Feta and Veg Cous Cous Easy Healthy Delicious

09.08 in and, banana, bread, cous, delicious, easy, feta, free, healthy, oil, Paid, veg

Although I love my soups, casseroles and roasts (we cant forget the roasts), the majority of the time I go for quick meals. I love being able to walk into my kitchen when hunger strikes and throw something together there and then rather than waiting around because that always leads to nibbling and getting agitated. But when I say a quick meal, I dont mean a packet of noodles, beans on toast, or a sandwich. Thats why Im sharing this simple dish, which is one of my go-to meals. Including both preparing and cooking it takes in total around 7 minutes - fantastic!

Ingredients 
1 serving

• 1/4 Bell pepper
• 1/3 - 1/2 Courgette
• 4 Cherry or plum tomatoes
• 1/4 cup Feta cheese
• 1/4 cup Cous cous
• 1/4 cup water, boiled
• 1/3 tsp Mixed herbs
• 1/3 tsp Paprika
• Chilli, to taste 

Directions

1. Preheat your grill to a high temperature and also boil the water.

2. Slice the courgette and pepper, then place under the grill for around 2-3 minutes on each side.

3. In your bowl combine the seasoning and cous cous then pour the water, leaving it to soak up. Once the water is soaked up use a fork a fluff up the cous cous.

4. Cut up your tomatoes, feta cheese, cooked pepper and courgette and combine with the cous cous. Enjoy! 

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DIY Gift In A Bauble

00.12 in a, and, bauble, cous, delicious, diy, easy, feta, gift, healthy, in, Paid, veg

The other day, whilst sorting through the boxes of Christmas decorations, I came across these baubles I picked up last year but forgot about. I couldnt remember what I planned to do with them so decided to use them as gifts. 

Theyd make a great gift for giving to a group of friends, neighbours, grandchildren, partner - anyone. Also, as they are light (depending on what you put in them) they can be easily sent through post to those who you wont be able to see.

I picked up a pack of these 8mm clear splittable baubles from a market stall, but I had a look online and you can order them (here) - in colours as well which saves getting messy. Hobby craft also stock 6mm ones (here). Im not sure about other countries, but they should be easily found.

I wanted to spray paint mine to make them a little more decorative. Go crazy and decorate it with stickers, glitter, ribbon whatever takes your fancy. These are some fantastic ideas you could also try glass paint  and snowy crystal. The person who then receives the gift can the hang it on their try - I think thats why it makes a great gift for grandparents and parents, a lovely keepsake. 

Dont forget to save some ribbon to hang them with!

Theres so many things you could fill them with, Ive listed a few below: 

 ? Little notes of happiness - write quotes, positive messages, things to make the person smile throughout the new year.

? Jewellery 

? Money

? Baked goods - maybe some of this gingerbread fudge

? Small make-up items - an eye-shadow, nail varnish, lipstick...

? Doll house items

? Toy cars

? Key ring

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Easy and Healthy Dessert Rhubarb Samosas

04.38 in and, award, dessert, easy, healthy, liebster, Paid, rhubarb, samosas

After finishing my tea with my family I thought Id write this blog post as a nice way to end my day. Almost every Sunday without fail, my grandma comes round for tea and we sit down as a family to share a home cooked meal followed by a freshly made dessert. Its really only on Sundays that we have a dessert - so its always got to be something scummy and satisfying. Well my stomach is satisfied!

While drinking my morning cup of tea I was wondering what to make for dessert, of course crumble was the first thing that came to mind but we have that regularly - and I also class it more of a winter time pudding. Then I came across these apple pie samosas and thought of creating rhubarb ones instead (but the apple ones sound mouth-watering too!)

They turned out delicious! You get a nice crisp shell around a warm fruity goodness and when served with ice cream and strawberries mmmmm ( I now want more). Weve had them two weeks in a row now. They are quick to make and a lovely light pudding, so I thought Id share my recipe. 

p.s I didnt get as many pictures as Id hoped to because me and my family just couldnt wait to eat them. 

