Around here

We have had some lovely rain over the last week and it's nice to be inside nice and cozy.  Over the past 7 days I participated in the Additive Free Lifestyle 7 day challenge again which was a great reminder of how far we have come and a reminder of why it's important for your health and well being.  I've had a big cook up to get organized for the week ahead.

One thing I need to do is get stuck into the veggie garden as I've neglected it while I sorted and de-cluttered my garage which took a very long time.  Selling things to make some money and donating lots of things to charity as well.  It was a huge job and I'm so glad it's done now that's for sure.

Here's a few photos from our week.

Muesli Slice for school lunch boxes.

Made a batch of mayo and coleslaw dressing using this recipe.

Made this slow cooker pork recipe from Additive Free Lifestyle blog.

Pork in the slow cooker smells amazing.

Made a batch of this stock paste from Additive Free Lifestyle blog.

Recycling my Aldi Maple Syrup bottle as it has a pourer on the lid and put my home made tomato sauce in it using this recipe from Additive Free Lifestyle blog.

Home made biscuits using this recipe.  I love this recipe because you can make jam drops or any type of topping on your biscuits or even freeze half the dough to cook later on.  These go straight into the freezer.

OMG this Sweet and Sour Chicken Meatball recipe is AMAZING.  I would just use chicken pieces next time as meatballs take time and then when I eat them I cut them in half anyway so you could use this recipe and put in chicken breast or thigh fillets or pork.  It was so quick and easy and the smell and flavour was incredible.

I don't buy any packet mixes any more however the one take away that is my favourite that we only have about 3 times a year is Panang Chicken.  This sachet is all herbs and spices and no additives or preservatives so it's a good one.  They have a variety of sachets however it's the Panang Chicken that I made and it was great.  These are from Woolworths and handy to have it in the cupboard knowing it's safe and has no nasties in it.

Around here

During the school holidays we went strawberry picking which was great and we especially love the strawberry ice cream we have while we are there.  It's not a big outing in that we are only there for about an hour and it's an hour's drive there and an hour's drive back.  I can say that the strawberries were delicious and I made a pavlova and decorated it with fresh strawberries for our family BBQ.

We also bought some party lights from Bunnings and put them up and they look great and now the outdoor entertainment area has a nice festive appeal.  These I bought plug into my outdoor power point however there are lots of different solar lights as well if you don't have access to power.

Tracey & Jo from Additive Free Lifestyle are currently running their "beginners guide to going additive free 7 day challenge" this week and even though I did this May last year it's a great reminder to keep going.  Food companies do get away with a lot of things and try and trick us into thinking things are healthy.  Have you read this blog post about "flavour vs natural flavour"? 

This is a link to my blog post when I did the 7 day challenge which has links to some podcasts.

Today's topic was on caramel and it's not good for you and it's in lots of things.  I went through the sauces I have in the cupboard and pulled these out to throw away which either has nasty preservatives or caramel.  To be honest I only the Soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and Oyster sauce.

I have been making my own Tomato Sauce, BBQ Sauce, Pizza Sauce and Sweet Chilli Sauce since May last year.  I believe Melrose brand has some better options and Ceres Organics.  It's just a matter of double checking labels which I normally do however as I make most of my sauces now there is less to read. 

If you get a chance to listen to the podcasts listed above in the blog post from last year they are worth your while.  Hope everyone has a good week.

I made some condensed milk this afternoon for the first time in my Thermomix which took less than 3 minutes to make and OMG it's delicious.  Tomorrow I'm going make this ice cream and I thought I would have a go at making condensed milk myself as it's so easy.  I have used brown sugar so that's why mine looks brown rather than cream as you get in the tins.  I also used salted butter as that's all I had on hand and it's fine.  The original recipe calls for unsalted butter and can be found on Sophia's Kitchen YouTube channel.

I also like to have the recipe on my blog so here it is:-

INGREDIENTS

50gms unsalted butter [I only had salted so used that]

125gms water

200gms brown sugar

110gms whole milk powder

METHOD

Place butter, water and brown sugar in Thermomix bowl and heat on Varoma temp for 2.5 minutes on speed 2.

Add the milk powder and blend for 30 seconds on speed 10.

Transfer into a sterilised jar and leave to cool before refrigerating.  You can keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.  So quick and simple.

