It is important that you work quickly when doing this otherwise it will not look good when you have applied stain to areas that have already dried. It is better to apply a lighter coat on your first round and applying a second one later to build up the colour rather than a thick coat to start off with and find out that you are unhappy with how dark it has turned out.

Let the stain dry for the allotted amount of time that the tin says. I think it is something like 5 minutes but I cannot remember. The longer you leave the stain on the darker it will be. Get your clean lint free cloth ready to wipe back the stain and reveal your lovely stained wooden top.

Wipe the stain off in the direction of the grain of wood as this allows for a nice finish and won't leave any wipe marks. The first coat of stain may sometimes look a little bit patch but don't stress as after applying a second coat it will meld together nicely. Leave the first coat to dry for an hour or two before applying a second coat in the same way as the first leaving out wiping it over with the water soaked rag as this is no longer necessary.

Once you are happy with the colour of the stained top let it dry for a day before covering and taping up with newspaper ready to paint the base. By doing this you are protecting the stained top from any accidental paint splatters that may occur during the painting process. Once the top is all snugly wrapper up it is time to get painting the base of the table. I paint a coat or two of the Smart Prime stain blocker undercoat to stop anything leeching through to the top coat. Once this has dried I apply two coats of my chosen top coat leaving any hour or so in between each coat. Once you are happy with the finished paint colour give it a little sand here and there to rough up the piece if you are going for the rustic look. Places to sand would be along the edges and bottom of the legs, around the edge of drawers and along the sides of the table. Once you are happy with that remove the newspaper to finish off the table top.

To finish the table top off I then use a furniture wax to give it a lovely shiny, lustrous finish. To apply the wax simply use a lint free cloth or specialty fine steel wool wiping the wax in the direction of the wood grain. Leave the wax for 2-5 minutes to slightly dry and then with a clean lint free rag buff the wax in the direction of the wood grain for a shiny finish.

The last thing to complete the look of the table is to either add back on the old knobs/handles or replace them with new ones. I opted to paint my existing golds knobs in a matte black using Rust-Oleum Universal spray paint. This saved me money in buying new knobs and finished off the look nicely.

I hope this little tutorial gives you a little confidence to step out and get that furniture project done that has been lurking in the wings for sometime. If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me or for more immediate answers pop over to my facebook page and post a question on my wall. Don't expect perfection on your first project as it does take time to master the process, however be proud of your efforts and the fact you repurposed an old piece of furniture into something fabulous!

Insta-Recipe: Hot Cross Bun Cookies

2013-03-19T09:26:00.000+10:00

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Easter is fast on it's way here and it time to get your bake on with these delicious hot cross bun inspired cookies. They are fragrantly spice with cinnamon and mixed spice and pops of sweetness from the mixed fruit scattered through out the dough. They are a resemblence of a nice hot cross bun in cookie form.

They even are finished with a cross icing to make them authentic through and through.

A bit of Hot Cross Bun history for you thanks to wikipedia....

In many historically Christian countries, buns are traditionally eaten hot or toasted during Lent, beginning with the evening before Ash Wednesday through to Good Friday, with the cross standing as a symbol of the Crucifixion. They are believed by some to pre-date Christianity, although the first recorded use of the term "hot cross bun" was not until 1733.

There are many stories as to when the first Hot Cross Buns were made, and the story I like is related to the Anglo Saxons. It comes from Alan Davidson's "The Oxford Companion to Food". He tells us they were first made in honor of their goddess of Spring, Eostre, from whom the name Easter is derived. Today they are traditionally served at Easter and there is a superstition that Hot Cross Buns baked on Good Friday never became moldy and it was good luck to save one bun until the next year's buns were made. {From The Joy of Baking}

A traditional hot cross bun contains spices such as mixed spice and cinnamon bespeckled with raisons, currants or mixed fruit and peel topped with a flour and water cross on top. These biscuits mimic these flavours and the guinea pigs I tried them out on gave them the thumbs up.

(Thanks mother's group)

It has become tradition in our home for me to make fresh hot cross buns the week before easter. I love them toasted, slathered in butter alongside a cup of tea. I wanted to make something a little bit different this yea. Oh don't get me wrong there will be hot cross buns in the house, but these biscuits are perfect for those who are a little time poor. They can be made and baked in under half and hour if you get your game on and hop to it.

Hot Cross Bun Cookies

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 15-20 min

Keywords: bake dessert snack dairy free Easter l

Ingredients (20-24 cookies)

6 tablespoons coconut oil, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon mixed spice
1/2 cup mixed fruit (or raisons)

Cross Icing

1 cup icing sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 1/2 tablespoon milk (or milk alternative)
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Instructions

Preheat an oven to 180 degrees and line two large cookie trays.

In a electric mixing bowl place the coconut oil and sugar and beat together on low for 1 minute.

Add in the egg, vanilla extract and salt and beat for a further 30 seconds to combine.

Sift in the flour and spices and add the mixed fruit in. On a low speed combine all the ingredients until mixed through.

Roll walnut size balls of dough and place onto the cookie tray. Press the balls down with the palm of your hand to flatten to about 1- 1.5cm thick. Repeat until all the mixture is used.

Place into the oven and cook for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and let cool

Cross Icing

In a small mixing bowl place the icing sugar, vanilla essence, milk and cinnamon. Mix together until a smooth but slightly runny paste forms.

Place into a freezer bag and snip the corner off.

Pipe crosses onto the cooled biscuits.

Leave the icing to set for 30-45 minutes before placing into a air tight container.

These can be frozen for 2 weeks.

Follow me on Instagram to see what I am up to in the kitchen.

blog directory

My Coles Online Shopping Experience

2013-03-14T15:02:00.000+10:00

As a new mum I often struggle with trying to fit the everyday jobs into my now very busy day looking after a baby. The thought of preparing a meal in the first couple of weeks struck fear into my heart as it was often the most stressful time dealing with a grumpy and tired baby.

The thought of doing the groceries was an even bigger feat as it had to be timed after a feed, during awake time, nappy bags had to be packed and it all had to be done within the specific time that would suit the baby. Then you had to find a darn baby trolley that wasn't stuck at the back of a million other trolley's while holding a squirmy baby. Talk about a monumental task.

Since the invention of online grocery shopping I think there has been many sighs of relief from stressed out, tired mums and dads trying to find the time and energy to get the groceries done. I think there would be many happy mums and dads out there now knowing they can do the weekly, fortnightly or even monthly grocery shop with the click of a button. It’s fabulous.

I had not done any online shopping with Coles before so this was a new experience for me. I was just a little excited to be able to sit in front of my computer and tap away at the mouse and keyboard and have my groceries delivered to my door - all in my pajamas.

To start off you simply sign up and go through the registration process at Coles Online. In a matter or minutes I was in business to start my fortnightly grocery shop.

Upon entering the shopping screen you are faced with a few choices in which you can go about selecting your grocery items. There is a menu and tab bar at the top left hand side of the screen (above) that you can browse the "aisles" and select the products you need as you go. The other option is to type the product that you want in the search bar on the top right hand corner of the screen and a number of choices come up. For example if you typed in tuna you would get an array of tuna products ranging from tinned tuna to cat food but if you are more specific in your description you have less scrolling to do. I chose to type the items that I needed into the search bar and select my required product this way.

To chose the product that you want from the list you simply select the quantity desired and press the add button. This then adds the product to your shopping cart and you continue on with the next item on the list. It is very easy to do and I did my fornightly grocery shop in under 30 minutes. Talk about quick, easy and stress free. Once you have finished shopping you simply select the check out button on the right hand side. The next step is chosing how you want to get your groceries You can either get the groceries delivered or the other option is to "click & collect" at your choice of the nearest Coles supermarket.

I chose to get mine delivered which required me to chose a delivery time. There are different rates for different days and times ranging from $7 to $9. The "click & collect" option does not attract any fees. I wanted mine delivered the next day so I was charged $8 for delivery. I chose the 4.00pm - 6.00pm delivery time as this suited me best with nap times.

The coles truck drove down our street right on 4.15pm. I don't think the driver was game to drive down our steep driveway. Wouldn't want to spill everyones groceries every where now would we. I was impressed that the delivery men came straight to the door with everything and even unpacked all of the groceries from the cartons onto my kitchen bench ..... pity I couldn't of got him to unpack them into the cupboard. He was courteous, friendly and efficient.

After checking off the attached grocery list to make sure I had received everything I ordered I was happy to say everything was delivered as per my order. One thing though that you need to remember to do upon check out is to check your "substitution preference". I forgot to do this on my order. I unfortunately received a few products that I didn't want substituted as I am a bit particular with certain grocery items. That being said I simply was able to take them back to my local Coles and either got refund or replaced with the product that I wanted.

I was given a welcome pack from Coles containing a booklet, a calico shopping bag and a pack of pod coffee. I don't have a coffee machine but my mum does so she was able to put them to good use.

Overall I found the website pretty user friendly and easy to navigate. The Coles online shopping experience was stress free, energy saving for a tired mum and easy to use. The only thing I found difficult with shopping online was the difficulty to guage packaging sizing and the inablity to be able to read the ingredient labels. I have a dairy allergy and if I am buying something new I like to read the ingredients on the packet to check it does not contain any dairy products. This may also be a problem with people who have other allergies. However if I stick to my regular branded items I am pretty safe. I would also recommend checking your substitution preference setting before checking out so you don't have to make an unwanted trip to the grocery store.

That all being said I was pretty happy with the overall shopping experience and would reccommend doing your groceries online when you are time poor, tired, overwhelmed and exhausted..... isn't that all mums?

{Disclosure: I was given credit to shop online with Coles. However I was not paid to write this post and all opinions are my own}

blog directory

Top 10 Tips For A Budding Entrepreneur

2013-03-13T10:00:00.000+10:00

What is an Entrepreneur and what does it have to do with me?, you may ask!

en·tre·pre·neur

/ˌäntrəprəˈno͝or/

Noun

A person who organizes and operates a business or businesses, taking on financial risk to do so.

Whether you operate a blog, have a small stall at a market, just starting out with your own small business or operate a large business any advice on how to expand further your passion in life will go a long way. There is a new magazine on the block called the messenger collective.

