Chocolate Cake

(great for Bday cake.  Very moist)

½ cup cocoa

½ cup boiling water

2 ½ cup plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

4 oz butter

1 ½ cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup sour milk ( add 1 tspn vinegar to milk)

1 tspn bi carb soda

1 tspn vanilla

In a jug mix cocoa, boiling water and cool.

Bowl 1

Cream butter, sugar and vanilla.

add eggs one at a time.

Add cocoa mixture.

In a jug mix sour milk and bi carb.

In another bowl mix flour and baking powder.

Ad flour and milk mixtures alternately to BOWL 1.

Let stand for 10 minutes.

Pour into a large greased tin and cook in moderate oven for 45 minutes.

Country Girls

I've been out of service a lot of late and when I get back in the last things I have time to do is blog. 
Life is a little crazy in my world and will be for a while yet

Take care until next time I pop in.  Got a few memes lined up to share 
:)

13 Things To Remember When Sitting In The Middle Of NOWHERE

Read Each One Carefully and Think About It a Second or Two 

1. I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you..


2. No man or woman is worth your tears, and the one who is, won't make you cry.


3. Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to, doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have.


6. Never frown, even when you are sad, because you never know who is falling in love with your smile.

7. To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world.


8. Don't waste your time on a man/woman, who isn't willing to waste their time on you.


9. Maybe we are suppose to meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one, so that when we finally meet the person, we will know how to be grateful.


10. Don't cry because it is over, smile because it happened.

11. There's always going to be people that hurt you so what you have to do is keep on trusting and just be more careful about who you trust next time around.


12. Make yourself a better person and know who you are before you try and know someone else and expect them to know you.


13. Don't try so hard, the best things come when you! least expect them to.

Found online 

WHEN WE GIRLS DRINK TOO MUCH............

Found this in my email jokes folder from years ago...felt like last weekend :)


WHEN WE GIRLS DRINK TOO MUCH............
 
1. WE HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHERE OUR PURSE IS.
 
2. WE BELIEVE THAT DANCING WITH OUR ARMS OVERHEAD AND WIGGLING OUR BUTT WHILE YELLING "WOO-HOO!" IS TRULY THE SEXIEST DANCE MOVE AROUND.

 
3. WE'VE SUDDENLY DECIDED THAT WE WANT TO KICK SOMEONE'S ASS AND HONESTLY BELIEVE WE COULD DO IT TOO.
 
4. IN OUR LAST TRIP TO PEE, WE REALIZE THAT WE NOW LOOK MORE LIKE A HOMELESS HOOKER THAN THE GODDESS WE WERE JUST FOUR HOURS AGO
 
5. WE START CRYING AND TELLING EVERYONE WE SEE THAT WE LOVE THEM SOOOOO MUCH.
 
6. WE GET EXTREMELY EXCITED AND JUMP UP AND DOWN EVERY TIME A NEW SONG PLAY'S BECAUSE "OH MY GOD! I LOVE THIS SONG!"

7. WE'VE FOUND A DEEPER/SPIRITUAL SIDE TO THE GEEK SITTING NEXT TO US.

 
8. WE'VE SUDDENLY TAKEN UP SMOKING AND BECOME REALLY GOOD AT IT.
 
9. WE YELL AT THE BARTENDER, WHO WE BELIEVE CHEATED US BY GIVING US JUST LEMONADE, BUT THAT'S JUST BECAUSE WE CAN NO LONGER TASTE THE GIN.
 
10. WE THINK WE ARE IN BED, BUT OUR PILLOW FEELS STRANGELY LIKE THE KITCHEN FLOOR (or the mop?)
 
11. WE FAIL TO NOTICE THAT THE TOILET LID'S DOWN WHEN WE SIT ON IT.
 
12. WE TAKE OUR SHOES OFF BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IT'S THEIR FAULT THAT WE'RE HAVING PROBLEMS WALKING STRAIGHT.
 
