Project White............

Hello there. How's the week treating you so far? Going way too fast for me but that's nothing unusual....

Today I thought I'd share a little project I had fun doing last week. It's ridiculously easy and even more ridiculously satisfying!?! Hopefully practical too....

So...you know all those cans of tomatoes and beans etc that are constantly used and then tossed in the bin? The jars that are also thrown out yet really alot of them are quite pretty when you take a closer look...as I'm sure you would at 6pm whilst rushing madly in the door with hungry tired loud children demanding food and trying desperately to keep it all together as you throw the contents of these attractive jars and cans into a pot and hope for the best......or is that just me?..........

So.....said cans.......and some white undercoat...............

                                                                               

Can you guess what's next?? Indeed.....I slapped on 2 coats of white primer paint then ran to the shed to see what white paint I could scrounge up. I chose a gloss acrylic in 1/4 strength antique white that was laying about from something else I had painted. Two coats of that later and I had myself some lovely white containers! To finish them off I added a blob of black chalkpaint. I wasn't too sure how well this would work as the ridges on the cans make it tricky to write anything on them neatly.....however................

                                                                                   

                                                                               

I'm pretty happy with how they turned out.................

                                                                           

Dodgy writing and all...........

                                                                               

On a roll...I grabbed a lovely shaped jar and am really pleased with how it came up......

                                                                                   

Love how the lid matches too!............

                                                                                 

I can't wait to do some more. I have a few larger jars and some bottles with lids that I think need a little makeover. May even go crazy and whip up some pastels!!......

                                                                               
                                                                                   

Have a lovely Tuesday all.......


                                                  Janelle  xx
                                                                                                                                                            

A peek of sunshine................

Morning.....just enjoying some Autumn sun shining through the windows.........

                                                                               

Hope all is sunny where you are.......

                                                                                 

Have a fab Thursday.................

                                                                                   

                                                                               

...............


                                Janelle  xx                                                                        

Playing with Apples..............

So Good Afternoon out there.....are we all having a lovely start to the week?? Certainly hope so.......

                                                                               

Today I've been back in the kitchen playing. With apples. Delicious fresh from the tree green Granny Smith apples to be exact. They are so good to bake with......

                                                                                   

   

As always I was feeling the need to bake a cake and went for the easy never-fail everyone-in-the-family-loves French Tea Cake. And with all the fresh apples lying about I decided to throw in a few with the cake mix and change the French to Apple.....

                                                                                 

It hasn't been taste tested yet but by the look of it on the cooling rack and the smell of my kitchen I'd say it has worked a treat..............

                                                                                   

 

I changed up a few other small things in the recipe too so if all goes (and tastes!!) well I will share here with you guys soon............

                                                                                 

I'm now off to eat some cake  organise this house.........

                                                                                 

 
Have a Happy Tuesday!!.................


                                                    Janelle  xx                                                                      
                                                                       

Carrot Muffins..........

Hello there and Happy Friday!.....
Let's jump straight into it today with a little weekend baking recipe shall we?.............

                                                                                   

Yes today we are tackling the good old Carrot Muffin............

                                                                                 

Although 'tackling' is really quite inappropriate when it comes to these little guys. I adapted this recipe from one I stumbled across online. They are super tasty and ridiculously quick and easy to make. And with the addition of carrots AND apple they really should be considered a health food.... Super food even??..........
Anyways....on with the business.........

                                                                                   

                                                           Carrot Muffins  

8 ozs (225gm) self raising flour (I sifted but probs don't have to)
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/2 teaspn ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspn ground nutmeg
150ml veg oil
2 eggs (lightly beaten...if you can be bothered)
3 medium or 2 large carrots - grated
1-2 apples - grated

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees

2. In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg.

3. Add in the oil, eggs, carrots and apples. Fold all together but don't over-do it, muffins don't like to be played with too much.

4. Now spoon your mixture (it will seem really thick but it cooks up lovely and moist!) into the muffin tins (I used the large-ish muffin size tins which makes 12) that you've either greased or lined with lovely little muffin liners.

5. Bake for approx 25-30 minutes.

6. Once you have them out of the oven leave them in the tin for a few extra minutes then tip them out onto a cooling rack.

7. Try eating them warm...delicious!!!


                                                                               

Now when I first set about making these I didn't intend to actually ice them, they are really yummy (and healthier?) just as they are. However one of my children suggested spreading them with "some of that yummy creamy icing stuff" which I interpreted as cream cheese icing...

