When I used to get asked to make a dessert for a gathering, this no bake jelly slice was usually my go-to recipe to take. It's simple to make, takes hardly any time or effort, and everyone loves it. I usually get asked to make it instead of other desserts.

I haven't made it in quite some time, but I've noticed it popping up all over the place lately, and figured I would make it again, but this time with a bit of a festive flair. And by that, I mean that I added green food colouring and used red jelly.



My one problem with the recipe is that it is usually far too sweet, with the sugar from the jelly and the condensed milk. But recently we switched from ordinary jelly packets, to using sugar free jelly, in particular the Aeroplane Brand. This jelly is amazing, not only does it have 0 grams of sugar, it's also 7 calories a serving. Compare this to the brand we would usually buy which has a whopping 19 grams of sugar per serve, and 84 calories a serving! That's a huge difference, and I'll tell you what, it's definitely noticable in this slice.

What used to be a tooth-achingly sweet, but still delicious dessert, has now become a more bearable type of sweetness, one that won't have you holding back from another piece. The jelly makes all the difference. Now just to find a way to cut back on that sugar even more...

Now here's the recipe for you to try, and trust me, if you make it once, you're bound to be asked to make it again!


Ingredients
1 packet wine biscuits
100g butter - melted
1 can condensed milk
1/2 cup boiling water
3tsp gelatin
1 packet jelly
Food Colouring (optional)

Make the jelly according to directions and set aside to cool.

While this is cooling, process your biscuits until they are crumbs, then add the melted butter. Push into the base of a baking tin and set in the fridge to firm up.

In a bowl, dissolve the gelatin in the boiling water, then mix in the can of condensed milk. If you want to go for a colourful look like I have, add your food colouring now.

Pour this condensed milk mixture on top of the base and put back in the fridge to set. Once it has set, you can pour the jelly mixture on top. Leave in the fridge to set and then cut up to serve when ready.

Does anyone else ever feel like having dessert, but never want to make a large one that will either last you a few days and possibly go bad, or in many other cases, would get eaten all in one night? They're great for when you have people around, or if you just have a large family, but when it's just me at home, a large dessert is not a good idea. Especially if it's cheesecake. Cheesecake is definitely one of those desserts I could eat in one night. (I'm bad, I know).

So, one weekend when it was just me at home, and I felt like a cheesecake, I tossed up the idea of going to the store and just buying a pre-made one, or just making a mini one since I had all the ingredients already available to me. It didn't take long really, firstly I was saving money, and secondly there wasn't a chance of me eating an entire cheesecake on my own.



That's where this little piece of deliciousness comes in. A jaffa inspired choc-orange mini cheesecake, with a Jaffa Thins base.

Made in a 4inch spring form cake tin, this cheesecake is perfect for sharing with another person, and the recipe is so rich and delicious that you may even be able to split it between three people depending on how rich you like your cheesecake.

The greatest thing is that the flavours are so easy to adapt and change to your own liking.







Ingredients:
25g Butter (melted)
70g Jaffa Thins cookies (around 9) or any other choc-orange cookie you like
125g Cream Cheese
1tbsp Sugar (more to taste if required)
1tsp Gelatin bloomed in 1tbsp cream (optional to set firmer)
3/4 cup Cream
50g Chocolate (melted)
Orange Essence


In a food processor, put the cookies and whiz until crumbled (I like to leave some bigger chunks), then add butter and mix together. Push into a 4inch cake tin on the base and up the sides. Place in fridge to set.

In a bowl mix the cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the cream and whip until thick. If you are using the gelatin, melt the bloomed and then mix into the whipped mixture gently. Separate the mix into two lots. In one bowl of mixture, add the melted chocolate and mix until combined, and in the other, add some orange essence to taste.

Get the base out of the fridge and alternate between the chocolate and orange mixture, marbling it with a skewer. Once the base is full, place back in the fridge to firm up for at least an hour.

Add whipped cream and chocolate shavings to serve.


So there you have it, a mini cheesecake that you can change as you like, but the choc-orange is great too! What flavour would you try?

With all the snow and bad winter weather that we have had lately, the sun has been a great addition to each day.

And what better way to celebrate the warmer weather than with a salad. I have been hanging out all winter for a delicious salad to accompany a sunny {and warm} day.

This salad is my 'famous' salad, it's so simple but so delicious, and every time I am invited to a BBQ I get asked to make it.

I just take pasta spirals and cook them in boiling water for 5 minutes {I don't let them cook fully or it is too soft}

I take some capsicums {bell peppers - any colour} and dice them up

And sometimes I add a red onion.

Once the pasta is cooked, I instantly run cold water over it so it stops cooking, I then put the diced pepper and onion, and mix it into the pasta with about 100g mayonnaise and 100g potato salad dressing {I don't actually measure it, I normally just go with taste}

This also tastes really good with a vinaigrette dressing too.



{Linking up at}

I realise there has been a bit of a hiatus here, it has been so busy that I haven't had time to do all my baking and cooking, I am getting back on to it though.

Here are some delicious beer-batter onion rings I just made for lunch. They may not look pretty but they were awesome!



The batter was just 1 cup of flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, a pinch of salt, and most of a 300ml bottle of beer. Mix it all together, dunk the rings of onion and fry. (I did a shallow fry).

Yesterday was such a good day, and put me in a really good mood. So I thought, I'm going to make something really good for tea, it's a good day, why not celebrate. And I will tell you this, nothing is better then something made from scratch. Lasagna made with (semi)fresh pasta, and homemade tomato pasta sauce was on the menu

I decided yesterday that I was going to attempt to make a tomato pasta sauce to accompany the meat in my lasanga. I already had my pre-made sheets of pasta in the freezer from my previous lasanga.

I had a bit of a look around to try and find a recipe for the sauce, but then I thought, really, it can't be that hard so I had a go. Sorry about the lack of a good photo, it fell apart when I went to put it on the plate.

Lasagna with homemade tomato sauce and pasta

Homemade Tomato Pasta Sauce
5-7 Tomatos
1 Heaped Tablespoon Tomato Paste
1 clove of garlic (diced)
1 small onion (diced)
1 tablespoon oil
a pinch of mixed herbs
about 1 tablespoon tomato ketchup
Salt and pepper to season
Flour for thickening


1. Blanch the tomatos. Simmer in water until the skins are wrinkled/cracked and then put them straight into waiting cold water. Once cold peel skins off.

2. In a frying pan, heat the oil. Once heated, fry the garlic and onion until soft but not brown. Add the tomato paste and cook for one minute, constantly stirring. (this will bring the flavour out more)

3. If you want to de-seed the tomatoes do so now. If not, mash them up a bit with a masher then put them in the frying pan with the onion mix. Now is the time to add the ketchup and herbs.

4. Let it simmer down until it is thickened, use the flour to help thicken. Season to taste.

Your sauce is now done, you can use this for many different uses not just lasagna, but if you want to use it for lasagna, take it out of the frying pan, and then add your meat and brown, add the sauce back in and you are ready to go.


Happy Cooking everyone