Chicken Shish Stuffed Peppers

These delicious stuffed peppers are a hearty and healthy family meal especially when served with a big salad and if you wish some flatbreads and dip, such as Cacik, Tzatziki and Spicy Salsa.

If you are looking for a vegetarian alternative you could replace the marinated chicken with cubed courgette and aubergine and reduce the cooking time a little too. 

The below serves a family of 4 with a salad, breads and dip.

Chicken Shish Stuffed Peppers

Here's how:

• 3 chicken breasts
• 4 bell peppers (any colour)
• 1 red onion
• 100g green olives
• 2 cloves garlic
• Olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp pul biber 
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tbsp tatli (you can use harissa here or tomato puree if you can't source)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tin of tomatoes 
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 packet of microwave rice 
• Handful dill 
• 1 ball of mozarella
• Salt
• Black pepper

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees.

Firstly cube the chicken, place into a large bowl with 1/2 tbsp olive oil and add the cumin, pul biber, cinnamon and paprika, the juice of one lemon and 1 tbsp of the tatli (or harissa or tomato puree). Give it a mix and allow it to marinate while you prepare everything else.

Now finely dice the red onion and mince the garlic and add to a pan with a 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Roughly chop the green olives and add to the pan - this with the garlic and onions will provide the base for your sauce. 

Whilst that is softening, cut the peppers in half and remove any seeds or membrane and place into a baking tin, cavity side up and set aside.

Once the onions, garlic and olives have softened, add the marinated chicken to the mix and allow to sear on all sides. 

Once you can no longer see pink flesh, add the chopped tomatoes, the additional tbsp of tatli (or alternative), the honey and season generously. 

Leave on a low-to medium heat for fifteen minutes or until the sauce has begun to thicken. 

Now remove from the heat and add in the microwave (or other cooked) rice and the dill and give it a good stir.

Now spoon the mixture generously into the halved peppers, they should be just overflowing. 

Cover the dish with the peppers in foil and place into the oven for 35 minutes. 

Take the baking dish out of the oven, remove the foil and pull the mozarella into slices and add a little to each pepper. Return to the oven for five minutes or until the cheese has melted. 

Remove from the oven and allow to stand for a few minutes then dish up. Enjoy!

If you love Turkish-inspired recipes, you will love the below:

Lamb Shish Kebabs

Adana Kebabs

Healthy Chicken Shish

Mini Turkey Koftes

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus and Cacik Dips

Beef Kofte

Harissa Chicken Kebabs

Forrero Rocher Slow Cooker Fudge

This is a delicious and super easy fudge recipe perfect for a festive treat. 

I recently discovered the lovely Donna of What The Redhead Said's incredible collection of Slow Cooker Fudge recipes which have been frankly addictive. 

Donna is the Queen of fudge and I implore you to check out her wide range of recipes; my favourites so far from her have been the Terry's Chocolate Orange Fudge (winning festive combo) and the Mint Aero Fudge (although I used the cheaper Lidl Aero imitation and it was fab). She has a list of at least 30 different recipes and I will be working my through but in the meantime I wanted to share this Forrero Rocher Slow Cooker Fudge recipe which has taken full inspiration from Donna in basis and method and was made for my good friend Steph who loves the gold wrapped chocolates. 

It was an experiment with a very happy ending and I can admit that the entire portion was devoured this weekend and a request for more has been put in. 

Forrero Rocher Cooker Fudge

Here's how:

• 300g Forrero Rocher
• 200g milk chocolate (I used Dairy Milk)
• 1 tin condensed Milk

Break up the milk chocolate and add to your slow cooker. 

Open the tin of condensed milk and add to the slow cooker, scraping out everything. 

Take 200g of the Forrero Rocher and cut in half and add to the slow cooker. Leave the other 100g set aside, you can cut these in half too. 

Keep the lid off of the slow cooker and put onto the highest heat and set a timer for ten minutes, at which point you should give a good stir, then repeat until the fudge has been cooking for 40 minutes. 

Line a baking tin with some greaseproof paper or clingfilm, then spoon the fudge into the dish until it's covered and fairly even. 

Add the remaining Forrero Rocher and dot all about the tin to decorate. Allow to cool then place into the fridge for at least a couple of hours. 

Remove from the fridge and use a sharp knife to cut into cubes and portion up. Enjoy! 

Arrabiata Soup

This is a really simple lift from my tried and tested Roasted Tomato and Basil Soup which is made embarrassingly often in our house.

