The roots of our perennial favorite, Pizza, lie in the Mediterranean, and traditionally, pizza never has pineapple, chicken or any of the other "fancy" ingredients we've come to think of on it. But that doesn't mean it has to be either boring OR expensive!!
Make your own tasty mediterranean pizza at home for a cheap, tasty meal that the whole family will love.
Mediterranean Pizza
Your favorite pizza sauce**
Half a cup or so of grated cheese - use your own favorite, but LastPenny uses any brand of Tasty
1 or 2 fresh tomatoes, diced
Baby spinach leaves
Fresh basil leaves
Store-bought pizza base!
Heat oven up to 200C. Spread your pizza sauce on the pizza base, top with baby spinach leaves and basil leaves, a sprinkle of cheese and tomato over the top.
For extra flavor, add sliced mushrooms or chopped bacon.
**LastPenny's Quick and Cheapy Pizza Sauce
1 tin Watties Pasta Sauce (any flavour)
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
1/2 tablespoon mixed herbs
Bring gently to the boil on the stovetop, stirring often, and cook for 10 minutes or until sauce starts to thicken and reduce.
This makes heaps: refrigerate in glass or plastic for use. You can also freeze it in single-serve (about 3-4 tablespoons) portions!
Great for a quick and easy dinner, for entrees, or weekend lunches.
Try making it on a pita bread, and folding it over to take to work for lunch!
Showing posts with label lunchbox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lunchbox. Show all posts
Annies - Healthy Food and on special this week
Annies is one of my favorite places to buy snacks for lunchboxes from. They make all natural dried fruit products, nut products and seed products, amongst other things. I urge you to sign up their newsletter for great email specials.
Delivery is often overnight and very reasonable.
This week, on special are Mrs Mays Nut Crunch products. Go and check it out.
These products are an excellent, healthy alternative to sweets in the lunchbox, and are great for car trips where fresh fruit is often too messy to indulge in too often.
LastPenny recommends products we use ourselves. We receive no payment or other benefits from these recommendations nor for visits to websites we recommend in posts.
Delivery is often overnight and very reasonable.
This week, on special are Mrs Mays Nut Crunch products. Go and check it out.
These products are an excellent, healthy alternative to sweets in the lunchbox, and are great for car trips where fresh fruit is often too messy to indulge in too often.
LastPenny recommends products we use ourselves. We receive no payment or other benefits from these recommendations nor for visits to websites we recommend in posts.
Kedgeree - a forgotten, filling, favorite!
Kedgeree is, put simply, a type of fish risotto.
It's nutritious, filling, warming and most kids love it. You can make it with any type of fish - personally, for ease and cost effectiveness, I use tinned smoked fish fillets.
You can also make it with tinned salmon (or even fresh salmon! But THAT'S not Last Penny!) to serve as a dinner party entree.
But you can use any sort of boneless, filleted fish.
Kedgeree
Fish of choice - 1x310g can smoked fish fillets is a good place to start. If using fresh fish, cook (grill or poach for preference) and flake.
2 cups cooked rice (long grain) - most kids prefer white, use brown for dinner parties, or, if you are being extremely posh, use a mix of wild rice and brown. Avoid jasmine, basmati, etc (Unless that's all you have in the house, in which case, I can attest to the fact it's quite edible with Jasmine!)
1 hard-boiled egg
1 or 2 fresh tomatoes
Herbs: best are fresh dill, chives and parsley. Use dried if you don't have fresh.*
I make this dish in the electric frying pan, but you can do it on the stovetop in a frying pan or wok if you prefer.
Put the cooked rice and the fish in the frying pan over a medium heat. Toss in a little oil to coat pan and prevent sticking (olive oil is best for fish, I find, but the healthiest option, of course, is good old canola cooking spray). Stir frequently, and cook until the rice is starting to brown.
Chop the egg roughly and add. Chop the tomato into smallish wedges, chop your hebs if they are fresh and add. Stir as you heat through.
Serve it when the tomato is warm but not cooked!
Serving suggestions:
For a dinner party entree, pile in small bowls and serve with a wedge of lemon to squeeze over it.
