Cookies and Cream Cheesecake

It's a sad afternoon here in the B house....we have just come to the end of 4 lovely days off and whilst this morning we woke up feeling like we had definitely had more then the normal 2 days off, it was over all too quickly, and here we are, Sunday evening with work in the morning....massive thumbs down to that!

So before I disappear into Sunday night misery, let's talk about how Mr B and I spent our 4 days off.

On Thursday Mr B did some work outside while I stayed inside and had a craft day. I think I have told you all before that I make my own jewellery and I also sell it too. Anyway recently I was looking for a new way to present my items and then I remembered my old stamping kit! When I was younger my Mum and I got right into stamping and we had all the gadgets and the ink pads and the embossing powders and we used to always make our own Christmas cards and Birthday cards and it was so much fun. I really enjoyed getting back into it and I am so happy with the outcome. Here is a pair of earrings that I made on one of my new backing cards....

Then on Friday Mr B and I went shopping for some furniture to go in our new pergola, we have our eye on a wine barrel for the table, but we can't find any barstools to go with it - everywhere expects you to buy the stools as part of a set with a matching table, but we will keep looking. We also caught up with our friends and their beautiful baby for lunch, I got my nails done, Mr B got a tetanus shot, we had a nanna nap and followed our tradition of watching the long weekend fireworks.

On Saturday Mr B did some more work outside and I tackled my To-Do list (damn that To-Do list!). It started with a visit to Mum and Dad who had just returned home from a week away and boy was it good to see them! Next stop was the grocery shop, oh how I hate grocery shopping, the supermarket is like a big black hole, you walk in and rush around and you walk out loaded up to the eyeballs with heavy bags and all of a sudden an hour has gone by! Then by the time you get home and unload, it turns into a half day job! Anyway, my next stop was right down in town - I was headed to the local craft superstore to check out their range of stamping stuff. After my little play around the other day I was keen to get back into it. As it turns out, the world of stamping has jumped ahead in leaps and bounds and there were little tiny thin adhesive stamps that you stuck onto big clear blocks to use and to be honest I just wanted some tried and true wooden stamps. I did leave with plenty of ideas though.

My next stop was a local organic health food store that I have been dying to spend some time exploring. Oh my goodness how much fun did I have. I have had a hankering for muesli lately, but not your regular supermarket muesli, I wanted specific things in it, like banana and coconut and big juicy sultanas and I didn't want 'weird' stuff in it, like paw-paw - I have issues with dried glace style fruit in my muesli. I did a couple of laps of the store just to get a feel for everything and then I grabbed my basket and loaded it with all the goodies I could find. Did I mention the peanut butter?? I have always wanted to make my own peanut butter and with the peanut butter hating Mr B nowhere to be seen, I pounced on the machine and added some freshly made crunchy peanut butter to my basket too! Now I just have to wait until next weekend to actually try my muesli creation.....

Last night Mr B had a craving for pizza so we descended on Pizza Capers and managed to demolish 3 delicious pizzas -all of which, totally unintentionally, had potato on them.....chicken and potato, potato and bacon, potato, rosemary and beef.....hello potato pizza heaven. Then we waddled our way to the movies and watched Frankenweenie 3D, Mr B has been dying to see it and frankly if it stops him walking around saying 'Frankenweenie!' all the time, then I'm willing to give it a go, plus it was a Tim Burton film and you generally can't go wrong there!

And today - the last day of our 4 days off, and the first day of sunshine so it was time to get out and make the most of it! After our usual Sunday morning Egg and Bacon breakfast, we jumped on the bikes and hit the road. The last time we went for a ride it was super windy and I got blown around all over the show which led to me totally freaking out and bursting into tears....I have been really hesitant about getting back on the bike, but I knew the longer I left it, the harder it would be. Mr B and I had such a lovely ride, the sun was shining, the road was quiet and to top it all off we stopped up at Meadowbank Dam for a laze around in the sunshine.

Do you know what would have made that laze around in the sunshine absolutely perfect? Obviously, it was sunny and warm and I had my gorgeous Mr B there with me....but some cookies and cream cheesecake would have just topped it off nicely! Mr B and I have demolished this cheesecake for dessert over the last week and to be honest, this is not a Mrs B creation, this one was all Mr B's doing! If you want to whip one of these babies up for yourself, here's how it's done....

