Life Lately - Illness, And Fatigue With A Couple Of Sparks Of Normality - St. James Stack, Sephora, Shopping And A Few Outfits*

When I published my last post on the 26th August  I was really hopeful that I'd turned the corner both illness and life wise and that I ready to get my blog on and return to regular posting but since this post is going live on 27th October, it's pretty obvious that things went belly up again, so to restart my blogging journey again, I thought I'd do a little life lately post to update you all on where I've been and what I've been up to.

I've got to say that the week following my last post was a good one, I'd been feeling drained and fatigued but I'd be a good girl and tried to conserve my spoons the best I could because I had something exciting to do that I just couldn't miss - a trip to Newcastle!

Now for the majority of people an hours bus journey to the nearest big city is probably a pretty regular occurrence and whilst it's something that I used to do at least every other week, my ailing body now says no, and my trips into town are a lot less frequent than I would like, so as I was doing something a bit more interesting than usual I decided to document my trip with some outfit pics.

What I Wore

Indigo Denim Jeggings - Pep & Co

Blue Blazer / Suit Jacket - SHEIN Curve 

Short Sleeve Navy Blue Striped T-Shirt - SHEIN Curve 

Chunky Labradorite Stone Necklace - SHEIN

Adidas Court 2.0 Trainers - Navy / White 

Michael Kors Mercer Pebbled Leather Accordion Tote Bag - Admiral

Yes, it's the usual jeans and a top look that I'm so well known for but with the addition of some fabulous navy and white stripes, and a lightweight blazer - it definitely gave out some continental vibes, teamed up with some all be it new retro style trainers (note to self break your trainers in a bit before you wear them for a long period of time!) and a coordinating tote bag for all my junk - I created an easy, practical and comfortable outfit that was ideal for a warm early September day.

So I went to Newcastle for a mooch around the shops and for something to eat, but the real purpose of my visit was to meet up with one of my oldest friends Helen - she's lived in Stoke on Trent for a long time now and I don't see her anywhere nearly enough, but she came up north for a few days, and come hell or high water I was going to spend some time with her.

After a little look around the shops we headed up towards the cathedral on the hill, St. James' Park of course, home of Newcastle United as Helen wanted to get a few bits from the club shop and the we went for some lunch.

There are so many great places to eat in Newcastle but one if the newest venues opening in mid August is St. James' Stack Presented By Sela, that stands right opposite St. James' Park, next to the Metro station.

If your unfamiliar with the concept of the Stack it's basically a whole load of shipping containers combined to create a haven for bars and street food stall - there are a couple throughout the north east with another couple to come including one in the new Pilgrims Place development in Newcastle city centre.

What makes St' James' Stack special though is that it's Newcastle United themed from the toilets, to the signage to the planters, everything is black white and the lasses haven't been forgotten either. Whilst it's exclusively for Newcastle United fans on a home match day, everyone and their dog is welcome at any other times. There are big screens for the football, quiz nights, karaoke, and live music (there was a fabulous guitarist and singer performing when we were there), so whether you're a football fan or not it's a great asset to the city.

Whilst the entertainment is a nice touch the big selling point for The Stack is obviously the food and drink, there are loads of street food stalls selling everything from burgers and pizzas, to Greek food and Korean corn dogs, to Mexican food, BBQ, bao buns, Indian food, and even duck fries, and theres even a coffee shop if you want a pastry fix. There really is something for everyone, and what I really like is that everyone you're with can have something different so you don't need to worry about finding one restaurant to please everyone.

There is loads of shared seating both upstairs and downstairs but we went upstairs where it was a little bit quieter (it was pretty busy for a Tuesday afternoon) and after having a little look around we decided to try some Indian street food at Ok Please! which is owned by the same people who own Dabbawal in Jesmond and in city centre. We both went for the lunch menu which was a main, a side and drink, so I went for the Indian Vegan Burger, with the Masala Fries, and the Mango Lassi which was £14. There was some proper spice to the burger which came with spicy chutney, but the real star was the Masala Fries, crispy french fries topped with crispy onions, and the most amazing spicy garlic sauce, my tongue was definitely tingling and the mango lassi hit the spot perfectly - fruity and super creamy.

