Flash Game Friday

Christmas Defence

The now traditional holiday post.

Flash Game Friday

Run from the Zombies!

Run from zombies in Google Street View. Slightly buggy, but totally awesome.

Puppet head list, progress report

1. hide 43 treasures - 33/43
2. milk a cow
3. bungee jump
4. Send a message in a bottle
5. Record a song
6. visit a planetarium
7. Swim with dolphins
8. Tie a cherry stem in a knot with my tongue
9. Throw a dart into a map and travel to where it lands
10. Get a tattoo
11. take a moonlit walk on a beach
12. finish crocheting my tetris blanket
13. Send in a postsecret
14. try sushi
15. learn the thriller dance
16. write a screenplay
17. go on a road trip with friends
18. Have glamour photos taken of me
19. bake a Croquembouche
20. crochet a hat
21. Take a pole dancing class
22. Go to a strip club
23. get a professional massage
24. dye my hair purple
25. go on a pub crawl
26. have brunch with friends
27. Give blood (well, I tried, but they wouldn't take it!)
28. spend a day taking photos of my city
29. visit all the Australian states and territories - 5/7
30. eat at a teppanyaki style restaurant

Clearly at this point I can tell not all of these are going to happen, so I'll be writing a new list in August, giving myself until I am 35 to finish those that are impractical, and some new goals. I mean, I know I can't afford to go to WA or Tassie in the next few months, so that's that.

Not dead, just missing.

Not how I wanted to celebrate this blog's third birthday.

Well, I'm not really missing, I'm still here. I'm just finding it hard to keep this blog up. It's hard to have cooking as a hobby when cash is tight. And while I am still cooking (we've still got to eat), surely no one wants to see me post the same things over and over again.

I'm going to take a break from posting here for a while. Things have been hectic with Miss Five starting school, and Master Six going back to school, and the next few months are going to tight money wise. I might still pop in with posts from time to time, and of course, the craft blog is still going strong, (Never Mind the Claw Marks) because that is set at two posts a week, and I have a heap of things still yet to share. Plus, people keep giving me free yarn (I heart enablers) so it's not an expensive hobby like creative cookery is.

While I'm on break I'll be thinking hard about what I want the future of this blog to be, and hopefully I can come back with some sort of more regular schedule to posting, because I can not keep up with 7 days a week posting and three children (and all my new yarn babies! lol).

Over the three years I've been writing this blog, a lot has changed. I've got from having a toddler and a little boy just starting kinder, to two children at school and a very active almost three year old. We've moved twice, and now live in our own home, with all the extra everything that entails. I've had big breaks before, when I've had to adjust to children growing up and new situations in our life, and I have no doubts I will be back. I just want to move the focus away from solely food and recipes, and start sharing other content, but in a more predictable, organised way than I have been in the past. I'll be using this break to amass a bunch of that content too, so I can have a bigger buffer of posts, so that I can be more flexible with when I actually need to sit down and write.

So, this is not goodbye, just a holiday. Here's where RSS feed readers and being a fan on Facebook come into their own, so you'll know when I come back, whether for one post or back properly.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday

Sausages & Mash

Tuesday

Pasta Bake

Wednesday
Supermarket Pizza

Thursday

Chicken Curry Pasta Salad

Friday

Chips and Nuggets

Saturday
Freezer Suprise

Sunday
Big lunch at ILs


Check back during the week for the recipes, and as usual, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for literally hundreds of other menu plan blog posts, and please come back here for Kids Cooking Thursday.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday

Sausage Penne

Tuesday

Pies & Garlic Bread

Wednesday
Too Hot to Cook Pizza night

Thursday
Freezer Suprise

Friday

Mince & Spuds

Saturday

Dinner out @ Hog's Breath Cafe

Sunday

Pancakes


Check back during the week for the recipes, and as usual, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for literally hundreds of other menu plan blog posts, and please come back here for Kids Cooking Thursday when we make Apple, Mango & Cinnamon Muffins.

(It really will happen this week I swear!)

Flash Game Friday

Launch game.

Sorry. You'll hate me I know. But I just couldn't resist.