Messenger COLLECTIVE is a new lifestyle and entrepreneurial consumer magazine that hit news stands on Monday 4th March 2013

messenger COLLECTIVE's is filled with 92 thought-provoking stories featuring incredible talent from myriad of businesses and walks of life. It will provide the how-tos and resources that will inspire and encourage readers to bring their own vision, goals and dreams to life. The international contingent includes: Guy Kawasaki, former chief evangelist for Apple and Dandapani, Hindu priest and world-renowned meditation teacher. From Australia we have ground breakers Lorna Jane Clarkson, Bradley Trevor Grieve, who is the author of international bestseller The Blue Day book, jewellery designer Samantha Wills lauded as the "the breakout star" by The New York Times, Kate Vale from Spotify and many more.

So what advice do we need to hear?

LISA MESSENGER, editor of messenger COLLECTIVE shares

10 TIPS FOR BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS.

For the launch issue of messenger COLLECTIVE the team spoke to over

107 EXPERTS and leading names in the BUSINESS WORLD, from

start-ups to established brands both locally and internationally.

Here’s some of their key pieces of ADVICE:

ONE Lead by example – The difference between and boss and a leader, is the boss says, “Go” and a leader says, “Let’s go!”: Brian Moran, Former Executive Sales Director on The Wall Street Journal.

TWO You can influence and persuade people by building a relationship on trust, likeability, competence and constantly thinking of others: Guy Kawasaki, The Apple Fellow and former CXGief
Apple Evangelist.

THREE Be crystal clear on your vision and know what you want to communicate: Samantha Wills, internationally sought after jewellery designer.

FOUR Have an unwavering belief in yourself and the rest will follow: Lisa Messenger, Editor
Messenger Collective.

FIVE A true entrepreneur does something outside the square and refuses to take “no” or failures as a final answer: Justin Herald, Attitude Gear/Motivational Speaker.

SIX The key to marketing success is listening to the positive things people are saying about your product and blow these up: Willem Sunderland, Buzz marketing.

SEVEN Work out what’s important, and make choices throughout the day to keep things simple. By taking the time to stop and clear your mind you can better direct your energy: Dandapani, Hindu priest and one of the world’s foremost meditation teachers.

EIGHT The onus is on us to change everything we do to keep pace with the speed society is moving: Angela Ahrendts, CEO, Burberry.

NINE Always show up, always be out there and be interested. Always be looking and have your eyes open and seize every opportunity that comes your way: Karen Walker, fashion
designer.

TEN I believe if you have a dream, the dream will get you there: Lorna Jane Clarkson, Lorna Jane Activewear.

Do any of these pieces of advice resonate with you in your current situation?

I think number seven applies to me - I get so caught up in the minute things in life that I forget what I had planned to do for the day and when the end of the day rolls around I realise I got way too sidetracked with other silly things that I did. This applies to the blog as well when I want to sit down and write a post, photoshop some photos or write up a recipe I get side tracked on looking at facebook or some other random site which wastes the precious time that I had set aside to do this task! I hope you can take something away and apply it to your business in some way!

{Disclosure: I was not paid to write this post and all opnions are my own}

blog directory

Insta-Recipe: Sunshine Rice Salad

2013-03-12T13:40:00.002+10:00

I know I don't normally post twice in one day but I wanted to share this recipe with you as I had a few requests for it over Facebook. I have now joined Instagram (if you want to follow me) and will be posting photo's of what's been cooking in my kitchen. I cook a lot of recipes which I wish I could photograph and post on the blog but trying to photograph around dinner time is madness.

Enter Insta-Recipe. I will be posting these kind of recipes from time to time with Instagram photo's that I have taken. Minimal styling and fuss but a whole lot of goodness in each recipe.

I made this the other night to go alongside my sticky five spice chicken drumsticks. It would also go really well with Chicken Snitzel. The whole meal took me under an hour to prepare and only had to pull the chicken out of the oven and the salad out of the fridge when dinner rolled around. That's my kind of cooking these days with a energetic and sometimes tired baby around dinner time.

Sunshine Rice Salad

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 15 min

Keywords: side salad spring summer

Ingredients (serves 4-6 people)

2 cups cooked rice, cooled
1/2 red capsicum, diced
1 x medium carrot, diced
1 x large stick celery, diced
1/2 large lebanese cucumber, diced
1 x large tomato, diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1/2 cup diced fresh pineapple (or tinned)
1/4 cup roasted, salted cashews
2 x spring onions, finely sliced

Dressing

juice of a lime
3 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon sweet chilli sauce
1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
1 tablespoon fresh mint, finely sliced
1 tablespoon fresh basel, finely sliced

Instructions

In a large bowl place the cooled, cooked rice. Add in all the diced vegetables and toss to combine.

In a small bowl combine all the dressing ingredients and stir to mix through.

Drizzle the dressing over the rice and vegetables and toss to thoroughly coat the salad in the dressing.

Toss through the cashews just before serving.

This salad is really vibrant in colour and in flavour and would go great as a side to any meat dish. It would also be great with chicken or beef tossed through it and served as a meal in itself for lunch or as a light dinner.

blog directory

Mexican Simmered Eggs

2013-03-12T08:00:00.000+10:00

When I sit down to do my meal planning for the month ahead (yes I do a month ahead – saves time and money) I really like to incorporate at least one vegetarian meal each week. However I really struggle sometimes to know what vegetarian dish to cook that will be substantial enough yet tasty. There is so many quiches and fritter recipes that you can squeeze into a month.

Don’t get me wrong I love a good quiche or fritter but these are really hot weather recipes to eat alongside a salad on a sweltering evening. They really don’t float my boat when it’s raining outside and your toes are cold and all you want to eat is something comforting and warming.

Now that autumn is here these kinds of comforting recipes will start making their way into the monthly meal plan, as the temperature starts to drop and the leaves start to change colour and fall off the trees. I love autumn for natures beautiful display of colour but I don’t like it for the cold, awful weather to come from old man winter. I just need to enjoy what autumn has to offer now and grin and bear what winter is going to give. I am enjoying the last fruits of summer while I can with the last of the fresh ripe tomatoes and fragrant basil going to seed in the herb garden.

I love Mexican flavoured foods – burritos, tacos, re-fried beans etc. I’m sure they are not authentic flavours but still good all the same. The combination of flavours and spices of Mexican food brings a smile to my face. It makes me happy, it always hits the spot when I need a food pick me up. Instead of the usual burrito or taco think outside the box and create a Mexican surprise with this casserole. It has reminders of summer throughout the dish with the fresh basil and juicy tomato base. A great pick me up on a miserable day.

You have to make this dish when the day is dreary outside and you want something to warm up your tummy. It’s a one pot wonder with all processes using one pan. It is packed full of goodness with vegetables galore, kidney beans smothered in a spicy Mexican sauce finished off with some fresh eggs “poached” in the sauce for a few minutes. Served alongside some crunchy corn chips or in my case I made my own tortilla chips out of mountain bread. A dollop or two of sour cream and some grated cheese would finish this meal off with a bang.

We opted to leave out the sour cream and cheese because I can’t eat it and instead finished the meal off with some fresh corn from the garden. Oh my was it good. It is a tradition in my husband’s family to serve the cob of corn, fresh from the pot, at the end of dinner. It’s strange to me but I do it anyway because I know hubby likes it that way. We really enjoyed it slathered in butter (nuttelex for me) with a sprinkling of salt on it. Can’t beat corn freshly picked from the veggie patch.

Mexican Simmered Eggs

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 25 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Keywords: saute main soup/stew Mexican fall winter

Ingredients (Serves 4- 6)

1 x onion, finely diced
1 x carrot, peeled, chopped into 1 cm cubes
2 x sticks celery, chopped into 1 cm cubes
1/2 red capsicum, chopped into 1 cm pieces
1/2 green capsicum, chopped into 1 cm pieces
1 x large zucchini, chopped into 1 cm cubes
1 cup peeled, chopped 1 cm cubes sweet potato
2 cloves garlic, crushed
400g tin red kidney beans
1/2 cup water
400g tin crushed tomatoes
30g packet salt reduced taco seasoning
3 x green shallots, finely sliced - to garnish
6 x free range eggs

Tortilla Chips

6 x Slices mountain bread or tortilla's, sliced into triangles
3 teaspoon italian herbs
1 1/2 teaspoon smokey paprika
3/4 teaspoon dried garlic
spray oil

Options to serve

sour cream
sweet chilli sauce
grated cheese
corn chips or homemade tortilla chips

Instructions

In a large pan over a medium heat drizzle a little olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, celery, capsicum, zucchini and sweet potato.

Saute for 7-10 minutes until all vegetables have softened.

Add the garlic and taco seasoning and saute for a further minute until fragrant.

Add in the kidney beans, water and crushed tomatoes, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes on low.

Make divets into the casserole mixture and crack in the eggs around the edge and in the center of the mixture. Place a lid onto the pan and simmer for 5-7 minutes or until the white of the egg has cooked through.

Remove the lid of the pan and sprinkle with the green shallots.

Tortilla Chips

Preheat an over to 180 degrees celcius. Line a large cookie tray with baking paper.

Combine the spices in a small bowl and set aside.

Place the triangles of bread onto a lined baking tray.

Spray with oil over the tops of the bread.

Sprinkle the spice mixture over the bread evenly.

Place in the oven for 5 minutes or until golden brown. Be careful not to burn.

Serve with tortilla chips, sour cream, grated cheese and sweet chilli sauce.

If you are a mexican lover why not also try my Mexican Chicken One Pot Wonder!

blog directory

The Perfect Meat Pie

2013-03-05T08:00:00.000+10:00

It's the first week of Autumn and to start it off with a bang I thought I would tempt you with a homemade meat pie with golden kissed pastry and a seriously meaty filling. With this rainy weather going on for nearly two weeks now here in Queensland it was time to pull out all the stops and create the ultimate rainy day comfort food.... A hot pie!

I LOVE a good meat pie but sadly it has been over 5 years since I have sat down and ate one. (It's the dairy intolerance thing). However I have eaten my share of pies in the lifetime before I was diagnosed with being dairy intolerant. I worked in a bakery for 2 years when I was in high school. It was an after school and weekend job and let me tell you I ate my fair share of pies when I worked there. Oh and lamingtons, croissants, apple turnovers, vanilla slices, mini pizza's and danishes just to name a few things I indulged in on a weekly basis.

Anyway back to the pie, I have to say there are some seriously poor excuses for pies going around these days. Bakeries and packet pies alike and don't get me started on what goes into the fillings for these pies. God only knows. With the recent discovery of traces of horse and donkey meat in certain foods I would really hate to think what wonderful things get tossed into these pies that are imported from overseas. blergh.

