The Tiny Green House

Sugar Free Muesli Bars

2011-08-23T01:32:00.000-07:00

In my house these are known as SuperHero Bars in an attempt to get my four year old SuperHero B to eat them.

Two year old Fairy Princess S is gobbling them up.

I wanted to make a swap from their current muesli bars (Mother Earth) which are probably o.k in the sense that they are made from more natural ingredients than other bars out there but I'm wanting to introduce more nuts and seeds into the kids diets (not to mention my husband who wont touch seeds!)

I found this recipe here at Towards Sustainability. If you pop onto this site you'll notice the bars are looking a little different to mine...I had to make a few adjustments in order to get them past SuperHero B's radar, hence the white chocolate THINLY spread on top and sprinkled with hundreds and thousands. You do what you have to right?!

2 cups Oats
1/2 cup sultanas
60grams dried apricots (cut up)
1 cup Orange Juice
1/2 cup honey
2 egg whites
chuck in some cranberries - my little 'tweaks' to the recipe :-)
chuck in some sesame seeds
chuck in some pumpkin seeds

Simmer juice and honey for ten minuets to make a syrup - *WARNING* at this stage I literally had a swarm of bees fly in to my house and were quite persistent in hanging around - really!
Add all ingredients and mix, then add the egg whites.
Bake for 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees.

I've just popped back onto this post to add that the move towards sugar free is so important...throughout my Dad's cancer journey we learnt that sugar is in fact carcinogenic. I've also just learnt from my beautician that it breaks down the layers of your skin and causes wrinkles - just mentioning another negative effect it has on our bodies. A good friend of mine has just been sugar free for 34 days - go Sarah! WeeHee :-)

Nana's Lemon Coconut

2011-08-14T00:48:00.000-07:00

Catalina's Cottage just spotted this slice on my cake decorating Flickr Page (Oh Sugar!) and asked if I'd share the recipe. I'll share the recipe and the calories - a lot of butter in this one lol.

My Nana used to bake this for me when I was a little girl and to this day it remains my FAVOURITE slice of all time! I could demolish a whole batch in two days flat (don't know if that's something to boast about?!).

Nana's Lemon Coconut Slice

Melt 80z butter, add 2 tablespoons of golden syrup and mix.
Add 1 cup of sultanas, 2 cups of coconut, 2 cups flour, 1 cup of sugar. Mix.
Press into a tin, bake at 150 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.
Ice while warm with 5 table spoons of icing sugar mixed with the juice of 1 lemon.

Enjoy!
Karlene
x

Lollipop Cake

2011-08-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

Today my husband, children and I delivered this cake I made along with some books that Super Hero B and Fairy Princess S chose as gifts for the children in the Oncology/Cancer ward at Auckland's Starship Hospital.

After helping my Dad with his cancer battle over the past year, it opened my eyes to what a fight it is and it breaks my heart to think of children experiencing that. Dad has since been given the 'all clear' - I can't even begin to describe how good that news is to us!

We've been wanting to do this for a while now and we plan to make it something special we do as a family each year. The gifts will be given to the children tomorrow so I really hope they bring a smile to their wee faces.

The cake is chocolate mud with fondant modeled lollies on top - I wanted to make something really cheery, I know lollies bring a smile to my face :-D

Green Toilet Cleaner

2011-08-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

Well I never would have thought that I'd be blogging about toilets but here it goes; I've been waiting until I reach the last drop of Toilet Duck Cleaner before I attempt cleaning green with baking soda and vinegar.

I gave it a go today and I have to share that the results are great! I've designated a container of Baking Soda to be used for the toilet ONLY, I've done the same with a carton of White Vinegar.

I simply tip a cup of soda down the inside walls of the toilet and into the bowl followed by a cup of white vinegar. This fizzes and forms a paste around the sides which can be scrubbed at. I left it to sit for about 15 minutes in the bowl before doing a final scrub and flush. *sparkling*

So there's my toilet blog :-)

Enjoy the weekend
x

I shall make it myself said the Little Red Hen

2011-08-08T01:54:00.000-07:00

So...I've now got a bread maker with the good intention of making my own. I like the thought of waking to freshly baked bread each morning, cutting a warm slice and drizzling honey all over it :-)

I like knowing that by making my own I'm cutting more unnecessary ingredients from my family's diet. Reading the ingredients table on our regular loaves, it lists things such as iodised salt (which is carcinogenic - it's best to use sea salt), emulsifiers and acidity regulators - who needs these?!

Despite three attempts to bake bread it doesn't seem to be going my way. Each loaf has been undercooked and doughy on the inside. I like to consider my self to be a good home baker and always find success with new cakes and biscuits so am a bit horrified to think I cant bake bread using a bread maker. I'm thinking it may have something to do with the flour I'm using - I'll blame it on that for now anyway and will keep you posted on my developments.

Karlene
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