Recent Cakes.....

At the beginning of the month I had two cakes to make within 30 hours. Trust me when you are a mummy and doing parts of a cake in stages fitting in amongst keeping your house clean and organised and still doing your day to day activities with your toddler........let's just say as much as I love cake decorating as a hobby I stand by the theory that I don't think I could handle it as an 'at home' business.
However with a bit of sleep deprivation I managed to get these 2 cakes done and the recipients were very happy! :)

First up was my little cousin Charlie whose top 5 favourite colours are red, pink, purple, aqua and blue. So I made her a butterfly with all her favourites on it....

The camera alters the colour of the pink slightly. But if you are wondering "Where is the red?"....inside is red velvet cake. For the shape I simply hired the 'Wilton Butterfly' cake tin.

And you would think I would of learned from the 'Bejeweled Cake' disaster but no. I was getting ready to go to a barbeque for Charlie's birthday and had the cake in a large container ready to go when ....thud....yep you guessed it, a certain little person was very curious about what was inside the container. Thank god for the cake board fitting very snuggly into the container as the cake only dislodged slightly but I did have to redo the writing on the board and repipe some of the pink edge...hmmmmmm.....I was not impressed. More so with myself than Huddo.


Next up was a cake for my brother Thomas. He turned 12 this month and is an incredible young rugby league player. He is also a keen supporter of the Gold Coast Titans. So like the 'North Queensland Cowboys' cake I did for my cousin Harley. I hired the 'Wilton Football' tin and attempted to free hand the Gold Coast Titans logo and do a custom footy just for Tommy.

I was quite happy with both of these and more importantly that I actually got them both completed in the time I had!

A Dinner Idea.....and my new fav way to have cauliflower.

Well it has been 3 months now that I have been on this awesomely wonderful life changing health kick. Don't even know if I'd call it a kick anymore as pretty much it is a complete lifestyle change. Opening my eyes truly to portions and weighing pretty much anything and everything if not just for the sake of losing weight but curiosity as to the calories within particular portions. It's one thing to eat healthy but portions....oh portions, can be shocking. Particularly when you live with a male and you find yourself on your gorgeously large Maxwell & Williams square dining plates going scoop for scoop with him. Keeping in mind you are probably serving him too much for even his daily allowances to begin with.

One of my favourite new dinners that is quick easy and something that Hudson has been loving also is
Chicken & Crispy Broccoli with Low Fat Creamy Cauliflower Mash. A little hint from my lovely friend Dani.

Ingredient:
500g Chicken Breast
1 head broccoli
1 head of cauliflower
2 tablespoons of Philly cream cheese
2 cloves of garlic
50 g of grated parmesan
Salt
Pepper
Paprika
Desired cooking oil...either Olive Oil or Cold Pressed Canola Oil.

Method
1)Break cauliflower head into smallish florets and cook in water that just covers the all the florets. Cook on medium to high covered for 15 minutes until soft. Remove lid for last 5 minutes to assist with reducing the water. (Try to aim for minimal if any water to be drained! The less nutrients you lose in draining water the better I always reckon).
2)Dice chicken and break broccoli into small florets. Crush one of the cloves of garlic and cook chicken in a fry pan on medium heat with garlic, oil and touch of salt, pepper and paprika.
3)Once chicken is cooked add broccoli into the pan.
4)While broccoli is cooking take cauliflower off heat and mash loosely with the little remaining water and add crushed clove of garlic, parmesan, philly, salt pepper and half a teaspoon of paprika. Return to low heat and stir every few seconds for about 5 minutes.

Now for the tricky serving part...... if you can, separate the chicken and broccoli into two separate sides of the fry pan.
Measure 1 cup of cauliflower mash and place onto the plate first.
Then 1 cup half filled with broccoli and half filled with chicken. Place on top of cauliflower.

 This portion size is only 285 calories. Contains 31g of protein.....and my personal favourite....8g of fibre! Half most people's daily requirement and such a godsend when you are on a high protein low carb eating plan. .....but best of all it is DELICIOUS!!!

Passionfruit & White Choc Bikkies...

As you all know I love baking and healthy cooking but I love living life in moderation and where I can I make the treats myself so at least I know what is going into them, particularly where Huddo is concerned!
This week I came up with a naughty little recipe that is by no means full of chia seeds and linseed meal....warning: it's naughty. However by breaking up the mixture and only cooking a few bikkies at a time, one biscuit is only 50 calories. But for a little treat I assure you they are delish.

Ingredients:
275g Plain flour (I use gluten free)
200g Unsalted butter
90g icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon passionfruit extract
1/2 cup of cooking white choc bits.

Method:
1)Combine the butter and flour in a food processor until the mix resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
2)Add icing sugar, vanilla, passionfruit and white choc bits. Process for one minute.
3) Remove mixture and knead lightly into a sausage shape. Now this is where you can opt to separate your mix into a few 'sausage' shapes and keep for another time.

4)Place in fridge to cool to firm for at least an hour. (for ones you are keeping until another time place into the freezer)
5)Preheat oven to 180oC.
6)Slice thinly and place onto tray that is covered in a sheet of baking paper.
7)Bake for 8-10 minutes.

I got about 8 biscuits from one of these logs of dough. They are so quick to bake and taste so yummy that it is great to have them on hand for when friends drop by for a playdate or for weeks when you are just really busy but want to have a little something for your family.