Monday, July 20, 2015

Currently 20.07.15

TIME: 12:14pm
PLACE: our couch, under a blanket

FEELING: sick
WEARING: pyjamas
HATING: sick days!
READING: quite a bit... spent all weekend curled up on the couch. Just finished Still at Birth by Caroline Sugden and highly recommend it to all my midwife friends (not the pregnant ones though!)
DRINKING: honey and lemon tea
EATING: soup mostly
LISTENING TO: pandora
PLANNING: wedding thank you cards

LOOKING FORWARD TO: Hawaii! 19 days to go!
ENJOYING: looking at our professional wedding photos - just got them back last week

MAIN GOAL: to get better before tomorrow's shift!

What are you currently doing?

Friday, July 10, 2015

Apple and Rhubarb Crumble


I'm not going to lie, I've always been a bit of a fan of apple crumble. Especially the crumble part! I'm still working on various ways to make the crumble, but I made this one recently and I was quite happy with how it turned out.


Ingredients:
  • 3 apples - I use the green ones if I have them
  • 4 stalks rhubarb
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 100g butter, diced but kept chilled
  • 1/2 cup GF plain flour
  • 1/2 cup almond meal
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar


Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius.
2. Roughly chop the apples and rhubarb. I don't peel the apples, but you can if you like. You can also do the apples in slices if you prefer. I like the messy look!
3. Place in baking dish and sprinkle with cinnamon.
4. Place chilled butter in a bowl, and rub together with the flour and almond meal. This can take a bit of work but it's worth it in the end. I add the brown sugar last and then just rub it together a bit more.
5. Sprinkle crumble over apples and rhubarb.
6. Bake uncovered in over for 15-20 minutes or until crumble appears crunchy and apples are soft.


Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Currently 30.06.15

TIME: 08:58am
PLACE: our dining room table



FEELING: a bit sleepy and needing this coffee!
WEARING: pyjamas and a warm jumper
LOVING: quiet mornings at home alone before a late shift
READING: not much unfortunately, but I did borrow a bunch from the library so will hopefully find time to pick one up soon!
DRINKING: the aforementioned coffee ;)
EATING: apple and rhubarb crumble, made last night
LISTENING TO: the heater
PLANNING: our honeymoon!
BUYING: my first nutrimetics order - I just signed up as a consultant
LOOKING FORWARD TO: our honeymoon!! ;)
CREATING: also not much, but am settling in to my new space (post to come!)
NEEDING TO FINISH: my work appraisal
MAIN GOAL: booking a holiday and getting back into the craft space!

What are you currently doing?

Friday, June 26, 2015

Gluten Free Brownies


I have recently decided to avoid gluten in my diet to see if it helps alleviate some autoimmune and inflammatory problems I have. I've always enjoyed baking, and am really liking discovering new recipes to bake so I can still get my dose of "treats". These particular brownies, I've made a couple of times now. The recipe is so simple and I've been experimenting with combinations. This week - raspberry and white chocolate.

The base of this recipe is gluten and dairy free so perfect for those with intolerances. This recipe is a bit of an adaptation from Carol Lovett's book Indulge.


Ingredients:
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • Approx 75ml coconut oil (1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon)
  • 1 cup cacao/cocoa powder
  • 1/2 - 1 cup of coconut sugar (more or less depending on how sweet you like it)
  • Pinch of salt
  • Approx 1 - 1 1/2 cups of additional ingredients: ie. choc chips, nuts, berries

Method:

1.  Preheat oven to 170 degrees celcius.
2.  In a small bowl, whisk eggs, vanilla extract and coconut oil together.
3.  In a large bowl, mix cacao powder, coconut sugar and salt.

4.  Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients slowly, while stirring to combine.
5.  Once combined and smooth, add in any additional ingredients you like.


6.  Pour into lined slice tin (mine is 11" x 7").
7.  Bake for 25-30 minutes - the brownies will still be soft and bouncy in the middle with a bit of a jiggle but they'll continue to set in the coming hours.


8.  Let cool for 5 hours (or overnight if you can!) or place in the fridge to speed up the process before cutting into pieces. I cut mine into about 20 pieces.


Enjoy! I would love to hear what your favourite brownie combinations are in the comments below.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

New Start

Hello everyone! I imagine some of you have followed me over from my previous blog and hopefully there are some new faces as well. As you may have noticed, I've falled a bit off the blogger wagon the last year or so, with my last post being May 2014. A lot has changed since then, and for those who have stayed in touched on facebook, or on my business page, you'll know the story.

My now husband proposed in June 2014 after almost six years together. It was a cold wintery night, but that didn't stop us enjoying a private yacht trip around Sydney Harbour and him getting down on one knee.



We set the date for early 2015 and got to planning the wedding, as well as an engagement party with our family and friends.


Life started to get a little bit busy, as you can likely imagine. I was finishing off my final year of my midwifery degree and trying to plan a wedding in less than 10 months. For those who know me, you'd know I'm a little bit of an independent sort and not one to ask for help - I'd much rather do things myself. I enjoyed every minute of our wedding planning and we had everything we wanted for our day. In January, we finally organised an engagement photoshoot with our wedding photographer...


Somewhere in between the weddding planning, work and study (not to mention life in general) we found a house. After spending numerous weekends scouring the real estate guides and websites, and traipsing around the majority of North Eastern suburbs, we settled on what we think is a great first home. We moved in a week after I started my new job as a midwife in one of the main maternity hospitals here.



And then, on April 11 2015, the wedding day arrived. The weather was perfect, and the whole day was a dream. Everything went to plan, and we had the best day of our lives.


So that's how our lives have changed in the last year. We've now been married for 2.5 months and we're settling into our newlywed lives quite nicely. We're honeymooning in August when I have some time off from work so we're looking forward to a well deserved getaway.

With all the life changes, and my absence from the blogging world, I thought it a good time to start afresh with a new blog and a new focus. There will always be a strong focus on my crafts (card making, off the page and Project Life) but I will also incorporate our every day lives into this blog and share recipes, home ideas etc as well. It'll be a mixed bag but I'm looking forward to it.

I've also had a bit of a break from my handmade business and the market scene but intend to pick that back up again this year and will no doubt share that here as well.