Cookies and Cream Cheesecake (Updated November 2013)

3 x 150g pkts Oreo Cookies (I used 2 x chocolate and 1 x classic)
50g butter, melted
500g cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup caster sugar
3 tspn gelatin, dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water
2 tbspn lemon juice
1 cup thickened cream

Place 1 pkt of the oreos into the bowl of a food processor and process until they are down to fine crumbs.

Add the melted butter and mix well. Press the mixture into the base of a lined 20cm springform pan and place in the fridge.

Place the remaining biscuits into the food processor and process so that they are broken up into small chunks, but not to the point where they are crumbs, you want chunks of biscuit in your cheesecake!

Whip the cream and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, combine the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the lemon juice and gelatin and beat until just combined. Gently fold through the whipped cream.

Stir through the cookie chunks and pour the filling into the prepared crust. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours or until set.

Now when we made this cheesecake we thought 'well you know it's not huge, but if we get 2-3 nights out of it that will be great.' 5 nights later we are still going!! I made some lindt chocolate whipped cream to go with it and it was superb.

Well there is no avoiding it...time for lasagne, followed by pancakes....ice cream....bed!!

Mrs B xx

The Best Chocolate Cake....

I know I just made a big call, like a huge big call....but I have struggled to find a really nice moist chocolate cake recipe for years and I finally have it! 

This recipe makes 2 loaf size cakes and it is moist, chocolatey, keeps amazingly well and....

.....is packed full of beetroot! Yes I said beetroot.

 Beetroot Beetroot Beetroot! 

And before you get all ewwww beetroot in chocolate cake on me....I promise you this cake does not taste like beetroot, there are no big chunks of it and if I didn't tell you (or you didn't make it yourself!) you wouldn't even know it was there! 

You're intrigued now aren't you? You have no choice but to try it for yourself. Believe me, I know because that's what happened to me and I'm so glad it did! 

Here's how you do it....

Beetroot Chocolate Cake

900g tin of beetroot, drained and pureed
2.5 cups of plain flour
2 tspns of bicarb soda
1.5 cups of vegetable oil
4 eggs
2 tspns of vanilla essence
2 cups of caster sugar
1/2 - 3/4 cup of cocoa

Pre-heat oven to 180C and grease and line 2 loaf tins.

Using an electric mixer, beat the sugar, eggs, oil and essence until well combined. 

Add the flour, bicarb, cocoa and beetroot puree. Beat until everything is combined and smooth. 

Pour into your prepared loaf tins and bake for 45-50 mins or until the cakes bounce back when touched or a skewer inserted comes out clean....whichever your preferred method is!

Now when I made this, we ate the first one the very next day with whipped cream and it was off the charts awesome. And today as I sat down to write this post, I had a slice of the other one, straight out of the fridge, 4 days old.....still freakin' amazing and not even a hint of drying out. I am in love (and getting one of my daily serves of vegies through chocolate cake!!) 

Mrs B xx

Pumpkin Porridge Whoopie Pies

I have been mega keen to make something with pumpkin and oats....pumpkin and oat cookies, pumpkin and oat bread, just pumpkin and oat SOMETHING!! I eventually decided on pumpkin and oat cookies and whilst I was making them they kind of turned into pumpkin porridge sandwich cookies and then when they were done I realised they were actually pumpkin porridge whoopie pies, but despite having a serious identity crisis, they are yummy! 

 

Pumpkin Porridge Whoopie Pies

1/3 cup rolled oats

1 cup cooked mashed pumpkin

1/2 tspn Cinnamon

1/2 tspn Allspice

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

1 egg

60g butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup all purpose flour

Pre-heat oven to 150C and grease and line two baking trays.

Combine the oats, spices and pumpkin in a microwave proof dish and cook on high for 3-4 mins or until oats are tender. 

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until pale and creamy. Add the sugar and continue to beat until you reach a smooth consistency. Add the egg ans vanilla and beat well.

In a separate bowl, gently stir together the porridge, flour, baking powder and baking soda until the ingredients are just combined. Add to the butter mixture and beat until well combined.

Drop by rounded tablespoons onto the baking trays and bake for 12-14 minutes. They should look like little mini lumpy (from the oats and pumpkin!) pancakes when they are done.

Now for the filling you will need

80g butter

1 tbspn maple syrup

1 tbspn brown sugar

2 tbspn icing sugar

Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until pale and creamy. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth.

