29 Feb 2016

MONDAY MUNCHIES - Basic Biscuit Recipe


Monday again...
Seriously, I think the weekends go by faster every week. But here we are again at the beginning of a brand new week, ready to shake off the dull and boring and make something spectacular happen. Well that's the plan anyway.

Yesterday I took the plunge back into baking. It has been a while since I stocked the fridge/pantry with some delicious home made treats. Summer has just been way to hot this season to warrant slaving away in the hot kitchen. But with the hope that a cool change is not to far away fingers crossed I decided it was time.

BASIC BISCUIT


INGREDIENTS

* 125 grams of soft butter
* 1/2 cup of sugar
* Pinch of salt
* 1 cup of plain flour
* 1 cup of self raising flour
* 1 egg

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.

Using an electric mixer, mix the butter and sugar until soft and creamy.

Add the salt and the egg and mix well.

Add the flour a half cup at a time and mix with each addition.

On a lightly floured surface, kneed the dough until it is supple and smooth.



Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out until it is roughly 5mm in thickness.


Cut out your cookies in desired shape and bake for 8 - 10 minutes.




Store in a cool, dry place.

VARIATIONS 

Add hundreds and thousands to mix for a crunchy, coloured effect
Half a cup of peanut butter
Dried fruit or choc chips
Nuts or spices

The possibilities are endless.

Here is to another fabulous week ahead. Hope its a good one.

beck xx

23 Feb 2016

AROUND HERE


I'm soaking up the air conditioning right now after a marathon day. After copious amounts of rain, the sun is finally shinning and I've been able to attack mount washmore. Someone really needs to invent quality disposable clothes for such weather.


We have again reached the point around here when many things around our home are in need of repair / maintenance, you know how it goes, something small gives in and the rest snowballs until it seems as though your snowed under in hundreds of small and annoying projects.

This week was just one of those weeks.

Taps and a shower head sprung leaks, our EXPENSIVE granite kitchen bench gave way, a toilet seat broke, a door handle fell off and the list goes on. A home is quite like a pair of knickers, they loose their elasticity fall apart all at once.
When you have a husband who often works away, and things that your quite clueless about happen, it can be very frustrating.  Of course I do the best I can, sometimes with teen help but mostly without. This week I am going to write a list, a very long list of everything that needs attention, and hopefully one by one we will tick each and everything off.

I chopped my hair off today. It was just too hot to deal with. Anyway, who doesn't like a fresh new doo ?


I'm most likely late to the party, but this week I discovered Palmaer's Coconut Oil Body Lotion. Oh my goodness I', addicted. The smell alone is delicious but my skin is loving soaking up all the goodness. I highly recommend you run out and buy some.

I am starting to get restless without having any DIY/craft projects on the go at the moment, so I'm keen to get going on this years mess making creative list of projects I hope to share with you. I have yet another long list of things that I am hoping to make, and am very excited about getting back into painting very soon. I just need to set up my creative space in our spare room ! Then I can be as messy creative as I want.



Linking up with Essentially Jess

beck xx



22 Feb 2016

MONDAY MUNCHIES - Yorkshire Sausages


I'm struggling at the moment to get access to my computer. My sons laptop died big time and with him studying at the moment it means that I forgo the use of mine for his sake. I don't mind since it is his future career we are talking about, but gee its great to blog when I get the chance.

My husbands job pays monthly. While it certainly has its advantages, sometimes the end of the month can be tight if we have had bills due. So end of month meals can be boring, easy and made up of things that we already have in the pantry.

Other wise known as Toad in the Hole, Yorkshire Sausages a traditional English dish consisting of sausages cooked in Yorkshire Pudding batter served with mounds of mashed potato and onion gravy.

My kids love it, and anything served with Yorkshire Pudding is a favourite of mine. Showing off my heritage there.

YORKSHIRE SAUSAGES



INGREDIENTS

* Thick or thin sausages
* 2 tablespoons Olive oil
* 1 Cup of plain flour
* 2 eggs
* Pinch of salt
* 1/2 cup of milk
* 1/2 cup of water

In a large baking dish, grease with the olive oil and place in the sausages. Cook gently in a hot oven until sausages are just cooked through.

While the sausages are baking, make the Yorkshire Pudding batter.

Place flour and salt in a large bowl. Whisk in whole eggs and the milk and water a little at a time. Whisk thoroughly until batter is smooth. Set aside until sausages are ready.

When sausages are nearly done pour over the pudding batter and return to the oven to cook.
The batter will rise and become deliciously golden.


Remove and serve with mash and onion gravy.

Enjoy

beck xx



15 Feb 2016

MONDAY MUNCHIES - Coconut Bread


I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend. All to soon Monday rolls around and the weekend quickly becomes a distant memory.

This weeks Monday Munchies is a recipe courtesy of my Mum. She has been making this for as long as I can remember, and although I don't eat it myself, it is a hit with everyone else. Quick and easy to whip up, you will be enjoying it in no time.



