Making and baking with miss A

When Miss A is not at Kindy our days are often filled with drawing, craft and baking. Most days you can barely see her 'desk' beneath the piles and piles of drawings, books, cut-outs and glued together bits and pieces. This usually extends out into the rest of the house too...we have little pictures of people, flowers, cats and houses everywhere. And lately her drawings are not limited to paper but regularly find their way onto her own skin! In the kitchen one of her favourites is Banana Choc Chip Muffins using the following recipe....

Banana Choc-Chip Muffins
1 3/4 cups self-raising flour
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 cup milk chocolate bits
1 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup canola or light olive oil
2 x 59g eggs, lightly beaten

Grease a 12 x 1/3-cup capacity muffin pan. Sift flour and caster sugar into a large bowl, stir in milk chocolate bits. Make a well in the centre, add mashed banana, oil and eggs and stir until ingredients are combined. Spoon the batter evenly into prepared muffin pan. Bake in a 200C preheated oven for 15-17 minutes until muffins are well-risen and lightly browned. Serve warm or cool.
Makes 12

According to Miss A, extra chocolate bits are required, to be eaten while baking...and a few muffins should be frozen for lunchbox treats.

Happy making and baking xx

Time for Soup

Photo Credit: Nuchylee

It's cold...must be time for soup! Here is a quick and easy recipe for a delicious soup, from Healthy Food Fast. It is a lower fat version of a cream-based soup.

CREAMY VEGIE SOUP

250g pumpkin, peeled and cut into small chunks
Half head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1 zucchini, chopped
1 large onion, diced
2 large potatoes, peeled and diced
6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup low-fat evaporated milk

Combine pumpkin, cauliflower, zucchini, onion, potato and stock in a large pot. Cover and cook over gentle heat for 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Remove from heat and puree in a blender until smooth. Stir through milk. Serves 6.

Hint: If you do not have a blender, push soup through a sieve.

Variation: This soup can be made using 1 1/2 kg of any chopped vegetables. Try sweet corn and sweet potato and 5 minutes before the end of cooking throw in a few outside lettuce leaves and a handful of parley or mint, then puree.

Enjoy!