QCWA share Country Kitchens Joy

Gabriella Field

TWENTY-SIX CHILDREN of the Rainbow Beach Learning Community took part in learning how to make mini muffin pizzas with QCWA Country Kitchens Branch Facilitator, Gabriella.

The children thoroughly enjoyed this activity because they each made their own pizzas, with choice of toppings. Children can easily make these pizzas at home with some supervision.

The children took part in two more activities, one of which was learning to recognise the difference between ‘Sometimes Foods’ and ‘Everyday Foods,’ and the other was dragon fruit painting which was quite a popular activity. They were all given a certificate for ‘Making An Awesome Mini Pizza’.

The children were fascinated with the Country Kitchens display, especially with finding out about how much sugar there is in many drinks. Did you know that there are almost 17 teaspoons of sugar in a 600 mL bottle of Coca Cola?

In May we combined our monthly Hoy event with the Cancer Council’s Biggest Morning Tea. Thank you very much to all who came along, for wearing yellow and blue, and for your generous donations in support of this very worthy cause.

July’s Hoy has been cancelled as the Bowls Club was pre-booked. Hoy will resume on Wednesday 16 August.

Our members had fun with the children at the Tin Can Bay P-10 State School’s Under Eights Fun Day. At our stall the children were able to take part in star fruit painting, bean bag tossing, and guessing the weight of the rockmelon.

Aleks, our QCWA Country Kitchens Buddy from Brisbane, with assistance from Wendy and Gabriella held a Country Kitchens Hands on Nutrition Workshop focusing on how to Health-aSize a recipe. Eleven branch members took part in the workshop which was held at our Meeting Room in Whiting Street, Tin Can Bay.

While Aleks spoke about how to modify recipes to make them healthier, we sampled the rainbow frittata muffins she had prepared for us earlier. Two groups of ladies each made a chicken stir fry, another group the ‘Light and Crunchy Coleslaw’ and another the ‘Stove Top Apple and Pear Crumble’.

Then came the fun part, we all got to eat a lovely lunch.

We have completed the last of the five QCWA Country Kitchens Back to Basic Cooking series of workshops with the students of the Tin Can Bay P-10 State School. For the Country Kitchens message ‘Sit Less, Move More’, we had the students planting pineapples and chillies in the school garden.

At the end of the workshop, the Principal Daman, Trish the teacher, and her assistants were given a certificate of thanks for their support. The students were given a certificate of participation and a goodie bag.

We are looking forward to working with you all again next term.

In early June, branch members got together to plant two fruit trees at our cottage in Whiting Street, Tin Can Bay. The QCWA is still celebrating its centenary and branches all across Queensland are encouraged to plant trees in recognition of this milestone.

NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING:

10am, Tuesday 18 July 2023 at 18 Whiting St, Tin Can Bay. Craft and Coffee: 1st and 2nd Wednesday of the month, 10am to Noon. 18 Whiting St, Tin Can Bay.

General Meetings: 2nd Monday of the month, 9.30am.

Spiced Cabbage with Apple

Serves: 6

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 60 minutes

2 serve per portion

Ingredients

Extra virgin olive oil spray

400g butternut pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1cm slices

1 small eggplant, cut into 5mm slices

1 red capsicum, roughly chopped, seeds removed

1 yellow capsicum, roughly chopped, seeds removed

2 small zucchinis, halved crossways and thinly sliced lengthways

200g haloumi, thinly sliced

3 sheets short crust pastry, reduced fat

¼ cup basil pesto

¼ cup milk

Black pepper, to garnish

Sesame seeds, to garnish

Method

PREHEAT oven and a flat baking tray to 230˚C fan forced

OR PREHEAT BBQ grill or char-grill pan on high until hot.

SRPAY both sides of vegetables and haloumi with oil spray.

CHARGRILL pumpkin 3-4 min each side. Remove and cover with foil.

CHARGRILL the eggplant, capsicum and zucchini for 5 min on each side until tender.

PEEL any charcoaled skin from capsicum and cut capsicum into thick strips.

CHARGRILL haloumi for 2-3 min each side until lightly golden.

PLACE vegetables, haloumi and pesto in a bowl and mix.

SPRAY 6 pie tins with olive oil spray and line with pastry. Fill the pastrylined pies with rice and blind bake for 10 minutes. Remove pastry cases from oven and discard rice.

FILL pies with vegetable mix and top with a piece of pastry.

BRUSH top of pies with milk, make small holes with a fork and sprinkle with cracked black pepper and sesame seeds.

BAKE for 25-30 min or until pastry is puffed and golden.

18 Whiting St, Tin Can Bay.

Hoy: Cooloola Coast Bowls Club, 4 Amity Place, Tin Can Bay. Next Hoy 16 August 2023, 9.30 for a 10am start. Enquiries to Wendy 0412 547 043 or Judy 0402 769 392.