Made this little pud the other night. It's fast and pretty good as a cheesecake. Give it a shot. 

I had curry cravings. Weird. But true. Anyway, this is what I made. It's based on a recipe from BBC Good Food and it's pretty good given how easy it is. 

This recipe is roughly based on a recipe by young Jamie Oliver. It's not exactly the same - I've student-ified it a bit but I have to say I thought it was pretty good. I didn't end up adding any cheese but reckon that some parmesan wouldn't go amiss. White wine, rocket and prawns. A bit of spice as we add half a chilli. Really good.

My big problem with baking is often that I end up eating everything I cook. Not good. However, this is great as it's just one cookie so you don't feel too guilty! And it's not a microwave thing so it is actually proper baking! Try it. Or this.

Having recently made the Chocolate Cheesecake I had some cream cheese left over. Rather than let it go to waste, I made this cheeky mug cheesecake. It went down well with Dad and he's notoriously hard to please...! Give it a shot.

I was home alone and hungry. This was easy and hit the spot. Flat because you have to squish it. 

So we've just been in Spain for a week. It was fab. I fell massively in love with all things tapas. One of the dishes that kept cropping up was this one. If you can get 'serrano' ham then that's the best way to go (I could only find parma ham, tragic but not disastrous!). 

I've adapted this recipe from a BBC Good Food one. Top stuff. Enjoy. Makes a good starter/nibble.

Feeling a tad gentle this morning. Wanted food that wasn't toast. This did the trick.

Ingredients

• Pasta
• Chilli Pesto
• 3 rashers bacon
• 1 tomato
• Black pepper and salt

Method

Cook the pasta in boiling water with a splash of olive oil and pinch of salt. 

Fry the bacon. Chop it up into pieces when it's cooked. Drain the pasta. Pop the bacon in with the pasta. Add two teaspoons of chilli pesto and the chopped tomato. Season. Stir and heat through. Eat.

Done.

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. 

"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.

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.

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.

Easy and delish. Do it. Don't have to add baileys but everything is better with baileys. 

For when you really just want food but can't be bothered. 

So I was home alone earlier this week. Elena was in South Africa (she's a geographer and they get to go on amazing trips; as a lawyer I get to go to the library and that's it) and the rest of my house were not back. I wanted something sweet but I did not want to binge eat a load of junk. This is a bit of a happy medium. 

Give it a shot. 

Cannot convey how good this was. And it's healthy. Do it. Found this recipe on BBC GoodFood; they use small tomatoes, I used big ones because that's what I had. 

I had two halves for supper but it  could be a great starter too. Also, had this for lunch and if you heat the peppers up in the microwave and bung them on some toast then that's pretty good.

I've seen a lot of these going around so thought it was high time I try it. Can report it was great. You can add sugar or honey if you want but I didn't because I'm trying to be good. Putting the strawberries in overnight helps with sweetness I think.

It's basically edgy porridge. Give it a shot. 

Sometimes you just need a cookie. You don't want to make 10 because otherwise you'll eat 10. So just one cookie is the thing to make. This is a good little recipe. Do it. And the video on YouTube is to Phil Collins drums. What more could you want.

For when you just need something to munch on. Fast. It's the closest thing to a proper brownie I've come across (and is basically this recipe but for one).  Give it a go! All you need is a microwave.

Make this and feel like a ninja.  I've always wanted to make one but I never I thought I could because I don't have the special ball ornament thingy. Turns out you don't need one... A balloon is perfect.

Scrambled egg. It's a classic. Normally found in a pan. Today, we are doing it in a mug. In a microwave. I was sceptical when I first heard about it but I can confirm it tastes and looks like egg once it's done. So do it.  Check out the Nigella video.

So I had this out in Hong Kong over the summer and they had it for sale in the grocery so I got some. It's gorgeous. Takes no time to cook and is super delish. You just need some garlic so this about as it gets. Trick is to keep the heat low when frying the garlic. 

Probably a side or could be a green quick bite if you are trying to be super healthy... 

It's not too late to make some funky mince pies! These are such a cheat but to be honest taste pretty great. Dusting with icing sugar is a good shout. Hope we all have an absolutely blinder of a christmas! All the best! 

So this is a lovely healthy little meal. Tilda very kindly sent me some rice to try and I must say I have rather enjoyed it. This stuff has Quinoa in it. Quinoa is super healthy but it still tastes great. I think it's fair to say we all kind of go a bit mad over Christmas in terms of how much food we eat but something like this is great because it really fills you up, it's very easy and yet it's not bad for you at all.

The cashew nuts a great because they kind of give a cheeky bit of texture to it all. Well worth it. I used Tesco Value so they cost hardly anything. Go grab some. 

Give it a go! Check out the video too.

This is a lovely little snack (or lunch) and very healthy. Tastes lovely too. The feta is a great little addition. Give it a go. Basically you're looking to get a nice balance between spinach and egg. Too much of either is nasty. If you want to make a big one, could add in two eggs I reckon. Haven't tried it though...