Tag: australia day

Categories
Recipes

Chocolate Crackles for Australia Day

Do you make something special for Australia Day? What is it you like to create to celebrate? Or do you just have a BBQ and some cold drinks with mates and that is your celebration?

This year I decided to make Chocolate Crackles with the twins. I used the recipe from the Rice Bubble box and it brings back memories of making them with my mum.

The ingredients to make chocolate crackles, but I was missing one ingredient. The icing sugar. I ended up using caster sugar and put it in a pestle and mortar to get the sugar finer. I only had icing mixture not the sugar so this was the best option.
The ingredients to make chocolate crackles, but I was missing one ingredient. The icing sugar. I ended up using caster sugar and put it in a pestle and mortar to get the sugar finer. I only had icing mixture not the sugar so this was the best option.

The girls were super excited to help and they did a great job. I had them on the kitchen counter so that they could be near the bowls and help out easily.

The ingredients you need:

  • 4 cups Kellogg’s® Rice Bubbles®
  • 1 cup icing sugar
  • 1 cup desiccated coconut
  • 3 Tbsp cocoa
  • 250g copha®*, chopped
Happy to be making chocolate crackles with mummy and sister.
Happy to be making chocolate crackles with mummy and sister.

Step 1

In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients: rice bubbles, icing sugar, coconut and the cocoa. Note: If you use organic cocoa from the health food shop the crackles do not work out well. I tried it for the kids sixth birthday party and they did not set properly and did not taste the same. I used Cadbury’s Cocoa this time and they worked out the way they should. I am not sure why this would create such a difference but thought it best to point it out.

Adding the rice bubbles
Adding the rice bubbles

As mentioned I stuffed up and did not have icing sugar. I thought I did! Yes silly I should have checked the pantry better, but it all got fixed. I used caster sugar but had to put it in a pestle and mortar to get the sugar to a finer and softer consistency. It worked a treat but took a bit of time to get it done.

 Step 2

Melt the copha. I did not chop it up, although the instructions say to. I put mine in a bowl and the microwave melted it for me. You can chop it up and put it in a saucepan and melt it that way. Either way is fine. It took about 2 and half minutes to get it all melted. Could be a little more depending on how your microwave works.

Copha ready to be melted in the microwave
Copha ready to be melted in the microwave

 Step 3

Add the melted copha to the dry indgredients and mix well.

ricebubbles6_web

 Step 4

Spoon the mixture into patty pans, and then put in the fridge to set. It is best to do it overnight to make sure they are hard and fully set.

Ready to go into the fridge to set
Ready to go into the fridge to set

In the fridge setting. Note the beer and drinks all ready for Australia Day!
In the fridge setting. Note the beer and drinks all ready for Australia Day!

Since we are celebrating Australia Day tomorrow I wanted to add the Australian Flag to the chocolate crackles. Note: Adding the Australian Flag after the crackles have set is harder than you think.

Australian Flags for our Chocolate Crackles. I picked these up for $2.00 at the local supermarket.
Australian Flags for our Chocolate Crackles. I picked these up for $2.00 at the local supermarket.

And now for the finished product!

My finished chocolate crackles all ready for Australia Day. Yum!
My finished chocolate crackles are all ready for Australia Day. Yum!

Have a great Australia Day and long weekend. Hope you are having a nice relaxing time. Enjoy your chocolate crackles if you make some and your time with your mates and family.

Note: This post was posted originally on January 25th 2015, and it was when the twins were much younger.

Categories
Recipes

Make Mini Meat Pies

Would you like a super easy meat pie for your party? How about dinner or lunch? Or your Australia Day celebration?

Well, I have an easy recipe for you and it is very yummy too!

Preheat the oven: Heat the oven to 180°C or 356 °F

INGREDIENTS

  • 500 grams of beef mince (You can choose chicken, pork or turkey if you wish)
  • Frozen puff pastry sheets
  • 2 carrots grated
  • 2 big cups of chopped mushrooms
  • Soy Sauce – I added a sprinkle when cooking the mince
  • 2 spanish onions – finely cut
  • 1 brown onion – finely cut
  • 1 pack of Masterfoods Spicy Chilli Con Carne (this is used as sauce rather than a gravy)

