Get it Down Ya Neck

I love lemon drizzle cake. It's light, zingy and so, so moreish. I'm not a massive fan of cake, I'd rather take ice cream over cake for dessert, but I cannot get enough of this! I must admit, I have tried baking lemon drizzle cakes before and they haven't exactly turned out perfect - one was slightly under cooked and another went like rubber (I'm not quite sure how...). However, judging by the results of the latest bake, I might have managed to perfect it. I only used a whisk for the whole recipe and it worked brilliantly ! Normally I'd just use a wooden spoon, but this time I decided to try a whisk and I've decided that I am never going back to wooden spoons. Some of you might have already found this out yourselves, but I'm a very novice baker, admittedly... What you'll need: 175g unsalted butter  175g caster sugar 175g self raising flour 2 eggs  Zest and juice of 1 lemon 4 tablespoons of milk What to do: Preheat the oven at ...

I first cooked this a couple years ago and completely forgot about it until I was looking through my recipe book for some inspiration. Remembering how delicious it tasted I had to make it again! This recipe is definitely for garlic lovers as there is 3-4 cloves of garlic in it! My family cannot get enough of garlic so its a definite winner for us, but if you're not so crazy about it you can use fewer cloves to your liking. Packed with garlic, spinach and fresh tomatoes, this recipe is filled with vitamins and nutrients - just look past the amount of parmesan cheese and cream if you're health conscious... This recipe can also be vegetarian by not including the chicken breast - delicious either way! What you'll need: 4 chicken breasts (chopped) 6 fresh tomatoes (chopped) 3 large cloves/4 small cloves of garlic (minced) 160g baby leaf spinach  300ml double cream 500g penne pasta  1 teaspoon Italian herbs/mixed herbs 1 teaspoon paprika  Salt and pepper to ...

This meal is the first time me and my sister have properly cooked together AND not followed any pre-existing recipe and the result was pretty damn delicious. This is definitely going to be made many more times judging by everyone's empty bowls! In all honesty, we made this because we were at a loose end as to what to cook for dinner; no one had any idea what they fancied so me and my sister hit up the supermarket on the hunt for anything to give us some inspiration. After strolling past the peppers heading towards the ready meals, Jess suggested cooking sausage pasta. And that was when the idea of this delicious, spicy sausage pasta was born. This meal is very cost effective and good for you - much better than the ready meal we were going to end up with! Bonus points for this recipe as you can simply leave out the sausage and have an equally delicious vegetarian spicy tomato pasta - I would gladly eat it either way. What you'll need:  8 pork sausages  2 bell pep...

' Perfect Shortbread Biscuits ' may seem like a bold statement, but trust me; these biscuits will have you going back for another as soon as you've finished one. They're buttery, sugary and so delectable. And with this method, you're sure to get perfect biscuits every time. These never last very long in my house. No joke, I bake them one day then by the end of the next they're already gone! If you fancy baking but don't want to mess around with fancy, elaborate recipes then shortbread is the thing for you. With only three ingredients they're super simple to make and lets you stretch your baking muscles without pulling said muscles. A lot of shortbread recipes call for you to cream the butter and sugar together before sieving in the flour and forming the dough. However, I've found that using the 'crumb' method is much more effective in getting a really short dough - perfect for shortbread! This recipe makes roughly around 20 ...

Roast veg is super simple, super tasty and super good for you. There's really nothing difficult about it but it can really improve a main meal. My family typically eats this with roast chicken and my mom's homemade chips (also delicious btw) but you can have them with anything you like. We tend to have them in replacement for salad when we're not really in a salad mood. It's just another way of getting goodness in our bodies! In all honesty this is so simple there is no way that you can mess it up! You can use whatever vegetables you like, this is just the selection that is our favourite combination. What you'll need: 1 Red bell pepper 1 Yellow bell pepper  1 Green bell pepper 3 red onions  10 cherry tomatoes What to do: Chop the peppers into strips or chunks and put in a foil tray. Chop the red onion so that there are large chunks - not diced! - and add to the tray. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and add them to the tray too, then driz...

Blueberry Nuffins. Delicious, gooey, moreish. These little cakes will have you going for another and another and another. They're super simple to make and the result will have you dribbling for more! This recipe was originally for blueberry muffins but one thing led to another and they didn't exactly come out as muffins... Leading me to call them 'blueberry nuffins' because they look nuffin like muffins! This recipe makes 24 cakes and by the end of the next day they were all gone... seriously! That's how moreish they are; my family kept eating them! Even my brother, who is adamant he doesn't like blueberry muffins, cannot get enough of these. This makes me so happy because it means that I turned something he didn't like into something he can't get enough of! Homemade cake is better than shop bought cake any day of the week. However, the crunchy top layer of cake and then the sticky blueberries at the bottom are a match made in cake heaven - trus...