Now that your whoopie pies have completely cooled, divide them up into pairs of roughly equal size and shape.

Spread the flat side of one whoopie pie from each pair with the filling and sandwich together with the other whoopie pie. Place in the fridge for an hour or so for the filling to firm up.

And now for the best part - make a cup of tea, sit down, relax and enjoy!

Mrs B xx 

Cheesy Zucchini, Spinach and Chicken Lasagne

I am totally exhausted right now! But I have a very cool chocolate cake in the oven that I can't wait to tell you about later in the week and an equally cool cheesecake in the fridge that I can't wait to eat....and then tell you about later in the week too!! In the meantime, before we enter a cheesecake / chocolate cake induced coma, let's talk savoury stuff....and by stuff I mean lasagne crammed full of zucchini, chicken, leek and cheese. Have I got your attention yet?? 

Sometimes when I go to make a lasagne I just don't want the same old tomato, mince, cheese combo....I know like it's bad enough that I frequently skip the mince altogether and throw in a heap of vegetables, but now I'm turfing the tomato too?? I must be tired! But as they say, a change is as good as a holiday, so go on, live dangerously, be brave and mix it up a little! 

Cheesy Zucchini, Spinach and Chicken Lasagne

1 leek, trimmed, halved, washed, sliced
2 tspns crushed garlic
1.5 tbspns plain flour
1.5 cups chicken stock
1 cup grated parmesan
2 chicken breasts or 3 cups of shredded cooked chicken
50g baby spinach
4 lasagne sheets
250g extra light ricotta
1 tbspn crushed basil
2 medium zucchini sliced into ribbons (use the veggie peeler to make the ribbons - it's so much easier!!)
1/2 cup grated cheese

Pre-heat oven to 180C. Spray a small oven proof baking dish with oil. Place chicken breasts in oven dish and season with salt and pepper. Cook for 25 mins, turn over and cook for another 15-20 mins or until cooked through. When the chicken is cooked, remove from the oven and shred. Leave oven on 180C.

Meanwhile spray a large frying pan with oil place over medium heat. Add leek and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until leek has softened.

Add the flour and cook for 1 minute before adding the stock. Simmer and stir for 5 minutes - the mixture should start to thicken slightly.

Add 1/2 cup parmesan, chicken and spinach. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes or until spinach is wilted.

In the base of a large baking dish, spread 1 tbspn of the sauce from your chicken mixture.

Place 1 lasagne sheet over the sauce and top with 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Layer 1/3 of your zucchini ribbons over the top of that. Top with another lasagne sheet and repeat your layers, finishing with a lasagne sheet.

Combine ricotta and basil. Spread over lasagne sheet. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan and grated cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until pasta is tender.

This is such a tasty mid-week week meal and packed full of all those spring favourites like leek and zucchini!

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Girls Night In

Last night I had the pleasure of hosting a Girls Night In to raise money for the research into and prevention of women's cancer for the Cancer Council. The event was held at my work and is something we have been putting together for the last month. I really wanted to organise a true girls night with all the trimmings and I thought what better then a night of good food and champagne with your friends, while you shop! I advertised the event at work and told people to bring along their Mother, Sister, Best Friend, whoever and just have some fun. Then I spoke with some local stores and some local party plan consultants to get them on board and we ended up with 5 party plans and 2 stores having tables last night selling their products which was really positive. Alot of the local businesses and the consultants also came on board by donating prizes for the night which was just fantastic.

We also had an amass of pink food, pink champagne and pink non-alcoholic beverages too! I really am lucky to work with such an amazing bunch of ladies who not only supported me in organising this event, but all chipped in to help with the catering too!

 

I think by the end of the night, through ticket sales, donations and the consultants donating 20% of their sales, we raised in excess of $1500! . When I started planning the night, I thought somewhere around $200 would be great so I couldn't have asked for a better result. Plus everyone really got into the spirit of the night and we just had so much fun! It was lovely to see so many people come together for a good cause and I had my Mum there to celebrate with me so that made it all the more special.

One of the goodies I made for the night was these Pink Truffles - they were my Mum's idea and I'm so glad she suggested them because they were easy and the hot pink white chocolate centre was just delicious! 

