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Recipe – No Bake Oreo Cheesecake

May 6, 2015 by Bel

Last week Megan decided that she wanted to make Oreo cheesecake. I’m not sure what sparked it exactly but since I haven’t had to make birthday cake in a while, I decided to humour her. I was heading out to Tesco anyway and so while I was there, I picked up the ingredients she’d text me (she found a recipe she wanted to do herself). The cheesecake was so easy to make and tasted great so I figured I’d share it with you.

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250g chocolate digestive biscuits
150g butter/marg
2 tsp gelatine
60ml warm water
360g soft cream cheese
300ml double cream
1 tsp vanilla extract
110g caster sugar
180g white chocolate
150g Oreo cookies
50g dark chocolate

1. Line base of a 23cm springform tin with baking parchment.

2. Break the chocolate digestive biscuits and blitz in a food processor till crumbs. Melt butter and add to biscuits, mixing again to combine.

3. Place the biscuit mixture into the tin and use your fingers to press down level. Using fingertips, press to create slight edge up the side of the tin. Place in the fridge to chill for about 20 minutes.

4. While the base is chilling, make up cheesecake filling. Using warm water (recently boiled kettle water is good), mix the gelatine powder. It’s usually better to sprinkle the gelatine powder onto the water, not the other way around. Do it in a heatproof bowl or jug. Stir until melted/combined. If you are having trouble melting the gelatine you can place the bowl/jug into a pan of hot water and heat on the cooker till melted. Allow to cool for 5 minutes.

5. Beat the cheese, cream, vanilla and sugar in a bowl. Once combined add the gelatine and stir again. Finally, melt the white chocolate and add to mixture. Make sure its all stirred in well.

6. Break up the Oreos making sure they are small bits, but not blitzed liked crumbs. Combine the Oreo bits with the rest of the mixture, stirring through.

7. Pour the mixture on top of the base, into the springform tin. Smooth out evenly and neaten. Place in the fridge and chill for 3 hours.

8. Decorate as you want, but using the dark chocolate you can melt and drizzle, or grate on top. Megan insisted on saving one Oreo to decorate the top with.

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Filed Under: recipe Tagged With: biscuits, cheesecake, cream, cream cheese, dessert, food, no bake, Oreo cheesecake, oreos, recipe, white chocolate

Week 5 – Monday Round-up

February 2, 2015 by Bel

I’ve struggled again the last few weeks, to remember what I do each day of the week, especially by the following Monday. Some days seem so easy to recall while others are just a total blur. This week, since I have the time, I’m starting to document my week early on, hopefully updating it as I go along.

This week is another regular week – Chris at work and Megan/Lily at school. Monday was basically like any other Monday, except that I personally had a lot to fit into my day. I dropped the girls off and then headed around to see my friend Nat. She’d just been through some tough stuff over the weekend and I wanted to show my support and spend the morning with her. I also wanted to snag some GoT tickets from Sky Atlantic so I was naughty and took my laptop with me, along with some chocolate and a sympathy card. I spent the whole morning with her, leaving just after 12. I did manage to get my GoT tickets too, though the site crashed at 10am when the tickets were released and it took till about 11.30am (and an almost dead laptop battery) before I actually got them! I headed away from Nat’s and straight to my brother. He had a flat tyre and needed a lift to the tyre place. I was also supposed to take a jack but when I got there I realised mine had never got put back in the car (eek!). Anyway I helped my brother with his car, gave him a lift and then we went to Subway for lunch while we waited. We headed back to the tyre place, collected Erika from work and then I dropped them both off before heading back to my house. I had time for a cup of tea and a quick check of my emails, before heading back out to get the girls from school. Once I’d picked them up, we headed home and got the girls their dinner straight away. Monday is always a late night after school as the girls have Singing Stars and the evening just flies by after that. After food, the girls did homework and then they both read. By this point it was pretty much Lily’s bed time and as we had to read a story, we headed up. The girls and I read a chapter of Never Girls and then Lily went to sleep.

