Well this week I’ve mainly been….
Detoxing
(Ignore James non detox lunch on the left)
I followed the Nikki Sharp of Stay Sharp and Be Strong
5 day detox programme which costs about £5….if you are considering doing it…just do it, I’ve loved it!
Also running…a lot….now sat with an ice pack on my foot again….
Also admiring the scenery around my mums house
Also clearing my desk after 4 years in the same job….
Yes my locker was full of food!
Also spending time with these little guys….
This is what Bank Holidays were made for….. I usually work them
Leisurely sunny breakfasts
Pub gardens
Girl and boy lunches.
Tea, cake and Bond…. Cake not pictured….
Boys on the sofa….
This week has actually had a few more highlights than last week….cue collective sigh of relief!
Alcoholic dandelion and burdock
Naughty dinner in my favourite chilled bar
Monday night mojitos and brownies
Beach run
Country run
Lunch by the river
Lovely leaving present
Pug jumper, mac purchases and a lovely print. I didn’t buy the picture or the jumper.
Pretty bed at my mums.
I’ve got into a really bad habit of buying my lunch everyday which is bad for both my waistline and my purse!
To combat this last Sunday I made a batch of my favourite healthy, cheap soup. This recipe is not only fat free but budget friendly too. It makes around 8 portions and costs a mere £2ish!
I give you Roasted Butternut Squash and Red Pepper soup. Eat your heart out New Covent Garden Soup Company! I think it is originally adapted from a weight watchers recipe but I have added my own tweaks.
You need….
One Butternut squash
2 red peppers (you can use yellow but red makes in more orange)
2 stock cubes or stock pots or 2 spoons bouillon powder
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsps smoked paprika
1 onion (obviously I felt he wasn’t photogenic enough)
Turn your oven on to about 200 degrees
Whack your squash into a baking tray and put it into the over whole. It will need about 40 mins or so to roast and will look like this when it is cooked through.
Poke him with a sharp knife and if it sinks in easily it’s cooked.
You can make this with unroasted squash but frankly if you have ever peeled and chopped a raw squash you will realised what a total mare that is…. Roasting makes the whole process much easier.
Once the squash is cooked leave it to cool for a bit unless you are a masochist like me and like juggling a burning hot kilo of veg.
Chop your onion and peppers into chunks. Boil the kettle. Get a BIG pan on the hob.
Throw in your veg along with around 2 litres of stock. As well as some salt and your spices
Bring to the boil and simmer until the peppers and onion are tender.
Now wrestle your squash out of his skin and deseed it. Chop the squash flesh roughly.
Chuck that into the pan and leave on a low heat for about 20 mins until its all merged together.
Allow to cool slightly then blend up with a stick blender until it is smooth.
A portion of this contains around 100kcals if you wanted to make it less virtuous you could serve with sour cream or Creme Fraiche but I love it’s spicy kick. This version is quite hot so you may want to adjust the seasonings to your taste.
Let me know if you make it and like it!
Yesterday I had a rubbish day and accidentally may have treated myself to a little bit of mac for the first time in ages.
Enter MSF in ‘adored’ and lipstick in ‘angel’
Angel is a classic soft peachy nude and adored is a gorgeous coral and gold shimmer.
Today we went out for lunch so I obviously had to have a play with both of my new toys….
Here is the finished product and the items used to create it.
No 7 tinted moisturiser.
Bourjois bronzing primer
Look blush in Flirt
Mac MSF in Adored
Mac Paint Pot in Vintage Selection
MUA pallette in Undress me
L’oreal Superliner in Carbon Black
Maybelline Falsies Flares
Mac Lipstick in Angel
Mac Lipgloss in Glamoursun
And the Instagrammed after shot of me in my glasses…. Not a hipster just blind…
I loved this look and it almost survived the gym….
Do you own Adored or Angel? What are your Mac must haves?
Now hands up if you have been to Ikea and had the apple cake?
Yep, yummy right? Now if you haven’t, you should. Or you could just make the version here.
This is mine.
And this is the photo taken from the Ikea website.
The nearest Ikea is an hours drive and despite the fact that we seem to spend our lives there at the moment it’s not quite close enough for my liking.
Having had the cake there once I made it my mission to recreate it. Easy I thought, a quick google showed it wasn’t quite so easy.
So this is my version. I think it might even be better than Ikea’s but what do I know….
Here is what you need….
-150grm plain flour
-50grm butter/marg/butterliscious etc
-30grm caster sugar plus another 100grm
-apples (not cooking) about 8 or so
– cinnamon/ground ginger/nutmeg/cloves
-arrowroot or for flour
-Creme Fraiche/cream to serve
First off add the flour 30grm of sugar and marg to a bowl
-juice and zest of a lemon
Gently rub the butter into the flour with your fingers til it looks like sand
Now get a springform cake pan and press the mixture firmly into the pan base.