If I could sit down to a good meat pie I want to know what is going on in the middle of it. I want to see REAL beef, vegetables all held together with a good tasting gravy. None of this strange coloured fillings where there is not a piece of meat in sight. Enter The Perfect Meat Pie.....

This pie hits all the marks in my "perfect pie" book. It has beautifully golden, flaky pastry, chunks of real beef that you can see and taste in every bite and vegetables scattered throughout a nice gravy. The secret to this pie filling is using left over roast beef that has been cooked the day or so before. I cooked a huge roast a few days earlier in the slow cooker and the meat was tender and soft. We had the obligatory roast meal with it but I had that much left over I wanted to use it up some other way. There are only so many roast beef sandwiches and salads you can eat. If you have leftover roast vegetables they would go really well in this filling as well. If you don't have a leftover roast I would suggest using some good quality rump steak for the filling instead. This filling has got enough sauce to hold everything together but will not spew out once biten into. My husband said he enjoyed this pie because the filling wasn't "spewy' (in a good way). Ha

This recipe is not exactly "Clean Eating" but knowing the ingredients that have gone into your pie definitely outweigh buying one - well for me anyway. You know what has gone into it, it's free of nasty preservatives, colourings and who knows what else. Plus the satisfaction of pulling these golden, flaky delights out of the oven is worth that little bit of extra effort than pulling one out of a packet. One cheat I did make on the pie was using store bought puff pastry instead of making my own pastry. I would suggest buying a good quality puff pastry when making these. If you have the time and want to make the effort then a home made pastry would also be delicious.

I have an admission to make - I like tomato sauce on my pies. Yes it's full of sugar but a little drizzle just adds that little extra zing and finishes the pie of perfectly. Sarah Wilson's I Quit Sugar cookbook (links on right had side bar) has a sugar free Tomato Sauce recipe which I really need to try. It would just finish this pie off perfectly knowing I'm not consuming teaspoons of sugar in every drop of tomato sauce. Ok I'm off my sugar-free soapbox now.

I used some small disposable foil pie pans that I picked up at my local supermarket. These were really great to use. I think you can buy proper non-stick mini pie pans from your local kitchen shop, although they will be more expensive than buying the disposable version. Alternatively you could make one large pie in a regular pie dish. Oh you must serve it in a brown paper bag - it makes it taste that so much better! ha

The Perfect Meat Pie

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 30 min

Keywords: bake appetizer main winter summer

Ingredients (6-8 small pies)

3 x sheets puff pastry, cut into 4 squares

Beef Filling

400-500 g cooked beef (from a roast), diced
(or rump steak or mince instead)
1 x medium brown onion, finely diced
1 x medium carrot, diced into 1cm cube
2 x medium celery sticks, diced into 1 cm cube
1/2 cup mushrooms, diced
1 tablespoon butter
1 x clove garlic, crushed
5 x springs of fresh thyme
3 tablespoon plain flour
500ml beef stock
1 tablespoon supreme gravy mix, mixed with 1/4 cup of water
1 -2 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 tablespoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup frozen peas
1 egg, lightly beaten - for glaze

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius, and grease six small pie pans with olive oil or one large pie dish.
*If you are not using left over roast beef, cook off the rump steak in a large pan. Remove and place into a bowl, place back into the pan when the meat needs to be added later on. Use the same pan to cook the vegetables off in the next step.
Heat a large pan over a medium heat and place the butter to soften. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic into the pan and sauté for 2-3 minutes until softened. Add the mushrooms and cook for a further 1 minute.
Sprinkle the plain flour over the vegetable and cook for 30 seconds. This will remove the flour taste from the gravy mixture. Slowly add in the beef stock stirring the flour into the liquid.
Add the gravy powder and water, worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, salt & pepper, thyme and frozen peas & beef. Stir to combine all of the ingredients.
Bring the mixture up to the boil and reduce to a slow simmer. Simmer until the mixture thickens stirring constantly. If the mixture is too thick add a dash of water to thin out.
Once the mixture has thickened remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool for 30-40 minutes.
Once the meat mixture has cooled sufficiently place a square of thawed puff pastry in each greased pie pan. Place ¼ to ½ cup of mixture into each pan filling to the top. Repeat until all of the mixture is used.
Place a second square of puff pastry diagonal to the bottom piece of pastry so that the corner edges don’t overlap. Roll in the edges of the pastry to create a crust edge. Cut a cross into the top of each pie to let steam out while cooking.
Brush the tops of the pies with the lightly beaten egg. Place the pies onto a baking tray and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

blog directory

The Week That Was....

2013-03-01T10:45:00.002+10:00

Can I just say I'm glad this week is nearly over .... I think all mum's must express that same sentiment on a Friday after "One of those weeks". I know I really can't complain because I've had such a champion of a little boy but it's just been a down right frustrating, awful, tiring week.

Little J.D has been teething as I mentioned in yesterday's post. He has had his off days over the past 2 months with teething and I was hoping that he would get these teeth through soon but to no avail. It has continued on for weeks. Finally the last two days he's finally cut one tooth and the other one is now giving him grief. He's been out of sorts, unhappy, won't feed or take solids and waking up at the crack of dawn crying in pain. My heart goes out to the little fella because I can only comfort and console him and dose him up with medication - which I hate doing.

Don't get me started on the weather either. I feel like I have been caged inside for weeks now with the rain. My little bit of freedom of going for early morning walks has been cut out these past weeks and trying to book J.D into the gym creche with these teething issues has been near impossible! This mumma is climbing the walls. I have tried to get out to the shops here and there but I find I just buy unnecessary things when I don't have something specific in mind to do or get so that plan has gone out the window as well.

Some things that have kept me sane this past fortnight have been .....

Getting two of my recipes featured in an advertisement in Recipes + magazine. (February & March issues) The recipes were my Pear & Coconut Salmon with Quinoa & My Sticky Date Pudding in a Mug. I entered these recipes into the Best Home Chef website which were picked up and used in there advertisement. I would love for you to take a minute and vote for some of my recipes on the website here - It would be greatly appreciated! I also won a dessert competition with this website for my Dairy Free - Pomegranate Cheesecake

I received a VERY special delivery in the mail from Best Home Chef - My prize for the winning dessert. A cast iron cooking package of two casserole dishes and a grill pan. It certainly put a smile on this tired mumma's face.

On one of my outings to the shops I managed to buy something useful for some projects that I have lined up. Namely furniture renovations and upholstery projects that I have created for myself. Yes I have been OP shopping again and have bought a chair and a pair of bar stools (like these ones) needing upholstering. I wonder why I do it to myself sometimes but I do enjoy a challenge. I bought the fabric below with the re-upholstering a large arm chair in mind (top two pieces of material) and some cushions for our lounge room with the bottom piece of material. Still haven't found the perfect piece of material to use on the bar stools yet. Oh well another excuse to get out of the house.

I have also been painting random patches of different coloured paints onto our kitchen hutch. With the intention of trying to find the perfect colour to paint it. That's the next project in line for the spray booth but I just cannot decide on what colour I want to use. I have no trouble painting pieces of furniture destined to be sold but when it comes to my furniture I just get so indecisive. The colours are either too light, not green enough, too strong, too blue etc etc. That picture is only the beginning of my patch work paint job as I have added another 3 patches to the front and other side in different colours. I will let you know when I find the perfect colour in the mean time we live with a patch work coloured hutch.

Reading has also kept me sane this past week. I don't get a chance much during the day to sit down and read a book however my bath times and bed times have me with my nose in a book.

The Recipe Write Handbook by Barbar Gibbs Ostmann & Jane Baker

Will Write For Food by Dianne Jacob

I actually got given these two books a year ago at christmas time. I think I was 6 weeks pregnant and the thought of thinking or talking about food rolled my stomach so it has taken me this long to sit down and read them. These two books have been a wealth of information for a newby recipe developer and food writer. I have learnt so much reading them and think I will have to sit down and read them again just to let it all sink in. They give great tips on how to write a proper recipe, how to better your writing skills etc. Great for anyone writing a cookbook, food blog, or wanting to become a freelance food writer.

Honestly Healthy by Natasha Corrett & Vicki Edgson

I really enjoyed this cookbook. It was my style of eating. Healthy, dairyfree, wholefood type of cooking. Although this primarly a vegetarian cookbook I found it resfreshing to find different ways to eat vegetarian. I love my meat but on the occasion I want to cook a vegetarian meal I get stuck on what to prepare. It does also talk about eating "alkaline" which honestly I'm not really into but if that is something that your interested in as well then this book would work be great for you to read.

Tides of Truth Series by Robert Whitlow

I have been hooked on this series since I started the first book last week. It follows a young law student Tami Taylor through her journery as a summer law clarke in a law firm in a small country town. She has strong christian beliefs and it is interesting to read how she walks through the obstacles and dramas that unfold through this series. It's a great Christian read and I would highly recommend it. It's got everying I look for in a good book - drama, suspense, christian story line, and a drizzling of romance in the mix. Perfect to take my mind of the horrible day I've had!

I am also guest posting over at Cut Out The Crap today. Make sure you pop in and say hi to Collette!

blog directory

Cara Box Swap

2013-02-28T14:16:00.000+10:00

I recently was a part of the latest round of the Wifessionals - Cara Box Exchange.

What is a Cara box exchange you ask? Well I will gladly explain.

A Cara box is basically a goody gift box which you make and send to a specified blog friend but also receive one from someone else. Basically a long line of people passing presents to one another. Who doesn't love to receive a present in the mail? I sure do! I recently learned of this exchange through one of my daily blog reads - La petite Lulu who participated in the last exchange. I thought I would really enjoy spreading some love around so signed my name up for the up and coming month of February.

Each month there is a theme for the box which you have to put together for your nominated blogger friend. The maximum amount you have to spend is $15 and a minimum of 5 presents. It is a great way to get creative and use your imagination to give your new friend the best of your creative ability. February's theme was "Club Sexy", when explained by the creator it basically broke down towhat would your "Perfect Date" would be. Ask me last year when we didn't have a baby in the house and I would of said - getting dressed up and having a posh dinner out on the town. When asked now what my perfect date would be I had to sit back and think for a little bit. I guess my priorities have changed a little over the last 6 months since our little champion arrived. Life is not the same and what I want most has changed as well. My answer boiled down to this - having quality time for MYSELF and spending quality time with HUBBY. So that is what my box reflected upon opening....

