It's The Great Cookie Thingie Day

HELLO EVERYONE! This week is going to be terrible for FFF-ers because everywhere you look in Blogland there are going to be treats treats and more treats! And even if you don't have time to get cooking / baking / freezing / whatevering... those pictures are gonna drive you mad with nom-lust that you'll probably be out the door in no time heading to the nearest store for a muffin / slice of cake / cheese-filled-crust-pizza! 

But who cares! That's not till Friday. For now - we eat! 

This year I learnt to eat oats. Yes. Learnt. I hated it all my life. Never could understand how my mum could find it tasty. Yuck. 

Then one day I tried some porridge oats with bits of fruit and nut already mixed into it. Granted, more than 50% of it was probably sugar, but that's when I realised it wasn't too bad, really. I just needed it to taste of something, and not be as gooey and sticky as when mum used to make it. 

Enter the internet. I went hunting for oat recipes. I know, I know, what did I think I was looking for? Oats plus water - boil - eat. That was it, right? But it WASN'T! 

I give you...... Oat Cupcakes! Or as I like to think of them - Portable Breakfast Oats. They're great for taking out of the house with me when I know I have a long day ahead and might not have time for a proper meal. NOTE: These little buggers are quite heavy and dense so be sure you don't overeat!

HERE WE GO! 

1. Start with 1 Cup Warm Milk

2. Add 2 Cups Instant / Porridge Oats & 20 ml Honey (or other sweetener) 

3. Feel free to add other healthy things like Chia Seeds and Flaxseeds and Almond Grits. 

Just maybe not all at once ok?

4. I also added 1/2 Cup Dried Peel to my mix - Raisins and Nuts will also work

5. Next line a muffin tin with liners and spritz some cooking spray on each one to prevent sticking

6. Fill about half of each cup with gooey oaty goodness

7. Put a surprise treat in the middle - I used bits of white chocolate. 

You can also use a piece of fruit (blueberry, strawberry, banana), any chocolate, marshmallow, half a kit kat, a nice melty cheese, a dollop of peanut butter... anything really. Then fill the cups the rest of the way till you're left with no more oats. 

8. Pop these into a pre-heated oven for about 15 mins at 180°C

9. They're done when the tops are just brown enough

10. Leave to cool then store them without the paper cups or they'll just get soggy and tear apart anyway

11. Ta-da! Healthy(-ish) baked oats with a surprise in the middle!

Here it is again without the pictures getting in the way :)

Ingredients:

1 Cup Warm Milk

2 Cups Porridge / Instant Oats

20ml Honey / sugar syrup / any liquid sweetener

*Optional: 

1/2 Cup Dried Fruit / Raisins / Nuts etc

1-2 Teaspoons of Chia Seed / Almond Grit / Flaxseed etc

Bits for putting in the middle - if using fresh fruit you can also just mix it right in with the oats and forget having a "surprise centre'.

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For more recipes and treats head on down to Jz's place or visit one of these participating blogs:

Baker

Bogey and Bacall

Cat

DelFonte

greengirl

Hermione

Katie

Kelly

Lindy

messymimi

Mrs. Fever

Olivia

ronnie

Ryan

Sassy

FFF 43 - Family Drama, Scones, Being Sick and Cookie Time

Hello everyone! I hope Thanksgiving was fabulous (for those of you celebrating)... and that no one put on too many pounds! 

I've got a ton of things to share this week.

First, the step count :

Average number per day - 10,781
Highest number in a day - 12,833
No of >10k steps days  - 4

Right then.

Update on the father : last week he was admitted into hospital following some emotional outbursts and agitation. They're trying out new meds to calm him down. The meds are working, but now that he's ready to be discharged from the hospital the brother has decided that he wants him discharged right away into a nursing home. This has caused me much stress as the doctor in the hospital keeps calling me and asking me what I want to do. I've asked mum and she says he should go home. Cos that's where he wants to be. And if he gets put into a nursing home he'll be angry and frustrated and act up anyway, and then they'll kick him out cos he's not behaving. 

Today I got sick and tired of going back and forth between the hospital and mum and finding out at every turn that the idiot brother has already been in touch with the social worker AND my father's geriatrician without any of us knowing. So I've told mum since it's the brother's house they're going to be staying at, and since the brother wants to make these decisions, then it's best I step away from this and I also told the hospital doctor that he should just direct all enquiries to my brother and mother and leave me out of it. 

Ok, this might be confusing for you if you haven't the foggiest what's going on in my family right now, but some of you know, and well, this is the update. I just am fuming so badly right now I had to put it somewhere. So here I came. 