For lunch or tea, serve with a fresh green salad and slices of avocado, or with an orange-and-carrot salad, according to the season
Personally, I love the leftovers cold in my lunchbox, with a squeeze of lemon! But they also reheat in the microwave to be very tasty :)
*Top Tip: Dill is a wonderful herb to have on hand if your family likes fish. It enhances any fish cooking and is particularly tasty added to tinned fish. I usually cheat with dill and buy it dried, as I don't use the volume to justify a fresh plant.
It's nutritious, filling, warming and most kids love it. You can make it with any type of fish - personally, for ease and cost effectiveness, I use tinned smoked fish fillets.
You can also make it with tinned salmon (or even fresh salmon! But THAT'S not Last Penny!) to serve as a dinner party entree.
But you can use any sort of boneless, filleted fish.
Kedgeree
Fish of choice - 1x310g can smoked fish fillets is a good place to start. If using fresh fish, cook (grill or poach for preference) and flake.
2 cups cooked rice (long grain) - most kids prefer white, use brown for dinner parties, or, if you are being extremely posh, use a mix of wild rice and brown. Avoid jasmine, basmati, etc (Unless that's all you have in the house, in which case, I can attest to the fact it's quite edible with Jasmine!)
1 hard-boiled egg
1 or 2 fresh tomatoes
Herbs: best are fresh dill, chives and parsley. Use dried if you don't have fresh.*
I make this dish in the electric frying pan, but you can do it on the stovetop in a frying pan or wok if you prefer.
Put the cooked rice and the fish in the frying pan over a medium heat. Toss in a little oil to coat pan and prevent sticking (olive oil is best for fish, I find, but the healthiest option, of course, is good old canola cooking spray). Stir frequently, and cook until the rice is starting to brown.
Chop the egg roughly and add. Chop the tomato into smallish wedges, chop your hebs if they are fresh and add. Stir as you heat through.
Serve it when the tomato is warm but not cooked!
Serving suggestions:
For a dinner party entree, pile in small bowls and serve with a wedge of lemon to squeeze over it.
For lunch or tea, serve with a fresh green salad and slices of avocado, or with an orange-and-carrot salad, according to the season
Personally, I love the leftovers cold in my lunchbox, with a squeeze of lemon! But they also reheat in the microwave to be very tasty :)
*Top Tip: Dill is a wonderful herb to have on hand if your family likes fish. It enhances any fish cooking and is particularly tasty added to tinned fish. I usually cheat with dill and buy it dried, as I don't use the volume to justify a fresh plant.
Tasty Dips - quick, cheap, easy and such a success
Dips are great as a pre-dinner treat, as nibbles and also in a lunchbox for you OR for the kids. But buying pre-prepared dips is expensive and often not a very healthy choice.
You can make tasty, quick dips at home which are excellent with crackers, vegetables or chippies and can be made in minutes - and look just like the ones bought in the shop for three times the price!
My own favorite is the simplest of the lot:
Chilli Yoghurt Dip
Sweet chilli sauce (absolute favorite kind: Mae Ploy - it lacks the bitter aftertaste some sweet chillis have. But choose your own favorite)
Greek yoghurt (you can also use a plain acidophilus with a thick texture and a slightly sour taste - from my own experience, De Winkle works well, but Naturalea does not. But it tastes the BEST made with Yoplait Greek Yoghurt.)
Take a small bowl - glass for a pretty effect, but any kind will do.* Pour the sweet chilli sauce carefully around the edge of the bowl so that it runs down and coats the inside, all the way around. I find it's best to work fast with a generous pour.
Spoon the chilled greek yoghurt into the bowl. I use about 3 generous tablespoons in each of my bowls. Top with a little more chilli sauce - you can drizzle it in a pattern, or just pour over.
It's at its best with raw veges like carrots and celery, but really, this dip is wonderful with anything at all.
Garnish with sprigs of parsley if you want.
A New Twist on an Old Fave
Everyone knows how to make the good old Kiwi Nestle Reduced Cream and Maggi Onion Soup dip, right? Well, you can spice that up for the new millenium - and not just by using a different flavour soup, hee!