Around here - Lemon Meringue Pie

Last week I asked my friend if she had any spare lemons from her tree as I was going to make some lemon cordial.  I've never made my own cordial before however I wanted to give it ago.  Then a couple of days later I read Beth's latest blog post from on baking with lemons and apples and one of them was Lemon Meringue Pie.

  

I have made plenty of Lime Tarts in my life time and I think I've only ever made one lemon meringue pie and decided I was going to make one using my friends lemons.  It's one of those all day affairs, or should I say half day affair as you need to make the pastry first then let it cool.  Next you make the lemon filling and fill the pie and then put it into the fridge for 3 hours,  Lastly you make the meringue and then bake in the oven for 5 minutes or so.  Overall the time to make each individual thing is no longer than 15 minutes each however it's the time in between that makes up most of it.

I can say it was worth the effort as it was simply delicious.  Beth's recipe uses condensed milk as does my Lime Tart recipe however I used the Lemon Meringue Pie recipe which is in my TM31 Thermomix recipe book.  You could use a food processor to make your pastry and do your lemon filling on the stove top however the following recipe is the Thermomix one.  I found this recipe for you to make the lemon filling on the stove top if you don't have a Thermomix.

SHORT CRUST PASTRY

INGREDIENTS

200gms Plain Flour

100gms Butter, chilled and cut into pieces

1/4 teaspoon of salt

50-60ml water, chilled

Preheat oven to 200-220 degrees. [400F]

 

Place flour, butter and salt into TM bowl and mix for about 10 seconds on speed 6 until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Set dial to closed lid position.

Add water and knead for 10-20 seconds on interval speed [wheat icon] to from dough.

Add a little more water if necessary to bind.

Turn mixture onto floured board and knead lightly.

Wrap in cling wrap and put in refrigerator for about 15 minutes before rolling out to your desired pie dish size.

Place onto pie dish and trim overhang to 1cm and turn under flush with rim.  Scallop the edge with an inverted teaspoon, pressing down hard for each cut to form the design.  Prick bottom of pastry with fork.  Place baking paper and pie weights over your pie or you could use rice instead to weight it down.

Bake in pre-heated hot oven [200-220 degrees] for 8-12 minutes until golden brown and then allow to cool.

TIPS: Pastry shell will shrink after it cooks and also make sure all sides of pie crust is same height so filling doesn't leak out the sides.  The pie shell needs to be cooled completely before you start making the lemon filling.

LEMON FILLING  [see if for stove top recipe if you don't have a Thermomix]

INGREDIENTS

1 tablespoon of grated lemon rind [I used a micro plane]

300gms sugar

70gms cornflour

pinch of salt

400gms water

4 eggs - room temperature - separated [put egg yolks in one bowl & whites in another]

1/2 cup lemon juice [just a touch under don't fill to top] [or use TM cup/lid and fill]

60gms butter

METHOD

Place grated lemon rind, sugar, cornflour, salt, water and egg yolks into the TM bowl and cook for 10 minutes at 90 degrees on speed 4 until thickened.

Add lemon juice and butter through hole in lid and mix for 1 minute on speed 4.

Pour into cooled pastry shell and cover with cling wrap and refrigerate for 3 hours.

TIP the lemon filling will set immediately like jelly so you can place your cling wrap [plastic wrap] over the pie.  I was thinking it would be like liquid and the cling wrap would stick to it however that's not the case.  

MERINGUE

INGREDIENTS

4 egg whites [which was separated earlier on due to lemon filling]

1/4 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

100gms icing sugar

METHOD

Insert "Butterfly" into Thermomix and place egg whites and Cream of Tartar into TM bowl.

Beat without the MC in place for 3-5 minutes at 50 degrees on speed 4 until stiff peaks form.

Add icing sugar, 1 teaspoon at a time through the hole in the lid with the blades rotating on speed 2-3. Take at least 2-3 minutes to incorporate the icing sugar.

Spread the meringue over the entire top of the lemon filling to the pastry edge.

Bake in hot oven for 3-5 minutes until meringue starts to colour slightly.

TIP - I baked my meringue for 5-8 minutes in my oven - just keep an eye on it.  The top is a soft meringue and not like a pavlova so it's not crunchy it's more like marshmallow.

I can highly recommend you make this as it's delicious and worth the effort.