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Chris arrived home not long after. Megan and I were in the kitchen, doing the dishwasher and making Chris’ dinner. Afterwards we started on Megan’s other homework, a sewing project she wanted to do. It took us majority of the time up to her bedtime and then she headed to sleep too. Chris was upstairs on his computer by that time so I settled in to blog. I got myself distracted by the TV though and didn’t get much done! Chris came down to join me and we watched TV together until going to bed, just as I finally finished my Monday Round-up post from last week!

On Tuesday we got up and headed out to school as normal. Once I’d dropped off the girls I headed home, knowing I had parcels to wrap and get to the post office. Once I was finally done (a lot of procrastinating later), I headed out to the Post Office and dropped off the parcels. I then nipped into Boyes to pick up some felt for Megan’s sewing project. After that I went to Lidl, to do the weekly shop. I got everything I needed for £35 and I’m pretty sure some of that will even roll over into next week! I headed home and unpacked all the shopping, then getting myself some lunch. In the afternoon I sat down to watch some TV, went on my computer for a bit, sewed up my t-shirt dress and then wrote a blog post. Once all that was done, I started on dinner. Chris let me know he was going to be late home and the girls were with their dad so the day seemed to drag quite a lot. The girls were home just after 7pm and once they’d got themselves changed, we read another chapter of the Never Girls – not because it was the day’s task, but because we are hoping to finish this next book by the end of the week. I spent the majority of the evening playing on my phone, watching TV and just generally chilling out, until Chris and I went to bed.

Wednesday it was really cold and apparently snow was forecast, though we didn’t get much that day. I took the girls to school and then came home, bumming around for majority of the day as I was just feeling in a bit of a rut. I had an awesome post day though, which included some teas to try. I also got some blogging done which I guess was constructive. When it was time, I turned out for the girls and we came straight home, getting dinner too. Megan and I then had her homework to do, finishing off a rocket that we’d started a few days earlier. We also had to paint Snow White pegdoll and Lily wanted to play Disneyland Adventures.

Lily went to bed and Megan and I continued on with the rocket until it was finished. Once it was, it was Megan’s bedtime too. I was still feeling a bit down so Chris and I spent the evening together. We watched some TV and then ended up playing on the Xbox. We had originally intended to play together, however in the end it was me playing on the Kinect and Chris just watching. I actually had a lot of fun. We headed to bed afterwards and in the night it snowed quite a lot. When we woke up on Thursday there was a fair covering, but not enough to worry about. The girls were ready nice and early so they both played on Tsum Tsum before going to school (their disney task for the day). We then set off in plenty of time, to make sure the car had time to defrost and so we didn’t need to rush.

After dropping the kids at school, I went to my mum’s. She’d been away for a long weekend and I wanted to see her to catch up but I also needed to drop off Megan’s iPad, as the girls were staying that night. We chatted over a cup of tea and then I headed off as she needed to go out. The snow came down pretty heavy on my way back and I was definitely glad that I wouldn’t be turning out again. I spent the day catching up on house stuff, but I also tried out some fitness games on the Xbox. In the end nothing really interested me so I bought a dance game on Ebay and since it was a download code, I set it to download. I then made dinner for Chris and I, before the girls rang for their evening chat. After that I walked down to meet Chris at the station and we both went to get a few bits from Aldi. We came home and had dinner, before Chris started making some quiche for a baking competition at work the next day. I sat and read my book for the most part and then when he came in to sit down, he played on the Xbox and I went on my computer.

We headed to bed and it was nice to know I’d get a lie-in in the morning. Chris went out to work and I managed to sleep till about 9.30am, though I stayed in bed and read my book until 10am. When I got up, I sorted out clothes for the girls to wear that evening, plus put on a load of washing. I also sorted out several piles of washing around the house and put some clothes on the radiator to dry. Amoungst all that I managed a shower and also wrote my Get Fit Friday post, all of which I did before about 2pm when I headed out to Tesco, for petrol and then to get the girls. Once I picked them up, we headed to my mum’s to get changed. She wasn’t there at first but she arrived after about half an hour, with Erika (my brother’s girlfriend) and her son Charlie.

