Sunday 29 June 2014

Week Recap

Yet another foodie week- of course!
 

 
 
Mid-week I had an after-school craving for yoghurt and granola that I had to satisfy. I also had a go at 'overnight oats' but with granola which was super tasty the next day.


A hard day resulted in my first 'Papa John's' which was yummy.


A Saturday shopping trip with a T-shirt theme. I love this 'happy' one from Primark but not as much as I LOVE the vintage ice cream one.


I also got a polka dot shirt from New Look and an adorable giraffe T-shirt.

 
In an attempt to be more organised I got this meal planner and shopping list set from the Paperchase sale.

 
I topped my shopping trip off with a trip to Pret and a yummy Avocado and herb wrap with pine nuts and parmasan in!

Sunday 22 June 2014

Sunny Weekend

This weekend the weather has been really lovely. I was fancying a picnic in the sun so me and a couple of friends popped to M&S to get some goodies and spent a lovely afternoon in the park.

 
Then me and another friend went to go and see Malificent at the cinema. My review is that it was quite good, not as clever as I'd hoped and I didn't like the casting of Aurora and the Prince.
 
 
Today I decided to whip up one of my favourites, Banana Bread but with added naughty chocolate chips. It is absolutely delicious, if a little wide due to the silicone mould instead of a tin.
 
 
I was also treated today to an epic roast cooked by a friend, she never skimped on the trimmings and it was amazing.
 



Pretty much the making of a perfect weekend- sun, friends and yummy food. What have you been up to?

Wednesday 18 June 2014

Peanut Butter Cookies

You may have noticed by now that I love peanut butter, especially when it's with chocolate! I adapted this recipe from the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook.



Makes 12

110g margerine
200g caster sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
100g peanut butter
160g self raising flour

-Preheat the oven at 180 degress
-cream the butter and sugar
-add the peanut butter, vanilla and egg and mix
-add the flour
-*optional* add 75g dark chocolate, chopped (I had less).
-Bake for approx 10 minutes or until brown on the edges.

Mine turned out a little undercooked so they were chewy but still very yummy.

Sunday 15 June 2014

Vegan Nottingham

This weekend my Mum came to visit me, my favourite thing about her visiting me is that we always find new places to go. My Mum is Vegan and living in a city is great for finding alternative places to eat.

Friday night-
 
On Friday night we went to Las Iguanas who actually have a seperate Veggie and Vegan menu if you ask you it. As a meat eater myself I had the chicken flatbread with curly fries and a side of Nachos. My Mum had the Vegan Gringas which is a tortilla with refried beans and butternut squash, she had a side of Cassava Fries which I have to say were nice, slightly potato and cheesy tasting.
 
 
Saturday midmorning-
 
 
On Saturday we stopped for a coffee and cake at Cappuchaino and I was so surprised that pretty much all of the cakes were vegan, we shared a Vegan brownie.
 


Saturday Lunch-


For lunch we stopped for lunch at Broadway Cinema who had a lot of Vegan choices. I opted for the 'not dog' with vegan sausages and it was really yummy, as were the wedges. My Mum had the 'Veganwich'- Houmous, carrot and spinach.

It was really nice to eat at some new places and my Mum was so pleased that it was so easy for her to eat what she wanted as I know it can be quite tricky. If you are Vegan, I would also highly recommend Alley Cafe and Annie's Burger Shack.

Friday 13 June 2014

Fathers Day Gift Idea


I've noticed that when it comes round to Fathers Day the gifts seem to fit with particular interests- football, gold, cars .etc. My dad doesn't fit in with any of these and doesn't particularly want for anything, doesn't really cook, isn't a jewellery wearer or whiskey drinker, so he's always found him hard to buy for. I've done the fun joke presents before but they soon loose appeal and stay at the back of the cupboard. I've done vouchers before but it's hard enough to get him to go out and spend them so this year I thought I'd try something different.

I decided to make a 'Boy's Night In' kit- my mum sometimes sees friends on a Friday night when my Dad is pretty knackered from the working week and he usually watches a film/TV, drinks beer and has some snacks. So I thought I would provide him with those!

In the 'kit' I put-

-a DVD
-a magazine
-chocolate
-beer
-crisps

and it's as simple as that! Of course there are lots of different variations of kits you could do- a BBQ kit, a football match kit .etc. I really hope my dad likes it and I hope you all have a good Fathers Day.

Wednesday 11 June 2014

Tried and Tested Pins

As you can probably tell from some of my recent posts, I'm a pinterest lover. Over the past year I've been very tempted by many recipes that I've pinned and I thought I'd share some tried and tested recipes.


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 When I found the recipe for these healthy pancakes made with just banana and egg I had to try them out. The first time I made them they were yummy but I've made them since and found they are much nicer when made with a brown banana.

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 In the summer I really got into making homemade pizzas and by putting grated courghette on them they stay really moist and yummy.


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I showed this to my Mum for my birthday last year- It turned out really well! The only tricky patt was that the malteasers on the edges kept falling off so it would have been impossible to do it on the edges too!


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I had a go at this yummy looking corghette tart but I added mozerella and pesto and took the squash out- it was lovely.