Jen was so sweet and very thoughtful when putting her present together. She even bought something for J.D. I cannot wait to pop on those socks (after a bubble bath of course), crack a bottle of wine open, light the candle and snuggle with hubby while we watch the Time Travelers Wife (love that movie by the way). It may take a little convincing on hubby's behalf to sit and watch it .....! So a big shout out to Jen from Love From Jenna. Make sure you pop over and tell her Hi! I thank you for your Cara Box. J.D loved his little hammer toy and rolled around all afternoon chewing on it!

Poor little fella has been teething off and on over the past week which has left poor mummy a little strung out trying to keep him comfortable and soothed. The last two days have been pretty awful with a VERY sad baby in The Whimsical Wife household. Not even singing and dancing from mummy will bring any smiles in fact in makes him burst into tears..... hmm maybe that says something about my singing and dancing after all! Upon inspection this morning I saw one tooth had started cutting through the gum so hopefully the second one will get to it and pop on out as well to give this little guy a break (and mum too)

I sent my Cara Box to Sarah over at Special Moments. Pop in and see what I sent her once she writes or reveal post.

What is your ideal date night?

blog directory

Chicken & Corn, Quinoa Soup

2013-02-26T08:00:00.000+10:00

Yes I'm posting a soup recipe in Summer. Crazy I know but with the torrential rain that we have been having over the past few days (weeks & months) it seemed right to post something warm and comforting for those rainy days to come in Autumn and Winter.

I concocted this soup up on one particularly rainy day last week when I wanted something comforting and warm to wrap my hands around while snuggled on the couch. I did get to enjoy it but unfortunately snuggling on the couch when a 6 month old is awake is a little impossible. I still got the warm and fuzzy feeling of a snuggly day after consuming this wholesome soup.

If it's raining outside I am guaranteed to make soup - even if it is summer. Who cares about the season, if it's rainy and cold outside there will be soup bubbling on my stove top - or defrosting from my freezer! I made a fairly big batch of this soup up which I enjoyed for a few days after that. When I made this soup I was craving a chicken and vegetable soup or an Asian styled chicken and corn soup. This is kind of a cross between the two.

There is some chicken kinda magic in a bowlful of chicken soup. What is it about chicken soup that makes you feel well, whole and happy - especially if you are not feeling well. I made this soup in under 30 minutes but you could make it quicker if you had already cooked the Quinoa the day before. This was including having to defrost a frozen chicken breast as well so it might be even quicker if you are a bit more prepared then I was. But hey when a chicken soup craving starts to call there is no stopping it. A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to satisfy it! I only used one chicken breast finely sliced for this soup and it would of easily stretched to feeding 4-5 people as an entree or 3 very hungry people for a main meal.

I have always wanted to add in Quinoa to the soup because it not only makes a seriously healthy contribution to the dish but it also gives a point of difference than the normal mundane ingredient. For example instead of rice in a paella - add Quinoa. I did this in a easy sausage paella I made a few months back and it was super tasty. Must make that again and get it up on the blog. I'm sure you are all well aware of the many health benefits attached to this little tiny seed. Yes its a seed not a grain and would you believe it is related to the silver beet, spinach and beetroot family. Fun fact for you there. I used Red Quinoa which I was able to get from my local supermarket. You can also get white and black quinoa seeds which make for a great salad when mixed together.

Chicken & Corn, Quinoa Soup

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Keywords: saute appetizer main soup/stew dairy free gluten-free

Ingredients (serves 3-4)

1 x large carrot, diced in 1 cm cubes
2 x sticks celery, diced in 1 cm cubes
1 x brown onion, diced finely
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger, fresh
1 teaspoon minced garlic, fresh
1/8 teaspoon chilli flakes
2 x bay leaves
4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup red quinoa, uncooked
400g tin creamed corn
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 x raw chicken breast, sliced into thin pieces
salt/pepper
2 x spring onions, finely sliced for garnish

Instructions

Place a large saucepan over a medium heat.

Place a drizzle of olive oil into the base and place the onions, carrots and celery into the pan.

Saute for 2-3 minutes until the onion is translucent. Place the garlic, ginger and chilli into the pan and saute for a further minute.

Place the chicken stock, bay leaves, creamed corn. soy sauce and uncooked quinoa into the pan and bring to the boil.

Once the stock has started to boil reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Check the quinoa that it is nearly cooked through, if it is place the chicken pieces into the stock and simmer for 2-3 minutes until just cooked through.

Place a ladleful of the soup into a bowl and top with the spring onions.

Serve alongside crusty bread.

*This can be made quicker if the quinoa has been pre-cooked - it can be added at the end along with the chicken breast to heat it through*

What do you crave in rainy weather?

blog directory

Painting With Colour - French Provinvial Style

2013-02-22T08:00:00.000+10:00

If you're like me, I'm constantly on the look out on ways to decorate my house on a budget. That is why I undertook the big project of painting most of the furniture in our house in the french provincial theme. It was much cheaper to do this than to go and by pieces of furniture already done. You can see some of the projects that I have completed over here.

I was very timid initially in my approach to what colour I painted my furniture. It has probably has been only in the last few pieces that I have painted that I got out of my "white" paint box and decided to add a splash of colour. See white is good in moderation but lots of it can get kinda boring.

Enter Exhibit A - the first telephone bench that I did up a few months back. Yes it's white. It's cute and shabby and all but wouldn't a splash of colour in there look just that little bit cuter? Don't get me wrong I love this piece and love the fact that it is white but if you're like me and nearly have a house full of whiteish furniture you're ready to bust out some colour.

Enter Exhibit B - yes I found another telephone bench. I stumbled across it from my local op shop haunt and snapped it up straight away. I felt confident that this piece would sing when I finished with it PLUS there was no u.g.l.y remarks from hubster about this one because he knew what I could do with it. The poor thing though. It looked like it was attacked by the 1970's or something. A bit too retro and old school for those lovely legs that it was showing.

I unfortunately did not take any photo's of the progress stages of this paint job. I was a bit tied up and busy when I was in the middle of this one (actually I think I was just being lazy). This little lady got pulled apart completely such as the little shelf removed and the cushion removed. It was sanded and prepped with smart prime undercoat. I then painted the first coat of paint which ended up being my new go-to fave paint colour - Dulux Clotted Cream. This was going to be the base layer of the paint job that would peek through the top coat.

I then did something I haven't tried before. I got a small tea light candle and rubbed wax on the corners and edges as well as on certain areas of the flat surfaces of the bench. So what will this do? It's a little trick I recently saw somewhere in blog land (I can't remember where actually). What happens is the next step is to put the top coat onto the piece of furniture. I did two coats of this gorgeous colour called French Limestone (half strength). Once the top coat had dried I then got out my trusty sander and started sanding the areas where I had rubbed the wax lightly.

Basically where the wax had been rubbed the top coat sanded off really easily leaving the bottom colour peek through. See it's near impossible to sand the top coat off to reveal the bottom coat just on it's own. It normally just sands straight through to the underlying wood. This is how you get the chippy look that makes rustic french style furniture so damn cute. I think in the near future I will try and do some in depth tutorials on painting and creating the "perfect" french finish. Would you like that?

I re-upholstered the seat the same as the other telephone bench using some left over canvas drop cloth from my wingback chair covers. I transferred a cute french worded motif onto the material (using the same technique as the other bench) before stapling back into place. Thankfully I did not have to replace the underlying cushion as it was still in great condition.

Even though it is still quite a light colour it was nice to paint something other than white. Do you have a favourite paint colour? Love to know what it is!

Pin It

blog directory

Coconut, Choc Chip & Goji Berry Muffin

2013-02-19T08:00:00.000+10:00

What do you do on a Saturday morning? I like to bake some Saturday mornings - after baby has gone to bed and husband is outside mowing the lawn. A bit of me time to potter in the kitchen. Although there are mornings which I wake up on the wrong side of the bed and don't want to do a thing and everything about the day seems wrong.

I call them my cranky pants days and I unfortunately have had them the last two Saturday mornings. I think I am still trying to adjust to having a baby in the house. Saturday's are just not the same - for me they are like any other day. I doubt they will ever be the same again for a long time! No leisurely sleep in's and lazy morning breakfasts. No popping out to the shops for a browse or grabbing a cuppa with out a baby on the hip or trying to console an overtired baby who hasn't had their morning nap. The spontaneity of life has halted for the time being.

Mummy's don't get weekends, holidays or RDO's and I am also struggling with that fact as well. Mummy's work all day every day. I know this is a bit of a whinge on my behalf because I am truly blessed to have such a special little man in our life and most days I enjoy being a mum. I just miss my weekends. My sleepins. My ME time. Whinge over!

Anyway whinging aside - I made these muffins one cheerful Saturday morning, when I didn't have my cranky pants on. The base of the muffin is my favourite go-to muffin recipe. It's moist, fluffy and just a little bit more-ish. I used coconut oil instead of butter which gave it the muffin's crumb a really melt-in-your-mouth texture. I also tossed in a few add-ins to the recipe such as dessicated coconut, chocolate chips and for a bit of healthyness, Goji Berries.

What is a Goji Berry you may ask? Well I will tell you

The goji berry is also called the wolfberry. It is a bright orange-red berry that comes from a shrub that's native to China. In Asia, goji berries have been eaten for generations in the hopes of living longer. The goji berry has many health benefits attached to it. They are filled with powerful antioxidants and other compounds that may help prevent cancer and other illnesses, including heart disease. Antioxidants may also boost the immune system and lower cholesterol.

So who wouldn't want to put Goji berries in their muffins if it could make them live longer! The flavour of the berry itself is a bit hard to describe it has a certain meatyness to it in texture and flavour, not tart but not super sweet either. They are a little bit more expensive then your run of the mill cranberry or sultana however I enjoyed the subtley that the Goji berry brings this muffin or any baked good really.

There is something about the waft of freshly baked muffins tantalizing your taste buds on a crisp saturday morning. I know hubby loved to come in and sniff the air after I have pulled these morsels out of the oven. That's one of the reasons I love to bake. The satisfaction of the customer not only in taste but in the whiff of something good about. Alongside a good cup of coffee and the paper this is the perfect Saturday morning snack - just leave your cranky pants in the back of the cupboard! I know I will be this weekend.