COCONUT BREAD

INGREDIENTS

* 1 cup of self raising flour
* 1 cup of coconut
* 1/2 cup of sugar
* 3/4 cup of milk
* Pinch of salt

Mix the dry ingredients together

Add the milk and gently mix with a wooden spoon

Pour into a greased, lined loaf tin and bake in a moderate oven for 40 minutes



Enjoy warm or cold.

beck xx


9 Feb 2016

A MOTHERS JOURNEY



It's a journey that keeps you grounded, continues to teach and surprise you.

It's a journey that will fill your life with joy, frustration and a love like no other from the first moment your eyes meet.

Some days it can be likened to running up a hill dragging a heavy but pleasant weight behind you. Somehow you know you will make it, but the struggle is very real.

There are days when everything runs smoothly, and life couldn't get any better.

Its days like these which makes the struggle all worthwhile.

In the beginning, time stands still, you believe you have forever to hold tight, that the day your no longer needed as much is an eternity away. You believe  that things will stay just as they are for as long as you dare to dream.

But time ticks on regardless, the months fly by quickening with each new year, until one day you wake up and it's hard to fathom how you got here so quickly.

***

I don't think anyone can prepare you for motherhood. You can listen to all the stories, take on all the advice, but in the end its a journey that is unlike any other you have been on before, and its never the same journey that anyone else has visited before you. 

Its yours and yours alone.


These past few months have really shaken me, my journey as a mother has changed dramatically. Its still amazing to me how quickly things can change, we are entering a new family era and I am unsure about my continuing roll.

I'm still mum, but how much will I be needed ?

One day your chicks are all under one roof, your taking care of everyone's wants and needs, feeling useful and needed, and then in one swoop, two move out on their own taking their lives into their own hands moving on tho the next stage of their lives. Another child finishes school, he  has plans and dreams of his own to fulfill. Your left with your baby, who in fact is no longer your baby at all. He is still at school and still so reliant on you, but you now know what is coming and that it isn't all that far away until he wants to spread his wings as well.

My babies are all grown up.


They are beginning new and exciting journeys of their own, Leaving me to figure out what my next step will be. It's hard to relinquish the hold you have had for so long. To let go and watch from the sidelines. I know that they will always need me to some degree, but its hard never the less to watch as one journey ends and another one begins.

Linking up with Essentially Jess for IBOT

beck xx

8 Feb 2016

MONDAY MUNCHIES


By now all across the country schools back. While some of us are use to the daily routine of packing the good old lunch box, others are navigating this process for the first time. For me, the packing of the lunch box can be likened to cleaning the bathroom. I hate it, but its a task that must be done.

Today's Monday Munchies is an older post, but one that is great for lunch boxes or an after school snack.



Slow Cooker Cheese & Bacon Buns

Enjoy

beck xx

7 Feb 2016

THE BIG CULL


Life is complicated. Family and work commitments, the everyday running of your home and all those extra mind boggling things that crop up usually at the most inappropriate times. I love the life we lead, but I'm tired of the juggling act.

I am not one to make new year resolutions. I have done in the past, but lets be honest, after a week or two who sticks to the resolutions made ? Not me !
This year though, I came to the conclusion that our life needed to be simplified, that we needed to get rid of the things that cluttered and made our life just that little bit overwhelming.

When my sons moved out recently, I really started to notice how much 'stuff'' we had accumulated. Stuff that was no longer used, or just kept around with the mind set that maybe one day we will use it again. Ridiculous.

I began by allocating one day of the week to a particular room. Washing curtains, walls and ceiling fans. Emptying every cupboard and  every draw. Sifting and sorting every last piece big or small deciding their worth and contribution to our life. Some things were harder to let go of then others, but with the determination of someone who has a goal in mind I pushed through knowing that I was on the way to a more simple life.




"The Big Cull" yes it has its own name, is only the first stage of what I hope to achieve. Making a more simplified life for my family is more then just halving what we own. Its about taking charge of things, not letting things take charge of us. I am going back to meal planning as apposed to sorting meals on the fly, and basic organistaion that has been missing around here for a while. I have been reading blogs of those who are super organised and are willing to share their secrets, I have been totally inspired.

For so long now we have been caught up in what "should" be done compared to what we "should" be doing. Enjoying life, taking time to see the beauty that surrounds us and spending time just being. For me personally this is going to be a huge challenge, letting go of myself and what I perceive that I should be doing as a wife and mother. It is time to take back life as we use to know it.



4 Feb 2016

SOMETIMES SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE


I don't function well when I'm not feeling one hundred percent. I just find it hard at times to keep all my juggling balls happily in the air. Even though these past few weeks have been hectic, I still feel as though I've been moving at a snails pace. It's been hot, and the humidity here in North QLD has been off the charts, it's weighed on us all tremendously and for the first time in a long time, I'm ready to bid farewell to Summer.


The first point of neglect has been blogging, something had to give, and it seems the blog raised its hand first. I felt bad to start with, then gave myself a stern talking to. You can't expect to keep on top of everything every single day, sometimes something has to give. In this case it was my blog, and maybe a touch of my sanity as well :/  It's like January has past in a haze, and I'm left wondering where exactly did it go ? But here we are in February and I am crawling back looking forward to sharing 2016 with you all.

Did January treat you well ?
Can you believe that February is here already ?

AROUND HERE LATELY

Well hello there.... It’s been a while between blog posts, I needed time to gather my thoughts and to heal, both inside and out. Most of...