My no dig veggie gardens.

"Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world."

-Buddha

Pretty Pink Crystal Beads

Dedicated to my darling girls.

Before you were conceived I wanted you
Before you were born I loved you
Before you were here an hour I would die for you
This is the miracle of love.

-Maureen Hawkins

This is a photo I took at Paronella Park between Townsville and Cairns.

A kind heart is a fountain of gladness,

making everthing in it's vicinity freshen into smiles.

Washington Irving.

Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.

-Dalai Lama

Orchids in bloom

Visitors in our garden !

Fresh flowers from our garden.

Our frangipani tree's are starting to flower again. They smell divine!

My Tropical Garden Photo Collage

These are all photos that I have taken of plants and statues in my garden. I have collaged them using Picasa photo collage.

Have you ever seen a round egg ?

Mother Teresa Quote

"I am a little pencil in the hand of a writing God who is sending a love letter to the world".

- Mother Teresa

Buddha Quote

"The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly".

-Buddha

Creamed Rainbow Chard and Poached Egg.

This is a great Sunday brunch recipe that I put together this morning. I am trying to use up an abundance of rainbow chard that I have growing in our veggie garden.

Ingredients:

12 medium to large rainbow chard leaves (well washed, dried and chopped)

1 clove of garlic (peeled and grated)

1 teaspoon of butter

2 tablespoons of cream

fresh ground pepper to season

fresh chopped parsley

1 large free range egg

2 slices of fresh bread (to toast)

Directions:

Poach egg to liking, put aside (keep warm)

In a fry pan heat butter and garlic until fragrent, add chopped chard and cook until slightly wilted. Drain liquid from pan, add cream and season with pepper. Stir and reduce cream. To layer place cooked chard, toast round, poached egg, toast round,on a plate. Spoon over reduced cream sauce from the pan and sprinkle with parsley and season with salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Baked Brie with Sundried Tomatoes.

I found this great warm Dip on one of my favourite food Blogs Closet Cooking-http://closetcooking.blogspot.com/

As I am a huge fan of cheese, I thought I would give it a try. I wasn't disappointed, delicious!

Baked Brie with Sundried Tomatoes.

Ingredients:

1 round of Brie (rind removed and cut into cubes)

2 tablespoons of sundried tomatoes in oil (chopped and drained of oil)

1 clove of garlic(grated)

1 teaspoon of fresh thyme(chopped)

pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Mix everything.

2. Transfer to a small ramacin. (The mixture should fill the dish to the brim as it will shrink when baked)

3. Bake in a peheated oven 160 degrees until the brie is melted and starts to bubble, about 20-30 minutes.

Serve warm straight from the oven with crackers, heaven.

Dry Roasted Potatoes with home made Coleslaw, Pineapple, Beetroot, Tasty grated Cheese, Bacon, Sour Cream and Chives.

Home grown Tomatoes and Basil

Nothing can beat the taste and aroma of a juicy ripe home grown tomato, warmed by the sun. Especially when you team it up with fresh basil, simply delicious!

Buddha Quote

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

- Buddha

My Thai Chicken Coconut Curry.

Ingredients:

4 Chicken breasts (skin off)
2 Cans of Nestle Carnation Light and Creamy Coconut flavoured evaporated milk
2 Chicken stock cubes
1/4 of a teaspoon of good Curry Powder
1/2 of a teaspoon of fresh grated Ginger
1 large clove of fresh Garlic (grated)
1 fresh pce of lemon grass
1 Brown Onion (sliced)
8 Mushrooms (sliced)
1 Red Capsicum (Sliced)
1 Large bunch of finely chopped fresh Parsley
Method:

Into a large pot, Add a small drizzle of olive oil, add sliced brown onion, sliced red capsicum, sliced mushrooms, grated garlic, grated fresh ginger and the curry powder and gently fry off until aromatic. Pour the 2 cans of coconut flavoured evaperated milk into the pot, add the 2 Chicken stock cubes. Stir to combine, add the pce of lemon grass that has been bashed on the end (to release the flavour). Simmer to reduce so the flavours combine. Careful not to burn. Add sliced chicken breast and poach in liquid until chicken is cooked. Serve on a bed of steamed coconut rice. Sprinkle with fresh parsely.

Enjoy.

