Christmas Mess & Peanut Hottie

Peanut Hottie hot drink*

Hotel Chocolat Christmas Mess chocolates* 

A rather delicious and festive post today! I got both of these food goodies in my Blogger Review box from The Press Tent event back in November, and finally got around to trying them out this week! 

Peanut Hottie is a hot drink which works like a hot chocolate (powder that you add hot water to) and tastes absolutely delicious! I was worried it might taste a little strange or not very sweet but I really like it. It's somewhere between a hot chocolate and a nutty latte - and if you're a fan of peanut butter you'll definitely like this! It's only 83 calories per serving too! 

These Hotel Chocolat Christmas Mess chocolates are also delicious (apologies if this post is making you hungry!). They're an eton mess flavoured chocolate with added cinnamon and spices, and are topped with cranberry and meringue pieces. If you're a fan of very sweet, cinnamon chocolates or eton mess then I'd definitely recommend trying these! Hotel Chocolat's christmas range is amazing too - they've got so many different chocolates and gift options. My christmas mess chocolates didn't last very long! 

I hope you're all having a lovely Christmas - and if not, why not treat yourself to some hotel chocolat chocolates and a peanut hottie and watch a film or browse the sales online! x 

*Both products were gifted to me via The Press Tent. Not a sponsored post. 

Unboxing the Press Tent #BLOGGERREVIEWBOX

An unboxing video of The Press Tent #BLOGGERREVIEWBOX that I got from The Press Tent event last week! I hope you enjoy it - do let me know if you'd like to see any specific posts of any items I mention! x

The Press Tent: http://thepresstent.com
Rock on Ruby: http://rockonrubyclothing.com
Dom n Ink: http://www.map-my-style.com
What Emma Did: http://whatemmadid.com/the-boutique/
Nicky Rockets: http://www.nickyrockets.com
Artsy Nibs: http://artsynibs.com
Bee Good: http://beegood.co.uk
Propercorn: https://www.propercorn.com
The Beauty Store: http://www.thebeautystore.co.uk
Peanut hottie: http://peanuthottie.com/uk/
Hotel chocolat: http://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/
Nerd wax: http://www.nerdwax.com
Lypsyl: http://lypsyl.com
Halo: http://www.halowipes.co.uk
Luxardo cocktails: https://luxardococktails.com/age-gate
Liquor 43: http://www.licor43.com

Raw, Vegan, Gluten-free brownies.

As part of my health kick, I've been cutting down on gluten, refined sugar and 'bad' foods, and although I haven't given anything up completely, I've been trying out some healthier options.

As part of my What I Eat in a Day video (going up tomorrow) I attempted to make Deliciously Ella's raw brownies. I love brownies, but they're very calorific and not very healthy, whereas these ones consist of good ingredients: raw cacao, maple syrup, dates and pecans. Also as they're raw, they don't require any cooking, just freezing for an hour.

The recipe is from the Deliciously Ella cookbook that I blogged about last week, so even though I've included them in a video, I thought I'd do a post as well, as I know some of you prefer my posts, and some of you prefer my videos! I'd really recommend Ella's blog and book as there's loads of amazing recipes there!

The brownies were easy to make (even for me, and I'm possibly the worst cook) and they turned out really well. They are quite sticky though and need to be kept in the fridge, so probably not ideal for lunch boxes or anything, but are such a tasty snack! I've eaten quite a few of mine now, and I love that I don't need to worry about unhealthy ingredients, and that I can eat these guilt-free.

I'm really enjoying my healthy eating, and although I'd never give up any foods (even though I'm already vegetarian) I'm really feeling the benefits of eating an 80% super-healthy diet. I'm no nutritionist, but it seems to be working well for me, and I feel like 80% healthy is enough for me for now, and anyway,  life's too short to give up treats like pizza, chips and cake!

Friday's WOMF and Chinese food.

Sorry that today's post is a little late! It's been a hectic week! 

Last night I went out for a Chinese with friends, and although the food wasn't amazing, it was nice and was a good night catching up with my friends, so I thought I'd share it with you! 

I also haven't done a What's on my face post in years, so I thought I'd also do that as part of today's post. The pictures are just from my phone as I didn't take my big camera and I don't have a smaller one apart from my go pro, so the quality isn't amazing but you get the gist! 

