What's in my kitchen... April 2014

I am linking this post in with Fig Jam and Lime Cordial's monthly In My Kitchen event.

In my kitchen is...

A delicious (organic and Australian!) almond and coconut milk that I bought on a whim. I don't drink dairy milks, and this one felt just a little bit special and decadent. It tastes it too, and I recognise all the ingredients in the list, which is something I always appreciate those times that I'm too lazy to make my own milks!

Organic almond and coconut goodness

Ingredients I understand!

In my kitchen is...

Lumberjack cake, something I got a strong hankering to make so I did. Apples, dates, coconut... all in moist delicious cake form? Yes please!

Full of apple and date goodness!

In my kitchen is...

Home grown goodness. Tiny tomatoes bursting with lots of organic sweetness and real tomato flavour. Dragonfruit lovingly gifted to me by my mother in law who knows how much I love them and saves the big tasty ones for me (I offered to share with Ellie but she turned her nose up... more for me!)

Nothing beats home grown

In my kitchen is...

A gorgeous Johnson Brother's platter, which unfortunately isn't here to stay. It's a gift for a friend at her kitchen tea. She doesn't read this blog so I can share and it was too pretty not to be photographed!

Johnson Brother's platter

In my kitchen is...

Lots of Nutella goodness, courtesy of a project I recently took part in. Aren't these little jars the sweetest thing? The coin is for scale comparison purposes. I think all things are cute when they are small.

In my kitchen is...

My two furry companions who like to be constantly underfoot. They really are efficient little hoovers, and will hover hopefully in the event that scraps fall to the floor. Ellie takes full advantage of this and will purposefully throw food on the ground when she is full or doesn't like it.

What is in your kitchen?

A month of Nutella

It's been a month since Soup sent me a Nutella pack, and tasked me with using it in delicious and healthy ways at breakfast time.

I have fond memories of those little snack packs of Nutella from my childhood. I've no doubt after these past few weeks, Ellie is also a Nutella fan. Probably if I'm truthful, I've also reconnected with Nutella and fallen in love all over again too.

We've had it on pancakes, on bagels, in chia pudding, as a dipping sauce for fruit, as well as on scones, baked into muffins, and, as a special tribute to the1337mum who won the Nutella competition, spread atop an apple cake (sorry, I couldn't bring myself to use bananas).

I think it's safe to say we 'heart' Nutella here!

You can read my other Nutella posts here and here.

Nutella breakfast-palooza GIVEAWAY

As one would expect when given a large amount of Nutella to experiment with, it's been featuring quite heavily in our morning diets and play dates lately. We've tried to use it in new and inventive ways, while attempting to stick to my 'breakfast should be relatively healthy' mantra.

Here are a couple of things we've been eating:

Breakfast bagels. I've been tweaking my bagel recipe lately, and I think this is my best batch yet! I substituted some of the flour with wheatgerm for extra fibre, and replaced the olive oil with coconut oil for a subtle taste enhancement. Just quietly, they're delicious, and even more so served fresh out of the oven with some Nutella spread on top! Some of my Instagram followers are all for baking Nutella into a bagel batch and I admit I'm intrigued...

Bagels

Pancakes. No pictures as they were all consumed as soon as they left the pan. Thanks so much Ellie and Mr Fork! Cooked to perfection then stuffed with a variety of things. Nutella and strawberry. Nutella and banana. Nutella, strawberry coulis and slivered almonds. Nutella and coconut shreds. My personal favourite was the Nutella, coulis and almond combination.

As a sort of ready made fondue for fruit. We've used it successfully with slices of pears, peaches and strawberries. My favourite however has to be with dragonfruit. I'm lucky enough that my MIL grows them so when she has excess, I get them. I do have to compete with Ellie for them though... but, Yum!

Dragonfruit and Nutella. Odd combination, but it works!

Layered into chia pudding. This delicious looking concoction is chia seeds soaked overnight with almond milk and a little vanilla essence. Layered with some of fresh strawberries and Nutella and garnished with coconut. This is packed full of energy and kept me going right up until lunch time with no snacks at all.

Chia pudding

Chia pudding

Now, it's no fun me talking about Nutella if I can't share the love! The nice people at Soup have offered a prize to one lucky reader. In the pack will be:

• 30 x 30 gram Nutella jars
• 1 large Nutella jar
• 1 x $50 Woolworths voucher

a Rafflecopter giveaway


To Enter

Use the Rafflecopter widget so I can track your entry, and leave a comment on the blog telling me about the novel, delicious and healthy ways you would use Nutella at breakfast time!

The winner's email address will be provided to Soup to enable the team to arrange the delivery of the prize.

One (1) winner will be selected through a random drawing from all eligible entries after the contest closes to win. All entries must be received on or before March 21 2014 at 12:00AM (GMT +10). The winner will be notified by email. Winner will have 24 hours to claim the giveaway after initial notification. If winner fails to claim within 24 hours, an alternative winner may be selected. 

No purchase required to enter or win. This contest runs from March 14, 2014 through March 21, 2014 at 12:00AM (GMT +10).

Eligibility

This contest is only open to Australian residents. Prizes won by minors will be awarded to their parent or legal guardian on their behalf. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.

**Disclaimer: I was supplied the Nutella to try and review, but all opinions are my own.

How do you like your pancakes?

Pancake Saturday has slipped lately in our house, partially because in the warmer months the sun gets up earlier and so does Ellie, so we switched her swimming lesson to 0645. We figured we were up anyway, so may as well take advantage of the extra awake time. It does mean that our pancake tradition has declined though, which I've been determined to remedy.

With Shrove Tuesday (pancake day) approaching, it was just the excuse I needed. Although, since I work on Tuesdays, I planned to make pancakes on a non work day instead. So everything aligned nicely, especially when the people at Soup asked if I was interested in taking part in their Nutella project. Nutella was already a brand I was familiar with and more than a little in love with, so I said yes.

I have to confess though, that my experience with Nutella mainly consists of eating it with a spoon from the jar so I was intrigued when I was told that this was a breakfast themed project. Apparently, Nutella has always been a big player in the European breakfast scene, with crepes and sliced banana, or maybe thinly spread on fresh crusty bread. Not one to shy away from a challenge, I jumped right in!

Ellie and I think that Nutella pairs perfectly with (heart shaped for extra fun!) pancakes.  We happily munched our way through pancakes with nutella spread thinly on them. For variety, there was some fresh strawberry on the side, but the real star of the show was that yummy hazelnut spread! And maybe the coffee for mummy too... You can see some of the other Nutella creations on Instagram under the hashtag #NewWaysWithNutella

Heart shaped pancakes for extra toddler appeal

The best part, is that the Nutella project goes for four weeks, so there is no doubt that you'll be hearing more about how we get our Nutella on in chez Fork! For me, it's going to be all about adding a small amount (because a little goes a long way) into other healthy breakfast ideas to make them even more yummy.  I'm thinking Nutella smoothies, Nutella chia puddings, maybe even some breakfast bagels with Nutella!

Do you have Nutella for breakfast? How do you eat it?

**Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, but all opinions are my own.