Pumpkin, ginger, orange and carrot soup for Food Revolution Day

Have you heard? Friday the 17th of May is food revolution day! All the cool kids are talking about it.

Well Jamie Oliver is anyhoo and we all know he is kinda cool.

So word is not enough people are eating fresh and healthy food and we need to get it out there that y'all should be.

 
No seriously! Seeings as pretty much I post about desserts all the time I felt an obligation to join in.....

I know I have mentioned a couple of times that we generally eat pretty healthy for our regular meals. I just do not buy premade food, oh unless it's tomato sauce for spaghetti meat sauce or tinned tomatoes. Pretty much everything else I make from scratch.

It's healthier, it's cheaper and it just plain tastes better most of the time.

OK I hear you - it seems hard when your working full time and I don't envy anyone in that position. But I'm typing this at 9pm at night and I have some spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove. Yes like I said it's a premade sauce, but pretty much it's tomatoes, and first I sauteed some carrot and zucchini (courgette) before I cooked the (heart smart) mince meat. Maybe I added some bacon as well (shhh). It'll freeze up to make 2 family meals I that I can reheat, cook up the pasta and serve with a salad for an easy weekday meal soon.

Y'all didn't think I kept my figure by eating chips and burgers all day :) Something has to round out those macarons.

Anyhoo - I joined in the Food Bloggers Soup Challenge and just like everyone else in real life I just didn't have time to cook when it came to it. The box of vegetables from Aussie Farmers Direct was delivered like clockwork on the afternoon of the 15th and we all know Food Revolution Day is the 17th May.

Umm it seems we don't all know that - in my mind I was thinking the 19th for some reason, so some of my fabulously well though out ideas had to go - but I think that worked out for the best in the end as you can see that with half an hour and what I was given I whipped up a soup which with some bread fed the family.

Healthy, affordable and a well fed family. What more could I ask for.

For more information on what Food Revolution day is all about check out the Food Revolution Day website.

Pumpkin, Ginger, Orange and Carrot Soup

dash of olive oil
1 pumpkin (mine weighed 1.5kg whole) peeled and cut into cubes
2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tbsp grated ginger
1 orange (zest and then juice)
750 ml/ 3 cups (US 3 1/5 th cups - but it's all approx) vegetable stock

Heat large saucepan to medium high and add dash of olive oil, pop in the pumpkin and carrot and cook for 10 minutes, add ginger and cook further 5 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and orange juice and cook for further 20 minutes. Use a stick blender to blend soup until smooth.

Serve with a swirl of cream or low fat yogurt, a sprinkle of marinated feta, shredded basil and pepper to taste.

Parmesan and Basil Crisps

Grate a couple of tablespoons of Parmesan cheese in a bowl and shred in some basil (to taste) shape into circles on a tray lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated oven at 200 C until crisp and golden.

Disclosure note: I received a box of seasonal vegetables from Aussie Farmers Direct.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Link to Amazon:

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! 

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

 Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!

Raspberry Marshmallow Fudge with sprinkles AKA I heart mum fudge

This fudge is made from the heart...... and made with heart (sprinkles).

Delicious marshmallowy chocolate based fudge flavored with raspberry, dotted with swirly marshmallows and sprinkled with cute sugar hearts, it's as pretty to look at it is yummy to eat.

I came up with this fudge recipe for The Destroyer's kindi groups mother's day gift stall.

Originally I was going to make macarons 'cause y'know everyone loves them, but then I realised 4 year olds would be carrying the gifts home in school bags. There was no way those delicate treats would make it.

Yup it just wasn't going to work out.

So I went with fudge. It's sturdy, it tastes great, it looks good, it lasts well, it packs up nice, most everyone loves it. It ticked all the boxes.

So fudge. It was decided.

But I wanted to make up a special recipe for mothers days because....well duh! Mums are special.

Plus it had to be pretty to entice all those kindi kids.

In fact I did my job a little too well. I sent The Destroyer off with his money and he came home with.......fudge that I made. The teachers had tried to reason with him but he could not be swayed. That pink fudge with heart sprinkles and a pink bow was irresistible :)

 
The raspberry flavour for this fudge comes from a bottle. I know, I know, oh my goodness your thinking 'does this woman ever use anything fresh'. Well in fact I do and most of the meals we eat in this household are based on fresh fruit, vegetables, lean meat and dairy. However by using the oil flavouring the fudge is less perishable and lasts longer, which means you can take your time eating it if you want.

 

Oh and if you like fudge you should also check out my Peppermint Cookie Fudge recipe (CLICK HERE).

Rapberry Marshmallow fudge
makes 20 large pieces or 60ish small pieces - the ones in the picture are large.

