Bargain Ceramic Knives

I try to "shop local" wherever I can. I believe in supporting my local economy and local jobs. There are times however when I do dabble in a little frugal online shopping to help the family finances along. A good example of this is when I decided to stop paying $16 for budget drumsticks from our local music shop (our eldest son is a mad keen drummer) and instead began buying two sets of the exact same drumsticks for less than $4 from a Hong Kong Ebay seller - and that includes postage. Sometimes (sadly) it just makes sense to buy online!

Recently I made a wonderful online purchase that I wanted to share with you all. Occasionally I buy things from the online department store dealsdirect.com and I have always been thrilled with my purchases. So last month when I spotted these ceramic knife sets (and read the good customer reviews) I decided to buy myself a set. I have wanted a quality ceramic knife for a long time, but couldn't afford the hefty price tag in my local kitchen stores. I was a little dubious as the sets are very cheap, but I am really thrilled with my knives and even bought my Mum a set for her birthday recently! Although they look like plastic toy knives, they slice and dice fantastically well and are very easy to care for. I certainly won't be going back to steel blades!

I printed this page from ehow to include in my Mum's present so she knew about ceramic knives and how to care for them.

I really recommend these bargain knives! They make a great present or a handy addition to your own kitchen. :-)

Filling Tummies with Mandi's Brilliant Boston Bun

Today was such a wet and windy day that I decided we needed something a little special to cheer us up for afternoon tea. With my parents coming for a visit it was the perfect opportunity to try out a new forum thermomix recipe. I am trying so hard not to put the weight back on that I lost recently and now rarely cook cakes or sweet treats unless we have visitors coming to help us eat them. Anyway I flicked through my file of recipes that I have printed off ready to try and thought that Mandi's Boston Bun Recipe looked rather tasty and VERY easy! I must admit that I was a little concerned about the mashed potato element but decided to be brave and give it a try (and I knew my Nan had cake recipes using mash so I figured it must be alright :-)).

Wow! I was so impressed. My family loved it too and we very nearly gobbled the whole thing up! The yeasted "Boston Buns" (basically iced fruit bread) that are sold in supermarkets and bakeries cannot be compared in any way to this divine Boston Bun. This bun is slightly moist and best served warm so make your icing quite thick so that it won't run off the warm bun. My only modification of Mandi's recipe was that it needed about an hour of cooking time to cook completely through. Thank you Mandi for posting this great recipe!

Once again I forgot to take a photo before we started eating. Here is my rather sad photo of the remains:

Chocolate Chestnut Cheesecake Review

As I was looking through the 2011 Thermomix Calendar yesterday I spotted the beautiful Chocolate Chestnut Cheesecake recipe and remembered that I hadn't posted my review and photo here on my blog. As it is the single most nicest thing I have ever made in the thermomix I just had to rectify the situation. Here is my forum thermomix review and photo of this delicious cake that I made for my Mum on Mothers Day (and yes the cake is half eaten - I was a bit late taking the photo):

Chocolate Chestnut Cheesecake - 2011 Thermomix Calendar

My Review:

This was a big 10/10 for me! It was extremely rich (tiny servings needed), but just delicious. There were a few steps involved but nothing too complicated. I would really recommend this for a special occasion cake! Tenina has really outdone herself here.

My Tweaks:

I used macadamia's instead of chestnuts (both in the paste and toffee decorations) and they were wonderful.

I steamed the cheesecake for 20 minutes longer than stated in the recipe as the middle needed longer to set.

Next time I would tilt the varoma lid every 10-15 minutes to drain off some of the condensation (tipping it so the water drains down the outside of the cake tin and back into the bowl). The cake was constantly splashed with big drops in the later stages of cooking and may have cooked in the time specified if I had of done this.

Outer Calm Brings Inner Peace!!!

As you may have read in my recent post I am a big fan of Peter Walsh's book "It's All Too Much". I have found the process of decluttering our home so cleansing and I am loving our new, uncluttered way of life! We certainly aren't hoarders and didn't have a lot of junk compared to many people, but I was amazed at how much stuff we had that we really didn't need or want. Having extra stuff around you really does affect the way that you feel and clutters your head space. As Peter says "it's not about the stuff"! It is about how that stuff makes you feel and you may not even know that it is affecting you.