Creamy French Onion Spaghetti

Another spur-of-the-moment recipe. I made this with a whole pack of soup mix, but it was way too salty, and half a pack would have been just right. It was nicer cold late that night though.

Creamy French Onion Spaghetti
500g dry spaghetti
300ml cream
1/2 40g pkt French Onion Soup mix
1/2 cup crumbled parmesan cheese

Cook spaghetti in plenty of salted, boiling water, as per packet instructions.
When cooked, drain, and reserve 1/2 cup cooking water.
Mix water and dry soup mix together, add cream and cheese. Toss through pasta and serve topped with more shaved parmesan.

Savoury Mince and Potatoes

1 onion, chopped finely
100g mushrooms, chopped roughly
500g mince
1/4 cup teriyaki marinade
gravy powder to taste
3 cups frozen mixed vegetables
steamed potatoes, to serve

Lightly brown the onion and mushrooms in a large pan, add the mince, and cook until browned. Add in all the other ingredients. If the gravy powder makes it too thick, thin it down a little with some water - I like to use the water from the steamed potatoes. Cook until everything is cooked through, and thick and goopy and yum. Serve over potatoes, or rice, or toast. Mmmm, big, thick, hot, buttered toast with mince...

Great, now I want toast.

Caramel Fohli

It's sad that even with two months for Taste & Create due to the holidays, I'm still pushing the very limits of my time. I was paired with Nammi from Chillies and Lime and while it didn't take long to narrow it down to a choice of two, of course I left it to the last minute to actually cook something. Every time I see Chocolate Fondant (or Molten Choc Cake, or Choc Lava Cake, as they can be called) I swear that this is the time I'm going to make them. But I have no ramekins, and the thought of trying to turn two at once out of a muffin tin scares me. So I made these instead.

Caramel Folhi is a delicious recipe for slightly sweet pancakes - crepes really, as you need to spread the batter really thin. This is a non-flip recipe, you roll them up and serve after cooking only on one side, so they need to be thin to fully cook, and also to be able to roll without breaking.

I had to make a double batch, to feed our horde of 5, but it was worth it, and I'll be bookmarking the recipe to use again.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday

Mushroom and Xmas ham Risotto

Tuesday

Supermarket Pizza

Wednesday

Savoury Mince and Potatoes

Thursday

Creamy French Onion Spaghetti

Friday

Chicken Parmagiana & Chips

Saturday

Xmas Ham Pizza Sandwiches

Sunday

Cheese Toasties


Check back during the week for the recipes, and as usual, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for literally hundreds of other menu plan blog posts, and please come back here for Kids Cooking Thursday when we make Mango cupcakes!

Flash Game Friday

Z Type

Space Invaders style typing game.

It's always the simple ones that get you hooked for hours...

Kids Cooking Thursday: Pocky!

This was a simple, but fun, snack to make, and it's so delicious, the kids will be lucky if I don't eat them all myself!

Homemade Pocky
200g chocolate, melted
150g pretzel sticks

Dip pretzel sticks in melted chocolate, shake off excess. Place on trays lined with baking paper. Chill until set. Then eat. Or store, if uneaten, in a covered box in the fridge. You can use dark or milk chocolate for this. We grabbed two marked down 100g blocks - one 60c Xmas themed wrapped milk block, and one end of line dark chocolate with sea salt. I mixed the two together and it was heaven. Chocolatey heaven on a stick. And then I ate the stick. Om nom nom!

Master Two did have a go, but the photos were all blurry because he was jumping so much.

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday

Chicken Schnitzel and Vegetables

Tuesday

Spinach and Bacon Risotto

Wednesday

Lemon Chicken Caeser Salad Wrap

Thursday

Turkish Bread Hot Dogs

Friday

Salt and Vinegar Chicken Strips, chips and garlic bread

Saturday
Xmas lunch leftovers

Sunday
Sandwichs after big Boxing Day BBQ at my folks.


Check back during the week for the recipes, and as usual, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for literally hundreds of other menu plan blog posts, and please come back here for Kids Cooking Thursday when we make homemade Pocky.

Flash Game Friday

Mario Stich

All the tedium of cross stitch, without having a cool geekily awesome picture at the end of your toil.