Choc Cherry Biscuit Cake

Ingredients

1 250g Packet of Arnott’s Choc Ripple Biscuits

600ml of Cream

1 tsp of Caster Sugar

Vanilla essence

1 425g can of Admiral Stoneless Black Cherries in syrup (well drained for half an hour)

¼ cup of shaved chocolate

Directions

1. Add Sugar and drop of Vanilla essence to cream and whip until very stiff

2. Join Choc Ripple Biscuits together buy standing a biscuit on its side and sandwich with the next biscuit using a generous spread of cream. Continue until all biscuits have been used and resemble a log.

3. Place ½ the cherries on top of the cake

4. Cover the log thickly and entirely with the remaining cream

5. Place the remaining cherries on top of cream and sprinkle with ¼ a cup shaved chocolate.

6. Place in fridge for at least 6 hours or overnight.

To serve cut cake on slight angle to ensure alternate layers of choc biscuits, cream and cherries are in each slice.

Enjoy!

My Sunday Night Veggie Bake with Cheesey white sauce.

Ingredients:
6 medium potatoes
1 medium sweet potato
1/2 a small butternut pumpkin
chopped rainbow chard
2 small red onions
2 medium zucchinis
4 medium carrots
1 cup of grape tomatoes
1 punnent of mushroom
6 spring onions
small bunch of parsley
small bunch of chives
small bunch of sage
4 cloves of garlic
salt
pepper
olive oil

White cheesy sauce

knob of butter
plain flour
3 - 4 cups of milk
1 cup aged Parmesan cheese (1/2 for sauce, 1/2 to sprinkle on top)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (extra to sprinkle on top)

Method:

1. Wash and peel veggies cutting into even bite sized chunks.
2. Place in roasting pan on sheet of non stick paper with whole garlic cloves.Sprinkle with olive oil and season with sea salt flakes and fresh ground pepper.
3. Place in oven for 35 mins on 160C degrees fan forced.
4. Make up cheese sauce - melt butter in pan, add one tablespoon of flour. Whisk together to make a paste ( Roux.) Add milk slowly whisking at all times. Seasonwith salt and pepper, add 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Add chopped herbs and squeeze roasted garlic into white saucestill whisking, sauce will thicken. Pour sauce over roasted veggies in baking dishthen garnish with more cheese and chopped herbs. Bake for 30 - 40 mins untilgolden brown.
5. Serve with crusty bread to soak up juices.

Great , healthy Sunday night dinner.

Enjoy!!!Love Joey xxx

Baby Cakes

Here is one of my baby cakes that I have made for a friend. They are a novel way of presenting baby gifts and are a beautiful centre piece at the baby shower. They can be themed pink or blue if your friend knows the gender of the baby or, if not, a lemon theme ie a ducky theme can be used. It is great fun collecting the gifts to go in the cakes.The cake consists of 3 layers on a cake board. I use a baby towel for the bottom layer and pack this layer with newborn disposable nappies. For the second layer I use a baby blanket filled with gifts such as baby romper, singlets, bibs, booties and newborn mittens, a brush and comb, teething ring, rattle, dummy, my first toothbrush and milk teeth toothpaste. For the top layer of the cake I put in baby soap, baby shampoo, baby powder, baby lotion, lavender oil (these are all small size bottles). I like to use organic ranges like Gia baby products and Eco store available from Woolies. They come in beautiful scents such as lavender, wheatgerm and chamomile and the soap is made from goats milk. All the products are organic with no nasty chemicals, dyes, or perfumes for our precious little ones.

To decorate the baby cake I used themed coloured ribbons and silk flowers. I also use baby socks and singlets and roll them up to make fabric roses along the edges of the cake. On the top of the cake I put a pretty pair of baby girls shoes. For the boys a nice little pair of baby boy shoes. You can get these from Big W. If you don't know what your friend is having theme it yellow, lemon and white and I place 3 bath ducks on top also from Big W. To cut costs a couple of friends can put in together and go shopping for the goods. I also buy things when shops have sales and put them away (i.e Kmart, Target and Big W).I also ask the mum for the silver cake tray back when she unpacks the cake at a later time as it is no longer needed. The new "Mums-to be" comment on what fun the family had sitting around undoing the layers to find all the lovely baby surprises. I hope you have as much fun making them as I do.
Love Joey

The colours of nature

This is a photo of some of the tropical plants that I have in my garden.I just love their colours, especially when the sun is shining on their foliage. Nature is such a wonderful thing, don't you think?