tim tam rocky road (you're welcome)

You'll love this!

Tim tam rocky road is delicious 

even if I do say so myself.

It's not a very cheap recipe but it makes a lot

and because it's so rich you really can't eat that 

much of it anyway but you could try.

You will need ~

2 x 375g pkts of Choc Melts

1 pkt of raspberry tim tams roughly chopped

3 x 55g Turkish Delight

1 cup chopped pistachios

1 cup shredded coconut lightly toasted

1 pkt mini marshmallows

Melt the choc melts in a large bowl over

a saucepan of simmering water.

Let it cool slightly before throwing all the 

other ingredients in and mix well.

Spread into a greased and lined 18 cm x 28 cm slice pan.

You can make a thinner version by using two tins

and dividing the mix in half . 

I prefer the smaller pieces but that's just me.

Refrigerate until firm.

Enjoy!

chickpea and vegetable curry

 

Sometimes you need something that is not only quick

but nourishing too without having to run back

and forth to the supermarket.

 

Did I mention easy?

I love easy ~ I'm all about easy.

 

I make this curry from stuff I already have in the cupboard

and any left over vegies in the fridge.

 

Fry some onion, garlic and capsicum.

Add some curry powder or garam masala.

For this one I threw in some cumin and coriander

mainly because I love the smell.

 

Add 2 cans chopped tomatoes and a can of chickpeas.

Now go to the bottom of your fridge and chop up all

 the vegetables that need to go,

broccoli, pumpkin, carrot, potato anything!

If you are in a big hurry you can steam the vegies first

or just throw them in with the tomatoes and cook all together.

Pop the lid of your saucepan on and heat the lot

on low, just check the liquids by adding more water

or stock if you need it.

 

Serve with rice and a dollop of natural yoghurt or light sour cream.

This is delicious and you can freeze it too.

Enjoy!

 

Don't forget the signups for the Creative Challenge

close on Sunday, come and join in!

lamington recipe

 

It's Australia Day here tomorrow but

as I don't really celebrate Australia Day and

I'll be at work anyway I thought I'd take some

lammos in for my workmates.

 

Lamingtons are readily available in lots

of shops but until you've tried a real one

you just haven't lived.

 

This recipe was shared with me by a lovely neighbour

who has quite a reputation for them.

I've made them a few times from her instructions

and they are the best I've ever had.

 

Make the sponge cake the day before as it is

 less likely to crumble when you coat it.

 

Sponge ~

3 eggs, 1/2 cup castor sugar, 3/4 cups sifted s/r flour

1/4 cup sifted cornflour, melt 1 tsp butter in 3 tbs hot water.

 

Beat eggs until light. Gradually add sugar and beat

for about 10 minutes until it is thick.

Sift dry flours over the egg mix and

fold them in lightly , be gentle.

Fold in butter and water.

Pour into greased 11" x 7" tin and bake

at 180c about 1/2 hour.

 

Chocolate Icing ~

 Sift 500g icing sugar with

1/3 cup cocoa and add 1tsp melted butter and 1/2 cup milk.

Mix until icing is smooth.

 

Cut your day old sponge into even pieces.

Use a fork to dip into the icing and hold over

the bowl until it stops dripping.

Carefully toss the iced squares in coconut and let set

on a wire rack until dry.

 

These can be frozen too but are best eaten fresh

with a lovely cup of tea.

mars bars slice

 

If you have a spare few minutes this

Mars Bar slice is really easy to make and

if you package some nicely it would make a great gift!

 

Chop 4 x 55g Mars Bars and melt with 90g butter on stove top.

Mix in 3 cups of Rice Bubbles.

Spread into 19cm x 29cm pan and pop into fridge

while you do the topping.

For the topping just melt a 220g block of chocolate

and spread it over the base.

Chill.

It's Christmas so chill.

Slice into small pieces as it is very rich.

 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Please drive safely.

 

easy apple slice recipe

 

Hi there!