Coconut, Choc Chip & Goji Berry Muffin

by The Whimscial Wife

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 25 min

Ingredients (12 muffins)

Dry Ingredients

2 cups self raising flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dessiccated coconut
1/8 cup goji berries
1/8 cup dark choc chips (or combination of white chocolate & dark)

Wet Ingredients

100g coconut oil/butter, melted
1 1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180 degree C. Line a 12 hole muffin tin with muffin papers.

In a large bowl sift the flour, cinnamon and salt. Place the coconut, choc chips and sugar into the sifted ingredients and stir briefly to combine.

In a small ball place the melted coconut oil, milk and egg and whisk to combine. Pour into the dry ingredients, using a wooden spoon stir to combine the mixture until all ingredients are mixed through.

Fill the muffin papers up 3/4 full with the mixture. Repeat until all the mixture is used up.

Place into the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and cool slightly before devouring.

Make sure you serve these warm from the oven - you cannot miss the oozy chocolate dripping out of the muffin. Perfection.

Pin It

blog directory

Decorating on the cheap....

2013-02-15T09:16:00.000+10:00

It's been awhile since I have shown a piece of furniture that I have done up. I think the last piece I showed you was the French Country Hutch that I painted. The spray booth has been a bit of a production line of late with a burst of painting happening over the past few weeks.

I've had a bunch of furniture sitting under our house waiting to be painted. I was stockpiling there a while back as I kept finding things at the OP shop that were calling my name. Hubby kept noticing the pile growing bigger and bigger. So I thought I better hop to it and get some movement happening in the camp.

I'm sure you all have some kind of unwanted side table or bedside table floating around your house that you're not sure what to do with. It might be old, flaky, scratched or written on with biro. It is still salvageable it just needs a little love and attention. Just like a woman needs! ha. You may not realise that you have a little gem under your nose, hiding in the dark corners of your house. Pull it out and show it some love!

I kept things simple with this little bedside table that I picked up on the cheap. I gave it a good sand to remove the glossy finish that it had on it. It's always important to give a good sand when painting a piece of furniture with a glossy or smooth finish on it otherwise the undercoat and top coat will just peel off. A good foundation is a must and it should start with a good sanding.

As with all good pieces of furniture a coat or two of a good stain blocker undercoat to continue the good foundation. This stops the wood stain from seeping through to your top coat leaving unsightly dark marks all over your newly painted piece of furniture. Not a good look. Even if you paint it another 3 or 4 times the dark marks will continue to seep through. Trust me I did this in the early stages of my furniture painting escapades. Do it right the first time! I painted it in a lovely clotted cream colour and left it at that. I could of roughed it up a bit with a bit of sanding here and there but I decided to leave it simple and let the accessories do the talking.

I just used decorative pieces that I had lying around the house to give the little beside table some character. The wire milk crate was picked up for $2 and I made the little fabric insert that sits inside of it . You can read about my decorating with $2 post here. I created a rustic vignette using a stack of old books, a large cream jug filled with dried lavendar from the garden (op shop find) and a smaller milk jug, layering it with the clock in the background to give it a bit of depth. If you need a hand in creating vignettes around your home you can read the post I wrote about it here. A vignette is a little picture or a moment that you have created around your house using decorative objects.

I had fun playing around with this little table making it look pretty again. It didn't find a permanent home in our house though..... it found a new home within a few days of me finishing it. As I've said before - my house cannot fit another piece of furniture in it! Trust me I've tried. So with a little bit of effort and a touch of creativity you could have a cute little "moment' pop up in your house without spending a lot of money.

I really enjoy doing up these pieces of furniture as its my little bit of "me" time away from this cute little guy. I normally get a chunk of painting done when he is having his morning and afternoon naps. I am very blessed to have such a good sleeper otherwise I wouldn't be able to do it. I am not sure what I will do once his sleep times get shorter and he gets moving more. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. J.D is getting so much more active now that he can roll around with little effort. I often find him in the corner of the room banging away on random pieces of furniture. He is certainly keeping me on my toes. I can see a certain cheeky twinkle in his eye and know that when he gets older he will give me a run for my money! His latest is either sneezing, blowing raspberries or sticking his hand into his mouth FULL of food. I think I need to invest in a raincoat after getting sprayed a few times with pumpkin puree.

I couldn't resist posting this picture of him sucking on a bean. Love you little man xxoo

Pin It

blog directory

Summertime Soup

2013-02-13T08:00:00.000+10:00

Oh I really really really don't like this hot weather. I can't turn the oven to bake anything during the day as it heats the house up to much. So I haven't really been able to get my "bake" on to get some goodies up for the blog. However I made this awesome summertime soup for lunch late last week because for I was craving green stuff and this soup fit the bill.

You don't have to turn the oven on. I did however have use the stove top to steam the broccoli which is the main component of this recipe.

Yes you heard me right there is broccoli in this soup among a handful of other green vegetables. Don't stop reading now because I said broccoli, trust me this soup is AMAZING and you can't even taste the broccoli in the final product. It's like one of those "green monster" smoothies like everyone is raving about on blog land which has been pimped up to be a soup.

This soup is brimming full of goodness - full of broccoli, rocket and avocado you'll surely get your servings of greens in a bowlful of this. I know it sounds like a weird combination of ingredients but once you have buzzed it up and dizzled a little olive oil over it. your first taste will be a little tenative followed by another taste and before you know it you'll have downed the bowl looking for second helpings.

I served mind alongside a simple tomato and basil salsa which is a delightful sweet contrast to the creamy and yet zippy soup. This could be served warm or as a gazpacho (cold) depending on the weather. I served this lukewarm along side some nice crusty bread slathered in butter. I ate this the next day cold which was nice but I think I prefered it a little warm as it brings out the flavour of the soup more.

Adapted From Honest Fare's Recipe

Summertime Soup

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 10min

Keywords: steam appetizer main dairy free

Ingredients (serves 2)

1 x small head broccoli, cut into med florets
1 x small brown onion, diced
2 x cloves garlic
1/4 tspn chilli flakes
1/2 x large avacodo
2 x small handfuls of rocket
1 Tbls olive oil
1 tspn salt to taste
3 Tbls cashews
1-1/12 cup water
2 Tbls lemon juice
1 x medium tomato, finely diced
2 Tbls fresh basil, finely sliced

Instructions

Place the cashews into 1/4 cup of the water and set aside.

Lightly steam the broccoli florets until tender and bright green. Remove and place into a blender. Set aside.

Over a medium heat saute the onions and garlic with the olive oil until translucent. Cool and place into the blender with the broccoli.

Place the remaining ingrediets except the tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of the basil.

Add the cashews along with the soaking water and 1/2 cup of the remainging water. Blend until a smooth consistency. Add remaining water if you need to thin the soup out a bit. Ladle soup into a bowl

Mix together the diced tomatoes and remaining basil and place in the middle of the soup.

Serve alongside some crusty bread.

I will admit this is soup is probably not to everyone's taste which is fair enough, however I urge you to get out of your flavour comfort zone and try this. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Pin It

blog directory

What I Eat For Breakfast & Why I Quit Sugar!

2013-02-11T10:57:00.000+10:00

Bit of a strange title, I know however the two go hand in hand really. Yes quitting sugar and eating breakfast! Strange I know but if you really think about it doesn't most breakfast options contain grotesque amounts of sugar? Think boxed cereals for example. I cringe when I looked at the nutrition panel on the box as I pour the cereal into my bowl. What else am I suppose to eat?

This subject is probably not something I have ever really talked about to anyone apart from family. It's about my relationship with sugar - and how we had to break up. I may be talking about strange concepts with you but hear me out. I had a bad relationship with sugar for many many many years. So bad in fact it left me very ill and sick for a long time and I didn't understand why.

There are two events in my life that stand out to me when sugar affected me quite badly. One was when I was about eight or nine years old. We were in Brisbane shopping at the Myer center. I think we were visiting some Lego exhibition and somehow I got my hands on some fairy floss. Within a short time of consuming it I was basically legless and “drunk” on fairy floss. It had made my blood sugar levels sky-rocket out of control and left me feeling very ill. My dad had to carry me out of the shopping center to the car as I did not have the strength to carry myself. The second time was a similar situation which resulted in one too many chocolate biscuits, a migraine which made me lose my vision and once again was carried to the car.

I remember back through my childhood feeling quite unwell at times and never understanding why I felt that way. I just thought that’s the way I was supposed to feel. I do not blame my parents at all for my relationship with sugar. They are not to blame – I was. We had a healthy diet and ate what normal families ate back in the day. I just had a penchant for sweets, white bread and pasta, biscuits and chocolate, oh the chocolate. As I got older and had to make food decisions for myself, the symptoms got even worse. I remember waking up many a morning dry retching in the toilet and having severe shakes from unstable blood sugar.

I saw many naturopaths and health professionals to try and figure out why I felt so unwell all the time. They told me many times to stop eating white processed foods, sugar, cakes and biscuits and starting eating more whole grains, protein and vegetables to help stabilise my blood sugar levels. I remember one particular naturopath telling me there was something “big” happening in my body and it would one day show itself. It was an ominous statement for sure. I was an independent, headstrong teenager at the time and did not want to be told what to eat. I hated anything “healthy”. I considered wholemeal bread to be healthy and wouldn’t even eat that. I wasn’t obese or over weight, in fact I was the opposite. I could never put weight on and thought by eating “junk” food this would help me put the kilos on. It didn’t, it just made me sicker.

When I had a “sugar attack” (i.e. low blood sugar) I thought I had to eat something sweet to counteract the problem. So the solution that I thought best was to have a big glass of Milo to help bring my sugar levels back up. It didn’t work and I ended up feeling worse at the end of it. I literally had no idea of what healthy eating was about.

Fast forward ten years; I was married and had just been diagnosed with Dairy Intolerance. I think this probably was partially a lifesaver in my relationship with sugar. It meant cutting out a lot of baked goods, chocolate, ice cream and my favourite caramello koalas. However once I discovered dairy alternatives for cooking my favourite baked goods I was back to my old ways. In my early 20’s I had improved my diet somewhat to when I was younger, I swapped the white bread for rye, stopped eating as much pasta and wasn’t eating as many lollies and chocolates as I once did. However the day I found out I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome was the day my bad relationship with sugar made sense and I knew it was time to make some serious changes. You can read about my fertility story here. People with PCOS have something that is called Insulin Resistance: With insulin resistance, the pancreas produces more and more insulin until the pancreas can no longer produce sufficient insulin for the body's demands, then blood sugar rises. Insulin resistance is a risk factor for development of diabetes and heart disease. Sugar makes your insulin spike which in turn was not something I should be eating with the pre-dipostion of Insulin Resistance.

