Vanilla Cupcakes

This basic Vanilla cupcake recipe is a favourite of mine, because they are SO easy to whip up - just melt the butter and mix everything together.... and of course they taste SO good, too!

Madeleine and I make these often. They are great to make with her, because there is no mixer required, so the she can help measure everything out, and mix it all together as well.

This recipe makes 12 cupcakes.

You will need;

1 3/4 cups SR Flour

2/3 cup caster sugar

125g butter, melted and cooled

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and line a muffin tray with paper cases.

Combine the flour and the caster sugar together in a large bowl.

Whisk butter, eggs, milk and vanilla extract in a jug.

Now, your wet ingredients to your dry ones and stir gently until they are combined.

Divide the mix between your paper cases and bake for 15 - 20 mins or until your cakes are cooked through.

Then transfer your cakes to a wire rack to cool.

When they are cold, decorate!

When we are making these ourselves at home, we usually just spread with some icing, but for a party, why not pipe some icing on the top to make these look extra special! With all the different pretty cupcake cases and toppers that you can buy these days, you can match these to the theme of your party.

You can also use this recipe to make mini cupcakes if you like. Just use a mini muffin tray lined with mini muffin cases. Your cakes will take about 10 minutes to cook.

Very Vegie Bolognese

I needed to throw dinner together quickly this evening. It was a busy day out, and I arrived home at 4:30 by myself with my two littlies. I had nothing defrosted, and no plan for dinner.... I decided on bolognese.

This bolognese is packed full of vegetable goodness. Eight different vegetables in total, and you would never know.... I use only a small amount of good quality beef mince in this bolognese so the bulk of the dish really is vegetables.

You will need:

A splash of Olive oil
An onion
A clove of garlic
Some dried herbs
A teaspoon of beef stock powder
An assortment of vegetables. You can use whatever you have to hand. I have used Mushrooms, Carrot, Zucchini, Brocoli, Cauliflower, and a small cube of frozen spinach. In total, I use about 3 cups of vegies.
A 400g can of tomatoes
A tablespoon of tomato paste
200g of good quality beef mince
Salt and pepper to taste.

I chop all my vegies quite small and saute in some olive oil.





When the vegies have softened, I add the mince and stir to break up any lumps, until the mince
has browned.
Add the tomato paste and cook, stiring to coat everything, for a minute or two. At this stage you can add your dried herbs.
Pour in the can of tomatoes, then fill the empty can with water and add to the
saucepan with the teaspoon of beef stock powder and salt and pepper to taste.




Simmer uncovered until the sauce reduces.


Now, if it were just David and I eating this, we would eat this just as it is, but to hide the vegies from Madeleine I pop the bolognese into my food processor and blitz. The vegies become completely undetectable!

Meal Planning

I have been meal planning for years - even before children! I love going through my cook books looking for new recipes to try - I will try a few each fortnight, depending on how busy I am.

Now that I am on maternity leave again, I seem to be trying a new recipe almost every night! I find meal planning makes evenings easy for me - I don't have to think about what to cook. It also helps with the budget (I only buy what I need for meals).

I only meal plan for our evening meal, and the way that I do it, is that during the week I will go through some of my cook books when I have time, and list the recipe I want to try - the book it is from, and the page number. I use this list to help me to write my meal plan and create my shopping list as I go.

I like pretty things, and searched the internet to find a nice meal planner to use.This is the meal planner I have been using for some time because I like the way that the shopping list is included on the side, so everything is together http://www.theprojectgirl.com/2009/01/19/menu-planning-form-free-download/

Super Organiser Mum also has a free printable that includes the shopping list together on the same page also http://www.beyondthebaby.com.au/superorganisermum/organising/clipboard-station-and-menu-planning/

Do you meal plan? Do you have a system you use? I would love to hear about it!