1 tin reduced cream
Fresh mint - you can grow mint in your garden very easily, and if you dont have a garden, mint lends itself very well to pot-life. Even if you're no good at gardening, mint will grow for you.
Cucumber
1 t white vinegar
Salt and pepper (the kind you grind are best for this one)
Chop the mint finely and dice the cucumber. You can blend these in a food processor if you want but I prefer to dice and chop with a sharp knife, as it doesn't bruise the leaves and flesh.
Mix through the reduced cream, and add a splash of the vinegar. Season (add salt and pepper) and give a final stir, then cover with cling wrap and chill for at least an hour and preferably four.
Yummy with chips!
Avocado Dip
When avocado is in season and they're cheap!
1 (or more!) ripe avocado
lemon juice
salt to taste
Scoop flesh out of avocado and discard stone. Place in reasonable sized bowl. The flesh should already be squishy - if it's not, it's not ripe enough, and you'll have to slice it up for sandwiches or something instead!
Whip avocado gently with a fork until it makes a thick paste. Add a squirt of lemon juice, and if you're that kind of person, a sprinkle of salt (I leave out the salt).
Stir again, then cover with cling wrap and chill til required. It shouldn't be very cold, but the lemon juice, covering it and the chilling prevents the fruit browning.
Wonderful with crackers.
*I bought a set of six textured glass dip bowls that are oval-shaped, each about the size of a breakfast cup, from an op shop, and I paid a dollar for the whole set. Every time I use them, people exclaim over them.
TOP TIP: Use a small container (such as the smallest kind of the Glad ones you can get in the supermarket). Put a tablespoon of one of these dips in the container, and take 6 water crackers or alternately fresh chopped veges for your lunch! Kids love dipping and it's a great way of getting some veges down them during the day! It's also a top after-school snack.
You can make tasty, quick dips at home which are excellent with crackers, vegetables or chippies and can be made in minutes - and look just like the ones bought in the shop for three times the price!
My own favorite is the simplest of the lot:
Chilli Yoghurt Dip
Sweet chilli sauce (absolute favorite kind: Mae Ploy - it lacks the bitter aftertaste some sweet chillis have. But choose your own favorite)
Greek yoghurt (you can also use a plain acidophilus with a thick texture and a slightly sour taste - from my own experience, De Winkle works well, but Naturalea does not. But it tastes the BEST made with Yoplait Greek Yoghurt.)
Take a small bowl - glass for a pretty effect, but any kind will do.* Pour the sweet chilli sauce carefully around the edge of the bowl so that it runs down and coats the inside, all the way around. I find it's best to work fast with a generous pour.
Spoon the chilled greek yoghurt into the bowl. I use about 3 generous tablespoons in each of my bowls. Top with a little more chilli sauce - you can drizzle it in a pattern, or just pour over.
It's at its best with raw veges like carrots and celery, but really, this dip is wonderful with anything at all.
Garnish with sprigs of parsley if you want.
A New Twist on an Old Fave
Everyone knows how to make the good old Kiwi Nestle Reduced Cream and Maggi Onion Soup dip, right? Well, you can spice that up for the new millenium - and not just by using a different flavour soup, hee!
1 tin reduced cream
Fresh mint - you can grow mint in your garden very easily, and if you dont have a garden, mint lends itself very well to pot-life. Even if you're no good at gardening, mint will grow for you.
Cucumber
1 t white vinegar
Salt and pepper (the kind you grind are best for this one)
Chop the mint finely and dice the cucumber. You can blend these in a food processor if you want but I prefer to dice and chop with a sharp knife, as it doesn't bruise the leaves and flesh.
Mix through the reduced cream, and add a splash of the vinegar. Season (add salt and pepper) and give a final stir, then cover with cling wrap and chill for at least an hour and preferably four.
Yummy with chips!
Avocado Dip
When avocado is in season and they're cheap!
1 (or more!) ripe avocado
lemon juice
salt to taste
Scoop flesh out of avocado and discard stone. Place in reasonable sized bowl. The flesh should already be squishy - if it's not, it's not ripe enough, and you'll have to slice it up for sandwiches or something instead!
