Day 5 - Making Fudge

I found this recipe on pinterest...check out my pinterest board here.

The lady who put up the recipe was testing the homecooker for Philips, and she sold this idea of doing fudge like this well.  Not having to stand over the pot stirring constantly because the cooker does it by it's self.




Well, I found, that if I made the recipe exactly as she said to, it didn't work.

All ingredients into the pot, temp set, timer set

Fudge at a rolling boil

  My fudge looked nothing like it!

Finished "set" fudge!!!

The "fudge i ended up with was more like a gooey toffee or something, inedible and with big butter swirls!!
So I thought I would give it another go, I really felt like it needed a proper beating, so I put it into a pot and remelted it, got the electric beaters out and went for it...

.... but part way through this process I got to thinking, maybe it is more about the boiling, maybe it is supposed to boil for a time and then it will set properly... but I didn't have time to do this right now as I was supposed to be at church in about 20 mins and was still in my pjs....

So I left it in the pot on the stove (turned off!)

When I came home the fudge did seem quite well set and right...but it was stuck in the pot and I couldn't get it out in nice pieces....

So I re-melted it....unfortunately, this time the bottom caught which gives it that interested "flame grilled" taste!  I didn't let that put me off and as soon as it melted I got the beaters in there gave it another go and this time tipped it into the cake tin to set.

It looks good. a little darker the take 2 and a lot darker than the picture... but it seemed to be the right consistency, so I tipped it out on to the cutting board.... unfortunately, I tried doing this with one hand as I was brushing my teeth with the other hand...and I dropped most of it on the floor... I saved it quickly and my pieces are more creatively cut...a knife was never used this time.... 

It tastes fine, with that flame grilled feeling.... and in retrospect I think I could make it again, but next time give it a proper beating with the electric beaters when the cooking is finished before pouring it into the tin.

Fudge = Success...in theory

Day 2 - a little bit of museli

I had some oats and a handful of chopped walnuts to deal to so I thought, my first experiement in the Jamie Oliver Homecooker could be a bit of toasted Museli...

I flicked open the book to find their recipe...as a starting point!




I didnt have any seeds, runny honey, dried fruit or nuts apart from a few walnuts....

So I heated the homecooker to 175 (as directed) and tipped what I had plus a big old squirt of maple syrup, set the timer for 20 minutes and walked away.

At the end of the 20 minutes the machine beeps and turns off and keeps beeping until you come back...or a while anyway, havent tested the length it goes to to ensure your return as yet.
When I came back, mine looked nothing like the picture above!?!?!  But it looked fine, maybe next time, I will time it a little shorter or possible make it a little cooler, we will see!

I have tipped it into my museli container and considered Test 1 a success!

21 Days of Jamie Oliver Homecooking, by Philips

Day One (sorry no recipes today!)
I got a Jamie Oliver Homecooker  for Christmas from Santa (via my husband's work gift!  He works for a company owned by Philips)  so anyway, I love appliances, so I was pretty excited about this, packed the instruction manual and recipe book that came with it to take camping as part of my reading material... unfortunately I was a little disapointed with everything I read... It seemed a bit a let down.  Typical Jamie Oliver recipes...not really for the home "chef"  in the book, but, then again, I think I can adapt and change things for the ingredients I have...worth a try anyway.

So, before I just give up on it and say it's not worth the hype, I figured i would give it a chance and see if I can do something in it for 21 days in a row before I decide if I like it or not!!!

this is what the Homecooker looks like and if you follow this post I can show you what the homecooker can...or cannot do!!

Day one requires something more than a breif introduction I guess, so I did a bit of recesarch to find recipes and tips.  I found this pinterest page
http://www.pinterest.com/lynvanb/jamie-oliver-homecooker/

this facebook group - although you have ask to join, so you wont see their stuff straight away (it only took a couple of minutes for me to be approved though!!)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/421961607918987/?notif_t=group_r2j_approved

another facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jamie-Oliver-Homecooker/350747891687838?ref=stream

all recipes currently only has one recipe on it for the homecooker, but maybe there will be more later....
http://allrecipes.com.au/recipes/tag-8262/homecooker.aspx?o_fc=41&o_is=RD_More+Recipe+Collections_Title:+1,Philips+%7C+Jamie+Oliver+HomeCooker

some more recipes on the uk all recipes site...
http://allrecipes.co.uk/cooks/82418/philips-jamie-oliver-homecooker.aspx

bear in mind that this is just research day, so I haven't tested any of the recipes on these sites or look too thoroughly at them.
Here is my pinterest board of recipes that i am keen to try in the homecooker, and I will note any adjusted recipes or made up ones on my recipe blog page, here

This month we are taking our budget seriously!! (part 1)

Ok, SO it’s been a while since I last wrote a post.  It’s quite hard really to think of things I have to say, that someone might be interested in… but maybe you might be interested in this one… it’s about budgeting.

There’s always something in the media about budgeting, it seems the latest and greatest budgeter at the moment is the facebook woman…or man who was on NZ Best home baker, for one episode apparently… How to feed afamily of 6 for under $20.  It’s all good, a lot of help for people who don’t know where to start.  I personally am a huge fan of Sophie Gray….the Destitute Gourmet.  I think I have all of her recipe books….apart from one, which mum has, so I share it with her!!!  Because I am on a budget!!

Last month we had a bit of a budget blowout.  It started with our 10 year wedding anniversary celebration trip to Queenstown, 

Me screwing up my nose to look so beautiful

which was getting paid for by money that hadn’t yet come into the account!!  And ended with 2 plumber call outs, a new lawn mower, me backing into someone’s car and paying up front for a trip later in the year.