Our home and sheds are now well and truly decluttered and the 3 ute loads to the rubbish tip, 2 loads to the charity shop and 1 load to my Uncle's house are a fantastic testament to that. My Hubby thinks I am ridiculous but I really do love going to the rubbish tip. Throwing our rubbish into the big pit is so freeing! I also love the space that clearing our junk has left. I have been able to organise the items remaining in a much more efficient way which I have enjoyed. I actually like opening my cake tin cupboard now as it only contains my neatly stacked everyday tins. My collection of special occasion tins are now stacked on the designated kitchen shelf in my now rather empty laundry cupboards.

Now that we are officially decluttered I am "on guard" and have the task of ensuring that our house and lives remain uncluttered. I do this by spending several minutes each night clearing my hot spot basket and I also do it by being on guard throughout each day. I just won't let clutter into our home. Here are some of the ways I guard against clutter (and protect my cleared head space :-)):

* I visit the outside recycling bin after collecting the mail each day. I only bring genuine, important mail into the house (minus extra paper, junk mail and envelopes). I deal with the mail straight away or place it in my hot spot basket (pictured below) to be dealt with in the evening when I have more time. I also keep school notes, my menu plan and my list of jobs to do in this basket.

* I do a load of washing each day and on the days when we are home in the mornings I clear the basket of hand washing too. Flylady says a load a day keeps the chaos away and she is certainly right. It is a great habit for me to get into as when I am working more next year my weekends won't be taken up with washing. My hubby built a brilliant undercover clothes line on the veranda of our little guest cottage (see below) and I hang the washing up there on rainy days. I really love the undercover line as I don't like using my dryer too much and also don't like having washing hanging around inside on airers. I fold the washing and put it away in the late afternoon while the thermomix cooks our tea.

* My car is emptied completely now every time I go anywhere. I have a little rubbish bag in it which I empty weekly. I give the car a quick 5 minute clean once a week (and it is only 5 minutes). I shake the mats, wipe the dash with a damp cloth and run around the car with the dust buster. I love having a clean, uncluttered car.

* When I bring shopping into the house I deal with it straight away. Yesterday we came home from a shopping trip with two birthday presents. I filed the receipts and wrapped the presents straight away. I placed them into my "temporary visa tub" ready to be taken to birthday parties over the weekend. I don't need to think about them again as they are ready to go. They are not sitting around on the bench for a couple of days cluttering my head space. My temporary visa tub is my place for storing things that don't need a permanent home like library books, items that need returning to people and birthday presents.

* When I am out clothes shopping I choose new items carefully. I remember the stack of bobbly acrylic jumpers that I recently threw away and don't want to buy any more "disposable clothes" that look terrible after only a couple of washes. I am now saving for a beautiful hand knitted wool jumper that I spotted at a handicraft market recently.

* I now menu plan each week (amazing for me I know) and make sure that I am using up all fresh produce before buying more. I am also making a conscious effort to use up older and specialty items in my pantry and freezer. Having a clean, uncluttered pantry and freezer sure does make life easier.

* I continue to use my thermomix for almost all of my cooking which keeps my kitchen very uncluttered. I rarely use any other benchtop appliances aside from the toaster and kettle. I am still amazed at my little machines ability to cook complete meals with so little washing up. Often I only have a knife and chopping board to place in the dishwasher alongside the thermomix. Below is a photo of my kitchen just before dinner time. As you can see it is utter chaos :-). The thermomix is cooking a meat dish in the bowl and steaming some vegetables in the varoma on top. Some steamed rice is keeping warm in the insulated thermoserve container.

I'm sure many of you will think I have seriously lost the plot with all of my decluttering but all I can say is try it! Even with just ten minutes decluttering each day you will be surprised with how much lighter you will start to feel. Your family will notice and feel blessed with the changes that you have made in your home also. xox

Filling Tummies with Scrummy Lemon Melt Cookies

I am so thankful that this week is almost over. It is one I would certainly like to forget. I spent two sleepless nights comforting my sad little son who had infections in both ears (and suffered a scary allergic reaction to his anti-biotics) and also spent two late evenings at school dancing with my class in a performance. Not a good combination! You should never try to lead a group of young children dancing when you haven't slept at all for two nights (especially when there are 300+ people watching :-)). Anyhoot, enough about my hideous week and on to something that makes us all feel better (even extremely sleep deprived Mums) - Cookies!!!

I have a new favourite biscuit recipe Scrummy Lemon Melt Cookies - . They are so very moreish that it is extremely difficult to stop at one. You must try this recipe as they are a real treat!!! I followed the recipe quantities, but changed the method a little as suggested by Meagan in the thread comments.  I made the caster sugar and set 20g aside in a bowl.  I then blitzed the peel in with the flour and remaining sugar.  I mixed all the ingredients on speed 5 and didn't bother with the interval setting. Yummy!