The 'arrabiata' or angry element is the addition of fantastic fiery red chilli which makes for a warming, delicious soup ideal for a winter's day. You can remove the seeds of the chilli to reduce the heat but we prefer it hot!

The below makes enough for x2 large portions. 

Arrabiata Soup

Here's how:

• 500g tomatoes (can also use x1 tin chopped tomatoes)
• 1 red onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 large carrot
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 large red jalopeno chilli
• 800ml vegetable stock
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• Basil stalks

To garnish:

• Grana Padana (or any other hard cheese)
• Basil leaves
• Black pepper

To begin whack the oven on at it's highest temperature. 

Halve the tomatoes and the red onion, peel the garlic cloves and place all on a baking sheet. Season and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil then place into the oven on the high heat for 20 minutes or until everything is just charred (blackened) a little.

In the meantime, drizzle a little olive oil into a saucepan and place on a low heat.

Dice the carrot, slice the celery and the red chilli and add to the saucepan and allow to gently soften down - this is the base for your soup.

Once the tomatoes, onion and garlic are softened, add to the saucepan with a few basil stalks and pour over the vegetable stock. Season well and allow to cook for twenty minutes.

Remove from the heat, allow to cool right down then blitz until smooth. 

When wanting to serve, return to the heat and bring up to temperature slowly. 

Ladle into bowls and then if you like to, garnish with slithers of Grana Padana (I use a vegetable peeler for this) and a few basil leaves and season with a final flourish of black pepper. Enjoy!

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

I have been making these for over 10 years and they are absolutely moreish as they are but I think they are greatly improved by dipping into milk or dark chocolate for a final delicious flavour hit that makes them an unbeatable biscuit. 

I vary between milk and dark chocolate depending on the audience. These ones have been made specifically for my girls, Bridget and Beatrice who love the creamy milk chocolate but if I was making for me, I'd be sure to dip in a good quality dark chocolate and then would sprinkle over some sea salt flakes too.

This makes about 25-28 biscuits and they keep for up to a week in a sealed container, but I bet they don't last that long.

Chocolate Dipped Peanut Butter Cookies

Here's how:

• 85g crunchy peanut butter
• 130g salted butter (room temperature)
• 165g demerara sugar
• 1 egg
• 225g plain flour, sifted
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 75g peanuts (you want the plain ones not salted or dry roasted)
• 100g milk chocolate

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees and line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper.

On a chopping board, take the peanuts and use a large knife to roughly chop then set aside.

In a mixing bowl, add the peanut butter and place into the microwave for 20-30 seconds, until it has softened a little. 

Now add to the mixing bowl, the demerara sugar, butter and egg and cream together. 

Now add the plain flour and baking powder and mix together until you have a good biscuit dough.

Finally add the chopped nuts and mix through.

With clean hands, take a small section of the dough, about a teaspoon fall, and roll into a small ball in your hands, then place onto the baking sheet and repeat. Leave a few cm between each ball. 

Place into the hot oven for exactly 12 minutes, or until golden brown then remove from the oven and carefully transfer each biscuit or cookie onto a wire rack to cool fully. 

You will have to do two batches to get them all cooked but please note you can of course freeze half the mixture until next time once rolled into the balls - they will take a little extra cooking time from frozen though. 

Once the biscuits are cooled, melt the 100g milk chocolate, or dark if you prefer. 

Gently dip each biscuit into the chocolate, covering one half of the top of the biscuit then return to the wire rack to allow the biscuits to cool. Enjoy!

If like me, you love a cookie or a biscuit, here are a few more of our favourites:

• Chocolate Chunk Cookies
• White Chocolate & Cranberry Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Shortbread Cookies
• Chocolate Hobnobs
• Monte Carlos Biscuits
• Mini Eggs Cookies

Mincemeat Sticky Buns

If you love a festive Mince Pie as well as a Sticky Cinnamon Bun, this is the baking recipe for you. Whilst these are cooking the house smells incredible and the addition of sweet vanilla icing makes these a treat you won't be able to resist.

It does take a little patience for proving time etc. but the results are really delicious as an afternoon treat or a breakfast delight with a festive twist. 

Mincemeat Sticky Buns with Vanilla Icing

The below makes 8-10. 

