At a recent celebration (yes alright I will admit it was my Birthday and I am not getting any younger.) we visited the cocktail lounge The Fix bar at the Surfers Paradise Hilton.

I know I am quite partial to Bloody Mary’s as I enjoy the spiciness of them and the burning aftertaste they leave in your mouth. So when I spotted something that included bacon essence AND Bacon I couldn’t resist!

I didn’t watch the Bartender make it but I have some photos for you (apologies about the darkness…it is a lounge bar after all)

Recipe includes;

Fix BBQ Mary
Belvedere vodka washed with bacon essence.

Shaken with our secret homemade spiced mary mix.

Served long and crowned with a piece of well cooked bacon and a twist of black pepper.

A progressive take on the all time classic Bloody mary.

Stay tuned for more yummy food and drink ideas in my Dining out for life Adventures.

Cooking Mike

Being a Bachelor living on my own I only occasionally get a cooked breakfast that isn’t the usual male style of bacon and eggs so an occasion when my lady offers to cook is truly worthy of a post.

Ingredients list;

2 x Chorizos, 500gms Mushrooms, 1 Brown onion, Tablespoon of Garlic paste, 4 rashers Streaky Bacon, Maple Syrup, Mixed Herbs, Olive oil, Salt & Pepper, Chilli Paste, Tomato Paste, 1 Hashbrown, 1/2 cup of grated tasty cheese. Sliced spiced pumpkin pieces (alright I will admit this was a packet we bought but I left it to the last for that reason).

Instructions;

(Forgive the briefness of it but I was watching and trying to keep up and she cooks much quicker than I do)

Hollow out the mushroom buttons (remove the stems). Thinly slice the mushroom stems, dice the brown onion.

Medium heat plus olive oil in a pan cook the sliced mushroom, add in the herbs, onion and garlic paste. Wait 45 secs and add in the chilli paste.

Once lightly cooked stir in the tomato paste, use a spoon to stuff the mix into mushrooms with a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of pepper. Sprinkle cheese on top.

Place on oven tray lightly oiled and put in a preheated oven for 10mins on 150 degrees.

Add bacon and sliced chorizo’s  to the same oiled pan on medium heat. Drizzle maple syrup on top of bacon after cooking 30secs each side. (just let the chorizo catch syrup flavor from the base of the pan)

Add the spiced pumpkin pieces to the pan and a dash more maple syrup to finish off. Sprinkle some more pepper on top of the lot.

Last but not least just quickly pan fry the hash brown in the oil, juice and fat left over from cooking all the meats.

Serve on a plate with coffee (Ok as a bachelor I do know how to make plunger coffee!)

And there you have it. Heaven for Breakfast.

Now healthy of fast breakfast you decide??

Cooking Mike

He whipped through the making pretty quick and I was struggling to take notes but here was his verbal recipe directions.

Lemon Juice, Oil and Salt into a bowl. Add Pepper.

Trim and chop up a couple of the fennel bulbs.

Chop up 2 tablespoons of the fennel fronds.

Add almonds and the lemon mixture together and combine it all up.

Final result…Delicious!.

I don’t know about you but the description alone sounds tempting doesn’t it!!

I managed to pry the plate out of my lady’s hand long enough to get a quick photo before we both sampled the food and I will tell you now it was heaven.

An American style coleslaw on the side, Battered fries and vinegar based North Carolina style pulled pork on a crusty bread roll.

It was as good as it looks in this photo to the point we both complimented the wait staff and will endeavor to get back to that place again in the near future.

For anyone in the Newfarm area of Queensland Australia its a must have place to try. BlueSmokeBBQ

Stay tuned for more delights in my Dining out for life food journey.

Simplyfoodndrink

To start this fun cupcake decorating time, you will want to cook up some easy cupcakes. For this fun food craft, you can bake the cupcakes out of a box. Things always taste better when you make it from scratch, but for time’s sake, you will want to make the cupcakes as quickly as possible. Once you share with your kids what they will be doing, it will be hard to hold them still. After the cupcakes are cooked and cooled, then you can start decorating with your cute little ones.