All you need is 

 

375g white chocolate + 100g extra

150ml thickened cream
2 drops pink gel food dye

375g milk chocolate

Pink sprinkles

Combine 375g white chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 60 seconds and then stir until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth. (*Next time I make these I will probably add some strawberry essence here)

Add pink dye and stir well - you may want to add more or less depending on the colour your after. Place the mixture in the freezer for 3-4 hours or overnight to firm up.

Roll teaspoons of the mixture into balls and place on a lined baking tray. Place back in the freezer for 2-3 hours. If you balls don't come out smooth the first time - you can always re-roll them after they have been in the freezer and they will come out alot better.

Take 100g of the milk chocolate and place in a microwave safe bowl. Heat for 30 seconds and stir until smooth. Remove the truffle centres from the freezer. Using 2 forks or 2 teaspoons, place a truffle centre into the milk chocolate and roll around until covered. Place back on the lined baking tray. Repeat with remaining truffle centres and milk chocolate. Place in the fridge for 3-4 hours or overnight to set.

Melt the remaining white chocolate in the microwave and tint pink with your pink gel food dye. Top each truffle with a teaspoon of the pink chocolate and then top with some pink sprinkles. Place in the fridge for the  chocolate to set.

Store at room temperature and enjoy!

 

And here are some photos from last night!

Mr B and I made some rose water pink meringues nests and pink ribbons for the night too - they were delicious filled with strawberry yoghurt!!

This was getting the food set up....

 

 

The prizes.....

 

Shopping up a storm!!

And me!

 

 

Mrs B xx 

Choc-Chip Nutella Cookies

For some unknown reason we have had 1/2 a jar of nutella sitting in the cupboard for AGES now. Mr B has stopped taking sandwiches to work and started taking salads so the only way that jar was going to disappear was if I kept eating it or if I cooked something with it. I asked Mr B if he would like some Nutella Stuffed Pikelets in his lunches this week and his eyes lit up with excitement. So needless to say he gave me 'the look' when he came inside on Sunday after working his butt off and found these Choc-Chip Nutella Cookies sitting on the bench.....

BUT in my defence, I had intended to make these long before I found the stuffed pikelet recipe and then I lost this recipe and found the pikelet one and then I found this one again....the universe was obviously telling me to make the cookies like right now, but to make the pikelets next weekend! I can totally do that.

Mr B is not a biscuit person unless they are chewy....these are a touch on the cakey side, but apparently, so my chief taste tester tells me, they are still nice and chewy and the chocolate chips break all that evil cakey-ness up.

You will need:

125g butter, melted
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup hazelnut spread (like Nutella)
1 3/4 cups plain flour
1 tspn baking powder
3/4 cup milk and white chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 160C

Line 2 large baking trays with baking paper.

Cream butter and sugar together using an electric mixer. Add egg and nutella and beat well.

Add flour and baking powder. Mix well.

Stir through the chocolate chips.

Roll tbspns of the mixture into balls and place on the trays 3cm apart . Use a fork to flatten slightly.

Bake for 12 mins. Allow to cool on trays - they will firm up as they cool, but remain chewy and soft on the inside.

Enjoy!

Mrs B xx

Kitchen Improvements

Not long after Mr B and I moved into our home 4 years ago, we discovered a problem. 

Well Mr B calls it a problem, I call it a collection. 

You see I have accumulated a couple of cook books in my time, all of which I use, all of which I love - some are full of my recipes, some have my Mum's in them, some of the books have been passed down from my Mum and my Nan, some are full of things I'm building up to being able to bake and all of them are full of inspiration. 

When we moved into this house there was nowhere for them in the kitchen besides a small cupboard under the microwave where I would practically have to pull every single book out everytime I was looking for one inparticular and it was impossible to just browse.....which meant I ended up pulling all the books out and putting them in our spare room so I could see them. 

This in itself led to another problem.

My books weren't in the kitchen and if I wanted to look through them I had to go into the spare room, sit on the floor and scatter them all around me. It led to that same problem, I just couldn't browse, and unless I knew exactly what I was looking for it was impossible to make good use of all those beautiful books.

So Mr B came up with an idea, he would build me a shelf. This worked out well because Mr B got to use his brilliant wood work and design skills and well I got a shelf and we got our spare room back. Mind you this whole shelf building business started 12 months ago, but we have been busy you know! 

About a fortnight ago, Mr B proudly hung the shelf in the kitchen and I was busily putting my books on it before he had even packed the tools up! Doesn't it look beautiful! 