I was freaked out none the less and decided to change my eating habits for good. It was time to make a change for the better and start looking after myself. I was desperately trying to have a family at this point and really wanted to eat the best that I could to give myself the best chance possible to conceive. Since that day it has taken me a couple of years to fully turn around my diet for the better – I finally broke up with my dear friend sugar. Sugar just did not agree with my body. I cleaned up my diet and I am now eating a lot more unprocessed, whole foods. My approach to eating includes a lot more vegetables and protein which is eaten at every meal (yes including breakfast sometimes - such as this zucchini pasta & poached egg pictured) and healthier snacks such as nuts or homemade almond milk yoghurt with a smattering of homemade muesli, NOT a caramello koala or a piece of brownie. I have also stopped using sugar in my tea and coffee. Sugar is no longer a BIG part of my life. I avoid it where possible and if I want to treat myself I try to limit the intensity of the sugar hit that I eat. It has taken me some time to slowly implement the changes into my diet and it won’t happen overnight but making small changes to your everyday eating will soon make a difference.

Why am I telling you about this today? Because I think it is important. You may not suffer PCOS or have insulin resistance but the effect that sugar has on our bodies is still bad. Yes I post a lot of “baked” goods which are full or sugar. Limit to eating them to a treat food not an everyday snack. Why not make a few simple changes to your diet such as swapping sugary cereals for breakfast to a poached or fried egg served with toasted rye bread. So I am not preaching fire and brimstone to you but just putting my experiences out there for others to maybe identify with.

If you want to make a change towards eating less sugar, I would highly recommend Sarah Wilson’s new EBook – I Quit Sugar and her new IQuit Sugar cookbook. These are helpful tools to give you the head start to making a change in your life – for the better. You can learn more about Sarah here. You will notice I have these two icons on the right-hand sidebar of my blog. I have signed up to be on the affiliate program to Sarah’s I Quit Sugar campaign. If you buy the I Quite Sugar EBooks through my blog I receive a percentage of the sale, which is much appreciated.

The I Quit Sugar EBook is an 8 week program helping you slowly reduce and remove sugar out of your diet. Sarah holds your hands and cheers you on each week as you slowly overcome your sugar cravings and move onto a healthier and more nutritious way of eating. She tells her own story in this book imparting her struggles and triumphs on her own journey of quitting sugar.

The I Quit Sugar Ecookbook is a wonderful companion to the 8 week program. This book has some big name contributors such as Aran from Cannelle Et Vanille, GwynethPaltrow, Angela Liddon from Oh She Glows and Maggie Beer just to name a few. Sarah has compiled a bunch of tasty, nutritious recipes for meal times that would likely induce the sugar addict to struggle with finding something healthy to eat such as breakfast or snack times. She has included some wonderful recipe ideas for breakfast which include Coco-Nutty Granola, Grain Free Power Bars and a finger licking Breakfast Casserole. Snacks that would appease the pickiest of eaters include, Salted Caramel Haloumi with Apple and Chick Pea Bombs just to name a few.

The photography and styling of each recipe in this book is crisp, clean but comforting in a way. The food takes center stage and all styling is kept simple yet bringing warmth and character to the food. It tells a story with minimal props and lets the food do the talking. Photography is a big thing for me when I pick up a cookbook and the photos in this cookbook were exceptional.

If you are considering cleaning up your diet why not purchase these books and start making some changes to your diet. You only live once....

Through Sarahs I Quit Sugar cook book I was inspired to create a sugar-free, healthy breaksfast dish that can easily be whipped up in minutes. This is what I have been eating for breakfast through the summer months. It may seem a little strange at first to be eating veggies for breakfast but after a while you think nothing of it. If it doesnt appeal to you to eat this first thing in the morning why not whip it up for a quick lunch or week night meal. This dish is all home grown - from the garlic to the zucchini, eggs, tomato and basil. They have all been picked, plucked and cut from our veggie patch or our chickens. I resorted to eating Zucchini's for breakfast because of the glut we were experiencing in the veggie patch. Now that the season has slowed down a bit I am conserving my rations of zucchini's left in the crisper of the fridge.

Poached Egg with Zucchini Pasta

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 5 min

Cook Time: 5 min

Keywords: saute breakfast main dairy free gluten-free sugar-free

Ingredients (1 serving)

2 x medium zucchini
8 x cherry tomatoes
2 x eggs
2 Tbls vinegar
2 Tbls fresh basil, finely sliced
1 x clove garlic, crushed

Instructions

Place a small saucepan filled half way with water, over a medium heat. Add the vingear. Bring to the boil.

Meanwhile peel the zucchini into ribbons using a vegetable peeler. Set aside.

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Set aside.

Meanwhile once the water has started boiling, stir with a wooden spoon to create a “whirlpool” effect. Crack each egg into the water – working quickly before the whirlpool stops. Place the timer on for 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon onto some paper towell to soak up any extra water.

Heat a cast iron fry pan over a medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the tomatoes and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes until the tomatoes start to soften.

Add the zucchini ribbons and stirfry for 2-3 minutes until they start to soften slightly.

Sprinkle the fresh basil over the zucchini pasta and season generously with salt and pepper.

Serve the zucchini pasta and place the poached eggs on top.

If you want another great nourishing recipe why not check out my green summer time soup!

Pin It

blog directory

Heidi Swanson: Super Natural Every Day

2013-02-08T08:00:00.000+10:00

I was given the opportunity to review a very special cookbook called Super Natural Every Day. The author of this book was awarded the 2007 James Beard Foundation Award and writes an award winning blog called 101 Cookbooks.Who is she?

I guess the blog title might have given it away. Yes it’s the one and only Heidi Swanson. I thoroughly enjoyed scouring the recipes this book had to offer and I could not wait to share it with you. I was given the opportunity to ask Heidi a few questions about her latest book and about herself, which I will share with you later on.

Super Natural Every Day is the sequel, so to speak, to Heidi’s first cook book, Super Natural Cooking. Her first cookbook was an introduction to whole food cooking, pantry basics and transition into the wholefoods lifestyle. It basically held the hand of the new whole food eater who had just discovered this way cooking. Heidi is ahead of her time with these cookbooks; her approach to cooking with whole, unprocessed, nutrient-rich foods is the basis of the clean eating approach that has taken off in recent months.

The Super Natural Every Day cookbook is slightly different to her first one. This book peeks into Heidi’s life and way of eating, which beign a vegetarian. As you read through the book it slowly unravels parts of Heidi’s everyday life such as her pantry staples, favourite kitchen tools and utensils, favourite shops and eateries. This book provides a wonderful platform for readers to start eating a more nutrient-rich diet with its approachable, easy to follow recipes. All the recipes are vegetarian, which I found delightfully refreshing for this long time meat eater.

The book is broken down into six easy to find chapters such as Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks, Dinner, Treats and Accompaniments. In this book you will find recipes such as flaky Yoghurt Scones for breakfast or for a more savoury option try the Spinach Strata (recipe pictured). Lunch or dinner you could be devouring Chickpea Wraps, Wild Mushroom Tacos or a spicy Weeknight Curry featuring Tofu as the protein element. If snacking is your kryptonite, Heidi has given some wonderful suggestions to try such as savoury Popcorn, featuring flavours of mustard, thyme, chives and butter or Pita Crisps to stave off those potato chip cravings.

I challenged myself to making three recipes out of this book to see how easy they were to follow and how the recipes turned out. I ended up making a batch of Rye Soda Bread to eat alongside a steaming bowl of soup, a batch of Oatcakes and Spinach Strata (recipe pictured), which we enjoyed on a leisurely Saturday morning for brunch. I found the recipes very easy to follow, precise in their execution and the end result of each dish was praiseworthy – if I don’t say so myself. I found cooking from Super Natural Every Day a pleasurable experience.

There is no pomp and ceremony attached to this book, it is down to earth cooking which shows in the photographs that accompany each recipe. The photography entices you in making you feel comfortable and at ease. No pretentions here. The restrained styling and simplicity of each picture gives you, the cook confidence that you will be able to create such a dish. I would highly recommend buying this book to add to your collection to help inspire you to cook and eat in a more natural, unprocessed and wholefood.

Thank you to Heidi for finding the time to answer a few quick questions for our readers.

How would you describe your cooking style?

Seasonal, unfussy, flavour-forward, natural, a bit rustic, globally
inspired

What five ingredients always find their way into your shopping basket?

Eggs, seasonal produce, almond butter, chocolate, good coffee or tea

Do you have a favourite season, Why?

I have things I love about each of them. Seasons in San Francisco tend
to be a bit mushy though - it tends to be foggy and cold in summer,
and clear and bright in winter. But at the market I look forward to
each season's distinct offerings: winter citrus, springtime favas,
that sort of thing.

Best recipe/s to cook from Super Natural Every day?

Depending on what you're in the mood for: Black Sesame Otsu, Broccoli
Gribiche, Tutti-Frutti Crumble, and Yogurt Biscuits. To be honest, I was
really strict about which recipes I included here. If I didn't love
them, I didn't include them.

How would you encourage someone to start eating whole & natural foods?

I think you need to work both sides of the coin: avoid processed
foods, and (at the same time) seek out whole, unprocessed ingredients.
Maybe it's just me, but I like to go to the market / farmers market
and seek out one new ingredient each time. Do a bit of research on it
when you get home, and try it in a new recipe or two. It's a good way
to introduce new ingredients gradually, and expand your cooking
palette at the same time. For example, if you (or your family) loves
white pasta, pick up a pack of soba noodles. Or if you like risotto,
try making it with barley, or a quinoa version.

What do you cook when the fridge is practically empty and
inspiration is zero? No takeout allowed.

A quick Miso or noodle soup with whatever vegetables/noodles I have on
hand.

Top five food photography tips?

Keep an inspiration board of images that resonate with you (food and
otherwise). Get to know your camera inside and out. Try to develop
your own visual voice / point of view. Shoot in light that you think
is nice or interesting - that might mean natural daylight, or
nightclub dark (using a flash). Carry your camera with you as much as
possible. I don't use many food styling tricks, I just shoot the food
as I make it, as it is.

http://www.heidiswanson.com
http://www.101cookbooks.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/heidiswanson/
http://pinterest.com/heidiswanson/

Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book by Hardie Grant Publishers to keep and review. I was not paid to write this post and all opinions expressed here are my own.

