The $1,000 Plan: Day Three

It is Day Three of our household endeavouring to save $1,000 over a 4 - 6 week period. Today I thought I would share one of the muffin recipes we are currently trialling, as an alternative food for breakfast, if you are interested in also trying them. 

I have shared them with the dietary adjustments I made, to be true to what ingredients I did in fact choose to use to make them. I have also adjusted the actual quantities of each ingredient, as I chose to do multiple batches that I could freeze and have readily onhand every morning, over the month ahead.

My goal is to 'shop' from what is currently in the freezer and the pantry, and so the recipe shared below reflects what was available to me when I was preparing them, and therefore what was used to make them. You can adjust the ingredients to what would best suit your particular dietary needs.

Here is the recipe I used, which was adapted from one I found by Edmonds Cooking, called Apple Coconut Bran Muffins....

Fruit Coconut Bran Muffins 

This recipe makes 48 muffins.

Ingredients:

6 cups of Organic Flour
4 tsp Baking Powder
4 tsp Baking Soda
8 tsp Ground Cinnamon
4 cups Wheat Bran
2 cups of Desiccated Coconut
1 cup of Organic Raw Sugar
8 Tbsp Golden Syrup
4 Eggs
4 cups Organic Rice Milk
400 gm Butter, melted
1 cup of Stewed Seasonal Fruit (I used Stewed Feijoas which had no sugar included in their preparation).

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. Line a standard large muffin tin with individual muffin cases.
2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon.
3. Mix into the flour mixture the bran and the desiccated coconut.
4. In a separate bowl mix together the raw sugar, golden syrup, eggs, rice milk and butter.
5. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry ingredient mixture.
6. Fold in the cup of stewed fruit. Do not over mix, stir until the ingredients are just combined.
7. Spoon portions of the mixture into the prepared muffin cases.
8. Garnish the top of each muffin with a little extra desiccated coconut for decoration.
9. Bake for 15 -20 minutes until risen and golden brown. Place on a wire rack to cool.

Serving Suggestion:

Prior to serving, we found it best to wrap the muffins in tin foil and reheat them in the oven for about 10 minutes, as they are extra delicious when served warm.

We have enjoyed having them alongside a pot of herbal tea and a piece of fresh fruit each morning. I hope this recipe may prove to be one that your household enjoys also.

Father's Day Recipe: Fish Pie

Celebrating Father's Day a little early, we sat down last night to a special family meal which included as the main dish: Fish Pie. I thought it would be nice to share the recipe ahead of Sunday, so that others may have it also.

Sometimes it is the good old favourite dishes that go down best as the main dish for a family gathering, such as celebrating Father's Day. So here is the recipe, for your family to enjoy perhaps this coming Sunday, or for another family meal also:

(Please note, that I chose to double the ingredients of the below recipe for our own family dinner).

Ingredients:

25g Butter
1 tablespoon Milk
3 cups cooked Mashed Potatoes
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon Flour
1 cup Milk
425g can of Salmon (drained & flaked)
1 tablespoon chopped Parsley
2 hard-boiled Eggs, chopped

Method:

Combine 25g butter, 1 tablespoon of milk and the pre-cooked mashed potatoes, mixing them together until smooth.
Season potato mixture with salt & pepper to taste.
Line a greased 20cm pie dish with half of the potato mixture. Set remaining potatoe mixture aside to use later as pie topping.
Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a saucepan. Add 1 tablespoon of sifted flour to melted butter, stirring to combine to make a cooked flour paste.
Gradually add 1 cup of milk to flour paste, stirring constantly until the resulting sauce is thick and bubbly. Remove resulting sauce from heat.
Add 425g can of drained and flaked salmon to sauce mixture, as well as 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley and the two prepared and chopped hard-boiled eggs. Mix until combined.
Pour pie filling into the lined pie dish, spreading evenly across potato base.
Cover fish filling with remaining potato mixture. (I chose to pipe the potato topping onto the filling).
Cook prepared fish pie at 190 degrees celsius (374 fahrenheit) for 20 minutes, or until pale golden in colour.
Serve with vegetables of your choosing.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed this simple yet delicious dish at our family dinner. We finished our meal with slices of Coffee Cake, which is a family favourite also.

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Chocolate Chip Biscuits Recipe

Chocolate Chip Biscuits are a favourite in our household. I use chocolate chips or chocolate drops, according to whichever we have at the time in the pantry.

Here is a recipe if you would like to make your own - they are yummy!

Chocolate Chip Biscuits:

250g butter
2 1/2 cups of sugar
2 Teaspoons Vanilla Essence
2 eggs
4 cups of Plain Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 cup of Chocolate Chips

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 190 celsius. Cover a baking tray with baking paper and place to one side.
Cream butter, sugar and vanilla essence together until creamy and combined.
Add eggs, one at a time, to creamed mixture and beat together well.
Sift flour and baking powder together. Add chocolate chips, plus combined flour and baking powder to creamed mixture, and mix to combine all ingredients.
Roll heaped spoonfuls of biscuit mixture into balls, and place on baking tray which was prepared earlier.
Use a floured fork to slightly flatten each spoonful of biscuit mixture.
Bake biscuits at 190 celsius for about 12 - 15 minutes or until a light golden colour.
Remove from oven and place biscuits on a cooling tray. Once cool they can be placed in a storage container.