Butternut Soup

Hi!

On a cool day like today (in South Africa) there is nothing better than a nice bowl of soup with a slice or two of crusty warm, fresh bread with butter melting into it.

One of our favourites is Butternut soup, one reason being we grew butternuts this last season.

I mix up my own curry powder, I am allergic to chillies and tomatoes so my blend works well for us, not too spicey but flavourful all the same.


INGREDIENTS:

About half a butternut (size dependant) approximately 500g or so. Chopped up.
1-2 potatoes diced
1 onion diced (not pictured)
1tsp curry powder
1.5 litres of water/ or stock (I tend to make my own chicken stock and use that)
1 can of chickpeas/butterbeans/canellini beans
some cream for stirring in when it's served

our beautiful butternut we grew! :)

 Fry the onion in butter in a large pot, add the water/stock, the veggies and curry powder. Bring the water to  a gentle boil and cook until the veggies are soft.

Remove from the heat and use a stick blender (or any blender that will blend the soup nicely) Blend until smooth and serve. Add cream on top. I love to make swirly patterns :)

Yummy oozy, buttery gluten free bread

Enjoy!
Shared with  Sew Crafty Cat, Denise Designed,  Our Rosey Life,  Sondra Lyn at Home,  Cherished Handmade Treasures

Love Lauren

Gluten Free (or non gluten free) Marmite Squares

Hi again!

Today I am in a foodie mood. My mom used to bake this when my sister and I were children, it was one of my favourites because strangely I have a savoury  tooth vs a sweet one!

Marmite/oxo spread/bovril/veggiemite can be inter-changed although I did find that the oxo spread didn't dissolve like it should.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups of flour (gluten free cake flour or normal cake flour both work)
4 tsp Baking powder
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of oil
2 eggs beaten
1 cup of  grated cheese (I like to add extra feta cheese to make it double cheese)

Mix the above ingredients together and place in a greased ovenproof dish.
Bake for 20min at 190 degrees Celsius.

SAUCE:

1/2 cup of butter (before its melted)
1-2 tsps of Marmite/oxo spread/bovril/veggiemite

dissolve together in the microwave and pour over the top when it comes out of the oven.

Cut into squares/slices

Enjoy a yummy savoury treat :)

Share with Not Just a Housewife, Judy's Handmade Creations, 
Mandy's Recipe Box

Love Lauren

DIY House: Our Bookshelves part 1

HI!


Yesterday I was featured on Judy's Handmade Creations as the most clicked on link in a Linky Party! Thanks to all of you who viewed my Microwave Fudge Recipe.

I am a reader, for as long as I can remember I have loved books! When we moved into our current house there was a lack of shelves- shelves of all kinds and especially bookshelves. Now after 18 months my books have been unpacked!

My husband worked on it for about two weeks in between work and other house hold tasks.

the wall space where the bookshelf will be

building it on the lounge floor

The shelf unit is too big to attempt to build outside and carry inside, so all the building took place on our lounge floor, our furniture was moved aside and it made a real obstacle course to get through!  Our Cats seem to enjoy sussing out and inspecting any work that gets done especially my little Bailey. Spot the cat in the picture above :)

it's up and in place

I decoupaged washi tape to the shelf fronts

You know my love affair with washi tape!

sorted into piles waiting to be shelved

 I kept all  my childhood books for my future children, here's hoping they actually enjoy reading!

all done- but only the adult fiction

we ran out of shelves before getting to this pile

 We still have to build another set on the opposite wall, but that's another task all on it's own.
Of course I was my OCD self and everything is alphabetised. :)

I love my bookshelf!

Shared with  Not Just a Housewife

Love Lauren

Basic stove cleaner

Hi there

I love simple, effortless cleaning, and if I can use natural cleaning products and methods it's even better! This is one I use frequently, It's very simple and uses only 2 ingredients.

1. Bicarbonate of Soda (Bicarb or Baking soda to some)
2. White Vinegar.

I fill a spice bottle - (one with small holes at the top) with Bicarb. And fill a spray or squirt bottle with vinegar - I used an old dish liquid bottle with a sports cap lid/spout.

White Vinegar is better than the brown or malt kind as it doesn't leave stains.
I  then shake bicarb onto the stove top- all over especially where there is burnt on dirt and spray/squirt on vinegar. I leave it fizz away for a bit- sometimes 10 minutes, sometimes an hour if I forget about it. 

Then just a wipe up (no elbow grease required!) with a kitchen sponge and the Stove is Super clean!  I left my stove for  few days to gather "dirt" for the purpose of this blog post ;) Please excuse the mess!

