Easy Choc-Mint Biscuits

Happy Australia Day to all my Aussie readers.
I hope you are enjoying your long weekend. 
If you haven't found something amazing to make tomorrow then let me suggest these!
Lots of people think of Tim Tam's and Mint Slice as real 'Aussie' biscuits.
And yes, there are vegan versions available in the supermarket - but hey, why not make your own??!!
I don't pretend these are healthy, but then again, we're all allowed a treat occasionally.

EASY CHOC-MINT BISCUITS

You'll need:
Arnotts nice biscuits
Kingland Soy cream cheese
Your Inspiration at Home choc-mint powder (or alternatively cocoa powder with a drop of peppermint essence)
Lindt 70% dark chocolate block

Remove the creamcheese from the fridge and allow to soften for 10 minutes. Mix in the choc-mint powder (or cocoa and mint essence).
Spread the mixture over the top of nice biscuits. 
Melt the dark chocolate in a microwave on 50% power until soft and runny. Drizzle over the biscuits. 
Allow to cool before serving so the chocolate can set. 
You can keep these in the fridge to firm up for about half an hour. Any longer and the biscuits will go soggy!

Enjoy! :-)

2014 Favorite Recipes

Here's my top 10 favourite recipes from 2014 -->
Did you try any of these? If so, be sure to let me know if they would make your favourites list too!

Life's short so let's start with dessert: 

 Maple Mousse Cake

This is so simple & yet so delicious. 

Quick Pear Tarts

Another simple one. I'm all for easy desserts. 

This one is for a really special occasion since pastry is not often on our menu.

Chocolate Berry Cheesecake

A real favourite here, even special enough to be featured as a 'birthday cake'.

Basic Vanilla Cake

Not a 'dessert' as such - but a very practical recipe to have on hand. 

So many uses, my favourite is for trifle! 

Apple Wonton Foldovers

This is another quick & easy one (then again all my recipes are!).
These make a great afternoon treat when visitors are due. 

Now for the main deal:

Healthy Carbonara

Turn a previously high fat meal into a low fat one, yet without losing flavour.

Bubble & Squeak Patties

No one can resist these. They are great for picnics and kids lunchboxes too.

Eggplant Bean Sauce

Although this doesn't look appealing, the taste is amazing. 

This has become a regular in our home. 

Bit-like Coconut Curry

Another meal that has been given a make-over to turn it into a tasty low fat alternative. 

And last but not least - a breakfast 

(since it's the most important meal of the day!):

Rum & Raisin Rice Porridge

Ice-cream flavour turned into breakfast - got me hooked ;-)

Yet as much as I enjoy yummy food and sharing recipes, my favourite blog post for the year was my heart's cry reminding us that Food is Not our Saviour - Jesus is.
It helped me put a lot of things into perspective and reminded me not to be obsessive about either eating, or blogging. Yes that meant I didn't blog quite as often as perhaps I would of liked to this past year, but it meant that I had my heart in a better place! :-)

Do you have a favourite blog post for the year just gone?
Why not share it in the comments below?

Another year down - Christmas dinner review

2014 went so quickly for us!
I usually post quite a few pre-Christmas ideas but unfortunately this year I didn't get a chance to - my apologies.
I will however, do my usual wrap-up of our Christmas meal & include a few recipes that you might like to store up for next year (don't you just love pinterest for that reason)!


Pre-dinner nibbles of veggie sticks and baked corn tortillas with refried bean dip (recipe coming soon).

 Dinner included the following:

Beetroot & Green bean Salad (recipe below)

Agave Mustard Baked Veggies

Mini potato bites

Wholemeal Quinoa Loaf

Spinach, sweet potato, corn & mixed bean salad

Red Lentil & Spinach Loaf (recipe below)

And for dessert we enjoyed:

Christmas Chocolate fruit cake

Trifle (directions below)

Red Lentil & Spinach Loaf

375g packet red lentils
2 bay leaves
120grams baby spinach leaves
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves
400g can tomatoes
1 1/2 cups oats   **
1 teaspoon each: oregano, cumin, sage
BBQ sauce

Place the lentils and bay leaves in a saucepan & fill with just enough water to cover them.
Bring to the boil and then simmer til lentils are softened but not yet falling apart (approx 15-20 mins).
Pour the cooked lentils into a large mixing bowl, removing the bay leaves.
Stir through the spinach leaves and allow the warmth of the lentils to wilt the leaves.
In a small frying pan, place the chopped onion and crushed garlic - dry fry until golden brown.
Stir the onion/garlic mix into the lentil/spinach mix.
Stir through the tomatoes, oats and herbs.
Place mixture into a lined loaf pan and spread the top with BBQ sauce.
Bake in a preheated 180C oven for 45 minutes.
This will slice best if you allow it to cool briefly before removing it from the loaf pan.

** For a firmer loaf you can use 2 cups of oats, however this will make a more dense loaf too (pictured below). My husband prefers the loaf with 2 cups of oats, I prefer it with 1 1/2 cups of oats. So take your pick!!!

Beetroot and Green Bean Salad

60grams baby spinach leaves
60grams beetroot leaves
6 baby beets
1 cup green beans
6 walnuts

Dressing:
150g soft tofu
2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Combine the leaves in a salad bowl. Chop the baby beets and spread them evenly over the leaves. Remove the ends of the green beans and lightly steam them. Spread over leaves along with the crushed walnuts.
To make the dressing - blend all ingredients until smooth.
Pour dressing over salad to serve.

Trifle

You will need:
basic vanilla cake
custard- I doubled the quantity of the custard in this recipe, but halved the sugar
600grams frozen raspberries
1/2 cup fresh mint leaves.

Tear or chop the cake into little pieces.
In a glass serving bowl, layer 1/3 of the pieces of the torn cake, 1/3 of the raspberries and then a final layer using 1/3 of the custard, followed by a sprinkling of torn mint leaves.
Repeat layering process 3 times or until all ingredients are used up.
Refrigerate until time to serve.

I have to admit that I wasn't too disappointed to have some leftovers to enjoy!
I hope you all had a splendid Christmas time.

Happy New Year to all my readers :-)

Look forward to sharing with you in 2015.