Here's how:

For the dough:

• 250ml full fat milk
• 1 egg
• 60g butter (room temperature)
• 450g plain white bread flour
• 65g caster sugar
• 1 tsp mixed spice
• 1.5 tsp cinnamon
• 7g sachet instant yeast
• 1 pinch of salt
• Olive oil

For the filling:

• 450g mincemeat (I used the Lidl Deluxe one which is delicious
• 30g caster sugar
• 60g butter
• 2 tbsp brown sugar (to be scattered over the buns pre-bake0

For the glaze:

• 2 tbsp apricot jam
• 1/2 tbsp water

For the icing and topping:

• 250g icing sugar
• 2 tbsp softened butter
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3-4 tbsp milk 
• Handful dried cranberries
• Handful walnuts

Firstly you will need to prove the dough for 1-2 hours depending on how warm your home is, so find a suitable warm spot for this to happen, or purposefully warm up a room ready. Also lightly oil a large roasting tin, bottoms and sides ready for the buns, and do the same to a mixing bowl for the dough to prove in.

Pop the milk on a medium heat in a small saucepan until almost boiling, then take off the heat and add the butter and stir through then leave to cool down for ten minutes.

In the meantime, in a large bowl measure out the plain flour, caster sugar, mixed spice, cinnamon, yeast and a pinch of salt and give a gentle mix. Make a well or a hole in the middle of the mixture, and once cooled pour the butter and milk mixture in as well as cracking in the egg. 

Use at first, a wooden spoon to bring the dough together - by mixing the liquid and the dry ingredients together. Then ensure to flour a clean working surface, and your (clean) hands and bring the dough here to knead, which you will need to do for at least 10 minutes. 

The dough should end up being a smooth ball that springs back a little if you press down into it. When you're satisfied it's ready, pop into the oiled mixing bowl and cover with some cling film. This now needs to prove which can take between 1-2 hours; you'll know it's ready once it has doubled in size. 

Now on a floured surface turn out the dough and roll out to a large oblong shape with the longest side in front of you and should be about 1.5cm thick. 

Cream together the butter and sugar from the 'filling' ingredients until combined then spread all over the dough. 

Now spoon the mincemeat all over too, ensuring every area get's a good covering. 

Now take the long side closest to you and begin to roll up away from you until the dough's completely rolled up. You may want to cut off the ends to neaten up - but we don't mind the rustic ends so you then cut into 8-10 buns using a sharp knife and placing them neat-side upwards in the oiled roasting tin. Then cover this with clingfilm and allow the buns to prove in a warm spot for a further 30-40 minutes or until they have almost doubled in size. 

Scatter over the brown sugar before baking in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 22-25 minutes. 

Once golden brown and cooked through remove from the oven, and carefully transfer each sticky bun to a wire cooling rack to cool - you should need to pull them apart slightly, so go gently.

For the glaze, pop 2 tbsp apricot jam into a small saucepan with 1/2 tbsp water and wait for it to melt right down then brush it al over the tops of the sticky buns then leave to cool for 20 minutes.

Mincemeat Sticky Buns

For the icing, mix together the icing sugar, vanilla and butter and then add the milk 1 tbsp at a time and mixing the whole time until you're happy with the consistency, I love a fairly thick icing, but some are more partial to a thinner icing for sticky buns - so go with you preference. 

Finally roughly chop the dried cranberries and walnuts and scatter over the Mincemeat Sticky Buns - I did a combination purely as one of my daughters doesn't like walnuts, but you could do a mixture of both across all. I think crushed pistachios with cranberries would look really festive too but I didn't have any of those to hand today.

You can keep these for 3-4 days in an air tight container, but I doubt they'd last that long. Enjoy! 

Mincemeat Sticky Buns

Chickpea and Chorizo Slow Cooker Stew

This is a favourite winter warmer dish of ours that's hearty, wholesome and delicious and very welcome on a cold night. 

You can have as a standalone dish, served over rice or a jacket potato or just with crusty bread to mop up the delicious juices. 

I've used cavelo nero to stir through in the last 10 minutes or cooking but you can use kale, cabbage or spinach if you prefer. 

The below serves x2 adults.

Chickpea and Chorizo Slow Cooker Stew

Here's how:

• 120g chorizo
• 1 white onion
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red chilli
• Some cubed squash or sweet potato (I used frozen squash here)
• 1 tin of chickpeas, drained
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• Pinch of saffron
• 1 tsp hot paprika
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 chicken stock cube made up with 250ml water
• 100g cavelo nero (or your choice of green)
• Black pepper
• Parsley

Finely slice the onion, garlic, pepper and chilli and add to the slow cooker. 

Add the drained chickpeas, squash and chopped tomatoes to the slow cooker. 

Cut the chorizo sausage in half and then cut into semi circle discs and add to the slow cooker. 

Make up the chicken stock and add to the dish with the pinch of saffron threads, cinnamon stick, the cayenne pepper, paprika and some black pepper. 