Whip avocado gently with a fork until it makes a thick paste. Add a squirt of lemon juice, and if you're that kind of person, a sprinkle of salt (I leave out the salt).
Stir again, then cover with cling wrap and chill til required. It shouldn't be very cold, but the lemon juice, covering it and the chilling prevents the fruit browning.
Wonderful with crackers.
*I bought a set of six textured glass dip bowls that are oval-shaped, each about the size of a breakfast cup, from an op shop, and I paid a dollar for the whole set. Every time I use them, people exclaim over them.
TOP TIP: Use a small container (such as the smallest kind of the Glad ones you can get in the supermarket). Put a tablespoon of one of these dips in the container, and take 6 water crackers or alternately fresh chopped veges for your lunch! Kids love dipping and it's a great way of getting some veges down them during the day! It's also a top after-school snack.
Lunch Box - packed lunch for grown ups!
Buying your lunch is a huge money-drain, especially if you do it 5 days a week. But the whole idea of a "packed lunch" takes us back to our school days - peanut butter sandwiches and soggy salad rolls!
But it doesn't have to be like that. Check out our lunchbox tips for snazzy, tasty lunches that wont break the bank!
Gourmet Lunch Salad
Your favorite salad greens*, torn or whole according to your preference.
Diced ripe tomato
If avocado is in season, and cheap, add a quarter!
Cook pumpkin in the microwave and cube, Add to your salad.
If you like cheese, add your favorite sharp-tasting cheese, or feta, crumbled or grated
Think about adding steamed baby asparagus spears, corn kernels, or any other favorite vegetable in season
Take balsamic dressing in a separate bottle and add at lunchtime - tasty!
Turkish wrap
Spread a wrap or pita bread with hummus. Add a thin layer of cooked chicken, salami or ham, top with cottage cheese, salad greens and grated carrot. Roll up, wrap in cling wrap, and it will be fresh and tasty for lunch.
Sweet Treat
Buy your favorite in-season fruit - strawberries, cherries, pears, apples, oranges, bananas. Slice into a container and top with a punnet of mixed-berry yoghurt. For something a little more filling, top with a lightly toasted muesli.
This is a great one for school lunch boxes too.
Vege Dip
This is a top selection for many diet lunches. Take one punnet low-fat cottage cheese and a selection of sliced veges for dipping.
Carrots are always a favorite, but try broccoli, cauliflower and celery too!
For added flavour, try these cottage cheese variations:
TOP TIP: Buy whole lettuce rather than bagged salad greeens - you'll save more than HALF. Even better, grow your own!
But it doesn't have to be like that. Check out our lunchbox tips for snazzy, tasty lunches that wont break the bank!
Gourmet Lunch Salad
Your favorite salad greens*, torn or whole according to your preference.
Diced ripe tomato
If avocado is in season, and cheap, add a quarter!
Cook pumpkin in the microwave and cube, Add to your salad.
If you like cheese, add your favorite sharp-tasting cheese, or feta, crumbled or grated
Think about adding steamed baby asparagus spears, corn kernels, or any other favorite vegetable in season
Take balsamic dressing in a separate bottle and add at lunchtime - tasty!
Turkish wrap
Spread a wrap or pita bread with hummus. Add a thin layer of cooked chicken, salami or ham, top with cottage cheese, salad greens and grated carrot. Roll up, wrap in cling wrap, and it will be fresh and tasty for lunch.
Sweet Treat
Buy your favorite in-season fruit - strawberries, cherries, pears, apples, oranges, bananas. Slice into a container and top with a punnet of mixed-berry yoghurt. For something a little more filling, top with a lightly toasted muesli.
This is a great one for school lunch boxes too.
Vege Dip
This is a top selection for many diet lunches. Take one punnet low-fat cottage cheese and a selection of sliced veges for dipping.
Carrots are always a favorite, but try broccoli, cauliflower and celery too!