The girls and I headed out to Toys R Us, because Megan had a voucher she still wanted to spent. We bought Groot, Baymax and Hiro in Disney Infinity figures, along with some power discs. After that we went to pick Chris up from work, sitting in McDonalds car park for about half an hour. Finally at 5.30pm he finished and we all headed to Damons, to meet the rest of the family. There was my mum, my brother, Erika, Charlie and our mutual friend Jon. We all ordered and sat chatting till the food came and then everyone tucked in. It was a great meal and good company. Afterwards we all headed home in our seperate directions and the girls had to head pretty much straight to bed, though we did fit in a few chapters of the Never Girls book, as we wanted to get Book 2 finished before the end of January. In the evening, Chris and I just sat and watched TV as we were both stuffed and feeling lazy. Eventually we headed to bed fairly early, despite it being the weekend the next day.

Chris set his alarm for 9am in the morning, as he couldn’t remember what time his driving lesson. I could have kicked him when at 9.30am his driving instructor text him to check he was still okay to go out (it was snowing again) and confirmed his lesson was 12.45pm. We had a lazy start though, Chris making us a cup of tea/coffee and lounging around in our PJs. The girls were playing Disney Infinity and eventually Chris went upstairs to play on his computer. I’d got really into my book and so I spent the whole morning reading until I finished. After crying at the ending, I got up and sorted out lunch for the girls, before making them both get dressed too. When Chris got back from his driving lesson they all played on the Xbox for a while and I made dinner early, so it was ready. After the kids and Chris had finished playing, he headed upstairs again for a bit and we made biscuits to fulfill our Disney challenge for the day.

Though we baked the cookies in the afternoon, we obviously had to wait for them to cool before decorating them. As such we had dinner and then watched Toy Story (a catch up task from the day before) before going back to finishing off the crowns and tiaras. The girls had made a heart each to use the last of the mixture up and Lily wanted to make a “you’re my hero” one and give it to Chris. Megan ended up making one too but she ate hers herself, giving Chris a crown instead. By this point it was time for Lily to go to bed and though Megan took a little longer to finish off her biscuits, she then came to sit in the lounge and read some of her book. She’s currently reading “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” and I’m so proud of her as she’s really ploughing her way through them.

After Megan headed to bed, I sat on my computer for a while and Chris was upstairs on his. Eventually he came down though and we sat watching TV for a while before heading to bed. Sunday morning I was awake early, as I had a niggling feeling I would be when Chris had so annoyingly set his alarm the morning before. That said, I lazed around in bed for ages, playing on my phone. Chris brought me a cup of tea and then went to play upstairs, so eventually I headed downstairs to see what the girls were doing. We didn’t do much for the day but they did play on the iPad a bit and in the after we watched loads of POV videos on YouTube for the Disney World rides, to see if we could decide which we wanted to do. After that I was sucked into the world of Disney for the evening and other than bathing the kids and making dinner, I spent the whole evening starting to plan our trip a bit more. I made some notes, printed out some maps and text Amy a LOT. In the end though Chris and I had to head to bed early as he was awake at 6am the next morning.

It’s been a good week overall, despite feeling a bit down for the middle part. So far I’m feeling better since then and definitely a bit more motivated. I’ll see how it pans out through the week but fingers crossed!

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: baking, biscuits, cookies, Damons, dinner out, Disney, GoT, homework, snow, wdw

Disney Countdown – Days 65 to 59

February 1, 2015 by Bel

countdown

Monday (65) – Jan 26th – Read a Disney book
Tuesday (64) – Jan 27th – Make or Draw something Disney
Wednesday (63) – Jan 28th – Paint Snow White peg-doll
Thursday (62) – Jan 29th – Play a Disney game
Friday (61) – Jan 30th – Watch a Toy Story
Saturday (60) – Jan 31st – Make Disney inspired food
Sunday (59) – Feb 1st– Paint Alice in Wonderland peg-doll