After we'd eaten we were in no hurry to leave, it was a lovely afternoon, we were enjoying the music, the vibes, and dog spotting so we decided to get a drink from one of the numerous bars that the stack has to offer. There are 6 different bars in the Stack complex offering everything from draught beers, and spririts to specially created cocktails, we went to Crowd Cantina a Brazilian themed bar and got this fabulous cocktail which I believe was a limited edition which contained lots of citrus and fruit flavours and Absolut Hunni vodka, think amped up Lockets throat sweets - it was pricy but it was pretty strong and it was a decent serving.

I don't think it's the cheapest place to eat or drink in Newcastle but the vibes are good, and if you want food, drink and entertainment all under one roof, then I think it's a great place to go with friends or family, and if you're a Newcastle fan especially on a match day it's a must with guests and former players all adding to the pre match build up. All in all a good day, good food, a good look around the shops, and most importantly time spent with a good friend that I really don't see enough of.

By the time I got home though that's when everything predictably started to go wrong, my feet wore sore thanks to my new trainers, and I just felt as though my body was seizing up. The saying no pain, no gain certainly applies in my case and it's so frustrating that doing something that I enjoy leads to so much pain and discomfort, it was 100% worth it but  I literally suffered from exacerbated joint and muscle pain for about the next week, thankfully I rallied a bit for my mams birthday, before falling victim to a horrid, horrid flu like cold that literally lasted for about a fortnight. I even did a few covid tests to be sure but it was just a late summer cold / flu thing that again lead me to miss on things that I wanted to do.

September saw the opening of two brand spanking new Sephora stores in the north east, one in Newcastle and one in the Metro Centre - whilst I would have loved to have gone on opening weekend, there was no way that I could queue up overnight, or deal with huge crows, so I tried to go the week after and since the cold still wasn't budging I didn't end up going until the 7th October.

Again in celebration of me properly leaving the house I decided to take a couple of outfit pictures, again similar vibes to the previous look, but with some different jeans (I do love skinnys but I'm trying something new), a splash of animal print, a smaller more lightweight bag, and the same now broken in trainers

What I Wore

Navy Blue Blazer / Suit Jacket - SHEIN Curve 

Navy Blue Animal Print Raglan Sleeve Top - SHEIN Curve 

 YOURS Curve Ruby Indigo Blue Straight Leg Jeans - YOURS Clothing

Labradorite Heart Necklace - SHEIN

Adidas Court 2.0 Trainers - Navy / White

Kate Spade New York Cameron Street Lucie Crossbody Bag - Blazer Blue 

So after my earlier trip I decided to go to the Metro Centre store, partially for convenience (I could get a lift and my mam could wait in the car) but mainly because the new Metro Centre Sephora is apparently a bit bigger and stocks more brands than the Newcastle one.

There were a couple of things that I wanted but to be honest the shop had already been well ravaged some of tester eyeshadows etc. were wrecked and there were quite a few bits out of stock. So I ended up just getting a few lip bits. I've wanted to try the Laneige Lip Sleeping mask for a while now so I grabbed one of those and the matching lip balm, and I also got another one of the Glossier Balm Dotcom salves this time in Mango, which tastes incredible. I also had a little look at the well ravaged Sephora Collection eyeshadows and picked up Silverstorm which a gorgeous sparkly silver / grey perfect for the party season

What I Bought 

Laneige Lip Sleeping Mask - Sweet Candy - 20g - £19

Laneige Lip Glowy Balm - Sweet Candy - 10g - £16

Glossier Mango Balm Dotcom Universal Salve- 15ml - £14

Sephora Collection Colorful Eyeshadow - Shimmer - 601 Silverstorm - 1g - £7.99

I really wanted one of the Rare Beauty Melting Blushers but shade I wanted was out of stock - so I may have ordered it online from the My Sephora Sale alongside my free reward product - every cloud as they say. There was a lot of stuff in store that I fancied trying but I'm finding it really hard to justify spending money on make up and skincare especially at the moment when I have so much. I'm going to have a bit of a clear out and get rid of a few bits that I don't use anymore then maybe a can justify another purchase or two. We really are spoilt for choice in the north east now when it comes to beauty what with two Sephoras, Flannels Beauty, H Beauty, and the new look Fenwick Beauty Haul, it's a great time to be a beauty junkie.

