Happy Cupcakes!

Doesn't Cookie Monster look happy?? :) His fondant eyes were made with choc balls and white fondant. His happy mouth with half a choc round and his fluffy fur with desiccated coconut colored with blue coloring and a bit of water. Like his shocked expression above? Ran out of chocolate rounds so I used an upside down choc chip :)

Rainbows make me happy too :) 

Oh and funny faces - this is N's creation with Kashi's cereal. 

And finally my snowball cupcakes with colored balls just for fun :)

Chocolate cupcakes with some buttercream on them.

Dunk them in a bowl of desiccated coconut and walah! Yummy happy cupcakes :)

Super Easy Meat Puffs

Ok. By now you'll know that I'm into simple. Simple but yummy. And oh - must must do justice in the eye candy department ;) Here's what I whipped up in under 15mins prep time for a tea party this morning. Of course the filling was already made the night before.

Step 1 - Grease your muffin tin with some oil and line it with pre-made frozen pastry squares. I used the Kawan brand puff pastry squares. (See picture here)

Step 2 - Fill with meat (or whatever filling you fancy - tuna/curry/peaches/apples) Here I topped my meat filling with some grated cheddar

Step 3 - Brush some beaten egg on the exposed pastry corners and bake for 20mins at 190C. The result!

Meat Filling Recipe

200-300g minced meat

1 can chopped mushrooms

Bunch of frozen peas

1 clove of garlic

1 mid sized onion

1-2 tbs oil 

1/2 cup of chicken or beef stock

1 tbs flour
1 Bay Leaf

1 tbs Dried Parsley flakes

Worchestershire Sauce

Salt

Pepper

1 - Mince garlic and onion. Heat oil in pan.

2 - Add minced garlic & onion, bay leaf and parsley. Saute till soft

3 - Add minced meat and brown. Season with Worchestershire sauce and salt and pepper

4 - Add mushrooms and peas. Add stock. Simmer for a few mins.

5 - Add a tbs of flour to thicken sauce. 

6 - Serve over butter rice/pasta and use the leftovers to make beef pies :)

I "Heart" Whole Grain Cereals!

I'm excited when I find a cereal that's whole grain and tastes good! Perfect for a snack on the go for the girls. They get their crunch, and best of all, the host of antioxidants that's good for them. Did you know that some antioxidants can only be found in whole grains and not even in fruits and vegetables?? Imagine that - every time you choose a whole grain slice of bread or in this case, cereal, over the refined stuff, you are choosing a superb source of antioxidants and vitamins :)

Here's the find of the month!

Kashi's Honey Toasted Oat Cereal - whole grain oats and other grains sweetened with honey. 

Really yummy and crunchy! Not sugar laden and no added coloring! I must say they reminded me of the dog food pellets I used to feed my dog as a child :P Not to worry though, looks can be deceiving - these babies are yummy, crunchy and have even have heart shaped ones - awww.... ;)

Found this gem at Cold Storage Solaris.