For added flavour, try these cottage cheese variations:
- Herbed: finely chop your favorite fresh herb (we love mint, dill and chives) and stir through
- Hawaiian: stir through a half tin of crushed pineapple (choose the kind in natural juice!)
- Chilli: Stir through a tablespoon of sweet chilli sauce
TOP TIP: Buy whole lettuce rather than bagged salad greeens - you'll save more than HALF. Even better, grow your own!
Great Lunchbox Recipe - Creme de Menthe Cake (Arsenic Cake!)
Creme de Menthe cake (or Arsenic Cake, which is what we affectionately called this tasty treat :)) was one of my favourite childhood recipes - and simple enough to make that it was one of the first cakes I learned to bake alone.
Basically, it's a chocolate peppermint cake - a plain cake, flavoured with peppermint and tinted with green food colouring; and iced with rich chocolate icing (frosting). It tastes wonderful, and it's startling colour makes it a lunchbox or party favourite - as well as making it perfect for birthday cakes, St Patrick's Day or halloween!
Creme De Menthe Cake
4 oz (115g) butter
6 oz (170g) caster sugar (Don't buy it specially if you don't have it to hand: use plain white!)
2 eggs
6 oz (170g) flour
1/4 c milk
1/2 baking soda
1 t cream of tartar*
1 t peppermint essence
1 t green food colouring (optional of course)**
Cream the butter and sugar (Check out a post later in the week for directions if you're not sure what this means!) Add the eggs and stir gently. NOTE: Never beat a cake mix, unless the recipe specifically calls for it. Stir gently :)
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk. Add it alternately with your remaining dry ingredients (flour, cream of tartar). NOTE: this means, stir in some of the dry ingredients, then an equivalent proportion of milk, and repeat until all have been added. It's to help you achieve a smooth cake batter :)
Your cake batter should be a nice gold, and reasonably thick. add your peppermint essence and green colour, and stir through until mixed. The batter will turn a pale grass green - don't get it too bright, it always looks brighter when it's cooked!
Grease your cake pan, or line it with baking paper, and pour in your cake batter. I prefer to make this cake in a square pan, so as to have lovely squares with four green sides when it's cut, but use your favorite cake pan for the occasion. Round is usually better for birthdays!
Bake the cake at 180 deg C (350F) until done - it takes around 40 minutes in a standard oven. A fan oven will be faster.
The edges of the cake will brown, but when you cut it you'll find the cake is quite a virulent green. if it's for a birthday or St Patrick's Day, you might like to trim the edges off to make a nice bright green edge - you can serve these offcuts as desserts with icecream.
Ice with your favorite chocolate icing/frosting recipe - I'll bring you mine tomorrow, but this cake will take your own favorite.
*Unfortunately, there's not really a good substitute for cream of tartar, if you don't happen to have it. You could try popping in a teaspoon of baking powder instead. You'll find recommendations to leave out the baking soda if you do that, but I wouldn't recommend that course for this particular recipe.
Serving suggestions
Basically, it's a chocolate peppermint cake - a plain cake, flavoured with peppermint and tinted with green food colouring; and iced with rich chocolate icing (frosting). It tastes wonderful, and it's startling colour makes it a lunchbox or party favourite - as well as making it perfect for birthday cakes, St Patrick's Day or halloween!
Creme De Menthe Cake
4 oz (115g) butter
6 oz (170g) caster sugar (Don't buy it specially if you don't have it to hand: use plain white!)
2 eggs
6 oz (170g) flour
1/4 c milk
1/2 baking soda
1 t cream of tartar*
1 t peppermint essence
1 t green food colouring (optional of course)**
Cream the butter and sugar (Check out a post later in the week for directions if you're not sure what this means!) Add the eggs and stir gently. NOTE: Never beat a cake mix, unless the recipe specifically calls for it. Stir gently :)
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk. Add it alternately with your remaining dry ingredients (flour, cream of tartar). NOTE: this means, stir in some of the dry ingredients, then an equivalent proportion of milk, and repeat until all have been added. It's to help you achieve a smooth cake batter :)
Your cake batter should be a nice gold, and reasonably thick. add your peppermint essence and green colour, and stir through until mixed. The batter will turn a pale grass green - don't get it too bright, it always looks brighter when it's cooked!
