in the lunch box - cosmic cookies

This recipe was given to me by a friend about a year ago, and it's been a staple in our house ever since! Its great because you can add or subtract pretty much as much as you want. I like to add cranberries or goji berries for colour and chia seeds for goodness, and if you don't have molasses in your cupboard you can easily use golden syrup instead.....they are packed with goodness and simply yum! (as you know I usually double my recipes when cooking, but this one doesn't need to be, it's huge!)

 

It does look a little daunting with all the ingredients, but it is sooooo simple and sooooo worth it, plus remember, if you don't have the exact sugar or milk or seeds as the recipe, don't be afraid to experiment.....just use what you've got. Just remember to try getting the wet/dry portions similar)

Cosmic Cookies -

2 1/4 cups quick oats
2 cups spelt flour
1 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup flax seeds
1 cup granulated cane sugar
1 tbsp. ground cinnamon
2 1/2 tsp sea salt
1 3/4 cups dark chocolate chips
1 1/4 cups raisins
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup soy milk

Preheat oven and line your baking trays.
In a large bowl, combine all dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl combine all wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Portion into 1/3 cup measures and place onto lined tray. Gently flatten cookies before baking then bake for 20 min, or until browned

Enjoy x

I love how it looks in the bowl before cooking - although this photo makes it look a little like gruel!

 



Sewing seat

The house we've moved into here in NZ has a little room right at the front of the house that is just a little too small to use as a bedroom, but funnily enough just the perfect size for a sewing room! So I've got myself sorted by making a table (screwing a large timber length to the top of a little set of draws and supporting it at the other end by simple 2x2 timber legs) and its great. My own little space to hide out and create away. Only thing missing is the chair.......I needed a seat for the sewing room!

So when I saw this old piano stool on trade me, I just knew it would be perfect with a little loving. $35 later it was mine - bargain!
Before......

After........ 

In position........

 

I love it. I can store my patterns underneath and it's just the right height for sewing. Now there's no excuses!!! 

Holidays....

These holidays has seen us laying pretty low with Bib trying to fight glandular fever and restore her energy. For every outing or activity she did there would be a big rest to follow. For every high, there would be an enormous low. It's really hard watching my beautiful, typically strong girl be crushed and literally wiped out by something we can do nothing about except rest and wait.
So whilst we didn't venture far, we did manage to enjoy the special 2 week break that gave us all a chance to chill, unwind, play and heal.
Here's a sneak peak .......

 

Dumpling 1.0.1

Due to the school holidays, I thought instead of doing a lunch box goodie for you, we could have dumplings together :)

My kids LOVE a good dumpling, only the ones you buy often have MSG in them or enough salt to keep you preserved for a week, so we usually try to make our own........funnily enough though, ours never seem to look as good as they do from the shop???? (shocked I know)
That is however,  until you have a wonderful friend who grew up making and eating dumplings almost every week of the year as a child, willing to walk you through it step by step.

Here's how to make a mean lamb dumpling:

Firstly blitz together 2 carrots, 1 shallot and about a 4cm piece of fresh ginger.
In a bowl, mix together blitzed veggies with 1tsp sesame oil, 2tsp cooking wine, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbsp soy sauce and 500g lamb mince.
Using a fork, mix all ingredients together until it appears quiet sticky. (this ensures it all stays together when the dumpling is cooking.

Then simply open your packet of dumpling pastries (found in any Asian supermarket) and follow below-


 

using your finger, wet the edge of the pastry with water

 

repeat folding on the other side

place onto floured surface to prevent sticking

 

And there you have it.....your perfect little dumplings all in a row! Or if you get the kids to help the below image may be more realistic :)

They are fun to make, easy to prepare and healthy for you. You can steam them (we used a bamboo steamer for ours) shallow fry them, add them into a soup or even deep fry them. You can make them using pork, chicken, vegetables or even tofu and if you make too many you can pop them, uncooked, into the freezer for another day.

Why not have a go......see how yours turn out :)

school walk

hi ho, hi ho, it's off to school we go........



 

 

 

How does your school walk look? 

 

 

 

 

in the lunch box - basic biscuits

This biscuit recipe is one of my fav's. It is just so versatile. You can add anything to it and change the flavour or taste, depending on what you've got in the pantry - or simply add nothing and enjoy them as a simple butter biscuit.
We had a few last Easter eggs hanging in the fridge all broken, so I thought I'd use them up and make this batch a choc chip version.

 

 

Vanilla Biscuits

 

125g butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla ess.

1 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

 

Heat oven to 180 degrees.

Beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg and vanilla and mix well.

Sift in the flour and baking powder and mix until smooth.

Roll into small balls and place on lined tray. Press fork onto balls gently to flatten slightly.

Bake for 10-15 min or until brown.

 

Remember you can use this as your base. By simply adding dried fruit, choc chips, different essence flavours, chia seeds, golden syrup, chopped nuts, etc you will have a completely different tasting biscuit. Even changing to brown sugar makes a yummy change :)

 

Enjoy!

this moment

{this moment} - a Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special moment. . - soulemama