Leek and Mushroom Pies

In the frozen meal section of the local woollies they have Linda McCartney meals.  I don't usually buy frozen meals but my sister got me onto these as they are really, really yummy and great for lunch with a salad.

 

The leek, red onion and cheese plaits are so tasty and I decided I could make something similar myself which would work out much cheaper.

 

I had leeks and mushrooms in the fridge so this is what I came up with.

 

 

chop up 1 leek and about 9 or 10 button mushrooms.

 

I also used 2 shortcut rashes of bacon cause they were in the fridge and needed using.  If you wanted a vegetarian option then leave the bacon out.

 

On a medium heat I cooked the bacon and mushrooms for a few minutes then turned the heat down and added the leeks and 2 cloves of crushed garlic.

 

I let this mixture cook over the low heat for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

Then I made a cheesy white sauce.  Everyone has their own white sauce recipe I'm sure so just make up about 2 cups of it and add about 3/4 cup of grated cheese in at the end.  I used cheddar and parmesan.

 

 

One tablespoon of butter to two tablespoons of plain flour per cup of milk made the sauce a nice thickness.

 

Then mix the leek and mushroom mixture through the white sauce and place a really good heaped tablespoon full onto the pastry.



 

I just used sheets of frozen puff pastry which I cut into quarters.  I place the mixture in the middle of one of the squares, brushed the outside with water and placed another square of pastry on top.

 

I then sealed up the edges and cooked them in a 200 celcius oven for about 25 minutes.

 

I made 12 pies and have frozen most of them so I have a quick meal on a night when I want something easy.  They are really yummy!

 

I've also thought about putting the filling in crepes or a baked potato if I wanted to do something different.  I made them into pies because I wanted to have some homemade meals in the freezer for easy dinners.

 

If you make something similar, enjoy! 

 

xx Susan

Fun family times

We have been going out for a few more picnics recently.  We've certainly needed to have the family time and it's also been great to have a break from an extremely stressful extended family situation right now.

 

One Sunday I packed up a picnic and off we went up to Amamoor State Forest near Gympie to check out the campsites there.  Maintenance was happening at one campsite so we couldn't get in too check it out which was a pity as I think it would have been the nicer spot of the two sites.

 

The other camp site is where the Gympie Music Muster is held every year and I will admit that the area didn't hold much appeal to me at all so I don't think we'll be camping there any time soon.

 

We did do plenty of driving through the forestry area and I've finally realised just what my hubby loves on these kind of days.  Driving around dirt roads and basically...just exploring by driving. 

 

Instead of the lovely picnic spot with a creek or something to explore like I had envisioned, we ended up at the top of a hill near a phone tower for our picnic.

 

It was still enjoyable.

After a couple of hours of driving around and exploring the area, we finally got back to the day use area at Amamoor and explored the main creek a little bit.  Then before hubby could get back in the car, the kids and I made a bee-line for one of the walking tracks and hubby had no choice but to follow us.

 

 It was beautiful walking along and crossing the creek.  I love these pockets of rainforest that we have close to home.

 

There was plenty of interesting funghi...

 

....and moss to look at.

 

We made our way up to the waterfall before turning around and heading back to the car.

 

I loved the roots on this tree near the waterfall.  Not only the fact that they looked great but the red in them was wonderful.

 

When hubby's been back at work on weekends we've either had outings with just the kids and myself or my Uncle has taken us on picnics too.  He loves picnics and exploring as well as spending time with us all so we've all been finding these days wonderful.

 

Hopefully there'll be plenty more in the near future too.

 

xx Susan

A beautiful Queensland winter's day

Pretty nice isn't it?

 

The last day of the school holidays dawned quite nice and warm.  It was too nice a day to stay at home so the kids and I headed down to Caloundra for awhile.

 

It was a lovely morning out and then I heard from my Uncle who wanted to take us out for a drive too.  I certainly didn't feel like being at home with two fighting kids on this lovely day so we piled into his car and headed for Bribie Island.

 

 

He took us to the fantastic display outside the Bribie RSL which the kids had a wonderful time playing on.  (We did try to explain about a few things but I doubt any of it sunk in).

 

They both absolutely loved the tank.

 

 

Then they had great fun trying to shoot planes, aliens, pirates and anything else they could think of.

 

We tried to explain that this is an older version of the guns Uncle Ivan used to fire during the Vietnam War.  I don't think that conversation sunk in either.  (I think a few aliens or pirates were walking by at the time).

 

 

While my Uncle was explaining to me how the above gun worked, I turned around to find my son here....

 

I'm sure he's part monkey and the big climbing thing at the playground later confirmed this.

 

We ended up out at Woorim beach where the kids had a wonderful time at the playground and then down at the beach jumping waves.

 

 

It was the loveliest day and a wonderful way to finish the winter school holidays. 

 

School's already been back a week but we've decided that it's time we started to get out more and do more family things.  We used to get out and about quite often but during the past year we've somehow let things slide. 

 

Even if hubby's away at work over the weekends, that's no excuse for me not to go somewhere with the kids.  We all really love it and it's creating wonderful memories at the same time.

 

xx Susan

We FINALLY went on a picnic

We LOVE our picnics but haven't been on too many lately. When I told the kids that we were going on a picnic and were going to check out a possible campsite, they were even more excited.

Master M, with an extremely hopeful look, asked if we were going to the beach. I had to burst his bubble and tell him that we weren't going to the beach but somewhere even BETTER. We were going to a creek that had LOTS AND LOTS OF ROCKS.

 

As my son can spend all day throwing rocks into water I can tell you that his excitement was pretty extreme...and loud.

