Blog - Page 8 of 19 - The Kiwi Country Girl

Christmas Cheese Log

December 21, 2017 By Laura 8 Comments

The perfect quick, easy & delicious Christmas appetizer to feed a crowd! Make in advance and serve with crackers and toasted bread.

4 sleeps til Christmas!! I'm picking you've all got the Christmas menu sorted - someone is doing the ham, someone has the pavlova under control and the trifle is ready to be assembled. But let's talk about the snacks! Because while all this prep is going on you're going to need something to keep you going, and what is better than a Christmas cheeseboard complete with a festive looking (and tasting) Christmas cheese log! [Read more...]

Santa's Little Nightcap

December 16, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

Is this not the most perfect Christmas cocktail?? Santa's Little Nightcap is the best drink to leave out for the big man on Christmas Eve.

Remember learning how to make cold brew coffee? Here is where it comes into play. Cold brew coffee + Baileys + vodka + whipped cream and cinnamon = the perfect nightcap. It's creamy, cold, caffeinated and delicious. Great for summer Christmas but the Baileys & vodka warm it up so it would also fit right in up there in the Northern Hemisphere! [Read more...]

How to make Cold Brew Coffee

December 14, 2017 By Laura 5 Comments

Summer is all about iced coffee and cold brew is my favourite way to drink it! Here is how to make cold brew coffee at home - perfect for hot days!

Have you jumped on the cold brew coffee bandwagon yet?

It has been unseasonably hot here so far this summer and for me the thought of a hot cup of coffee doesn't quite hold the same appeal as it did when it was cold. But the baby doesn't sleep through the night anymore so coffee is clearly still an essential part of surviving the day, which is why I needed to know how to make cold brew coffee. And so do you!

It's the perfect drink for this time of year - straight out of the fridge, poured over ice, caffeinated goodness. The awesome thing about cold brew coffee is that you can make it in advance and leave it in the fridge for a few days. No trying to cool down freshly brewed coffee quickly to make an iced coffee, no mucking around with blenders and ice-cream (not that I'm ever opposed to an ice-cream iced coffee!) but this is icy cold coffee in pure simplicity. [Read more...]

Life with Sadie - 6 months

December 11, 2017 By Laura 1 Comment

I've spent a whole lot of Sadie's life being happy that she is growing and sad that I don't want her to not be a teeny baby anymore, but I have to say, I think 6 months is my favourite age so far! She has changed so much this month - much more noticeably than any other month so far. Sadie is really turning into her own little person now which is so fun to see!

This month she has started copying little noises and facials we make. Josh & I both realised we are guilty of going in with big open mouth smiles which she is definitely doing now! She is still pretty happy entertaining herself but always looks at you to check in and make sure we are still there and watching her. [Read more...]

1 Basic Dough - 4 Slice and Bake Christmas Cookie Recipes!

December 7, 2017 By Laura 2 Comments

This one super simple cookie dough becomes four easy and festive slice and bake Christmas cookie recipes! Great for Christmas parties, teacher gifts or a cookie exchange or something to leave out for Santa!

I have the cookie recipe to end all Christmas cookie recipe dilemmas today - 1 basic dough, 4 slice and bake Christmas cookie recipes!

If you were starting to wonder how you were ever going to decide where to start with your Christmas cookie baking (just me?) look no further. These 4 slice and bake Christmas cookie recipes will see you through to the big day and beyond! [Read more...]

No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake for 2

December 3, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

No bake strawberry cheesecake for 2 - the perfect easy small batch dessert for Christmas, Thanksgiving or date night - plus, they're refined sugar free and lightened up with Greek yoghurt!

It's December!! The 11 month ban on all things Christmas has been lifted and I am now allowed to go completely Christmas crazy for 1 whole month...eeeek! Plus I really feel like this holiday season is going to be the best one yet....not only do I have so much more time to be at home making Christmas cookies and doing fun Christmas crafts, I have a little holiday elf to help me. Well, not so much with the helping, but more with the making Christmas so much more exciting. [Read more...]

Homemade Mint Slices

November 26, 2017 By Laura 16 Comments

Homemade Mint Slices - New Zealand's favourite biscuit made at home! Crispy chocolate biscuits topped with peppermint fondant and coated in chocolate.

Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which pay me a small commission for my referral at no extra cost to you! Thank you for supporting The Kiwi Country Girl.

