Strange Times

A Fluffy Sheep Hot Water Bottle - Just Because :)

Hey Guys, it's been a while hasn't it. I did a bit of a disappearing act and I'm sorry for not updating you all sooner, but after a little bit of toing and froing, for the first time since the 31st January I'm back with something for you to read.

I guess this is really just an update, and explanation post as to where I've been and how in these pretty uncertain times I'm going to be moving forward.

To put it mildly I've been poorly, sick, I had a horrid chest infection, the only thing that came out of my mouth for over three weeks was a pitiful squeak, and if that wasn't bad enough I then developed viral conjunctivitis. Thankfully a course of antibiotics cleared my eyes and my vision, but despite a course of oral antibiotics the chest infection refused to budge, oh and did I mention Mummy Lou had the same virus. 

Yeah it's been fun, thankfully I don't think it was "the virus" but I can't be sure and it shows exactly how even a bog standard flu bug can effect people who are vulnerable, I've still got a bit of a cough which is sending my own personal paranoia into overdrive but at least I have a bit of experience of self isolating now - I probably only left the house twice in nearly 6 weeks, I went to see my GP, the chemist, a couple of shops, oh and my local hospitals Urgent Care Centre.

Yes, just as I was starting to feel better I stood on a piece of glass, which went straight into the ball of my right foot. The staff were amazing, I was x-rayed, had it all cleaned and dressed, and was in my way home in less than 3 hours - alas it still hurts quite a bit so I may need to go and see about it, but that's something that I'm trying to avoid at the moment.

So what have I been doing, apart from coughing and spluttering that is? well I've been practising self care, I've been snuggling up with a nice hot water bottle, I've been reading books I've wanted to read for sometime, and I've been trying out lots of lovely face masks. 

I also celebrated a couple of things - Shrove Tuesday, with a mountain of gluten free pancakes, and of course my blogs 13th birthday, which was a bit of a milestone that unfortunately I couldn't share with you, and of course we had one horrible day of snow!

I did a little bit of online shopping and I treat myself to some new shoes, and a few of the NEXT limited edition beauty boxes, and I was also eventually overcome by the power of advertising on Facebook and I treat myself to a box of fudge from The Ochil Fudge Pantry - all I can say is YUM, my Grandma used to make tablet and my mam used to make fudge, and the bars I had took me straight back to my childhood!

When I've had the energy I have also been trying to do a little bit of blog work, I'm now so far behind with my Glossybox unboxings it's untrue but thanks to this little hiatus I've had plenty of time to try most of the products in every box, so I'm going to be bringing those unboxings and reviews right up to date just as soon as I can, as well as sharing lots of other content and reviews with you.

I know a lot of people are quite hesitant about posting quite light hearted things at the moment but personally it's what I need. Life is so scary and serious at the moment, I think we need a bit of light hearted relief so I'm just going to be posting my usually beauty, lifestyle and fashion content, all be it with little to no hauls. 

I'm not making light of things at all though, we've made the decision to stay away from my 89 year old Godmother, which is breaking my heart, and from this weekend myself and Mummy Lou will be self isolating for as long as it takes, my mum is over 70 and has several long term health conditions, and with my own health being so precarious lately, we're going to be following guidelines and staying indoors where we can. So providing I stay fit and healthy, I'll have plenty of down time so proper posting should resume soon x In the meantime keep washing your hands, follow government advice, and try and stay as safe as you can x Thanks again to all you for sticking with me and I will see you all soon x 

Foodie Friday - What I Ate In March 2014 And A Mini Review x

I debated whether or not to do this post for a little while because you've already seen quite a few things that I've eaten in March but I thought hell why not, there are still plenty of new and yummy things to show you.

First up pancakes, I was a bit poorly on Shrove Tuesday so and me mum ended up having our pancaked on the following Sunday. I used my basic recipe and served them with lemon and lime juice, maple syrup and whipped cream, not overtly diet friendly but oh so good.

When your not feeling very well you crave comfort food, so last month I shared with you my Mum's Leek And Potato Soup Recipe, which to me is quite simply a hug in a bowl x

As you probably gathered from my last Foodie Friday post I'm a bit of a fan of eggs, and I ate an awful lot of them in March but I don't think I ate them the same way twice. One of my favourite ways of eating eggs is to serve them softly boiled. Nothing can beat a soft boiled egg with hot buttered toast soldiers but an idea from the domestic goddess Nigella Lawson is well worth trying.

Asparagus - Simply boil or steam some fresh, in season asparagus, drizzle with a little butter and a sprinkling of salt, and dip it in the soft and yielding egg - yum.

You can't get any more comfort food orientated than baked beans on toast. I'm having baked beans and vegetarian sausages here, alongside some mushrooms and an egg gently fried in Fry Light, all the taste but a lot less calories.

Another one of my favourite egg based comfort food is scrambled eggs - here I've added a little bit of spring onion for a bit more flavour and I popped them on top of a toasted Udi's gluten free savoury bagel.

Last month I shared two of my more recent eggy favourites with you - Chickpea Dahl or Curry Loaf

and my super easy Egg Fried Rice, which I'm serving here with vegetarian sausage casserole.

I can see myself making both of these recipes on a pretty regular basis now. The egg fried rice makes a more exciting alternative to normal boring rice and the curry loaf is really, tasty and filling and is ideal for main meals or snacking.