It is a really beautiful day here today and I hope

it's nice wherever you are too.

 

We have a thing at work where we take

turns bringing in morning tea on a Monday.

 

It's my turn this week and of course I forgot.

So I don't turn up empty handed I threw together

one of my faithful old recipes ~

Easy Apple Slice.

 

Mix together

1 pkt of vanilla cake mix. (no name brands are fine)

1/2 cup coconut

125g melted butter.

Press into a lined slice tin and bake at 180c about 15 minutes.

Let it cool.

 

When cool open up a tin of pie apples.

Spread apples over cooled base and sprinkle over a bit of sugar.

Take a tub of low fat sour cream and spread it over the apples.

Sprinkle a bit of cinnamon over the sour cream.

Pop it back in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

Let it go cold before slicing.

 

So simple but so delicious!

mashed potato muffins

 

I always make too much mashed potato.

It then usually sits in the fridge for a few days

until it has developed a nice, crunchy top

and then the dogs get it.

I'm lucky that at least the dogs get to eat the scraps

because I really, really hate seeing food go to waste.

 

Anyway I had left over mashed potato again so

I thought I'd have a bit of a play with it.

 

To the bowl I added a bit of flour and egg some dried onion

some grated cheese and a big dollop of sour cream.

 

I spooned it all into greased muffin tins and baked these

for about 20 minutes.

 

My oven is crap  not very good at browning stuff

so yours may come out browner than this.

Nevertheless mine were still crunchy on the outside

and soft and delicious on the inside.

 

I don't think they will make it to the tea table tonight.

Well I had to test them didn't I?

 

 

caramel slice

 

I've been making my boy a lot of his favourites.

Yesterday was caramel slice.

Today was apple slice.

Tomorrow we are taking carrot cake for the big road trip.

 

I thought you might like to try this really easy

but very delicious caramel slice recipe.

 

You will need ~

Base - I cup sifted plain flour

1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup coconut

125g melted margarine.

Mix all base ingredients together and press into

a greased 28 x 18 cm tin.

Bake at 180c about 25 minutes.

 

Caramel ~ 2 tbsp. golden syrup, 3 tbsp margarine

and a tin of sweetened condensed milk.

Stir over a low heat until combined.

Pour over cooked base and bake at 180c

about 20 minutes.

Allow to cool.

 

Melt 125g nice chocolate with 60g copha.

Pour over caramel.

 

Put waaaay in the back of the fridge to cool.

If you don't put it in the back it will get eaten

before it's cooled properly.

 

 

choc chip muffins

 

Choc chip muffins are very easy to make

and taste much, much nicer than packet made ones.

 

They freeze well too so you can make a

double batch and always have some

ready for lunchboxes or afternoon tea.

 

You will need ~

2 cups of sifted s/r flour

2/3 cup castor sugar

100g melted butter

1 egg

1 teaspoon of vanilla

1 cup of milk

2/3 cup choc bits.

 

Mix it all together with a whisk.

Spoon into muffin cases and bake at 180c

for about 20 minutes.

Makes 12 largish muffins.

 

I told you they were easy!

 

 

easy pizza scrolls

 

These little pizza scrolls are so easy to whip up

(if I can do it anyone can)

and they're great for afternoon tea or popping

into lunchboxes.

They also freeze well if you make a double batch.

 

You will need ~

2 cups s/r flour with a pinch of salt

90g butter , 2/3 cup milk

pizza sauce, pineapple, ham, grated cheese

 

Sift the flour and salt and then use your fingers

to rub the butter in until it looks like fine breadcrumbs.

Add the milk and use a round bladed knife to mix

until it starts holding together.

 

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead

gently until it's all smooth.

Use a rolling pin and roll out the dough to about 30cm x 40cm.

 

Spread the pizza sauce over the entire base, top with

grated cheese and then all of your favourite toppings.

 

Starting from the long side roll up firmly to make a log.