Mrs B xx 

Ghoulishly Good Treats

So do you ever have those times where your walking along with your ear phones in, listening to music and a catchy song comes on? All of a sudden you start tapping your hand on your leg, then your head starts bobbing, you start humming along and before you know it you're singing at the top of your lungs, doing the occasional air guitar solo and you realise you are now walking through quite an upper class suburb....well that was me at lunch time today. Needless to say I turned around and swiftly walked back the way I came!! 

Anyway with Halloween right around the corner, last weekend I decided to get my bake on and make some of my Mum's pumpkin muffins which are always a hit. Mr B has kept half for his lunches and I gave half to Mum and Dad as they won't have a chance to make their own this year.

And I remembered I had a heap of egg whites in the freezer so I decided to play around with some meringues too! I used 4 egg whites and beat them with an electric mixer until they were thick and foamy. Then I added 1 cup of caster sugar and just left them mixing away until the mixture was like marshmallow thick. I greased and lined some baking trays and got to piping some bones and little ghosts. I also made a stack of meringue nests which are always handy to keep in the cupboard for desserts. Once the meringues were done I just used some black food dye to dot on the eyes of the ghosts. Aren't they cute! 

Mrs B xx

Triple Chocolate Jersey Caramel Brownies

It's Sunday afternoon and I am plum tuckered out. It's been a busy weekend so far and Mr B is still outside working on the pergola and I'm still inside plodding through my to-do list. It's not all work though, last night Mr B and I went to a restaurant called Asian Gourmet and had an amazing meal of Lettuce Duck Rolls for entree followed by Sechuan Salt and Pepper Squid for main....hands down, best asian meal I've ever had. And then we went bowling and I actually won....but then I got a bit excited and decided we should play a second game and I lost....obviously I peaked too early. Aside from a lovely night out with Mr B, the boring to-do lists and mundane chores is always broken up by watching our two little mischief makers play in the yard - see how much they've grown!  

The little girl, Blossom is definitely the ring leader....she might look small and innocent, but if there's mischief to be had, she is right there in the thick of it and Loud Mouth is never far behind! Mr B and I are constantly amazed at their antics and can easily sit down and spend hours watching them play.

In the absence of lambs to brighten your day, may I suggest these Triple Chocolate Jersey Caramel Brownies? These are bites of fudgey, chocolatey, caramel heaven and the only issue I had with making them was hiding the jersey caramels from Mr B. For the last few weeks I've been buying a packet of caramels, leaving it in the cupboard and on the weekend when I go to get them for baking, they're gone! So the next week I do the same thing all over again to no avail. This week I tried something completely random and put the jersey caramels in the lolly jar on the kitchen bench in plain sight of everyone.....and you know what, they were still there when I came to use them!

You will need:

125 g butter
120g dark chocolate melts
1/2 cup caster sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tbspn cocoa
1 cup mixed chocolate bits (I used a mixture of milk, white and caramel)
1 cup of jersey caramels, sliced thinly

Preheat oven to 180C

Line a slice tin with baking paper.

Place butter and dark chocolate in a heat proof bowl in the microwave and heat in 45 second bursts (stirring in between) until smooth.

Stir in sugar.

Whisk eggs into chocolate mixture until combined.br /> Add sifted flour and cocoa. Whisk to combine.

Fold in chocolate bits.

Spread mixture into prepared pan and scatter jersey caramels over the top. Press down lightly. Bake for 20 - 30 mins or until top is firm to touch.

Set aside to cool before slicing or eat it straight out of the pan....and say HELLO to delicious-ness

Mrs B xx

Mushroom and White Wine Risotto

You know how I said I was attending all those seminars this week and next? Well it was / is all fun and games, but travelling to the venue and back every day, and the listening and the writing and the learning, plus going back to work and doing my normal job is exhausting!! So a no fuss , hearty, tasty meal was very much needed last night and this Mushroom and White Wine Risotto did the trick. Now I can hear you all saying risotto? no fuss? is she crazy? But this risotto is oven baked which totally negates the need for all that pesky stirring!

You will need:

3 cups of vegetable stock
50g butter
400g of mixed mushrooms, sliced (I used a combination of button, shitake and oyster)
1 brown onion, diced
1 tbspn of crushed garlic
1.5 cups of arborio rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tbspn Gourmet Garden thyme (or 1/2 cup chopped fresh thyme)
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan

Ok so to start with, pre-heat your oven to 180C.

