White Chocolate and Strawberry Cheesecake Cups – What’s better than a recipe that you don’t have to cook. I’m pretty sure that I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like cheesecake or if I do they haven’t mentioned it. What’s not to like, Yummy creamy topping on an even yummier biscuity base (which if you’re the one serving you get to have extra – servers rights) and fruit. Fab combination!
What you will need:
For the filling
150g White Chocolate
25g Butter
1/2 Teaspoon vanilla extract
200g Cream Cheese
25g Icing Sugar
50mls Double cream, whipped
1 Punnet Strawberries
For the base:
Half a pack digestive biscuits
50g Butter, melted
For the base, put the biscuits in a freezer bag and using a rolling pin crush the biscuits. Add the crushed biscuits to the melted butter.
Put 12 cupcakes cases into a cupcake tray and add a spoonful of biscuit base to each case. Put into the fridge to chill whilst you prepare the topping.
Melt the white chocolate, butter and vanilla extract in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Making sure that the bowl doesn’t touch the water. Once all the ingredients are melted, take off the heat and stir to make a smooth mixture and set aside to cool.
In another bowl add the cream cheese, icing sugar (sifted) and cream until smooth.
Add the chocolate mixture to the cream cheese mixture.
Take about half the punnet of strawberries, wash and chop off the tops and cut into very small pieces before adding them to the cream cheese mixture.
Top the biscuit base cases with the cream cheese mixture and put in the fridge for approximately 4 hours. Top each cheesecake cup with a quartered strawberry and serve.
And there you have lovely little scrummy White Chocolate & Strawberry Cheesecake Cups.
Next time I make these I’m going to use Silicone Cupcake Cases so we can reuse them time and again.
Enjoy!
*This post contains items I have been gifted as well as affiliate links which means I receive a small payment if you make a purchase following one of my links at no extra cost to you.
Use up your leftover turkey to make this simple Turkey Cacciatore pasta dish. Hands up if you’re craving a ‘normal’ meal after the Christmas binge. I love turkey and all the trimmings as well as all the cheeses, crackers and stuffing but there has to come a point where normality makes an appearance. This is a great way to use up that last bit of turkey in a non-Christmassy way.
Turkey Cacciatore
1 Large Onion, chopped
2 Garlic Cloves, chopped
3 x 400g Tinned Chopped Tomatoes
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Teaspoons Dried Oregano
1 Tablespoon Sugar
A splash of Red Wine Vinegar
Around 500g Leftover Turkey cut into chunks
2 Balls of fresh mozzarella
A handful of breadcrumbs
How To:
Chop the onion and garlic and fry in the olive oil until the onion is softened.
Add the tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and oregano. Season and then simmer for around 20 minutes until the tomatoes thicken.
In an ovenproof dish, add the turkey and pour over the tomato sauce. Shred the mozzarella over the top and pour over the handful of breadcrumbs.
Put in the oven for around 20 mins on 200 degrees until the cheese is gooey and golden.
Serve with either pasta or jacket potato.
Easy Breadcrumbs:
An easy way to make breadcrumbs is to toast a couple of slices of bread. Rub over a garlic clove and drizzle with olive oil before putting in the oven for around 15 mins. This should be easily crumbled with your hands or add to a freezer bag and bash with a rolling pin.
Enjoy x
*This post was originally posted in December 2019 but it’s a good one!
December is well underway now and as we hurtle towards Christmas with not a lot else to do due to the lovely Coronavirus, we’re at home more than we’ve ever been before.
We’ve all had to get a little bit more creative at home to keep us going through this time. I’ve already lost count of how many Christmas films we’ve already watched, and the requests for hot chocolate are nearly daily. We’ve also had many a living room picnic, pizza and a movie and attempted a few board games (impossible with a two year old).
Back in November, Nanny brought over a goodie bag to make this S’mores recipe which sounded disgustingly sweet, gooey and chocolatey – perfect for yet another Christmas movie so I thought I would share it with you so you can try too.
What you will need:
A metal/oven proof dish
Skewers
200g Milk Chocolate
300g Marshmallows (the small ones work the best)
Strawberries
Pineapple chunks
Sweet breadsticks
Digestive biscuits
How to do it:
Pop the chocolate milk and 200g of the marshmallows in a pan and heat very gently until they’re all melted and smooth.
Pour into the oven-proof dish and top with the remaining marshmallows.
Pop under the grill and keep a close eye until the marshmallows turn a golden toasted colour.
Using the skewers with a selection of fruit and biscuits, scoop up the gooey yumminess and get stuck in.