Press it up the sides of your pan as well to make a pie type edge.
Pop it in the oven on about 150 degrees for about 10 mins.
When it is done it will look like this.
Now chop up your apples. If you are a stickler you can peel them but erm… I hate peeling stuff! You want them into about centimetre thick slices.
Grab a pan and chuck in about 50grm of butter and 100grm of caster sugar.
Melt them together until the sugar is less granular but not brown.
Throw in your apple and 3 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1 of ground ginger and 1 of nutmeg plus 4 cloves.
Stir it all around and make sure all the apple is coated.
Add the juice and zest of a lemon.
Cook it all down. It will look dry for a while but the juice will come out of the apples as they cook.
Once it looks like this you are ready to add the arrowroot. Mix 1 tablespoon with water into a smooth liquid. Add to the bubbling liquid and stir like mad.
All the liquid should become thick and gloopy.
Now pile your apples into your pie case. Keep the apples under the level of the pastry so that they don’t stick to the pan.
Bake on 150 again for about 20 mins.
Take it out and scoff it with cream…. Nom nom….
Let me know if you make it!
Well if I thought not much happened last week then this week was much worse!
I might have to stop these fascination insights into my life until I actually start doing something other than moving stuff and working.
Make up storage. Done. Despite rediscovering all this lot, this week I’ve mainly worn 2 products.
New sofa. Plus cat and man. They aren’t new.
Adding glitter to photos! Hello glitter nebula.
Triple shot Starbucks.
Trying to mend a running injury with rosé.
Still ran on it though….
Rediscovering these 2 tunes.
Emergency Milkybar
Sunny Friday evenings.
Hitting 1000 page views on here. This may take a negative hit after this post!
As I’m in the process of moving all my horrible possessions from one place to another I thought I’d indulge in a bit of fantasy room planning.
Don Draper’s series 6 Mad Men apartment. Seriously how cool is this flat? Never mind it would be worth several billion dollars today and is in New York… It’s the feel of the place. Cool but cosy, minimalist and welcoming and very cutting edge for the time period.
I don’t think Megan has 300 lipsticks/nail varnishes/blushes and I’m sure Don doesn’t have 6 pairs of near identical deck shoes….actually I bet he does….
Anyway this isn’t particularly the style I have in my house but I do like the feel of it so here are my picks to add a Mad Men vibe to your home.
I’m also sure that egg chair would look lovely covered in ginger fur and those cushions make idea scratching posts….
Zou Bisou Bisou……
Well this week has been pretty uninspiring, I’ve been ill and moving house still.
Here is the best of the bunch….
Doing my hair properly and wearing show orchid to work for the day.
Cat v Moth. There was a huge moth in the bedroom the other night, James decided to try to awaken the cat’s hunting instinct…..basically a 1st Maine Coone was terrified by the flying thing then tried to cuddle it….soppiest animal ever!
In other news we went to Ikea. This make up storage was designed by Magnus something or other. This giant ginger cat is also called Magnus. Heaven sent box.
James created me this funky jewellery holder from one of our ornaments.
He’s the cornerstone of my little dressing table area (the one bit of the flat which is sorted)
Finally getting an iPhone and downloading the Nike+ running app. I’ve run nearly 20k in August, some not logged on this app but its brilliant.
What wasn’t brilliant was running 5km when I wasn’t feeling great yesterday morning. But still the beach looked pretty.
Healthy rice cakes for breakfast pre late shift.
It’s just gone 5am and here is my view. I’m about to go to work and the sun is just coming up…..pretty eh?
So what’s been baking your biscuits this week? Do you love flat pack as much as my cat?
Today I’m feeling pretty sorry for myself. I’m moving house and waiting to start a new job so life is a little tense at the moment. Yesterday I spent the day packing my flat into boxes (or the bin) while my lovely mum tried to match up all my odd socks…. In typical me style I’ve woken up this morning with no voice and been awake since 5am thanks to an over active brain and some seagulls having a party. I’m working til 9pm tonight and generally feel full of woe!
So here is what I’d rather be doing (images all from we heart it)
Building a blanket fort
Spending all day in my PJs (hell if I looked like this girl in them I’d go to work in them)
Watching some feel good films
Having tomato soup and a cheese toastie for lunch
Having marshmallows, hot chocolate and pic and mix sweets.
Followed by a bubble bath
Then mac and cheese for dinner!
The cheese and sugar theme may explain why I don’t look so good in my pyjamas! But there you have in, instant comfort in a few easy steps….I’m hoping James will recreate that blanket fort for me on Sunday…..
What’s your cure for feeling sorry for yourself?
Is mac and cheese the cure for all ills?
Samanthadid 