Raspberry and White Chocolate Croissant Pudding {Recipe}

Hello Blog World

I have had another busy week with work and exercising (7kg lost since Christmas) but good news is I have started my hutch – sanded my butt off yesterday and boy I am feeling it today, going to prime and hopefully get the first coat of paint on.  I am so excited.

But I am here today to share a beautiful recipe with you.  Remember for new years eve I made these beautiful Raspberry and White Chocolate Muffins



Well on the same theme of that today I am sharing Raspberry and White Chocolate Croissant Pudding! I did promise you after all.

This is a delicious dessert nice in the cooler months and very simple to make. (full recipe after the shameless photo shoot)



First all your ingredients.



Then some fancy layering



More layering and cook!

Full Recipe for Raspberry and White Chocolate Croissant Pudding (adapted from Australian Women’s Weekly)

Ingredients

• 5 Croissants sliced thinly ( i just cut mine in half)
• 1/2 cup raspberry jam (jelly for my American friends)
• 100g white eating chocolate, chopped coarsely
• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Custard

• 1 1/2 cups cream
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1/3 cup caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 4 eggs

Firstly prepare over to 160c/140c fan forced. Grease a shallow (about 2 litre or 8 cup) oven proof dish.

Make the custard by bringing cream, milk, sugar and extract to the boil in medium saucepan.  Whisk eggs in large bowl and whisking constantly gradually add hot cream mixture into egg mixture.

Layer croissant slices, overlapping slightly in your dish.  Dollop spoonful's of jam over slices. Sprinkle with chocolate and berries.  Pour custard over the top.

Place your greased dish in a larger baking dish and add enough boiling water to come halfway up the sides of your greased dish.

Bake pudding for about 1 hour or until set.  Remove from oven and let stand about 5 minutes before serving.



I did forget to take a nice photo of it served in a bowl with cream or ice cream because it goes that fast!!  I like it with ice cream but as I said you can serve with cream, ice cream or even more cold custard!  It’s so easy to make but looks and tastes superb. 

Next time we are thinking of using blueberries instead of raspberries, I wonder how that will turn out.
Off I go now for more sanding and priming, Oh I also need to make a thankyou card for a dear friend so I will be back later with that.

Until then Happy Crafting

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I Party Here

Mini Spinach Meatloaves

Hello Blog World,

First I have to say I have been a slacko the past week and have forgotten to give props to two fabulous blogs that have featured me! Yes me!! I was in such awe when I saw their posts.

Firstly to Kelley @ The Grant Life for featuring my Retro Ruffle Apron, she hosts a wonderful party every Friday and she has just posted a recipe for some scrumptious looking oatmeal!



Secondly to Katie @ The Crafty Blog Stalker for featuring my Jar of Nothing, her party is every Thursday, there is a new one up so go over and check it out for some great inspiration.



Thank you ladies for noticing me and thinking I am worthy, I was absolutely thrilled!!

But today I have another healthier recipe for you (yes still hand sewing, hopefully will be finished this weekend and I can actually start piecing my quilt together.  YAY!! And then no more recipes for a while, I promise)

I present to you Mini Spinach Meatloaves

^{(full recipe after the pretty pictures)}

As always grab your fresh ingredients.

Mix all in a bowl and form 4 round balls, make a small hollow in each and stuff with defrosted frozen spinach.



Cover hole, place in baking tray, cover with sauce and bake for 20-30 minutes.


I serve mine with jacket potato, steamed green beans and carrots.

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Mini Spinach Meatloaves (full recipe)

^{(adapted from calorie king)}

What you will need

• 160 g frozen spinach
• 2 Tbsp water
• 2 Tbsp barbecue sauce
• 500 g lean beef mince
• 1/4 cup oats
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

How to cook it
Preheat oven to 180C.

Defrost spinach. Squeeze out excess liquid ( you can use fresh spinach if on hand, we will often do that)

In a bowl, combine mince, oats, onions, tomato paste, pepper and garlic. Mix well.

Divide mixture into 4 balls. Make a hollow in the centre of each ball and fill with one quarter of the spinach. Shape into round patties to enclose filling. Place in baking dish and spread barbecue sauce over top of loaves.

Cook uncovered in oven for 20 - 30 minutes or until meat is firm.

