A new school year begins

Today Alex's daughter began prep (she was very brave; no tears from either of them!) and my daughter is back to school for her first day of Grade One. With the school term starting, so returns our crazy schedule of school drop offs, pick ups, work, events and school commitments.

We are both pretty organised girls - it's one of the things that makes us good at our jobs. But we are always open to new ideas and better ways of doing things, so when I came across this fabulous blog by Jade, I knew I was onto something good! This girl is SERIOUSLY organised!

Jade's son is starting kinder this year and she has done a really fabulous run down of her preparation for this. Over the past week or so she has shared some great recipes, all freezable and even better, all easy, that would be perfect for school lunch boxes.

So far we have made the Oat and Chocolate Chunk cookies and the yummy scrolls. In fact, we did a big bake-a-thon today and froze a heap of them in individual serves, which will make preparing school lunches a breeze.

I have included both of these recipes here - but make sure you pop over to Jade's blog to see what else she has to help you get (and keep!!) organised.

Oat & Chocolate Chunk cookies

Ingredients-

• 150g unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 80g (1/2 cup, lightly packed) brown sugar
• 100g (1/2 cup) caster sugar
• 1 egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 150g (1 cup) plain flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 180g (2 cups) rolled oats
• 150g milk chocolate, coarsely chopped (I used chocolate chips here and it worked well)

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking paper.
2. Use an electric beater to beat the butter and combined sugar in a medium bowl until pale and creamy. Add the egg and vanilla, and beat until well combined.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder over the egg mixture. Add the oats and chocolate, and stir until well combined.
4. Roll tablespoonfuls of the mixture into balls. Place on lined tray. Flatten slightly. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until light golden.
5. Set aside on the tray for 5 minutes to cool before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe for Vegemite and cheese scrolls
(This can be modified to make ham and cheese scrolls, chutney and cheese, or like my daughter tomato sauce and cheese scrolls!)

Ingredients -

• 2 cups (300g) self-raising flour + extra for dusting
• 1 tsp salt
• 50g butter, coarsely grated
• 3/4 cup (180ml) milk
• Vegemite
• 3/4 cup (90g) grated cheddar

Method-

1. Sift flour and salt into a bowl. Rub butter in using fingertips. Add milk and mix to a soft dough. Knead on floured surface until smooth. Roll into a 25 x 30cm rectangle.
2. Spread vegemite over dough and sprinkle with cheese. Roll up starting from a long edge. Use a sharp serrated knife to cut roll into 10 even slices. Place scrolls on trays and bake for 20-25 minutes at 180 degrees.

Big thanks to Jade for letting me share these recipes and images with you. 


And finally, you know we love parties... and earlier this year we featured a fabulous school themed baby shower party - drop by for some school themed loveliness!!