After my Sephora visit  I popped into Primark for but again I didn't really get too much, a top for Mummy Lou and some winter boots, I just can't find my size in anything I like lately, it's so frustrating - I managed to get a Hello Kitty & Friends sweatshirt when I was in Newcastle, but the same jumper in the Metro Centre, wasn't available in anything above a medium, it so frustrating going in there at the moment as a curvier girl. Even though I was only in the Metro Centre for about an hour and a half my body rebelled again and I spent another few days in pain and hobbling around but again I'll still say it was worth it for allowing me to feel like a 'normal' person for even a small amount of time.

Although I didn't buy much in Primark I have been doing a little bit of online shopping lately, including some Christmas shopping - where on earth has this year gone? I have bought a few bits from SHEIN, in some peoples eyes not ideal I know but they have my size and its really affordable - yes some items can be hitty missy but I've certainly had more better quality items (including some bits in my OOTD's) than rubbish ones, the Yours jeans that you can see above, and I've bought a few beauty bits including this recent package from Lush.

I don't honestly buy that much from Lush now I just can't really justify the prices most of the time now but I couldn't resist ordering these two blast from the past items. I would say IYKYK but if not I'll explain anyway. First up the white tub, Lush Cocoa Butter Hand & Body, a nod to time the Lush founders, spent with The Body Shop founder, the late Anita Roddick, and a almost exact interpretation of The Body Shop's original Cocoa Butter Hand & Body Lotion - one sniff of this and I was taken back to the 80's, Kiwi Lip Balm, Japanese Washing Grains, Dewberry, Fuzzy Peach, Green Apple and Cocoa Butter. The smell is nothing like anything else cocoa butter scented that you've ever tried and that's why it's so nostalgic.

Talking of nostalgia if you remember the very early days of Lush and even as far back as the Cosmetics To Go days then you'll be familiar with Skinny Dip Shower Gel. Originally released in 1995 was originally marketed as a white chocolate shower gel but it's actually so much more than that. The scent is perfect for the colder months, with a slight white chocolate undertone, it contains spicy cloves, cedarwood and exotic ylang ylang, it creamy warming, and again it takes my back to a different place - At £16 for the shower gel and £20 for the body lotion, this wasn't a cheap haul but it was well worth it for the memories.

So I've done a bit of online shopping, I've picked up the odd thing, mainly beauty dupes in Home Bargains, B&M and Aldi, and I've spent a lot of time indoors again. My flu jab knocked me for 6 and it's fair to say that I'm not looking forward to my covid booster next month but when you're clinically vulnerable it has to be done. My mam has had flu too and thankfully it didn't bother her at all which is just as well as to be honest she's had enough going on. She had a slight fall, nothing major at the start of September, the odd bruise here and there but nothing to worry about, then earlier this month she started having some pain in back and hip, so she went to see her GP who sent her for an X-Ray, she ended up having to go the main hospital in Durham which was obviously a bit of a faff, but she's been told that she has a tiny fracture in her hip / femur, it's just where a ligament has pulled off a little bit of bone. So now we wait - she's going to have to see someone in orthopaedics at the fracture clinic when they decided what to do. Since she has a hip replacement if it's minor enough they may decide to just leave it as is, and maybe give her a brace, and painkillers, or worse case scenario they may need to go in and operate. So we are really playing the waiting game, it's awful seeing her in pain, but I know she doesn't want surgery so what will be, will be.

It always seem to be the way in this house if it's not one thing it's another, my mam is convinced we or the house is curserd! So that's where I am and that's where I've been I've probably left loads out but this post is already way too wordy as it is. I'm back and I'm online for now at least I've got a couple of posts planned over the next week including a little nails of the day and the next instalment of my empties catch up, so if you're still here thanks for sticking around and don't forget to follow me elsewhere on social media via the links in my sidebar x 

*This Post Contains Affiliate And Non Affiliate Links

AD / PR / AFF. - Foodie Friday - Quick. Healthy And Easy Meals With Love Yourself*

I love cooking, I love being in the kitchen and I love the sense of accomplishment that you feel when you've just made a fabulous meal for scratch. If I had time and energy I would be working my way through every recipe book that I own, but let's be realistic life gets in the way sometimes and you don't always the time or the energy, to prepare a meal or to even go to the supermarket. I don't know about you but when I'm having one of the those days and even weeks, I just grab the first thing in the freezer, the fridge or the cupboard, to fulfil my need for food, and 9 times out 10 the things that I pick aren't that healthy or nutritious.