 

Cut through the log ~

1cm makes crispy pieces

3cm makes more doughy pieces.

 

Put them all on a baking tray that is covered

with non-stick baking paper.

 

Sprinkle some cheese over the top

and bake them at 210c for about 25 minutes

or until they are golden brown.

 

I make these fairly often and my dogs have

never tasted them so they must be alright.

 

Enjoy!

 

P.S. You could just use the dough

 and try vegemite or nutella scrolls.

 

it's a date

 

This is my favourite date loaf recipe as it's not too sweet

so it's perfect with a little bit of butter and a cup of tea.

It also makes 2 loaves so I've always got a spare in the freezer.

 

I'm a nice girl so I'll share the recipe with you ~

 

1 cup chopped and pitted dates

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup water

60g butter

2 cups sifted S/R flour

1/2 teaspoon sodi bicarb

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1 egg lightly beaten and a tbsp honey.

 

On your stove top (in a saucepan) stir over a low heat dates,

butter , sugar and water and honey.

Stir until sugar has dissolved.

Bring to boil and remove from heat.

Let it cool for 10 minutes or so.

 

Sift the flour and sodi bicarb straight into the saucepan

and mix through . Add beaten egg and walnuts and mix.

 

Pour mix into 2 bar tins.

Cover the tins tightly with 2 layers of foil.

 

Cook at 180c for about 25 minutes.

 

Let cool in tins about 15 minutes before cooling on racks.

 

When totally cool wrap one loaf very quickly and hide it

in the back of the freezer (don't say you weren't warned)

 

Enjoy !

I only cook because they have to eat

 

The weather is just starting to get cool here .

We have the fire going and we will start having lots of

soups and stews , yummy !

One of our favourites here is (believe it or not) lentil soup .

I know it doesn't sound all that much but with some

fresh baked bread it is a great meal .

 

This recipe serves 4 easily .

 

1 tin brown or red lentils rinsed and drained .

1 tin crushed tomatoes (mash them up more)

capsicum , onion , garlic , cumin, vegetable stock.

 

Heat some oil in your soup pan and gently fry the finely chopped

onion and capsicum . Add a heap of minced garlic and a tspn of cumin.

 

Add the tomatoes , lentils and vegetable stock.  

Bring to the boil and then let it simmer at least 20 mins

but the longer you leave it the better .

An hour or more is fantastic.

 

This batch I made I also threw in some mushrooms and

a zucchini that would have been wasted.

 

The cumin helps the lentils digest and not repeat on you.

I love cumin so I add more but if you don't like it leave it out .

You can replace the cumin with curry if you like.

 

For those that think they are being tortured having no meat

I cook up some finely chopped bacon and they just sprinkle

how much they need on top.

 

I really hope you like this soup I love it .

 

Anyway I have some stitching to get done for the

Umbrella Prints Trimming Competition

so I'd better get to it .

 

See you soon xxx

 

 

 

not just for vegos

 

I have been a vegetarian for many years as have most of

my brothers and sisters.

My little family all eat meat but love some vegetarian meals too.

I was making spinach cannelloni and thought you might like

to have an easy vego recipe on hand too .

 

It is not necessarily healthy with the cheese but it's very , very tasty .

 

You will need about 2 cups of  shredded spinach or

 a packet of frozen spinach defrosted .

Fresh lasagne sheets

light sour cream

cottage cheese

1 egg

garlic

grated cheese

 3 cups of pasta sauce (you can use a jar of premade sauce

but home made is just as quick and delicious.)

Pour boiling water over your shredded spinach to wilt it.

Drain and let it cool.

Add to the spinach 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream

1 beaten egg , minced garlic and a handful of grated cheese .

Mix it all up .

 

Pour 1/2 cup pasta sauce into a baking dish.

 

Take a lasagne sheet and put about 2tbsp of spinach mix

along one short end and roll it up .

Place it into the baking dish on top of the sauce .