Give it a stir to combine then place onto the lowest heat setting and cook for up to 4 hours, stirring every hour.

Roughly chop the cavelo nero and set aside until the last 10 minutes of cooking, then add to the slow cooker and mix through and return the lid on for ten minutes until dishing up.

Roughly chop some fresh parsley and scatter over the final dish. Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup

This time of the year calls for soups-a-plenty and I'm even more of a fan if I can dump everything into my slow cooker and let that do all of the work. 

If you prefer, you can use creme fraiche or even double cream as the 'creamy' element, I just happened to have some leftover ricotta and experimented with a great result.

The below makes enough for x6 adult portions, it freezes well and can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 week after cooking once cooled completely. 

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken and Mushroom Soup

Here's how:

• 3-4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• 150g mushrooms
• 1 white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 3 celery sticks
• 1 tsp English mustard
• 1 chicken stock cube - made up with 1 litre of water
• 200ml semi skimmed milk
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 130g ricotta 
• Salt & black pepper
• Few parsley leaves to garnish (optional)

Roughly chop the onion, celery and garlic and add to the slow cooker. Halve the mushrooms and add these too. 

Cut the chicken into large chunks and add to the slow cooker. 

Make up the chicken stock and pour into the slow cooker with the milk. 

Add the ricotta, mustard and dried thyme to the pan, season generously and stir well. Place onto the lower heat setting and cook for three hours. You can stir every 35-40 minutes if you wish but it is fine to be left.

Once 3 hours have passed, turn off the slow cooker and blitz with a hand-held blender until smooth enough for your liking. Season again and place the slow cooker onto 'warm' until ready to serve. 

Ladle into bowls and add a little parsley garnish if you wish as well as a final seasoning of black pepper. Enjoy!

Some other soup recipes you may enjoy can be found below:

Red Lentil & Chorizo Soup

Fish Chowder

Alphabet & Hidden Vegetable Soup

Mexican Mushroom Soup

Restorative Green Soup

Curried Parsnip and Spinach Soup

Roasted Tomato & Basil Soup

Thai Sweet Potato Soup

Chunky Lentil, Bacon and Kale Soup

 

Fish Chowder

This is a really delicious and hearty, thick and fragrant soup - or chowder as it is made with milk and cream. 

You can use a selection of fish here but I think a mixture of both smoked and unsmoked gives such good flavour and prawns are another great addition. I tend to portion up my 'mixed fish' and put into bags in the freezer which will include salmon, cod and smoked haddock - I then defrost and use for this Fish Chowder for my Healthy Fish Pie or even my Simple Fish Stew. 

With the herbs - you can use parsley, tarragon or chives - I like the oniony taste of chives personally but they all work and bring something else to this dish.

The below serves x4 - recommend serving with a ton of fresh, crusty, buttered bread.

Fish Chowder

Here's how:

• 1 salmon fillet 
• 1 cod fillet (approx 200g)
• 1 smoked haddock fillet (approx 200g)
• 1 pack frozen prawns (I use the Lidl Deluxe ones which can be cooked from frozen)
• 2 rashers smoked bacon
• 1 tbsp flour
• 250g potatoes (when peeled)
• 650ml fish stock 
• 300ml whole milk (you can use semi skimmed or skimmed but the final chowder will be thinner)
• 2 tbsp cream (single or double)
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• Pinch nutmeg
• Black pepper
• 1 red onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 5-6 chives
• Drizzle olive oil

Firstly drizzle the olive oil into a large saucepan and place on a low heat.

Finely dice the onion and mince the garlic and add to the pan.

Chop the bacon into small squares and add to the pan.

Chop the peeled potatoes into small diced cubes of approximately 1cm2 and give a good rinse. 

Once the bacon is cooking away and you've turned over, add the potato to the pan and allow it to cook for a few minutes, moving around with a spatula. 

After a few minutes, add the plain flour and mix around - this will act to thicken the soup later on.

Pour over the fish stock, season with black pepper, a pinch of cayenne pepper and a pinch or a little grating of nutmeg. Give a good stir and allow to cook for 15 minutes. 

In the meantime, chop the fish into small, bite-sized chunks and set aside. 

Chop the chives and set aside too. 

After fifteen minutes, test a potato cube, it should be just about cooked through. 

Now add the milk, stir through and leave to cook for a further five minutes. 

Now add the salmon, cod, smoked haddock and prawns and cook for 4 minutes, then stir through the cream and move off of the heat. 