         Ingredients

                              Yields 6                                                                                 

• 1 1/4 cup rhubarb, chunked 
• 1/2 cup raisins
• samosa pastry or filo pastry (you can buy it ready made)
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• flour, for dusting

           Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 180°c

2. Place the rhubarb in a pan with the ginger, sugar and water. Leave to soften on a medium heat. Once the rhubarb has soften, remove from the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

3. Lightly dust flour over your baking tray and work surface then lay your pastry out on the surface. If your pastry comes in bigger sheets, slice them into about 3" by 10".

4. Place a heaped tablespoon amount of the rhubarb onto one sheet, sprinkle with raisins. Then ,using a pastry brush dipped into the water residue in the pan, gently wet the edges of the pastry. Now fold or roll it up (I cant work with filo pastry very well so I opt to roll carefully) and place straight onto the baking tray.

5. Bake in the oven for about 7-10 minutes or until a light golden brown, make sure to turn them over half away through. Serve fresh from the oven with a nice dollop of ice cream or greek yoghurt (which I am just loving at the moment, cant get enough of it).

*optional - place a cut up strawberry or two on the top, it goes amazingly well with the rhubarb.

Click here to print a recipe card

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Simple Kind To Skin Rich Moisturiser

11.04 in bites, butter, date, delicious, healthy, kind, moisturiser, Paid, peanut, rich, simple, skin, snack, to

As we are now transitioning into the colder months and harsher weather, our skin usually changes too. For me I tend to get dry flaky patches, mostly between my eyebrows and on and around my nose. But of course its not just as simple as that, as I also continue to get oily throughout the day - luckily not as much as in summer. 

I have the annoying combination type skin, I have an oily t-zone, which also gets very dry but then to top it off I have normal cheeks. Finding skincare products that work well for me is difficult! I cant really buy products that sway for oily skin, otherwise my skin dries out and begins to flake and on the other hand I cant go for products aimed at dry skin or Im like a grease ball. Products aimed at combination and normal skin are usually my best bet, but they dont always work. So it means that when I find a product that truly works I just dont budge from it! 

Simples rich moisturiser is by far one of the best products Ive come across that caters for my skin perfectly. Although it states its a rich moisturiser and youd expect that to mean that those who suffer with oily skin are going to look greasy pretty fast, Ive never experienced that - which is great! It definitely does what it claims Like a desert needs the rain and a digestive needs to be dunked,this gives drier skin the moisture it craves, with none of the slippery after effects.

I actually discovered this product towards the end of 2012 when I picked up a travel size for going skiing, as the conditions on the mountains would dry most peoples skin up like crazy. Since then Ive never bought or even tried another moisturiser! Seeing as Ive just picked up another bottle I decided its probably a good time to write a review on it. 

I use it both morning and night right after cleansing my face. Its really easy to apply, its smooth and soaks into the skin pretty fast - which is great in the morning when youre wanting to apply make-up straight after. 

Usually, if I have flaky patches arising Ill just apply a little more in that area and that does the trick. This moisturiser does not feel heavy or greasy at all! At only £3.99 a bottle from Superdrug whats not to love.Also, as an added bonus, the bottle lasts me ages!

Id definitely recommend you try this product out if you have similar skin to me, or even if you just want to try something new - its a keeper.

In a nutshell

+ Inexpensive

+ Does what it claims

+ Not greasy

+ Great for both day and night

+ Great all year round

I have no faults with it!

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Spicy Quinoa Salad

16.46 in 5, free, go, healthy, mess, on, Paid, quinoa, salad, snacks, spicy, the

These past few weeks, I can proudly say I havent yet fully conformed to student stereotypes - aka living off pasta and beans on toast (ok, I have had meals along the sorts but oh well). Back home, I never really ate salad. It just wasnt a thing that we ever bought, plus I find that it just didnt fill me up for long.