Enjoy x
If you liked this S’Mores Dip Recipe and are looking for more Christmas Inspiration then head over to our ‘Everything Christmas’ Pinterest board where I’ve saved loads of stuff from decorating tips to Christmas recipes.
Sticky Maple Pork Loin with Apples Recipe – I think this is going to be a firm family favourite meal since trying it. It only takes about 20 minutes to make and all the ingredients are store cupboard staples apart from the pork loins. Isabelle who has been fussing with her food recently even asked for a second helping!
What you will need:
500g Pack of Pork Loin boneless chops
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Apples cut into pieces
1 Garlic clove crushed
1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons wholegrain mustard
2 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
How to make:
Trim all excess fat off the boneless pork loins and cut into bite sized pieces.
Heat the oil in a pan and add the pork, cooking for around five minutes.
Remove the meat from the pan and add in the apples and cook for around 5 minutes so these start to soften.
Add in the garlic, maple syrup and vinegar. Add in a few tablespoons of water at this point, pop the lid on your pan and cook for a few minutes to allow this to soften further.
Add the pork back in as well as the wholegrain mustard and cook further until the meat and apples take on a sticky glazed look and the pork is cooked through.
We served this with buttered new potatoes and broccoli which went down very well with all.
This got a huge thumbs up from Isabelle so will definitely be repeated.
If you like this Recipe then take a look at our Family Recipes Category for more inspiration.
Lisa x
*This post contains affiliate links which means I may get a small payment at no cost to you if you click and make a purchase.
This is the first time that I’ve ever made anything sweet in my slow cooker, and we have definitely used it far more this year with lots of lovely soups, stews and casseroles.
So here goes!
What you need:
6 Cups of Milk
1 1/2 Cups Double Cream
1 Tin Sweetened Condensed Milk
12oz Milk Chocolate (chopped small of chocolate chips)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
Marshmallows
Pop all of the ingredients into your slow cooker and set on a low heat for approximately two hours.
Stir every ten minutes or so and once ready top with a few marshmallows and serve.
This hot chocolate is not for the faint hearted. It is really sweet and choc0latey!!
We made this whilst we put up the Christmas Tree and decorations and then watched the Polar Express in preparation for our Polar Express Train Ride next Sunday.
Check your Meat and Veg – Check Testicular Cancer Campaign
Check Testicular Cancer Campaign – As a woman I think we get great support and coverage for female cancers such as breast cancer and cervical cancer, but there is still a long way to go where all cancers are concerned.
Men (most men) are ridiculous when it comes to going to the doctor when it comes to genuine medical concerns. They’re all ready to claim near death when it comes to a bout of man flu, but in general they tend to bury their heads in the sand when it comes to genuine concerns.
We’ve all heard of Movember where men grow all kinds of mustaches in support of Prostate Cancer, Testicular Cancer and Mental Health in men.
The Check Testicular Cancer Campaign
Heck Sausages have changed their name to Check for the duration of November to support men who are affected with Testicular Cancer encouraging them to Check for lumps in their testicles, and for women to Check their partners too.
The Heck family have a personal story for their support and want to break the silence of the men of this earth.
Jamie Keeble says, “I found a small lump, immediately went to my GP, and received my diagnosis. Even though a lot of stigma surrounds going to the doctor for such an intimate area, it is key to be proactive if you find a lump.
“Our research shows that too many men would ignore it if they found something and that many are unsure how to correctly check themselves.”
“Too many men are dying young from ignorance and lack of quick action. This disease needs to be openly discussed so that more guys will check themselves and feel they can talk to someone if something doesn’t feel right.
“60% don’t even know what a cancerous lump would feel like. In this day and age, this has to stop! People need to be educated so that we can start making a difference.”
Check Sausages are available to buy in ASDA, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Waitrose at £2.99 for a pack of six.
The Facts
Did you know more than three-quarters (76%) of women admitted they wouldn’t know what a cancerous lump would feel like on their partner’s testicles. Whereas almost half of men (46.6%) said they would know what a lump on their partner’s breast would feel like!
Heck’s research revealed 82% of blokes are unwilling to talk to their doctor about any issues with their genitals. It seems that our men are too embarrassed to discuss their testicles with their GP, alarming new research has revealed.
A survey of 2,000 people has discovered the true extent of the taboo subject, with 82% of blokes unwilling to talk to their doctor about any issues with their genitals. The worrying results were commissioned by HECK – a Yorkshire-based sausage brand that is working alongside the world-leading men’s health charity The Movember Foundation.
Commenting on the poll findings, a spokesperson for The Movember Foundation said:
“Unfortunately this latest polling from HECK is accurate. Too many men are not checking themselves, not knowing what to look for, and being too embarrassed to discuss the subject. Tackling these taboos head-on, getting more men educated on the health risks they face, taking action when needed, and talking when things get tough, is exactly why The Movember Foundation exists.”
