Relax Evening Essentials

01.29 in essentials, evening, granola, homemade, Paid, relax

Every once in a while, I enjoy simply putting everything to the side and having a nice relaxing evening. Although I am guilty of always putting things off and saying Ill do it later quite frequently, on little occasions I wont worry about it and forgive myself.

During winter, these little pampering sessions are a perfect way to spend my nights. Dont get me wrong, I love the odd few in summer. But when its all wet and cold outside, slipping into a warm bath and reading a good book or snuggling up to watch netflix with your favourite blanket and a cup of tea is amazing and comforting.

So today, seeing as I enjoyed one last night, I thought Id share with you what I do and what products I use on these evenings.

First of all, I usually run a bath. This may be a little strange but personally, Im not really a fan of a lot of bath products. I occasionally put a sprinkle of bath salts or some bubbles but apart from that my baths dont usually look very interesting. 

Whilst the bath is running, Ill wash my face and put on a face mask. These two are my favourites - the Botanics Ionic Clay Mask and Avons Clearskin Pore Penetrating Mineral Mask

Ill then use a home made body scrub which consists of brown sugar and coconut oil. Simply melt 1tbsp of oil in the microwave and then mix in 2-3 tbsp of sugar.

Once I get out of the bath, Ill go a head and finish my skincare routine and then apply Soap & Glorys Heel Genuis and Soap & Glorys Butter Yourself.

Of course it wouldnt be a relaxing evening without putting on some cosy socks and lighting some candles. 

Next, I usually paint my nails with one of my favourite colours : Maybellines Colorshow in 107 watery waste or 77 nebline (which I dont think they do any more), Rimmel Londons Lycra Pro in 397 beige babe, Barry M in 304 mint green or Barry Ms Chameleon in 331 chameleon blue.

Then Ill spend the rest of the night either reading my current book or watching netflix. 

What are your favourite ways to spend a relaxing evening? 

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Homemade Granola

00.15 in a, batch, birthday, cupcakes, granola, homemade, of, Paid

Breakfast is my far my most favourite meal of the day! I could have breakfasty foods for every meal. To be honest there are some days where I have. Having a sweet tooth means that I enjoy the sweeter options, but dont get me wrong I still love a good egg. Although I said I like sweeter options I almost always go for healthier options rather than the sugar loaded cereals or pancakes. So, I have a topping of least 2 pieces of fruit whether it be on porridge, weetabix, pancakes or my of all time favourite - granola and Greek yoghurt. 

But, and Im sure you have heard it before, most store bought granolas have more sugar than needed. As a result of this I did exchange granola for muesli for a short time, which is still a delicious breakfast but granola just tops it because its crunch. But a few weeks ago, I dont know why the thought had never occurred to me before, I thought Id give a go at making my own.

Id like to say I nicely gathered together a few things I either look for in store bought granola or things I add on top, but it was more like I basically raided the cupboards and threw a bunch of stuff in a bowl. After making it a good few times and tweaking little things, I thought I share my recipe with you. Of course, the ingredients dont have to be strictly followed as you can change things to suit your preferences, for example if you dont like walnuts go for almonds or cashews, if you dont like raisins go for dried cranberries or goji berries.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups oats
• 1 cup walnuts, crushed
• 1/3 seeds, I had a mixture of sunflower, pumpkin and flax
• 1 cup of raisins
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tbsp honey
• 4 tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

Yields around 6-10 servings

1. Preheat your oven to 160°c. Combine all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

2. Melt your coconut oil in a pan or in the microwave. If you are using a microwave, melt it in bursts of 30 seconds. Once it has almost melted add in your honey and return the pan or microwave for another 10-20 seconds.

3. Pour the coconut oil and honey onto your dry ingredients and mix well.

4. Pour the mixture into a baking tray or dish and place in the oven for 10-20 minutes, mix the granola at around 7 minutes. Check after 10 minutes and return to the oven if you want it to be crisper. I prefer mine when it is in between muesli and granola, you get the best of both worlds (and the Hannah Montana song just popped into my head).

5. Once it has baked, allow to cool before transferring the mixture to sealed container. It should last for up to 2 weeks.

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