raw, no bake coconut and nut butter protein"biscuits"

3pm.

It is that dreaded time in the office when you can feel your energy levels slump, you sweet tooth kicking in and you start heading for the biscuit tin. 

But we all know biscuits are full of sugar and shit. What you need is these - home-made, raw, coconut & nut butter biscuits. 

perfectly biscuity 

perfectly healthy 

The are full of natural sugars (not the white refined stuff), good proteins and will offer slow release energy. Oh and their sweetness and 'biscuit bite' will satisfy that biscuit need. 

Plus they couldn't be easier to make! 

Here is what you need:

Homemade tomato salsa recipe

I don't know if this is technically Summer but the weather is certainly getting warmer which means...BBQ SEASON!!!!

So with that in mind I want to share a recipe with you that I made for my nan's BBQ last year that went down a storm! I will definitely be whipping up this again for her BBQs this year. 

To contribute to the BBQ spread, I made a delicious homemade salsa. Normally I'm a lazy salsa eater and buy the shop bought stuff, but it is sooooo incredibly easy to make your own in fact. I'm definitely converted to homemade salsa only. It is like comparing a BMW with a Skoda (sorry Skoda).

salsa certainly brightens up the food table! 

To make a batch of delicious salsa you will need...

4-5 ripe tomatoes
1 red onions finely chopped
Juice of half a lemon
Handful of chopped coriander
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Tablespoon of white wine vinegar and red wine vinegar

fresh, natural, tasty ingredients 

Skin Doctors ingrown hair treatment: review

I have always seems to have suffered from ingrown hairs and whilst the pesky things aren't a health concern, the bumpy skin just isn't a good look, then they cause issues when you start to re-shave over them and sometimes they are a tad painful! All in all they are about as welcome in my life as flowers are to a hay fever sufferer!

One afternoon whilst in the park, moaning at my friend and picking at the unsightly buggers, she recommended that I tried buying a treatment for them. I must admit that I can't remember the brand she suggested but I took to the internet and set a budget and found this great buy.

this has been a beauty savior 

It is an ingrown hair solution from Skin Doctors. It is available on line and I have also recently seen it stocked on the shelves of some Boots stores (Putney was one of them FYI). 

I have never used an ingrown hair treatment before so admittedly I cannot benchmark it against other products but for me, this has worked well.

the tops of my calves are particularly bad 

L'Oreal fibrology thickening shampoo: review

I don't know that many girls that don't wish that they had thicker, more lush hair. I am always on the look out for a product that will thicken my locks and even more so at the moment seeing as I managed to get my hair in such a matted state at the end of last summer, which meant having to brush and tear the knots out and taking out half my hair with it. The result? 6 months down the line, I have the embarrassment of matted hair, and also a thin barnet!!!!


But then I started using this - 

L'Oreal Elvive Thickening Range

L'Oreal's fibrology thickening shampoo! I am not sure it is a long term solution (ie it will make the hair grow) but it does seem to some how thicken up the stands after I wash my hair!!!

The formula in the shampoo apparently thickens each strand, penetrating the hair fibre and expanding it. The substance remains in the fibre and increases after each application, so it claims to help immediately.

L'Orea to the rescue 

Vauxhall City Farm, London

We office workers are notorious for not taking a proper lunch break, even though we all know that it is good for you, but what better excuse to have a lunch break than going to see some farm animals! 

That is exactly what me and my friend did on our lunch break the other day, taking a quick trip to Vauxhall City Farm, a stone's throw from Vauxhall underground and station. 

feeding time! 

love that the rabbits and chickens are
playing together 

how cute is he! 

Vauxhall City Farm is absolutely diddy, so it is a perfect quick trip just to get some fresh air and for a moment, get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. 

look carefully and you'l see the dead Xmas
tree in the background

loving the pony! 

They have the cutest animals, from rabbits, chickens and shetland ponies. My favourite though were definitely the llamas and alpacas (sorry I still can't tell the difference) - they are the weirdest looking creatures with their long  noses, buck teeth and deep stare! 

Raw, no-added-sugar, chocolate "fudge" - with secret health benefits

I must admit that lately my healthy eating habits have fallen at the way-side and I've been reaching for the biscuit tin or for the chocolate bars on a daily basis. Not great for my skin and I'm starting to notice breakouts. 

