Soggy.

That is the only word I can use to describe the weather the last 10 days! It has rained non stop, not a little bit of rain, but a steady soaking rain with a few heavy downfalls in between. If you dare step on the lawn, you sink knee deep in the mud and bog! Today I caved and replaced my dryer which blew up about 3 months ago. Wouldn't you know......I purchase it and the sun comes out! And stays out for hours! But after a wee bit of moaning on facebook, the clouds came back over and miserabled up the day (which I'm totally fine with, I adore the rain!). Anyway, you're not here to talk about the weather, you're here for the food!

Because it has been so cold and I wanted something warm and comforting. I wanted soup. But as you who read my blog regularly know...I don't like soup. So I "stewed" up and vegetarianized another soup recipe and it was great! Just be careful with the stock you use. I used Massel ready made Chicken Style and it was a touch too salty, next time I'll probably go with vegetable. Again, get low salt if you can and add your own salt to taste.

Silverbeet and Risoni Soup
Adapted very slightly from Vegie Food

15g Butter
1/2 Brown Onion, chopped
1 clove Garlic, crushed (I forgot this!)
1 Litre Low Salt Vegetable or Chicken Style Stock
3/4 cup Risoni Pasta
250g Silverbeet (Chard), de~stemmed, washed and finely sliced
1/2 cup Basil, finely sliced

Heat the stock in a medium saucepan over high heat until it comes to a boil.

Heat the butter in a separate heavy bottomed saucepan and saute the onion and garlic for 3-5 minutes or until softened. Add the stock to this mix and return to the boil. Add the risoni, stir and reduce heat. Simmer for 8 minutes before adding the silverbeet and basil. Cook for a further minute until the Silverbeet has wilted. Season with pepper and salt (if you choose, taste it first!) and serve with toasted cheese bread*
*Toasted Cheese Bread was just a crusty loaf of bread, toasted and spread with margarine, dijon mustard and cheese and grilled under a hot grill.

Even the kids liked this one which surprised me because they usually shun anything with spinach or chard in it!

Speaking of the UnVegettes, I went to the store to get museli bars for school and noticed that they'd once again had a price hike. I know museli bars from the store aren't the healthiest of treats, but there's worse things out there. I was happy to pay $3.80 for the homebrand one's but imagine my shock when the same product is now selling for $5.80! I decided to try my hand at some home made one's and ducked around the corner for some quick cooking oats which came to a grand total of $1.45!

I came home and did some googling. I knew Celine had some tasty one's somewhere over at Have Cake Will Travel and I was right! Behold a Pumpkin walks into a Molasses Bar.
Deeeeelicious! The kids adore them, I adore them and they were SO easy! The best bit is, that even though they have sugar, I KNOW they're much better for the girls than what I was getting at the store (unpronouncable humectants anyone?) I can't wait to try more!

I also finally decided to try my hand at some home made bread. I combined this recipe with this one and made some Whole Wheat Oat Bread, inspired by the one I was ogling at Eat Me Delicious (this one is next on my list to make, it looks fabulous!) Excuse the fact that the top looks burned. It is a little dark (the perils of cooking in my mini oven), but not as dark as it looks in the photo (you can see the wet ground outside I was talking about before ;))
(Almost) Wholemeal Oat Bread

2 tsp (7g) instant Yeast (the kind you use in the bread machine)
1 cup Warm Water
2 Tbsp Neutral Flavoured Oil
1 tsp Salt
1/8-1/4 cup Brown Sugar (I'll reduce this next time, I used the 1/4 cup , I prefer my bread less sweet)
1 cup Bread Flour
2 cups Wholemeal Flour
2 Tbsp Gluten Flour (Vital Wheat Gluten)
1 cup Quick Cooking Oats

Throw it all in the bread machine and set it on the dough cycle (do check if you need to add more liquid! I added an extra 2 Tbsp in the end)

Once the dough cycle has finished punch down the dough and shape it into a loaf. Spray a large loaf pan with non stick spray and place dough inside. Sprinkle an extra tablespoon or so of oats.

Cover with cling wrap (spray the underside of it with a little more non stick spray) and allow to rise for 45 minutes in a warm place.

Heat the oven to 180C and bake for 45 minutes, covering after 10-15 if the top is getting too brown. Bread is ready when you tap the bottom and it sounds hollow. Allow to cool completely on a rack before cutting.

Like I said, this bread was a little sweet so good for jam etc. If you want it with savoury spreads I'd leave out most of the sugar (not all though or the yeast won't work!)