Liebster Award

Massive thanks and shout out to Jessica who awarded me with the 'Liebster Award'.

The Liebster Award is an award given to up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. Considering I've just started this blog and have hardly any followers yet it was a huge honour. :)

**Here are the details on receiving this award**

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you plus create 11 questions for the people you’ve nominated to answer.
3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post
4. Go to their page and tell them.

5. No tag backs!

Ok so here goes:

1. Bolognese is my go to pasta sauce of choice. I cannot live without bolognese and when I discover a great sauce... oh my lordy lord!

2. I had a huge crush on Leonardo Dicaprio when I was in high school. I shared a bedroom with my sister and my two walls were wallpapered in posters of him. It was Titanic that got me hooked. I was the older sister, she had no choice but to put up with it.

3. I love Zumba. I am an instructor and I love that you burn so many calories without even realising it. It's so freaking fun!

4. I am always belting out some song whilst driving. I can't help it. I crank the stereo and go for it. Poor people in the cars next to me must just laugh and laugh if they see me. I think I sound fabulous.

5. My daughter is the absolute apple of my eye. She is so funny and I am so grateful I get to spend every day with her.

6. My iPhone camera roll has 3,669 photos on it and 103 videos. (Mostly of my daughter - see above). ;)

7. New York and Japan are on top of my travel wish list.

8. Red Velvet Cupcakes are my weakness. 

9. I miss my Nanna more than anything. Especially now that I see my mum being a Nanna to my daughter, my Nan would have loved my little girl so much.

10. My husband and I just celebrated our 10 year anniversary of dating. (Everyone tells me it doesn't count because we're married now).

11. My favourite brand of wine is anything by Keith Tulloch from the Hunter Valley.


Jessica's Questions

1. What did you want to be when you were little? An actress or a teacher

2. If you could own any animal what would it be? A horse. I have always wanted a horse.

3. What is your favourite TV show at the moment? Homeland. Brilliant stuff.

4. What 4 words would you use to describe yourself? Friendly, kind, silly, responsible

5. If you could be anyone for a day, who would you be and why? I'd be Hugh Jackmans wife cos he is seeexxy.

6. What is the best and worst about blogging? The best is being able to just unload on a topic instead of writing in a diary which takes longer and doesn't have pretty fonts and colours. The worst is trying to find the time to do it regularly.

7. Finish this sentence, 'if you want to spoil me rotten, buy me...' an amazing dinner with a gorgeous wine and a little gift of something from the heart that's been thought about.

8. What is at the top of your bucket list? Travelling

9. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be? I honestly think here, Australia. I love it, everything about it. I can travel to other places for holidays but will always come home to Oz.

10. What food can you not resist? This might sound weird but my mums vegetable lasagne. It's so delicious that I used to request it for my birthday dinners probably to the dismay of my brother and sisters.

11. What is your favourite time of the year and why? Christmas. I love the decorations, the present giving and receiving, the food, the joy, the carols, spending time with family.... everyone is so festive and full of well wishes... it just goes too fast..


My Questions to you

1. What was your favourite childhood toy?
2. Coffee or tea?
3. Best book you've read recently?
4. Something that you've learnt recently?
5. What is your worst pet peeve?
6. What is your dream career if money were not an issue?
7. If someone gave you a ticket to the concert of your dreams, who would you be seeing?
8. What was your favourite subject in school?
9. Fruit salad or chocolate donut?
10. What is the worst trouble you've ever gotten into?
11. What is your favourite season?

My Nominees!

This is the hard part... there are quite a lot of blogs I follow who have too many followers or I know have received this award before... So my list is rather small... even I think a couple of these might have too many followers but check them out anyway. :)

* http://dressedandeaten.blogspot.com.au/
* http://yourcheekymonkey.blogspot.com.au/
* http://bentica-lyons.blogspot.com.au/
* http://www.cookinginchoos.blogspot.com.au/

Red Velvet Cupcakes

It is HARD to blog regularly with a toddler, crazy work life and the million and one things that have to be done domestically each day. I have been neglecting my poor blog so I thought it was time to make some cupcakes (cos really, when is it never not a good time) and blog about it.

I have never made Red Velvet Cupcakes before but I do eat them regularly so I consider myself somewhat of a red velvet connoisseur.  I used the Magnolia Bakery recipe which I needed to convert to Australian measurements – now some might think I’m incredibly daft for not knowing – but I didn’t realise the measurements were different. So that was my task last night. I went to the shops this morning for the extra ingredients I needed and when little Miss was asleep I set to work.