Now you've probably heard of one of the many food boxes that you can that contain all the ingredients that you need to make a few days worth of main meals, I personally subscribe to one and I think that they are really good for meal planning, and for solving the age old dilemma about what to have for dinner, but whilst you can select quicker recipes on average each one takes about half and hour to make, and for most of them you do actually need a few culinary skills, not only that but as I say they generally only contain the ingredients for a few main meals so you still to brave the supermarket for your other two meals and the other things that help you feel satisfied.

They are still good, and they definitely have their place, but did you know that you can have a full days worth of freshly prepared meals delivered straight to your door - no work and barely no preparation needed? Well you can, and it's all courtesy of a company called Love Yourself, who deliver freshly cooked, nutritionally balanced, healthy, gourmet standard meals direct to your kitchen.

They full comprehensive, and easy to understand and use website gives you the choice of around 15 different plans based on nutritional needs are dietary requirements, including Vegetarian, Performance, Keto, Dairy Free, Pescatarian, Halal Balanced, Gluten Free, and a basic Balanced diet option.

Once you've selected your meal type - on most diets you can then select a calorie option depending on whether or not you want to lose weight or just eat an average days calorie intake. Once you've selected that you can then decided when your want to receive your food, you can choose anything from one days worth, to five, to six days worth, to Monday to Friday, for four weeks, and eight weeks and Monday to Saturday for both both four and 8 weeks. You can buy a day or two to try the plan or you can cut out the stress and the meal planning, and order yourself a full 8 weeks of food.

Most boxes contain a breakfast, a lunch, a dinner, and two snacks and whilst you don't have the option of selecting individual meals the menus are posted the week before, and if you contact Love Yourself both when your placing your initial order and after with dislikes or allergies etc. providing they have at least 48 hours notice they will try their best to substitute unwanted meals.

Now the lovely people at Love Yourself kindly sent me two days worth of meals to try. The meals I was sent were from the Vegetarian range, and I was send the 1500 calories a day option, which was priced at £25 a day. Created by a chef and a nutritionist, all of the meals in the plan contain fresh locally sourced ingredients, and none of the food is processed and none of it contains preservatives. They also contain all the nutrients you would need for one day and slow release carbohydrates for increased energy

If your lucky enough to live in certain areas of London or Bristol then you can get your meals delivered freshly every day, but don't worry if like me, you live elsewhere in mainland UK, then your meals will be delivered via DPD, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Now I received my box on a Tuesday, and as you can it was very well packaged. My meals came in sturdy outer box, which was lined with thick corrugated cardboard, and contained some ice packs. Once you've received them the meals should be be put in the fridge and should be eaten with 2 or 3 days. Some of the meals can be frozen but Love Yourself say they won't taste as good or as fresh as they should. 

All of the outer packaging is recyclable, and the meal containers which are made out of a fibre like, cardboard are fully recyclable and compostable.

This is the menu that I received and as you can see below, the food packaging features full ingredients, and nutritional information and if you use My Fitness Pal, you can scan the meals directly into the app. I actually use Nutri Check, a calorie counting app, and a lot of the meals are already on the but it's also really easy to add them yourself. I did switch the order of the meals around and I tended to eat the lunches in the evening, and obviously I got my meals on a Tuesday, but I going to just leave the Monday and Tuesday headings, and the other placements to avoid confusion x 

Monday

Breakfast

Baked Apple And Oat Cake With Blueberry Yogurt

First meal, first breakfast, and it was something familiar for me yogurt! I eat yogurt pretty much every morning, so this was a usual start to the day. The yogurt itself was a nice thick, blueberry flavoured greek yogurt, with real fresh blueberries mixed in to it. There was no real sweetness like you get with a lot of mass, supermarket yogurts, it tasted natural, and you could really taste the flavour of the blueberries.

