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Healthier Chocolate Brownies With Comvita Honey

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I make brownies quite a lot, you will find at least three different recipes on the blog for my double chocolate version or my rather addictive pretzel brownies but they are far from healthy. They are heavily laden with sugar and butter and whilst delicious they probably are not the type of things you should eat every day. I still recommend you try them, they are pretty awesome and we all deserve treats but if you are after something that you can eat more often without feeling too guilty then these healthier chocolate brownies using Comvita Manuka honey are perfect.

I was asked by Comvita if I would like to try out one of their recipes and I quickly spotted that these would be just up my street. Added to that they are gluten and dairy free making them perfect for my youngest daughter who has a multitude of allergies.

Who are Comvita?

Comvita are a Natural Health company based in New Zealand who create world-renowned UMF® Mānuka honey and have done since 1974.
All of the Manuka honey in our products bears the UMF quality mark. The Unique Manuka Factor Honey Association UMF Honey Association) recently developed a new scientific test to ensure all Manuka honey with this mark is genuine and of the highest purity and quality. Certified by the UMF® quality mark, Comvita ensures your Mānuka honey is authentic so you can enjoy all the goodness from nature. If you want to ensure you are buying genuine Manuka honey always look for the UMF® quality mark.

As well as honey you can find products such as Apple Cider Vinegar and throat lozenges on their site as well as lots of other natural health products, you can check the UK online shop out here.

I was really impressed by the quality of the honey from Comvita, as well as using it to bake my brownies I have used it to make a hot honey and lemon drink after a weekend of talking a little too much at the Traverse conference. The girls have also enjoyed it on top of their pancakes. It is deliciously thick and almost creamy to taste. YUM. We get through lots of honey in our house. Both of the girls are fascinated by bees and how honey is made, when I was younger I was petrified of bees so I am glad they seem to feel the opposite as now I love them and really enjoy it when I see them buzzing around our garden.

Now for the important part, the recipe:

Healthier Chocolate Brownies

You will need:

50g coconut flour
50g cocoa powder
½ cup coconut oil
3 free range eggs
½ cup Comvita® Manuka Honey UMF® 5+
1 tsp  vanilla extract
*Add mixed fruit crushed nuts if you wish

Preheat the oven to 150C and grease/line a baking tray. Melt your coconut oil then mix together all of the ingredients thoroughly.
Pour into the tray and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Once baked, leave to cool before cutting or removing from the pan. These brownies keep well in the fridge in a container.

I also made a version of these brownies with regular flour and butter in place of the coconut flour and coconut oil and they were delicious so feel free to play around with your choices of flour and fats, just keep the ratios as above. It is worth noting that it is easy to overcook brownies, you want them to be set on top with still a very slight wiggle underneath so keep an eye on them towards the end of the cooking time.

 

Movies, Meals & Muddling Through Life – April 2017

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Wow it has been a busy month. A lot of work in my day job and doing freelance writing as well as the blog. Family birthdays, other commitments and well just general life taking over every waking hour. This has meant I haven’t had an awful lot of down time, I’m not complaining as I  enjoy the challenges of my work but it is a little tiring. I have had a few short periods of forced relaxation when I felt like I was just about to burn out and I’m definitely planning a little more rest next month.  More time spent curled up with a blanket and a book would be just perfect.

I almost didn’t post this today as I didn’t really have the time to write it up but a lot of you have said how much you enjoy reading my monthly updates. I also like to to have them there to read back on at some time so I can remember all that I have been up to. Let’s start off with:

What Have I Been Watching?

I started watching Designated Survivor at the beginning of the month and very quickly became addicted. There were 15 episodes on Netflix when I began and a few very late nights got me up to speed with the rest of the world and now like everyone else I am waiting each Thursday for the new episode. I always make sure that come 9/10pm on a Thursday night I switch myself off from work and immerse myself in the world of American politics, it is fascinating. Yes it can be cheesy in parts and some of the lines are predictable but I love it. Still on Netflix I have watched the latest Louis CK show, oh he is really not one for the easily offended but I do find him funny.