200g (7oz) white marshmallows
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk (not low fat)
1/4 tsp salt
250 g (9 oz ) white chocolate chopped into very small pieces
170 g dark chocolate (6 oz semi sweet) chopped into very small pieces
85 g milk chocolate (3 oz) chopped into very small pieces
1/2 tsp raspberry essence*
 few drops pink food colour (I use gel food color)
1 cup marshmallows extra cut into quarters (or mini marshmallows) for top
couple tablespoons heart sprinkles (optional)

*do a taste test as there is a big variance between different brand and types of essences

Line a 20cm X 20cm (8" X 8") square tin with foil.

Place the white chocolate into a largish bowl with 1/4 tsp raspberry essence and pink food colour.

Combine the dark (semi sweet) and milk chocolates together in another bowl and add the remaining 1/4tsp raspberry essence.

Pop 200 grams (7oz) marshmallows, sugar, evaporated milk and salt into a saucepan on medium low heat, stir until the marshmallows melt. Stir the mixture over the heat for another 5 to 7 minutes, do not allow it to boil.

Pour half the marshmallow mixture into the bowl with white chocolate and the other half into the bowl with the combined dark (semi sweet) and milk chocolates. Allow to sit for a minute or 2.

Using electric mixer beat the chocolate fudge mixture for a couple of minutes at low speed. All the chocolate should be melted.

 
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin using the back of the spoon to level the mixture until it looks pretty smooth

Using a spoon or whisk mix the white chocolate mixture until all the chocolate pieces have melted. Spoon carefully onto the darker chocolate mixture and using the back of a spoon level the mixture until smooth.

Press in the extra marshmallows, I sprinkled mine over and then pushed them in to cover with the fudge. Add as much or as little as you like.

Then shake the heart sprinkles over gently so you don't get too many clumping together. I lightly pressed them onto the fudge to ensure they would stick.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight to set.

Cut into squares with a sharp knife to serve. I measure where I want to cut with a ruler first for kinda even pieces. To get a clean edge run the knife under hot water and wipe clean between each slice.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Link to Amazon:

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! 

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

 Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!

Totally Boss chocolate malt Macarons

Now y'all know I wouldn't lie to you. These macarons are totally boss.

Lindt milk chocolate whipped ganache filling with a hint of malt and topped with a chocolate malt ball. Yup complete yuminess!

I created this recipe for Mr Sweet's birthday celebrations and assembled them on Friday for Sunday night. I was a teensy bit worried that the ganache swirl would sink into the macaron or the chocolate malt ball would be a bit stale tasting. Luckily it all held up beautifully.

You can put that on your list of good things to know - you can make these a few days in advance.

And if any of you out there are not fans of malt or allergic, that's ok. Just omit the ovaltine/malt bit from the recipe. You don't need to replace it with anything - just leave it out completely and enjoy super delicious milk chocolate macarons.

Chocolate Malt Macaron Recipe

Macaron Shells
CLICK HERE for a blog post with my macaron recipe. I made a regular batch colored brown with food gel color as I thought chocolate shells would overpower the filling.

Chocolate Malt Filling

350g (12 3/8 oz) milk chocolate (I used Lindt milk chocolate)
150g (5 1/4 oz) cream
40g (1 3/8 oz) Ovaltine (Ovaltine is a chocolate malted milk powdered drink mix. You can replace with powdered malt or leave out completely if you do not have it)
40g (1 3/8 oz) unsalted butter cold and cut into small cubes

Pop the chocolate and cream in a microwave safe bowl and then microwave on high for 2 minutes. Leave for a couple of minutes and then using a whisk stir until smooth and lump free. If necessary reheat further in the microwave for bursts of 30second to 1 minute to remove/melt all lumps.

Whisk in the Ovaltine.

Cover and allow the ganache to set - I left mine at room temperature overnight.

When set use an electric mixer to mix the ganache and butter at high speed for a couple of minutes until light and fluffy.

Assembly

Match macarons so that each shell has a matching one the same size (if you hand pipe the shells there will always be a little variance in size).

Pop the whipped ganache into a piping bag fitted with an open star tip (I used Wilton #18) and pipe a swirl onto half the macaron shells. Press another macaron on top and then pipe a small dot of ganache onto the top middle. Press on a chocolate malt ball.

Refrigerate at least overnight and up to 3 days in an airtight container. Remove from fridge 20 minutes before serving.

Linda Vandermeer is a blogger, baker, maker and author of the cookbook ' Sweets on a Stick': More than 150 kid friendly recipes for cakes, candies, cookies and pies on the go!. Published in the US the book is available at most online book stores:

Link to Amazon:

Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go! 

Or at Fishpond (free shipping Australia)

 

 Sweets on a Stick: More Than 150 Kid-Friendly Recipes for Cakes, Candies, Cookies, and Pies on the Go!