Ice Cream Cone Muffins!!!

Recently after a local ABA meeting i was chatting with a couple of mums & we were discussing the bad food grandparents had fed our kids. I told them that my mum bought a bunch of ice cream cones for jet, which i wasn't to happy about because i don't really want him eating ice cream unless its a special occasion.

Anyway, one of the mums gave me a fantastic idea about what to do with the ice cream cones! She said you can bake muffin mixture in them, they turn out looking like little ice creams, they are fun & best of all Jet doesn't leave crumbs all over the house when he is eating them - plus he absolutely loves them! the only problem is he gets all worked up & keeps doing his little "ehh ehh ehh" sound when he sees them come out of the oven & wants to eat them straight away before they cool!

Here's a pic of Jet thoroughly enjoying his ice cream muffin:

& here's a pic of my ice cream cone muffin, i haven't quite figured out the right amount of muffin mix to make it rise into a proper ice cream shape, but hey! oh, & i added a little raspberry on top just for looks :D

While we are talking muffins i thought id share with you my favorite recipe, its healthy & very very yummy!!! This is another recipe i got from the regular emails i receive from Brindabella Baby.

Muffin Recipe

Ingredients:
* 2 cups wholemeal self raising flour
* 1/2 cup honey
* 2 apples diced (or 2 bananas
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon (or nutmeg if using bananas)
* 1/4 cup olive oil (i use coconut oil instead sometimes)
* 1/2 cup apple juice (freshly squeezed works really well if your keen)
* 2 eggs

Method:
* Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius
* Line muffin tray with paper cases (or grease tray)
* Sift flour into a large bowl, stir in the honey, fruit & spice. Mix well
* In a separate container mix together oil, juice & eggs
* Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients & mix well
* Spoon into muffin tray
* Bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until they start to brown on top

Makes approx 12 yummy muffins

My Fave Quick, Easy, Complete Vegitarian Meal

I'm not a vegetarian, but i don't like eating meat every single day. So I'm on the hunt for some good vegetarian recipes. The thing i don't like about a lot of them is that they just look like glorified side dishes or they don't contain very little protein.

I'm not sure where i found this recipe but i love it, ok, so the picture doesn't look fantastic but it is yummmmmy! Its also great because it doesn't have many fresh ingredients so i can keep everything i need for it in the pantry & have it as a back up meal. The only fresh ingredients are basil, which we have an abundance of in the garden & tomatoes & there are always some of them in our fridge. Best of all it only takes about 30 mins to make! So here it is:

Chick Pea Curry


Ingredients:
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Massaman Curry Paste (or red curry paste)
* 2 Onions, chopped finely
* 5 cloves of Garlic, crushed
400g Coconut milk
3 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 can Chickpeas (approx 400g)
2 Tomatoes, cut into 1cm cubes
1 1/2 cups fresh Basil
3 tablespoons Sugar

Instructions:
* Heat oil in a large saute pan, Add the curry, onion & garlic & briefly saute.
* Add the coconut milk & soy sauce then bring to the boil. Simmer for 5 mins stirring occasionally.
* Add the chickpeas, tomato, basil & sugar then bring back to the simmer for a few minutes
Serve with Jasmine Rice

If anyone has any other recipes to share id love to hear them & if you have a go at this one id be interested to hear how you liked it.

Home Made Playdough

Today i made some playdough for Jet. I used a recipe that i received by email from Emma at Brindabella Baby - i love receiving emails from her because she always puts something fun or interesting on them. She stuck a fabulous muffin recipe at the end of one of her previous emails & now its one of my faves! ill have to take a pic of the muffins next time i make them & post the recipe for you all - they are sooooo yummy!!!

Anyway, today i thought id give playdough a go, ive never made it before but it worked out really well. Jet's probably a bit to young for it, but he had fun mushing it with this rubber hammer thingy he nicked from granddad's tools & one of my kitchen utensils (actually, its one of his, since that's really all he likes playing with i bought a set for him!)

Here's the recipe for anyone that's interested:

Ingredients
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp cream of tartar
1 cup cold water
Food colouring

Method
1.Mix everything together in a non-stick saucepan, adding the water a little at a time.
2.Cook over low heat while stirring. When the mixture starts to congeal and leave the sides of the saucepan, turn out onto a floured board.
3.Knead until smooth.

It will keep in the fridge in an airtight container for a very long time.

Just a tip, don't do what i did & make it then separate it into batches to colour, cause you end up with....well...this:

& food colouring takes quite a while to wash off, my hands were that colour most of the day :D