Seriously, who makes cross stitch flash games? There's a knitting one in there too, if you can be bothered wading through the gender biased rubbishy listings.

Kids Cooking Thursday: Rocky Road Fudge

A combination of three different variations of this recipe, the kids and I made this for DP's birthday. Normally I make him Rocky Road Ice cream for his birthday, but with the the heat of the kitchen in this sudden Summer swelter, I thought I'd try something different for a change.

Rocky Road Fudge
3 cups chopped chocolate (we used 1 cup chopped Tobelerone, 1 cup 70% dark and the other 50% dark)
1 cup chopped (or mini) marshmallows
1 can sweetened condensed milk
4 Choc Ripple biscuits, crushed roughly (any creamless chocolate biscuit would do)
1/4 cup chopped glace cherries
1/4 cup extra chopped marshmallows

Place the chocolate, 1st cup masrhmallows and condensed milk in a large, microwave proof bowl. Heat for 2 minutes on MED. Line a jelly roll pan with baking paper.
Remove bowl from microwave and stir. Continue heating on HIGH for 30 second bursts until the chocolate is all melted and the marshmallow has mostly mixed in. Add the rest of the ingredients (marshmallows last) and stir through thoroughly. Pour into lined tin, and refrigerate until set, about 2 hours.

Remove from pan and place on a chopping board. Peel the paper off and cut into small squares. Store covered in the fridge. If the fudge is sticky and hard to cut store in freezer for 30 mins and try again ;)

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.

Menu Plan Monday

Monday

Super Veg'd Pasta

Tuesday
Omelette sandwiches

Wednesday

Vegiful Mac N Cheese

Thursday

Spinach, Colby & Chicken Melt Subs

Friday

Spring Rolls & Chips

Saturday

Penne with lazy sauce

Sunday
Pizza


Check back during the week for the recipes, and as usual, check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for literally hundreds of other menu plan blog posts, and please come back here for Kids Cooking Thursday when we make Rocky Road Fudge.

Everything starts with an 'E'

Saw this walking to the shops this morning and instantly got the song below stuck in my head. I took a photo because it's cool to see what you can find if you keep your eyes open.

Flash Game Friday

Tetris

I can't believe that I, of all people, have not linked to a free flash Tetris here yet. After all, I learned to crochet just to make a Tetris blanket and I can spend hours playing it. Better late than never I guess.

Aeroplanes

Kids Cooking Thursday: Aztec Truffle Cupcakes

Using the leftover mixture from the Aztec Truffles, we whipped up an .87c chocolate cake mix into cupcakes, and placed a tiny ball of truffle inside each one before baking. This is not a recipe to make with children if you are messphobic, or want photos of the process. They tasted great though!

If you'd like to join in with Kids Cooking Thursday please leave a permalink to your own Kids Cooking Thursday post, as per the rules.

Story Time

I'm beginning to think that promising to post my 365project photos here on the blog every night might have been a silly idea. I'll finish this week out, but after that I think you'll have to follow along there. It's not really what this blog is about after all. (plus, I have a feeling my foood photography is going to end up there as last resort type photos sooner rather than later, and I don't want to triple post them here, especially not two to three weeks in advance!)

Static

Dream

Dream from The Sandman, one of a series of dragons I'm making myself. I want all of The Endless in dragon form. I'm especially looking forward to making Delirium. You are getting a sneak peek here only because this is my 365project photo for today. Normally my dragons only get posted to my craft blog, and I am saving The Endless dragons up for one post, so this is well ahead of posting schedule for this little guy. I just didn't take any other photos today.

It was this or risotto - which would you rather? Ok, silly question, but I don't have enough faith in my food porn abilities to pit myself up against the big players yet :)

Menu Plan Monday

Monday
Pizza

Tuesday

Risotto Carbonara

Wednesday

Penne Bolognese

Thursday
Spaghetti on Toast

Friday

Vegetable & Chicken Noodle Risotto

Saturday

Sausages and Chips

Sunday
Sandwiches


DP was away this week, hence the overabundance of rice. That's also why I forgot to take photos a lot.Check out I'm an Organizing Junkie for literally hundreds of other menu plan blog posts, and please come back here for Kids Cooking Thursday.