I have the best November treat for you today...Homemade Mint Slices! After how much you all loved my Homemade 100's & 1000's biscuits I thought I would make it a bit of a thing to try all of our favourite homemade biscuits and cookies at home! After all, you know I'm 100% obsessed with trying to make anything you can buy. So if you have a favourite that you want me to try, let me know!

Homemade Mint Slices have actually worked out to be pretty timely - mint slices have just been voted New Zealand's favourite biscuit! Yes, I live in a country where this is news. Plus all that chocolate & peppermint-y goodness is the perfect "sort of Christmas but I'm trying to pull back until December" treat! [Read more...]

Lemon Roasted Asparagus

November 21, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

Lemon roasted asparagus - the perfect quick & easy side dish for early summer BBQ's. Ready in 20 minutes it's fresh, lemony and tastes like spring!

Coming at ya with the quickest, easiest & most spring like vege side dish I know - Lemon Roasted Asparagus! It's going to be your go-to for early summer BBQ's and the it's 7pm and I don't know to serve with {insert main course here} panic that really seems to happen on a daily basis around here. Maybe it has something to do with the almost 6 month old that suddenly becomes super needy at that time of night!

Asparagus is definitely one of those vegetables that you either love or you hate. I used to be firmly in team hate until I was pregnant! For some reason asparagus was one of those weird cravings - to begin with I think it was because it was in asparagus roll form at a party - the asparagus was wrapped up in white bread and cream cheese which were pretty much the only 2 things I ate during the first trimester! But then I grew up a little bit and suddenly couldn't get enough of the stuff. The only thing I don't like about asparagus is how short the season is! I was just getting in the asparagus zone last year and then it was gone - rookie first timer. This year I am way more prepared which means eating lemon roasted asparagus everyday! [Read more...]

Oatmeal Chocolate Lactation Cookies

November 16, 2017 By Laura 27 Comments

Oatmeal Chocolate Lactation Cookies - full of oats, LSA & brewers yeast (and chocolate!) and the perfect snack for any new breastfeeding mama! Plus, I've included instructions for freezing the dough so you can have fresh cookies at a moments notice!

Ok so let's get straight into the weirdness that is this post. I have to admit, I never thought the words "lactation cookie" would be something I said, let alone wrote on here, but you know - strange things happen once you've had a baby!

But before we get into the recipe can I just say to all the breastfeeding mamas out there...you are doing an amazing job!! Breastfeeding is hard! I definitely thought that it was going to be easy and would come naturally and would be a beautiful experience. Ha! So naive. [Read more...]

Life with Sadie - 5 months

November 7, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

Sadie is 5 months old! As much as I don't want her to grow up too quickly, she is really starting to develop her own little personality and gets more and more fun every day which is amazing!

At the start of this month we moved Sadie out of the bassinet and into her cot full time. Like everything, this was far more traumatic for me than her! She handled it really well and her sleeping didn't change at all for the first couple of weeks. We also started a bedtime routine for her this month. At 8pm she has a bath, pj's and sleeping bag on, story, feed then bed at 8.30pm. She cottoned onto the routine really fast and it's working perfectly for us. She's in bed early enough that we can still watch a bit of TV before we go to bed but it's late enough that Josh actually gets to spend some time with her when he gets home from work. Yay! [Read more...]

Chocolate Halloween Mummy & Skeleton Cookies

October 29, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

Chocolate Halloween Mummy & Skeleton Cookies - perfect for Halloween parties, trick or treaters and for making with kids!

I'm back with another fun Halloween recipe...are you ready? Chocolate Halloween Mummy & Skeleton Cookies! What a mouthful. But these cookies - they're perfect for Halloween, spooky but fun, delicious and great to decorate with kids. Well, maybe...I did mine with a sleeping baby and that was pretty easy, it might be harder with actual grown up kids!

They would also be the perfect thing to have in your trick or treat basket at home - no one else is going to have Mummy & Skeleton Cookies! [Read more...]

5 Quick and Easy Halloween Treats {all no bake!}

October 17, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

5 Quick and Easy no bake Halloween Treats that make great snacks and table decorations - jelly slime shots, monster popcorn slime balls, oreo graveyard cups, mandarin jack-o-lanterns & Halloween bark!

Guuuuuuuuys! It's nearly Halloween!! And I have a huge treat for you today...5 Quick and Easy Halloween Treats...and all of them are no bake!

I have never really got into Halloween in a big way. I think it's because here in NZ it's not a huge holiday - especially where we live out in the middle of nowhere. Trick or treating would NOT work! But now that Sadie is around I can see myself making it a big deal. Mostly because I really want to dress her up in a cute costume! But also because Halloween is a simple holiday. No pressure, no presents or organising huge family gatherings, and no big meal. Just simple, FUN, and crazy snacks. And costumes...did I mention that? [Read more...]

