So big shout out to Sophie for sending this in. Went down really well in the house and tasted fabulous. You should try it. 

Healthy delicious snack. Fish is meant to be good brain food. I need all the help I can get. Realise this might not feel like proper student food but if you fancy treating yourself then this is a good bet.

Also check out Nina Simone in the video. 

This is quite light and went down well. Loadddds of tins in this one so it's really easy and pretty cheap. Enjoy. This is pretty similar to the No Cook Lemon Cheesecake, so if you're into lemons, try that.

Ingredients

• 200g crushed rich tea biscuits
• 100g butter
• 300ml cream
• 397g condensed milk
• 1 tin of cherries, remember to stone them

Method

Melt the butter over a low heat. Crush the biscuits. Add the biscuits to the butter. Stir about to coat. Bung in a baking tin with removable base (my tin is 7 inches). Press down with back of spoon. NOTE: I've started using rich tea biscuits because they're a bit lighter than digestives but as a result there is less fat in them and so the base is a bit more crumbly. If you prefer a solid based, add more butter - reckon 150g would do it.

Whisk the cream until it starts to thicken - you should be able to see creases in the cream.

Add in the condensed milk and beat for a good 5 mins. It should start to thicken. It won't go mega thick but it should get to a stage where it holds its shape. 

Pop a sieve over a bowl and pour the cherry tin out. The juice will go through and the cherries will be caught. The cherries will have stones in them so take them out - either cut open with a knife or I found you could just squeeze in your hands and it would come out. 

Pop two pudding spoons of the juice in the cream and blitz again. When thickened, pop the cherries in and stir with a spoon. Pop in the baking tin on top of the base. Clingfilm and fridge for at least 4 hours. Overnight is best.

Enjoy!

"You shouldn't be scared of what you don't understand" - Ravi, on quinoa, 2016. 

So if you are even half interested in food, or you eat, then you'll probably have heard of 'quinoa'. The general vibe we get is that it can do no wrong. Apparently it's a superfood. Whatever that means. So when I saw it on sale I thought I'd bite the bullet and buy some. 

I returned to the house, proudly bearing this seed-come-grain which no one knows how to pronounce and set about making my lunch. My first shock was that you actually have to cook this thing. I don't know why but I kind of assumed it was one of those things that was edible straight away. No. You have to cook it for 10 mins. And then once it's done it looks like little pieces of frog-spawn with tails #technicalterm. 

Anyhow, my verdict is basically that I think it needs something a tad sweet to go in it (the raisins in this recipe worked fab, as did the feta). So in general it's good. I had mine at 1pm and, writing this at 5:30, I am still fairly full so it's worth a shot, even just for the novelty factor. 

If anyone knows any OMG YOU MUST TRY THIS recipes with quinoa (or anything else), please get in touch - you can message the facebook page here. Or email in "BarkingBaking(at)gmail.com".  Such fun.

Thought this would be a cool idea. Turned out really nicely. Think the house and Elena, Kathy, Ellie and Venus enjoyed. Might be a funky little pud if you were doing a dinner party. 

I put ice cream in them but could do fruit or something if you're that way inclined. 

Enjoy! Do like and share the video/page on Facebook. 

This was supposed to be a green smoothie. It's got spinach and everything in it. Edgy. But sadly the berries overcame the greenness of the spinach and it's kind of mauve instead. Anyhow, it's healthy, tastes great and making it takes just long enough to be classed as procrastination. 

S/o to Elle for technique tips.

This is really good! I used rich tea biscuits for the base as I thought they'd be a bit lighter than digestive biscuits. Still tastes great! I put mint on because I was trying to be edgy. It really doesn't matter if you don't have any. But it's nice if you do. 

This is nice and refreshing. I put a little bit of honey in it to just make it a little less tart. Give it a go! 

This was seriously good and really very filling. Feta is great, as is plenty of the dressing. Top stuff. Recipe based on one from BBC Good Food but not in such huge quantities - this does one meal.

OK so the pure lemonade fans out there will tell you that this is not lemonade because it's not fizzy. I apologise for this. However, this is a lovely refreshing drink to make. So you should do it. It's healthy and it will rehydrate you over the exam slog.

Inspired by Beyonce.

So a while ago Elena made a carrot cake. It was really good (except for some dodgy icing...) and so we thought we'd make it again. The icing is no longer dodge. Also big shout out to Alexandra B for cooking some awesome carrot cake at the end of last term for mentor hour; it had dates and everything in it. This has walnuts, which are pretty close...ish. Will work up to dates!

Hope we're all doing well. 

So I have been sent some Linda McCartney vouchers. I was supposed to be testing out the paella but unfortunately they don't stock it in Durham. So I consulted with a friend, James, and he said that I HAD to try the sausages. So that's what I've done.

Must admit I was slightly nervous of vegetarian sausages, having been brought up on the meat version. However, I can report that they taste great. Sure, they don't taste like pork but, as Rav (one of my veggie housemates) said, it doesn't actually matter. As long as they taste good, then that's fine. And they do. They taste great.

This recipe is super easy and takes about 20 mins overall. It's healthy and tasty. Try it. 

Also, I am giving away some Linda McCartney vouchers so you can buy some yourself - all you need to do is like the post and the Facebook page and I'll choose a winner. Will be chosen on Wednesday (whilst you're at it, you could add 'barkingbaking' on snapchat, but that's only if you want to!). Facebook page here.