"Muriel's Kitchen" kitchen and cafe in South Kensington, London

Last Tuesday, I completed my twelve week ballet course at the National English Ballet school in South Kensington. For those past twelve weeks, every Tuesday we passed the most inviting little kitchen deli right next to South Kensington station called Muriel's Kitchen. The window display of cakes, slices and pastries have had our mouth’s watering so we promised ourselves that once we completed the course that we swing by after our last lesson.

Food pervs Georgie and Liz 

So last Tuesday evening that is exactly where me, Liz and Georgie had our dinner.

Although we were tempted in by the mouth watering cakes, we actually started off pretty healthy and all opted for the “salad plate” meal where you could chose 4 of the deli options.

A weekend skiing in Andorra (part 2)

The weekend before last, I was in the glorious slopes of Andorra, on the resort of Pas de la Casa (or as my friend told the guard at passport control “Casa de la Pasa”!!!)

In my first post I shared with you the more trivial and embarrassing side of my trip, just the usual things we get up to skiing... such as me skiing on my chin or upside down.

But anyway, this post is to share with you my favourite spots of Pas de la Casa.

  

The hotel and spa:

I will be honest with you on this one, me and my friend Sophie chose this one completely by chance. Not cos we are experts and researched it for days. We were going to do the easy and stay in the hotel she stayed in last time but then we found the Font d'Argent hotel for just a few quid more and that came with a spa!!! Sold!!! A hard days skiing followed by a bit of Jacuzzi time sounded great!

For £35 a night each, I would definitely recommend this hotel! 

the bathroom was large enough for all my toiletries! 

me and Rachel shared the double couple's room! 

The staff were absolutely lovely, the hotel clean and beds were seriously comfy (although you might see that as a down side when you have had three hours sleep and you need to drag your arse out of bed for a morning’s worth of skiing?!) 

Ping, Earls Court, London - ping pong and cocktails

This Saturday the girls and I headed to Ping on Earl’s Court Road for my housemate’s boyfriends birthday. Whilst I was still shattered from skiing last weekend (I am seriously getting old!) I was keen to go as I had heard so many people rave about this place. Earl’s Court doesn’t really strike me as the place to find a good night out but Ping is just a stone’s throw from Earl’s Court tube.

seriously good cocktails 

We arrived there at 8pm and it was already buzzing with people eating, drinking and playing ping pong! Yes, not only does this place offer food and drink but it also offers you the chance to make a tit of yourself playing ping pong!

Purple powerhouse smoothie – beetroot and carrot

As you have probably seen from previous entries about smoothies, I am trying all sorts of weird and wonderful creations. What sounds a terrible clash that even Heston Blumenthal wouldn’t even have put together, often turns out to be a delicious concoction of nutrients and vitamins!

I have previously blogged about a tasty kale and broccoli smoothie and a very fruity post-workout one.

creamy and healthy

Today I want to share with you my beetroot and carrot delight...

Homemade apple and raisin protein flapjacks (ps they're healthy too)

Sorry, this page is being update. Come back another day! 
Or try these...


chocolate and mint raw oaty snack slice
wheat free banana and cacao nib protein bars
vanilla and date protein flapjacks
No bake, raw, almond butter flapjacks
Easy no-bake protein flapjack bites

Apricot and orange protein balls

Peanut butter protein balls

Apple flapjacks

Date and vanilla flapjacks

A weekend skiing in Andorra (part one)

I have just come back from a brilliant weekend mini break in Andorra, which my friend Sophie suggested last year that we went as she had been before and absolutely loved it. Personally I have never heard of Andorra and didn’t even realise where it was or that it was a separate country* (well, more of a mini state actually) so I really didn’t know what to expect.

As soon as we got there though we knew it was going to be a good weekend! We had an amazing time in Andorra, albeit it was just four days and three nights - I would definitely recommend coming here! The long transfer is a bugger though as it didn’t match up with our flight times very well but it was a sacrifice worth making.

beautiful slopes of Andorra

nothing like a chilled rose with lunch on the slopes! 