                                                                               

To make this yummy creamy icing stuff I just beat together.....

250gm tub cream cheese (at room temp)
4 tablespoons icing sugar
Grated lemon rind (approx 2 teaspn)

This does make alot of icing so you could just half the ingredients. Or do as we did and find another cake to ice with it!

Okay...so there you have a lovely, simple and definately tasty recipe to try out over the weekend...

                                                                             

Hope you enjoy!!................

                                                                                   

                                                                               

   

..............


                                  Janelle  xx                                                                      

Banana and chocolate smoothie......mmmmm.......

Hey there....we're going a little healthy here on the farm today! Nothing too scary...just wanted to share a new fave drink of mine which goes by the name of a smoothie. A chocolate smoothie even!!
Whilst I've been on the exercise wagon for awhile now I probably haven't been on the healthy eating one as much. My diet is really quite decent  (I try to eat fresh, unprocessed and 'home-made' foods as much as I can) but after a little research I've found I really do need to make a more conscious effort to get in more fruits, proteins and dairy. So....on that note let me introduce my latest, totally made up, thrown together and surprisingly delicious Banana and Chocolate Smoothie............

                                                                                 

We won't go so far as to actually call this a 'recipe' as it's really just a few ingredients thrown together then given a blitz until smooth......

                                                                               

I've thrown in milk (low-fat, soy, almond,full cream...up to you), natural greek yoghurt, banana, crushed up almonds, linseed and sunflower seeds, a few drops of vanilla extract and a teaspoon or so of pure cocoa powder (I've read lately that apparently it's good to drink chocolate milk after a work out....not exactly sure of the reason why but I'm going with it!!).....and blitz away.........

                                                                                   

I'm loving this and can't wait to try out a few more.....any tasty recommendations most welcome.........

                                                                                 

Have a lovely Wednesday.....

Enjoy!............

                                             Janelle  xx                                                                              

Happy Tuesday................

Hello and Happy Tuesday!............

                                                                             

Flying out the door but will be back in the next few days with a recipe (really?!?) and a hopefully finished little crafty project......

                                                                               

  

It's an absolutely beautiful sunny day here......and we're all making the most of it!..........

                                                                                 

Enjoy your day...............

                                          Janelle  xx                                                                             

Choc-chip Biscuits............

Hello and Happy Friday!! Fancy a little weekend baking??.....................

                                                                               

I baked these choc-chip biscuits for my kids this week and thought I may as well share the recipe with you guys. It's abit of a slap-dash recipe. I think it came from my mum or aunt and I've somewhere along the way scribbled it down in my recipe book. Not everything has the exact measurement....a big no-no in the world of baking I know but I've tried to be exact as to what I do when baking them........ and it does make delicious cookies and that's all that counts right?!.............

                                                                                 

                                                                                 
There has to be about a billion or more recipes out there for choc-chip biscuits with peanut butter added, brown sugar, nuts of some description but this one is really basic and because of the small amount of milk added seems to have a slight cakey texture which I look on as an added bonus.....we're getting both cake AND biscuits?!...........

                                                                                 

                                                                                 

Ok......let's get baking..............

                                                          Choc-chip Biscuits
             
4 ozs (115 gms) butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar (I only use 1/2 cup and they work out fine)
1 egg
vanilla (1/2 teaspn?)
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour - sifted
1/4 cup milk (I find sometimes I don't need that much...see what you think)
choc-chips............as many as you like!!!

1. Pre-heat your oven to 170 degrees (turn it back to 160 when you pop the cookies in)

2. With a mixer beat together the butter and sugar until it's light and pale.

3. Add the egg and vanilla and beat through.

4. Next fold in the flour. Add a little milk as you go, as you find you need to.

5. Lastly tip in your choc-chips and fold through.

6. Grab a teaspoon and spoon the mixture onto greased or lined baking trays.

7. Bake for approx 12 minutes.

8. Once they are cooked and out of the oven leave them to cool slightly on their trays then transfer them onto  a cooling rack.

9. You best try one or two whilst they're still warm...............mmmmmmmm............

                                                                               

So there you go...............all sorted for the weekend.......

                                                                               

That's if they last that long!..............

Enjoy!!..........and have a lovely weekend................


                                                   Janelle  xx