METHOD

  • Take out 4 sheets of pastry to defrost
  • Cut up the onions and add them to the fry pan
  • Add the mince
  • Add the soy sauce
  • Add the grated carrot
  • Add the Spicy Chilli Con Carne sauce mix and then add the pouch with water to get all the sauce out and add to the sauce in the fry pan
  • Cook all ingredients until the water in the sauce has reduced a little but all as you need to have the sauce there to add to the mixture for the pie
  • Once all ingredients are cooked for the inside of the pie, turn off the fry pan
  • I used a muffin and friand tin to put my puff pastry in. I did find that the friand tin did it better. Also you will see that my pastry was not perfect and actually more rustic than I was hoping for.
  • Cut out a good square of pastry that will match the bottom and sides of the tin. I then pressed the pastry down to the bottom and the sides.
  • I then filled the pastry pie in the tin with the filling from the fry pan and finished off each individual pie with more pastry. This was measured by seeing if a big glass was a little bit bigger than the top of the pie width for each pie in the tin. I used a big gin glass to cut out a circle to then pinch closed on top of each indivual pie.
  • Bake for 30 minutes or until the pastry is very golden brown and looking crunchy.

I served the pies with a salad. It was very yummy and filling.

POST FEAST REVIEW

I thought that making pies would be easy and I was right. It really isn’t hard. However, I don’t really have a pie tin and made do with using a muffin and friand tin as a substitute. It worked out well with these tins but I did notice that the friand tin worked better.

The pastry was a bit clumsy and rustic but worked on the whole. A few pies had their bottom give out a little when I attempted to remove them from the tin.

I found that the pies were just the right size and a salad or vegetables for dinner. If you do decide to make this you can make a few different pies and then mix and match to have a few different ones on your dinner plate.

The pies were very tasty and the Spicy Chilli Con Carne sauce made it very tasty indeed as well as the chewy and melt in your mouth mushrooms.

I did read a few recipes but made it up as I went along, although this alarmed and annoyed my husband. He thought that I was following a recipe and got quite frustrated to learn I wasn’t. I then pointed out it was an experiment and he wasn’t cooking so it really didn’t matter.

WOULD I MAKE THIS AGAIN?

Yes, I would make this again. I think I need to get proper individual pie tins or make one big pie and have it as a slice of one pie for each person at dinner or lunch. It was rather quick and simple and for the remaining pies, I can have them in the fridge and just heat up for the next meal.

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Categories
6 years and beyond

Australia Day 2015

Happy Australia Day! Have a wonderful Day.
Happy Australia Day! Have a wonderful Day.

Happy Australia Day everyone! What are you up to today? We are going to a BBQ with mates later, and we are looking forward to seeing everyone.

I woke to a rainy day but it is more like sprinkles so crossing fingers and toes it stays that way or stops all together for our day out. Another blogger said that it is raining quite heavy in Melbourne so maybe it is working its way across the county? Not sure how we would all be with heavy torrential rain, but you cannot control this so lets just hope it does not happen.

If it rains we will all still have a great time and if it does not the same so it will not impact our BBQ and catch up with friends.

How do you celebrate Australia Day? Stay at home with the family? Visit relatives? Have mates over to yours for a BBQ or a fancy lunch? Let me know.

Enjoy and stay safe everyone!

 

Categories
5 years and beyond

Happy Australia Day for 2014

Hi all, today was Australia Day and of course we had a BBQ with mates. I think I will just leave you with some pictures of today.

Australia Day BBQ at the Katoomba Airfield
Australia Day BBQ at the Katoomba Airfield

Hubby and Me
Hubby and Me

Lillian
Lillian

Julia
Julia

Yummy lamingtons
Yummy lamingtons

I hope you had a great Australia Day and holiday today. Did you spend it with family and friends? I am pleased that the girls are feeling a bit better from their operation and are eating a little bit more, although not a lot. Thanks everyone who has sent their kind wishes regarding the twins and them getting their tonsils out. Much appreciated.

Categories
4 years and beyond

Happy Australia Day 2013

Australian Flag
Australian Flag from – http://freeaussiestock.com

Hi all, it is Australia Day tomorrow and we are all off to have a BBQ with our good mates. Yes very Australian, it will be very nice to sit and have a drink, a bite to eat and to hopefully relax. The kids cannot wait to ride their scooters and bikes and just have some fun. What are you doing this Australia Day? Are you having a quiet one? Or are you having time with family and friends? Maybe you have decided to go away for the long weekend.

With university done I am very happy to be able to sit and to not think of anything now but the weekend. Oh the joys. What are you going to enjoy this long weekend? I am sure not being at work would be one of them.

Remember to be safe driving and on the roads everyone. This long weekend there are double demerit points again, see your state for more info.