Melt the butter in a fry pan over medium heat and add the mushrooms, onion and garlic. Cook for 4-5 mins.

Add the rice and wine. Bring mixture to the boil and cook, stirring, for a further 2 minutes.

Stir in the stock and thyme. Pour mixture into a large oven proof casserole dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 25 minutes, stirring at about the 15 minute mark. After 25 mins, remove the foil and stir through the parmesan. Bake for a further 5 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed and the risotto is tender.

Is that not like the easiest risotto recipe (and possibly the tastiest!) you have ever seen!?

And what sort of a relaxing end of week meal is complete without pie? And not just any pie....I'm talking apple and cranberry pie with cinnamon sugar pastry! Note Mr B's GIANT bowl of pie and my normal size bowl of pie in the background......

I have some pumpkin muffins cooling on the bench and they smell amazing....I'm totally having one smothered in butter for morning tea. Then I'm going to do the groceries, make Mr B some Nutella Cookies and some Choc-Chip and Date Slice and some triple chocolate caramel brownies and maybe even a Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Sheet Cake....if he's lucky!

Have a fantastic weekend however your spending it!

Mrs B xx

Home Made Pizza

This week and next week I am attending a whole bucket load of seminars through a local initiative called WorkSafe Month. During WorkSafe Month there is about 2 weeks worth of free training courses, seminars and forums which are open to anyone to attend and the topics range from Stress Management  to Understanding the Workplace Heath and Safety Legislation to Is Your Workplace Stroke Safe to Improving Physical Activity and Nutrition in the Workplace. There are so many great sessions on this year I think I am attending like at least 2 each day, but when they are free (and held during work hours at a beautiful venue by the water) they really are a fantastic resource....plus I think the one I'm going to tomorrow includes breakfast....now if only they would let me go in my pyjamas! 

Alot of the talk at the seminars I have been to so far focuses on eating healthy and looking after our bodies and you know most of the time Mr B and I are very good at that....we have the occasional ice cream 'black out' where the whole tub disappears in one night, but otherwise we are pretty good! We go out for tea occasionally, but we generally stay away from take away or 'fast' foods and to that end once every month or so we treat ourselves with home made nachos or hot dogs or, my personal favourite, home made pizzas!

Now these pizzas aren't your average bit of pita bread spread with tomato paste, topped with goodies and chucked in the oven (although that does make for a mighty fine home made pizza too!), these pizzas are a whopping big mountain of pizza goodness...and definitely require a knife and fork...or a bib....possibly both!
 
For the dough you will need

125ml water
3/4 tbspn oil
1/2 tspn salt
1.5 cups plain flour
1 tspn yeast

Now the night before we plan on having pizzas, I just chuck all of the above in the bread maker, in the order it's listed and hit the dough button....when the bread maker beeps at me roughly 90mins later, I put the dough in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave it in the fridge overnight. 

The next night, roll your dough out into a circle and place on a pizza stone, if you have one, or a greased baking tray will work too. 

Top with your favourite toppings and bake for about 25-30 mins at 160C. 

Just as an example, on this one we used
1 small tin of pineapple pieces
1 capsicum diced
1 tomato diced
100g of shaved ham
100g of bbq chicken meat
100g of diced mushrooms
Honey BBQ Sauce
And lots of shredded pizza cheese!

This photo does not do it justice....it was huge....but oh so good!!!

Enjoy! 

Mrs B xx 

Cranberry and Oat Muffins

Mr B is going through a mega cranberry phase at the moment.....I'm not entirely sure he knows they are fruit and I don't want to break the spell just yet so whilst he is blissfully unaware I'll just keep cooking with them!

This week I made these Cranberry and Oat Muffins which Mr B informs me are totally awesome and need to make their way onto permanent rotation....the oats are totally sneaky on my behalf so no need to mention that to Mr B either! Like the whole delicious thing wasn't good enough, they are also super easy to make!

You will need:

2 cups of self raising flour
3/4 cup caster sugar
1/3 cup rolled oats
125g butter, melted
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
125g dried cranberries

Pre-heat oven to 180C. Line 2 x 12 hole muffin pans with paper cases.

Combine the flour, sugar and oats in a bowl.

Pour over the melted butter, milk, eggs and cranberries. Stir until combined.

Divide the mixture between your muffin pans. Bake for 20 mins or until they bounce back when touched.

Mrs B xx