Hi again.

I'm so glad today is almost over.  It's certainly been a long one.
Just about everyone is full of the flu, coughing and spluttering, pounding head, sneezing,  runny eyes and nose and I still have to cook and baby sit.

So because my day started early, and I was feeling crappy, I thought a slow cooker  meal was the go today. I swallowed down my coffee,  browned some beef, cut up some vegetables and threw them in the slow cooker and walked away from that for a while.

Lucky me then gets to seperate a few kids that are rolling around on the floor and yelling at the top of their lungs.  Geez, go outside for a while I know its like freezing out there but on a good note the sun's out.. throw on 3 or 4 coats and leave me alone in my misery.

Didn't happen.

Back to the kitchen I go,  little people following me but I have a new baby gate ( the man fell over the last one and made it unrecognizable and useless).  This one has a good lock so I'm on my own.

I'm not making pudding tonight, just a cake and some muffins and using the leftover slices I made earlier in the week..  I got clever on one of my sleepless nights...what do you do when it's 3.00 in the morning and you can't sleep...you invent recipes in your head and then of course you have to get up and write them down so you don't forget them.
So here  are pictures of the finished products

I called this very orange jelly slice with chocolate. very orange,  very yummy.

and my ferrero rocher style slice...I call it sharrero lol.  Omg tastes just like the real thing.

Back to my cooking.

Lemon solo slab cake which is made with solo lemon flavoured soft drink.  Not much mucking around and goes a long way.

And then there were the muffins.. What a disaster.  Tried a new recipe I found called pumpkin pie cupcakes.
Won't be using that again.  Could have sent the kids out to play with them, they could have bounced them up and down the street....lovely little rubber balls.

I don't like a recipe getting the better of me, so back to the drawing board and ta da..spicy pumpkin muffins

much better.

I made that sound easy didn't I. Somewhere in between all of that I fed the kids, cooked and skinned pumpkin, blended pumpkin, cleaned pumpkin off every surface, had a cuppa with the daughter in law who came for a quick visit with bubby, found a bit more pumpkin to clean up and then cleaned the rest of the mess.  I am with out a doubt, the worlds messiest cook.

Any way the rest of the afternoon went pretty smoothly and I made a chicken satay to go with the beef,  cos some like it "hot hot hot" and some don't.

So everyone arrived, we ate, they left.  I'm sat here looking at the mess that's left as usual but I'm going to have a cuppa before I clean it, after all it's only 12.15 a.m.  I don't have to be up to babysit again until 9.15 a.m.  Plenty of time.

Oh almost forgot to tell you,  I put some of my recipes on allrecipes.com.au and they featured my "very orange jelly slice" on their facebook  page.  I was really chuffed.

And of course I can't go with out the last word from the mini food critic, who was stuffing her muffin in 2 handed..".mmmmmm"

same time next week.  see you.

ps.  if anyone reading this is on facebook,  and you like my recipes, could you go to shazzies cookbook (on facebook) and like my page please....pretty please LOL.

SATAY CHICKEN...nice and easy

1 1/2 kilo chicken breasts
1 1/2 can coconut cream
2 chicken stock cubes
4 heaped tablespoons peanut butter
1 1/2 cups sweet chilli sauce.
salt and pepper to taste


trim and cut chicken into pieces.

spray a large pan with cooking spray and lightly cook chicken.

add coconut cream, stock cubes and peanut butter, stirring till smooth.

add sweet chilli sauce .

add salt and pepper.

simmer for 10  mins or till chicken is cooked through.

serve with rice.

SLOW COOKER BEEF CASSEROLE

1 1/2 kilo blade steak diced and trimmed
7 medium carrots cut into rings
2 medium onions cut into rings
3 full sticks celery (no leaves) diced
1 packet french onion soup
2 cups boiling water
2 beef stockcubes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
6 small - medium potatoes cut into 4


brown beef in frypan

place onions on bottom of slow cooker

tip beef including juices over onions

place celery and carrots on top of beef

dissolve french onion soup and stock cubes in water

pour over vegetables

cover crockpot and cook on high for 2 hours

turn crockpot to low and stir tomato paste into casserole.

cook 3 1/2 hours.

add potatoes.

cook another 2 -2 1/2 hours or till potatoes are cooked.

add salt and pepper to taste

thicken with 2 tablespoons cornflour mixed with 3 tablespoons water.

