Banana Bread

I'm exited to be joining in the #shelftember Challenge that Jordan from Fun Cheap or Free is running.

The idea is that for the month of September instead of spending what you normally do on groceries per week, you shop your food storage, i.e your pantry, freezer and fridge to make meals from. Then you have a $25 budget to spend per week to stock up on any fresh food or anything else that you need. Is it a tight budget? Yes it is! But if your anything like me you go every week and buy new groceries but you have a huge stockpile already on hand. So it's a great opportunity to clean out your stock pile and save some money for something fun. 

Today I had some bananas that were on there last legs, so I took to pinterest to to find a recipe for Banana bread. I always love giving new recipes a try but you never know if it's going to turn out, so I'm excited when they do. This banana bread was delicious and definitely worth making! And best of all, only uses ingredients that are likely to already be in your pantry.

 BANANA BREAD 

(Recipe slightly adapted from http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/)

Ingredients

•  - 2 to 3 very ripe bananas, peeled
•  - 1/3 cup melted butter
•  - 1 teaspoon baking soda
•  - a pinch of salt
•  - 3/4 cup sugar 
•  - 1 large egg, beaten
•  - 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  -1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

1 Preheat the oven to 175°C (350°F), and grease a loaf pan.

2 In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.

3 Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.

4 Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.

5 Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool before serving. Slice and serve. 

Enjoy on it's own or warm with a spread of butter.

Kylie xx

Vegemite Scrolls

My boy has been begging me to take vegemite scrolls to School for lunch. I have heard that they are super easy & cheap to make and I have been meaning to try them for ages, and I finally did! They really are super easy to make. They also freeze really well. I have been taking them out of the freezer in the morning and they are defrosted and ready to go by lunchtime and still really yummy. So it certainly makes for a super easy lunch and I don't have to make sandwiches in the morning.

The recipe I used was from The Stay at Home Mum

Ingredients

* 3 Cups Self Raising Flour

* 1/2 tsp Salt

* 50 grams butter, at room temperature

* 1 1/2 cups Milk

* 200g Cheese, grated

* 2 Tbls Vegemite

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 220 degrees

2. Sift flour & salt into a mixing bowl.

3. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like fine bread-crumbs. 

4. Stir in enough milk to make a soft dough.

5. Knead for a few minutes in a mix master (or knead on a lightly floured board).

6. On a lightly floured board, roll to form a rectangle that is roughly 40cm x 25cm. 

7. Spread the vegemite over the dough using a blunt knife.

8. Sprinkle 3/4 of the cheese over the top.

9. Roll up the dough starting from the long side. 

10. Cut 10 x 4cm pieces from the roll. 

11. Place pieces on a lined baking tray and sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.

12. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until golden.

Enjoy, 

Kylie xx

Frugal Countdown to Christmas...Day2...Christmas Breakfasts

We go to Church on Christmas morning, so any breakfast that we have needs to be fairly quick and easy, but still a sit down special meal. Every year I try to think of something new, my kiddies are fussy. Here are the 4 things that I am tossing up between and tomorrow the kids will get to choose which one they would like. If you are looking for some idea's, click on the link and they will take you to the recipe's. 

French Toast Bake

Reindeer Pancakes

Christmas Shaped Pancakes

Christmas Tree Waffles

Kylie xx

Frugal Countdown to Christmas...Day 3... Free printable Christmas gift tags

If you doing some last minute gift wrapping and are still in need of some gift tags, then here are a bunch of gorgeous free printable gift tags. To print, click on the link below each photo.

These tags from I Heart Nap Time can be printed in Black or Red & White

Paper Trail Design

Lia Griffith

Thirty Handmade Days

Mommy by day Crafter by night

Enjoy,

Kylie xx

Frugal Countdown to Christmas...Day 4...Red Velvet Gooey Butter Cookie

This is the last cookie recipe that I am trialing for this this Christmas Season. And I'm so glad that I did, because they are yummy. They are crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside. I also love how festive they look. They are definitely worth cooking. This recipe has been slightly adapted from recipegirl.com

RED VELVET GOOEY BUTTER COOKIES

INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour

2 cups white sugar

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

225g cream cheese, softened

57g butter, softened

1 large egg

1 tablespoon red food coloring

1/2 cup powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl to combine.

2. Beat the cream cheese and butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer until smooth. Beat in the egg and food coloring.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix until the dough comes together. Cover with plastic wrap and chill the dough for at least 2 hours.

4. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Place the powdered sugar in a shallow bowl.

5. Roll the dough into balls (about 1 tablespoon each). Roll the dough balls in the powdered sugar, then place on the baking sheets at least 3 inches apart. Bake until the edges of the cookies are set, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer the cookies to racks to cool completely. Store the cookies in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Enjoy, 

Kylie xx

Frugal Countdown to Christmas...Day 5...Christmas Kindness paper chatterbox free printable

I went to my friend's house the other night and on her glass kitchen splashback, she had written (in whiteboard marker) "Let's be kind! And let's have fun!

Straight away I asked " have your kid's been fighting too?"

School holidays...I have a love/hate relationship with them. I love having my babies home and I love not having to do the whole school/lunches routine, but when they start fighting....arrggghhh i just want to pull my hair out! And 7 weeks of them together all day everyday, is a struggle. 

I saw this free printout on pinterest and I love it. 

You can print it out in colour or in black and white and then colour it in yourself.
Photo cred: brendid.com

Christmas is a time where it is easy for kid's to think about themselves and what they want, but this printable places the focus on being kind to others. Kid's love making paper chatteboxes, so why not have one that focus on lovely, kind acts that they can do for others. We have printed & cut our's out , so now I'm hoping my kids will forget about the fighting for a while and focus on being kind to one another. The free printable from "Bren did and you can too" can be found Here.

Enjoy, 

Kylie xx

Frugal Countdown to Christmas...Day 6...Mint Choc chip fudge

This delicious recipe for mint choc chip fudge is from Chocolate, Chocolate and more ! This fudge is so creamy & delicious and a perfect desert for you to make this Christmas. It is so delicious that I will officially be adding to my list of things to bake every Christmas. Here is the recipe...

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups white chocolate melts

2 Tbls butter

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp mint or peppermint extract

green food colouring 

1 cup dark choc chips

Instructions

1. In a microwave safe bowl, place white chocolate and butter and place in microwave for 1 minute. 

Stir and place back in microwave for another minute if required.

2. Stir in sweetened condensed milk and mint/peppermint extract. Add food colouring to desired      colour. Once completely incorporated, let cool for a few minutes then fold in 1/2 of the choc chips.

3. Press in to a lined 8x8 tin and sprinkle remaining choc chips over the top of the fudge.

4. Refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours to set before cutting into squares.

5. Store in an airtight container.  

Enjoy, 

Kylie xx