I used “Pillar Box Red” food colouring which I think isn’t as red as I would like. I think there’s one called “Christmas Red” which is a stronger colour but they didn’t have it.

Here is the recipe converted to Australian measurements…. if you are from the US, the recipe can be found online by googling. The original recipe was for a cake so I halved it and baked it for less time (as shown below).

Ingredients:

3 cups cake flour

170g unsalted butter, softened

2 cups + 1.5 tbs sugar

3 large eggs at room temperature

4 tbs red food colouring

2 1/4 tbs unsweetened cocoa

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees.

In a small bowl, sift the cake flour and set aside. In a large bowl, on medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until very light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, whisk together the red food colouring, cocoa and vanilla. Add to the batter and beat well.

In a measuring cup, stir the salt into the buttermilk. Add to the batter in three parts, alternating with the flour. With each addition, beat until the ingredients are incorporated but do not overbeat.

In a small bowl, stir together the cider vinegar and baking soda. Add to the batter and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, scrape down the batter in the bowl, making sure the ingredients are well blended and the batter is smooth.

Divide the batter among cupcake patties. Bake for 15 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.

When the cupcakes have cooled, pipe with frosting.

* I used a white chocolate cream cheese icing.

450g cream cheese

6 tbs unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

230g white chocolate (Lindt is great)

Melt the chocolate in a bowl over simmering water on low heat for about 5-10 minutes. Stir occasionally until completely smooth. Remove from heat and let cool for 5-15 minutes, or until lukewarm.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and butter until smooth, about 3 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat well. Add the melted chocolate and beat well. Use immediately or store, covered at room temperature for up to 4 hours.

My insanely busy world right

If my blog is looking a little bare it is because I cannot even look at my laptop without my hair sticking up and anxiety creeping in. Everything is so busy right now that my laptop is a source of stress and work - not relaxing writing. I promise I will get back to it though! Once I get through the next couple of weeks you guys are going to be bombarded! ;)

Work is crazy. We have our biggest performance of the year in a couple of weeks. Throw into the mix the fact that I am moving house the week leading up to that.... whose stupid idea was that??

Thank you for your patience my lovelies. x

Chocolate Chip Cookies

As a little side project and after reading some of my favourite blogs I decided to do a bit of baking. While I can’t eat sweet, delicious baked goods at the moment, there’s no reason why I can’t make them for others to enjoy. Although yes, I did have two. Only two I swear!

Plus some cookie dough.

And maybe my daughters left over cookie.

But that’s it!

Rustling up ingredients from the cupboard I found I only had a small amount of milk choc chips left so I decided to also add the rest of my leftover white chocolate milk bits, roughly chopped to add a bit of chunk.

I love chunky, soft cookies and these did not disappoint. I think I should’ve reduced the sugar content a bit due to the white chocolate I added as white choc already contains more sugar than normal choc so they did turn out a little sweet.

All in all though, yum!

Ingredients:

125g unsalted butter, softened

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 egg lightly beaten

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

a pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups chocolate bits

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Place the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat until light and creamy. Add the vanilla and egg and stir to combine. Stir in the sifted flour, baking powder and salt until just combined. Fold through the chocolate chips.

Place spoonfuls of the mixture on a lined baking tray. Make sure you leave enough room for spreading as these babies spread! Cook for 15-20 minutes, until they are a light golden colour. Allow to cool on the tray for about 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool.

(Originally from Bill Granger).

End of Week 2

I have been pleasantly surprised by the food on the 12WBT. It has been different and most importantly, yum! I have sometimes swapped one meal for another due to our tastes but on the whole, a good selection. The exercise component has been a bit more difficult for me to stick to. I'm trying to workout while my daughter sleeps during the day but sometimes the business and other things come first. In the first 3 days I dropped 1.1kg! I was stoked!! Yes, mostly water weight more than likely but a loss is a loss! From the Wednesday weigh in, to the next Wednesday weigh in though I only dropped 500g. I was a bit disappointed with that result.

HOWEVER....

This weekend has been a total write off! My 12WBT results hang in the balance…

I have had two party events this weekend. A beautiful bbq on a sunny Saturday afternoon with great friends, laughter, a DELICIOUS food spread and flowing wine. The second, a baby shower for one of my best friends with the most incredible dip and to die for cupcakes! I didn’t even try to be good. Did not even try.

I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t had potatoes in a couple of weeks but the potato salad at the bbq was the best I’ve ever had! I finished my plate and then my husbands.