LEMON SOLO SLAB CAKE with lemon coconut icing

preheat oven to 180 c
line a swiss roll tray with baking paper

1 cup solo (or any lemon flavoured soft drink)
1/2 cup canola oil
113 gm butter
2 lemons zested (save juice for icing)
2 cups sugar
2 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon bicarb soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

In a small saucepan, combine solo, oil and butter, . Bring to a boil, over medium heat, stirring constantly.

In a large bowl, mix together sugar, flour, zest and salt. Add mixture from saucepan and with an electic mixer, beat well. Add eggs, milk, soda, and vanilla and beat well. Pour into  swiss roll pan.

bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.

LEMON ICING

500grams icing sugar
1 tablespoon butter
lemon juice from 1 lemon
enough milk to make spreadable consistency.

mix together and spread over cake.
sprinkle with coconut if desired.

SPICY PUMPKIN MUFFINS

2 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 teaspoon nutmeg

½ teaspoon all spice

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

2/3 cup sour cream

1/3  cup  canola oil

4 large eggs

2 cups cooked pumpkin, pureed (approx 800 gm uncooked pumpkin)


Preheat oven to 180 c.
line 2 muffin tins with patty pans.

In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, all spice, brown and white sugar.

In another bowl, combine the sour cream, oil, eggs and pumpkin puree.

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix to combine.

evenly divide the mixture between the 24 patty pans.

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until skewer comes out clean.

ice.

CREAM CHEESE ICING

125 grams cream cheese room temp.
60 grams butter softened
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 cups icing sugar.

beat cheese and butter till smooth.

add vanilla

add icing sugar in 3 batches, beating till smooth.

pipe or spoon onto muffins.  sprinkle with cinnamon.

SHAZZIE'S FERRERO ROCHER STYLE SLICE
(this is my creation... let's call it sharrero lol)

line a 9 x 13 dish with baking paper

213 gm dark cooking chocolate (for bottom)
213 gm milk cooking chocolate (for bottom)
2 packets  hazelnut wafers (from aldi)
6 big heaped dessertspoons nutella
250 gm whole hazelnuts
50 gm crushed hazelnuts

284 gm milk cooking chocolate (for top)
142 gm dark cooking chocolate ( for top)
120 gm butter

melt the dark and milk chocolate for bottom together and spread over bottom of dish

before chocolate sets, cover with a layer of wafers, cutting to fit.
refridgerate till chocolate sets

spread wafers with the nutella

cover with the whole hazelnuts

refridgerate

melt the chocolate for the top together with the butter.

pour over the hazelnuts

sprinkle with the crushed hazelnuts

refridgerate

VERY ORANGE JELLY SLICE WITH CHOCOLATE
My own creation

line a 9 x 13 dish with  baking paper

BASE

1 packet marie  or milk arrowroot biscuits crushed
125 gm butter melted
3/4 cup coconut
1/2 tin condensed milk
1 orange zested  and juiced (Save juice for jelly)

mix everything but juice together and press into bottom of dish.
     
refridgerate while melting chocolate.

1ST LAYER

200 gm dark cooking chocolate
1/4 cup thickened cream
25 gm butter

melt all together in a heatproof bowl over a pot of boiling water, stirring till smooth.

spread evenly over base.

refridgerate till set


2ND LAYER

1 1/2 tin condensed milk
1 large orange juiced and zested
3 teaspoons gelatin
90 mls boiling water

mix condensed milk, orange juice and zest together.

mix gelatin and boiling water together,

add gelatin to condensed milk mix. mix well.

spread evenly over chocolate layer.

refridgerate.

JELLY

2 packets orange jelly
2 teaspoons gelatin
500 ml boiling water
using the saved juice make up to 400 ml with cold water

mix the jelly, gelatin and boiling water together, stirring till dissolved.

add orange juice and cold water.

let cool in refridgerator for 1 1/2 then pour over slice.

refridgerate until set