'Eat me" easy chocolate biscuit recipe

On Wednesday, I went shopping with my best friend to use up some of the vouchers she gave me for Christmas and my birthday. One of these vouchers was for Typo, my absolute favourite stationery and knick-knack shop and I was very excited to use it, despite dreading having to narrow down my loot to just $50 worth. One of the fantastic little thingymabobbies I bought in Typo was an "eat me" cookie stamp - a purchase which fits in perfectly with my resolution to eat less packaged, preservative-riddled crap this year and do more home cooking of meals and snacks from scratch - a resolution which is no mean feat for a biscuit lover like me who just can't pass up a couple of bikkies with my daily cup of tea. 

Anyway, Thursday afternoon saw me eager to try out this nifty little purchase and thus I was on the hunt for the perfect, easy cookie recipe to try my stamp on. Originally, I planned on making sugar cookies, but the ridiculous amounts of sugar and butter that every recipe I came across called for turned me off - I didn't want to have to run to the shops to buy more sugar and butter, and besides, I was after an easy staple recipe that I could whip up any time to satisfy my biscuit cravings. Then I found this little beauty - a chocolate biscuit recipe with only a handful of ingredients in much more reasonable quantities than the sugar cookies! Satisfied with their deliciousness after testing them out with a couple of cups of tea, I decided that this little recipe, which I originally found on bestrecipes.com.au but altered to suit my tastes, was too good not to share!

Ingredients:

3/4 of a cup of butter

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (you could use 1 teaspoon vanilla essence if you don't have extract)

1 1/2 cups plain flour

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius.
2. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar using an electric mixer on low. 
3. Add egg and vanilla and beat thoroughly.
4. Sift the cocoa and flour into the mixture and combine using your hands.
5. Once combined, remove the mixture from the bowl and place it on a rolling mat for kneading. If the dough is too sticky for kneading, add extra flour and knead until it reaches a smooth, doughy consistency that can be easily rolled with a rolling pin.
6. Roll out your dough to about 5mm thick. Use a drinking glass cookie cutter to cut out whatever shape you like. I was exciting and made circles.
7. Place the cookies on a tray lined with baking paper about 1cm apart and bake for 10-15 minutes, depending on your oven. If you have an awesome cookie stamp like me, press that into each cookie just before baking. 
8. After your cookies have cooled, make yourself a cup of tea, sit back, dunk and enjoy! 

Quick and Easy DIY Gifts for a Baby Boy

Recently, a wonderful bloggy friend of mine, Trudie, had a beautiful baby boy. I was so excited for her (naturally, as I amt he cluckiest duck in existence) and resolved that I should make a little care package for her entire family to celebrate the new arrival. Knowing that Trudie is a bit of a thrifty, vintage-loving, hippy mumma, I knew she would appreciate something handmade or second-hand for her little one and herself,  and I was all too happy to oblige, since my budget is somewhat limited lately.

I included an op shopped skirt for Mumma, a cute little onesie I found at Best 'n' Less for baby, and some colouring books for her other two children - Cars for Cohen and Disney Princesses for Sarah to keep them occupied while mum is busy with baby. I also made these cute little singlets for baby Fraser, and I just had to share them with you all, as they were so easy and Trudie seemed to really love them. Over summer I imagine Fraser will get a lot of wear out of them, as it is a little too hot here for little ones right now!

All three singlets were refashioned with bits and pieces I already had in my sewing box, so this made the gifts really cheap for me to make. The dinosaur and whale are just scraps of fabric which I adhered with two step Heat'n'Bond iron-on adhesive. First you iron the fabric to the adhesive, then you trace your template on the back of the Heat'n'Bond and cut around it. Peel off the paper backing, and iron it to the singlet and you're done! There are tons of cute templates on the internet to choose from, as well! The spout and eye on the whale were embroidered on, and I would recommend you make sure your Heat'n'Bond is the sewing-friendy one. I found out the hard way (a bent needle and a pricked thumb) that mine wasn't.

The caterpillar was a little more time consuming to make, but since I had Criminal Minds episodes to catch up on, it felt like nothing at all! I simply chose some vintage buttons out of my huge stash to use in co-ordinating colours and a similar size and sewed them on the singlet, overlapping slightly in a zig-zaggy caterpillar pattern. The smiley novelty button I found in my stash was the perfect touch to this design, don't you think? The antennae are optional, and I embroidered them on.

