Winter Warmers

With the crisp weather imminently upon us, I thought it timely to post one of my favourite winter warmers.

I'm sorry this photo really doesn't give the soup justice

This recipe has a very funny story attached to it. Growing up (and still now) this was/is my second favourite soup, behind Matzoh Ball Soup, but my mother was not always honest about it's content.

As children, the G kids loved broccoli but hated zucchini (don't worry, I now love all vegies) ... so of course as all mothers do, Mumma G told us all it was "Broccoli Soup"... it wasn't until I was late in my teens that my mother slipped up and told me that it was actually made with zucchinis and that broccoli wasn't even an ingredient!

Never the less.. this soup is amazing.. I have never heard a complaint and it is one of the only times where my man will eat carrot or zucchini. This soup is extremely healthy with 4 types of vegetables and is served best with some crusty toasted bread. One serve is filling enough to have as a main dinner meal or to make it go longer serve a small amount as a starter.

Big shout out to Mumma G, hope you don't mind that I shared another amazing family recipe but I couldn't help myself!!

Preparation time 10 minutes

Cooking time 20 minutes

Serves 6

Ingredients

60g butter 

4 zucchinis, finely chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1 potato, finely chopped

2 leeks, finely chopped

3 tsp chicken stock powder (if you use Massel brand then the soup will be completely Vegetarian friendly and Gluten free!!)

3 ½ cups boiling water

2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped

½ cup extra light thickened cream

Salt & Pepper to taste

Method

1. Melt the butter in a large pot and add the zucchini, carrot, potato and leek. Stir the vegetables for about 5 minutes until they are all covered in the butter 

step 1 - chopped vegies covered in butter

2. Dissolve the chicken stock powder in the boiling water and add to the pot and bring to the boil
3. Add the parsley, reduce the heat and simmer covered for about 15 minutes

Step 3 - brought to the boil and about to cover and simmer

4. Use a Bamix (stick blender) to puree the soup and stir through the cream just before serving

I love freezing all of the leftovers into individual portions for a really healthy meal on the go!!

ENJOY!

$0 to Rich

Now that I have your attention, I want to blog about something which should be meaningful to most people out there. Money is a very delicate topic and it's so easy to try and put the value of money out of our minds by telling ourselves that there are more important things in life but at the end of the day... money makes the world go around and how we earn, spend and value it can often define who we are as people.

I was very fortunate to grow up in a household where my parents held it in the highest regard to give me and my three siblings every opportunity to ensure that we grew up as well rounded individuals. They did an amazing job at this but not without lots of sacrifices. I personally struggled a lot when I first moved out of home because I got stuck in the trap of wanting everything that I was used to and not only did I just want everything, I wanted everything NOW. I fell into the trap of credit cards and basically excused away every single purchase, holiday or concert that I wanted.

Once I realised my problems, in typical style I immediately tried to fix things but unfortunately it takes a whole lot longer to repay thousands of dollars of debt than it does to rack it up. To this day I am still paying the price of my irresponsibility but have been determined to turn things around.

A real turning point for me was reading a book by a very smart and savvy Australian woman, Tracey Edwards.

$0 to Rich was the second book by Tracey and was very pivotal in my realisation that my habits had to change and that getting back on my feet wasn't going to be the impossible task that I had always made it out to be in my head. She helps you define what it means to be "Rich" as it doesn't always have to be about how much money you have. I would recommend this book to anybody, not just females (even though the bright pink cover may be a bit off putting for some), and even to people who may not be in financial trouble.

The most important message for people is to start now. Don't wait for that payrise or until after your next holiday... Spend the time now setting your goal and work out how to reach it.

Here a few tips of my own that I have worked out along the way:

• Always pay off debt first... If you choose to "save some" while you still have debt you are essentially tipping money down the drain because banks will always charge you more interest than they are willing to give you.
• Set yourself realistic goals... if you stretch yourself too far with your savings/debt repaying you will fall short and end up undoing all of your hard work
• Monitor what you spend your money on and then set a budget around that... The easiest budget out there is 33.33/33.33/33.33. This means 33.33% of your net wage goes to expenses, 33.33% goes to spending and 33.33% goes to paying off debt/saving.
• It doesn't matter how much you earn... the best pay rise you can give yourself in order to save more is to spend less!!!

A great place to start with spending less is budgeting. The government has a fantastic MoneySmart website which covers a lot of ground and is a free place to find all of the tools that you need to get yourself into a healthy financial position.

I hope some of the above has helped... I have been known to tailor some budgets and saving plans for friends so if you do want some more personal help just drop me a line!

xx Suzie G

Patty Cake Patty Cake Bake me a Cake!

Greetings my followers!

Sorry that I have been holding out on you. 

Alot of my friends/family always ask me for the recipe for my yummy (if I do say so myself) Vanilla Patty Cakes. This is such a versatile recipe for any occassion and once again it is probably the most basic recipe you will come across! Just let your creativity juices flow and custom decorate any way you please!

