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Carrot Cake

Never Fail Moist Carrot Cake

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Who likes Carrot Cake? what better time to start making this delicious treat for Easter time?

 

Ingredients:

  • 3x Eggs
  • 2x Cups brown sugar
  • 1x Cup oil
  • 3x Cups grated carrot
  • 2 1/4x Cups of high grade flour
  • 1/2x Cup milk (Warmed)
  • 2x tsp Baking soda
  •  1/2x Cup walnuts (if desired)
  • 1/2x Cup Crushed pineapple (Optional)

Preheat oven to 160°C bake. Beat eggs and Brown Sugar together.

Add oil then all other ingredients – mix well.

Pour into a large, well-greased cake tin.

 

Bake for 35 minutes, until a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Stand in the tin for 20 mins then turn out and cool on a cake rack.

Spread with cream cheese icing when cold.

 

Cream Cheese Icing:

  • 50g Butter- softened
  • 1/2x Cup cream cheese
  • 2x Cups Icing Sugar
  • 1x tsp Vanilla
  • 2-3x Tbsp milk to mix

Put icing on when cake is cool, store in a container in your cupboard to keep moisture.

 

Feel free to customize this recipe to suit your taste, it’s certainly a family favorite that won’t go to waste!

 

 

Utensils - Organised kitchen

How-To Organize Your Kitchen EASILY

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Is your kitchen well overdue for some re-organizing? No matter how much room you may have (or may not have) in the kitchen – it is do-able to have a lovely, organised kitchen that won’t give you nightmares.

We are always on the hunt for a magic answer or even a cleaning fairy that would come around each day and have everything clean and organised with the flick of the wand before we get home, if you are sick of searching and dreaming of the day this will come – read ahead and get all the exclusive ideas from the professionals (and tricks and tips that ACTUALLY make life 100% easier when keeping the kitchen in pristine condition!)

Step one – start from scratch by pulling everything out of cupboards and drawers, one-by-one otherwise you’ll get lost in amoungst all the food & cooking utensils (this is the part where you can get the kids involved or if you prefer it by yourself, go for gold.)

After everything is pulled out, wipe down the shelves and drawers – you’ll be surprised how much dust builds up over time.

Start by putting the least used utensils in the bottom drawers and things like canned foods at the top of the cabinet as these seem to last longer and aren’t everyday things we may tend to grab for when we open the pantry make sure you remove things that may not belong in the kitchen (we all have the fruit bowl that’s filled with everything BUT fruit) – then as you go down, try placing all the everyday necessities in the middle shelves as you will find it easier going into the cupboard, grabbing what you need and placing it back especially if its right in front of you (we are all human and find this the fastest and least time-taking method) right at the bottom should be a shelf for things like your potato box or even bigger appliances.

***Be sure to check expiry dates on all food before you place it back in cupboards as you may have something dated from 2001 that you never knew was hiding away in there.***

Step two – Put things in the exact same spot after use, this will help keep the organisation in place and will get you familiar where everything is along with your family catching on as well (there will be no excuse for them to not dry and put away dishes anymore!)

Step three – Keep your purchases (unless its food, of course) to a minimum, if you already have all the needed appliances then really think about future purchases, ask yourself “How many times will this actually get used? Is it going to replace any appliance I already have that may do the similar thing? Where will I store this? Etc.” try avoiding purchases that are only going to be used very rarely – ask  your friends and family as they are usually bound to have one you can use.

Step four – Pinterest organisation DIY ideas, this has been my saviour and has some wonderful ideas for storing many different things in your kitchen which makes it look tidy while keeping it all out of the way.

Step five – Always keep up to date with kitchen renovation ideas, kitchen renovations can be costly but they can also be great for a budget, when you slowly renovate the kitchen bit-by-bit you’ll be saving money and time with making the most of what you have with possible DIY ideas to temporarily add on to your kitchen and these ideas can simply be buying a couple of stick on hooks to place inside your cabinet door to hold numerous kitchen utensils – the benefit of exploring these cheap (yet fantastic, budget friendly ideas) is that you will slowly make these more of a permanent add-on and find what works for you as you could then go to Next Edition Kitchen’s or your local cabinetry place and get a hook rack custom made if the stick on hooks are working well for you.

It’s all trial and error but it’s a very good idea to get into.