Ingredients

1 cup of M&M’s
1 Cup of Chocolate Morsels
Various Colors of Icing Sticks to Decorate With
1 Cup of Strawberries
1 Cup of Sprinkles
Various Colors of Frosting

Method

1. Lay out a sheet of wax paper.
2. Put an apron on your kids.
3. Let your kids lose and allow them to decorate their cupcakes.
4. Consume the scrumptious cupcakes.

Just have a good time…

Moms dig into this dessert with your kids and just have a good time. Sometimes it’s hard to let your kids get messy, but it’s necessary. Kids are only kids once and they need that time to be creative with various projects. Allowing your kids to be creative with something like cupcake decorating can really change their outlook on life.

While they are decorating their cupcakes, make sure you start decorating your own. This is a lip smacking time and one of the only chances you get to eat like a kid. Have a little contest with your kids to see who can be the most creative with these cupcakes. Whatever you decide to do with your cupcakes, just have a good time and enjoy making memories and decorating cupcakes with your kids.

Grilled Cheese

Grilled Cheese is the perfect meal for any weather. You can cook it up on the stove and serve it with a side of potato chips or soup. The grilled cheese even tastes good when it’s cooled down a bit from being cooked on a high heat. Kids of all ages can enjoy the sandwich and it takes less than 10 minutes to cook. Add a few veggies to the grilled cheese sandwich, to make it just a tad bit healthier.

Peanut Butter and Jelly

PB & J is a comfort food that everyone in your family can enjoy. You can pick healthy bread and just add your favorite peanut butter and bread to it. Serve PB & J by itself or with a side. This is also a perfect sandwich you can take on the go. Sometimes you just need to grab something quickly and get on the road.

Macaroni and Cheese with Sausage

Mac and cheese with a side of sausage is a meal you can cook in your home in 30 minutes or less. You can keep the ingredients on hand and use them anytime you want. All of your family members will appreciate the homemade taste of the meal. This is a great go to meal for anyone because it requires little time and you can feed your small army quickly.

Think Quick & Easy

There are some days that you just need a quick and easy meal. Yes, feeding your kids grilled cheese, PB & J and macaroni is perfectly normal. You can concentrate on feeding them and they can relax because they have some food in their system. There are some days where you just will not have the time to cook a gourmet meal. At least with these ideas, you always have something on hand to feed those grumbling tummies. If your family is hungry, then always think quick and easy when you are trying to feed them in a hurry.

The second part of this 7$ Family Meal idea is Banana Pudding. It’s amazing how people always have room for dessert, even after eating a fulfilling meal. Your guests will have plenty of room for this Banana Pudding dessert. You can serve the Roast Pork recipe with a side of mashed potatoes and your choice of a vegetable. There are a few vegetables in the Roast Pork meal, but adding an extra vegetable never hurt anyone. Of course, you can also add a roll or some sort of bread to eat with it.

The Banana Pudding is great as is and you probably will not want to add anything extra to it. The banana pudding comes with a sweet layer of whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. If that does not say “the perfect treat” then what does? Make sure to chill the banana pudding long enough, so it stays well put together. Enjoy making this delicious main dish and dessert for your family.

Roast Pork

Ingredients
3-4 pound boneless pork butt
2 Bouillon Cubes
2 Cups of Water
2 Cups of Carrots
2 Whole Potatoes

Method
1. Take out your slow cooker.
2. Place the boneless pork butt into the slow cooker.
3. Add the cups of water, carrots and potatoes.
4. Add your desired seasonings.
5. Allow to cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Banana Pudding

Ingredients
5 Cups of Vanilla Wafers
2 Boxes of Vanilla Pudding
3 Ripened Bananas
1 Cup of Chocolate Syrup
2 Cups of Whipped Cream

Method
1. Prepare the vanilla pudding as directed on the package.
2. Cut the bananas into really thin slices.
3. Layer the vanilla pudding into a thick baking dish.
4. Add a layer of vanilla wafers and slices of bananas.
5. Add a new layer until the pan is full.
6. Place a layer of whipped cream on the very top.
7. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

Pasta

Pasta is an excellent idea to please the entire family. You can cook a dish with pasta and watch how your whole family devours the dish. Spaghetti, macaroni and fettuccini are just a few types of pasta that your family will love. Feel free to switch up the type of pasta you use to make your meal a little more versatile. Use a variety of sauces to spread across your pasta.