The survey also showed that almost one in 10 (9.8%) of men between the ages of 18 and 24 would do nothing if they felt a lump on their testicles.
Testicular cancer is often described as a small pea-like lump on one testicle, but many men are unaware of this. Two-thirds of men had no idea this was a sign of deadly cancer.
One in five blokes (18.4%) of men incorrectly assumed that a cancerous lump feels ‘like a flat coin’.
The research also found that three-quarters of women (76%) would have no idea what a cancerous lump would feel like on their partner’s testicles.
In contrast, slightly less than half of the men (46.6%) said they’d know when to be concerned about a lump on their partner’s breast.
The research was carried out by the brand’s founder, Jamie Keeble, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer two years ago. He said, “If men don’t know what testicular cancer might feel like, how can they possibly check themselves? Testicular cancer is on the rise and men can reduce their chances of dying simply by knowing what to feel for.”
Other results from the research include:
• The three UK cities where men are most likely to know what a cancerous lump feels like are: Warrington at 71%, Portsmouth at 61%, and Sunderland at 57%
• More than one-quarter of men (26.7%) in Scotland say they’d wait a few days before doing anything if they discovered a lump on their testicle, compared to just 12% of men in the South-West
• Almost one in 10 (9.8%) of 18-24-year-old men say they’d do nothing if they felt a lump on a testicle; by contrast, just 3% of women would do nothing if they felt a lump on a breast.
The facts speak for themselves really.
Come on Fella’s GET CHECKED! Better safe than sorry.
About HECK
HECK is a family run business making farmers market quality sausages for Britain’s supermarkets. They have since increased their range to include burgers, meatballs, gluten-free and vegetarian sausages. All their products are made using ethical meat and ingredient choices to achieve award-winning quality at affordable every day prices.
We were asked by HECK to produce a Meat and Two Veg Recipe in support of the Check Campaign.
Sausage, Bacon & Bean One Pot
Ingredients:
2 Packs of Check Sausages (12 sausages)
1 Packet smoked Bacon
1 sliced red pepper
400g tin Butter Beans
200g tinned tomatoes (half a tin)
700g Jar passata
400g ton of beans
2 Teaspoons English Mustard
2 Teaspoons Barvarian Sweet mustard (can use wholegrain mustard)
1 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
Dash of Worcestershire sauce
A couple of sprigs of rosemary
A handful of parsley
A squirt of barbeque sauce
2 teaspoons of brown sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
What to do:
Roughly chop the bacon and fry in a little bit of oil and set to one side.
Brown off the sausages and add in the rosemary.
Put in the beans and add the bacon back in.
Add all the remaining ingredients and leave on the hob on a low heat for 30 – 40 minutes.
Towards the end add in the fresh parsley.
We had ours with buttery mashed potatoes and broccoli.
Our Comments
We’re big fans of one-pot meals, and both of our kids are fans of sausages. We were really impressed by the quality of the sausages with very little fat coming out during cooking. They stayed intact as well which not all sausages do when added into a saucy one pot. The meal went down very well with all of us enjoying it, and as an added bonus there are plenty of leftovers to make another meal.
SO COME ON FELLA’S – CHECK YOUR MEAT AND VEG!
For more sausage recipes head on over to HECK where they have loads of suggestions. You can also check out the rest of our Family Recipes on our Family Recipes Page.
Our family has recently been hit by the reality of male cancer so we were more than happy to help promote the CHECK Campaign. We were sent two packets of sausages for the purpose of this post but all thoughts and opinions are our own.
Simple Cookie Dough Recipe. We love to bake and aside from cupcakes, cookies are the easiest thing to make and keep the children entertained as they can help to make them and then decorating them afterwards is really fun and a great chance for mum to grab a cuppa.
Here’s the recipe that we use which can be frozen if you don’t use it all for another day.
Ingredients
10oz/300g plain flour
5oz/150g caster sugar
8oz/250g butter, diced and at room temp
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons of cocoa powder (if wanting chocolate biccies)
Put the sugar and butter in a bowl. We tend to put our butter in the microwave for about 10 seconds to make it easier for Isabelle to mix with the sugar.
How To
Separate the egg yolk and add to the bowl with the vanilla essence, mixing until smooth.
Adding the flour, cocoa powder (if making choccie biscuits) and pinch of salt, mix everything together. May require little hands to get stuck in.
Once the mixture is formed into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for about half an hour.