As you can see by the above photo, I most recently made these for a very special friend. I made the 40s myself with Regal Sugar Fondant (similar to marzipan but tastes sooooo much better). My favourite place for cake decorating supplies is Cakes Around Town at Westlake. They have a huge range and will even custom make things for you! A 250g pack of the Regal Sugar Fondant will only set you back about $4.50 and a packet that size will last and last and last!!! The trick is to roll it out with a rolling pin onto a little bit of Icing Sugar (not flour!) and use a very sharp knife or a cookie cutter to make your shapes. A handy hint is to make a stencil with baking paper and then place on top of the rolled out Fondant to cut out perfect shapes, words and if you're really brave you can make 3D creations like flowers! Then when you're finished put your left overs in an air tight container - Tupperware Modular Mates are amazingly airtight and will store your Fondant for months.

Now to the recipe! (from Australian Woman's Weekly COOK recipe book)

Preparation Time 30 minutes Cooking Time 20 minutes Makes 24

Ingredients:

Cup Cakes

125g butter, softened

1 tsp vanilla extract

⅔ cup (150g) caster sugar

¼ cup (60ml) milk

1½ cups (225g) self-raising flour

3 eggs

Vanilla Butter Cream

125g butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1½ cups (240g) icing sugar

2 tbsp milk

Method Cup Cakes:

1.    Preheat the over to 180º/160 º fan-forced. Line 2 x 12-hole patty tins with paper liners

2.    Combine Ingredients in a small bowl of electric mixer; beat on low speed until ingredients are just combined. Increase speed to medium; beat about 3 minutes or until mixture is smooth and changed to a paler colour.

3.    Drop slightly rounded tablespoons of mixture into paper cases. Bake, uncovered, 20 minutes. Turn cakes onto wire racks; turn top-side up to cool.

4.    Make vanilla butter cream. Decorate cakes as desired.

Method Vanilla Butter Cream:

1.    Beat butter and extract in a small bowl with electric mixer until as white as possible.

2.    Gradually beat in half of the sifted icing sugar, milk, then remaining icing sugar. Tint with food colouring if desired.

ENJOY! xx

Honey Soy Grilled Chicken with Grilled Asparagus and Cob of Corn

HI PEEPS!

Here to put down a quick recipe.

Life has been absolutely hectic for me lately, I have barely had time to itch myself let alone blog..

Sometimes you want to cook something quick, easy, healthy and of course YUMMY. I last whipped this meal up from scratch in under 30 minutes when we were rushing off to the cricket. It is very tastey, very filling and it saved Damo & I from spending big on crappy stadium food.

This one is an original Suzie G creation so please treasure it!

Honey Soy Grilled Chicken with Grilled Asparagus and Cob of Corn

Preparation time: 15-20mins (depending on how much of a rush you're in)
Cooking time: 10-15mins (depending on your multitasking ability)
Serves: 2

Chicken Marinade:
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/3 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp lemon juice

Other ingredients:
500g skinless chicken breast
1 bunch of fresh raw asparagus
2 cobs of raw sweet corn
2 tbsp olive grove lite spread (1 tbsp to coat the cooked corn)

Preparation:
** Mix all of the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl until thoroughly combined** Chop  the chicken into small strips (or cubes if you want to make into kebabs)
** Marinate the chicken in a marinating dish and leave in fridge for about 5 mins (i think left in the fridge for 30 mins is ideal but is dependant on how much spare time and how organised you are)
** Coat the asparagus lightly with 1 tbsp of olive grove and cracked salt and pepper

Cooking:
** Boil a pot of water and add cobs of corn, cover and leave to simmer for about 10 mins or until tender
** Grill chicken and asparagus on the BBQ (I love using the BBQ because it means Damo gets to cook!!)

Suzie G Hint 1: get yourself a Tupperware Season Serve.. they cost around $30 and they are the most amazing marinating dishes. The tenderise the meat whilst staying completely liquid tight and go in the fridge, freezer or dishwasher!!

Suzie G Hint 2: when we have people over for dinner I usually increase the recipe size (depending on how many people are coming) and I put the chicken on to skewers and make kebabs.. it looks much more impressive!

QLD Floods 2011

 (photo www.couriermail.com.au)

Ok so apologies to all that I haven't blogged in over a week!!

Although I am sure you have all been preoccupied with what's going on in the northern part of Australia.

I have been rather busy myself with the evacuation of our place then the clean up of our place and the clean up at Damo's work.

I have been staying with my parents and my mum is so wonderful that I haven't had to cook at all!!

I wanted to quickly blog to share another blog which I have come across... Brisbane has been overwhelmed by the number of volunteers and this has meant that a lot of people who have wanted to help out haven't been able to.

Something that everyone needs to do while they're out there working is to... eat. When we did the major clean up at our place I ate breakfast at about 7:30am and then didn't eat again until 8:30 that night.

This lady Danielle has looked into how you can help by providing food for those in need! Check out her blog at http://www.digella.blogspot.com/ if you are feeling helpless and wanting to lend a hand.

There are so many amazing Queenslanders out there and we thank everyone who helped us during this tough time and to all of the people who offered their unwavering support!!!

Lots of love from my temporary home xxx

Creamy Salmon Pasta + Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Slice

Tonight I want to quickly share a recipe with you all that I just created!