Add half the chopped chives and stir through before ladling into four bowls and then finishing with a few more chives. Enjoy!

Cook with the Kids this Halloween

Happy half term for those like me who have the children at home this week after a short and unnerving first term back since lockdown.

Halloween this year is not the same as previous years, we won’t be going to any fun fancy dress parties with friends, we won’t be hosting a spooky dinner for family with the girls in their witches outfits and trick or treating has been regarded as ‘off limits’ too.

Like many others, I’m sick and tired of focusing on the negatives of the situation so instead will be concentrating on the things we can do instead. We can still dress up at home, we can Facetime the family in our Halloween get-ups and take pictures to remember. We can watch some age appropriate scary films – we already have The Adams Family and Corpse Bride under our belt this weekend – any suggestions welcome? And we can do something which we always do, bake and make in the kitchen an array of spooky delights. If you fancy joining in why not try any of the below 9 suggestions.

Halloween Mummy and Spider Cookies

These Halloween Mummy and Spider Cookies use my standard cookie mixture but are decorated to look like monstrous mummies and spooky spiders – they’re fun to make, taste great and look cool too.

Halloween Mummy and Spider Cookies

Halloween Chocolate Bark

This Halloween Chocolate Bark is so simple but super fun to make with the children and once set and cut into shards, can be placed into cellophane bags and given out as a Halloween gift to family and friends too. Also it’s delicious!

Halloween Chocolate Bark

Halloween Chocolate Bark Shards

Halloween Ghost Cupcakes

These Halloween Ghost Cupcakes are just a simple fairy cake (homemade or shop bought) topped with some orange frosting (mine was from B&M) a large marshmallow on each and some Royal Icing cut into circles and some eyes and a mouth added with icing pens.

Halloween Ghost Cupcakes

Pumpkin Mac ‘n’ Cheese

A family favourite dish- this Pumpkin Mac ‘n’ Cheese is greatly improved and made a little more balanced with the addition of sweet, roasted pumpkin – a great lunch of dinner for during half term and especially if you have an abundance of pumpkins from the pumpkin patch!

Pumpkin Mac 'n' Cheese

Monster Burgers

This makes for a really fun meal for the kids.

Either make your own burger patties (here’s my steak ones) or buy some from the butchers or supermarket.

Then all you need is some burger buns, olives (for the eyes), sliced Cheddar or Red Leicester which you need to cut into zig zigs for teeth and melt over the cooked burger, some gherkin slices to poke out the front as a big monster tongue and whatever else you love in a burger – lettuce, tomato, sliced red onions and some BBQ sauce in our case! I served with my Healthy Slaw and chips and it went down a treat.

Monster Burgers

Spooky Spider Cookies

Use Oreo cookies, some melted chocolate, mini marshmallows and some lip sweets for make these cute Spooky Spider Cookies.

Spooky Spider Cookies

Mummified Sausage Plait Monster

I made this in the week and Bridget and Beatrice absolutely loved it. It is simple a square of shop-bought puff pastry topped with a 375g pack of sausage meat, flattened right out, and seasoned with a little black pepper. Then take a sharp knife and cut ‘bandages’ out of the edges of the pastry – long, thin slithers. Then simply wrap the ‘bandages’ across the sausage meat, until it’s completely covered up and the pastry has all been used up. Brush all over with beaten egg and place into a hot (200 degree) oven for 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

Make into the monster by adding a couple of olives on cocktail sticks as eyes, a cornichon as a nose (could be a cut out piece of pepper), some tortilla chips as hair and some zig-zag cut out hard cheese (I used Red Leicester) as pointy teeth.

Here’s how I served it for the girls this week as a quick working-night dinner.

Mummified Sausage Plait Monster

Mummified Sausage Rolls

If you’d rather make smaller scale Sausage Rolls these are absolutely perfect and super easy – an idea I’ve made lots of times since having children and taken from BBC Good Food.

Mummified Sausage Rolls

Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes

These Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes are fun to make and the chocolate ganache makes for a more grown-up appealing taste too whilst the spider and icing topped ones will be fab for the kiddies.

Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes

Halloween Mummy and Spider Cookies

These Halloween Mummy and Spider Cookies use my standard cookie mixture - it's tried and tested and works every time. 

These are fun to make with the children and the below will make about 21-22 cookies, so if you're like me you can leave a batch for the kids to decorate while you do the rest and not worry about the mess. 

They taste great, look great and are just a good activity to do with the children around Halloween.