I really love giving handmade gifts and love personalising singlets and onesies for new arrivals! When I finsished the singlets, I bundled them together with the rest of the presents for Trudie's family and wrapped them in a vintage tea towel which I picked up at an op shop with Trudie in mind a while ago. It's not really my style, but I knew it was hers and just had to get it for her! The whole package was finished off with some retro looking ribbon, and handed over with a handmade card when I visited Trudie last week. I hope that this post has shown you how easy it really is to make a thoughtful, customised baby gift and inspired you to give these simple ideas a go!

Florals, Ice Creams, Tea and Harry Potter

What do florals, ice creams, tea and Harry Potter all have in common? Well they are my favourite things, of course!

They also all appear on the backs of the iPhone cases in my latest Etsy treasury list. It's no wonder I can't choose a new iPhone case! Look at how cute they all are! Anyway, my current iPhone case is starting to break and I have realised since having it just how impractical it is for me to have a case with sticky-outy things on the back of it. It doesn't fit into my car charger with the case on, and I tend to always be knocking bits and pieces off it. So, time for a new one, but I need your help to choose which one! My heart i being pulled 12 ways right now, so I'd really appreciate your input on which case you like best!

10 Minute Chicken Laksa

Living alone on a budget, sometimes I find it a little difficult preparing a meal for myself. Often, I will make a bulk meal of something, and stick portions in the freezer for lazy days where I don't feel like cooking. That way, I at least know I'm getting my nutrients on those "I just can't be bothered" kind of days. There are days when I run out of my freezer meals, or just feel like something different, however, and it is on these days which I turn to meals that are quick and easy to prepare, while still upholding some sort of healthy sentiment. That is where this 10 minute laksa recipe comes in!

I love spicy food, and this laksa can be made to suit your taste in just 10 minutes, which is exactly why I love it! It's quick, easy, cheap and tastes amazing, while still having a bit of veg in it, which makes me feel like I'm being healthy! This is the first time I've really made up my own recipe, so I hope you like it! Of course, you could make it with any meat, or add in different types of veg, to suit what you have on hand, but my favourite laksa is chicken laksa (next to prawn laksa, of course!). The recipe serves two, but if you're like me and you live on your own, just keep the extra serve in the fridge to have for lunch the next day! So delicious!

If you want to have a go at making it, you will need:

1 pack of two-minute noodles

1 tablespoon laksa paste

½ can of coconut milk

1 chicken breast

½ a carrot

Handful of snow peas

Chilli flakes, optional and to your taste

And all you have to do is:

1.     Heat a splash of oil in a fry pan over medium heat. Put a saucepan of water on to boil at the same time. Cut your chicken breast into bite-sized pieces while you wait for your fry pan to heat up.

2.     Julienne your carrots, and chop the ends of your snow peas.

3.     Cook the chicken breast in the fry pan, until it has browned. Add the laksa paste, carrot and snow peas and stir-fry until the laksa paste is fragrant.

4.     While stir-frying the chicken, etc. cook your two-minute noodles in the pot of boiling water.

5.     Once the stir-fry is done, turn off the heat to the fry pan. Drain your two-minute noodles, keeping just enough water in the pot to cover them, put back on the heat, add the flavor sachet and stir.

6.      Add the mix in the fry pan to the saucepan along with the coconut milk and chilli flakes, and toss it all around. Cook for a further minute or two, and then you’re done!

Cheery Orange Icing Recipe

I don't know about you, but I love to bake. When I'm sad, I bake. When I'm happy, I bake. When I'm broke and hungry, I bake because cake ingredients are incredibly cheap and honestly, what could you possibly want more when you're sad, happy or hungry than cake?

Although I bake often, I'm not very creative when it comes to recipes. I usually just stick to the tried and tested, or use a cake mix for a quick and guaranteed-to-be-good result. I do like to get a little creative with decorations, however and I especially love trying different flavours of icing.

This icing recipe is one of my all time favourites. It's sweet and tangy at the same time, comes out the perfect, cheery shade of yellow, reminds me of summer and makes a delicious pair with a fluffy butter cake. It's also super easy! Want to know how to make it? Of course you do!

Ingredients:
Icing sugar (1 cup usually does about 12 cupcakes)
Finely grated rind of one orange
Juice of one orange

The How To:
Combine icing sugar and orange rind in a large bowl. Add orange juice bit by bit, stirring as you go to get rid of lumps, until the mixture is smooth and spreadable. If the mixture gets too runny, you can always add in a little extra icing sugar and give it another good stir.

See? Easy, peasy! Now you're ready to bake your own delicious, fluffy cup cakes. I promise you the tangy-sweet citrus taste will transport you to summer with every bite!