With doing DIY ideas, you can get the family involved as well and have some fun while also teaching them important skills and encouraging organisation to be up-kept in the kitchen which will pan into all areas of the house.

So, what are you waiting for? be your own cleaning fairy and be the envy of all your friends and family with the cleanest kitchen ever laid eyes on!

Cinnamon

Tasty Cinnamon Rolls

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I was digging around my recipes and i found this fine little gem, i had made it on the weekend and they lasted all about two days before they were gone out of sight! very popular i will definitely making some more this week! keep reading to find out how to make these tasty Cinnamon Rolls.

 

For the Dough:

2x Cups self-raising flour

1x pinch of salt

90g Butter (cubed)

2/3 cup of milk

 

For the Filling:

120g Butter (softened)

4x Tbsp brown sugar

2x tsp cinnamon sugar (or half cinnamon powder and half white sugar)

 

For the Icing:

1x Cup icing sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp Boiling water

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Sift flour and salt into bowl, then rub chopped butter into flour using your finger tips.
3. Make a well in the centre and add almost all the milk. Mix lightly to make a soft dough (add the rest of the milk if necessary).
4. Knead dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.
5. Roll out dough to a 25 x 40cm rectangle of 5mm thickness.
6. To make the filling; beat the butter with Brown Sugar and cinnamon sugar with electric beaters until light and fluffy. Spread evenly over the dough rectangle.
7. Roll up dough from the long side and using a sharp knife, slice the dough into 3cm pieces.
8. Place scroll pieces into the holes in a muffin tin, greased tray cut-side up. (Avoid using a baking tray, as the contents will leak/spread).  Cook for 20-30 minutes or until golden.
9. Drizzle with icing.
10. To make the icing; combine Icing Sugar and boiling water in a small bowl beat until smooth.

Get going in the kitchen and give this a tasty treat a try, grab the kids and get them involved – such a rewarding activity that everyone will love!

 

P.S Take a photo and let us know on our Facebook page how great these were.

Easy-Peasy Quiche and Salad

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Summer is slowly creeping up on us leaving our appetite for soups and hot roasts in the cooler seasons, now is the time you get stuck with ideas for healthy, easy and quick dinners.

Lately I’ve been working hard in the kitchen picking and choosing parts from each recipe online to create the perfect quiche of my own, after countless failed dinners turning into takeaway nights i was getting tired of not perfecting this summer goodie until i came up with this recipe – you better believe i was very stunned on how such a simple, easy meal turned out to be liquid gold!

All in all, here we have the PERFECT summer time favorite that you just HAVE to try, it’s quick, easy (and cheap!) besides, who wants to be stuck hovering over a hot element for 5000 hours in this heat? definitely not us!

What you will need:

400g Savory shortcrust pastry

2x Spring onions (Sliced)

3x Medium Courgettes (Sliced thinly)

1/2 Cup Sliced red pepper

2x Large mushrooms (Sliced)

150g Feta (Crumbled)

7x Eggs

1x Cup Milk (Or cream for a more creamier taste.)

1/4 Cup Chopped parsley

1/2 tsp Salt & Pepper

1/2 Cup Cheese (I recommend tasty)

2 1/2 Tbsp Olive Oil

250g Cherry Tomatoes

1 1/2x Handful of spinach

 

Directions:

  • Set oven to 180C.
  • Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured board. Line a 22cm quiche tin with pastry and cut off the excess around the edges.
  • Refrigerate for 20 minutes. Line the pastry with baking paper. Bake blind for 20 minutes.
  • In the base of the cooked pastry arrange the spring onions, rocket and courgettes. Sprinkle the feta over them.
  • Whisk the eggs, milk, parsley, salt and pepper, spinach, mushroom & Red pepper. Pour the mixture over the courgettes carefully and sprinkle with cheese.
  • Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes or until set. Remove and let the quiche rest for 20 minutes before serving.
  • Put the tomatoes and oil in a small ovenproof dish. Season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until softened and juicy.
  • Serve the quiche warm, topped with the roasted tomatoes.

And there we have it! Healthy, Easy & cheap! Also not to mention, it’s a real hit with the family – especially those ones who steer clear of vegetables (you can smuggle as many as you like in there they probably wouldn’t even know).. Easy-Peasy or what?