Installing Indoor Cat Tree

[Guest]

Yes, really!

 

Has anyone ever tried it? There is a recipe for it in with my veggie box this week, and (as you may realise) my baking skills aren't the best, so before I launch into making it, I just wondered if anyone can tell me how it tastes?

 

It's one way to get the kids to eat their greens I suppose!

[Cate in NZ]

Never tied it myself Shona, in fact, I've never heard of it , it sounds intriguing though, perhaps you ought to bake it (don't tell the children what's in it until after they've eaten it though ), and the let us all know what it's like

This recipes with veggie boxes thing seems to be a common occurence. I've got a scrummy sounding beetroot recipe with mine today, that I think I'm going to make today, since, predictably the box contains beetroot

Actually my box turned up late, with a personal delivery and a huge flurry of apologies- I normally collect it from the farm on a thursday evening, but when I got there last night someone had forgotten to put it out . So by way of apology they threw in a free 1/2 dozen eggs. My heart sank, didn't have the heart to refuse, but with 3 hens laying now, and an extra 6 I'm currently at 24 eggs- and Brie hasn't yet laid today I'm going to have to either get into a baking flurry, or distribute them around the neighbourhood. If I had some courgettes I could even try your recipe. I've got the chocolate

[Guest]

I'm guessing it will be similar to carrot cake (which I LOVE), so am going to brave the kitchen this afternoon, put yesterdays failure behind me, and give it a go.

 

Wish me (and the poor kids, who are official tasters, poor souls!) luck!

[Guest]

yes I made Chocolate Courgette Cake and I think it was pleasant enough. I made the mistake of telling people what it was first though, so DON'T DO THAT! I got my recipe from Riverford, who have been delivering a lot of courgettes recently.

Do veggie boxes and chickens go together then?

 

What to do with all those eggs? I hard-boil 6 at a time and the children love them. they don't last long! I figure they're a better snack than choc. biscuits. They're useful for lunch boxes and also for me when I haven't got time to eat but need something to keep me going.

[Guest]

We've not had an egg last more than 36 hours since we got the girls. I suppose that when all 4 are laying, it may be a different story, but at the moment it's still a novelty for the kids to have a 'Belle egg' or a 'Star egg', and know exactly which bottom popped it out !

 

And we only started getting veg boxes after I got the chickens, becuase we realised what a difference ithere was in the taste of supermarket eggs compared with our beautiful eggs. Finally we all 'get it'. Organic veg and meat IS worth the extra money - we just eat less to keep in our budget! And if we didn't get the veggie box, we wouldn't have this bizarre cake recipe to try this afternoon!

[Cate in NZ]

I agree with you Shona. I started looking at ways to improve our food quality, the home-grown eggs & veg were the first part of it, but sourcing local, organic meat & veg very fast became a priority... and it's so nice to have fruit and veg that look, and taste like real produce, not bland, shiny, uniform supermarket stuff. It's also better I think to eat seasonally, and to get a little bit of a surprise each week when you get the box, to see what's inside it.

I don't think I'm spending much more on food overall, I shop a lot less now, so buy less supermarket impulse buys, and I buy cheaper cuts and cook 'em slower. It all tastes so much better that somehow I feel that we need less, because it's sort of more satisfying. Not sure if that makes sense ..... but I know what I mean

[Guest]

I know exactly what you mean! We feel now that by eating better quality food, less is required to give that lovely satisfied, warm full feeling!

 

It's taking a while to get the kids used to non perfect looking apples and carrots, but they're getting there!

[Cate in NZ]

I know what you mean. My daughter was horrified the first time we carrots with mud on them

She's highly critical now of any veg that she sees without mud

[Guest]

How did the chocolate courgette cake go Shona?

 

I've just discoverd my girls like courgette, so that's another way to use them up!

[Guest]

It was a great success - it didn't even have a chance to cool properly, it was gobbled up by the kids and Chookiehubbie almost as soon as it came out of the oven!

 

It didn't taste like a strange mix of main course and pudding, it just, well, worked. A bit like carrot cake - before you taste it it sounds a bit bluegh, but once you eat it, you wonder how you hadn't come across it before! Will post the recipe in the recipe section tomorrow when I have a bit more time!

[Mrs Frugal]

Funny how veggies work in sweet food, isn't it. I made biscuits using mashed potato once and they were lovely. All soft and delicious. I've lost the recipe since so can't make them anymore but the thought of mashed potato in biscuits and the reality were SO different!