Quesadillas are a MUST for when I want a tasty lunch/snack/dinner but can't be bothered to make something time consuming. 'Queso' means 'cheese' in Spanish and a quesadilla is a heated tortilla with melted cheese inside. Besides cheese you can put literally anything in them that takes your fancy. You can make them as elaborate or as simple as you want - it all comes down to what you wanna put in them! I love cheesy BBQ chicken quesadillas and I would recommend them to anyone who doesn't wanna spend a lot of money or time making something delicious. Like I said before, you can put anything in them; chicken, beef, or leave out the meat entirely and put some roasted vegetables in them to make a delicious vegetarian cheesy quesadilla. You can also use whatever sauce you want - if you want sauce at all. I've recently had chicken and sriracha which was mouth wateringly good. They are so versatile and tasty! Quesadillas are also ideal for students because...

This bolognese pasta bake is perfect when the weather is a little glum (like nearly everyday in the UK at the minute) because it's so filling and hearty - and the garlic helps fight away colds! My mom has perfected this dish and my whole family loves it. I much prefer it to spaghetti bolognese as I think the cheese sauce combines everything together in a perfect harmony of cheese, sauce and pasta. What's not to love? It's quite simple to make but it's a little time consuming because of how long the cheese sauce and meat mixture takes to cook combined with the cooking time in the oven. This recipe typically serves 6 people so you can downsize the amount of ingredients if you're feeding less people. What you'll need: 1000g mince beef  2 onions  2 cloves of garlic 1 tin of chopped tomatoes  1 beef stock pot 1 beef stock cube (in addition to/instead of the stock pot) 1 tablespoon of ketchup  500g passata 1 teaspoon of mixed italian herbs 500g...

I must admit, I am such a big snacker. Honestly, a lot of my day is taken up either eating or thinking about eating. I just love tasty treats, is that such a crime? So I thought I'd share some of the snacks that I have recently been loving! First up is something a little healthy - peanut butter and apple slices. I've only recently been eating this but honestly it didn't take much time to become one of my favourite snacks, especially if there's a lot of time in between meals. I tend to eat this as an afternoon snack, between lunch and dinner, as I've found eating apples too late in the evening gives me stomach ache - something that I eagerly want to avoid.  I like Sunpat Smooth Peanut Butter (find it here ), but in all honestly I haven't tried crunchy peanut butter so you can use whichever you prefer.  Next up is the Nature Valley Protein Peanut and Chocolate cereal bars. These are great for a quick snack whilst out and about as they are...

Most people are familiar with Ikea and all the home goodies you can get for a pretty decent price. However, apart from the infamous meatballs, I feel like many people don't venture into the 'supermarket/food section' of the shop and discover the different food on offer too. Being a foodie I love to see what new things I can try, and this was definitely new. I must admit, the thing that appealed to me the most about this was the fact it was a frozen crumble from Ikea.  I have never had a frozen crumble in my life and thought it would be a good idea for my first to be from a Swedish furniture store. Because why not? This is the 'Pajmix Apple and Paron' (apple and pear) frozen dessert from Ikea (find it here ) Making it was super simple, in the bag there were two smaller bags; one with the fruit and one with the crumble mix. All you have to do is pour the fruit into an oven safe dish and then pour over the crumble mixture. Then whack it in the oven and it...

(Sorry in advance for the portrait pics, I was too eager to cook and serve the food to realise!) This dish is always a winner in my house, every bowl is scraped clean and has people asking for seconds. With a perfect balance between spice and cheesy creaminess, this dish is sure to go down well with pasta lovers. You can modify this recipe to suit your tastes; spicier or milder - you choose! My family likes it with a little kick so the recipe below is a little spicy. If you don't like spice you can make it as mild as you like! What you'll need: 4 chicken breasts (cut into strips or chunks) 2 tbsp cooking oil (of choice) 2 cloves of garlic (minced) 3 cups double cream 3 fresh tomatoes (chopped) Pasta (Fettuccine, spaghetti, or tagliatelle) 170g grated parmesan  Spice rub (see below) For the spice mix click here What to do: Preheat the oven to 180 degrees fan and bring a large pan of water to the boil Coat the chicken strips/chunks in the spice mix a...