Halloween Mummy and Spider Cookies

Here's how:

• 150g salted butter, room temperature
• 85g light brown sugar
• 85g granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 225g plain flour
• 100g milk chocolate chips
• 100g white chocolate chips 
• 1 tbsp milk (may not need)

To decorate Mummy Cookies:

• 150g white chocolate
• Edible candy eyes

To decorate Spider Cookies:

• 6-8 giant chocolate buttons
• Edible candy eyes
• Red icing pen

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees and line 3 baking trays with greaseproof paper. 

In a large mixing bowl, place the weighed out butter and the brown and white sugar and cream together with a wooden spoon. Mix it well until it's completely combined. 

Now crack in 1 egg and add the vanilla extract and mix in, then add the plain flour and baking powder and mix until the batter resembles cookie dough and has some movement still to it. If it's a bit too thick add a drop of milk at a time and stir until you're happy with the texture. 

Now add the chocolate chips - I always struggle to find white chocolate chips so instead but a 100g bar and chop into chunks. Mix them in well.

Use a teaspoon at a time to place a ball of the cookie dough onto the tray - there's no need to press down, this will happen naturally in the oven. Leave plenty of space between the cookies - I only put 5-6 on each tray and do batches in the oven. 

Bake for exactly 9 minutes and starting to brown. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 2-3 minutes in the tray before carefully using a fish slice to remove from the trays and place gently on a wire cooling rack or board to cool. 

Repeat the process until all of the cookies are baked. 

The Spider Cookies:

With the cookies that have just come out of the oven and are piping hot, place a giant chocolate button onto each and gently press down and leave to melt a little. Once this has happened use a cocktail stick or something similar to use the melted chocolate and draw 8 little legs using the melted chocolate. Pop a pair of edible eyes on and draw on a smile with a red icing pen and leave to cool.

Halloween Spider Cookies

The Mummy Cookies:

Break up the white chocolate and place into a heat-proof bowl and place over some just boiled water in a pan on a low heat. Use a wooden spoon to mix the chocolate until it is runny and fully melted. 

Place the cookies onto a chopping board or one of the baking trays with the greaseproof paper to prevent lots of mess. Now take a spoonful of melted white chocolate and simply drizzle over each cookie to resemble the bandages of a mummy. Place the edible onto the cookies, using the melted chocolate as a glue and leave to cool.

Halloween Mummy Cookies

Below are a few more Halloween ideas to make with children:

• Halloween Ghost Cupcakes
• Halloween Chocolate Bark
• Pumpkin Mac 'N' Cheese
• Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes
• Spooky Halloween Chocolate Spider Cookies
• Halloween Mummified Sausage Rolls

Halloween Ghost Cupcakes

These are really easy to make and if you want a super quick fix you could even buy some ready made fairy cakes and simply decorate with the kids, but we do like to make ours. 

My two girls absolutely loved making these - they're really fun and are a great little activity to do during half term in the lead up to Halloween.

Halloween Ghost Cakes

Here's how:

For the cakes:

• 110g caster sugar
• 110g self raising flour
• 110g butter (softened/room temperature)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

To decorate:

• Ready made orange or black Halloween icing/frosting (I bought ours in B&M)
• 1 sheet ready rolled Royal Icing
• 12 large marshmallows
• 1 black icing pen and 1 red, orange or pink (for the mouths)

Firstly pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees and line a cupcake tin with 12 cake cases - we used some leftover Halloween ones from last year which I picked up in Poundland no less.

Use the all-in-one method for the cakes, which means add all of the ingredients (self raising flour, caster sugar, butter, eggs, baking powder and vanilla extract) into a large mixing bowl and mix with a wooden spoon well until you have a good, combined cake batter.

Now spoon equal amounts into the cake cases, we use the two teaspoon method (spoon with one teaspoon and scrape down into the case with the other). 

Place into the oven for 15 minutes or until risen and golden brown then remove from the oven and allow to cool for 20-30 minutes on a wire rack.

To decorate, add a tablespoon of the ready made icing/frosting to each cupcake then use a palette knife to spread all over the top of the cake, into the edges of the case. 

Now place a marshmallow on top longways (the longest side should be flat to the cake) in the middle of the cake to make the body of the cake.

Now take out the Royal Icing Sheet (if you can't get a sheet, but a block and cut a third off and roll out, and wrap up the remaining Royal Icing which should keep for up to a month). Use a round cookie cutter to cut out x12 rounds big enough to go over the marshmallow with a little to spare. 

Place each icing round on top of the marshmallow and use your hands to pinch it down to the cake icing and form a ghostly appearance. 