Casseroles

Casseroles are the perfect dish to make for your family for several reasons. One of the main reasons is that the dish is so easy on you. You throw a few select food items together and then you are able to create a meal your whole family can enjoy. It sounds like the perfect solution to make your life simpler. You can even throw ingredients in a crockpot to make a scrumptious casserole dish.

Pizza

Pizza is every mom’s go to food when it comes to an easy meal for the entire family. You can make just about any kind of pizza with the ingredients in your home. Try making a veggie pizza and watch how they chow it down. Plus you can make the pizza as healthy as you would like for your family. It’s okay to splurge once in a while on a supreme pizza for your loved ones. The bottom line is that pizza is a stress free and very easy dinner alternative that will please the entire family.

Family Time

Enjoy your time together as a family. Even though you might get stressed out from trying to please your family at dinner time, it is more important that you enjoy your time together. Try making pasta, casseroles and pizza to keep your family just a little happier at dinner tonight. Allow your kids and spouse to help out as much as possible in the kitchen, and enjoy making precious memories together.

Breakfast is one of the busiest times of the day. Your kids have just woken up and you need to figure out what to cook them for breakfast. Let’s put breakfast and pizza together and create a meal that your kids will enjoy for many years to come. In fact, they may start asking you for it every day. The best part of this recipe is that you can make it for them and still make it healthy. It’s not time consuming and that means you have a lot more time in the morning to spend it with your kids.

If you have kids of various ages, then this is also an ideal meal. Older kids tend to get hungrier throughout the day and this breakfast pizza helps to hold them over. You can also freeze the leftovers and reheat it on another day. Here is an easy recipe that will make your life in the morning a lot easier.

Ingredients
1 can of crescent rolls
2 Cups of Chopped up Bacon
4 Cups of Scrambled Eggs
2 Cups of Cheddar Cheese
4 Cups of Hash browns

Method
1. Scramble the eggs in a pan on the stove.
2. Add the crescent rolls onto a shallow baking dish.
3. Add the scrambled eggs, hash browns and bacon onto the crescent crust.
4. Sprinkle the cheese across the pizza.
5. You will want to make this at 325 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
6. Allow to cool before serving to your family.

As you can see, this recipe is just what you need to feed your kids and keep them happy. It requires very little ingredients, it’s healthy and you can stay within your budget. Staying within budget will keep mum and dad both healthy. This recipe is honestly so good, that you might also be taking a few bites yourself.

Just because you are mom does not mean you should not take time for yourself. Wake up a few minutes before the kids wake up and start making this meal for them. To freeze the Breakfast Pizza, just place it in a freezer friendly container or baggie. You will be glad you took it upon yourself to cook you and your family this amazing meal that takes less than a ½ hour to make. It’s the simple things in life that matter. This is another post brought to you by the Mummy Kitchen. Sit back and let this mummy bring food to your kitchen table.

The instruction manual pointed out that you will need to put the Air fryer on the top setting. We did this but found mostly the chips on the top were brown and crispy but the chips in the middle were still quite hard.

And the Daddy of the family obviously had the nicely done top ones!

So with about 3 months of messing around with the settings and using fat free spray and extra virgin olive oil we have I believe cracked how we love are low fat chip shop chips.

We only have 3 people in our household so making the chips this way is not a problem. I fill the grill pan up to the line with thick cut fresh potatoes. Then put the temperature on 165c for 25minutes.

I shake them every 10 minutes. I put I teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil in with a few sprays of fat free spray. I also put a few sprays of the fat free spray every time I shake the basket.

After the 25minutes the chips should be relatively soft, I could eat them like this but my wife likes them to be abit crispy. So I put the chips back on for a further 10 minutes with the fryer on full power.

I shake after 5 minutes without adding any more oil and when the air fryer pings the chips are lovely and crispy but most important they are succulent and all the chips are cooked evenly.

They taste gorgeous and I have to keep pinching myself that they are healthy chips and not soaking in fat. We also find that the air fryer does not have a problem cooking frozen chips on full power from the start. But they have more calories.

Imagine being able to have diet chips everyday and thoroughly enjoy them at the same time. Without the usual guilt. It is also not smelly like a fat fryer so your kitchen still smells nice!

It takes a while to get used to but once you are doing them regularly you’ll forget what dinner time was like before your airfryer.

Click Here For Further Information: Philips Air Fryer