But, two of my flatmates often have a bit of salad and you know that thing that happens when you get kind of envious of someone who is eating something you dont have, even if you arent the biggest lover of it, it just seems like an appetising thing to have at that moment in time?

Well, when the guys at Florette Salad got in touch and asked for me to share a salad recipe, it was the perfect opportunity to get creative and beat the boringness of a stereotypical salad!

Sweet potato is just a fave of mine, so of course I had to include it into this dish somehow! But the main part of this dish is the spicy quinoa salad mix using Florettes salad mix. It may look like its hard to make, but the hardest thing about it is pronouncing quinoa without sounding quite odd. Its super simple, just cook, add spices, chop and mix! Plus, it can be eaten cold the next day for lunch too.

If you are interested in some more salad recipes, Florette have some delicious looking ones over on their website. The vegetable ribbon salad with baby kale and wild rice sounds amazing!

Ingredients

Serves 1

• 1/3 cup dry quinoa
• 1 medium/ large sweet potato
• 1tsp smoked paprika
• 1tsp garlic powder
• 1tsp onion powder
• 1/4tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2tsp brown sugar
• Florette salad mix

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 220°c and line a baking tray with baking paper.

2. Peel and chop the sweet potato into wedges, place on the baking tray and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until cooked.

3. Cook quinoa to packet instructions.

4. Add in the spices.

5. Roughly chop salad mix and combine with cooked quinoa.

6. Serve and enjoy.

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Also Id really appreciate if you filled in my reader survey, it will only take a minute or 2, please click on the button below or here, it will only take a few minutes! 

This was a compensated collaboration but all opinions are my own and are not influenced by brands or companies. Please see my full disclaimer on my contact page for more.

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5 Mess Free Healthy On The Go Snacks Snacks

15.54 in 5, best, free, go, healthy, is, mess, on, online, Paid, site, snacks, survey, the, which

Im a huge snacker - whether it be on the go or with a cup of tea mid afternoon. Sometimes, I find myself snacking my way through the day (Im a poet) and it will get to tea time and I wont want a proper meal, oops. 

But, it is so easy to grab a chocolate bar, a packet of crisps or some other unhealthy snack, that although may be delicious now, it wont keep you full for longer and the cycle will be repeated. However, recently, Ive seen a huge increase in the range of healthy snacks that are available in supermarkets etc.

So, as it is the month of back to school, I thought Id compile a list of some of my favourite go-to snacks. Also, they are mess free which is always a bonus especially if you are taking them on the go. Whos got time to open that tub of hummus and start dipping those carrots?!

Energy Bars/Ball

These homemade goodies are everywhere on pinterest! There are so many recipes and flavours to choose from. They are perfect for making at the weekend to be stored in the fridge for the week and grabbed whenever you feel peckish or packed in some tupperware for on the go. Here are some recipes which look delicious:

• Peanut butter date bites
• Blueberry muffin energy balls
• Coconut date energy bites
• Apricot chia energy bars
• Oatmeal superfood breakfast bars

Trek Protein Bars

If you dont have time to make your own, or youre just too lazy to (Im guilty of that more often than not), then these protein bars* from trek are perfect! With them being a packed with vegan protein, up to 10g (Im no expert on that kind of stuff, but I know thats very good), they are super filling. Seriously, whenever Im hungry and tuck into one of these, I find Im not hungry for a good 3 hours at least. Plus, because they are packaged, it means even less mess.

These bars of deliciousness are also:
• Wheat free
• Gluten free
• Transfats free
• GM free
• Vegan friendly

The guys over at Nature Balance Foods very kindly sent a mixed box of the flapjacks to try - Ive got to say that my favourite would probably have to be the cocoa coconut, simply because it tastes like a bounty. But they are all delicious! Also, I love the idea of buying a large mixed box as it is, not only convenient, but also works out cheaper.

One last thing, I found the best before thing quite funny.