Landing from our 7am Gatwick to Toulouse flight and a 2 hour mini bus transfer with an angry driver bombing it up the mountain, we arrived bleary eyed to the “Pas de la Casa” resort of Andorra at about 2pm, and like any pro-skier, we decided as a group that the best thing to do was to check in, dump the bags and head out for crepes and cocktails!

our chosen spot for cocktails and crepes

Unfortunately we arrived on the 14^th March which happened to be a national holiday of some sort, meaning a lot of shops, bars and restaurants were shut. Annoyingly also meaning that we couldn’t pop to the supermarket and make the most of the cheap alcohol on offer (3 litre Absolute vodka for 20 euro! Hello!) We didn’t do much better the next day either when we didn’t realise that the shops shut at 8pm.

Tips for packing light for a mini break

Today I am off to Andorra for a few days of fun in the snow. Seeing as we are only going for four days, we have decided that we only need a couple of suitcases between the 6 of us, which means that we are all going to have to be light on the packing. So for this long weekend away, it is all about the miniatures and multi-taskers and only taking what I actually need (ie one pair of heels for the evening…ok, maybe two maximum).

Here is a quick guide to what’s on my packing list, what to take for a short break and how to cut it down to the bare minimum!

Top tip: write a list.

This one is crucial and I included this on my packing tips blog featured in the summer.

First, write a list of things that you want to take, in that way you will help minimise the chance of packing everything and anything in the throws of holiday excitement. Like food shopping on an empty stomach and hungry without a weekly food list, don’t pack without a draft list!

If you are only going away for a few nights then try to stick to a similar colour palette with your outfits – in that way you will only need one set of heels, one set of jewellery and one evening bag!

Top tip: miniatures

For a weekend away you can do without your weekly ritual beauty products and get away with the bare necessities. Think face wash, cleanser, eye make-up remover, moisturising day cream with SPF (or even better a BB cream), serum and night cream. Have a wax before you go and you can ditch the razor and creams etc too! Make sure you decant your beauty products into mini bottles to save on space.

love minis! 

Home-made vanilla and date protein flapjacks

The other day I was flicking through an old copy of “muscle and fitness” that the Boy had left laying around and stumbled across a “protein flapjack” recipe.

We have tried making flapjacks once but it was a disaster (not as bad as the infamous “salmon cookies”) as they had no ‘stick’ to them and crumbled into a thousand pieces so resembled a granola rather than a flapjack.  Tasty but it weren’t a flapjack.

serve with tea 

Rapid recovery smoothie – great for a post workout vitamin hit

As you may have seen, I have decided to start experimenting with making my own vegetable and fruit smoothies lately after my lovey Miriam introduced me to the world of kale smoothies! They provide such a good way of getting your five a day in one simple hit!

My latest creation is this tasty “rapid recovery” smoothie, based on the juice in ‘the juice master’ Jason Vale recipe book. 

get this down you after a workout! 

This one is full of natural sugars, sodium, vitamins, minerals, amino acids and anti oxidants! 

Healthy hash browns (with quinoa)

I love hash browns but it is one of those foods that really aggravates my IBS. Not 100% sure why, think it is because they are so soaked in oil and grease, but the last few times I have eaten hash browns I been quite sicky afterwards. So with a bit of googling, I realised that healthy hash browns are doable, so here is my healthy hash browns with potato and quinoa.

perfect for a weekend brunch 

This delicious and healthy recipe is easy to make and uses simple ingredients, that should be friendly for everyone’s stomachs, no matter how delicate. This is a great recipe for a lazy weekend brunch. If possible, make the quinoa in advance as it will take about 20 minutes or so. Perhaps make it whilst chatting over a cuppa or glancing over the morning papers or prepare the other ingredients and lay the table whilst it is cooking to save on time

This is how to make these delicious has browns...