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This is another family favourite, and very quick to make.  Hubby normally lathers his potatoes in butter or sour cream, and I use salsa as it’s lot healthier.  Using salsa and serving with potatoes, carrots and beans the whole meal weighs in at 363 calories and 7.5g of fat but it doesn’t feel that healthier, it has heaps of taste and flavour and something I like to cook when I feel like having a fatty meal (as it makes me feel like it’s cheating because of how good it is when in fact I’m not).

On that note a quick update on the healthier lifestyle, I have been exercising every day for the past 2 weeks, I had put on 4 kilo’s over December and beginning of January, but happy to report I have lost them again and an extra one. So starting from this year I have now lost 5kg! Yay for me.

Now off to finish this darn hand sewing and don’t forget to check out Kelley @ The Grant Life & Katie @ The Crafty Blog Stalker.


Until then Happy Crafting.

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I PARTY HERE

Ham & Feta Pizza

Hello Blog World,

It’s nice to have my computer up and running again and I have just finished 30 minutes of high cardio aerobics so I am feeling great!

Today I am going to share with you another healthy recipe we often eat, it’s good for lunch or pair it with a salad and you have a nice dinner also and it fits right in with my healthier lifestyle challenge.

So today I present  HAM & FETA PIZZA

^{sorry yucky photo}

Gotta get those lovely ingredients together



Chop and mix them all in a bowl and refridgerate for 30 mins



Then bake – very simple and you end up with yummy pizzas that are healthy and my whole family loves them.  We have been having these for a good 7 years or more now so I can’t remember where I even got the recipe. It’s hand written in an old recipe book in my hand writing so goodness knows where I found it.

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Full Recipe for Ham & Feta Pizzas
You will need the following

• 4-6 Roma Tomatoes, finely chopped
• 100g crumbled reduced fat feta cheese
• 1 Red salad onion, finely chopped
• 100g shaved lean ham
• 2 tblsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 tsp dried oregao
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 4 wholemeal pita breads (about 4” diameter)

Combine onions, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, oregano, pepper and half the cheese in a mixing bowl, stir well, cover and let sit in refridgerator for at least 30 minutes.

Pre-heat oven to 200d Celcius, spread tomato mixture evenly on pita bread on lined baking tray.  Sprinkle with ham and remaining cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until hot.

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See  how simple are these?  Often I will make the mixture the night before and let it sit in the fridge all day, the flavours just seep through and it’s divine!

1 pita is 1 serving and here is the nutritional information if you are interested.

Calories
245.1
Total Fat
7.7 g
Saturated Fat
3.4 g
Polyunsaturated Fat
0.7 g
Monounsaturated Fat
1.6 g
Cholesterol
44.0 mg
Sodium
1,313.8 mg
Potassium
466.3 mg
Total Carbohydrate
23.2 g
Dietary Fiber
3.6 g
Protein
22.1 g

This is according to Spark Recipes where I enter all my recipes for nutritional breakdowns.

Now I am still hand appliqueing so no new crafts, but I should have my first panel finished today so I will give everyone a sneak peek and I might come back with some before my blogging days crafts as it’s always fun to look back and see how far I’ve come.

I also have my first year bloggingversary coming up next month, not sure what to do.  Any ideas people?? 

Everyone enjoy their day and if you make my pizzas let me know what you think.

Until then happy crafting.

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I PARTY HERE

Mini Chicken Bran Balls with Fettuccine & Minted Yogurt Sauce

Hello Blog World,

I am doing a lot of hand appliqueing this week so there won’t be too much other crafting done, but today I am sharing a recipe that we had the other night that was absolutely delicious.

One of my goals this year is to stay on my Healthy Lifestyle Challenge and so far it’s about half half, but this recipe definitely falls into healthy weighing in at a whoppnig 496 calories per serve and only 5.7 grams of fat!!

I present to you today Mini Chicken Bran Balls with Fettuccine and Minted Yogurt Sauce

_{(full recipe after the pretty pictures)}




So gather all your wonderful fresh ingredients



Combine chicken, onions, garlic, parsley, oats, sultanas and
one egg white in a bowl and mix well and then makes some balls






Dip them in some egg white and your crushed brand flakes and bake.
Prepare your pasta and sauce while balls are baking, then serve

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Full Recipe from CalorieKing.com.au
Ingredients:

• 400 g leanchicken mince
• 3 spring onions, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 Tbsp parsley, freshed, chopped
• 2/3 cup oats, rolled
• 1/3 cup sultanas
• 2 egg whites, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup flour, plain
• 2 Tbsp bran flakes
• 2 L water
• 250 g spinach fettuccine
• 200 g yogurt, plain, non-fat
• 1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp mint, fresh, chopped

Directions:
Combine chicken, onions, garlic, parsley, oats, sultanas and one egg white in a bowl and mix well.

Shape into small balls about 3.5 cm in diameter. Roll eachball in flour and shake off the excess.  Dip in lightly beaten egg white and then bran flakes. Lightly spray with cooking oil and then bake on an oven tray lined with baking paper in a moderate oven 180*C for 15 minutes or until cooked.

While the meatballs are cooking prepare the pasta. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan. Gradually add pasta and gently boil until just cooked.

Prepare the yogurt sauce by combining the yogurt, juice, mint and pepper.

Drain and serve with meatballs and yogurt sauce.

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So that’s that, I have adapted this recipe from CalorieKing.com.au, this is a wonderful site with food diary, forums and chat for support and plenty of info packed articles. There is an American site too, just omit the .au.  Check it out if your keen or look me up here.

Now I am off to do some more hand appliqueing and then jumping on the treadmill.

Until then happy crafting.

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I Party HERE

White Chocolate and Raspberry Muffins

Hello Blog World,

Firstly

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Welcome to 2012!! I can’t wait to see what this year brings. Did we all have a good NYE, I hope we all fared up well this morning.  My hubby didn’t (a bit too much drinkies) you would think at 43 he would know better.  I guess we never grow up, and that’s a good thing my friends.

Anyways enough with my babble, onto the real reason we are here GOODIES!!!

I did want to scrapbook the other day, but never got around to, between cleaning and then finding an old project I just had to complete once I found it (more on that later) I ran out of time, and then to top it all off we were invited to a BBQ for New Year’s Eve and I was asked to bring desert, so I spent most of yesterday in the Kitchen while hubby was calling me a baking Nanna!

I thought about it for a while and decided my white chocolate & raspberry croissant pudding would be the go (again more on that later), so I made that and had some left-overs so white chocolate and raspberry muffins were born!

I would love to say it’s my own recipe but noooooo, I had pinned one awhile back that I had been dying to try but when I went back and looked at the recipe again in full it just didn’t look right to me, there was no sugar or butter you know all those yummy things, so I went hunting and found a fab recipe from Best Recipes.com.au and tweaked it to my needs.

You will need
3 Cups Self Raising Flour
1 Cup Caster Sugar (powdered or superfine sugar for my American friends)
125g White Choc Chips
125g Butter, Melted
1 Egg
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Cream
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence ( I love Vanilla flavour so I did use 2 teaspoons, or if you have proper extract which I had run out of you could use that instead for a stronger flavour)
200g Raspberries (fresh or frozen work with this)

To Make
Sift the flour and add all dry ingredients. Mix well.  Melt your butter add all wet ingredients to mixture and mix until combined and formed a sticky muffiny batter.

Carefully fold in White Chocolate and Raspberries. 
Divide mixture evenly among muffin cases (this should make about 16 decent sized muffins)  and bake in pre-heated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for approximately 20-25 minutes.


^{Before Baked (ignore the state of my muffin tin, it’s about 20 years old and I need a new one OK)}

Muffins are ready when you insert  a skewer and it comes out clean, then let them cool then eat as many as you want!!



MMMM Yummy even if I do say so myself. I thought about doing a powdered sugar glaze or something on top but honestly they were quite good just the way they were in all their nakedness and the fact out of 16 muffins there were none left by then end of the BBQ I am guessing they went down a treat.

Now I am going to get the scrapbook page layout done today, so until then Happy Crafting.

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I often link up at these parties

Fruit Salad with Strawberry Coulis

Hello Blog World,

This was my daughter’s first year of high school and with high school comes extra subjects, some she thinks are just awesome (science experiments, cooking) and some not so awesome (textiles GASP! How can she be my daughter?)

In one of her Home Economics classes they made a fruit salad with strawberry Coulis which she got top marks for. She was very excited and of course she had to make it at home so we could see how it’s made and enjoy a yummy fruit salad.

I find it so refreshing just to have fruit salad sometimes after a meal.  So thanks to St Peter Claver College Home Economics Teacher for the following recipe.

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What you will need for the coulis

1 cup strawberries, fresh or frozen doesn’t matter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

How to make it

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Transfer to a blender.
2. Purée until smooth, strain, and set aside.

Serve atop of ice-cream (we used low fat ice-cream) and any fruit salad, we used strawberries, pineapple, banana’s, kiwi fruit, apples and passion fruit. I know very simple, but very yummy.



We didn't have proper sundae glasses so we improvised and and used wine glasses.  

Now I am off to buy a new bathing suit for my daughter as my fab sis in law is taking her to Wet N Wild on Friday, that means hubby and I can spend the whole day together before heading back to work in the New Year.

Until then Happy Crafting

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I often link at these parties

Oreo Truffles

Hello Blog World,

Well Christmas has been and gone for another year.  I hope everyone had a great day!!!  Is anyone else exhausted?  I know I am!!  And we now have New Years on the way, does anyone do resolutions?  I normally don’t but I am thinking about it. Are they a good idea?  Do people ever stick to them?  Let me know.

 So before Christmas is fully forgotten for another 12 months, I thought I would share today my Christmas Oreo Truffles.  Yeah Yeah I know, there are a million and one out there in blog land but they are sooooooooo yummy and easy to make so now there is a million and two!

I served these up for our Christmas Day Picnic and they were a hit I must admit, and there were none left by the end of the day.

So you start off with your ingredients.



 I use

• 2 x 150g boxes of Oreos
• 1 x 250g box of cream cheese
• 1 – 1 /2 packets of chocolate melts ( you can also use flavoured candy melts if preferred)

Crush up your oreos, that’s the fun part, pop in a bowl and put in you cream cheese, it’s best to have the cream cheese at room temperature other wise it’s very hard to beat. 
Beat the cheese into the oreo crumbs, and then I also do a bit of hand kneading until a nice smooth dough consistency forms.

Then roll them into balls, mine are about 1/2” round give or take, but you can make them any size you like. Mine yielded about 32 balls.



Once they’re all rolled into balls I pop them in the fridge for about half an or so to firm up.

Then melt your chocolate or candy melts, I used white chocolate and then some powdered food dye to make green and red.  Dip balls in chocolate pop back on your lined tray and let set.



If you are anything like me you will have mess everywhere by this stage.



I also had some icing pens on hand and just drizzled over the balls in a no particular pattern just to brighten them up a bit and hide where some of the chocolate wasn’t dipped nicely.

Store in an air tight container in the fridge as they do get quite soft if not stored correctly.  I also found they tasted better after sitting overnight, the flavours fermented through better.

So there you have it another oreo truffle recipe.  I have found they are all pretty much the same out there but as I said earlier they are very yummy, easy to make and well worth it and you certainly do not have to reserve these only for Christmas, they also make cute pops if you stick them on a stick and decorate.

Hubby bought me a beautiful sketch artists pack so I may do some drawing today or sewing haven’t decided. Gotta get some housework done first, so until then Happy Crafting.

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I often link up to these parties

Shortbread

Hello Blog World,

 

3 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are we ready yet?? I nearly am. It was also my second last day of work before a 10 day break, which I cannot wait for, and tomorrow is only half a day and then we are off to a lovely lunch so excited.

Today has been a great day all round, quiet times at work, officially finished my Christmas Shopping and received a fantastic email from Trish @ Mom on a Timeout

She hosts a fantastic Link Party every Thursday and this week she has featured one of my links from last week.  My gift card box tutorial.

It’s my first feature ever so I am very excited!!!!!! Thanks so much Trish.  Go check her out and she has posted this weeks link party, so check out all the other talent out there while you’re going.

 

Now onto today’s proper post, I mentioned that I was going to make some shortbread, well last night I finally did it.  I wanted to make some for a few close friends at work as a little thank you present for all their help and support throughout the year, and there’s no better way than to say it with sweet yummy crumbly shortbread.

So off I went gathering my ingredients, mixed together, rolled out and cut some beautiful Christmas shapes.

Baked in the oven, walked away forgot I was doing shaped instead of the classic round that you later cut up into triangles, smelt the goodness came back when the timer was just about to go off and OOOOOPS cooking FAIL!!!

In no world should shortbread look like this!!!!!

Ok so I had half the dough left, rolled it back out, cut more shapes and only put it in for half the normal cooking time at a lower temperature and wah lah, much better looking shortbread.

Nice yellow golden colour, cooked to perfection.

So I then wrapped them in celophane with a bit of icing sugar, tied a bow and popped them in a paper bag I made (that’s tomorrow people), so now I have the perfect hand made thankyou gift for a few close friends.

Anyway you know you want the recipe, so here it is.