Keep rolling the mix until base is covered .

 

Pour the rest of the pasta sauce over the top of the rolls .

Sprinkle some grated cheese over the whole dish .

 

Cover the dish with a lid or foil .

 

Bake about 40 mins at 180c .

 

As with most pasta dishes this is best made the day before eating.

 

Great in Summer with a salad or with steamed vegies in Winter.

 

Or just on it's own ....

 

 

Enjoy !

now that's ballsy

 

Most of you probably know I'm not much of a cook

but if I find something that I can make and they will eat

I'm telling you all about it !

 

Anyway my kids love those apricot pieces for school that

are really very expensive so yes ~ I made my own .

 

 

Easy peasy here goes ...

 

Mix together a packet of crushed butternut biscuits and

a tin of condensed milk and

a cup of coconut and

a cup of dried apricots all snipped into little pieces .

 

Roll into little balls and roll in  extra coconut .

Pop them in the fridge to set .

You can also freeze them but they will be found and eaten frozen .

 

 

This recipe makes 15870023 little balls .

Not really it just feels like that when you are rolling them .

It makes about 40 balls .

 

In other news have I told you I'm on Instagram ?

Please come and find me there .

Or facebook .

Or twitter @ClaresCraftroom

 

liking tarts

 

Hello and good morning !

Do you like a good tart ?

I found a really easy recipe for pecan tart and tried it

and it was so successful I thought I would share it with you .

If I'm going to get fat you may as well too .

 

 

The recipe I found had you making the shells

pfffft that's what supermarkets are for ,

 I bought premade pastry shells and used 16 little ones .

 

Heat the oven at 180c.

Put your premade shells on a baking tray .

Arrange some pecans on the bottom of the shells.

In a jug whisk together

1/2 cup maple syrup,2 eggs , 1/4 cup brown sugar,

20g melted butter , 1tbsp plain flour and 1tsp mixed spice.

 

Pour mixture over pecans .

Bake for about 20mins.

Let them cool (they set a little more when they cool)

Dust with some icing sugar and serve with icecream or cream .

 

Or leave them sitting on the bench to cool and they just disappear .

 

I love recipes that are so easy but make it seem like you worked hard.

 

back to school muffins

 

We are a fruit loving family and eat lots of it

but even here we end up with the odd bruised and battered banana.

 

I have a fantastic banana cake recipe that makes 2 big loaves

but it takes six bananas.

 

I wanted a recipe (besides making smoothies) to use lonely bananas.

After a bit of fiddling I ended up with a recipe that uses only 1 cup

of banana but makes 12 delicious muffins and if there are any

not eaten they freeze beautifully .

 

Whisk together 2 cups S/R flour , 1/3 cup brown sugar , 1 egg ,

100g melted butter , 1/2 cup milk , 1 cup mashed up lonely banana

and 1/4 cup maple syrup (the syrup really gives a special taste)

 

Spoon into muffin cases and bake at 180c for about 25 mins.

 

I hope your family enjoys them as much as my family does xxx

what's up ?

 

What's up Doc ?

I know very corny but that's me .

 

The majority of the visits to my little ol' blog is to the carrots tutorial .

 

But......

lately things are changing and the Under the Christmas Tree linky

on Sundays is receiving huge amounts of hits.

 

Last week Melanie was the only one who linked up , thanks Melanie

but as Christmas is getting closer and closer we all need some

inspiration so I do hope more link up this week .

 

It's a great way to find different blogs and make new friends

all while getting a Christmas scare treat .

 

Just so you're not leaving here empty handed today I'll share

with you the new family favourite ~ Carrot Cake !

I used to think Carrot Cake was a bit ho hum but this

is just delicious and so very easy to make .

Grate 3 medium carrots and add to 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

2 eggs, 1 cup castor sugar , 1 cup plain flour ,3/4 cup canola oil,

1/2 tsp vanilla , a pinch of salt , 1 tsp sodi bicarb and 1/2 tsp mixed spice.

