Spinach and Artichoke Dip

The image on the left is the dish I ate in America that I thoroughly enjoyed.  The only slight issue with this version of the dish was that it had been made using squeezy cheese which is this horrible yellow gloop that completely disgusts me.

After coming home from New York I was inspired to have a go at it and my version is the image on the right.

As usual my presentation is absolutely awful so use a bit of imagination or have a go at it yourself and do it better.  Sometimes I wonder whether I should have a disclaimer on this site because when it comes to makeup I am quite a perfectionist but when it comes to food I figure it all mixes up in my mouth anyway so it really doesn't matter what it looks like!

Price I paid/Ingredients

1 Can of Artichoke hearts - £1

2 bags of fresh spinach - £1 each

1 Tub of grated Parmesan - £2

2 garlic cloves - 20p

Three tablespoons sour cream - £50 a tub

Saucepan

How to Prepare

1. Drain and wash artichoke hearts out.  Simmer in boiling water for three minutes.

2. Drain water from artichoke hearts and put in a separate bowl for now.

3. Add some oil to the saucepan and add the spinach until it is all completely wilted.

4. Drain the spinach as often it can release a lot of water while cooking.

5. Put the cooked artichoke and wilted spinach back into the saucepan.

6. Finely chop and add the garlic cloves/sour cream/whole tub of parmesan

7. Put saucepan back on the heat and stir continuously until the parmesan has melted into the mix.

8. Put in a dish and serve!

Taste

This is an American style dish although often in America they will use cream cheese instead of parmesan but as per usual, I didn't have any!  Tastes great as a side dish to a potato or as a tortilla chip dip. 

Overall Reaction

I personally thought this dip really worked well although I possibly would have used cream cheese instead of parmesan for a thicker consistency.  I also do not like artichokes in this quantity but that is just my preference so I would have either used more spinach or less artichoke.

8/10 

Easy Banana Muffins

Price I paid/Ingredients
1 egg - £1.50 for a box
1 cup of caster sugar - £1 for a whole bag
2-3 tablespoons of butter/margarine - £1 a small tub 
2 teaspoons of vanilla essence - 79p for a jar
1.5 cups of self raising flour - £1 for a huge bag
A splash of milk - 49p for a small bottle
2-3 bananas depending on how "bananarey" you like them
Cupcake/muffin cases
Cupcake tray
Saucepan
Pre-heated oven to 150 degrees

How to Prepare
1. Add the butter (or if you forget to buy butter I successfully used Bertolli spreadable butter with a hint of olive) to a saucepan and heat at the lowest possible gas setting until melted
2. Add the caster sugar to the saucepan, if it starts to bubble at all you need to take it off the heat until it settles.  You want the sugar to melt just a little bit and mix with the butter.
3. Mash the bananas up well with a fork and then add them to the saucepan.
4. Add the vanilla essence and egg.
5. Add the flour, mix thoroughly. If the mixture looks very thick you can add a little splash of milk but be careful not to add so much it becomes watery it should be thick like cream cheese consistency.
6. Put the cupcake cases into the tray and use a spoon to half fill each cupcake case with mix.  Use as many as you need until you run out.
7. Put in the oven on 150 degrees, it should take about 20-25 mins to cook although watch them and take them out when the tops start to look a golden brown colour.
8. Take them out the oven when ready, let them cool and then serve!

Note:  I considered icing them but I felt like it would ruin the banana flavour.

Taste
I added two bananas to my mix and I found this to be plenty, they tasted yummy and quite strongly of banana.  I think these would make a great, quick breakfast snack!

Smell
The smell filled up my whole house which is my favourite thing about cooking!

Overall Reaction
I would definitely make these again. They were incredibly fast to make it took me 5 mins to mix all the ingredients together and get them in the oven.  Then just the time waiting for them to cook. 
10/10

p.s Sorry I haven't been very consistent in posting recently, I have been very busy with holidays etc!

Peanut Butter Cups Recipie

Price I paid/Ingredients
1 large bar Cadbury's Dairy Milk £1
1/2 jar smooth peanut butter £1 a jar
3ish teaspoons of butter 50p a block
4-5 teaspoons icing sugar £1 a bag 
10ish paper cupcake cases any size you want 70p for 30
You will need 2 microwave safe bowls as well and some teaspoons

How to Prepare
This is really easy to make just follow these steps:
1. Make the chocolate base by breaking up half the bar of chocolate into small squares.  Put them into a microwave safe bowl and add 1 teaspoon of butter. Put in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Take it out and add 2 teaspoons of peanut butter to the mix.  Stir, then heat it for another 30 seconds. If the mix is not melted yet you can put it in for a further 30 seconds. 
2. Put a teaspoons worth of the melted mix into each cupcake case.  You can put in more/less depending on the size of the cases you choose.
3. Take a separate bowl and mix roughly half a jar of peanut butter with about 4/5 teaspoons of icing sugar and a teaspoon of butter.  Melt in the microwave for 30 seconds, you do not want the peanut butter to be too melted because you want it to be a nice blob on top of the base.  You could wait for the base to completely set and then spread it out like a Reece's peanut butter cup but I am too impatient and I wanted alot of peanut butter.
4. You then do need the peanut butter and base to harden before you add the top layer of chocolate so put them in the fridge for 20 mins and come back to them.
5. You then do step 1 again and pour about a teaspoonful of mix over the peanut butter to hide it and leave for a further 20 mins in the fridge.  Unfortunately I ran out of chocolate for this step so mine were not evenly covered (also because we ran out of cutlery as it was all in the dishwasher which I blame my brother for so I was using a cake fork to mix/spread it) but I promise they taste much better than they look!

Colour
Milk chocolate brown, but with hints of lighter peanut butter brown if you, like me, fail to cover it.

Taste
Exactly like a Reece's peanut butter cup there really is hardly any difference! If you don't like those peanut butter cups definitely stay clear of this recipe.

Smell
Melting peanut butter smells so good and it fills up the whole kitchen which I love!

Health Benefits 
Um...... well peanuts are healthy? I used milk chocolate AND butter so maybe I can count that as a dairy product and therefore part of my daily calcium intake..?? Or maybe not...

Overall Reaction
These are delicious even if they look kind of dodgy! 10/10!