{Slow Cooker Lasagna}

Well, as my last post suggests, It has been a busy week with our eldest son starting school last week and our youngest son starting per-school today.

I wanted to be organized with meals. You see, when my boys get tired, they can get quite grumpy. Add settling into a new routine of full time kindy / preschool to the mix and it's a recipe for disaster and a week worth of 2 minute noodles for dinner in the making (I hope I am not the only one)!!!

Enter the slow cooker. I prepared my lasagna as per usual.
- meat sauce (with grated veggies)
- béchamel sauce (can use ricotta for lower fat option)
- and lasagna sheets (I like the fresh ones best).

Then I simply assembled in the slow cooker as if I would with a normal dish. I made it just after lunch time and put my slow cooker on the 'keep warm' setting. It didn't need cooking, as all the parts are pre-cooked, it just warming through to cook the pasta sheets.

When I arrived home after school pick up, the house smelled divine! Simply dished up with a salad and everyone emptied their plates with big grins. Happy family = happy mummy :)

Enjoy;
Lauren x

{The Life of a School Mum}

Well, the last week or so has been busy and focused here. I have been shopping, labeling, cooking, baking, packing & organising. All in anticipation of our eldest son's first day of school on Wednesday this week.
He has been looking forward to this for AGES, counting down the days each morning on his chart he made. He bounced into Kindy blue on day one like he had been there for ages already.
I am so proud of him and how clever he is, he constantly teaches me, challenges me, stretches me and inspires me. He made us a family and I can't believe we are at primary school already. There are many adventures ahead and I can't wait!

I have been having fun with lunchboxes and all the bits and pieces that come with being a new school mum. I will definitely be sharing some of these ideas (especially the zucchini and bacon slice "stars" that are decorating his lunchbox in the fridge ready for tomorrow - yum!)

However I wanted to take a quick moment to suggest you read this if YOU ARE A SCHOOL MUM. Sunny Mummy is an incredible Aussie Mum who encourages mums to fight the (unattainable and potentially harmful) yummy mummy status. Even if you don't have kids or they are grown up, I Guarantee you will get something from this post of hers: "An open letter to school Mums" {click here}

{Ricotta Brioche}

I discovered this recipe a while back and today was the perfect weather to make it. Even though it's summer - the weather screams winter baking to the tune of raindrops outside. For afternoon tea on a cool day, instead of baking scones, try this recipe for a twist with your cuppa tea. It's not a quick recipe, but it is a soft and fluffy treat that screams for butter and jam spread on top.


Ingredients:
500g Plain white flour
1/2 Tsp Salt
40g Castor sugar (+ 1Tsp)
2 Eggs (~53g) and 1 egg yolk (for the glaze)
160g Ricotta cheese
2 1/2 teaspoons Dried yeast
80-100ml Tepid milk (or more if needed)

Method:
1. In a big bowl, mix together the flour and salt.
2. In a small bowl, sprinkle the dehydrated/dried yeast into the milk mixed to 1 teaspoon sugar.
3. Leave for 5 minutes and then stir to dissolve.
4. Make a well in a centre of the flour and pour in the yeasted water.
5. Use a wooden spoon to draw enough of the flour into the yeasted water to form a soft paste.
6. Cover with a tea towel and leave to "sponge" until frothy and risen, about 20 minutes.
7. Beat the eggs with the sugar.
8. Add the ricotta and beaten egg mixture to the flour well. Mix in the flour to form a soft dough.
9. Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead until smooth, shiny and elastic for about 10 minutes.
10. Put the dough in a buttered bowl, turning to coat evenly with butter. Cover with a tea towel. Leave to rise until doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
11. Knock back the dough, then leave to rest for 10 minutes.
12. Divide the dough into five equal pieces and then roll each piece into a ball.
13. Form a brioche (as on my pictures) with the balls.
14. Place on a baking sheet and cover with a tea towel.
15. Prove until doubled in size, about 30-45 minutes.
16. Preheat the oven to 180° C.
17. Brush with egg glaze (the yolk + 1tsp water) and sprinkle with poppy seeds and sunflower seeds.
18. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes or until richly golden and hollow-sounding when tapped underneath.
19. Cool on a wire rack.