I haven’t managed to watch any new films this month and I haven’t had a cinema trip which I have really missed. I have however watched one or two old films, mainly romantic comedies which are easy to watch on my tablet while I catch up on tasks which don’t require my full attention such as scheduling blog content for social promotion or finding good content to share on Facebook.  Most recently it was Made Of Honour which is a pretty terrible film however it has two of my favourite actors from Greys Anatomy in it ( Patrick Dempsey and Kevin McKidd ) so I managed to give it a second viewing.

And that is it for the TV and Movies for this month. Pretty poor show right? I promise to try harder next month.

What Have I Been Reading?

I have not made enough time to read this month. In fact most of my reading has been other food websites and blogs. For research, inspiration or just to support my fellow bloggers. I have also been reading lots of tutorials for social media tips and on growing your own business. I feel like I have spent some quality time on educating myself this month which is always important. For pleasure I have read The Simple Things magazine and I am still enjoying Magnificent Mess by Topher Kearby, I find there is always something in his book which relates to how I am feeling or have felt. He is clever in the way he writes and you can always tell that it is from the heart. I would definitely recommend picking up one of his books on Amazon.

What Have I Been Listening To?

Sunny weather makes me regress to my teenage years of being carefree and singing along at the beach with my friends. I have been listening to Blink 182 and lately I have had What’s My Age Again? playing over and over..rather appropriately I guess as I am definitely feeling younger than I have in years. Not sure if it’s to do with being healthier and happier with how I look or finally feeling like I am on the road to achieving what I want in terms of a career but I feel like life is most definitely there for the taking. Kind of like I felt aged 17 when the world was my oyster, I’ve realised it still is. Still going back in time a bit I have been enjoying All Saints ready for when I watch them at Camp Bestival and YES I am still obsessing over the new Ed Sheeran album and John Legend. Finally I discovered an amazing band called Home Free on YouTube so that is what I listen to while I work, you really should listen to their cover of Ring Of Fire – it is goosebump inducing.

What Have I Been Eating?

Increasing my exercise routine means I am eating more and definitely more carbs, not deliberately but my body seems to crave them on the days post workout. Most specifically potatoes. I am all about making potatoes taste amazing. From fondant potatoes to stuffed potatoes or the ultimate creamy mash. Lots of spud recipes coming up.

I’ve enjoyed some great food whilst out and about. I had great tapas at Brewstone in Swansea for my sisters birthday meal and I ate the best doughnuts EVER from Crosstown Doughnuts in London..Salted Caramel and Banana Creme!!!

What Products Have I Been Loving?

I was sent some Rock Rose Gin to try and it is exquisite. Just the right level of floral flavour so as to stimulate the senses without being too fragrant.

I am still in love with Hair Elasticiser, I currently use a tropical version that I bought online from Philip Kingsley and my hair feels super soft and smells awesome to boot.

I tried this Bourbon and Blueberry Cider from Blind Pig on a recent night out and oh my word it is awesome. If you see it, buy it.

I was sent this Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Orodeal and it is just delicious. I always recommend you buy the best quality oils as it makes such an incredible difference to the flavour.

And ahh I am all about the Frappes right now.

What Else Has Been Happening?

I have been in London quite a lot lately for blog events. I started off the month with Heinz at the 50 years celebration of the Beanz Meanz Heinz Slogan and the launch of their limited edition tins, the event was at Selfridges and it was fun and I of course picked up one of the 50 tins signed by the creator of the slogan. Heinz have a pop up in Selfridges at the moment where you can get your beans fix.

Later that day I spent time with Magnum at the launch of their new ice cream tubs, ice cream with a layer of thick chocolate all around and on top. BLISS.

Then I was back a few weeks later for a really fun event with Tefal to launch their new Slimmers Secret campaign for the Actifry, the event was hosted by Frankie Essex ( Of TOWIE fame ). We all got involved creating dishes and then we sat down to a sumptuous lunch together. Look out for my full post about that event along with a review of the new Actifry.

Finally I went to an event with Air New Zealand earlier this week in Soho. It was an incredible experience which I won’t go into too much detail about as a full post will be coming up next week telling you all about it. But I will say I ate well, tried out the on board bed options and took home 16 doughnuts. FUN.

