Chocolate Chip Cupcakes - Baking with Kids and Degustabox Contents

For this months Degustabox post I thought that I would share with you a recipe that I made with the twins. Each month Degustabox comes with a wide variety of products that can be enjoyed as they are or they can be used to create delicious meals and treats.

Today I am sharing with you an easy chocolate chip cupcake recipe that the twins love to make. This month we received a jar of Canderel Sugarly in the Degustabox so we substituted caster sugar for the sweetener to see how the cakes turned out. Canderel Sugarly looks and tastes like sugar but without the calories!

Before I tell you how we got on let me tell you about the contents of April's Degustabox.

Smoked Salmon and Mixed Grains Salad

I don't know about you, but as soon as the sunny, warmer weather comes I love to eat healthy salads. So now that the sunshine is here I thought that I would share with you a favourite salad recipe of mine. This salad is perfect to enjoy at home or to pack up and take to work. Whenever I make one for myself at lunch time I always prepare one for the hubby to take to work the following day. I love to use the blue clip top Kilner jars that we have. They are just the right size and ensure that there are no spillages or leaks and they look so pretty too!

This salad combines regular salad vegetables with a mix of cereals, pulses and grains with smoked salmon and eggs. Giving you a perfectly balanced meal, vitamin goodness from your vegetables, protein from your eggs, essential oils from the salmon and fibre from the grains. I have used The Food Doctor easy grains which are ready to eat which makes preparing this salad super easy and quick! The cereals, pulses and beans mix that I have used is a lovely mixture of quinoa, lentils, spelt and kidney beans. They really do add a lovely texture to your salad as well as some wholesome flavours.

This is what I did...

No Bake Strawberry Cheesecake with Coconut Oil Chocolate Biscuit Base

Cheesecake is a perfect dessert now that summer is on the horizon. It is time to move from the warm, comfort puddings and on to refreshing summer ones. Today I am sharing with you one of my favourite summer desserts. I have changed the base to give it more of a summer taste to it and also some healthy fats that are good for your body.

As this cheesecake is a no bake cheesecake it can be made in advance if you are making it for guests or prepare it in the morning, enjoy the day in the garden then have a delicious dessert for the evening. It is so simple and easy to make, there is no excuse!

This is what I did...

Chicken Pesto Pasta

A couple of weeks I shared my Pesto, Mushroom and Pancetta Chicken that I made using ingredients from Aldi.

After I made the pesto, mushroom and pancetta I had some ingredients left so I thought that I would share with you what I did with them. Pesto is perfect for pasta so what better way to use leftover pesto and chicken breasts!

The chicken breasts from Aldi are fantastic value for money. I always by the large pack of chicken breasts that weigh 1kg and cost £5.59. This pack of chicken provides enough for two meals for my family. Unlike other cheap chicken breasts these do not shrink down during cooking, this is what makes them true value!

This recipe make enough for a family of four, or in our case a family of five.

This is what I did...

#CookBlogShare Week 17 - The Baking Round Up

Last week has seen the return of my baking mojo at long last! Last week I baked cakes, breads and made a pudding! Following on from this I had to do a baking round up for week 17 of CookBlogShare!

As always there were so many delicious recipes and Mandy from Sneaky Veg did a great job of hosting, thank you!

As always I loved the variety of savoury and sweet recipes that were shared. It is always such a treat to sit down and read the blog posts. Thank you for joining in and making CookBlogShare a lovely community. Today I have booked my hotel for June's BritMums Live, if any of you are going please do let me know as it would be great to catch up with you!

Back to this weeks baking round up. Here are my four favourite baking recipes from week 17 of CookBlogShare...

Weekly Meal Plan - Week Commencing 2nd May 2016

This week I remembered to meal plan before I went shopping which made writing my list so much easier! Last weeks meal plan was a success. We ended up getting a treat meal for Friday which meant I cooked the fish pie on Saturday. You may remember that last week I planned a meal that we had never heard of before let alone tried. The North African stew, Shamshuka, was so good! This will definitely be a meal we will be having again!

As today is a bank holiday we are taking the children out for a meal so we are definitely having an easy start to the week!

This is what we will be enjoying this week...

Week Commencing 2nd May 2016

Monday - Frankie and Benny's

Tuesday - Mushroom Stroganoff

This is a favourite that I haven't made in ages. 

Wednesday - Beef, Lentil and Chickpea Casserole

This is going to be a meal that I can prepare and leave to slow cook in the oven.

Thursday - Jacket Potatoes and Pulled Pork Sausages

When I was shopping in Aldi I found The Black Farmer's Pulled Pork Sausages. These were not on my shopping list but they sounded so good, I had to get them. Jacket potatoes have become a favourite meal so this week we will be having them with the sausages.

Friday - Fish in Homemade Parsley Sauce

I will be serving the fish in parsley sauce with some mash and peas.

Do you meal plan? What will you be enjoying this week?

As always I am sharing my weekly meal plan with Meal Planning Monday!