Before the breakouts get too bad, I'm putting a stop to the mindless non-stop sugary binges and going back to satisfying my persistent sweet tooth with homemade sweets, such as this raw chocolate "fudge". 

delicious and very moreish! 

perfect raw "fudge"

Easy to bake chocolate mocha cake

I love a spot of baking but it has been a while since I last dusted off the baking trays and apron! With my friend’s birthday this week, I wanted a cake that was going to be big on flavour but fairly easy to make as I had to make it late at night, after a kick boxing session.

This chocolate mocha cake was perfect! Mocha is one of those grown up flavours that has character to it, and even though I am not a coffee drinker, I do love mocha flavoured things!

easy to bake, easy to eat! 

Kale and cucumber fruity smoothie recipe

Regular readers out there will know that vegetable smoothies are a new thing for me (yea I know this isn’t anything new, and I am a bit behind jumping on this bandwagon). Lately I have been loving making up some weird creations in the smoothie maker and using it as an opportunity to cram in some extra nutrients.

If you haven’t already, why not check out my blog entries on:

post workout smoothie
green power smoothie
beetroot and carrot smoothie 

kale and cucumber smoothie

Today’s bright frog-coloured smoothie was made completely on a whim,  a simple case of “let’s see what is in the fridge" and bunging it in the blender. 

So what is inside???

• ¼ cucumber
• Generous handful of curly kale
• 1 small pineapple
• 2 apples
• 1 large orange

Like finding a tenner in a pair of jeans you haven’t worn for a while, or discovering that you have just made happy hour for the post drinks cocktails, this was a pleasant surprise! Plus once made, I took to google and discovered the heaps of health benefits in this green smoothie!

trust me, all these flavours work! 

Jillian Michaels - Shred it with kettlebells workout

Last year I really got in to kettlebells after my colleague Heidi suggested it to me. A kettlebell is basically a large weight with a handle, so you have the ability to swing it, rather than using it in a linear way like a dumbbell. The benefit to this? You have an "extension" to your body which makes you work harder, which burns more fat!

my new workout DVD

I started last year with a beginners DVD which I definitely recommend as kettlebells can be quite hard on your back and it is imperative that you get the moves right and once I was used to it, moved up to a 6kg (for my review of this DVD check it out here.)

Since then I have been on the look out for a new kettlebells DVD so when I saw this one on amazon for about £8 with Jillian Michaels (the scary one from the USA weight loss fat camp program 'The Biggest Loser') I was sold!

the kettlebell swing - always an attractive look 

Jillian is actually pretty good - motivational but not too annoying as with most workout instructors and PTs.

I have been doing it for a few weeks now and I am hooked, I love it! I genuinely feel so good after doing this! There are two levels - I am still at level one, so looking forward to progressing to level two!

Sweet potato, chickpea and quinoa veggie burgers

Although I am strictly not a vegetarian, I do love veggie foods and that includes veggie burgers!!! 

However the shop bought ones are often full of bulking agents and high in fat. I always thought making your own would be quite tedious but then I found this recipe on popsugar that I have modified...

homemade veggie burgers 

The result. An incredibly tasty veggie burger, full of flavour, low on calories (just over 200 if you make 6 from the batch)  and full of veggies! Plus they are so easy to make – it's simply a case of pre-baking the ingredients and then blending it all together!

chop, chop, chopping 

1 sweet potato

¼ cup quinoa

¼ cup pearl barley

1 can of chickpeas

Handful of chopped parsley

2 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of chilli powder

1 teaspoon of turmeric

2 tablespoons of soya four (or any other flour)
2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 – 2 tablespoons of lemon juice

10 dried apricots, finely chopped

½ red onion, finely chopped

Makes 6-8 burgers

 

 

chuck it all in and blend!!! 

add as much spice as you dare! 

first off you need to prep the ingredients: 

bake the sweet potato (you can leave the skin on as the skin peels of easily once cooked) 

for about an hour, cook the quinoa and cook the pearl barley  

(check the packets for cooking instructions)

Once they are all cooked, in a food processor combine the sweet potato, 

quinoa and pearl barley along with all the other ingredients

Pulse until well mixed and all the ingredients are blended

 

tip the mixture in a bowl - easier to season and shape then