Mix together and bake at 180c for about 45 minutes using a ring tin .

 

Cream cheese icing ~ 1 tsp butter , 1/2 cup soft cream cheese

1 cup sifted icing sugar and a good splash of lemon juice .

Mix , mix , mix and spread on cold cake .

Do not bother putting this cake in the fridge

everyone just keeps taking it out and eating it .

 

If you don't have a ring tin (sounds like Rin Tin Tin )

just use a 20cm round tin with a small clean tin in the centre.

 

See you on Sunday for Christmas linking !

cheaters sometimes prosper

 

Maybe not really cheating , let's call it a shortcut .

 

I found a delicious recipe for rainbow cake the other day

and thought I had saved it somewhere safely .

Well I didn't save it safely so I had to improvise.

 

I had very little time (Clare speak for I wasn't organised)

and needed to whip something up that looked good.

 

I just used a plain old vanilla cake mix and made it up.

Then I  divided the mix into three and coloured it .

I would have done more colours but this was all I had.

 

It was all so very easy but I will tell people it was hard .

That's just the sort of girl I am .

and sew it has been

Again I have been missing .

Everyone but me has had the flu .

My daughter has been off school for three weeks.

My very elderly in laws (who live next door) have had hospital stays

and have needed a little extra care .

My husband has man flu .

I'm back with the real world this week

and have even managed some extra cooking .

These muffins are so delicious and easy but I wish I

had of known about Caramel Bits earlier .

Here's the recipe ~  Whisk together ~2 cups S/R flour , 2/3 cup caster sugar

100g melted butter , 1 egg , 1 cup of milk , 1 tsp vanilla

and 1 cup of chocolate bits but I'll be making mine with caramel bits.

Spoon into muffin tin and bake at 180c for about 20 minutes.

Make 12 very , very yummy muffins .

I had to make a trip away from my little town the other day

so I took the chance to pop into Spotlight .

I had sick kids in the car , the shop was about to close

but I needed to be in amoung some craft !

With seconds to spare I decided on some charm squares

to make myself a quilt .

What a shame I can't quilt .

How are your family ?

Have they had this terrible flu ?

Does the male in your house get man flu?

chocolate cake

This isn't what I usually do here , recipes that is .

It's just that I often share cake or slice recipes on facebook

and the girls there seem to like them .

To be honest I am a pretty terrible cook so I can only manage

quick and easy and that is probably why people like them .

At our house this cake is called The Filthy Cake

and that just shows how classy we are at my place.

It is very , very rich but not really cheap to make .

1 packet chocolate cake mix (about 350g) no frills is fine.

2 packets chocolate instant pudding (85g each ) 

4 eggs , 1 cup hot water , 1/2 oil ,1 cup of choc bits

Use an electric mixer to mix the first 5 ingredients for 1 minute only.

Mix the choc bits in with a wooden spoon.

Throw it all into a greased ring tin .

If you don't have a ring tin you can use a small, clean, empty can covered

in baking paper in the centre of a 20cm tin .

Bake at 170c for about 50 minutes.

Let cool completely before turning out.

So rich , this cake doesn't need icing .

If you would like the occasional recipe here

 please just let me know in the comments.

Next time I'll show you some craftiness !

chocolate

I knew that title would get your attention .

I don't usually do the cooking bit here because

honestly I am a terrible  hopeless horrible

 let's just say I'm not much of a cook .

But I thought I would make an exception with this

as it is absolutely the easiest thing ever .

All you need is a bought pastry shell 

1/2 cup of cream and 200g block of chocolate.

I just used normal chocolate not cooking chocolate .

Slowly melt the chocolate and cream until smooth.

Pour into pie shell and refridgerate for an hour .

That's it !

It actually looks like I made an effort too .

Yes I know you could make your own biscuit base

but when I said this was easy I really meant lazy .

Enjoy .....