Monster Popcorn Slime Balls

October 14, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

Monster popcorn slime balls are fun snacks made from popcorn and marshmallow and double as a Halloween table decoration!

Out of all the Halloween treats I have shared with you this year, I think these are my favourite!

These monster popcorn slime balls are so fun to make and look the part too!

Pop a bunch of popcorn (see this post for how to pop perfect popcorn every time) melt butter and marshmallows, add green food colouring and form into balls. [Read more...]

Halloween Jelly Slime Shots

October 13, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

Halloween jelly slime shots are spooky, fun, easy to make with kids for your Halloween party and delicious!

How much fun are Halloween jelly slime shots?! I wish I had awesome excuses to use candy eyeballs and make jelly all year round! [Read more...]

Banana Chai Smoothie

October 12, 2017 By Laura 2 Comments

This banana chai smoothie has all the flavours of a warming chai latte but in healthy, breakfast smoothie form! It's the perfect breakfast or snack!

Hey smoothie lovers, I've got a real treat for you today! A banana chai smoothie! Those delicious warming chai flavours that we all love about our winter chai lattes but in smoothie form...you know, because we're pretending that it might actually warm up for good sometime soon.

I became 100% obsessed with chai lattes when I was pregnant. Probably because I went off coffee for a little while (dark days) but still wanted something nice to drink. Anyway, chai lattes were it. The spicy ones too, none of that sweet business. Since then I've tried to recreate them at home but with zero luck. I think it's because I like the chai spices but not so much the tea flavour and I'm pretty sure the stuff that goes into cafe chai lattes is all sugary syrup with a bit of spice! So plan B is this - put chai spices in everything. Are we ok with that? [Read more...]

Chocolate Mousse Graveyard Cups

October 11, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

2 ingredient Oreo Chocolate Mousse Graveyard cups are a super quick and easy Halloween dessert - perfect for the party table!

A quick, 2 ingredient chocolate mousse, put in cups, topped with crushed oreo 'dirt' and Tim Tam gravestones. I used melted white chocolate and a snaplock bag with the corner snipped off to write RIP.

Click here to pin this to your Halloween board on Pinterest

Other great Halloween ideas

Jelly Slime Shots

Halloween Chocolate Bark

Mandarin Jack-o-Lanterns

Mummy & Skeleton Chocolate Cookies

Monster Popcorn Slime Balls

Chocolate mousse graveyard cups for Halloween

Print Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Chocolate Mousse Graveyard Cups

Prep Time15

Servings:

Author: Laura

Ingredients

250 ml cream
150 g dark chocolate, roughly chopped
6 oreos
4 Tim Tams (or similar chocolate biscuits)
2 tablespoon white chocolate buttons

Instructions

In a medium sized bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Melt the chocolate and fold into the cream. Spoon into 4 glasses.
Crush the oreos in the food processor or blender and spoon the crumbs onto the mousse.
Melt the white chocolate buttons and spoon into a small snaplock bag. Cut a small hole in the corner and pipe RIP onto the Tim Tams. Allow the chocolate to harden (this will only take a few minutes) and then stick the Tim Tam into the chocolate mousse.
Serve immediately or store in the fridge.

Halloween Chocolate Bark

October 10, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

This easy Halloween bark only takes a few minutes to put together and uses all of your favourite candy! It's also a great way to use up leftover Halloween candy!

This is the easiest Halloween treat you could possibly make!

Melt your favourite chocolate, spread on a baking tray and go crazy sprinkling all sorts of Halloween candy sprinkled on top. This would even be a great post Halloween treat - it's the perfect way to use up any leftover Halloween candy! [Read more...]

Life with Sadie - 4 months

October 10, 2017 By Laura 4 Comments

Every time I go to write one of these updates I think, how can she possibly be this many months already?? 4 whole months! But then at the same time it is truly impossible to imagine our lives without Sadie in them so it really feels like she has been around forever!

Sadie has changed a LOT this month. She is well and truly out of the newborn stage and is definitely a little baby now and is really starting to develop her own personality.

She is honestly such a joy to have around. I feel like we really won the baby jackpot and I'm really making an effort to just enjoy every minute of her being an amazing baby and try to stop feeling like I'm waiting for the perfect baby bubble to burst. I know it could happen, but if it does and she suddenly becomes really challenging, we will deal with that at the time. For now, she couldn't be any more wonderful and we love it! [Read more...]