SEND THIS ALONG TO ALL THE GIRLS YOU KNOW WHO LIKE TO HAVE FUN. MAKE  THEM LAUGH AT THEMSELVES LIKE YOU PROBABLY DID....SADLY, MANY ARE TRUE!!
 
 
 
 You've been hit by the
 
 |^^^^^^^^^^^^^^| ||
 |...BEER TRUCK..........| ||'|";, ___.
 |_..._..._______===|=||_|__|..., ] -
 "(@)'(@)"""''"**|(@)(@)*****''(@)
 
ONCE YOU'VE BEEN HIT,

YOU HAVE TO HIT 12 ALCOHOLICS, INCLUDING WHO SENT IT TO U

 IF YOU GET HIT AGAIN YOU'LL KNOW YOU REALLY HAVE A PROBLEM!

HIT WHO EVER YOU THINK IS AN ALCOHOLIC, OR JUST ENJOYS A GOOD TIME!

SMILE and act like nothing is wrong

SMOKO TIME --- Malt Slice

Mum’s Malt Slice

1 packet of Malt biscuits (may need more depending on tin size)

1 tin condensed milk

3 oz melted copha

2 cups coconut

1 teaspoon Vanilla essence

1. Line tin with biscuits (half of pack)

2. Melt copha

3. Mix all ingredients except biscuits together.

4. Pour mixture over biscuits

5. Cover with leftover biscuits

Put in the fridge to set.

Friendship isn't about whom you have known the longest...

I have been offline for most of August for one reason or another ... with some help from picmonkey I have started making my own memes using gorgeous outback pictures from my own stack and my friends.  Been adding some of my favourite quotes.

It is very theraputic when I'm feeling stressed :)

How is your month?  Got any great events coming up?  

I have recently caught up with a whole lot of mates and loved it.  The quote above reminds of them and to keep those you want in your life close.

FRIENDSHIP requires effort and is a a two way street.  Always try to give more than you get.

New mobile/driving rules came into effect 1 Nov 2012

I was emailed this at the end of last year from a NSW site I am subscribed too.  I live in ignorances of lots of law changes.  It was an interesting read.



With the holiday season approaching it is good to be reminded that there are new mobile phone rules for drivers:

Key changes include:

绊 Drivers are not permitted to hold a phone in their hand, other than to pass it to a passenger, and cannot rest the phone on their leg or between their shoulder and ear.

绊 Phones or GPS devices must be mounted in a commercially designed cradle and affixed to the vehicle in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions. Use of Bluetooth is permitted, as
long as the phone is not being held against the body.

绊 Drivers are only permitted to use hand held mobile phone when the vehicle is legally parked and/or off the road with the engine switched off.

绊 Penalties of up to 4 demerit points and $397 apply for failure to adhere to these rules.
Safe travelling and remember to take breaks!

Sloppy Joes and the UNexpected

Lately there has been a LOT of food on my blog.
(JUST IN CASE YOUR DIDN'T NOTICE THE OVERLOAD)

I have been doing some cooking between/and governessing on a station.  Sometimes when you go to a job things can happen that can rock you employers world.   Unexpected.  As a govie you sometimes just have to step in and do what's necessary.

I love my job and when the people around me need help due to the unexpected thats what I do.

As a result of all this I have travelled a fair bit, school has had to be condensed back to important activities (THANKS to great teachers for giving us help with this).

SO as most will know I have begged, borrowed and stolen most of my recipes from friends cooking and from station cooks.  LOVEM' All for the contributions.  Particularly Lee-Anne and Ange who have contributed the most

Mulgaria Sloppy Joes

2lbs Mince

1 onion

¼ teaspoon pepper

¼ cup flour

1 tspn worstershire sauce

1 ½ cus tomato sauce

2 teaspoon chilli

Serve on Buns with coldslaw.