Alongside the yogurt there was a piece of apple and oat cake. It was a very dense, very moist piece, of gluten free cake, it contained gluten free oats, apple, coconut, agave syrup, eggs and sunflower seeds. Agin it wasn't overly sweet, you could really taste the ingredients particularly the real apple, and the coconut, and the sunflower seeds gave it a nice crunch. 

I've got to say that I not normally that full after eating my breakfast but this was a really filling and tasty start the day, and it was fun dipping the cake in the yogurt.

Morning Snack

Sweet Potato Hummus

I've got to admit that I wasn't quite ready for the mid morning snack, and I was still a bit full from my breakfast but this really was a revelation. Using sweet potatoes instead of chickpeas, blended with red pepper, and the usual hummus ingredients of garlic, salt, oil and tahini. This smooth textured dip was amazing! It was slightly sweeter than normal hummus, but you could really taste the garlic, and sesame paste. Despite been packaged for around 24 hours the carrot sticks were real still fresh and crunchy. This would normally be a lunch for me instead of a snack but again it was really fresh and tasty, and I'm definitely going to be trying to recreate this in my kitchen.

Lunch

Tofu Tikka Masala With Rice & Goji Berries 

Now, although this was officially a lunch, I prefer to eat my main meal at night so I switched this one. Although the majority of meals can be served as it, some like this need to be heated. So although you can put them in the oven for speed I popped this the microwave for 3 minutes. First thing it smelled really good and it contained tofu and I love tofu! It contains big chunks of tofu, that had held it shape and hadn't gone mushy, as well as onions, peppers, courgettes, tomatoes, goji berries, and cashews, all in a mildly spiced, subtle coconut sauce, served alongside some white rice.

I probably overly microwaved so the rice was a touch dry, but the masala itself was perfect, with a slightly sweet, mildly spicy tomato forward sauce, it was a really nice mix of textures with softness of the tofu and the veg, and the slightly chewy, tartness of the goji berries, and the crunch of the cashews. Size it was about the same as an average ready meal, but it tasted so much fresher and again I felt full.

Afternoon Snack 

Chocolate Brownie

Ah chocolate! As as self confessed chocoholic - I was so pleased to see something chocolate related in my box. Now this is a brownie but not what would you probably expect in terms of sweetness and texture. This is a healthier brownie, and it's gluten free. Containing eggs, coconut milk, dark chocolate, almond flour, and dried dates, again it was very moist, very solid, very dense, very small and almost fudge like in appearance.

It had a really good dark chocolate flavour, and at the same time it had a slightly fruity flavour from the dates. Again it wasn't too sweet, but it was very rich, and it delivered that perfect chocolate hit. If you've ever eaten something like a Naked bar, or a chocolate protein bar, then this is pretty similar taste wise. I actually saved this for my evening snack because I like something sweet before bed.

Dinner 

Nectarine, Mozzarella & Broad Bean Salad

The one thing that I was slightly, worried about with this box was the salads and vegetables - just how fresh would it actually be! Well I needn't have worried, instead of the soggy salad expected, everything was fresh and crunchy. Containing grated mozzarella, fresh broad beans, nectarine, mixed salad leaves, and cherry tomatoes, the salad came with a little separate pot of dressing which contained raspberries, cider vinegar, dijon mustard, basil, and xylitol (a sweetener).

The nectarine was a touch underripe which actually worked really well with the salad, everything was nice and fresh, but by far the star was the dressing sweet yet tart because of the raspberries, with an almost pesto hit, it had a really good flavour but oddly enough it didn't overpower the freshness or flavours of the rest of the salad.

Tuesday

Breakfast

Scrambled Eggs With Homemade County Style Bread

Day 2, and it started with one of my favourite food, scrambled eggs with homestyle bread. The tray contained a small portion of scrambled eggs, which was just eggs, egg whites, olive oil, salt and black pepper, and three smaller end pieces of a country style, brown loaf.

I heated the scrambled egg up in the microwave, and I toasted the bread under the grill, as the pieces were a bit small and thick for my toaster. The eggs were really good, they were well seasoned, and not too dry, and too wet, just the way I like them. Now I shouldn't really be eating wheat but there was so little in both days worth of meals that it wasn't a problem. The bread itself was nice, and slightly sweet, with a dense and chewy texture.