We started off the week with “read Disney” and all of us commented that we were glad as it seemed like we hadn’t read much of our book so far this month. We were less than half way through too, so we agreed to read a chapter every night, on top of our other Disney challenge. Tuesday the kids were with their dad so they drew pictures at Grandma’s house and brought them home. Megan seemed pretty disappointed with hers, though Lily was pleased. On Wednesday we had a lot to do and Megan made a rush job of Snow White. Since the picture, she has neatened her up and added the hair bow. On Thursday the girls were with Nanny but they were ready for school early and so played on Tsum Tsum in the morning. I’m pretty sure they played again after school too! On Friday our task was to watch Toy Story but unfortunately we were out from after school until the girls had to go to bed. Instead we watched it on Saturday afternoon. We also had Saturday’s task to do which was make Disney inspired food and since we didn’t have much in, we made crown/tiara shaped biscuits and once they were cool, the girls decorated them beautifully. Finally came Sunday and the task was another peg-doll because it was the start of the next princess chain. I can’t believe we’re into February now, meaning only 2 months to go!

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Filed Under: Disney Countdown Tagged With: alice, Alice In Wonderland, baking, biscuits, craft, disney dvd, disney food, drawing, never girls, peg doll, snow white, toy story, tsum tsum

Disney Countdown – Days 79 to 73

January 18, 2015 by Bel

disneycountdown

Monday (79) – Jan 12th – Draw or Make Disney
Tuesday (78) – Jan 13th – Play a Disney Game
Wednesday (77) – Jan 14th – Dress up Disney
Thursday (76) – Jan 15th – Read a Disney book
Friday (75) – Jan 16th – Watch “The Little Mermaid”
Saturday (74) – Jan 17th – Make Disney themed food
Sunday (73) – Jan 18th– Paint “Ariel” peg doll

I seriously can’t believe how fast the days are flying by. In terms of weeks, we have a little over 10 weeks to go! Anyway, this is what we got up to this week. Monday was draw or make disney again and since we were so into our hair bows, the girls and I made a Baymax bow. On Tuesday it was play a disney game and since none of us could really be bothered, it was to iPads and iPhones, to play on Tsum Tsum! Wednesday was dress up disney and Megan was back to being Elsa again while Lily was Cinderella this time. Thursday the girls were at mum’s, so we had to be prepared. I dropped off a Disney book at Mum’s in the morning and left strict instructions as the selfie rule! Megan sent me the pictures later and I combined them into one for our Instagram countdown picture. On Friday it was watch a Disney movie and this time it was specifically The Little Mermaid. I will admit its been ages since I watched this, so it was really nice to watch again. I also spent the evening sewing Amy’s “Kiss the Girl” dress so it was very atmospheric!

On Saturday we had to make Disney themed food and honestly we’re running out of ideas a little. We want to avoid always making cupcakes or biscuits that just look or are shaped like Disney characters. We resorted to the Disney Cakes and Sweets magazines that I once had on subscription but sadly majority of those recipes are very tenuously linked to the disney characters. We decided on Winnie the Pooh – Honey and Vanilla biscuits, since Pooh Bear does at least like honey! Sadly no one was particularly fussed about the biscuits and after forcing Chris to eat the majority, the rest went in the bin! That leads us right up to Sunday where the task was to paint a peg doll – specifically Ariel. She decided on doing the “Kiss the Girl” look, probably partly because I’d been making the dress and really it was a very mermaid themed weekend. On Sunday, though it was nothing to do with our tasks, we also played Disney DVD Trivial Pursuit as a family, which was a lot of fun!

Filed Under: Disney Countdown Tagged With: Ariel, baymax, biscuits, Cinderella, dress making, Elsa, hair bow, kiss the girl, Little Mermaid, peg doll, sewing, tsum tsum

Hi, my name is Bel!


I’m a forty something, mother of two, self-confessed geek!

Here on my blog you’ll find;
books I’ve read, clothes I’ve made, movies I’ve watched, cakes I’ve baked, products I’ve tried, places I’ve been, pictures I’ve taken… plus lots and lots of DISNEY!!

I’m a lifestyle blogger – covering a little of everything I love <3

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