Damo said he felt like pasta for dinner so I whipped up a creamed based salmon sauce!

I don't really have a name for it yet but I was promptly told it was "very yummy baby" and it was enjoyed so much so that he finished his own bowl and then proceeded to finish the scraps at the bottom of my bowl!

So here's the recipe but feel free to tweak it as much as you like as I only quickly slapped it together.

Ingredients:
brown onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
6 mushrooms, thinly sliced
50g baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 tbps italian parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp parmesan cheese, finely grated
dash of white wine (maybe like 1/4-1/2 cup??)
250ml light philadelphia cream for cooking
185g can Tassal premium tasmanian salmon in springwater
1 tsp cornflour
Linguine pasta

Method:

1. Heat oil in pot and saute onion until soft, add garlic and cook for about a minute. 
2. Add the mushrooms and wine and stir until mushrooms are soft. 
3. Add the cream and stir until smooth and combined, add the cornflour and leave to slightly thicken for about 2 minutes. 
4. Add in can of salmon and stir to separate chunks until salmon is evenly distributed.
5. Add the spinach, parsley and cook until spinach is tender, stirring occasionally.
6. Stir in cheese before serving.
7. Serve with linguine and topped with parmesan cheese.

ENJOY... oh and it goes very well with a big glass of Crowded House Sauvignon Blanc!

Little side note - I love using Philadelphia cream for cooking (still dreaming that those hot angel guys will appear in my kitchen) and I always use the light version. Kraft have released a few cream cheese cookbooks over the years but I have recently discovered that they have published all of the recipes at http://www.philadelphiacreamcheese.com.au/Recipes/Dinner.aspx so go and check it out.

If you're feeling adventurous you could try the yummy yummy cookies and cream cheesecake slice, I have included a picture below because Steph (from work) made it last weekend and brought me a piece to work.. absolutely divine!!

Peace out.. G xx

Baking Baking Baking....

Hi all,

What to blog about today... I think I want to share my baking passion with you all and maybe inspire people to get creative, bake from scratch and get to know how rewarding it can be make something yummy that makes your loved ones happy!!

I try and bake at least once a week, usually on Sunday while my better half is at work, but lately I have gone slightly overboard...

I wanted to share a few yummy goodies that I have made lately.

CHRISTMAS! I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!! One of my favourite things about Christmas is gingerbread!! So much so that this year I tackled a traditional gingerbread house... from scratch!!! (I used the recipe out of the 2010 Coles Christmas flyer which was free at Coles!!)

               

Some Christmas cookies (both were made from www.taste.com.au recipes and used the fewest and easiest ingredients I could find)

I went on a little birthday cake baking spree... I have the number thing down pat but really want to get into more complicated cakes now! For the cakes below I used the recipe for my favourite ever cake.. the AWW Family Chocolate Cake and used all of creative juices for the decorating!

          

Suzie G handy hints for baking:

1. Find the simplest recipe that you can - some of the yummiest things I have ever made have come from "kids" recipes. They usually use the least complicated ingredients.. I mean who really uses almond essence?? Simple recipes are less daunting and the easier something is to do usually means you will do it again.. especially once you realise that 20 minutes of baking can lead to days and days and DAYS of yummy treats.. (except if you live in my house.. the way to Damo's heart is definitely through his stomach!!) a great place to find easy recipes are at www.taste.com.au 
2. Build your pantry up slowly - it is definitely cheaper to bake from scratch but it can be a bit costly to buy everything at once. I would start by getting flours, cocoa, vanilla extract/essence, bicarb and caster sugar. most recipes will use those staples, then as you go along and find new recipes, buy the extra one or two ingredients as needed. The ingredients will usually last more than 5 recipes so you won't have to keep rushing out to the shops everytime you want to make that new brownie recipe that you love!
3. Get to know your oven - I have lived in a lot of rentals in my life and so I always do a few test cases in an oven before I go crazy on a new recipe!!! Find out what the best setting is for baking by either reading the manual or by trial and error! Technology means that items get bigger and better everytime so be very wary of new ovens and the expensive ones! They tend to be more powerful than the old school ones so start by setting temps to 5 degs lower than the recipe and remember that you can also cook for longer if you need to but it is bloody hard to turn back time once your cake is already burnt!!
4. Read the recipe at least three times before you start - my mum taught me this rule a very long time ago and trust me it works.. I even re-read recipes that I have been making for years. It is so easy to miss a simple step or to put in a wrong quantity but trust me it is worth spending an extra 5 minutes reading a recipe because using salt instead of sugar could scar you for life!

Now that you have read this... I challenge you to stop baking from packet mixes. You will get such a higher sense of satisfaction by baking from scratch and that satisfaction will make the whole baking experience so much more enjoyable.

Remember to always cook because you want to, not because you have to!!

My final word is to remember to SHARE!!! As much as I love some of my recipes, I always make extras or sacrifice some of my own to share with family, friends and work colleagues because you get so much more enjoyment by making others happy (not to mention that sharing helps the waist line)!!

Checkyas later!! G xx