Compared to what I normally eat first thing, this seemed like a lot but I really enjoyed it, and  it made me think that I should really switch up my breakfasts a bit more.

Morning Snack

Sweetcorn & Feta Muffin

Day 2, or egg day as I came to call it, contained with a mid morning snack, and it was what was described as a Sweetcorn and Feta Muffin. Containing sweetcorn, onion, eggs and egg whites, feta cheese, coconut oil, cumin and salt, you could eat it as it was, or like what I did warm it in the microwave for around 20 seconds.

It wasn't a muffin in either of the traditional senses of the word, instead it was more like a crustless quiche, a savoury pudding, or a heavier souffle. It had a lovely creamy texture with pieces of sweetcorn and it had a lovely savoury taste. It wasn't what I expected but I actually really enjoyed it.

Lunch

Meatless Bolognese With Pasta And Cheddar

 There is nothing I love more than a good veggie bolognese, and the lunch (which again I switched with my evening meal) was a good. Accompanied by gluten free penne pasta, the meat free bolognese was full of veg includes tomatoes, onions, carrots, and chickpeas, as well as chunks of vegetable fibre, and soy based, meatless meat, and it was sprinkled with cheddar cheese and sunflower seeds.

With all the traditional Italian herbs, the sauce had a nice sweetness, and a touch of smokiness, and again the textures were a real bonus. It was more of a chunky meat based bolognese than a mince, and the meatless meat was good and added some nice texture, as did the sunflower seeds. As a gluten free pasta aficionado this was a decent pasta, it will never be the same as wheat pasta but it was decent texture wise, it wasn't soggy, it was al dente which was perfect. I really enjoyed it was tasty and filling.

Afternoon Snack

Apple And Banana Slice

Afternoon snack time, and it was another yogurt and cake combo. Again a small piece of very moist, very dense cake made from bananas, apple, coconut milk, eggs, coconut milk, buckwheat flour and agave syrup, alongside a portion of natural yogurt.

As I say it very moist, almost wet, but solid at the same time, you could really taste the nuttiness of the buckwheat flour, with a hint of fresh apple and a lot of real banana flavour. Again the cake worked really well with the tart yet creaminess of the yogurt. I've been thinking while I've been writing this post about how to describe the cake, and the only thing I can think of is if you've eaten any raw desserts, solid, damp, and full of natural flavours.

Dinner

Cumin-Spiced Lentils & Brussel Sprouts

I know it trendy to hate them, and I do know that some people genuinely dislike them, but I'm a huge Brussel sprout fan, I love them steamed, stir fried, roasted, and I even put raw ones into salads so I was really to see them served in another way. This one was another heat and eat meal so I removed the egg and popped it into the microwave for a couple of minutes.

Containing a boiled egg, some nice al dente lentils, Brussel sprouts, onions, leeks, this meal had a lovely slightly tangy flavour coming from the tahini, lemon juice, garlic and olive oil. It was a really unusual but really flavourful, tasty meal, and again it was really filling.

So they were my two days and they were my meals and snacks. All the food have to say was really fresh tasting and the lack of processed food was really evident.

Of the sweet thing, all of the sweeteners were natural, and there wasn't any more added than what was needed, and as a result you could really taste the ingredients, and the fresh fruits. The cakes could possibly be a bit on an acquired taste and texture (Mummy Lou wasn't keen on the textures of the bites that I gave her) but I really enjoyed them as a more healthier, filling alternative, to chocolate, biscuits or even fresh fruit, and it really made me realise just how much sugar I eat even in the savoury thing that I eat.

The main meals and savoury items were very flavourful, again they weren't overly salted, and the seasoning and flavours were perfect for me personally. Something I really I really enjoyed about all the savoury dishes in particular was all the different textures, the crunch from the seeds and berries, to the different textures of the vegetables and pulses.

As I say purely based on food, and ignoring drinks etc. my total calorie count was 1500 or there or there abouts. What really surprised me was just how filling all of the meals actually were, I would normally eat more than 1500 calories a day, and I would usually feel a lot less full, and a lot less satisfied then I did over the course of these two. The quality of the food was really good and every aspect of each meal was really well thought out and I honestly didn't feel as though I was on a 'diet'.