Once all of the 'ghosts' are formed you can pipe or ice on the eye dots and a little line for the mouths. Enjoy!

If you fancy making more Halloween treats with the children here are a few other ideas:

• Halloween Chocolate Bark
• Mummified Sausage Rolls
• Spooky Halloween Chocolate Spider Biscuits
• Halloween Chocolate Cupcakes
• Halloween Biscuits

Lamb Chilli Tacos

This is such a fun family meal - there is something really enjoyable about using your hands to eat. 

I always have to make two separate batches of the lamb chilli - as Glen and I like a fiery chilli kick, whereas the girls like a milder version and I've given the advise below for the spicy one - but if you prefer a milder version, take out the jalopeno chillies from the chilli, and leave out the ancho chilli paste.

I always serve with a spicy tomato salsa (3 tomatoes, 1 red onion, 2 garlic cloves, 2 chillies, heaps of coriander, juice of 1 lime, dash of white wine vinegar, dash of honey, sea salt - all roughly chopped and blitzed in the Nutribullet). For the girls, they have just chopped tomatoes so they don't feel left out!

I use my homemade guacamole too which is 1 large (ripe) avocado, 1 red onion and 1 tomato both diced, minced garlic, lime juice, coriander, coarse sea salt - I smush this up with a pestle and mortar. 

I also always serve with sour cream, lots of grated cheese (combination of Cheddar and Red Leicester) and some tortilla chips - which go down well with the children.

Lamb Chilli Tacos

Here's how:

For the lamb chilli:

• 400g lamb mince
• 1 red onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 red pepper
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp paprika
•  1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 heaped tsp chipotle paste
• 1.5 tsp ancho chilli paste
• 1 drained tin of red kidney beans
• 2 green chillies
• 60g dried sultanas
• 4 small squares of dark chocolate
• Salt
• White pepper
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 250ml chicken stock
• Juice of 1 lime

To assemble:

• Small tortilla wraps (I use the Rowan Hill ones from Lidl)
• Fry Light Spray
• 40g each Cheddar and Red Leicester
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• Guacamole (recipe above or shop bought is fine)
• Tomato Salsa (recipe above or shop bought)
• 1 big pack of tortilla chips

To make the chilli, firstly add a little olive oil into a large frying pan (I actually use a wok) and place on a medium heat. Dice the onion and red pepper and mince the garlic and add to the pan to saute.

Once this has begun to soften, add the lamb mince and season generously with salt and white pepper. Use a wooden spatula or spoon to break up the mince a little so it doesn't clump together as it cooks. I add the cumin and dried cinnamon to the lamb mince here too. 

Once the mince has browned off a little, add the tomatoes, the remaining spices, the oregano, tomato puree, chipotle paste, ancho chilli paste, the chillies, red kidney beans, sultanas, chicken stock, and the cinnamon stick. Give a good stir and then cook for about an hour on low. 

Once the chicken stock has reduced down a lot add the chocolate and the juice of the lime. You can either cook this ahead of time, or just as you need. Cooking for an hour helps to intensify the flavour and thicken up the chilli, but if you are short for time, 30 minutes will do nicely, just reduce the chicken stock by half.

To assemble, I add some Fry Light to a large frying pan and place on high then quickly fry off each tortilla wrap on both side. Then I use an empty egg box to place each tortilla in between two sections, which helps it to get it's taco shape. 

To dish up, I spoon in 1-2 tbsp of the lamb chilli into each chilli then scatter over some grated cheese and spoon over a little guacamole and leave the rest on a platter for everyone to tuck into. I keep all of the limes used throughout for the chilli, the salsa and the guacamole  and help to prop up the end tacos if they start to lose their shape. 

The amount should leave enough for another portion (the above serves 4) which is fab on a jacket potato, with rice, over tortilla chips for great nachos or with some salad.   

Halloween Chocolate Bark

This is hardly a recipe - just a good idea for a half term activity with the children with a spooky Halloween theme.

You can use absolutely any sweeties or other items, such as biscuits, pretzels or chocolate buttons, but the jelly sweets look and taste great. 

Halloween Chocolate  Bark

Here's how:

• 400g Milk chocolate (if making for adults, dark chocolate is nice too)
• Selection of Halloween jelly sweets (we had bones, brains, eyeballs, fingers and thumbs!)
• Selection of Halloween or chocolate sprinkles (we used both)
• Selection of chocolate treats (we used Orange Smarties and the Lidl version of M&M's)

Fill and boil a kettle then half fill a small saucepan and place on a low heat.