I cannot begin to describe how much I love these spicy, cheesy chicken goujons. Honestly, they're so good and way better for you than what you can buy either at the supermarket or fast food! You actually know what's in them and can control the amount of salt and spices that go into them. If you have a little more time on your hands these are perfect when you can't be bothered to make something elaborate and want something that's a little bad for you. They're also perfect party and picnic food; we've had them on a picnic many times and they're just as good cold as they are freshly cooked! Pictured above is the cajun goujons (to the left of the tray) and plain parmesan goujons (to the right of the tray). Delicious either way! Prep time: 5 minutes Cooking time: 10-15 minutes Total time: 20 minutes What you'll need: 4 chicken breasts, cut into strips 130g breadcrumbs 100g grated parmesan cheese 50g plain flour 3 medium free range eggs (...

I absolutely love this mixture of spices; it's spicy, its smokey and it can be added to a lot of dishes to spice things up a little bit! You can use this mixture as a dry rub or add a splash of oil to make a marinade. It can be made hotter/milder depending on which spices you use; for a milder taste skip the cayenne pepper and chilli powder, for hotter simply add more! As the recipe stands it's quite hot, but not hot enough to blow your socks off (bearing in mind I use hot chilli powder).  Making your own spice mix is a great way to control how spicy you like it, you can tailor it to your own taste! What you'll need: 1 tsp dried/powdered garlic 1 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp salt 2 tsp ground cumin 1 tsp cayenne pepper  1 tsp italian seasoning/herbs 1 tsp paprika 1/2 tsp chilli powder  Simply combine all the dry herbs and spices together and you have your very own cajun spice mix! Once prepared use immediately or seal in an airtight container....

This pasta dish is spicy, cheesy, creamy and utterly delicious. There's a perfect balance between creaminess and spiciness which creates a warming, filling meal that you'll want again and again. Trust me, its so good!  Prep time: 10 minutes  Cooking time: 40 minutes  Total time: 50 minutes What you'll need:  Chicken breasts 1 clove of garlic 1 tin of chopped tomatoes Ketchup 1 tablespoon sugar 2 chillies 1 carton of passata  300ml double cream  Grated cheese  175g sliced chorizo Pasta (penne, fusilli - I used fusilli)  What to do: Chop the chicken into chunks and then fry until cooked. Remove from the pan and set aside for later. Finely chop 1 clove of garlic and fry in the pan until it starts to sizzle (any longer and it will burn - doesn't taste good!) Add the tin of tomatoes, a good squirt of ketchup, the sugar (heightens the flavour of the tomatoes but this is optional)  Finely chop the 2 chillies...

This meal is one of my dad's favourites and is always the first to be requested when we can't think of anything else to cook. It's simple, it's super tasty and always goes down a treat. The bacon is super crispy, the chicken is juicy and tender and filled with delicious cheesy goodness - what's not to like? Plus you can serve it with anything; chips, potatoes, mash, rice.... you name it! We tend to have it with new potatoes and salad which makes it a little healthier (or so I try to convince myself). Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 30-45 minutes Total time : 40-55 minutes What you'll need: Whole chicken breasts Stilton cheese  Streaky bacon (goes deliciously crispy) What to do: Cut the nasty bits (like the fat, blood, veins etc) off the breasts, keeping them whole. Then make a small incision into the fattest bit of the breast. Chop up some stilton and put it in the small hole you've created  Wrap the streaky bacon around the c...

Now I know it's practically blasphemy to have chorizo in a paella but my family absolutely love it! It seems to go down a treat every time I make it - my dad even has it the next day for his lunch at work! It's so simple to cook and you can add whatever vegetables you want. This recipe is what me and my family love but you can modify it to whatever your tastes are! It can also be made into a vegetarian paella by leaving out the meat and using vegetable stock instead of chicken stock - delicious either way! Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 35 minutes Total time: 45 minutes What you'll need: 4 chicken breasts (chopped into chunks)  1 onion (chopped) 1 garlic clove (minced) 1 tbsp ground turmeric 1 1/2 tsp paprika 115g chorizo (slices works best) 225g long grain rice  600ml chicken stock  Cooking oil (of own choice) 1 tin of chopped tomatoes 1 or 2 peppers (seeded and sliced) 115g/handful of frozen peas What to do: Heat a splash of oi...

I absolutely love my mom's homemade chips. There's no frying involved meaning they're super simple AND healthier! It's actually crazy how easy they are but they're so moreish that we never have oven chips anymore - they're that good! They're basically roast potatoes in the shape of chips/wedges but they're so much better than oven chips. I suppose that is my opinion, so you'll have to cook them for yourself and see if you agree! Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 30-45 minutes Total time: 40-55 minutes What you'll need: As many potatoes you think will make a serving big enough that you need/want Cooking oil  Any seasoning you want (we normally have simple salt and pepper but we have used garlic salt and chilli salt in the past. You could even go all out and sprinkle some paprika on if you prefer something with more flavour!) TOP TIP: if you use a foil tray the chips won't get stuck and eliminates the need to wash up a...