The one drawback of Love Yourself unfortunately is the price,  as I say one days worth of vegetarian 1500 calorie meals is £25 but the more meals you order the more you save, and you can get 5 days worth for £115 and 4 weeks Monday to Friday for £460. You can cancel with 48 hours notice at anytime so you aren't tied in to any contracts, and you only get what you pay for.

It is pricy but you probably could say goodbye to that weekly shop, and the temptations that it brings. If you really are time poor, or energy poor, or if you're unable to cook for yourself though this is a really great idea to get good healthy, fresh food with the effort. I personally found that those two days really helped to think about food in a slightly different way, I still love cooking things from scratch but it's made think about ways that I can improve my own diet and way of eating, and it's a really good kickstart to a new healthy eating regime for me.

The Love Yourself website is full of advice, and information not only on how their plans work, but also generally on how to live better, and eat more healthily and more consciously, and if you want to try it for yourself you can use my link or quote Louise H at checkout for 20% off your first order. Let me know if you have any questions and I'll be back soon with another post x 

*This Post An Unpaid Advertisement For Love Yourself. Meals Were Provided For Review And Promotional Purposes. This Post All Contains 2 Affiliate Links And An Affiliate Discount Code

Festive Foodie Friday - Chocolate Bark

Okay, I'm going to apologise for actually calling this recipe, I'm not giving you quantities, a precise method or even the exact ingredients, this "recipe" can be tailored to suit anybody, any occasion and to be honest whatever you have in the cupboard.

If your house is anything like mine at the moment, then it's probably full to bursting point with two things, cheese and chocolate! I guess you could add cheese to this but that would probably be slightly weird! This is a great way of taking a bit of that excess chocolate and transforming into something just that little bit different

Chocolate bark or chocolate slabs as they're often known are everywhere at the moment but they can be quite expensive, which is strange considering how easy they are to make. All you need is some chocolate and some toppings of your choice. Here's how I made mine...

First up line a shallow tin or oven tray with some greaseproof paper or parchment.

Then melt your chocolate, you can use what ever kind of chocolate that you like, I'm using milk chocolate with just a touch of white swirled into it. Always be careful not to overheat your chocolate, and just a tip if your melting white chocolate, add just a touch of coconut oil which seems to stop it going lumpy.

The bulk of my slab is going to be made with milk chocolate, so pour your melted chocolate onto the greaseproof, and spread it evenly with a spatula or a palette knife. You needn't be too precarious about the shape, but try not to make it too thin.

I then swirled my white chocolate through the bark, covering it up slightly to create layers when it breaks.

Then go mad and sprinkle your bark with whatever you fancy here I'm using chopped up pieces of vanilla fudge, pecan nuts, toffee popcorn, white chocolate chips, mini vegetarian friendly marshmallows, popping candy and edible glitter!! Press your toppings down gently into the melted chocolate. When you've pimped your chocolate leave it in a cold place for a few to set (sorry for the lighting change but by the time mine had set it was dark!!)

Once it's set break it up into shards, and then you can either serve it and eat it straight away or you can keep it in an airtight tin, in a cool places for a few days depending on your toppings.

You really can make your bark your own, you could keep it healthy and use dark chocolate, dried fruit, nuts and seeds, or you can make it more adult or dinner party friendly, with a mixture of dark and milk chocolate, with dark chocolate coffee beans, or broken up after dinner mints. It goes with out saying that you could make it completely child friendly and cover it with chocolate beans, chocolate buttons, or jellies, or you could even add broken up biscuits and cookies, and it goes without saying that make a festive bark, and use an orange flavoured chocolate or cover a milk or plain chocolate bark in broken up candy canes, or gingerbread biscuit crumbs, or even pretzel sticks or salted peanuts!

Whatever ingredients that you use though, this is a super quick and easy sweet treat, to make as a treat for the family, as an emergency Christmas gift or as an alternative to the mince pies for Santa x
Don't forget to have a look under the recipes tab just under my blog header to see plenty more festive food ideas and sweet treats x

A Reflective Foodie Friday On A Sunday - Cinder Toffee

Looking back over the years I don't tend to post on November 5th that often, normally when I do it's a tribute to my dad or more personal posts about grief and loss, but this year I decided to do something a little bit different.