Grease your cake pan, or line it with baking paper, and pour in your cake batter. I prefer to make this cake in a square pan, so as to have lovely squares with four green sides when it's cut, but use your favorite cake pan for the occasion. Round is usually better for birthdays!
Bake the cake at 180 deg C (350F) until done - it takes around 40 minutes in a standard oven. A fan oven will be faster.
The edges of the cake will brown, but when you cut it you'll find the cake is quite a virulent green. if it's for a birthday or St Patrick's Day, you might like to trim the edges off to make a nice bright green edge - you can serve these offcuts as desserts with icecream.
Ice with your favorite chocolate icing/frosting recipe - I'll bring you mine tomorrow, but this cake will take your own favorite.
*Unfortunately, there's not really a good substitute for cream of tartar, if you don't happen to have it. You could try popping in a teaspoon of baking powder instead. You'll find recommendations to leave out the baking soda if you do that, but I wouldn't recommend that course for this particular recipe.
Serving suggestions
- This cake is a lunchbox favorite - very tasty, and great looking!
- Un-iced, sliced thinly and topped with chocolate sauce as a dessert
- Birthday party - either as the birthday cake or sliced into fingers
- St Patrick's Day or Hallowe'en party fare
Second hand shopping for the kitchen - even the celebrities are doing it!
Last Night on Campbell Live, celebrity chef Richard Till talked about "retro" baking utensils.
He had a lot of items that many of us still have and use at home, but he also made a key point - the young presenter didn't even *recognise* a lot of the items that our mothers and grandmothers used every day.
Two of the items discussed last night:
These are a flour sifter (left) and a Gem iron (right). (Watch this space - next week LastPenny will bring you Mum's wonderful Gem recipe. It's not exactly healthy eating, mind, but we all need comfort food, right? *vbg*)
Baking at Home
The point of today's post is twofold. The first key point is that baking at home provides a more cost-effective and often healthier alternative to buying snacks.
By looking out those old recipes (or following LastPenny!) you can keep the family in cakes, biscuits, desserts and many other tasty treats, all without spending a fortune.
Here's the SECOND key point. With the busy, instant focus of life in this new millennium, many of us simply aren't set up to bake at home. We're missing a number of the key items we need to get going. But don't despair! Don't put home baking in the too hard basket, or think it will take a lot of expensive equipment to get going.
So what utensils I need to bake at home?
While you're there, pick up the other items you'dd need. These vary depending on what you're intending to cook, but will likely include:
**TIP: You can buy muffin and cupcake papers at the supermarket, and if you don't have a muffin pan, many muffin or cake doughs will hold their shape in a paper receptacle. The key here is not to overfill the muffin or cake paper.
We'll bring you some top baking recipes and tips over the next week :) Look out for them, and if you've got an old favorite, drop us a line in comments or by using the form on our webpage here, and we'll find your favorite recipe for you! Or, if you have a recipe to share, send it in - we'll include it, with a link to your website or blog.
He had a lot of items that many of us still have and use at home, but he also made a key point - the young presenter didn't even *recognise* a lot of the items that our mothers and grandmothers used every day.
Two of the items discussed last night:
These are a flour sifter (left) and a Gem iron (right). (Watch this space - next week LastPenny will bring you Mum's wonderful Gem recipe. It's not exactly healthy eating, mind, but we all need comfort food, right? *vbg*)
Baking at Home
The point of today's post is twofold. The first key point is that baking at home provides a more cost-effective and often healthier alternative to buying snacks.
By looking out those old recipes (or following LastPenny!) you can keep the family in cakes, biscuits, desserts and many other tasty treats, all without spending a fortune.
Here's the SECOND key point. With the busy, instant focus of life in this new millennium, many of us simply aren't set up to bake at home. We're missing a number of the key items we need to get going. But don't despair! Don't put home baking in the too hard basket, or think it will take a lot of expensive equipment to get going.
So what utensils I need to bake at home?