Rice Cakes

Not just any rice cakes, baby rice cakes. Yes, you heard me. You need to head to the baby food isle in the supermarket and pick up a bag or two of their flavoured rice cakes. My favourite are the berry ones! Plus, because they are made for toddlers, they dont have anything bad or harmful in them.

Fruit

This is an obvious one but its a great one to add to the list. Personally, I always opt for bananas - not only because they are my favourite fruit, but because they dont really cause much mess. Well, I say they dont cause much mess but if you dont put them in a tupperware box then you run the risk of having it become squished all over the other items in your bag; trust me, Ive had that happen to me on multiple occasions. 

Another reason I go for bananas is that they are the most filling, have one or two and youre good to go for a good while. Whereas with things like apples, youd have to eat quite a lot as I tend to get hungry 15 minutes later after eating one.

Dried Fruit

Having dried fruit to hand is brilliant! Because its like eating a healthy sweet (that actually tastes good). Dried figs are probably my favourite option and sometimes dates - plus, if you eat a good handful, they are quite filling.

What are some of your favourite snacks? 

Also Id really appreciate if you filled in my reader survey, it will only take a minute or 2, please click on the button below or here, it will only take a few minutes! 

Products in this post have been kindly gifted and are marked with a *. All opinions are my own and are not influenced by brands or companies. Please see my full disclaimer on my contact page for more.

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Avocado Treatment Wax Beauty Formulas

09.58 in and, avocado, beauty, dessert, easy, formulas, healthy, Paid, rhubarb, samosas, treatment, wax

Ive had this product for definitely more than a year now and rediscovered it in the bottom of a box a few weeks ago. How could I have forgot about it? I used to use it once every 2-3 weeks! Supposedly, you could say I have really slackened off, since this time last year, on taking care of my hair. Tut tut, I know. But as I have been going swimming a least twice a week ,and still yet to purchase a swimming cap, I thought itd probably be in my best interest to polish up my hair care routine.

Id say the avocado treatment wax is aimed towards people with dry, damaged hair as it is an intensive deep conditioner, which claims to restore softness,shine and lustre. As the treatment contains pure avocado oil so it provides nourishment for the hair. In my opinion Id definitely agree with that! After using this product I instantly see and feel a difference, I cant even describe how soft my hair feels. However, if I dont wash it thoroughly enough I am left with greasy hair.

You use the product like a hair mask after shampooing by applying to towel dried hair, then wrapping in a warm damp towel for around 5-10 minutes. I usually leave it on for about 10-12 minutes, whilst letting a face mask get to work too. When you are massaging the wax into your scalp it feels amazing, its nice a cooling and just glides into your hair without it getting all tangled - which I find happens sometimes when using hair masks. 

Personally, I dont like the smell of it and because I find it leaves a scent on my hair after washing it out, I generally just apply a nice smelling conditioner to mask its scent. But the purpose of the product isnt to make my hair smell nice so thats not really an affecting factor.

Im unsure of where I originally picked up this tub from but you can find it on the beauty formulas website, which is priced a £5.99. Or you can purchase it from amazon for £1! I am without a doubt, grabbing myself another tub because it is a very inexpensive product that truly works well. Im unable to compare it to any high end products as of yet, but maybe sometime soon I will see if anything can top this.

        In a nutshell

               + Does what it claims

               + Inexpensive

               + Easy Application

               + Quick results

               - Can leave hair greasy if not thoroughly washed out

               - Doesnt have a great scent

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Healthy Banana Bread Oil Free

10.31 in 7, annoying, banana, bread, free, glasses, healthy, oil, Paid, problems, wearing, when

I love banana bread. And banana cookies. And banana pancakes. Well I just love bananas in general, I usually have at least one a day without fail. But that becomes a bit of a problem, as I never give them chance to become over ripe, meaning I rarely get the chance to bake with them. Luckily, my mum accidentally ordered too many bananas and we had a few that got to the over ripe stage - it was a joyful moment.

