A Little Liebster Love

On the weekend I had a lovely surprise. The endearing CJ from 30 Days of Smiles tweeted out to the universe that my little blog had been placed on a list of AMAZING bloggers.  Yes you read correctly. Her words not mine.  Her list not mine.  Naturally I am totally willing to go along with it.  Apparently my blog is worthy of a read.  It appears the stuff I write and cook and share is not just for my own amusement after all. People actually read this stuff. Who knew?

So here's a big thank-you to CJ   Thank-you CJ   

The Liebster Award is a great way of recognising bloggers with a growing audience and this is what it requires me to do:

• Link back and recognize the blogger who nominated them
• Answer ten questions given to me by the nominator
• Nominate ten other bloggers for the award
• Create ten questions for nominees to answer
• Notify my nominees
• Get an award button and display it proudly

I was asked the following questions by CJ and so here's your chance to find out a little bit more about me. Ooooooh ahhhhhhhhhh bet you can't wait to read..

• If you could get on a plane today and go anywhere in the world where would you go and why?

The Bermuda Triangle.  Ideally it would be a return trip.

• Cookies or Cake?

Please. For me this a torturous question.  I liken it to being asked to choose between my children. Ugh.

• Favourite childhood memory

Seriously loved my childhood.  Kissing a boy I had a huge crush on when I was 13.. is right up there.

• If you could change your name what would you change it to?

Princess Consuela Bananahammock. Wait..What!!  It's been taken.. Dammit!

• Do you have a life motto? If so what is it?

Not really but I am fond of the following..
C'est la vie

• What skill would you like to learn?

I've always imagined myself playing the guitar.  Me and everyone else right?  I sadly lack the discipline to conquer such a beast.  And so..I do not foresee this musical mastery manifesting itself anytime soon.  Australian Idol will have to wait.

• IPhone or Android?

IPhone. ICook. IEat. IBlog.

• Who would you love to meet? Alive or dead?

Bruce Springsteen (I know..so predictable) preferably alive 

• Deserted Island you can take 2 people and 4 objects what would you take?

Jim Carrey (for there must always be humour - even on a deserted island).
Morgan Freeman (for there must always be someone you won't get tired of listening to - especially on a deserted island).
Coffee Machine.
A Power Point.
IPhone.
Telecommunications Tower.  

• You've just won $500,000 dollars what do you buy first?

An around the world ticket travelling first class including guaranteed 100% gluten free deliciousness at every stop.



Ten Talented Bloggers

Here are ten awesome bloggers I'm nominating for a Liebster Award:

Carla from My Yellow Heart
Renee from Mummy, Wife, Me
Tash from Little Bit of Thyme
Melissa from Honey Bee Books
Emily from You learn something new every day
Jodie from Fresh Home Cook
Emma from Five Degrees of Chaos
Alicia from One Mother Hen
Kylie from Kylie Purtell - A Study in Contradictions
"Robo" from RoboMum

and so.. in turn, here are my 10 questions for the listed bloggers (but only if you wish to play along.. go on)

• Coffee with Oprah Winfrey or Ellen DeGeneres?

• Most embarrassing moment?

• Your epitaph..

• White or Red or are you a spirits kinda gal? (and I'm not talking ghosts)
• Share something that always makes you laugh?
• Chocolate or lollies and name your fav?
• Opportunity to sit next to anyone in the world (famous or otherwise) on a plane and why him/her/it?
• Best movie eva! Go!

• Forced to do Karaoke - song choice?
• Last meal. Go!

Thanks for playing xx

Pumpkin Scones

We had roast the other night and had some leftover roast pumpkin pieces.  Too good to throw away I thought but not enough to make anything substantial. Then I had a brainwave.. Pumpkin Scones.

So here's a bit of experimentation that paid off.  Rustic and delicious.

Can't get your kids to eat pumpkin? I guarantee they'll eat these :)

55 g butter
1/2 cup honey
1/2 - 3/4 cup mashed pumpkin
2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
3 cups GF self-raising flour

Pre-heat oven to 200° C
Line a cookie tray with baking paper
Beat softened butter until creamy then add honey, pumpkin and eggs and continue mixing on a low speed.
Add coconut milk and xanthan gum then gradually add the flour.  The mixture will become less sticky, start to form a dough and come away from the side of the bowl.
Transfer dough from the mixing bowl to a floured surface and using a flattened hand, form a disk to a thickness of  about 2 - 2.5cm. I used a cutter with a diameter of  approximately 6cm but a slender glass will work just as well. Flour the cutter or glass to prevent sticking and assist with ease of transfer to baking sheet

Bake for 12 minutes

No Flour Chocolate BROWNIES

Quite often I find that pre-packaged/commercial food, although marked GLUTEN FREE, contains a lot of things we generally try to steer clear of - high sugar, additives, preservatives, salt - especially for children.  It's no secret that I have a sweet tooth so I am the first to put up my hand and admit to being a little heavy-handed with the sugar in my baking but I wanted to see if there were great tasting alternatives out there, especially for my kids.  So I set about finding something yum that focused on the natural but still tasted amazing..  Lets face it, if it doesn't taste amazing, no-one is going to eat it so what's the point.

Well I think I'm off to a flying start here.. see what you think! 

The recipe below is an adaptation of one found here ->  Healthy Chocolate Brownies which in turn, is an adaptation of one found in the book The Healthiest Meals On Earth by Jonny Bowden

These brownies are high in fibre and contain no refined sugar 


12 Medjool Dates soaked in 1 Cup of hot water for 10 minutes (pits removed)
*this is an amendment to the original measurement of 1 & 1/2 cups as I feel less water makes a better end product.  Still pouring off 1/4 cup of the liquid later.
1 can (400g) of chickpeas rinsed well and drained
4 eggs
1/2 cup GF cocoa powder
1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)
50g of GF dark chocolate (optional)  ~ I used what I had available (40g) and still worked well
1/2 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon GF baking powder

Pre-heat oven to 180° Celsius
I used a 9x9x2in square Wilton brownie tin and lined with baking paper

Soak the dates in the hot water for 10 minutes.  After this time, pour off 1/4 cup of the liquid and process the dates and remaining water in a food processor.

Combine the date mixture, cocoa powder, coconut oil, chocolate and honey in a separate bowl.

Process the chickpeas and eggs together in the processor until a smooth consistency is achieved
(this will collect any remnants of the date mixture as well) and then stir into chocolate mixture.
Add baking powder and stir to mix in well.

Pour into lined baking tin and cook for 45 minutes.

Cool for 10 minutes before cutting

You could always add nuts if you wanted to but these are a great addition to lunchboxes 'as they are' (school friendly). I love this recipe and will definitely be making it again and again.  All of the ingredients can be sourced easily from your regular supermarket - you may find that you already have about 90% of the ingredients in your pantry anyway.

You may also choose to try different sweeteners - eg; Rice Malt Syrup, Agave Nectar, Stevia
I have used honey here as I find this preferable to an artificial sweetener - but that's not to say I would never use one.