Pizza al la James

Hey guys.  Tonight i made pizza's for the troops.  All up it cost me around $15 - $16 for 2 gourmet pizza's with -

• mission pizza base x2
• Romano cheese coated Salami
• mild Spanish coated Salami
• pizza sauce
• mixed herbs
• 1 tub of bocconcini
• mushrooms
• pineapple pieces
• extra grated mozzarella
• 1 onion
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• olives
• 1 ham steak sliced thinly

The bases were rectangular and fitted everything nicely piled up.  240deg c oven for 20 mins.  Should have made more lol.  Now at a pizza shop you would pay in excess of $15 each for these so half the cost and you know whats on it.

Chocolate Cranberry Brownies

Made these last night for the kids lunch today and for a bit of something something with my coffee lol.  Really easy to make and taste fantastic.

Ingredients

• 175g butter, cubed
• 200g dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
• 1 1/4 cups plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries
• 3/4 cup brown sugar

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C. Lightly grease and line a square 20cm (base measurement) cake pan with non-stick baking paper.
   
2. Place butter and chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water (make sure the bowl doesn't touch the water). Stir occasionally until the chocolate mixture melts and is smooth. Remove from heat and set aside.
   
3. Sift flour, baking powder and cocoa into a large bowl. Pour the chocolate mixture into the flour mixture. Add eggs, cranberries and brown sugar, stirring with a large spoon until combined. Pour the mixture into the lined cake pan. Cook for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out slightly sticky. Set aside in the pan for 10 minutes to cool then transfer to a wire rack. Slice and serve warm or at room temperature.

Who can say this sentence?

A Chihuahua, a Doberman and a Bulldog are in a bar having adrink when a great-looking female Collie comes up to them and says, "Whoever can say liver and cheese in a sentence can have me."

So the Doberman says, "I love liver and cheese." The Collie replies, "That's not good enough."

The Bulldog says, "I hate liver and cheese." She says, "That's not creative enough."

Finally, the Chihuahua says, "Liver alone . . . cheese mine."

An elephant and turtle

An elephant was drinking out of a river one day, when he spotted a turtle asleep on a log. So, he ambled on over and kicked it clear across the river.

"What did you do that for?" Asked a passing giraffe.

"Because I recognized it as the same turtle that took a nip out of my trunk 53 years ago."

"Wow, what a memory" commented the giraffe.

"Yes," said the elephant, "turtle recall".

Bacon and Thyme Popovers

Hi everyone.  These are one of the kids favourites for snacks and in their lunch box's at school.  Quick and easy to make so enjoy!!!

INGREDIENTS

• 50g Butter, plus extra for greasing
• 6 Rashers of bacon
• 2 spring onions, white and green sliced finely
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 150g or 1 1\2 cups of plain flour
• pinch of salt
• 1 tsp powdered beef stock
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 300ml milk
• 2 tsp dried thyme

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 200 deg C or 400 F.  Lightly grease 2 x 12 cupcake or 1 x 12 muffin tins.  Fry the bacon, spring onions, salt, pepper and garlic until cooked through and golden brown.  Set aside.
2. Sift the flour, salt and beef stock powder into a bowl.  Make a well in the centre and add the eggs.  Put the butter in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water until it is melted.
3. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the butter into the flour mixture.  Beat with a whisk until combined, gradually stiring in the milk to form a smooth batter.  Add the dried thyme  to the batter.
4. Laddle the batter into the greased muffin holes until they are about 2/3 full.  Sprinkle the bacon mix over the popover batter.
5. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.  Turn out onto a wire rack. 
6. Either serve warm or cold in lunch box or a snack.

Budget Meat Shopping

When it comes to shopping for your meats at the supermarket, always check out if there is any "reduced to clear" meats in the pre packed section. This meat normally has a couple of days left on the best before date so is still great to eat, and is normally reduced by anywhere from 30-60% off the original price. Either use it straight away or freeze it for use later on.

You would be surprised how much money you can save by doing this every time you shop and what products do get marked down .  It also applies to bread and cold cut meats as well. 

Easy peel Garlic

To avoid having to cut the ends off the garlic cloves, and then peel them leaving your hands stinking, place the cloves into the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds. When you take them out you should be able to just gently squeeze the tips of the garlic and it pops out of it skin. Easy peezy. Then crush or chop to your liking.