The recipe pictured was cooked from Super Natural Every Day, styled and photographed by myself .

Pin It

blog directory

Winners: Epoxy Shield Giveaway

2013-02-07T08:46:00.000+10:00

Thank you to everyone who entered the Rust-Oleum Epoxy Shield Garage Paint giveaway. We had over 176 entries into the giveaway and each and everyone of you deserved to win it however.....

There can only be two winners for this prize. I drew the names randomly using the little gadget below. Congratulations to....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You will be contacted via email to confirm that you reside in Australia and to get further details to send out your prize.

If you are looking at purchasing this product to use in your home and would love some further informaiton on it. Please do not hesitate to Contact Me through my contact page. I am happy to answer any questions you may have or point you to the person who will be able to help you with the hard questions!

Pin It

blog directory

Lovers Dairyfree Pomegranate Cheesecake

2013-02-05T08:00:00.001+10:00

This post is pre-valentines inspiration for all those people needing some dessert idea's to make for your loved ones! This one comes with a twist. Yes - you guessed it - it's dairy free. That shouldn't stop you making it though. It is thoroughly moreish and will want you coming back for seconds and maybe even thirds.

This post is also for those northern hemisphere folk who have pomegranates in season at the moment. Over here in Australia they aren't in season yet - however you can still buy them as an imported product from your local supermarket. Pomegranates are normally in season during the autumn and winter period.

We planted a pomegranate tree in our yard a year or so back. We still have a ways to go before it will be bearing fruit, probably 5 years or so but I cannot wait for the day I walk out my door and I am able to pick off a beautiful pomegranate from the tree. I find pomegranates one of the most pretty fruits - the little arils (pink seeds) are like little gem stones ripe for the eating. They can be a little annoying to pull apart but I find cutting the pomegranate into wedges and using a fork to flick out the little arils into a bowl does the trick. What more could you want in a cheesecake? A bitter-sweet chocolate base followed by a silky, citrus infused center, topped off with a piquant pomegranate jelly. Thats what these little darlings are all about!

Cheesecake has been non-existent in this household for at least 5 years or more since I was diagnosed with dairy intolerance. (yes poor husband who still can eat dairy) I loved cheesecake with a passion like an Italian loves his spaghetti. New york baked cheesecake was one of my utmost favourite desserts and I truly cannot remember the last time I enjoyed the soft, velvet taste of it in my mouth. Mind you the lack of calories from eating a piece probably has been a good thing!

I have been researching over the years trying to find a "dairy free" cheesecake recipe which didn't use Tofu as the main filling ingredient. I finally found the ingredient that will make all my dreams come true. Cashews. Yes that's right the humble cashew nut. This little nut does some wonderful things once soaked and fermented overnight! It turns into a cream cheese flavoured piece of magic. I found out how to do this through one of my favourite blogs - Healthful Pursuit. I would of never thought to use cashews but it seems the raw eating, vegan world has known about this little trick for some time. Cashew "cream" as it is known is used in so many different ways to substitute dairy - such as ice creams, cream, sour cream etc. The unroasted cashew does not have a strong flavour which makes it perfect to be used to carry other flavours.

To be honest I have no idea what we will be doing for Valentines Day this year. It all kind of falls on the wayside when you have a baby and occasions like this require time and effort which we're a bit lacking in lately. I still want to do something special but maybe not the full blown get dressed up and go out to dinner thing. Maybe something more like a nice home cooked meal with a good glass of wine finished off with a fancy dessert - like these little Pomegranate Cheesecakes. I said to hubby that we shouldn't have to celebrate our love on a particular day - it should be like this everyday....... HA!

I gave one of these little cheesecakes to my sister to try, as she is also dairy intolerant. I got a message back from her exclaiming how scrumptious they were. So at least I know they're a winner. Most of the recipes I put on the blog are eaten by my husband or myself, which leaves it to us to discern if the recipe is a success or not. So if you have made one of my recipes and think something needs a bit of tweeking be sure to let me know via a comment or through my contact page. I am always welcome to feedback.

Mini Dairyfree Pomegranate Cheesecakes

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 24 hours

Cook Time: 20 min

Keywords: bake dessert dairy free cake

Ingredients (6-8 mini cheesecakes)

Cashew Cream

1 3/4 cups cashews, raw, unsalted
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh
2-3 tablespoons water

Chocolate Crust

3/4 cup white spelt flour
1/3 cup dark cocoa, unsweetened
1/3 cup sugar (can replace with coconut sugar)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch chilli powder optional
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/4 cup almond milk

Cheesecake Filling

1 x batch cashew cream cheese
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
3 tablespoon maple syrup
zest of 1 lemon

Pomegranate Jelly

1/2 pomegranate, deseeded - about 1/4 cup of seeds
1/2 cup water + 1/4 cup water, extra
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoon cornflour
1/2 teaspoon gelatin, powdered
Red food colouring optional

Instructions

Cashew Cream Cheese

Place the raw cashews in a glass dish and cover with water. Place in the fridge to soak for 12 hours. It is important that you place it in the fridge otherwise the nuts go a little rancid sitting on the counter. The cashews should be swollen and soft.

Drain and rinse the cashews with water.

Place the rinsed cashews into a blender or food processor (I used the latter as it gave a creamier consistency). Place the remaining cashew cream ingredients, starting with 2 tablespoons of the water and adding the remaining if necessary to get a smoother consistency.

Process for 2-3 minutes until a smooth consistency is achieved. Place into a bowl and set aside on the bench top for 2-3 hours.

Place a fine sieve over a bowl and line with muslin or cheesecloth. Spoon the cream cheese mixture into the lined sieve. Pull up the sides of the cloth and tie the top with a piece of string or twine.

Hang the cheese bag from a wooden spoon placed over the opening of a jug or large vase. It needs to be extended into the air to allow the remaining liquid to drain from the cheese to firm it up.

Leave it a warm place for 24 hours.

Remove the cheesecloth and place into a lidded container an put in the fridge to cool down.

Chocolate Crust

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Line the base and sides of a 6 hole muffin tin.

In a small bowl sift all of the dry ingredients together.

Place the coconut oil into the bowl and mash with a fork to resemble bread crumbs.

Add the almond milk a tablespoon at a time, stirring with a fork until the dough comes together.

Spread out evenly on the base of the muffin tin holes about 1cm thick. (You may have some dough left over. Use this up by rolling out and cutting out with cookie cutters. Bake at the same time as the crust. )

Place into pre-heated oven for 12-15 minutes. Remove and cool.

Cheese Cake Filling

Place the cream cheese from the fridge into a bowl along with the remaining cheese cake filling ingredients.

Mix to combine the ingredients thoroughly.

Place spoonfuls of the mixture into the muffin holes on top of the cooled chocolate crust.

Spread into the hole evenly making sure that there is no air bubbles in the mixture and leaving enough room to add the jelly later on.

Smooth the top of the filling and place into the fridge while you make the pomegranate jelly.

Pomegranate Jelly

Place a small saucepan over a medium heat and add the pomegranate seeds, water and sugar.

Bring to the boil and turn down to a simmer. Simmer the mixture for 10 minutes to soften the seeds and let them colour the liquid. The liquid will become thicker and saucy looking. Add more water if the liquid evaporates too quickly.

Add a few drops of red food colouring if you need the mixture to be a bit more vibrant.

Place the gelatin into the warm mixture and disolve.

Mix the cornflour with the extra water and pour into the pomegranate jelly. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the jelly thickens.

Remove from heat and let it cool for 5 minutes.

Spoon the jelly over the top of the cooled cheesecakes.

Place back into the fridge and let it set for 2-3 hours.

This dessert may seem like a lot of work but for a special occasion it will definitley worth the effort. Making the cashew cream cheese a few days ahead of time will get ahead with making the cheesecake and the rest of the steps can be prepared on the same day.

To make the crust gluten free simply swap the spelt flour to a gluten free alternative such as quinoa flour or almond meal.

I dedicate this post to all the dairy intolerant folks out there who have cheese cake withdrawls! You now can have your cheesecake and EAT it too!

P.s. For those aussies reading this post don't forget to enter the Rust-Oleum Epoxy Shield Garage Paint giveaway which finishes tommorrow!

Pin It

blog directory

My Top 10 Money Saving Tips

2013-02-01T10:10:00.002+10:00

I was recently asked by a friend for any money saving tips that we used in our home. While I am in no way a guru for money, however I would like to think that I pinch the pennies here and there around the house to try and save that little bit more each time we receive a new pay into our bank account.

{source}

Since going on one wage I have sat down and had a hard look at where the money is going and how we can better our out going expenses. More money in the bank is always a plus. So here's my top 10 Money saving ideas.

10. Throw out the junk mail or place a sticker on your letter box saying "No Junk Mail".

Now I know we all love to read the junk mail but this is the easiest way to get sucked into buying things you really didn't need but you did because they were on special. Ever since we moved out of town 2 years ago we stopped receiving junk mail because we were in an areas where it couldn't be delivered. This stopped me pouring over the pages of the specials thinking I needed to go out and buy a particular item because it was half price. Mind you I LOVED reading the junk mail and went into with drawls from it for the first few months we lived here. The down side to not receiving any junk mail is when you have something in mind you want to see on sale you never know when it is.

9. Don't go to the shops because you are bored.

This is one of the easiest ways to spend money mindlessly. As a stay at home mumma it is so easy to pack your child up into the car and head to the shops when you need a break from being at home. I have fallen into this trap a million times over the last 5 months. You end up walking up and down the shopping center buying things you don't really need just because you need a little fulfillment in your life at that moment. Instead of heading to the shops why not pack a picnic morning tea or lunch and spend some time in the outdoors, go for a walk, visit a friend or visit your local library. They are all free things to do which will get you out of the house but not spending money.

{source}

8. Limit shops to grocery store.

I got into a rut of doing my fortnightly grocery shop but still ended up dropping into the grocery store twice a week to pick up little things here and there. These all added up on top of our fortnightly grocery shop and I ended up buying things that I really didn't need but did because I was there at the time. This point follows on to my my next tip .....