- First up, you don't need a food processor, blender, or any other fancy electronic equipment. While those are nice to haves, your gran didn't have them, and quite likely your mother started without them too - and they all baked, very successfully.
- What you do need are a couple of good heavy tablespoons, a set of measuring spoons, a set of measuring cups, a fork, an egg-whisk, a rolling pin and a measuring cup or bottle with a fitting lid (that you can shake liquid ingredients in).
- If you don't have a rolling pin, a wine bottle or something similar-shaped and reasonably heavy will do the trick.
- A sieve or sifter for flour is desirable, but you can live without it.
- A rubber spatula for scraping out bowls is a nice to have.
- A set of kitchen scales is helpful, but you CAN do without it - many recipe books including the Edmonds Cook Book have conversion charts at the front, listing the conversions from weight to volume for common ingredients.
- The final key thing you need, especially if you're a new baker, is a RECIPE BOOK. And I don't mean Jamie Oliver's newest coffee table masterpiece, either. Find your mum's favourite old recipe book - I have one of my mother's grandmothers, that gives the method for regulating the temperature in a wood-burning stove. That's the kind of recipe book you need. In the front of those books are a whole lot of lovely tips for the first-time baker - all about what terms such as "cream the butter and sugar" mean, and advice on really how to rub the butter into the flour. (LastPenny will bring you those in due course, too - but having them at your fingertips is a great idea)
While you're there, pick up the other items you'dd need. These vary depending on what you're intending to cook, but will likely include:
- Cake pans*
- Muffin trays**
- Cookie sheets
- Loaf tins
**TIP: You can buy muffin and cupcake papers at the supermarket, and if you don't have a muffin pan, many muffin or cake doughs will hold their shape in a paper receptacle. The key here is not to overfill the muffin or cake paper.
We'll bring you some top baking recipes and tips over the next week :) Look out for them, and if you've got an old favorite, drop us a line in comments or by using the form on our webpage here, and we'll find your favorite recipe for you! Or, if you have a recipe to share, send it in - we'll include it, with a link to your website or blog.
Top dessert/lunchbox recipe: Honey Loaf
Honey Loaf is a sweet-tasting, cake-like loaf, perfect as morning or afternoon tea, as a lunch-box filler, or as a dessert.
And best of all, it's very very simple to make and uses a selection of relatively cheap ingredients.
Also, it is dairy free, egg free and nut free!
We make this at home all the time - it's a family favorite!
Honey Loaf
And best of all, it's very very simple to make and uses a selection of relatively cheap ingredients.
Also, it is dairy free, egg free and nut free!
We make this at home all the time - it's a family favorite!
Honey Loaf
Note: These recipes use NZ measurements. 1 c = 1 cup = 250 ml. 1 T = 1 tablespoon = 15 ml. 1 D = 2 teaspoons. 1 t = 1 teaspoon = 5ml. If you're in the US, you may find you need a little extra baking powder in recipes that use it.
8oz (225g) flour
4oz (110g) sugar
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
300ml water, boiling
2 T honey
Mix flour, sugar and baking powder. Slowly, add the boiling water with honey and soda dissolved in it. Stir well.
When I make it, I hand-stir. I find the food-processor over-mixes, but it may work for you.
The batter is quite liquid when made, about the consistency of yoghurt or perhaps a little thicker.
Pour into greased loaf tin and bake at 180C (350F) for 1 hour.
Serving Suggestions
The loaf is an attractive golden colour when cooked, and just very slightly sticky (thanks to the honey!) to touch. It rises nicely to a loaf-shape, and when cool, holds its shape well and is easy to slice.
As a dessert:
- Serve warm, cut into chunks with vanilla icecream or your favorite fresh or tinned fruit
- Serve warm or cold to taste with fresh fruit and custard
- Slice into squares and serve cold, topped with sliced berries or other fruit as dessert "nibbles" or "tapas"
- Serve cold, sliced and buttered
- You could spread it with jam, too, but I find that a little too sweet, myself
- Top with icing sugar and drizzle with lemon juice and slice into fingers
- Cut like a cake, either topped with icing sugar or iced with lemon or vanilla icing