Have fun and stay safe everyone.

Categories
3 years and beyond Potty Training

Well done girls and especially Julia

The girls went out and about with Daddy this morning as I am not feeling the best.  The girls were all dressed up and were not in nappies yet again, yeah!  While at the hardware store Julia looked like she needed to go to the toliet, Daddy asked if she needed to go and she said yes. He asked if she could hold on. He explained that he had no nappies, or the potty with him and that she needed to wait if she could. She said she could wait.

They then finished at the hardware store and Daddy wanted to go to the shops to get some food. He asked Julia if she was o.k to go to the shops or should they go home. Julia said that she could wait and they should go to the shops. She was a very good girl and hung on and waited until they all got home to go to the toliet. Very proud of her to have done this, just a great thing to have done.

Julia also on Australia Day told us she needed to go while we were on our way to the airfield, she gave me the look that she could not wait and she needed to go now. It was a very intense look with eyes open wide to express the urgency. We stopped along the road, I raced out of the car and in my haste thought it was Lillian that needed to go. She told me, “Not me mummy”. I then realised and got Julia out and the potty out and all was good.

What great progress we are making and big girls they are becoming. To think I was worried that they would never be potty trained before pre-school. I am so pleased that they are doing so well and ready and on that note that I only have 17 sleeps to go till the girls start pre-school.

Categories
3 years and beyond Family

Happy Australia Day

Julia and Lillian playing cricket
Julia and Lillian playing cricket

Glad that it is Australia Day, we can catch up with friends and relax as a family. Today we went to Katoomba airfield to spend time with our good mates, BBQ and cricket in order for today. However as it is raining and not looking like it is going to let up, this might change the events of today.

Categories
3 years and beyond Frustrated and Stuck

New Venture

Today did nearly all the laundry, very hard when it is raining all day and seems like the rest of the week. Also not good for Australia Day, the one fun public holiday that we all get together at the airfield and have a bbq and play cricket.

Also tried to clean and tidy the best I could. Although the girls are a handful as they are very active, it would be just the icing on the cake to manage to have a part time job that would just suit my situation currently. That said, I have found myself looking at jobs that I know that I could do very well, pay very well ( I AM JOB LUSTING OVER THINGS THAT I CANNOT HAVE CURRENTLY) but currently cannot due to the girls and logistics. It is hard, but the girls are growing and learning so much due to me teaching them, and helping them get the basics before school.

I think that the modern day office is so caught up with office hours and standard times for work to be done. I am sure that there are things that can be done at night that will fufill the brief of a job but from home. Telecommuting is the big thing, offering flexible roles. However you need to live close by, and be able to get to the office easily. The factor that is not ideal is that to do what I did before kids, I would have to hire a nanny. This would make working a pointless exercise, spending all the money to look after the girls and not be in front again.

It is interesting that we have all the technology in the world to manage to run an employee/office/business from a remote location but it is so hard to get these roles. I do understand that it is a matter of trust and making sure that the work is done, however, would it not be more cost effective?  For example,  the whole idea of having a paperless office, this has never happened, everybody where I have worked always needed things printed out for a hard copy.

I think I am just having this rave, as I miss the challenges, the accomplishment in doing work well and getting noticed for a job well done. Being a stay at home mother, this is something that gets overlooked and not even noticed, you start to feel that you are not important at all. I know, woe is me, but I am sure other mothers out there will know what I mean. It might not be just mothers that understand what I am saying. I suppose it is a change in life, or maybe a job loss that could make you feel this way as well.

I do love being with the girls and teaching them new things. To see the delight in their eyes and the fun they are having, but would like to build something for myself as well. I am hoping that with the introduction of pre-school next month that more will get done during those days, I will be able to have my outlet for planning my business more and making stock.

Don’t get me wrong. I love the kids, love the fact that I am blessed to stay at home with them while they are young and it is so nice to see them develop. Latley I am just a little frustrated that I don’t have an outlet. So this year, 2012 is the year to create the new venture, make sure that business happens and is a success.

2012 is also a year to focus on my studies. I am studying a masters in project management and have 3 subjects left. Doing 1 subject a semester so a year and half to go. Very happy to be getting closer to graduation, and wanting to keep the distinction average that I have managed so far.

It is going to be a very busy year and looking forward to the challenges that I am going to engineer for myself, to create my own outlet for me and to hopfully build a business that can work with my lifestyle.

Has anyone done this and do you have any tips?  Do you have a story that you would like to share?