I have made sure that when I haven’t been working at home or in the office this month I have spent time focused on family and friends. I think I am at a time when I am realising just how important the people in my life are and they occasionally need me to focus solely on them. It isn’t easy to do when you do this kind of job as there is always the feeling that you should be online and promoting yourself and your brand but it is necessary. I have had afternoons spent switched off at the beach exploring rock pools and days spent at the theme park or just talking and being there..in the moment. Especially when it comes to the girls, sometimes they really need my FULL attention. They know how hard I work and I hope they appreciate it when they get older but I still want that kind of relationship with them which won’t continue to grow without the time spent on it.

I have been working on lots of background blog stuff this past few weeks which may not be apparent yet but look out you will see soon. I have four new recipes coming up in the first two weeks of May as well as collaborations with a few brands you will have heard of. I am doing more and more in terms of freelance writing and you can see another piece of work I did for The Daily Meal here. I am off to Spain on a press trip in 2 weeks then off to Ireland for a food and literature festival and before that this weekend I am in London for a conference. There is also the chance I will be off on visits to some really cool destinations later this Summer including Aarhus, Germany and America. Finally my wanderlust is being satisfied.

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Stuffed Nutella Cookies – A Tribute To Coriander Queen

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A lot of the time words flow freely for me.. in fact in some posts I have to do serious editing to make it a readable length. This post however is harder to write.

I am part of a really close knit food blogging community and in March, sadly we lost one of our gang. Isabella King who wrote the blog Coriander Queen passed away at the age of just 29 and it hit our group hard. We were at a bit of a loss to find a way to both honour her and celebrate some of her gorgeous recipes.  We ended up deciding that we would all make, then share one of her recipes on our blogs on the same day at the same time. I like to think she would have liked this way of showing her the respect she had from her fellow food bloggers and I hope for her family and friends it brings a little light into a dark time.

When chatting in our group about Izzie, I was struck by how similar our thoughts on her were. A lot of us in the group have never met, yet we are incredibly close and support each other through a lot. I never met Izzie in person but every single contact, message, blog comment and discussion I had with her was positive and cheery and she was always so incredibly kind and thoughtful. Some people have personalities which just shine and I think she was one of those people. Like most of us in the group her blog was very important to her and she was good at it.

I have spent a good while browsing her blog this past month, she created some amazing recipes and I finally chose the Stuffed Nutella Cookies as the recipe I would recreate. I remember her first sharing the recipe last Autumn, I drooled a little at the time and I am also a bit of a Nutella addict. I admit that following her recipe and baking her cookies was emotional but it was a nice way to remember her.

I encourage you to go check out the original recipe over on Coriander Queen by clicking here and maybe spend some time browsing her recipes.

Stuffed Nutella Cookies

You will need:

150g Self Raising Flour
115g Butter
115g Light Soft Brown Sugar
15ml Golden Syrup
12 teaspoons of Nutella

Firstly place your spoonfuls of Nutella on baking paper on a flat baking tray and pop in the freezer for 30 minutes. Now preheat your oven to 180c. Cream you butter and sugar together until smooth, now add half your flour and syrup and mix until well combined. Now add remaining flour. Remove Nutella blobs from freezer and use your dough to form balls around the Nutella. Place back on the baking paper ( its is fine to use the same piece again ), leaving space to spread  and bake for 14-16 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and leave to cool slightly.

 

stuffed nutella cookies

These cookies are so easy to make and everyone that has tried them has loved them, I can see me making these regularly now and it feels like a really nice way to remember Izzie ( aka Coriander Queen ).

Now that I have whet your appetite why not go check out some of the recipes that my fellow bloggers have been recreating:

Easy 5 ingredient pesto tomato tart on Amuse Your Bouche
Globe artichoke with balsamic dip on Natural Kitchen Adventures
Cider, apple and sausage casserole on Farmersgirl Kitchen
Chocolate orange oat bars on Veggie Desserts
Peanut butter chocolate chip cookies on Tin and Thyme
Arancini (risotto balls) on Coffee & Vanilla
Rich coffee cupcakes on BakingQueen74
Gingerbread cupcakes with orange buttercream on The Veg Space
Marmalade and ginger loaf cake on The Crafty Larder
Ginger and oat cookies on Kavey Eats
Amatriciana pasta on Kitchen Sanctuary
Treacle tart on Patisserie Makes Perfect
Crispy fried halloumi on Supper In The Suburbs
Chocolate fridge cake on Jo’s Kitchen
Chocolate almond butter cookies on Rough Measures
Eggless chocolate chip cookies on Simply Sensational Food
Boozy decadent hot chocolate on Fab Food 4 All
Easy no bake blackberry cheesecakes on Casa Costello
Best coriander / cilantro recipes on Fuss Free Flavours
Easy gingerbread popcorn snack on Celery & Cupcakes
Elderflower and vodka cocktail slush on The Hedgecombers
Fruit flapjacks on The Petite Cook
Tomato, garlic and prawn spaghetti on Hungry Healthy Happy
Lemon drizzle loaf cake on Penne For Your Thoughts
Chicken ramen on It’s Not Easy Being Greedy
Stuffed Nutella cookies on Munchies And Munchkins
Easy Berry Compote on Eats Amazing
Caipirinha on Lovely Appetite
Garlic and Lime Coriander Prawns on Travels for Taste

Some of Izzie’s family and friends are fundraising for cancer research, you can find out more here.

The Instagram & Instagrammers I Love – April 2017

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Well that month went by in a flash. In fact this year is zooming by a little too quickly for my liking but such is life, need to make the most of it. Anyway here we are in April, Spring has definitely sprung and I am really enjoying the change in images appearing on my feed. Flowers and coastal shots along with lighter food and sunshine cocktails are in abundance amongst the people I follow.

How was my month on Instagram? Well I am edging closer to 5000 followers, at the time of writing I was at 4.8k followers which is a growth of 300 on last month. I was hoping to hit that 5K target by my blog birthday this month BUT it didn’t happen and I have realised that it is not such a big deal to me anymore. I have an engaged following and I think there is more value in that for me as a blogger and also from brands who wish to work with me than necessarily having the higher follower numbers. Of course I will still be thrilled when or if I finally hit my target but if I don’t it is not the end of the world. I am continuing with my plan of action from last month in that I am posting less frequently but engaging more with people I follow and what that has meant is that I am enjoying my favourite social media channel more and more. My likes per post are increasing and people are commenting more. I had a brief flirtation with using an automated app to track my unfollowers last month and well all it did was make me feel a little uncomfortable with using a bot and also made me briefly insulted when people I followed had unfollowed me..which if you think of it is a pretty childish reaction for me to have. It is not the school playground after all. So for now I follow who I want to follow without worrying about my following number being too high, if they unfollow I will forgive them…maybe. HA.

My top three posts last month were:

First up was this transformation post I shared last week, I can’t tell you how scary it was to share it. That sounds silly I know but social media and Instagram in particular has always been where I share the best photos of me and the me on the left is from a time when I was extremely unhappy with how I looked. The post was shared to accompany a blog post I wrote which you can read here and the amount of love, messages and comments I received from my followers was like the biggest, tightest hug. Thank you.

I made these Fondant Potatoes after lusting after them on Masterchef and it seems like you all loved them too! I’ve shared a how to on the blog and you can read that here.

I shared a rare beauty product tip in this IG post for hair elasticiser because it has made such a dramatic difference to my hair.. it’s so shiny! Lots of interaction on this post which continues to show how much people like to see the person behind the channel.

Finally this delicious Welsh Rarebit from a new cafe/bistro in Swansea. It tasted just as good as it looks.

Enough from me. Who do you need to follow? Well I have some great Instagrammers that I would like to recommend this month, I like them for a variety of reasons, they make me hungry or I like their style or they make my feet so damn itchy.

First up is Kate from Veggie Desserts, her feed is so beautiful that it immediately makes me want to polish my feed up a little! She is a food writer and has a gorgeous blog which is focused on vegetable based dishes including some rather unusual desserts.

Moving way away from the veggies and onto a very much meat focused Instagram feed, my next recommendation is Mad Copenhagen. A Modern America Diner ( MAD ) situated in the centre of Copenhagen. Their feed makes me hungry ALL the time and I have the added bonus of knowing just how good their food is after I visited last December. On my trip I only had the brunch and I couldn’t even manage to eat it all which means I want NEED a return trip to experience the burgers and the Mojitos in the summertime. Good enough excuse for a road trip..hell yes. They are also pretty lovely on Instagram and constantly engaging with their customers – I love businesses that do this, makes suchh a difference. Worth a follow and definitely worth a visit if you head to CPH.