{source}

7. Make a fortnightly or monthly meal plan.

Not only will this help you be more organised in the kitchen but it will also help you save money on your grocery shopping bill. You will be buying more efficiently and will not be wasting food by buying unnecessary items. I know it may seem like a lot of effort but it takes me literally 30 - 45 minutes out of my day to sit down and plan a months worth of meals plus do up my grocery list. We have started buying groceries on a monthly basis . It is still in the trial stages of this but it has saved me from going to the grocery store every fortnight with a baby. See below for a sneak peak of my latest monthly meal plan.

{To download the meal plan template - click here}

{To download my grocery list template - click here}

6. Buy in Bulk

When you shop - whether it be weekly, fortnightly or monthly make sure you buy in bulk where possible. Staple items like rice, flours, canned goods, toilet paper etc that will not spoil and will last a long time. Saving are made in the long term by buying this way. If you look at the cost at buying a 1kg bag of rice versus buying a 5kg bag of rice you will be amazed at the little price difference. I think it something like $4-$5. Now I know you will be thinking what the heck am I going to go with 5 kg of rice. Well plan your meals around it so that a little bit is used each week and before you know it you will be through it. If kept in a dark and dry place it should last for months.

{source}

5. Buy Meat in Bulk.

This is a over flow from the last tip. We buy a half a beast (cow) between 3 families every 3-4 months, which gives us about 15-18kg of meat. By doing this you make HUGE savings in the long term with buying meat this way. The total cost per kilogram generally works out to be $9 -$10/kg which includes prime cuts of meat such as T-bones, eye and rib fillet plus top quality mince and sausages. I generally order my meat with my local butcher the week before and the beast is prepared the day before I have to pick it up. By doing it this way you know that you meat is fresh, it has not been pumped with any chemicals to maintain its shelf life and if you know your butcher well you will know how the animal has been raised and fed. The down side to this is you need the money up front to buy a bulk amount of meat like this. This generally costs us about $220 -$250 which works out to be about $20/week for beef over 3 months.

4. Buy Second Hand

We have saved a lot of money by buying items second hand. Trawl your local OP shops for household or clothing items. We will be surprised at what you can find hidden away in these shops. Do you research before buying though as some OP shops can charge exorbitant prices for things you could buy cheaper new. That being said though it is generally better to buy second hand than new. I have picked up some great brand name pieces of clothing such as Cue, Sportsgirl, Tokito and some still with the tags on them. Follow groups in Facebook that are selling items in your local area. This is a great spot to pick up second hand baby items, toys and clothes. Check out Ebay as well for any second hand deals on things that you may be looking for. Another great way to buy second hand is going to Garage Sales. This is one of hubby and I's favourite past times as we LOVE to see what bargains we can pick up. Sometimes you will have all the luck and the next time you go you will find nothing.

However don't get stuck in the online/second hand bargain shopping trap of buying things just because you are bored. Only research items that you are in NEED of not things that you just want for the sake of having it!

{source}

3. Ask for a Discount or a Deal.

Anytime you go to make a purchase on a big ticket item always, always ask for a deal or discount off the item. I always ask "Is that the best price you can do for me?" preferably following by a bat of the eyelash if its a male! HA. Don't be afraid to ask because more times often than not they will be willing to cut 10 -15% off an item to get it out the door. I would say do this for any purchase really!

2. Budget, Budget Budget

I cannot stress how important it is to have a budget in place for your houshold finances. I wrote a post on it HERE . I would highly recommend doing a budget up if you don't have one in place. A budget helps keep your spending in check and keeps the stress and worry off your back! I honestly could not function without one!

1. Be CONTENT!

Yes that's my number one tip to give you to save money. Be content with what you have and what you own. Don't look at what Johnny or Sally has that is better than yours. Look at what you have and be thankful for it. Don't get caught in the bigger, better, best mentality because that will only get you into trouble. Be happy with what you have been blessed with and be thankful that you have a roof over your head, a bed to sleep on, clothes to wear and food to eat! I have to check myself every now and again to stop evaluate myself and be thankful and content in what we have.

I hope these tips help you in some way to evaluate your money saving and inspire you to shop differently and think differently!

Pin It

blog directory

Dairy-Free Almond Milk Yogurt

2013-01-29T08:00:00.001+10:00

I finally mastered the art of making Almond Milk Yogurt. My whole life changed when I stumbled across this recipe. I could actually eat yogurt again after six LOOOONG years with out it, I was ecstatic. I know there is Soy alternatives but I have tried them a few times but ended up with bad gas and severe cramps from it so I avoided eating it to much. It's the same with soy milk so I can't even enjoy a Soy milk cappuccino as most cafes use this as there milk alternative.

Why don't cafes use rice milk instead of soy? I have resorted to bringing in a small bottle with me and kindly asking the barista's to make me a cappuccino using my milk. They kindly oblige most times which is nice. Ahh such is life as a dairy intolerant! Anyway to making Almond Milk Yogurt....

Materials Required:

Blender

Mixing bowl

Fine Strainer/Nut Milk bag

Medium Saucepan

Measuring cup/spoons

Thermometer

Slow cooker
Old Towel

The recipe I used to make this yogurt was from Lexie's Kitchen. However I will rewrite it here for you on how I did it myself as I used a few different ingredients to what she used. You will need to make a batch of Almond Milk. You can read how I made it here.

After making the almond milk it is time to get started on making yogurt!

The first step is to turn your slow cooker on to low and set aside. The next step is to place 3 cups of filtered water into a large saucepan. You need it to be large enough to fit these 3 cups of water plus 4 cups of almond milk which will be added later on.

Bring the water to the boil and add the gelatin and stir to dissolve. Add the almond milk, sugar (and vanilla essence if you want it flavoured) and bring back to the boil. Meanwhile mix the cornflour with 1/2 cup of water and dissolve, set aside. Once a boil has been achieved gently stir in the cornflour mixture and stir for 10-15 seconds to combine. Remove from heat. You are not using this cornflour to thicken the mixture as such the gelatin will do that when the mixture is cooled in the fridge later on. The cornflour is to give it a creamier texture.

Pour the mixture into the container it is going to "ferment" in and leave to cool on the bench until it reaches about 37 - 40 degrees. This may take between 90 and 120 minutes. Don't be tempted to place it in the fridge as it will set the gelatin prematurely and don't be tempted to guess what the temp may be either - if it is too hot is will kill the probiotic cultures that will be added and you won't get yogurt! So a little patience is required to let the mixture cool by itself. I do give it a whisk every 30 -40 minutes to help it cool down quicker. Turn your slow cooker onto the "warm" setting after about 1 hour of the milk being cooled.

Once the almond milk base has cooled to the required temperature it is now time to add the probiotic tablets. I got these from my local chemist but I know health food shops sell them as well. I get a small amount of the cooled milk and mix the contents of two capsules into this and then mix back into the main bowl thoroughly.

Place the bowl of soon-to-be-yogurt into the slow cooker and place some cling wrap over the top of the bowl. Place a towel over the top and place the lid on top of that - now turn the slow cooker OFF! Yes OFF you don't need it to be going while it ferments. By heating it up the few hours before it will keep a nice constant temp throughout the fermentation process. It doesn't need to be HOT during this time just a nice constant temp. Now patience comes into place again - waiting for it to ferment and create yogurt.

I leave it in the slow cooker for about 12-18 hours. Now the longer you leave it the tangier it will get so if you want a mild yogurt stop the fermentation sooner. I left my most recent batch for 18 hours and it was nice and tangier - kinda like Greek yogurt tangy. I added vanilla essence in my first batch but didn't for the second and I think I like it without the vanilla better.

Once fermentation is complete place it in the fridge and let is cool down and thicken up. This may take a few hours to do so don't stress if it still looks a little runny after 3- 4 hours. It generally takes a good 8 hours to set properly. Once it has set dig in and enjoy with your fave fruit or breakfast muesli sprinkled over the top.

I enjoyed mine with some cinnamon, apple and pear puree (yeah its JD's baby puree - I LOVE IT) with a sprinkling of muesli. This is my go to snack at the moment as I am really enjoying the freedom of being able to eat yogurt again PLUS I know what's ingredients have gone into it - it's not full of sugar, preservatives or nasty things! Keep about 1/4 cup of the yogurt to use as your "starter" instead of the probiotic tablets next time. This will definitely make it a lot cheaper in the long run.

Almond Milk Yogurt

by The Whimsical Wife

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20-24 hours

Ingredients (1 L of Yogurt)

2 cups raw almonds
1 1/2 Tbsp powdered gelatin
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup cornflour
Filtered water
2 x Dairy-Free Probiotic Capsules

Instructions

Make sure you sterilise all cooking and fermentation containers to stop any unwanted bacteria growing in your yogurt

Place the almonds in a bowl and cover with filtered water. Soak for 8-12 hours until plump.

Drain the almonds and place into a high powered blender. Fill the blender up with water until the contents reach the 4 cup mark. Blend on high until smooth. If you have a smaller less powerful blender do the almonds in batches to get a better result.

Place a fine sieve or a piece of cheesecloth or nut milk bag over a bowl and pour the contents of the blender into the sieve. Strain out as much as the milk as possible. Set the almond pulp aside to use in other cooking.

Turn slow cooker onto low.

Rinse the blender out and pour the milk back in and add enough water to make the content reach the 4 cup mark again. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix cornflour and 1/2 cup water. Set aside.

Add 3 cups of filtered water to a large pot and bring to the boil. Sprinkle over the gelatin powder and stir in to dissolve.

Whisk milk and sugar into the gelatin mixture. Return to simmer, stirring occasionally. Watch it VERY carefully. It can boil over in split second. As soon as a simmer is achieved, whisk in the cornflour slurry. Simmer 10-15 seconds and remove from heat.

Allow milk to cool to 37-41 degree celsius. This can take 90 to 120 minutes depending on the temperature. It is VERY important that you wait for it to cool otherwise it will kill the probiotic culture you will add later.

Turn off slow cooker about 30 minutes before adding the probiotic capsule to the milk.

Mix the contents of two dairy free probiotic capsules (removed from capsule) with a small amount of cooled milk. Add to rest of the milk and whisk very well. Transfer to fermentation container(s) and place into your slow cooker. Cover the containers with cling wrap and place a towel on top and then place the lid on the towel. Leave undisturbed to ferment 8-10 hours. You can leave it longer if you like it more tangy. Transfer to refrigerator and chill 6-8 hours. Yogurt will set as it cools.

__________________________________________________________

What's your favourite topping on a bowl of yogurt?

Australian Residents - Be sure to enter the Epoxy Shield paint giveaway that I have going on over here.

Pin It

blog directory