{thermomix} the arrival . . .

Last week I had a thermomix demo at home with some friends and was totally convinced that I needed this machine in my kitchen. Today my new thermi arrived at lunchtime with my fabulous consultant Sarah. After a quick run through of how to operate it, I put Master 3 to bed and got busy cooking.

I started with Anzac biscuits. Simple and easy to make and quick to bake. These will definitely be a go-to recipe for biscuits and everyone was happy with the result. Anzac's are also hubby's favourite biscuit, so thought this might help convince him the thermi was money well spent ; )

Then some pizza dough, which was equally quick and easy to make and after a short amount of time proving in the serving dish I made the kids dinner - a ham & cheese pizza, as well as a herb and garlic pizza to go with our dinner.

At dinner time while Master 7 read me his reader book at the kitchen bench, I put on a pumpkin, tomato and spinach risotto. 20 minutes later and it was done - no need to stand there and stir as it did it all for me - yay! The risotto turned out ok - not fantastic as it seemed a little gluggy, so for next time I need to check it as its going, as to whether it needs a splash more liquid. But otherwise, yum!

And finally for dessert - hot chocolate custard - which was awesome!

I'm looking forward to another busy cooking day tomorrow - I wonder what will be for dinner tomorrow night?!

{I'm back} and I'm busy . . .

So once again its been a while between blog posts but I am determined this time to continue on with blogging about all sorts of things - not much business wise as I've decided to take a small break from my business for a month or two or three to concentrate on everything else that has been happening in our lives and what is still to come over the coming months.

Since my last blog post my 3 little people have all celebrated birthday's and now they are 7, 5 and 3 - how time is flying!!!

We have also made a huge decision to move back into town - buying a block that will put us inner city living. It will fantastic not having to drive into town sometimes 2 or 3 times a day. We will be able to walk everywhere now - just a few hundred metres from school, a short walk to kinder and the town centre not even 15 minutes walk away.

Just under 800m2 and a odd shape with all sorts of easements around it, has made it tricky to find a house plan big enough to accommodate a family of 5, but we finally found a builder and plan which we have modified slightly to suit us. Once bonus is that it is in a quiet court overlooking a park, so what we will loose in backyard space, we will have little traffic coming in and a beautiful park to play and picnic in. And we are definitely putting in a pool with the build - so we are excited!

roughly how the front/back of house will look

rough guide of how the ground floor will be (still waiting on the official plans).

upstairs will be 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a huge retreat area for the kids.

As far as business goes, I am still doing a little creating - but mostly just for me for once. I've decided to put the business on hold to create time for the more important things in life right now - which is my family and everything we have going on.

I've also decided to go back to University this year and am studying to be a Librarian through online learning part time. My plan is to have my qualifications completed to Diploma level by the time Mister 3 starts school (most likely sooner) and then find some part-time employment in a library as a library technician, while I continue on with my Bachelor degree qualification to a fully qualified Librarian. I'm enjoying studying and getting my brain working again on something different.

So stay tuned for more regular blog posts about all sorts of things; my family, building our new home, what crafty things I am making, tutorials I am happy to share about how to create small craft projects, recipes (as I've just purchased myself a thermomix this week and can't wait for it to arrive!) and anything else that takes my fancy.

Thanks for reading x

{Kids in the Kitchen} The Vegetable Mission #1 - Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes

This is the beginning of (hopefully) a regular Tuesday blog post from me. My children rarely (ok, they don't) eat vegetables, with the exception of little Nate who most of the time will eat anything and everything in site, including non-food items ; )

So I am on a Mission.

To get those vegies in disguise, to wiggle their way into some old and new recipes, and put food on the children's plates that they WILL eat, that they WILL enjoy and that they WILL ask for more of!

So what have I baked today and did I succeed! Pumpkin Chocolate cupcakes is on the menu today for morning tea - but did they eat them??? Continue reading to find out if they did!

Pumpkin Chocolate Cupcakes

1/2 cup SR Flour

1/2 cup White Sugar

1/4 cup Milk

1 egg

1/2 tblspn vanilla essence

1 1/2 tblspn butter

2 tblspn cocoa

1/2 cup cooked Pumpkin (steamed and mashed)

This will make approx. 12 mini cupcakes. If you want to make more, just double the recipe : )

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, fill your cupcake wrappers with the mix and bake for approx. 15 minutes in a mod-oven. Cooking time may vary, so best just to keep an eye on them and test with a knife - if it comes out clean they are cooked : )

(Now I have a new oven that the temp is always too hot when reading recipes and it seems to cook things faster too ; ) So in my oven I cooked these for approx. 15 minutes at 170 C fan-forced.)

Of course, once I had popped them in the oven Matilda asked if she could lick the bowl and spoon. I was hesitant, what if she tasted the pumpkin and decided that she was 'definitely not' eating those cupcakes. Well, she licked the bowl clean . . .

and when they were cooked? She ate 2 for morning tea . . .

as did Tom . . .

Success!!!

Stay tuned for next weeks recipe : )