 

Plenty of rocks were to be found.

 

Plenty were thrown into the creek.

 

The creek was explored by happy kidlettes.

 

I explored with them for awhile but the headache that had been building since before we even reached Kilcoy was getting to a nearly unbearable stage.  (I've been having some bad headaches this week so I don't know what possessed me to take a 2 hour drive from home for a picnic.)

 

 

In the end I leaned back against a log and let the kids do their own exploring which they loved.

 

 

Lunch was basic but very tasty and kept our energy levels up.

 

 

We've also found a place to come not that far from home and nice and quiet (until my kids arrive). 

 

It's in the Benarkin Forest near Blackbutt and is on Emu Creek.  Unfortunately the Emu Creek camping and day use area are closed now due to previous flooding (I think), but the Clancy's camping area is still open and is lovely and peaceful.

 

 

A few more shady trees would be nice but I wouldn't complain if I was there now. 

 

There's about 13 kilometres of dirt road to get to the camp ground which can be a bit slippery and bumpy after some rain but it was pretty good.  I wouldn't like meeting one of the logging trucks on one of the tricky corners though.

 

The kids have decided they definitely want to go back to camp although Little Miss R is not so certain now because there's too many corners and hills on the way there (she gets VERY car sick).

 

My headache abated slightly after I took some pain killers so was able to endure the drive home even with two chattering and fighting squirrels in the back seat.

 

 A BIG HUGE THANK YOU is a must for my sister and brother-in-law.  We called into their place on the way home and they looked after the kidlettes while I slept, then fed us all dinner before we continued home.

 

I LOVE FAMILY!

 

xx Susan

School holidays

We are certainly not run off our feet this school holidays.

 

Hubby has been away for a good part of it so I've been trying to keep sane with the kidlettes running rampant around the place.  We really need a big back yard, or preferably a really big paddock so I can send them out to run off some energy.

 

We've had visits from Grandad who sat and watched a movie with Master M.  I'm not sure if he could see much of it but my little man said that he was comfortable.

 

 

There has been endless baskets of washing.  I truly don't know where it's all springing from as I'm honestly doing 2 or 3 loads a day and when I turn around there's ANOTHER pile ready to go.  It's ridiculous!

 



 

We've also been experiencing some cooler, rainy weather so lovely warming, tasty stews made from next to nothing have been on the menu.  Oh and strawberries of course.  It's that time of year and there are plenty of strawberry farms around our area so they're never in short supply.



 

 

I've also got itchy feet and have been wanting to get away camping again.  Hubby's work schedule hasn't worked out great over these holidays and then the rain started so we'll possibly give it a miss.  Then again, if it's nice this weekend I may decide to head off with the kids.

 

One of my camping books is my essential table reading lately as I'm trying to work out some different places to go within an hour or two's drive of our house so we can easily head off for a couple of days.

 

There are a few other stressful things going on with extended family over the last few months too that I really won't go into here so I'm kind of glad it's been a quiet school holidays this time.

 

Hope you are all well and enjoying your time, no matter how busy or slow it is.

xx Susan



You really have to try this!

I have finally had a go at felting something myself and it's SO MUCH FUN!

 

I was pretty limited with my wool roving selection but that didn't matter as I just wanted to have a go at making something.  I decided a small sample would be best to begin with to get me used to the whole process.

 

The below photo is after I had lay out the wool roving and added a few other pieces for effect.

 

 

 

Then after much hot, soapy water, plenty of rubbing and then lots of rolling, I finished with this....



The finished piece is about 15cm x 15cm which is about a quarter of its original size.  Now I just need a few more colours as I've got a couple of projects in mind.

 

Funnily enough hubby seemed quite happy for me to begin felting.  He mentioned that the whole process where you have to do the rolling would be good exercise and help me lose a little weight!  Best not to mention what I said to him about that!

 

xx Susan



Glasshouse Country Arts Trail

The newly formed Glasshouse Country Arts Trail kicked off over the weekend with their first open studios.

 

The group of around 10 artists have been working towards this for many months and will each have their studios open over the Queensland and NSW school holiday weekends.

 

I'm very excited about it because my very talented sister Sandra is a part of the group.  I got to spend time with her in the studio yesterday as well as Aannsha, a textile artist who is sharing Sandy's studio on open days.

 

 

What I loved when I walked in the door was the colour and variety of their art.  These girls don't just stick to one medium, they both diversify their talents and show off just how good they are.

 

Sandra does wonderful acrylic paintings, watercolours, collage (the toucan in the below photo is a collage), graphite and charcoal pictures.  I'm sure she does more too but they're the main ones I can think of at the moment.

 

Aannsha does some pretty amazing things with felt including wall art, scarves, bowls, jewellery, bags and purses.  Her work is exquisite.

 

 



 

Aannsha also did a felting demonstration in the studio on the day which I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED.

 

I've wanted to try felting for awhile but hadn't quite got it together to get in and have a go myself.  It was fantastic having a demonstration because I got to ask questions and see how it was done so I'm now not unsure of myself. 

 

 

As for the Arts Trail, they're open for the next three weekends and then will be open again later in the year, around October I think. 

 

So if you want something unique and very special for not only yourself but for gifts then come for a drive out to the beautiful Glasshouse Mountains area and take a peek at some of the studios.

 

 

Just for the record, the girls' also a wide variety of really reasonably priced items as they want to make good art accessible to everyone.

 

 

Now I've given them my little plug, I'm off to have a go at felting myself.  It's also a good excuse to finally clear my dining table as things have been piling up there lately and I do need the room to do my felting!

 

xx Susan