New-ish Blog

Hi All and welcome to my new-ish blog.  I've decided to separate my training from my other posts so The Iron Maiden can be my training blog exclusively.  I'm kind of a organised and tidy person when it comes to my work area so it irks me that that blog is a mish mash of stuff when the title suggests its about training than anything.  So, I hope to post more recipe stuff here and other things I am interested in.  Hope to hear from you!

Want

I love this dress,  I saw it today walking past Max.  The only problem is, is that Max has most of their clothes (if not all) made in China and I try and avoid purchasing clothes that are made in China.  I'm going to have to have a think about this one.....

Peppermint Slice

The good thing about this slice is that it is pretty rich so you can't have too much of it at a time. It tastes like something you would purchase at a fancy cafe and it is so easy to make! The original recipe calls for real cream, but I didn't have any so I used coconut cream.

lightly adapted from Foodtown Magazine

Base

150g butter, softened

½ cup sugar

1½ cups flour

¼ cup cocoa

½ teaspoon baking powder

Filling

100g butter

1½ cups icing sugar

1½ tablespoons coconut cream

1 teaspoon peppermint essence

200g dark chocolate

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line an 18cm x 28cm pan with baking paper. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Sift in the flour, cocoa and baking powder. Mix together until combined; I used my hands to mix in the last bits. Press the mixture into the base of the prepared pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes until firm. Set aside to cool.To make the filling, cream the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in the coconut cream and peppermint essence. Spread the mixture evenly over the cooled base.  Put in freezer for 60 minutes.  You can refrigerate it but I found that when I did, the melted chocolate melted the peppermint filling a little and it didn't finish as well.  Melt chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of boiling water and spread over the peppermint filling evenly.

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First Harvest: Cavolo Nero & Celery

This morning I went out to the garden and gathered some greens for my breakfast smoothie.  I like to add some greens in there so I make sure I am getting enough vegetables for the day.  I picked about 8 stems of the Cavolo Nero and a celery stick for good measure.  The leaves of the Cavolo Nero were quite a bit larger than the normal ones I got from the store and even better, I know for sure that they have no pesticides sprayed on them because I grew it.  Best of all, all those nutritional benefits from picking the vegetables and using them immediately. 

Two of the stems of Cavolo Nero went to Daisy for part of her breakfast and the rest went into my blender

Green Breakfast Smoothie

6-10 leaves of Cavolo Nero or Kale

1 stick of celery, including leaves

1 banana

300ml cold water

1 capful vanilla extract

1 tablespoon natural peanut butter

2 scoops protein powder

Add water to blender and then banana in small pieces.  Blend.  Add Cavolo Nero, Celery, Peanut Butter and Vanilla extract.  Blend well.  Lastly, add protein powder and blend just enough so it is mixed in well.  Serve immediately.

Serve yours in a beer glass for maximum enjoyment

My Winter Vegetable Garden

I took a few shots the other day of what I am growing in my garden.  I am getting quite involved with learning about gardening; I have taken out many books from the library and have been learning some interesting things. Some might say I've become too involved.  I had a dream the other night that I went outside to check on my garden and someone had harvested (stolen!) all my vegetables. It was such a vivid dream that I thought it was real and I was so upset!!  I was happy to discover my vegetables sitting happily in their planters the next morning.

Since it is winter things are growing a little slowly.  Luckily we have had a very warm winter this year so they are doing better than that could have been doing.

My Cavolo Nero has grown tremendously and is ready for picking.  The Bok Choy is ready for harvest and the celery is on it's way too.  I like the idea of using the Celery as a come-and-cut-again vegetable like some of the books suggest as you never really need the whole plant or even the half that they sell in the stores.  Every time I purchase a half or whole it ends up going to waste.  I did read a tip recently which has helped me stop the wastage: dice the celery and freeze it in a re-sealable plastic bag.  It's such a simple suggestion that I can't believe I didn't think of it myself earlier!  I guess one can't think of everything.

I am getting a little frustrated at how slowly my seedlings are growing.  I bring them inside every night so they avoid the cold weather and take them outside in the morning so they can get as much light as they need.  Still they grow like snails!  I even call them my babies and that still doesn't help! Gah!

Anyway, here are the pictures I took of some of the plants.  This is only a fraction of what I have planted in containers! We rent a place so we can't really dig up the front yard to make a vegetable garden.  We don't have a backyard either.  I just make do with the space I have as tidily as I can.

Sage and Silverbeet/Swiss Chard

Oregano

Little Lettuce

Row of lettuce.  The plastic bottles act as cloches

Cavolo Nero and a Dill plant tucked in there

Kale (Squire), Perpetual Spinach, Bok Choy, Celery

Close up of Bok Choy

You see that painted corrugated iron there in some of the pictures?  Well what the snails do is they slither up there and actually reach out and eat my Cavolo Nero!  Half their body is on the wall and half is suspended in mid air and their mouth is on my vegetables, eating.  The cheeky buggers!  I usually pick them up and send them sailing into the distance.  I feel a little mean crushing them, plus I don't want to get my shoes dirty.

Hope you enjoyed my pictures!

Ginger Kiss Cupcakes

My house smelled like Christmas tonight!  I've been baking on Fridays for the past couple of weeks and made something I thought I would share since it smells and tastes divine.....

The texture and taste is very much like the Ginger Kisses you can buy in the supermarket here, so that is what I have named them after.

For those of you that don't know what Ginger Kisses are, it is a baked goody sold in New Zealand and Australia, kinda like a whoopie pie.  The filling is more like a vanilla cream rather than the spiced frosting I made.

Ginger Kiss Cupcakes

125g butter

1 cup caster sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup milk

1/3 cup molasses
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp ginger

Cream butter and sugar, mix in eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Add flour, baking powder and milk and mix well with a spoon. Add molasses and spices and beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.  Spoon into cupcake cases and bake in an oven set at 160 degrees Celsius for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool before frosting.

Spiced Buttercream Frosting

adapted from Oh She Glows

1/2 cup butter

1 cup icing sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cloves
1 tsp vanilla extract

milk/water as needed

With an electric mixer, cream butter and add sifted icing sugar 1/4 cup at a time.  Use milk/water to get desired consistency (approximately 1Tbsp needed).  Add spices & vanilla and beat with mixer until the frosting is light and fluffy.

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Gym Recovery: The Cocktail

I have invented a new cocktail.  I ironically called it "Gym Recovery" because I made it after the gym to go with my dinner of chicken.

Here is the recipe:

1.5 oz Malibu
0.5 oz Archers Peach Schnapps
Juice of one large lime 
Soda water
Ice

Pour Malibu, Archers Peach Schnapps, juice of one lime and ice into a cocktail shaker.  Shake well for at least 10 seconds. Pour into a lowball glass and top with soda water.  Enjoy after the gym.

I'm not sure if someone else has made it before and if it has an official name, but until I know otherwise I will call this cocktail Gym Recovery.  Please let me know if you know otherwise :-P