Bread and gardening.......

Hi All

I have been experimenting with bread. I have been making different types of sweet bread for the boys for afternoon tea. Below is some scrolls I made, on the inside I sprinkled cocoa and sugar. I have also put dried fruit in some and then iced them. Today I put Lemonade butter into the middle....can't wait for them to cook.

I made some lemonade butter this week, it is sweeter than lemon butter. Next batch 

I won't put as much sugar into it. I made it up in my thermomix, so easy I just put all the ingredients in and walked away while it did the cooking. Love my thermomix.

Yesterday I got some kale seedlings that I will plant out today. I love kale I put it

into every thing(do not tell William he thinks it's lettuce). I also make kale chips in the barby, which William will eat, go figure....

My stone fruit trees are losing all their leaves, I will need to get in and prune them soon.

I am hoping for a good crop from them this year..

The roses have just finished their last

flush of flowers and will also need pruning in the next month or so. I think the

garden is so confused as we had some cold weather a month ago

and since then it has been very mild.

All of my bulbs are out off the ground, so they will properly flower in the middle 

of winter.

All this warm weather is not helping my argument to have the wood

stove put back in the house, so I'm hoping for some cold weather soon.

Have a great day

I am going to make a cuppa and catch up in blog land.

Mandy

Grape fruits......what to do with them..

I am so enjoying the weather I love Autumn

cool nights, crisp mornings and sunny days.

With all this great weather my citrus is ripening every day. All the grape fruit is 

starting to bend the branches so I am having to pick them before they break.

Cassie loves grape fruit and is happy to eat them, the boys not so much.

I made a grape fruit cake today, it is normally orange cake so instead I used grape fruits. 

I will ice it with Philli cheese and honey,,,yummoooo

  I then put the skins to work in a bottle of vinegar to make my 

cleaning spray. I leave this jar on the kitchen bench and every one knows to 

put there citrus peels in there. I leave this to steep about 2 weeks and then pop it into a spray 

bottle. I use this spray for all my cleaning.

As you can see below the fruit trees have grown, next week I will have Lemonades ready...

The oranges and mandarins don't even make it into the house the boys just pick them and eat....

Now that's fast food.

Grape fruit and coconut cake.

1 cup coconut flour

5 eggs                   

1 cup yoghurt   

pinch salt

2/3 cup grapefruit juice

zest from grapefruit

1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil

1 teaspoon bi carb

1 teaspoon creme tarter

1 cup sugar(your choice of sugar)

*Beat together eggs, yoghurt, salt, fruit juice and zest.

*Add melted butter or oil in a slow steady stream mixing all the time.

*Fold in flour, bicarb, creme tarter and sugar mix till well combined.

* Bake for 35-40 mins in 180C oven.

* Let cake cool 10min before turning to cake rack.

* when cool mix 1/2 cup cream cheese and 1 tablespoon honey

pour over the top and enjoy....

Have a great week

Mandy

A Spend Free Week and Around the Farm........

We have some new members of the food chain here.

Finally we have new chickens after all our rare bread ones were taken in the new year.

Why so long to get some? I really,really wanted rare bread ones again,but they are soooooo expensive.

So I decided to just get any chooks I could for now and slowly buy my rare bread ones 

a few at a time....For now though I am getting eggs again and I am happy.

Meet Martha (black) and Penny (brown)

These lovely girls are saddle back pigs, and they are so pretty and tame. Now we now that they will end up on the table

and every one says I shouldn't name them, but happy animals are what we are about and William and I can't be down  playing with them saying "Hey you" now can we.

As soon as the animals see me they all come running for there food. We have 2 sheep ready for 

slaughter, Starlight and Origin...We still haven't got a new ram after the chicken and sheep disaster at Christmas. I think I will have to buy some new lambs in spring for next year until our ram arrives.

 I was like the Pipe Piper of cows they weren't letting me get away with out something to eat, they followed me all the way to the gate and then bellowed at me. I am looking forward to the time they will be ready to eat as well, for now though we get our meet from a local organic farmer.
Next on the list in meat chickens, but that won't be until after winter, this time next year we will be very close to producing most of our food here on the farm.

This week I am challenging myself to a 

No Spend Week....

It is Thursday and I'm doing well, the cat is now eating weet-bix and almond milk as I have run out of cat food!!!!!

I am cleaning out the fridge and pantry and making some interesting meals.

I have a few things still in the vege garden that we are eating, won't belong before all the crops are ready to harvest.

We do have to go to Stanthorpe this week end for William to play soccer. We are taking the 

caravan and staying at the free site there, food I will take with me from home.

Well that's the plan.....I'll let you know how that goes!!!

It is interesting having a spend free week as I'm seeing that I tend to go to the shops

when I run out of something instead of making do with what I have..

Has any one else tried to to have a week with out spending money?

I would love to hear how you went....

Blessing to all

Mandy