[ORIGINAL BLOG] Remarks:
If the dough is too dry add some more milk or ricotta cheese, but if on the contrary it is too wet, then add more flour, one tablespoon at a time.
Don’t add too much flour though; the dough should not be too dry, but soft.
Any seed of your choice will be fine for sprinkling the rolls.
While the bread bakes, check that the crust doesn't get too brown. If it's the case, then lower the temperature to 160° C.

Enjoy;
Lauren x

{Carthardic Organising & Introducing the Snack Bar}

Today I had one of those days where I felt like I would have earned a bonus because I met and exceeded my 'KPI's" (in my dreams).

Thanks to the movie 'CARS 2', I managed to tick off three things that have been on my to-do list since Christmas. I managed to re-organise and clean the fridges (the only time having two fridges is a nightmare - double the work), the freezers, and clean out my plastics cupboard.

"Before" - It's not hard with two boys who like to get and put away things for it to get to this state (I can't stand this!)


How many plastic cups does one family of four need? Major culling happened!!

"After" (*sighs* ...... ahhhh much better!)

Then I decided to cut up carrot sticks for morning tea. Before I knew it I had washed and cut up enough fresh produce to create a "snack bar". Not only does it satisfy the organiser in me, it also doubles as some great incidental word association and learning for my boys (WIN/WIN!).

After the cleaning but before the snack bar. In the right hand fridge door, I decided to put some of the copious bottles to use and create a water bar too. Constant water ready to go and that's all my boys drank all day!

Snack Bar includes: Fruit Salad, Watermelon slices, Mini pears, grapes, celery sticks, carrot sticks, red yellow and green capsicum, snow peas, cheese cubes and little pots of hommus.

The right hand fridge after the snack bar was installed....couldn't get rid of the glare, sorry!

Not only did I find that it helped our boys to eat healthy today, it has helped us too.


Enjoy;
Lauren x

{VERY Healthy Dessert - Sweet Potato Pie}

Well, by now you obviously know I am fasting at the moment, and I had a brain wave for a 'dessert' the other night. I made version one last week, but burned the crust and therefore couldn't get a good idea of the taste and certainly wasn't going to take photos of it like that.

So, today I made version two.....and was SO happy with the result. This is a dairy free, wheat free and artificial sugar free Pie.

INGREDIENTS:
Crust
- 250g nuts (I used 100g cashews, 100g cashews & 50 g walnuts)
- 2 heaped dessert spoons of nut butter (you can buy all sorts of varieties in the health food isle)
- 2 dessert spoons of maple syrup (could use honey)

Filling
- 3 sweet potato (could substitute for pumpkin)
- 1 banana
- approx 80g apple sauce (the jar I had in the fridge had grown into a science experiment [eww] so I used a long life apple raspberry puree I had in the pantry which was 80g - about 1/2 cup)
- 1 dessert spoon of chia seeds (these are very healthy and act as a thickener - more info here)
- 1 dessert spoon cinnamon
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground cloves
- 1/4 cup of natural maple syrup (not flavoured syrup or honey)





METHOD:
1. Peal, chop and steam the sweet potato
2. Preheat oven to 150'C
3. In your food processor, grind up the nuts until resembling crumbs. Add the nut butter and maple syrup until it rolls into a ball in the processor and combines nicely.
4. Press into a flan/ tart tin and press into the base and sides to make a pastry-like base.
5. Place in the oven for about 15 mins or until golden. Keep an eye on it, (because time got away from me the first time I made it).
6. Place the sweet potato (once cooked and soft) into the food processor a bit at a time until smooth (don't worry about rinsing it after making the base crust, the ingredients blend together well).
7. Add the other ingredients into the smooth sweet potato mixture and blend together.
8. Place the mixture into the nut crust base.
9. Turn the oven off and place the finished pie into the "dead oven" and allow to 'bake' for about 10 minutes or until filling is firm.



Slice up and serve with fresh berries, pear or other seasonal fruit.
For those fasting, on restrictive diets or those that love healthy food, this is a real treat!

I took it to a family dinner as a substitute for dessert for myself. One person loved the crust, but wasn't keen on the filling (would probably have to add brown sugar or something to the filling to satisfy that one). MANY loved it and I got a lot of positive comments about the attempt to make such a healthy and guilt free dessert. When you haven't had ANY sugar in 2 weeks, it is quite a nice treat!

Lauren x