Now for one of the best accounts I have found this year. The Bodyposipanda feed is the IG feed of Megan Crabbe an absolutely beautiful and incredibly inspiring body positivity champion. Her feed is full of images which make you think, think about the photoshopped images we constantly see online and the silly diet products we see advertised. She embraces her body, every lump and squish and is one of the reasons I felt confident enough to post a bikini image a few weeks ago. She also shares quotes and images that she finds shared online to encourage others. Go for a scroll through her feed and I guarantee her beaming smile and awesome hair will make you feel a little better about life in general. Yay for the bodyposi movement. About time.

Back to food with Michael – The Bearded Baker. His feed is a bit like mine in the sense that he has a mixture of images and doesn’t just stick to perfectly styled food posts although all of his food images are beautiful. There are lots of shots of the places he has been and nature shots interspersed with dining out photos and I do love his bakes..like this rather epic pie.

Finishing up with Wales To Wherever. I only recently discovered Rhiannon, a travel blogger who is actually from an area quite close to where I live although from her feed it appears she is rarely there..I’m not jealous ( I so am ). She posts amazing travel imagery and lately has been sharing photos of the Game Of Thrones locations she has visited which has made me geek out a little as I LOVE Game Of Thrones.

And that is it for this month remember you can find me over on Instagram by clicking here. I would love to see more of my readers on my feed so be sure to say hello if you follow.

How To Make Fondant Potatoes

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A few weeks ago Masterchef UK started back on our screens and with it came all the need for fancier side dishes to serve with my dinner. A humble jacket potato or a pile of mash just wasn’t going to hit the spot. I had tried Fondant Potatoes a few times at restaurants and at fancy food blogger events but I had never tried making them myself. Oh wow, they are pretty amazing. Like the ultimate roast potatoes stepped up a few notches. Bronzed and fluffy on the outside and almost creamy inside with SO much flavour. There are a few steps involved so it is a process but it isn’t too difficult to achieve restaurant quality results in your kitchen. Read on to find out how to make fondant potatoes at home.

Firstly you will need large potatoes, baking potatoes such as Maris Pipers work well. Next you need vegetable oil, butter, seasoning and herbs. You can use any herbs you like or that you have an abundance of in your garden. I have used rosemary on most of my attempts. Finally you need stock, you can use any kind of meat or veg stock, I use chicken as I love the flavour it gives but I am currently experimenting with an vegetable Indian spiced stock to make some spicy fondant potatoes.

I am going to give you rough quantities for two people and you can adapt as necessary. These are also perfectly good the next day for a lazy leftovers lunch.

Fondant Potatoes

You will need:

3 large potatoes

30ml vegetable oil

50g salted butter

2 tbsp of fresh rosemary ( or other fresh herb ) finely chopped with a few sprigs left whole

200ml of chicken stock

black pepper and sea salt

Use a pan which can be used on the hob and in the oven.

Preheat oven to 220c. Peel your potatoes and cut off both ends so you have a cylindrical shape and cut each potato into two. Add your peeled potatoes to a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes to remove the starch. Remove from water and dry completely. Place your pan over a high heat and add your oil. Once oil is sizzling place the potatoes into the hot oil, reduce heat to medium and fry potatoes on one side until well browned (about 5 minutes ). Season and flip onto the opposite end. Carefully drain the oil away or use kitchen roll to blot away. Add your butter and rosemary, baste your potatoes with butter regularly and cook until the foamy butter is a pale brown colour.

how to make fondant potatoes

Season again and add 150ml of your stock into the pan and transfer pan to the oven. Cook for 30 minutes before adding the remaining stock and returning to oven for 10 minutes. Serve the potatoes with the buttery stock poured drizzled on top.

 

Look out for my Indian spiced fondant potatoes coming up soon.

I’m linking this recipe up to One Potato, Two Potato hosted by Utterly Scrummy and Family Friends Food.