Something that I already make on a regular basis is my Indonesian Rice With Tofu. This is basically curried egg fried rice with tofu. It moreish filling and super yummy - I've just sprinkled it with a few peanuts here for some extra protein.

Unfortunately because I felt so poorly for most of March I didn't really had the opportunity to try as many new recipes as I would have liked but I did try out this one.

I posted this picture on instagram and I asked if people could guess what I was making, and surprisingly someone got it right - the answer? Mushy Pea Curry of course- this is another recipe that comes from Slimming World. It sounds really odd but believe me it works, a couple of tins of mushy peas, a tin of baked beans, some passata and whatever veg you like, and you just some spices and curry powder. The amount that I made served me and Mummy Lou, 3 times each. The first lot we had with pasta

the second lot with Slimming World chips (my latest addiction).

and the final lot went in the freezer for when we can't be bothered to make something from scratch. It sounds a bit of an odd recipe and concept but it really does work, you can add whatever vegetables that you like or even chick or Quorn pieces like I've used here.

The next couple of things that I've eaten and enjoyed over the last month are also inspired by Slimming World

Sweet Freedom Choc Shot is one of the most talked about things that I've seen lately. Its basically liquid chocolate. It's vegan and gluten free and is made from fruit extracts, cocoa, natural chocolate flavour, rapeseed oil and water, and it's only 14 calories per teaspoon. It's primary purpose is to make hot chocolate, all you do is stir a teaspoon or so into a mug of hot milk and drink.

You can also use it as a spread or as a drizzle. I've been stirring a teaspoon or so into natural yogurt for a healthier alternative to chocolate mousse

and I've been stirring some into my porridge.

From what I gather this product is something that you either love or hate. A lot of people say that it isn't creamy enough or sweet enough  and that it just tastes like cheap chocolate but I disagree. I get a lovely almost fruity, dark chocolate hit to everything that I add it to, it really helps with my chocolate cravings and a little goes a long way.

Where I think this comes into it's own though is when it's used as it was originally intended in hot chocolate. I hate, hate, hate low fat, low calorie hot chocolates, I just don't get on with them at all, I'm not a fan of artificial sweetener so that's probably why but a teaspoon or so of choc shot makes a lower fat and calorie hot chocolate that tastes as good as the full fat version. Sweet Freedom Choc Shot isn't cheap but it's been a real diet saviour for me over the last month.

Something else that I purchased, after seeing various instagram pics, tweets and blog posts is this..

I'm not a fan of green tea at all, and in the past I've drank it purely because it's healthy not because I've actually enjoyed it but after trying this I may be swayed. Twinings Caramelised Apple Green Tea is one of their new widely hyped sweet green teas. I succumbed to the hype and gave it a go and whilst I think the apple flavour could have been a tiny bit stronger, I'm actually really enjoying it. As long as you don't over brew it, you can taste the apple without any bitterness. I'd love to try some more flavoured green teas so if you can recommend any don't taste of green tea, leave me a comment and let me know xx

The final two things that I ate in March were about as far away for slimming, dieting and healthy eating as you could get - well they both contain fruit and veg but that's about it lol  I'm talking about Mothers Day of course. My mum actually prefers something home cooked rather than eating out, so I made her a fat rich two course meal.

For the main course I made Broccoli, Stilton And Walnut Pasta, I've made this loads of times and it's a real favourite, just saute the broccoli, some garlic and some peppers, than add some chopped walnuts, some Stilton and some cooked pasta, and stir it all together.

It could have been worse I guess, I used Fry Light instead of Olive Oil, and I tried to limit the amount of Stilton and Walnuts but for the dessert there was no skimping it was a full on calorie fest.

Homemade gluten free chocolate, banoffee pie - I used chocolate digestives and butter to make the base, which I then filled with a tin of Carnation Caramel, and sliced bananas before topping with whipped cream, bananas sprinkled with lemon juice to stop them from going brown and grated chocolate. It was so, so good and so worth consuming almost my daily calories in one piece. Sometimes you just need to splurge and this was what my mum wanted so that was what we had :)

So they were some of the things that kept my tummy full throughout March. I'm hoping to experiment a little bit more in April, and maybe try out some more new recipes, and I'm also planning to tuck into a few Easter treats, so who knows what delights I'll come up with it x Thanks for reading and I'll see you tomorrow with the big reveal of my Kardashian Beauty winner xx

Goods and Bads

Goods

* Lost a pound this week I am sooo happy with this I have had such a bad week food wise but I've still managed to lose :)
* Just found out I have won the lovely Lydia's giveaway prize - thank you xx - we were already going to exchange some goodies anyway so I am super happy :)
* My mum bought me a few bits today - expect a post tomorrow xx
* Pancakes - its pancake day tomorrow - yummy, yummy gluten free ones taste just as good :)

Bads

* I've gone over my spending diet for this month I bought something today and on ebay yesterday - whoops!!
* Make up going off - an unopened sealed Maybelline lipstick in 103 Beige Shimmer - I opened it yesterday it not only reeked but its had started to separate - yuck
* Feeling yuck - I have had a really bleurgh weekend - I just felt yuck and I had a major insomnia issue last night and an insane itching attack :(

Happy Pancake Day

YumYum Pancakes In My Tum!

Well yesterdy was Shrove Tuesday and for the first time ever we managed to make successful gluten free pancakes which were scrummy! I managed to integrate them into my calorie controlled diet which was fab too! What am I giving up for Lent - calories!