Old El Paso Restaurante Range

I'm a sucker for Mexican food so when an invite popped in my inbox asking me to come along and try my hand at cooking the new Old El Paso Restaurante range, I bit their hand off. Pun intended. Especially when they mentioned we would be treated to a taco lesson by Pussycat Doll Kimberley Wyatt! Pretty snazzy eh?!

In order to offer you a true authentic experience, the Old El Paso Restaurante team actually travelled around Mexico and sought out the ingredients themselves. They wanted to see what secrets the locals had to make the food taste so delicious. Each taco kit is a speciality from across the country. You'll find Baja Fish Soft Tacos - my personal favourite -, Chicken Tinga, Pork El Pastor and Steak Carne Asada. I tried them all and they're all as mouth-watering as they sound!

We were very kindly given an incredible goodie bag which had all four taco kits for us to try at home. So far I've only been able to rustle up the tasty chicken tacos - the steak ones are for dinner tomorrow! I can confirm the bad boys are so simple to make - you don't all need a Pussycat Doll to help give you some guidance. We scoffed these between the three of us and there was more than plenty to go around. In fact we could have invited a fourth person but we didn't. Because we're greedy.

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Recipe: Carrot and Walnut Muffins

You can't beat a nice slab of carrot cake eh? Especially with some cream cheese icing. Cream cheese icing with orange? Even better! These delicious, addictive muffins were the second part of my Whitworths baking challenge. I loved the crunch of the walnuts paired with the soft sponge cake. While the sultanas helped to keep the sponge lovely and moist. Nothing like a bit of texture to help give a cake extra brownie points. I had to give these babies to my mother to take into worth before they disappeared in my belly!

Fancy making these beauties yourself? The recipe below couldn't be simpler! As always, tweet me if you decided to rustle them up. Not even your waistline will regret it!

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Review: Pizza Express

Gosh I am behind with all my posts but a good few weeks back I was kindly invited along to Pizza Express to try out their menu.  Pizza Express is a restaurant I frequent quite often. It's always good value for money, brilliant service and the food always tastes delicious. This evening out was exactly what I needed after a a bad day so armed with my partner in crime - aka Mother Warner - we set off to a branch in the town next door and put the world to rights.

I get my vast appetite of my mother so it was no surprise that as soon as we spotted the table next door had ordered the Classic Italian Antipasti, we opted for this bad boy. Filled with juicy sundried tomatoes, creamy balls of buffalo mozzarella, salty olives, crispy bread, sweet Pepperdew peppers, roasted marinated aubergine, pea and mint pesto and Italian cried meats. It was just as delicious as it sounds! It was more than enough for two people although in reality it was possibility a bit too much. But we both took one for the team and finished every last scrap.

Never one to break a habit of a lifetime, my mum opted for the Pollo Verdure warm chicken salad. With soft dough breadsticks and fresh mixed vegetables smothered in a sweet honey and mustard sauce, it's great if you're after a less stodgy dinner.

I obviously opted for pizza. I never not opt for pizza if it's on the menu. This time I decided to sample the La Regina. A white béchamel base topped with smoked ham hock, juicy black olives, chestnut mushrooms and gooey buffalo mozzarella. The pizza was then finished with a generous drizzle of black truffle oil. Having a tomato free base was something a little different to what I'm used but I was fast converted after a few slices. I loved the rich sauce alongside the salty ham - such a good combination!

Of course, no meal out is complete without a cheeky dessert. The Eton Mess Cheesecake immediately caught my eye and I didn't even have to look at the rest of the menu. The strawberry swirl cheesecake was just the right amount of sweetness and the meringue topping finished it off to a tee. If you have a sweet tooth, this is more than enough to give you your fix! My mum decided to plump for the Honeycomb Cream Slice. Oh man, the layer of salted caramel between the cheesecake and the base was divine. Sweet and salt is just a perfect combination right? I may or may not have finished this off when my mum couldn't eat anymore...

Thanks for such a lovely evening out Pizza Express!

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