Michelle’s Shortbread (adapted from my grandmother)

You will need the following

 

250g butter or one stick

3/4 Cup Caster Sugar

1tsp vanilla extract

2 1/3 cups of all purpose flour

 

Preheat oven to 175degrees celcius (350f)

 

Cream together butter, sugar and vanilla then knead in flour until all combined and smooth velvety dough forms.  I then wrap in cling wrap and let sit in the fridge for about 1/2 an hour.

 

If making in rounds, grease your 9” round tins (you will need 2) press in dough, and prick with fork if you like for a decorative pattern.  Bake for about 30 minutes until golden.

 

If making smaller shapes, change temperature to about 150 C and bake on lined baking tray for about 15-20 minutes or until golden.

 

Remove from pans or tray and let cool on rack. Store in an air tight container and they last forever or in my house 1-2 days because everyone eats them up quickly!

 

I dust mine with icing sugar, or you could use raw sugar added on top before baking for something different.

 

So I have done all my Christmas shopping as mentioned earlier, I still have one more gift card box to make and Oreo truffles and then some rest before the big day.

 

I hope everyone’s plans are going to schedule, remember 3 days left.

 

Until then Happy Crafting

 

 

 

 

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I often link up at these parties

Chicken Balls with Couscous Salad

 

Hello Blog World,

As you know I am on a healthy lifestyle challenge, trying to change my health, life and shape one day at a time.  It’s going ok so far. 

 

One recipe I have been making for a while now which is lovely and light especially as the weather warms up here in Australia is Chicken Balls with Couscous Salad.  It’s a bit higher in calories and fat than a normal garden salad but it still falls into a very acceptable level in my opinion of a healthy low fat, low calorie meal weighing in at 365 calories per serve with approx 9.6 grams of fat. Therefore, I will be sharing this recipe with you today.

 

Firstly gather your beautiful fresh ingredients

 

 

Mix them up

 

 

Ok I know, it doesn’t look too appetising yet. Once it’s all mixed form into balls, i make mine about 1  - 1/2” round.  I don’t like them too big.

 

 

Then cook them in non stick pan, with a little bit of spray cooking oil.

While they are cooking prepare the couscous salad, and serve these babies on top of that and I also add a dollop or 2 of my low fat tzatziki.

 

Close up

 

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Full Recipe & Directions for Chicken balls and Couscous Salad

^{(src: http://food.ninemsn.com.au/recipes/ichicken/8338724/chicken-balls-with-couscous-salad)}

Ingredients

1 slice stale bread, torn into chunks
250g chicken mince
2 green onions (shallots), finely chopped
¼ cup chopped coriander (cilantro)
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons olive oil (I use spray oil and only 1 tablespoon for the couscous)
lemon wedges, to serve (optional, I don’t really like lemon wedges so I omit this)
Couscous salad:
1 cup (250ml) boiling water
1 cup (200g) couscous
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
1 lebanese cucumber, quartered lengthways, sliced
2 green onions (shallots), finely sliced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cumin seeds, toasted

Preparation method

Place bread in a small bowl and cover with water. Set aside to soak for 5 minutes, then drain and squeeze dry. Place in a large bowl with chicken mince, chopped green onion, half of coriander and egg. Mix thoroughly and season. Using wet hands, shape into about 16 small balls.

Heat half of oil in a large frying pan on medium. Cook meatballs in batches for 5-7 minutes, tossing frequently, until browned and cooked through. Set aside.

To make couscous salad:
Combine boiling water and remaining oil in a bowl. Stir in couscous, cover and set aside for 5 minutes. Fluff up with a fork to separate grains. Toss through remaining salad ingredients and remaining coriander.

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See pretty simple, yummy and healthy.  While the recipe itself does not give you the nutritional value there is a fabulous website out there I have found called Spark Recipes.  You don’t have to join to view or print recipes, but it is free and there is a recipe calculator, where you just add all your ingredients, enter the amount of servings and it calculates the nutritional value for you. You can even add your own ingredients if you can’t find what you are looking for! 

So I have used this calculator and the nutritional value for this meal (and I realise it’s only approximate but it shouldn’t be too far off ) is

Calories:364

Fat:9.6

Cholesterol:89

Protein:23.1

Carbs:45.8

Sugar:0.6

Sodium:124

So go make it, enjoy and gobble it up, I am off to do some housework and maybe some more cards.  Until then Happy Crafting.

 

 

 

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Linking up with these parties, and don’t forget my own link party, I still want idea’s people!