Please note - my blog used to be found here :http://jeybird8.blogspot.com/ unfortunately I can no longer access that account.

Thursday 27 January 2011

Spring Rolls!!


One of my New Years Resolutions, or RULES as I like to call them, is to not eat any deep fried foods.  The main obstacle I see in following this rule is my love of Spring Rolls.  So  I decided to make an experimental batch of oven baked vegie spring rolls. And I must say they were quite a success!!

TO make the filling, I blitzed a variety of vegies in my little food processor - carrots, zuccinni, capsicum, onion, until they were fairly finely chopped.  You could also grate them as an alternative. I then cooked these in a frying pan with a little vegetable oil, along with some garlic, ginger and chilli.  I also added soy sauce to taste, and a pinch or so of brown sugar.  And some bean thread noodles that had been soaked in water till soft.  I also added some Quorn mince.  Basically, anything I could find!!

Once the filling was cooked and tasting delicious, I set it aside to cool. 

Then, using spring roll wrappers I bought from the freezer section of Woolworths, I rolled up my spring rolls, and gave them a brief spray with some spray on cooking oil.  I baked the rolls in a hot oven until they were golden brown and crispy




Saturday 22 January 2011

#baked relief


I tried to post this last weekend, but that was when I discovered my email etc had been hijacked, so lets try again!

With all the flooding that occured across Queensland, the community has really banded together to help each other to get through this difficult time. One way that people have been helping is through #baked relief.  What started as an idea by Digella (blog here) has seemingly steamrolled into a massive baking and cooking movement across the state. Baked Relief now has its own website here

I baked these muffins to be taken out to Goodna. I wanted to share the recipe, because it was easy, it made a decent amount, and is easy to alter according to the ingredients you have in your cupboard. Which was super important last week, since there weren't many options in the supermarket, so I had to go with what I had on hand.

This recipe was adapted from Super Food Ideas August 2007 edition.

Basic Muffin Mix

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups self raising flour (or plain flour with 5 teaspoons of baking powder)
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil (or 90g butter melted)
1/2 cup caster sugar (omit if making savoury muffins)

optional - 1 cup museli
or
1 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup mixed dried fruit and 1 teaspoon cinnamon

preheat oven to 180 c.  Mix together dry ingredients to combine. Combine milk, egg, butter or oil in jug.  Pour into dry ingredients and mix till just combined.  Spoon mix into muffin tins lined with patty papers.  I managed to make 30 regular sized muffins (not giant ones) from this mix. 

I made 2 batches - a muesli batch and a fruit and oat version. Then I ran out of flour. 

Other options - Add chopped apple and a teaspoon of cinnamon (I couldnt find any apples!)
                        omit sugar and add some cheese and bacon
                        add choc chips
                        omit sugar and add 1/4 cup maple syrup, and 1 cup of rolled oats
                       add some walnuts
 
the possibilities are endless!!!!

bake in oven for about 15 minutes (cooking time will vary depending on the size of your muffins and what you have added - just keep an eye on them!!)


Friday 21 January 2011

Re-starting!

Unfortuantely, my gmail account was hacked, and I can no longer access my emails or my blog, so unless I can convince the powers that be at Google that I am the actual owner of the account, I have to restart. So restart I will!

My previous blog can be found here : Guess What