Farmers fighting for the industry and animal welfare

GUEST BLOG by Lee-Anne Bright

Lee-Anne's family have lived on a goat property in Western NSW for 3 generations.  Many parts of her family are farmers across Australia.  Lee-Anne is a full time governess and in her spare time runs a website called Governess Australia. She can be followed on Twitter @Bushgovo 
WARNING HIJACKED BLOG: “Thanks to Outback Girl for allowing me to hijack her blog for this issue.  Cheers, Lee-Anne Bright at Governess Australia”

NO species on earth has the same requirements or physical and mental structure. 

  HAS EVERYONE HEARD ABOUT THE COLES AND ANIMALS AUSTRALIA RUCKUS?

216. Dorpers were not introduced to Australia, they merely escaped South Africa.

Thanks to Farmers Way of Life's Golden Rules of Farming many farming moments have been captured in a sentence.


Part 9 has some hilarious moments

201.  If the dogs smart it will come so far behind it will be in the next paddock.

207. Try explaining that to the kids.... AWKWARD

208. Please don't remember this as it provides much entertainment for bystanders.

220. As a teenager I often wished holidays were kept a secret from my parents.  Get home from school and straight into it.  My friends rarely visited more than once.  :) 

221. Farmers kids are exempt for the REST OF THEIR LIVES from labour laws.  9 times out of 10 they can do it better than the stationhand anyway.

I'm going to post some recipes which I have used over the years growing up on stations.  Can't claim them as mine but collected from friends and family.

Enjoys :)

Milo Energy Biscuits

125g butter

½ cup sugar

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup vanilla

½ cup Milo

1 egg

1 ¾ cup SR flour

Beat butter, sugars and vanilla until light and creamy. Beat in egg.  Fold in flour and Milo.  Roll mixture into balls and place on greased tray.  Flatten with fork.

Bake at 180 degrees Celsius

15-20 minutes or until golden brown.

Makes 40

This is a great quick recipe to do.  So few ingredients and so easy.

:)

Golden Syrup Biscuits

4 oz butter

4 oz Sugar

1 drtspn golden Syrup ( can add more for extra flavour)

1 egg

2 tablespn coconut

½ lb SR flour

Cream butter and sugar, add syrup, egg, coconut, and stir in flour. Bake in Moderate oven.

Carrot Cake

Can't remember where I found this recipe but many people around me have made it and love it.  They are always swapping and changing nuts out and still it is great.


Carrot Cake

Ingredients

1 cup grated carrot

2 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

1 cup caster sugar

1 cup self-raising flour

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

grated orange rind, to decorate

orange slices to serve

CREAM CHEESE ICING

125g cream cheese, at room temperature

50g butter, at room temperature

3 cups icing sugar mixture

1 teaspoon finely grated orange rind

1 tablespoon fresh orange juice

Method

1. Grease a 19cm x 30cm lamington pan. Line base and sides with baking paper.

2. Whisk carrot, eggs, oil and walnuts in a medium bowl until combined. Stir in combined sifted sugar, flour, cinnamon and soda. Pour mixture into prepared pan.

3. Cook in a hot oven (200C) for 15 minutes or until cooked when tested. Stand cake in pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a wire rack to cool.

4. To make cream cheese icing, place all ingredients in a medium bowl, beat with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.

5. Spoon icing into a piping bag fitted with a fluted tube and pipe rosettes over top of cake or alternately spread over cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes to set before serving.

6. Serve cake cut into rectangles with orange slices.

Hint. Iced cake can be made up to 3 days ahead or frozen for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature before serving.

RRAWN ...

Have you seen this?


I follow online some of the ladies involved and must say it is a pleasure to advertise this page and new network for women out back.

Rural & Remote

Australian Women's Network

www.facebook.com/RRAW.Network 

WHAT THEY SAY:

We are an online network for Rural & Remote Australian Women. We aim to be a repeater tower, bringing all the most current information from networks, associations and groups together.

RRAWN aims to be a network that brings all the countless other women's groups, networks and associations that represent women in rural & Remote communities, small businesses and Agriculture together in collaboration.

We aim to share with you all the most current information and events from these representative networks.

If you have something you'd like us to share please leave a message on our wall and we will pass it around.

When I took up governessing it was a big shock having to cook for myself.  Lee-Anne AKA Bushgovo AKA Miss Governess Australia shared lots of recipes and ideas with me... she loves cooking and I let her create and then use the recipes in my everyday.  

This recipe below is the base for what could be many versions.  I know Lee-Anne and my boss add in lots of different things to quiche depending on what is in the fridge and garden.

Lee-Anne’s Quick Quiche

3 eggs

¾ cup milk

¾ cup cream

1 cup onion, chopped

1 cup bacon, chopped

1 cup grated cheese

1 tblspn parsley

1 cup pastry mix

sprinkle with nutmeg.

Mix altogether

Bake for 45minutes at 180 degrees

Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream

This recipe is in a group called BARBWIRE... I really have to thank Kim for sharing

Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream

600ml milk

pinch salt

1 cup castor sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla essence

2 eggs, beaten

500ml cream

Combine milk, salt and sugar in a saucepan (or microwave proof dish). Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until mixture nearly boils. (or 2min on high in microwave)

Reduce heat to low.
Gradually stir about half of the milk into the egg. Add egg mixture back into remaining half of milk.

Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture slightly thickens. (or 30sec burst in the microwave, taking care that it doesn't boil over) Remove from the heat, add vanilla essence and allow to cool.

Refrigerate and chill thoroughly - preferably overnight.

Add cream, mixing with wire whisk.

Pour into the canister and allow to churn and freeze.

Very important to have it as cold as possible when you put it in the canister so it works better/faster - I tend to put the mix in the freezer for an hour or until it starts to freeze around the edge before churning.

This is actually a double mix that will make 2 litres of ice - cream, I churn half at a time, leaving the canister to refreeze between times.

For caramel ice-cream, add a tin of caramel, for strawberry ice-cream, add to punnets of strawberries (that have been put through food-processor).

3 months and I am finally finding time to blog

The last 3 months have been chaotic, I have barely stopped.  Agriculture and the outback really have been the least of my worries, my focus has been on my job and now.

Pre-Christmas was great but not without dramas.... we all love family, kinda gratful they weren't the lot we were spending Christmas with.  ( I know you all will GET this)

Christmas was good weather but with 3 weeks of parties and people I am glad its over.  Only 3kg extra so I should be happy.  That will disappear as I get into station work over January.

New governessing job this year which required packing last year ... DIDN'T ENJOY THAT... but looking forward to the new family and full intend to walk more this year.  Need to get my fitness back to where it was 18 months ago.  Stopped walking then (after 15 years of it) and never started again.

Looking forward to the time home this January on my parents property.  

Also need to sit down and blog some of last years photos for you.  Got a stack to share just need to make time.

For now I am enjoying my moment fo relaxation.  I was getting very bogged down mentally in the last 6 months.

Now I must go as I have packing to do --- yep :) I'm away at the moment.  Situation normal

Posted via Blogaway

Fat Facts on facebook

These ideas are all from the facebook group called FAT FACTS which a friend introduced me to.  

Fat Facts Punters Tips

Learning and Holistic Ideas

• Breakfast Cereal:  Weetbix has one of the lowest levels of sugar. Your cereals should have less than 10gms of sugar per 100gms
• www.choice.com.au/​reviews-and-tests/​food-and-health/food-and-drink/​groceries/​breakfast-cereal-review-and-com​pare/page/​healthy%20choices.aspx
• Managing Sugar Carvings - http://myonline-dietitian.com/how-to-overcome-sugar-cravings#more-162
• Philosophy for people who LOVE food. Dont go cold turky!! you'll crave and binge and give up. And fall of the wagon its ok as long as you get back up your heading forward =)
• Great  app is myfitnesspal.
• It's free and helps track your weight.
• You can put it what you eat each day and it's calculates how many calories your eating.
• You can also put in your ideal or goal weight and tells you how far off your goal weight you are
• as well as how many calories you need to consume to achieve the goal.
• You can also record your exercise for the day which gets calculated in with the calories consumed.
• I am supplementing using Optifast once a day but find that it does not fill me for long enough unless I add 2 teaspoons of psyllium husk, am adding that to my morning cereal and this is filling me for longer too now.
• Stick photos/pictures of people or body parts you wish to have e.g toned tummy, legs, arms etc on your fridge, your cudboards (so you can see the photo before opening the door to grab food) on your mirrors just so everytime you get up in the morning you have that bit more motivation and to stop you grabbing the wrong snack when your hungry! Works for me!

Food and Lifestyle

• Portion and Meal Control
• concentrate on what I eat and when and cutting back on portions
• serving a meal it is best to use a white plate instead of a colored plate. You seem to serve less on white.
• Small meals more often so you don't overeat, portion size is important.
• 6 meals a day rather than 3 massive ones
•  
• Liquid Ideas
• Have a glass of Water before each meal to fill you up a bit and will stop you from eating large portions - it will also assist with Digestion
• Adding a slice of lemon to your water everyday is great for the body!
• Drink more water because often you are dehydrated not hungry
• No juice at lunch just water
• Huge glass of water before each meal to help make me feel full
•  
• Food Tips
• Made a wicked curry but had steamed beans with it instead of rice
• swapping white with brown... rice and pasta....it may taste weird at the start...but you will soon learn to love it!
• Spice speeds up the metabolism
• Weight watches/light and easy meal for lunch ( thy are good!)
•  Sweet treat afternoon rather than at night time
• More vegies than anything else on my dinner plate and i eat them first to fill me uo
•  
• Shopping Savers
• When I shop now I actually have a whole list of good foods to eat, even to the point it is brand specific so I don't have to keep reading the back of labels.
• Iphone App for to use for food counting etc. It called "Bupa - food switch" from memory, and its free. All you do is scan the barcode with the food you normally have, and it will show you/recommend you healthier options

Exercise and Movement

• Resistance bands are excellent - available at Big W.  great for gaining strength and toning.  Big W also had a DVD called "The Firm - Sculpt-ilates" which has been really great and Oxygen Magazine had an article called "Your 15 minute firm up plan" which is circuit based exercises all using the resistance band.
• Housework - Scrub the shower and bathroom each week with a scrubbing brush. double reward cause you have a clean house
• Chores can be a bore, but chin up: cleaning will burn fat and tone muscles just as well as a session at the gym.  - http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/​body+fitness/news+features/​the+housework+workout,11425
• Look for the little things in everyday life that can add up to you moving more...things like at the shopping centre, park as far away from the door or trolley return as you can, even return those few extra trolleys in the parking bays, stairs instead of lifts, eat before you shop, drink water before a meal to feel fuller, all those little things help
• Pedometers - help me monitor my daily steps. I'm REALLY happy with this cute little unit and it was cheap as chips off ebay. less than $13 including postage!  http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/​350502308953?ssPageName=STRK%3A​MEWNX%3AIT&_trksid=p3984.m1497​.l2649
• 20-Minute Workout for Women: Butt Fitness & Exercises--Burn 500 calories & Shed Pounds at Women's HealthMag  - www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/butt-workout
• Phone App - This is great and a good start for people who dont normally run. I got the app on my phone and i can listen to my music and it just cuts in when i need to start running and when its time to walk again....highly recommend it! - http://www.c25k.com/
• Instead of using scales. Measure the around your arms, thighs, calves, waist, etc. As you excersie you put on muscle and that will way more than fat but you will be getting smaller at the same time. Went to a health day at SOTA about that years ago.