My makeup: Origins vitazing, L'Oreal infallible matte foundation, Rimmel wake me up concealer, Maybelline eye eraser concealer, Bourjois healthy balance powder, Anastasia contour kit, NARS smudge proof eyeshadow primer, Too Faced Natural eyes palette, Maybelline gel eyeliner, Charlotte Tilbury Rock n Khol black liner, Benefit they're real mascara, Clinique bottom lash mascara, Maybelline brow drama. I also added Burberry lipstick in pink heather after, but in the photos I'm just wearing lip balm. 

As for the food I had vegetable soup, satay tofu and egg fried rice and chocolate flake ice cream for dessert. It was nice but I'm now back on my healthy eating! If you'd like to see what I eat in a day, Thursday's video will show you! 

I hope you all have a brilliant bank holiday weekend, and don't forget I have new videos every Sunday and Thursday, and new blog posts every Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday! x 

Deliciously Ella review.

I'd heard a few bloggers talking about Deliciously Ella, so as part of my health kick, I had a look at her website. Now, cooking is definitely not my thing, so why am I suddenly obsessed with a food blog? Ella's blog and book are all about healthy eating and a plant-based, gluten-free diet. The recipes looked really delicious, and so I bought the book. I think the difference with Ella is that her food is actually delicious, and isn't salad after salad or something with meat and fish, that I'd have to start finding replacements for. It's the only cookbook I've ever had that I can eat every ingredient in every recipe as everything is vegan and gluten-free.

The recipes are really easy to follow too - no fiddly complicated steps that I don't understand, and the raw recipes (and ones using pans) means people like me who can't work an oven very well are covered. I've tried a few of the smoothies already and they're absolutely delicious! I've also ordered a lot of other ingredients so that I can make some more of Ella's recipes - particularly the brownies and quinoa bowls! And I'm also determined to improve my cooking skills - and I think this might be the way I can do that!

I'm actually really enjoying healthy eating, and am feeling so much better for it! It's a little weird really, Ella started eating this way to cure an illness, which is why I started changing my diet and restricting calories almost 3 years ago. This may be a little too TMI, but I suffered from an unknown illness that doctors can't work out, where basically my metabolism doesn't work and I have severe IBS that can only be controlled by diet, as the tablets didn't work. In the last 3 weeks I've been eating like Ella, I've been almost pain free and lost more weight than usual, so as you can probably imagine, I'm thrilled!

Now, I haven't cut out all dairy, gluten and goodies, but I've cut them down to about 15-20% of my diet, which is working well for me. I might, in the future, cut them out completely, but I didn't want to do anything too drastic, as sometimes, that can set my illness off.

If you're thinking of trying healthy eating, or just fancy some tasty food without any guilt, I'd highly recommend Ella's book and blog. Even if you're not vegan (I'm vegetarian) I'm sure you'll enjoy these recipes!

I'll keep you posted on my healthy eating and cooking - and if any of my creations are photo-worthy, I'll share them with you! x

Shajan Indian Restaurant

Last Friday, I went out for a lovely meal with some friends. We had a great time catching up, and of course I took some quick snaps of the food to share with you all! We went to a local-ish Indian restaurant called Shajan, and it was absolutely amazing food! 

We had some poppadoms to start with, but I completely forgot to photograph them!For my main I had Vegetable Biryani with a mild sauce, which was delicious. There was loads of it though, so I actually brought half of it home and had it the next day! 

For desert I had the Orange sorbet, which was served in an actual orange peel! It was delicious! My mum had a caramel and almond desert, which I borrowed for the picture! 

I'd definitely go again to Shajan, as the food was amazing, and it wasn't too expensive either! 

An Italian meal with friends.

I had a lovely catchup with friends last week over dinner at Monte Cristo, which is a local(ish) Italian restaurant. Seeing as I'm experimenting with more lifestyle posts, I decided to take a few photos on my phone to share with you all! I really enjoy going out for meals, and it's such a lovely way to meet friends I don't see very often.

I had a starter of Garlic bread with cheese which I shared as it was huge, but delicious! For my main, I went with the vegetarian pizza with added black olives. I'm a huge pizza fan, and I always have either a margarita, or a vegetable pizza and always black olives, as I love them! For desert, as the calories had already gone out of the window after all the pizza, I went with the chocolate waffle, which was more of an ice cream dessert, but still delicious!

Italian is actually my favourite cuisine, and I'm always happy to go out for an Italian meal!

Hope you're all having a lovely day! x