Mandarin Jack-o-Lanterns

October 9, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

These mandarin jack-o-lanterns are the perfect DIY Halloween party table decorations! Plus, they make a healthy addition to the treat table! Perfect for younger kids!

If you need a quick decorating idea for your Halloween table, I have you covered today with these mandarin jack-o-lanterns. They are the perfect addition to your table and are a great way to get the kids involved! [Read more...]

Thai Yellow Chicken Curry

October 5, 2017 By Laura 4 Comments

So remember how we won the curry game earlier this week when we made Homemade Yellow Curry Paste? Now it's time to use the curry paste and make the EASIEST fastest and probably most delicious Thai Yellow Chicken Curry you've ever had.

This Thai Yellow Chicken Curry is what easy weeknight meal dreams are made of. Even if you haven't made the curry paste already (here's the recipe, it'll only take an extra 15 minutes!) the whole thing will take you less than an hour to prepare. If you already have the curry paste ready to go, dinner is on the table in 40 minutes. That's what I'm talking about. [Read more...]

Homemade Yellow Curry Paste

October 3, 2017 By Laura 5 Comments

Easy to make, with normal ingredients - Homemade Yellow Curry Paste! Throw all ingredients into a food processor and be an instant curry master! It's ready in 15 minutes and is perfect for curry night!

We are about to cross that invisible line between being good in the kitchen, into the territory of being EPIC in the kitchen because today, we make homemade yellow curry paste...completely from scratch!! Please don't leave...I promise it's easy. So easy I made a video! It's actually a matter of throwing all ingredients in a food processor and blitzing. True story.

Over the last couple of years I've been on a curry journey. There was a time in my life not all that long ago where making curry involved opening a jar of butter chicken sauce and calling it a day. Nothing wrong with that, it's a good sauce! A little bit later I was experimenting with different kinds of sauces from the jar. Rogan Josh? Yes. Korma? Definitely yes. Accidentally buying the spicy jar of tikka masala resulting in Josh & I sitting on the couch eating our dinner in our underwear with a box of tissues next to us as we were literally sweating buckets because we could not (and still can't) handle the heat. Not so much. [Read more...]

Lemon Coconut Slice

September 24, 2017 By Laura 7 Comments

Lemon Coconut Slice - the perfect spring treat! A simple baked base topped with lemony coconut icing - keep it in the fridge for maximum deliciousness!

It's spring!! And I have the perfect spring recipe for you - Lemon Coconut Slice!

This is almost my favourite time of year. The weather is starting to get warmer, there are baby animals everywhere and the fruit trees that we planted are growing little blossoms!! Eeeek! My life is so exciting. But seriously, it finally feels like we are out of the thick of winter and I can sort of see summer on the horizon. It feels so good! Especially because I don't have a job anymore which means that this summer, Sadie & I are free agents to spend lots of time at the beach! Yippee!!

Speaking of summer and beach holidays, remember Chocolate Fish Slice - well, actually Chocolate Coconut Slice with a funny story to go with it. It's had a spring makeover and this is the lemon version. And as much as I love the chocolate version and it has been a family favourite for years, this Lemon Coconut Slice is definitely giving it a run for it's money! [Read more...]

Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower

September 12, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower - the perfect way to eat this delicious vegetable, cheesy, crispy and a great healthy snack or side dish!

Cauliflower seems to be one of those veges that people don't like to just eat. It gets turned into just about anything from pizza crusts, to rice, to sauce but you don't often see it as a standalone vegetable. I don't like it. I mean, I love cauliflower, I don't like how underrated it is! It's a vegetable that is so good for you but also is pretty substantial and there's nothing better than veges that can be a whole meal or snack. Except maybe cheesecake bars. Which is kind of why I'm so excited about Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower. Since I've been at home with Sadie my snack game has been waaaay too unhealthy!

[Read more...]

Coconut Oatmeal

September 5, 2017 By Laura Leave a Comment

It's spring!! But even though the sun is warmer and the days are starting to get longer, it is only September which means that mornings are still chilly and cosy warm bowls of coconut oatmeal with a big cup of coffee are still high on the list of things I'm not ready to let go of yet. Also on the list is moving Sadie out of our room into her own big and scary room all by her little 3 month old self, buuuut we don't need to go there. She's still a tiny newborn who needs me waking up in the night to listen to her breathing...right?

She is going to still be in our room when she is 12. [Read more...]

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