Muesli Bites Recipe & Easy Peasy Sushi Maker

I promised a recipe for the Muesli Bites in this previous post so before I forget, here it is!

I didn't actually change the original too much.

In a blender (I don't own a food processor) mix together 2 cups of your favourite toasted muesli, 1 cup pitted prunes, 1/4 cup honey and 50g melted butter. Use an Easy Peasy Sushi maker to hold into logs. Roll these in some extra muesli before placing in the fridge to firm up. Slice into bite sized pieces.

My poor old blender is on it's last legs and couldn't quite cope with the thick prune mixtures. You can see a few mangled spares sitting to the side here.

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Mexican Vegetable Soup Maker Soup

 I had the idea a few weeks ago that a Mexican inspired soup would be just the thing, and this is what I came up with.

1 jar of salsa
500g frozen peas/carrot/corn/capsicum mix
1 - 2 cups beef stock

Pop it all in the Kambrook Soup Simple on 'chunky' setting and wait for lunch to cook itself!

 I took some to work for a light evening snack with some rice crackers and a few TicTacs for after :-)

Served in my Compl-Eat Energy Booster.

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Bread Repurpose - Meat Balls

Earlier this week I shared how simple it is to make breadcrumbs from your bread scraps (see this previous post) Now, I've been meaning to share this recipe for *ages* and admittedly I've changed the recipe a little each time I make these. But here's a good start!

Grate or finely dice one onion, one carrot, one stick of celery and a clove or two of garlic to taste.

Combine with one egg, one cup of breadcrumbs, and around 500g of your chosen mince. Beef or pork & veal are our favourites.

Roll tablespoonfuls into balls and place onto a lined, greased baking tray.

I julienned the carrots for this batch, but tend to grate them now.

Bake for around 20 minutes at 180 degrees until cooked through. You can glass with BBQ sauce for a tastier morsel.

I tend to serve with fettuccine, store bought pasta sauce and parmesan cheese. Also great for a leftovers lunch.










Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Bread Repurpose - Japanese Slow Cooker Curry

In yesterday's post I shared how I often make crumbed chicken with my bread off cuts. Well, here's something I make with the crumbed chicken!

I used to make this in the frypan and still do on occasion, but I love walking into a house filled with aroma of this curry cooking. So now I like to make it in our Kambrook Quattro Multicooker.

First brown some onion in a little oil.






 Then add some celery & carrot and cook until it begins to soften.












Next add some capsicum, broccoli and cauliflower. I've added potatoes at this point as well, but this day I didn't.












Not-so-Secret-Ingredient time. My sister put me onto this curry base which I've found at Woolworths, Coles & IGA. It comes in mild, medium & hot. For us I use a pack of mild & a pack of medium.








Break apart & add to the pot.

Next add 2 cups of water. I realise this is half the amount the packet recommends, but I prefer a thicker curry.








Stir and bring to the boil. At this point if you are using a frypan continue to simmer until all the veggies are cooked through and the sauce has thickened. If you're using a slow cooker, now's the time to cover & walk away.









Come back in 4-8 hours depending on your machine to a house full of gorgeous curry fragrance.











Now add your leftover crumbed chicken and heat through.

Serve on a bed of rice alongside some seasonal greens (let's just pretend they're hiding at the back here ^-^)

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Bread Repurpose- Crumbed Chicken & Nuggets

I've been meaning to write this post for such a long time now! One question I get asked a lot is what to do with bread off-cuts & scraps. One of my favourite uses is to make breadcrumbs and then crumb chicken. I don't tend to do it too often as it can get messy (especially with little helpers 'helping') and can be time consuming.

You will need:
* a bowl of plain flour (which can be flavoured with herbs & spices if you wish. Salt pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika and mixed herbs all work well)
* a bowl of egg wash (egg with a little milk, beaten well)
* breadcrumbs (see this previous post)

[EDIT: I have started using a ziplock bag for the flour & shaking the chicken in it. Works wonders!]

You can use breast or thigh fillet for this, we tend to go for thigh. Cut into whatever size suits your final dish. I've done whole fillet, half fillet. strips and bites. All work equally well. Keep in mind the larger the piece of chicken, the less crumbs you will need.

Flour your chicken, dip in the egg wash, and coat with breadcrumbs.