Losing someone you love is hard but when it's on a day that people celebrate or that means something to everyone, then it's even harder. On November 5th 2002, I lost my dad very suddenly, and ever since then I've hated Bonfire Night was a passion, every single bang and sparkle of light, brings back memories that quite frankly I don't want to remember.

Life doesn't change for other people though , so I guess you just need to get on with it, and try and embrace it with the best of them. So I'm writing this post, attempting to calm down some very scared kitty cats, looking at the pretty lights outside of the window and trying to remember the happy times.

So many of my good memories of my dad, my grans, and my childhood concern food, and the 5th November is no different, from baked potatoes and beans, to parkin,  and to treacle toffee and cinder toffee, food like fragrance, is intrinsically linked to our feelings and memories.

My mam used to be a big sweet maker, every year she'd make trays of peppermint creams, fudge, coconut ice, rum truffles and cinder toffee for us to eat in the run up to, and at Christmas. When you look at recipes associated with Guy Fawkes night, Cinder Toffee is always somewhere on the list. Cinder Toffee is one of the most names associated with it, at least up north, but you might know it as Hokey Pokey, Puff Candy, or Sponge Candy, or as Honeycomb. Yes it's that brittle, yet chewy toffee, that's full of air bubble, that you'll find in your Crunchie bar.

It's easy enough to buy it on it's own or covered with chocolate but like so many things it's often hard to beat something that's homemade. It isn't the hardest thing to make but you do need to be a bit careful in more ways than one. There are a few different recipes out there but this is our go to.

Cinder Toffee

3 Heaped Tablespoons Of Golden Syrup Or Treacle 

7oz (200g) Caster Sugar

1 1/2oz (40g) Butter

2 Tablespoons Cold Water

1/2 Teaspoon Vinegar

1 Heaped Teaspoon Of Bicarbonate Of Soda

1. Well grease a loaf tin or line with non stick parchment paper  - Okay as you can see this isn't a loaf tin it's a small roasting tin, which on reflection wasn't the best tin to make this in as it ended up a bit thinner then it should have done. You needn't be too precise with size but it's better to make it in a smaller and deeper tin, than a larger shallower one like this one.

2. To make this recipe you really need a good quality heavy bottomed pan, the pan is going to get hot so you want something that's pretty substantial. I'm using a pressure cooker pan here.

Add your sugar, syrup, butter and cold water and heat gently until the sugar is melted, stirring all the time

3. When your sugar has melted, turn up the heat until it reaches a continuous rolling boil. If you have a sugar thermometer your mixture needs to reach 290˚ F or 143˚ C. If you don't have one though don't worry, get yourself a cup of cold water and keep testing the mixture by dripping blobs into the water. The mixture will go through several stages but eventually the mixture will become hard and brittle and snap when you drop it into the water.

4. Once it's reached that stage take the pan off the heat, and add the vinegar and the vinegar and the bicarb, and give it a good stir. It will expand slightly at this stage, and foam and change colour slightly. (Make sure that your bicarbonate of soda isn't too near the expiry date - the longer you have it the more it loses it potency - a new tub will give the best results)

5. Then pour it CAREFULLY in to your tin - Don't be tempted to touch the mix with your hands or taste it - it will be stupidly hot.

6. Then leave your tray in a cool dry place for a few hours until it's set solid. No matter how well you've greased your tin it will still be nigh on impossible to get it out of the tin. I suggest either hitting your cinder toffee with a hammer or careful drop the tray onto the floor to break up your toffee. You won''t get any neat squares with this rough shards are what you should be aiming for.

You can either eat it straight away or you can store it for a few days in a cool, dry airtight tin. It should be the perfect combo of brittle and chewy. You can either eat as is, or you can cover it chocolate, use it with a chocolate fondue, or you can crush it up and use for an ice cream topping, in butter cream or whipped cream in cakes, or in cookies or flapjacks.

This isn't the most dentist friendly treat so watch those crowns and fillings, and brush your teeth after you've gorge. I'm at the dentist this week so this probably wasn't the perfect thing to eat this weekend but I enjoyed it anyways, and sometimes a little bit of what you fancy does you good. What do you call cinder toffee? Let me know in the comments and I hope you have a safe and enjoyable Guy Fawkes night x