Many of the recipes I have come across call for oil, and personally I dont like baking with it, so I used apple sauce in place. Also because the bananas where already very sweet from being ripe, I didnt want to add in loads of additional sugar, and this created a really natural taste to the bread and wasnt sickly sweet - which I have found other recipes to be. 

It is lightly spiced, perfect for the season. And the smell! Mmmmm. When it was baking away the whole house smelt delicious. The sweet smell of banana makes your stomach rumble. The hint of cinnamon and nutmeg gives the house that warm and inviting feeling when its all cold outside. My mum actually came in from work and asked for a slice straight away, but it was still in the oven.     

I decided to only make a small loaf as I guessed it would only be me and my mum eating it, and as it is better the fresher it is, didnt want to be left with a large amount. Personally, I love banana bread when it is slightly chewy on the outer crust, but moist and gooey on the inside. So I made the mixture a little wetter and baked it on a lower heat for 1 hour.

As you can see I left a few chunks of banana, which I really like along with the chunks of walnuts and dates.

I prefer it when it has cooled down with a nice amount of peanut butter spread across (my stomach is rumbling, I think I may have to go an get myself a slice). If youre more of the eat warm kind of person, a dollop of ice cream would go perfectly. Or equally as good, and more seasonally appropriate - custard.

Ingredients
Yields 1 small loaf

• 1 1/2 ripe medium bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup wholemeal flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/3 cup apple sauce
• 2 tbsp light muscovado sugar
• 1/3 cup full fat Greek yoghurt
• 1 egg
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup pitted dates, chopped
• 1/4 cup walnuts, crushed

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160°c and line a loaf tin with greaseproof paper.
2. In a bowl combine your mashed banana, apple sauce, egg and sugar and mix well until the sugar has dissolve.
3. To the mixture, add in your vanilla extract and Greek yoghurt.
4. In a separate bowl, combine your wholemeal flour, oat flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
5. Next, fold your dry ingredients into the wet mixture and mix well.
6. Fold in your dates and walnuts.
7. Pour your mixture into the prepared tin and place in the oven for an hour. However, check on the loaf after 30-40 minutes and if the top is browned, cover with foil and return to the oven. After an hour check the bread with a skewer. For a gooey bread it should be mostly clean but still have some mixture on. If it still feels too unbaked return the oven, however please remember that it is a moist recipe.
8. Once it has been removed from the oven, allow to cool for around 5 minutes before removing from the tin.

Printable recipe card

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Get outside Watch the sunrise Watch the sunset

22.35 in butter, cookies, get, healthy, outside, Paid, peanut, sunrise, sunset, the, watch

So I managed to cross off another thing from my summer bucket list, well at least half of one because Ive yet got to find the will power to wake up before sunrise, as well as waiting for a forecast of clear skies (well just use that as the excuse for now). Just my luck that when I changed in my pyjamas the other evening, the weather cleared up after a day a cloudiness and rain, which was rather annoying as Id been out all day. But I couldnt pass up the opportunity so made a spontaneous decision to just head up onto the moors. I quickly changed first, of course.

My brothers came and tagged along and the picture above is the result of saying to them that you need to power walk because the sun was quickly disappearing - they ran ahead. But they kindly waited for me - sibling love (it doesnt happen often). 

Oh, the feeling I got when I reached this point and was so close to the top. I was completely and utterly out of breath, but the sun was almost gone so we were determined to carry on.

Whilst having a quick snack once wed reached the top, we watched the sun light up the horizon as the moon rose behind us. 

It was that clear that evening that we where able to see Blackpool tower and the sea, which isnt often as its usually too cloudy - baring in mind we live around 33 miles away.

It was a bit of a rushed decision but Im happy I did it and my brothers enjoyed it too and I have some great pictures to show that. But I left them of this blog post because they are utterly embarrassing - we are pulling very attractive faces in all of them. 

Hopefully there will be a sunrise blog post coming some time soon.

Get outside. Watch the sunrise. Watch the sunset. How does it make you feel? Does it make you feel big or tiny? Because theres something good about feeling both. - Amy Grant 

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