 

 

Now And Then

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In order for this post to make sense I need to go way back in time. Well maybe back to the early 2000’s anyway. I was a lazy, dreamer of a teen, I didn’t love organised sports and I had always found PE at school was just grim ( I think this goes for the majority of UK females ). I ate what I wanted and somehow managed to stay in reasonably ok shape without doing much about it- the joys of a teenage metabolism and of course dancing all night every weekend. I reached the ripe old age of about 23 before I considered really doing any kind of real exercise and I joined a new class that had started locally in a rather rundown nightclub. There were only about 6 of us in the class when I joined, occasionally a few more and I instantly knew this was the exercise for me. It was set in a dark nightclub room, with a live DJ and a crazily fit instructor who managed to make each class interesting and I was hooked. I went to as many classes as I could and the class itself began to grow as word spread about it. Then I had a short period of time where I was unwell and lazy Becky returned. That break was all it took and I stopped although I maintained a decent weight for most of the next five years purely by luck I think and having a busy life. Fast forward a few years, add on two children, a growing love of food and cooking and about 3.5 stone in weight. It all led to a body I loved to hide. And so I did. I hid it away, always planning to start work on my fitness sometime soon. I think looking back I beat myself up about it a bit too much. I had two children in just over a two year period, my mum battled cancer at the same time and then after my second child arrived I had post natal depression coupled with PTSD due to birth trauma, it was a fairly horrific time and weight loss and exercise weren’t high up there on my list of priorities. These are all excuses of course but perfectly valid ones and I can see that now.

If I had known then what I know now I believe that looking after my wellbeing and my fitness would have helped me through that time but hindsight is hindsight and this is now.

One day I just had enough, enough of hiding away and being a size or two bigger than I wanted to be. I went to a blogger event and there was a photographer who seemed to be in my face at every moment, the photos which the PR forwarded afterwards shocked me and I knew that was it for me. I would never be that size again, I promised myself.

Now I feel it is important to point out right here that I was never what some may consider huge or obese. In fact so many people have said when we have discussed my weight loss ..but you weren’t big before. Which is a nice thing to say and believe but I have lost 3.5 stone on a fairly short frame and I am not skinny now or even overly slender, just slimmer and fitter so that weight was there somewhere. I wasn’t the before picture in a weight loss magazine I guess and also once you lose your pregnancy bump you do look smaller to your friends and family who are used to seeing you with a huge belly. Anyway, that day I had enough of being overweight and unfit so I joined a weight loss group, followed a popular weight loss plan which was healthy and achievable and within 7 months I reached my goal weight. At that stage I realised I could still do with losing a little more and aimed for another 1/2 stone but then it went wrong for me. I lost a little too much weight and whilst I was walking a lot and trying to fit in exercise here and there I wasn’t fit by any stretch of the imagination. You see the problem with weight loss is that when your outer visible belly shrinks so does your inner one. I lost my appetite. I went off food. And not in an eating disorder sense but I would start eating a meal which looked really good but then maybe a quarter of the way through I was full but I knew I was really not eating enough. By late last year I looked a little too thin, my face was tired and drawn. So I would try to eat more, I’d order food I really liked at restaurants or cook indulgent bakes at home but I just didn’t feel like it anymore – the hunger was gone. It worried me for a little while. I was determined to change that and reignite my love for food and well just get back to finishing my meals. I hoped that exercise and less stress in my life would help.

It took a minor operation last Autumn to make me realise just how unfit I still was, yes I was slim and my body looked okay but I was unfit and walking around the local parks and river a few times a week with a couple of squats and sit ups at home just wasn’t enough. I was tired all of the time and I had no stamina. Plus I didn’t look healthy – I looked skinny, something I have never been, I looked tired as I was going through a stressful time and my skin just looked dull and grey. I remember coming home from a trip to Denmark just before Christmas, feeling exhausted and although fully recovered from my op I was weak and my body felt damaged.