Sprinkle flour on an even surface and roll out so that it’s about 1/2cm in thickness and cut using whatever cutters or shapes you have.
Put them onto a non-stick baking tray and bake at gas mark 4/180 degrees for approximately 12 minutes.
Once cooled these can be decorated with icing, sprinkles, chocolate buttons or whatever cake toppings you may have.
As you can see, ours received a thorough makeover with lots of edible glitter to make them extra special.
Jam Heart Biscuit Recipe – Today the weather was so weird. One minute it was bright blue sky and the sun was shining so I put out the washing and was due to head out for a walk with the dog. I turned my back and the next thing it was bucketing down and I had to run like a crazy person to get all the washing back in. This occurred three times so I gave up and put the washing on the airer and we made the decision to bake. So here the recipe which is really easy to make.
What you need:
For the dough
300g/10oz Plain Flour
150g/5oz Caster Sugar
250g/8oz Butter
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp Vanilla Essence
1/2 tsp Salt
For the filling
60g/2oz Butter
90g/3oz Icing Sugar
Jam
A couple of drops of Vanilla Essence
1 tsp Water
How to make the dough:
Put the butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together.
Add in the egg yolk and vanilla essence and mix until smooth.
Sift in the flour and salt and mix everything together to form a dough.
Roll the dough into a ball and wrap in clingfilm and pop in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
To make the biscuits:
Pre-heat your oven to Gas Mark 4 (180ºC/350ºF)
Sprinkle the work surface with flour so that it doesn’t stick and then roll out the dough so that it is about 1/2cm thick.
Grease your baking trays (we used two).
Get your cookie cutter of choice (we went for a heart shape with a circle in the middle) and cut out your biscuits.
Once you have cut out the biscuits, count them. Put one half of the biscuits to the side and the other, cut out a smaller circle in the middle. These will be the tops.
Bake the cookies in the oven for approximately 12 minutes or until golden.
Whilst these are cooling you can prepare your filling.
For the filling:
Put the butter in a bowl and microwave for about 20 seconds. This makes it so much easier to make butter icing.
Sift in the icing sugar and add the water and vanilla essence.
Mix together until you have a smooth consistency.
Once the cookies are completely cooled, spread a small amount on the bottom biscuits (without the hole) and then add a small blob of jam before popping the lid on.
Simple Mackerel Pate Recipe – As a mum, I love to keep things simple, and as a family, we’re quite good at making meals that double up into a couple of meals or more.
Cooking a chicken as a roast, making a pasta dish the next day and a stirfry for the following day is quite a usual occurrence and is great for us as working parents.
I have to confess that Daddy is the main meal maker in our family and has a far better eye for making a meal from anything and everything, including whipping up a meal on the day before shopping day from the randoms left in the fridge/cupboard.
I will share some of these recipes with you as well as our firm family favourites.
One of my fave meals at the moment is mackerel salad. It’s really easy and quick to make. We usually buy the peppered mackerel fillets and grill them to make them extra crispy. We make a salad with lettuce leaves, rocket, red peppers, cucumber, tomatoes and beetroot and top it off with a side helping of potato salad (will share the recipe at some point).
Anyway, I always save some of the mackerel fillets to make Mackerel Pate for me and Belle the following day.
How to make
So to make the pate, you have to add mackerel fillets (we normally save 2 – 3) and put in the whizzer (aka blender), whiz it through for about 30 seconds, add a good squeeze of lemon, and then about 3 good tablespoons of mayonnaise.
If you don’t have a whizzer you can mash up the fillets with a fork which makes it slightly chunkier, but Isabelle prefers the smoother version.
Put into a bowl and then make a pile of toast.
Voila! Simple Mackerel Pate.
Easy lunch for you and your little!
Lisa x
*This post may contain affiliate links which means that I receive a small payment should you click the link and make a purchase at no extra cost to yourself.
I’ve been so slack on the cooking front this week and Chris hasn’t really done any either. Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken is a really lazy recipe which has a big effect. All of us love the kind of meal where you stick it all in the middle of the table and help yourself.
Even better is that you put it all in the slow cooker in the morning and hey presto it’s all done in time for dinner later on.
What you will need:
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat
1 1/2 cups BBQ Sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays Honey BBQ)
3 medium red onions, grated
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp worchestershire sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
What to do:
Pop the chicken breasts in the slow cooker.
Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl and pour over the chicken.
Add the onion.
Leave to cook throughout the day.
Shred the chicken which should just fall apart.
Serve with salad, coleslaw in a roll or wrap.
Perfect.
Lisa x
*This post may contain affiliate links which means that I receive a small payment should you click the link and make a purchase at no extra cost to yourself.
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What you will need:
