Hello Autumn!

 

On the hunt for a pizza stone my younger sister Katie, and I, went searching in TK Maxx.  However, we got a little sidetracked when we saw all the Halloween and Autumn decorations.

 

I love the Autumnal colours!

I'm happy to see all of this seasonal decorations on display......because it means that soon they will have their Christmas stock on display!

And just before we went home we called in to Starbucks on Chatham street for a double espresso machiatto.  This drawing on the chalkboard made us laugh.  Never a truer word written!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza That Does NOT Fall Apart! Low Carb Pizza

I saw this video on Youtube and decided I'd make my own Low Carb Pizza.  


To make my base I followed the instructions in the video but used Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese and egg to mix with the cauliflower to make the base.  I also used oregano, basil and chilli flakes in the base mix.


Here's the pics of how it turned out.  Let me know what you think!

Here is the pizza base when I took it out of the oven.

I was going to make my own tomato sauce but saw Janet's Just Delicious Pizza Sauce in Supervalu in the Food Academy and thought it looked it good (it was very tasty).

Here is the sauce spread on the base - next time I will use more sauce.

 Then I covered the sauce in Mozzarella cheese

Ciaran got in on the act - he said it needed more cheese

In to the oven with it after it got topped in pepperoni

 This is the finished product.  My verdict is that it was fairly tasty but next time I will add more sauce, cheese and pepperoni.......that probably says a lot about the cauliflower pizza base!!!

As a regular pizza substitute this Cauli-Crust Pizza is not too bad. However, it does take a lot of preparation.  Perhaps if you are used to making homemade pizza you may not think it takes too long to make.  For me, pizza means picking up the phone and getting a delivery of a Domino's Pizza in 40 minutes so I found this to be a lot of work.........but definitely worthwhile to do!

Banting "Kung Pao Chicken on Coconut Cauli-Rice" from Real Meal Revolution Book

I borrowed The Real Meal Revolution from the library yesterday.  It is a Banting or LCHF (low carb high fat) cookbook and the recipes are amazing!!

I decided that I would try to cook the Kung Pao with Coconut Cauliflower Rice.  It looks so good in the cookbook and from the video you can see that it seems fairly easy to cook.

 I'm intrigued to see what the Coconut Cauli-Rice tastes like.  Cauliflower Rice is a low carb alternative to rice - have you ever tasted it? 

 I had to buy every single ingredient as I had nothing in my pantry. 

And voila - here is the finished dish!

It was very tasty but next time I will add less water to the cauli-rice as it was a little watery.  But definitely a success and was given the thumbs up by my husband......even though he spotted straight away that there was not real rice on the plate.

The Real Meal Revolution is available from Amazon - if you are looking for a Low Carb High Fat cookbook I would think this is a good buy.  As well as including lots of great recipes with super pics, all the science behind Banting or LCHF and why fat doesn't cause obesity but Carbohydrate does is explained thoroughly at the back by Professor Tim Noakes.  It's a whopper of a book and I think it is the LCHF bible!

Granby Burger Patties

While buying Clonakilty pudding tonight, these Granby Burger Patties caught my eye.

They are marked at only 39c and are made by Granby which was established in 1933!!

Have you ever eaten one?! What was it like??  

I am a giant!

"I am a giant"

Well obviously not!

But drinking from little espresso cups does make you feel like a giant sometimes.

 Amy and I found these adorable little espresso cups in Easons in Dun Laoghaire (at the Ukulele Festival).  I got 4 cups.  Three with a dog print and one with the message "In case of hangover add COFFEE".......which I am sure I will need to do at some time!!

Rain Rain Go Away!

On both Saturday & Sunday we visited the Ukulele Festival in Dun Laoghaire.  The weather was fairly bad (typical for Ireland) but we were wrapped up well and we brought our umbrellas.

There was a fair crowd at the event considering the bad weather.....but I hope they get sun next year as it was fairly bad weather last year too. 

 We enjoyed the music and had drinks, sausage and sweet potato fries - I loved spending the time with my twin sister.

At one point we were cold and wet so we ventured to Costa for a coffee.  We both had double espressos and cream.  Delish - and warming too!

I'm already looking forward to next year's hooley :-)

Christmas in August!

It's been a horrible wet August weekend here in Dublin.  So I was so happy to visit the newly opened Christmas Shop in Brown Thomas with my twin sister!

I love this Nutcracker!  I would consider buying a large nutcracker this year except that I plan to get a train to go round my tree.  

 My tree is decorated in traditional red and green colours so I bought this glittery train decoration.  Amy's tree is decorated in white and silver so I bought her this 3 dimensional silver star ornament. 

As you can see, I was in my element!

I look forward to visiting this Christmas Shop (and the Marvel Room) again at a much closer time to Christmas - and I also look forward to the Dunnes Stores & Penneys Christmas Shops opening!!