So this month we had to somehow make up for some of that.  Rules include: no takeaways all month (apart from Mother’s Day!) and try and empty out the freezer and halve the grocery budget!

So I have been getting creative.  I was lucky, in the fact, that there were a few good bits of meat in the freezer that hadn’t already been planned into meals, and both our freezers were somehow chocka! 

1. I think one of the best ways to save money is thru planning.  Write a meal plan and stick to it.

Example of a meal plan that I havent been sticking too and is longer than 1 week (what not to do!!)

  I like to plan 1 week at a time.  I used to plan for the whole month, but then I would just end up forgetting things off the list….. or changing my mind ….or things would go off.   It just wasn’t working out for me, so I decided to try fortnightly and then weekly.  This is working really well for me, and 4 months in a row, I have managed to come in right on budget, or a few dollars below.

1. But because this month is tighter than before. I did my initial week and then I have added to it.  So now I have a 12 day meal plan, that should take me thru to next payday.  I think I shall put the meal plan next….in an ideal world I would link to the recipes that I can or to the book you need to buy.
2. As it worked out, there were a number of meals that had a reasonable amount of leftovers, so I have frozen it and planned it into another meal.  E.g.  After the Roast Chicken there was heaps of gravy and stuffing left.  (I had used the left over chicken for other things!) So I have a new meal waiting that is going to be a roast chicken casserole.  I also found a couple of extra drumsticks to use as the chicken.  And I did the same for Corned Beef (and Corned Beef Casserole)

Money Saving Tip Post

I am a real stinge so when it comes to saving money I think about it a lot.  Although, now, with 3 young kids I am also in the predicament of wanting to save time as well, and often the 2 things don’t go hand in hand.

But one thing it can work out for school/kindy lunches.  If you get ahead of the game you can save time without spending lots of money on packet snack foods from the supermarket.

One thing I haven’t managed to progress to is packing the lunches the night before, that would make the mornings a lot easier…but on the nights that I remember to think about that, I just feel too tired and really cant be bothered leaving the couch.

5 things I do to make packing lunches easier

1.         Firstly I make a list of options, so I don’t have to think so hard each morning.  This is my list:  Feel free to cut and paste and change it as is useful to you

Tuck Small/handful snacks in muffin cases e.g.  orange/ handful of raisins  - 1 sandwich / 1 muffin  - 1 yoghurt - fruit roll up  - chocolate biscuit always water bottle, sometimes a little juice packet or something

IN LUNCH BOX

- 2 fruit

-2 bread/starchy

-1 dairy

- 1 healthy treat/snack

-1 treat

Drink/water bottle

FRUIT

•Fresh or canned fruit – fruit kebabs, chopped fruit in a tub or fruit salad, easy peel mandarins, vegetable soup in a flask,

 •Dips/Hummus with vegetable sticks like celery, carrot, cucumber

 •Celery sticks with a thin spread of peanut butter topped with sultanas.

 •Jelly and fruit

* Cherry Tomatoes

* Cucumber pieces (with a little salt?)

STARCHY/BREAD

•Slice of Raisin toast or bread, pikelets, pancakes or scones with a little margarine or fruit spread

 •Lightly spread muffins and crumpets

 •Rice cakes topped reduced-fat cream cheese, vegemite or sliced banana

 •Small pita bread or wraps (spread thinly with cheese spread or peanut butter, grated carrot, sprouts and roll up to serve).

 •Wholemeal crackers with a slice of low fat cheese

 •Mini Wheats breakfast cereal

 •Handful of home made pita chips (cut pita bread into triangles, sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake 180ºC for 15 minutes until crisp).

*Left over rice/pasta dishes

*Sushi

*Corn thins

*Muffins

*Cold Noodles?

HEALTHY SNACK

 •Popcorn with a few dried apricots or sultanas

DAIRY/Protein

 •Slice of low fat cheese with carrot and celery sticks.

 •Low fat cheese cubes or sticks.

+Cheese toasties

+ Franks/small sausages (cut octopus legs and little eyes)

+ Yoghurt with a handful of muesli on top

SNACKS

*Pretzels/Popcorn/Pikelets/Crumpets

2. I buy a loaf of bread per child, sometimes more… then I spread the whole lot with spreads of their choice e.g. My son likes honey, jam, peanutbutter and mixtures of the lot, but my daughter only likes marmite (sometimes marmite and cheese)  So I make up a whole loaf slitting the spreads between the lot then putting the sandwhiches back in the bread bags labelled for each kid

If you wrap your sandwiches in glad wrap, you could do that now too, otherwise it pays to put something in between each sandwich to stop them from sticking together, e.g. Small pieces of baking paper.  You can reuse baking paper over and over again.

Then in the morning I just grab a sandwich from the bag and throw it into the lunch box.

3. In the holidays or at some other “fun” time I will make pikelets or scones or another form of baking snack, we will have a few for out lunch or morning tea fresh and then the rest will be frozen in bags ready for lunches.  Make sure the items are not going to stick together when you freeze them so that you can just pull out 1 or 2 or how ever many you need each day. 
4. I am lucky enough to have a dehydrator so I will often buy the bulk lot of bruised apples or other fruit and spend a day, peeling, slicing and dehydrating apple pieces, grated apple, or purred apple into fruit roll ups.  (This is also good when I need some fruit for a slow cooker meal or a dessert base)

So now that I have shared all these ideas and thoughts on making easy, healthy and most importantly cheap lunches for the kids…I should really get off the computer and go and make some!!