Creamy Vanilla Fudge

Makes:  20cm x 20cm x 1.3cm

Ingredients:

• 470ml (1.9 cups) sugar
• 150ml (0.6 cups) evaporated milk
• 65ml (3 tablespoons) butter or margarine
• 25ml (1.5 tablespoons) golden syrup
• 1 can condensed milk
• 5ml (1 teaspoon) vanilla essence

Method:

1. Heat the sugar, evaporated milk and butter together in a saucepan.
2. Stir over a low heat until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Add syrup and condensed milk.
4. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the mixture reaches the soft-ball stage.  (Drop a small ball of the mixture into a bowl of cold water.  The mixture should form a soft ball when you roll it between your fingers.)  Stir continuously.
5. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly (1-2 minutes).
6. Stir in the vanilla essence and then beat with a wooden spoon until the fudge begins to form crystals and to thicken (basically – stir until you get to the point that you wouldn’t be able to pour it out the pot if you stir anymore)
7. Pour into a greased square tin (20cm by 20cm or 7.8 inches by 7.8 inches) and leave to set.
8. Once almost set, turn out onto a work surface and cut into squares with a sharp knife.

Note from the cook:

Mine turned out tasting like a mixture of toffee and fudge.  I believe that is how it is supposed to taste because everybody who sampled it says it was the best fudge they have ever tasted.

Brown or White Bread

For this recipe you can use brown bread flour or white bread flour.  The images are of brown bread.

INGREDIENTS:

• 7 cups (1kg) bread flour (brown or white)
• 10ml salt
• 10ml sugar
• 10g (1 sachet) instant dry yeast
• 20ml (1 tablespoon) Margarine
• 650ml (2.4 cups) lukewarm water

The ingredients

METHOD:

The bread dough after step 3

1. Sift flour, salt and sugar together.  Add dry yeast and mix.
2. Rub margarine into dry ingredients and gradually add lukewarm water to mix to a soft dough.  Add more water if needed.
3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed the dough vigorously for 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
4. Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover, and allow to rest for 20 minutes.
5. Knock down the dough and divide into two.
6. Place each portion in a greased 23cm loaf tin, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and leave to rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes, until double in size.
7. Brush top with water and bake in a preheated oven at 200ºC (400ºF) for 35 minutes.

Total time: Approximately 2 hours.

Quantity: 2 loaves

Chocolate Oil Cake

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 eggs
• 250ml sugar (1 cup)
• 375ml cake flower (1 & a half cups)
• 50ml cocoa powder (2 heaped tablespoons)
• 15ml baking powder (3 teaspoons)
• 2ml salt (half a teaspoon)
• 125ml boiling water (half cup)
• 125ml cooking oil (half cup)

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF)
2. Whisk the eggs and sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Sift dry ingredients and gently fold into mixture, with water and oil.
4. Turn into two lined, greased 20cm cake tims and bake for 20-25 minutes
5. Leave for 5-10 minutes in tins before turning out onto a wire rack to continue cooling

ICING:

INGREDIENTS:

• 125g margarine (half cup)
• 375ml icing sugar (1 & a half cups)
• 30ml cocoa powder (2 tablespoons - not heaped)
• 5ml vanilla essence (1 teaspoon)

METHOD:

1. Beat all ingredients together until smooth and creamy
2. Decorate the cake.  I also used caramel and peppermint crisp (hand grated) to decorate.

Carrot Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate soda)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 tablespoons melted margarine
• 3 tablespoons golden or maple syrup
• 2 eggs (beaten)
• 2 cups grated carrots
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest (the yellow skin part of the lemon)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200ºC (400ºF)
2. Coat a 12 cup muffin tin with cooking spray or margarine
3. In a bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together buttermilk, oil, syrup and eggs.
5. Add the buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients, mix until combined.
6. Fold in carrots and lemon zest.
7. Divide batter evenly among the 12 muffin cups.
8. Bake 20min or until golden brown.
9. Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes.
10. Remove from pan and allow to cool completely before serving.  The muffins continue to cook for a while after leaving the oven.

Recipe: Broccoli Mashed Potatoes

This is another recipe I received on the Yahoo Group: Frugal Friends in the Kitchen

Originally it was meant to be a vegetarian dish, or a side dish to be served with meat.  I tweaked it to make it into a 1 dish meal by added bacon… here is my version of the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 potatoes
• 2 tablespoons cream cheese
• 2.5 cups broccoli florets
• 200g (about 1.5 cups) bacon, chopped into roughly square pieces and fried.
• Salt, Pepper, Parsley to taste

Method:

1. Place potatoes in a pan, add water to cover and bring to boil (covered).  Boil for about 45min or until soft.
2. In another pot add broccoli and onion, cover with water and bring to boil (covered).  Boil for about 15-20 minutes, or until broccoli and onion are tender.
3. Drain water off the potatoes and vegetables.
4. Mash the potatoes in a bowl, leaving the skins (I chop them up roughly with a knife to make mashing easier)
5. Mix Cream cheese, Margarine, Salt, Pepper and Parsley into the mashed potatoes.
6. Fold in the broccoli, onions and bacon.

Serves 2

Cooking time roughly 1 hour

Recipe: Mashed Potato and Chicken Casserole

I got the following recipe from a Yahoo Group called Frugal Friends in the Kitchen, one of the members posted it there.  She got it from a lady in another group called Mary's Recipe Exchange.  We have no idea where this recipe originated, but here I am sharing it with you. 

I did make a few tweaks to the original recipe though…

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked, cubed chicken (My Tweak, I cooked 2 chicken fillets, cubed, in a frying pan)
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup (My Tweak, I made 1 packet of mushroom soup powder, making it as the instructions on the packet directed)
1 10 oz. package frozen baby carrots (My Tweak, I used 4 medium/large fresh carrots)
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
4 cups prepared, instant mashed potatoes (My Tweak, I made homemade Mashed potato from real potatoes … 4 medium sized potatoes work well)
Salt, pepper and parsley to taste

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC (350ºF).
2. In a large pot, combine chicken and soup.
3. Simmer over a low heat for 5 minutes.
4. Add carrots, peas, parsley, salt and pepper.
5. Heat thoroughly for 10 minutes, stirring frequently.
6. Spoon mixture into a casserole dish.
7. Evenly top with cheddar cheese and spoon mashed potatoes on top.
8. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is bubbly and potatoes are lightly browned.

Serves 4

Approx. 1h to make