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I really loved this avocado pasta, it was lovely. The only thing I would say is maybe to add more garlic to make it a little more strong tasting (I love garlic!).

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I made these apple enchiladas with a friend but with the syrup we found them to just be too sweet, I think we added too much.

Sunday 8 June 2014

101 Things Update

I have 1001 days to complete the 101 things on my list which takes me to September 2015. Here's how it's going-

Completed-
-Send someone a surprise gift for no reason- I did this with my friend Leanne and she sent me one back!
-Pay someone a surprise visit- I surprised my Dad with good news when my Mum was away.
-Go Veggie for a month- I did this back in 2013, it was surprisingly easy as I used to be veggie.
-Buy a house decoration from Next- My chicken egg jar is my favourite.


-Make the perfect baked cheesecake- vanilla chocolate chip- yum!


-Have gel nails again- a friend bought the kit but if I'm honest it wasn't great for my nails.
-Swim 30 lengths in 30 minutes- I used to love swimming and got back into it in the summer. It only took me about 5 visits to complete this so I think I possibly needed a more challenging goal!
-Go Ice Skating- I fell dramatically.
-Give up chocolate for a month- I did this in January 2013, the first month of my list, and it was really difficult!
-Travel in 1st Class on a train- my Mum treated me to this one and we got a nice little snack pack.
-Go on holiday with friends- it was only one friend to Barcelona but it was great.
-Go speed dating- it was great fun!
-Eat the tomatoes on my plate/sandwich for a month- this was easy enough but I quickly went back to taking them off my sandwiches!
-Visit the beach- Inglemells and Skegness.



In progress-
-Make the perfect macaroons- I tried once but they weren't perfect!


-Rewatch 10 Disney classics- (3/10)
-Read 15 new books (3/15)
-Try 5 new fruits (2/5)
-Try 10 new foods (6/10)
-Have a plant that lives longer than 6 months- I planted some strawberry plants in April that are actually growing!


To do-
-Take my parents out to dinner to say thank you
-Go to Rome
-Walk into a bar and make a new friend
-See Kelly Clarkson again- come on Kelly come to the UK again!
-Do race for life
- Have a pedicure- my fear of people touching my feet is getting better
- Make mince pies
-Go strawberry picking
-Make someone a birthday cake
-Have a picnic
-Don't wear make up for a week (go out as normal)
-Host a dinner party
-Go to Brighton
-Go to Loch Fyne.

Saturday 7 June 2014

Spring Summer Nail Picks


 
I thought I'd share the nail polish that I always reach for when the sun comes out. I love the turqouise/ light blue shades like Topshop- Air Kisses, models own- Top Turquouse and Essie- Bikini So Teeny. Air Kisses is my favourite as it is so long lasting! Top Turquoise is slightly less summery but a bit of a different option as it's a pretty unusual colour. Essie Bikini So Teeny is great if you want a slight shimmer, this polish makes me feel like wearing a floaty dress and enjoying the sun (on this very rainy day)
 
Last but not least, I threw in a bright pink for when you're feeling adventurous (or not) Essie- lights is a lovely bright pink but unfortunately, doesn't last too well.


Friday 6 June 2014

Pinspiration- Positivity

It's time for my second installment of Pinspiration, sharing my pins from my pinterest, today I wanted to share some inspirational/ positive quotes as these have done a lot for me at times. Hope you enjoy!
 

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Thursday 5 June 2014

Recipe Round Up

I thought I'd share some of my favourite recipe posts again as many were posted a while ago even though I still love to make them.

Cadbury's Dairy Milk Cupcakes

Healthy Date Flapjacks

Chocolate Orange Bubble Wrap Cupcakes

Eton Mess Cupcakes

  
And last but not least....


Wednesday 4 June 2014

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cupcakes



Ingredients-
 
125g Margerine
125g Caster Sugar
100g Self Raising Flour
25g Cocoa
2 Medium Eggs
 
 
Icing-
 
50g Margerine
1 heaped dessert spoon of Peanut Butter
175g Icing Sugar
Approx 4 squares of Dark Chocolate- melted.
 
 
The method for these is super simple for the cakes- just whisk all ingredients in and bake at 180 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
 
Similarly, with the icing just whisk it all up then I put it into a piping bag. Then I melted some dark chocolate and drizzled it over the top.
 

Pre- chocolate.
 Top Tips- If you want your icing to be stiffer and to set then use butter instead of margerine.
I like to use a tall glass to hold up my piping bag as I fill it, much easier.

 

Tuesday 3 June 2014

Watercolour Dinosaur

On Becky Bedbug's FF post last week she featured this etsy watercolour dinosaur in her wishlist. I also fell in love with it as a dino-lover but I thought i'd give it a go making one myself.
 
 
The first thing I did was print out a dinosaur colouring page.
 

The next thing I did was cut out the outline to create a stencil.


I then use watercolours and the stencil to create my painting using purple and blue. I'm actually really pleased with how it came out and it was so simple.


Top Tips- there was some bleed in my picture which I think could be avoided be using card as a stencil rather than just paper, by using thicker watercolour paper or by somehow sticking the stencil to the paper securely to avoid the water seeping under it. There is lots of experimenting to be done.