I am too scared to get on the scales. After losing the 500 grams in the last week I am terrified that I have put more on. I thought last night that I would go for a run this morning but when I woke I was already sweating from the heat outside. Not feasible in my mind. As it cools down today I may try to do a fitness DVD…. if I can pry my hubby away from the football on TV.

Augh, I have to get back on the horse. I bought two new bikinis today as inspiration for summer. Just gotta do it!

Here are some little pics of some of the food we've had so far.

Beetroot on my sandwich... where have you been all my life?

Frying up the celery, carrot, capsicum and tomato for the Cajun Fish Stew.

Adding the fish in. Turned out very tasty!

A snap from our morning walks. <3

My 12 Week Challenge

I've just taken a deep breath to try and work out where to start...

A few nights ago as I was waiting for my daughter to fall asleep, I was browsing through Facebook and saw that one of my friends had liked Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation page. I was intrigued, so I clicked on it. On a complete whim, I joined up. In hindsight, it was a good move. I have no regrets.

Seeing as this is a food blog, I think it's pretty evident that I love food. However, my sisters wedding is coming up, as is summer and I think it's time to get back to my pre-baby body if not, even better.

I'll be honest, I don't really exercise. My job is physical and since having my daughter I've cut down on the number of days I work so without those hours of physicality and a bigger interest in cooking, the kgs have crept on. I would like to lose about 10kgs on this journey which will get me lighter than what I used to be and I'm determined to do it. My hubby has already screwed his nose up as there was no chocolate in this weeks grocery shop. lol Sorry honey.

The program kicks off on Monday and I have to admit, I'm a bit excited. I kind of want to see if I actually can do it. My mum and sister are also doing it so we have each other to keep egging us on. The exercise program is pretty full on. It'll be interesting how I fit it around work and my daughter. Usually she tries to join in when I dance so maybe when I'm doing pushups she'll come and sit on my back. :)

I'll blog about my journey. The good and the bad. I'll be honest and maybe if you're reading this, it might inspire you to also get up and active. As this is a food blog, I'll try to stick to the food side of it as much as possible and blog about the exercise component on my other blog.

The recipes I've seen are interesting. Lots of fresh herbs which I love. Hardly any pasta which makes me scared. haha

But the best thing is.... we can still have coffee!!! Let me hear a resounding wooo hooo!!!

Cross your fingers for me! We start on Monday. ;)

Tomato, Pesto and Chicken Fettucini

This recipe was on regular rotation in my house. It's quick, easy and utterly delicious. A comfort food, especially on cold nights. This was one of the recipes that got chucked so I had to try to remember it and basically re-create it. The original recipe calls for pancetta instead of chicken and personally, I prefer it that way but alas, I had no pancetta in the fridge when I went to cook this the other day. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do. The pictures do not do it justice so just give it a try and see for yourself. :)

Recipe (serves 2 big servings or 4 smaller)

1 chicken breast, chopped however you like it
1 punnet of coloured tomatoes (if your grocery store doesn't sell these, cherry tomatoes are fine)
1 heaped tbsp of Genovese pesto (basil based pesto)
1 cup of chicken stock
1/2 cup of cream
Olive oil to drizzle and fry
Fettucini

Method

1. Chop your tomatoes into halves and lay out face up on a baking tray. Drizzle lightly with olive oil and put into a 180 degree oven for roughly 10 minutes or until they are slightly wilting.

2. Cook your chicken in a frying pan and then take out and set aside.

3. Combine the pesto and chicken stock in frying pan and stir over a medium heat until all combined. (Use your own judgement when it comes to the stock. The original recipe called for 1 cup but I always put a bit less as I found it never reduced enough for my liking).

4. Put the fettucini on to boil.

5. Add the cream into the pesto and stock mix and combine thoroughly. Bring it up to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer and let the mix thicken up.

6. The tomatoes should be done by now so pull them out and set them aside.

7. Once the fettucini is nearly cooked and the sauce has thickened slightly, mix the tomatoes and chicken into the sauce.

8. When the fettucini is cooked, strain and add to the frying pan. Mix it all up gently over a low heat so that the sauce coats the fettucini.

9. Serve into bowls and top with parmesan cheese.

10. If you were to use pancetta instead of chicken, follow the same method but fry the pancetta both sides and keep between paper towels to soak up the excess oil. Break into bits and add to the mix when you add the tomatoes. Keep a few bits aside to top the meal once served.

Note: The first few times I made this there was always a lot of sauce left over and it wasn't very thick. It still tasted good but I started reducing the chicken stock and tasting as I went to get the pesto/stock ratio right. Everyone is different so you can play to make it as thick or saucy as you like.

Let me know how you go if you try it. :)