{Apple Mint Iced Tea}

In this hot Sydney summer weather it's always nice to find cool refreshing ways to take the edge off the heat. Especially when 7 months pregnant and mostly hot and uncomfortable ;) Today I made a delicious Apple and Mint Iced Tea and I used my T2 iced tea jug. This is very handy as it has a built in infuser but it's not essential. You'll Need: - 2L jug - 3 Peppermint tea bags - 2 cups boiling water - 1L Apple juice (fresh would be best but I just used my usual bottled juice to make it easier) - Sprig or two of Mint (I used the chocolate mint growing in the garden). - 1 Lime - 1 Green Apple & Ice Cubes to serve Make up the tea as you normally would in a jug and leave to steep for a moment. Chill in fridge. Add the apple juice and then add the mint, bruising the leaves a little before adding it. Juice the lime and add it along with some of the apple finely chopped and ice to serve. (I ended up grating 1/4 of the apple to add a little extra flavor). Garnish with left over off cuts if you wish. It is such a delicious way to feel refreshed in this heat for sure. This will definitely be added regularly to the fridge this summer.



Lauren x

{The 1 minute Smoothie : Healthy, quick and delicious}

I created this quick breakfast idea and the family LOVE it. This is a great idea to add to spring/ summer for breakfasts or on the go smoothies at any time.

I set up a bunch of small snap lock bags. In each bag I put the following:

- 4 strawberries
- A spoonful of blueberries  
- 1 dessert spoon of oats
- 1/2 banana cut up into pieces
- 2 spoonfuls of your preferred yoghurt (I use natural yoghurt)
- Splash of vanilla
- Sprinkle of cinnamon 
- a squeeze of honey
- a sprinkling of flax seeds and chia seeds

Zip up the bags and pop into the freezer. That's the hard part! 

Then, each morning, I just take a zip lock bag out and add it into my magic bullet blender thing, fill it with milk and blitz.  
[You could also use a blender, but that's why i love the magic bullet because you have to wash far less dishes!]

SOOOO easy! And because it's all frozen, it turns into a sort of a smoothie frappe. VOILA!!!

You can also try this with any fruit/ yoghurt combinations you have on hand. Other ideas to add to the bag might be:
- passion fruit pulp
- tinned fruit
- flavoured yoghurts
- fruit puree's frozen into cubes like the yoghurt concept
- blueberries
- paw paw
- kiwifruit
- a sprinkle of cinnamon
- mangoes

.........let your imagination take over and create!!!

Enjoy;

Lauren x

{12 Days of Christmas ::: Day 6} Egg-Nog Recipe

Well, whilst your having various celebrations, what better way to add a festive touch is by serving some traditional egg nog. I love the chilled version which suits our summer christmas climate here in Australia I think. Here is a website that has various recipes for egg nog whether you want low fat or indulgent. Would love to hear feedback if you try any of them.

Egg Nog Recipes

Enjoy;
Lauren X

{12 Days of Christmas ::: Day 1} Almond& Rosewater Shortbread and a Guava Mocktail

Well, I have had a hectic few weeks in my little world. Not much crafting or cooking or anything like that as I have finally settled into our new house. I love the kitchen and it is such a feature, will have to share a pic soon.

But now that I have found my power cord to my lap top, I am now free to start sharing some festive inspiration as we all approach my favourite time of year - the very busy season of Christmas.
We have 12 days till Christmas so, here is DAY ONE. I thought I would share 2 yummy festive treats for my first post back after the move. The first of these treats is what I Christened my new oven and my new Kitchen Aid with and it is simple and delicious ;)
Almond and Rosewater Shortbread I loved this (and so did my girlfriends I had over for a craft night recently). I also had all ingredients except for the rice flour on hand in the pantry, so adding that to my shopping list for $1.30 meant this was very economical. I doubled the batch it was so delcious. This would also make a wonderful gift for school teachers, just bag or box up nicley and done!



Oil spray to grease tray or baking paper
180g soft butter
125g (3/4 cup) icing sugar mixture, sifted
1 x 100g pkt almond meal
115g (3/4 cup) plain flour
45g (1/4 cup) white rice flour
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tbs rosewater essence
About 3/4 cup icing sugar mixture, extra, to dust (i didn't need that much, but use how much you like here).

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160°C.
   

2. Spay 2 baking trays with oil to lightly grease or lay with baking paper.
   

3. Use an electric beater to beat together the butter and icing sugar mixture in a bowl until pale and creamy.
   

4. Add the almond meal and sift over the flours and ground cloves. Stir until well combined.

5. Use your hands to roll heaped tablespoonsful of mixture into 8cm long logs. Roll them into a ball first and then roll the logs so the ends are nice and rounded. Shape into crescents and place on prepared trays. THe mixture does spread so make sure to leave a few cm between them. I did try a few different designs (hearts, logs and crescents) but the mixture doesn't hold shape very well do do hearts, but the logs and crescents worked well.
   

6. Bake in preheated oven, for 20 minutes or until cooked through and light golden. Remove from oven.

7. Lightly brush shortbreads with rosewater essence and set aside on trays for 30 minutes to cool and firm.

8. Dust shortbreads with extra icing sugar.
   

9. Set aside for a further 30 minutes or until completely cool.

Guava, passionfruit and lime mocktail
I love this drink, as you can have all ingredients on hand and they last for a while in pantry which means you can shop ahead of time for this one too. It's a delcious and festive drink that adds something special.For an extra nice touch, pre-chill champagne or martini glasses in the fridge and serve in them as your guests arrive :)

Fresh limes cut into small wedges
1 tin of passionfruit (or fresh if in season)
1 bottle of Guava nectar
1 bottle of soda water
Ice
Strawberries and mint leaves to serve (if desired)

1. Put ice cubes into glass
2. Squeeze lime wedge into glass and put the whole wedge into the glass
3. Put a teaspoon of passionfuit pulp in glass
4. Pour Guava nectar into glass till about 1/3 full
5. Top up with soda water
6. Push a fresh strawberry onto side of glass to garnish if desired. 7. If you want a minty touch to it, just rip a mint leave in half (to realease aroma) and place in glass.

Enjoy;
Lauren x