Break up the milk chocolate and place into a heat-proof bowl and place above the boiling water and allow to melt. Use a wooden spoon to help the chocolate to break down and stir.

Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper and once fully melted pour the chocolate into the tray and move the tray around to evenly distribute the oozing chocolate.

Now simply place the sweet treats you have all around. My kids absolutely loved doing this bit and you can imagine how many sweets didn't make it to the bark! 

Once complete, leave to cool completely on the kitchen side and once cold, place into the fridge for at least an hour to set. 

Now remove from the tray, place onto a chopping board and cut with a sharp knife into shards of bark. Enjoy!

Chorizo and Potato Hash

This is a great, hearty weekend breakfast or brunch idea which is especially good if you're feeling the effects of the night before. You can top with a fried egg (or two if you're greedy) if you're that way inclined but it's great on it's own too.

If you're following Slimming World, this works out to 6 syns per portion which is entirely for the cooking chorizo - but it's totally worth it; everything else is free or speed!

Chorizo and Potato Hash

The below serves 2.

Here's how:

• 100g cooking chorizo
• 2 white potatoes
• 1 white onion
• 1 green pepper
• 1 roasted red pepper (you can use an ordinary red pepper)
• 2 tomatoes
• Lots of black pepper
• Eggs (optional)

Begin by boiling the kettle, placing the oven onto 180 degrees and peeling and rinsing the two potatoes. 

Chop the potatoes into small 1cm cubes and place into a saucepan, cover with the just boiled water and a pinch of salt and place on a high heat for ten minutes, then drain. 

In the meantime, place a pan, preferably one which is oven-proof onto the hob on a medium heat. 

Chop the chorizo into small discs then halve them and add to the pan.

Slice the onions, dice the peppers and tomatoes and set aside until the chorizo juices are all around the pan. Now add just the onions and make sure they all get a coating of the juices. 

Add the potatoes to the pan and use a wooden spoon or tongs to move around and again, make sure they get a good coating of the flavoured oil. Cook for five minutes. 

Now add the tomatoes and peppers and again, cook and move around for five minutes or until the vegetables are starting to soften then place into the hot oven. If you're using a different dish, obviously transfer to this and spread out the hash dish so it's pretty even. 

Bake for twenty minutes or until the potatoes are just beginning to char a little. 

If you're having fried eggs, you can cook these while you're removing the dish from the oven and dishing up - they will cook through in just a couple of minutes in a hot pan. Enjoy!

If you're looking for further brunch inspo here are a few of our family favourites:

• Shakshuka - Spicy Tomato and Pepper Baked Eggs
• Salmon & Dill Potato Pancakes
• Smoky Sausage & Bean One Pot
• Tomato & Feta Baked Eggs
• Smoky Chorizo Beans on Toast
• Berry Yoghrut Pancakes
• Creamy Mushrooms on Toast

Thai Salmon Fishcakes with Quick Chilli Dipping Oil

These are a great lunchtime meal if you are following Slimming World - they come in at just 4.5 syns for the oil and Thai Green Curry Paste and I use my HEB for the Ryvita.

I serve with ribbons of carrot and cucumber made using a vegetable peeler a small side salad and a tiny pot of chilli infused oil.

The below makes two fishcakes - be warned they are moreish!

Here's how:
Dipping Oil:

• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 2 tsp olive oil

Fishcakes:

• 1 100g fillet of salmon
• 2 spring onions
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 thumb of fresh ginger
• 1 red chilli
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• 1 tbsp fresh coriander
• 1 tsp Green Thai Curry Paste
• 1 Original Ryvita 

Firstly in a small pot place the chilli flakes and the oil and leave to infuse a little - this is your dipping sauce and will act as a great dressing for any salad you serve alongside too.

Now drizzle in a tiny bit of oil or spray into a pan and place on a low heat.

Finely chop the spring onions, chilli and coriander and place into a bowl.

Mince the garlic and add to the bowl and grate in the ginger.Cut the lime in half and squeeze into the bowl.

Crumble the Ryvita into the bowl.

Next finely chop the salmon into small pieces and add to the bowl and give a good stir with a spoon.

Finally add the curry paste and again stir. Then you'll need to get your hands messy by smushing it all together with your hands and making two rounds which will be your fishcake. You could of course use an egg in this mixing process which will help bind the fishcakes too, I just chose not to.

Next add each fishcake to the pan and fry gently for three to four minutes on one side before turning over to do the other side. Each side should be nicely golden brown. Don't be tempted to cook for too much longer as the salmon will overcook. Enjoy!