Cooking by the sea, Sea Scallops in parcels

As you may already know, we spent a lot of time at the beach over Easter. Nothing new for us, we spend a lot of time at the beach. It is a favourite family thing to do. One thing was new though, our new portable gas BBQ from…..yep, you guessed it…Aldi!

Isn’t she a beauty! Gone is our little 2 burner camping BBQ on a metal stand & hello to our new beauty! I have wanted something like this for years & now, we have one. It is perfect to take to the beach, the park, camping or even at home when you don’t want to fire up the big BBQ. This works exactly the same as our big hooded BBQ.

 

To christen our new BBQ, what better than Sea Scallops by the sea.

It really is very quick & easy.

I brought 1kg of sea scallops from the local fisherman. They were still in their shells…perfect!

{I will be using the shells for a craft project soon!}

Before we left home I grabbed a handful of herbs from the garden.

I used thyme, lime basil, basil, chives & a yellow pepper cut in half. I also grabbed a lemon from the tree & sliced it to lay on top of the herbs on a large sheet of alfoil.

Put your scallops on top & season with salt & pepper.

Fold the alfoil to make an “parcel” to keep all the juices in.

Pre heat your BBQ for around 5 minutes before cooking..

I chucked some bread on the grill to toast.

Closed the lid for 2 minutes.

I then buttered the cooked side of the bread with a garlic chive butter

{recipe here}

Put the bread back on the BBQ, buttered side up & closed the lid for a further 1-2 minutes.

You then have this beautiful alfoil parcel filled with sea scallops & the most beautiful juices that you can soak up with the garlic bread.

Perfect!

Then you can sit back, watch the sunset, pour a glass of wine & fill up on this beautiful, quick & easy meal.

This recipe also works great for fish or prawns.

White chocolate and cranberry muffins

 

 

These quick & easy muffins are simply divine!

Perfect for the kids lunchboxes, a ladies coffee catch up, a mid afternoon snack….OK, anytime is right for these muffins!

 

 

 

2 cups plain flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup sugar

1 & 1/2 cups of frozen cranberries

125g white choc chips

2 eggs

100g  butter melted

1 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla

1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder & sugar until combined

2. Whisk eggs, milk, vanilla & butter in a separate bowl

3. Combine the wet & dry ingredients and fold gently together

4. Add the cranberries & white choc buttons.

5. Spoon the mixture into muffin cases (3/4 full)

6. Bake at 180 degrees for 15 minutes or until cooked.

 

I cooked these in my Thermo oven

 

 

I use the flat bottom muffin cases a they stand on the racks by them selves & don’t required muffin trays. You can also cook them in a normal oven using the same temperature required. Insert a skewer to make sure that they are fully cooked.

 

Stand the muffins on a cake cooling rack.

 

 

I think they taste best while they are still warm but they are also fabulous cold.

{this is NOT a sponsored post}

I told you all about the

Nivea 5 day trial

That I was going to do. Well, I have done it.

The outcome…..AMAZING! I have found the perfect face cream for me! My skin is a lot clearer, the wrinkles are not as deep & my skin feels so smooth to touch! I am seriously surprised how much difference there is after 5 days.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

The biggest difference for me is around my eyes. I had to pull a funny face in the first photo just to try & make it look as though I had no wrinkles. I hated smiling because I have the deepest laugh lines beside my eyes, well, I did have the deepest lines beside my eyes. Now, they are just giggle lines, not deep laugh lines!

I am really happy with the result & I think that I will ditch my old face cream that was not doing anything for me & now, I am proud to say that I am in love with

Nivea

I used the 5 day starter pack for normal  & combination skin.

I started each day with the Daily Essentials Refreshing Facial Wash Gel. This left my face feeling squeaky clean.

I then used the Daily Essentials Light Moisturising Day Cream. This gave my skin improved elasticity & the healthy glow that I had been missing.

I am 32 years old & my skin has suffered a lot of sun damage over the years. We spend a lot of time at the beach & I love to spend time gardening so I am in the sun a lot. I had started to develop a lot of sun damage in the way of skin discoloration on my forehead. It had made me become very self conscious. Today, day 5 of the trial, I felt confidant enough to go out & not wear any makeup. This is a major thing for me. Anything that makes me feel more confidant is a great thing.

I want everyone to know that this is not a paid advertisement. This is not a sponsored blog.All opinions on these products are mine & 100% truthful.

Arm party dare, cause Fox in Flats said to!

So, did you join in this weeks style dare at

Fox in Flats

I did!

Day 1. My everyday arm party

This is what you will find on my arms nearly everyday.

Day 2. Feeling pink & purple

I love memory wire bracelets. So quick & easy to wear. I have a stack in all different colours.

Day 3. A few of my old faves.

Back to some of my faves & my chunky aqua bracelet to match my chunky aqua necklace you can see in the top corner.

Day 4. A bit of bling, a lot of silver & a whole lot of charm!

I love this charm bracelet.

It has a handbag, diamond ring, 2 different high heels, cupcake, cherries, corset, dolphin, perfume bottle, silver heart & a lucky blinged out horse shoe.

Day 5. Purple.

This was the day that we went to the Festival of Sails at Redcliffe. I totally love these stretchy purple beaded bracelets. As you can see in this pic, my aqua resin ring is a regular feature on my hand. I love this ring & it only cost $5 from a market. I wear it all the time & always get compliments.

(I wore the same ring but in pink on day 2)

Day 6. A white cuff.

I brought this white beaded cuff from the Festival of the sails. It was perfect for a day at the beach. I also brought the same beaded cuffs but one is black & the other is blue. I couldn’t pass them up because they were 3 for $10!!

Day 7. White.

Today was a beach day so it was white pearl & a shell ring.

I have had so much fun joining in with

Fox in Flats

For this weeks style dare of an arm party everyday.

I can’t wait to see what the next style dare is!

Will you be joining in?

If you have blogged about your arm party week, leave your details in the comments below & I will check it out!

Thought we might do something different

It is day 2 of the 4 day Easter long weekend & I am in “hold on to that summer feeling” mood. So I woke up this morning with a spring (or is it hop over Easter?) in my step & surprised the family by telling them we were going to renew our Beach 4wding permit for Bribie Island after not having one for 3 years. Mr P was super excited & we were going back to the beach.

{weren’t we just there yesterday?}

This time we hit the sand with our tyres.

It was beautiful weather, fantastic 4wding conditions & it was just perfect!

Mr P had a lot of fun playing in the sand, not with his bucket & spade but with my Navara 4wd.

We are heading back out again tomorrow.

Just can’t get enough!

Next week I will have a series of cooking ideas for while you are at the beach. I have been cooking up a storm on our new portable BBQ.

I am off now to cook some homemade pizza’s for dinner & re-pack the 4wd for another adventure!

A beachy kind of day!

We are all sun, surfed & sailed out!

Today we started off at the Festival of the Sails at Redcliffe & finished of the day with a BBQ dinner at Bribie Island

Here is our day in

Instagram pictures

It was the perfect start to a 4 day Easter long weekend