Place onto a lightly greased baking tray. Bake in a 180 degree oven for around 40 minutes, turning half way. Your cooking time may vary depending on the size of your chicken pieces.

We usually have the cooked pieces that night for dinner along with mash and seasonal coloured veg. It makes a great leftovers lunch. This one Miss M took to daycare with her ever so long ago. .

This was my work lunch one day.

So I added some 7s Sauce - super yummy & perfect with crumbed chicken.

Another day care lunch.

and yet another daycare lunch

A simple chicken parma - using whole or half fillets bake as per usual. In the last 10 minutes of cook time, add some store bought pasta sauce and top with you favourite melty cheese. Bake until the cheese has melted and started to turn gold.

Another option for a plain schnitzel, served with a simple DIY salad.

Do you make your own chicken nuggets?

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Bread Repurpose - Bread Crumbs

One of the questions I get asked a lot is what to do with bread off-cuts & scraps. One my favourite ways to use them is to make bread crumbs.

I keep a zip-lock bag of offcuts in my freezer and when it gets full I bake the crusts/off-cuts at 180 degrees until golden. The length of time varies depending on the size of the scraps and how full I stuff the tray ;-). You may need to turn after 15 minutes and let it go for another 15, but the best way to tell is to 'keep a nose' out for it.

About 6 cups of loosely packed toasted crusts will blend down to about 1 cup of bread crumbs. These can be stored in an air tight container in the pantry and used for all sorts of goodies. I'll share some of my favourite recipes this week with you, so stay tuned!

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.

Tinkerbell Tea Party

Our local cinema is great with fundraising! The most popular movies are premiered at a party to raise funds for assorted local groups and schools. Our Gymnastics club scored a double premier of TinkerBell & the NeverBeast and Cinderella. At intermission there was a TInkerBell Tea Party. I thought that was the perfect excuse to do a spot of baking!

These cute little toadstool cakes were a cinch to make.

Basic vanilla sponge

Removed from silicon baking mould.

I used a mini cutter to give a straighter edge to the base

Like so

And trimmed with a knife.

Giving a more toadstool look. In the end I think I gave up as these were so small you couldn't really tell, but in a muffin size I would recommend trimming. Or you could fill your moulds a little more so the mixture naturally overflows in the cooking process.

Add some bright red buttercream icing and some mini marshmallows, et voila!

I also made some sushi bites with nori cuttings.

I was quite proud of my Tinkerbells, what do you think? I think the hardest part was searching for the perfect image to cut.

I think this was my favourite. Adapted from this gorgeous photo.

The rice bites were made using this set of rice moulds.

This was regular rice cooked so it was a little stickier than usual. Some of these bites were plain, others were filled with pre-marinated teriyaki chicken. I love having a skewer or two on hand, they are the perfect size for a few sushi rolls.

Some peas helped to complete Gruff.

Being that it was a double movie premier (and I've always wanted to try) I also made some high-heel cakes.

Mini patty cake/cup cakes with buttercream icing then decorated with a wafer biscuit and a Rondoletti stick held in place with a little more icing.

So simple!

For the Gruff inspired ones I used some black chocolate melts with chocolate icing and topped each with a green M&M. I also used two toned wafer fingers for the heel.

I think my melts were heat affected and they didn't really melt properly making piping them quite interesting. I still think they looked cute though!

I failed miserably at these sunflower balls but still love them. I used a cake pop mould for the yellow chocolate (again heat affected I think - the joys of living in central Queensland. Good thing I had some coconut oil on hand). The truffles are TimTam cheesecake balls rolled in chocolate sprinkles. You can see the Pinspiration for them here.

I was so happy with how my little TinkerBell slippers turned out! And just 3 ingredients! Well, I made the coconut balls with condensed milk & desiccated coconut, but you could quite easily use store bought. 

And Miss M had a great time helping colour the biscuits.

And using a little condensed milk to attach the coconut bites.

I can't remember now why we couldn't make it to the movies that day, but you can see some of the spread in this post from the Club.

Details of my tools & toys can be found on this page.

~J

Disclosure: This is not a sponsored post. This post was written for Loving Lunches. No product was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own, based on my personal experience with the product. This post may contain affiliate links.