That aside, I had a bout of viral gastritis yesterday and my boss had to pump me with all sorts of meds before the pain would subside. Later on, upon hearing me on the phone trying to deal with the hospital situation it made him remark "No wonder you've got a gastric attack...". It's a wonder I'm not mental. Oh wait. Maybe I am. 

So I came home after work yesterday and the fever hit. Took some paracetamol, popped a gram of Vit C and took a swig of Gaviscon (antacid) then went to bed for just under 4 hours. I felt a lot better by night time.

BIKSS came round after his soccer thing a little after 9pm and we ate dinner together at home. He kept me company while I got progressively loopier after popping more paracetamol. I'm trying to keep up the healthy eating - for him too - so dinner was some broiled chicken and eggplant, with a side of leafy veggies and mushrooms. 

This is to counter the less than healthy scones I passed to him in the morning for breakfast. I made up a huge batch (I didn't realise from the recipe just HOW many I would get - turns out it was a lot!) and gave him a bunch that morning. Since they're unsweetened and would probably fare better with some honey or jam, he thought he might add a little something sweet to it. 

The man decided chocolate was a good option - instead of a hazelnut or chocolate spread (like Nutella) he figured he would just take a bite of scone, then a bite of chocolate. And mix it all up in his mouth. It was good enough that he sent me that pic with the words - "Try the scones with chocolate". 

And that brings me to another thing. That craggy clump you see in the top right hand corner is the result of.... 

This year's COOKIE EXCHANGE preliminary bake prep!

This is the 8th year that Jz (bless her) is hosting the annual Cookie thingamajiggy that doesn't even have to do with cookies! Basically it's an excuse for everyone to share recipes for yummy treats - and what better time than just before Christmas! 

So if you wanna take part in this year's bake/cook-fest, click on the link for details, or read on:

Taken from Jz's post:

Sign up by noon on Monday, December 3rd in order to get your name on the list of participants. (I need some lead time time to assemble and distribute the list to participants.)

To sign up:
         Email me by noon on Dec 3rd

With this information:
         Your screen name and the URL of your blog.


And that's it. That's all you gotta do. Email her now!
(I think her email address is : 1reluctant0ne@gmail.com)

OH, and the cookie exchange extravaganza is happening on Wednesday 5th December so save that date!

Christmas is Coming 7 - The Great Blogland Cookie Event

Thank you Jz for inspiring me to add to the festivities - and of course, for hosting this delicious event!

So I hadn't planned on joining in the Great Blogland Cookie Event, but looking at all the yummy stuff on everyone's blog has made me mad with participation fever. So here it is. Not a cookie - but a super easy fruitcake recipe I use EVERY YEAR around Christmas time.

Step 1 -

Boil all these ingredients and allow to cool to lukewarm :

1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Plain Water
1/4 Cup Butter (or 1/4 of a 250g block, or 2 oz)
2 to 3 Teaspoons Mixed Spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger... you choose)
1/2 Teaspoon salt
2 Cups Raisins


Step 2 -

To the cooled mixture, add the following ingredients:

2 Large Eggs (lightly beaten)
1.5 cups all purpose Flour
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Mixed Peel (or dried candied fruit)

Mix well and bake in a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf tin (greased) at 180°C for 50-60 mins.
(Reduce to 160°C if using a dark tin)


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NOTE:

Personally I like nuts in my fruit cake too, so I use only 1 cup of raisins, and to the second lot of (mostly-dry) ingredients I add 1/2 cup of chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans.. whatever you like).

Here are some pictures from last year's bake - my loaf tins were a different size so I made two batches and split them into 3 loaf tins!

Also, because my oven is a little wonky, and my loaves are smaller, I find that my cakes are usually done after about 40 mins or so. If the top looks like it might burn, cover with a sheet of aluminium foil once the surface has dried out and continue to bake until a cake tester / skewer comes out clean from the middle of the loaf.

ENJOY!

(EDIT: As I mentioned in one of the comments, the original recipe calls for a total of 3 cups of bits and bobs, but mine only has 2.5 cups (of fruit and nut). It still makes for a rather busy cake, so if you want to reduce further, I think 2 cups would work too. 

ALSO: If you'd like some alcohol in yours, you could soak your raisins in rum or brandy overnight, then add them straight in with the second lot of ingredients, instead of boiling them with the butter and sugar. ALTERNATIVELY, or in addition to that, feel free to drizzle some liquor over your cake - or douse it, if you so desire - I prefer brandy, but I hear dark rum is good too so that's what I'm doing this year. )

It doesn't look like much, but it'll turn out fine, I promise.
(Ingredients from Step 1 after boiling.)

That's all of the ingredients from Step 2 - except the eggs. 
The flour is sitting at the bottom of the mixing bowl.

The finished cake cooling on a wire rack

Ta-da!