BEFORE

AFTER

CLOSE UP OF THE BEFORE

This will even work on really caked on old dirt, you may have to  repeat once more or add on a good sprinkling of Bicarb and vinegar and let it really fizz.

PLEASE NOTE: AVOID GETTING TOO MUCH, IF ANY  NEAT VINEGAR ON THE STOVE PLATES FOR EXTENDED PERIODS OF TIME. VINEGAR MAY MAKE THEM RUST.

A paste of Bicarb and should be abrasvie enough to clean the stove plates.

Happy Green cleaning.


ps: look out for my link on Not Just a Housewife's linky party this week
Love Lauren

Sweet n Sour Chicken Pizza

Hi again!

We love to have Pizza night! Pizza night for us means, shopping for what ever toppings grab us, coming home, prepping the bases- In Mark's case it's ready made un-pasted pizza bases.For me it means buying a pack of  Gluten Free Crispy Pizza Pre Mix by Nature's Choice

One of  our favourites is: Sweet n Sour Chicken Pizza.




Ingredients/ Toppings:
* Greenpepper
* Mushrooms
* Onions
* Pineapple pieces
* Chicken pieces pre cooked spiced with Chinese 5 Spice ( I got mine at Spar in the World Foods section)
* Cheese



* and Homemade Sweet n Sour Sauce.
Ingredients:
* 1/2 cup Soya Sauce
* 1/4 cup Sugar
* 50ml Vinegar
* 1/2 tsp Chinese 5 Spice



Combine all 4 together in a small pot and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. If it needs to be thickend sieve in Maizena, if it needs to be thinned add a bit more vinegar- and a sugar to taste.

Layer your toppings however you want. Generally I start with Onion, then Greenpepper, then Mushrooms, then Pineapple, then the cooked Chicken, then the Sweet n Sour Sauce drizzled over the top and finally the Cheese. I make sure to cover the entire surface and scatter  the topping evenly so that with every bite or so you get a bit of everything. Bake it according to the directions on your specific packaging.




Yummy!
Enjoy!
Love Lauren

PostCrossing part 2

 Hi again,

I said I'd update when I had more news on the Postcrossing. (It's a small World after all) It has been about 2 months today since I joined. I have received 4 post cards so far! Germany, Russia, Lithuania and Finland.

Germany

Russia

Finland

Lithuania

The excitement I feel when I get a new card is incredible! It's wonderful that such a small, seemingly insignificant and old fashioned thing can bring such joy to me.



So far I have sent to Russia, Germany, Netherlands, China, Taiwan, USA, Ukraine,Belarus, Turkey with second ones to China, Netherlands and now a third to USA today.

What do I write on each card?

Different people request different things so I generally give brief facts about South Africa or myself if that's what's requested.

I buy a few postcards when ever I come across them and save them until it fits  a post card description that someone requests.


I am still loving the surprise element when I click "send postcard" you never know where your next card is going to be sent. Join and you'll see what I mean :)

Love Lauren

Easter

Last Easter my husband and I had just returned from our honeymoon the night before. Now being South Africa and the fact that it was late March and still warm AND we were driving from the East Coast side of the country we didn't want to travel with Easter eggs. Anyway we woke up on Good Friday to get some supplies- some of which would be Easter eggs, we went to one of our closest shops- (a large one) and found NO EASTER EGGS! None at all, no Lindt Bunnies, no marshmallow eggs, nothing! When I enquired I was told they had sold out!(and somehow managed to take down all their displays?) So to make a long story short we had no Easter Eggs last year :(

This year I have gone overboard :)

Cute egg cups I bought at Woolworths

I did some Easter crafts- minor ones since I have no littlies to make it special for.

Eighteen25

I did my own variation of the bunny tails tags as I sadly have no ink in my home printer. I used a tag stencil and my alphabet stamps I bought from Doolally Daisy

washi tape tags

I did an amigurumi cupcake bunny for my husband's basket (sounds weird but it was too cute to resist) I found the pattern here her blog is called Little Yarn Friends and her version is adorable.

my version of the cupcake bunny

He made me 2 log bunnies, I found a picture on pinterest and requested them, sometimes a girl has to be specific right?  I plan on reusing these bunnies and my cupcake one as Easter decor for next year.

log bunny

I did a few items for my Easter Market this weekend too.

bunny hats pattern found here

my adaptation of an owl turned chick

Then finally I drew up a paw print stencil and shook some baby powder over it to create some "bunny prints", I can't wait to have littlies to make magic for!

Bunny Tracks :)

Now my husband can finally get started on his basket, he's been (im)patiently waiting for me to finish taking my pictures :)

Happy Easter all...
What do you do to make Easter special?

 Love Lauren