I knew I had to take responsibility for making some changes to the way I was living so I started doing that. Making changes. You can read a little about it here. I started yoga at home and although I am not exactly zen like I have some crazy flexibility returning. I then focused on strength exercises at home before making a big step and starting back in my intense nightclub class in January. This tiny class I used to attend was now a franchise with classes all over South Wales and England, each class had 30-40 people attending as a minimum and it was different but still pretty great. I fully expected to find the first class hard but even with that in mind it was actually brutal . Instead of marking it as a fail I did what I knew I had to do and before I left that class I signed up for a twelve month contract -then I knew I would attend. It has been about 13 weeks now since that first class. I go twice a week, occasionally three times if I am stressed and need a release but that is enough – it is full on. Half of the class is high intensity circuit training, it changes every class so you never really know what to expect but you can guarantee lots of squats and burpees in there. The second half is boxing which I am growing to love, I am a lover not a fighter but wow you can work out some of your problems on that bag and I am getting better at it..slightly. I still feel like very much like the new girl at class sometimes although I am not.  That feeling is lessening and my sister now comes with me so it is something fun we do together and it is fun to compete a little. I nearly always arrive at class with a slightly dreading it face on and leave smiling, sweaty and feeling good.

Tonight I chose a different day to attend and when I arrived at class my usual instructor wasn’t there and there were only ten of us ( this is really rare ) so the instructor said let’s try something new shall we? She then proceeded to put us through what I can only describe as a boot camp, a few weeks ago I would never have been able to complete it. I even did box jumps – I didn’t know they existed until a few weeks ago.  I completed every burpee, every squat, we even ran circuits ( I don’t run)  and I held my plank pose as long as the uber fit members . I left class feeling completely knackered, boiling hot and so SO proud of myself. I finally feel fit. Finally more or less happy with my body shape. In fact I can say that I am fitter today than I have ever been, all of my life. Not just since I became a mum or since I hit my 30’s but in my entire life. I don’t want to be a boxer, weightlifter or have bulging muscles or even be bothered about a six pack. I just want to feel healthy and good in my body. And I do. It is quite the feeling.

My skin is better and looks more youthful. My appetite is mostly back to what it was although it always takes a hit when I am stressed and I actually don’t care what the scales say about my weight because I know how my body feels. I am pretty sure I have gained a few lbs but that is what I wanted. Clothes fit better and I feel more confident about myself  – who knew being fit and healthy could do SO much. Physically and mentally I feel ten years younger, I may not look it ( damn you eye bags ) but I know I look better than I did and that isn’t a vanity thing just an admitting I see the changes thing. I am never going to be the girl who rolls out of bed in the morning and says yeah I really want to go workout…because I don’t, I am not fitness obsessed or someone who looks forward to the exercise. I really want to hit up a jar Nutella or some crispy bacon and a good series on Netflix but giving up that 60 minutes twice a week doing my classes and some vague attempt at power walking, squats etc occasionally at home means I can do that. I can have the slice of cake, the glass or three of prosecco and the grilled cheese if I want. I can’t eat all of it every day but by balancing exercise with my LOVE of food I can eat what I want for the most part. That feels like a win.

While I was planning this post out in my head I began looking through photos of me from the past 6-7 years to show some on here as a sort of comparison, a before and after. One thing was immediately clear, there aren’t many. In a lot of the photos I am almost hiding from the camera, I was so clearly unhappy with how I looked. I did find one or two, normally with celebrities at festivals and events when my need for a photo with someone I admired outweighed the desire to hide myself away from the camera but I was typically in baggy tops, never in fitted clothes. I have shared a few below just to show you the changes, it is obvious in my face to me and in a way I wish I had a full frontal swimsuit shot from back then just for comparison but I know the changes, I see them every day.

With Valentine Warner at The Big Feastival in the year between having Izzy and being pregnant on Chloe.

With Hollywood star Adam Garcia..I hate that I hate this photo this much because I really love Adam Garcia. It is strange to look back at these photos because it doesn’t even feel like me anymore. I feel like a different person and I look and think wow you wasted so many years hating the way you looked. Although I wish I had looked after myself I can’t go back, I can only maintain this going forward and I know that I will. I never want to strictly diet again or step on scales looking to see a number drop. I just want to do what I’m doing, eat what I want most of the time but be sensible with it and just keep moving more. I will never look like that girl below again, that much I know for sure. Yet I don’t hate who I was just what I allowed myself to be.

So now for the after shots. This is how I look today, well yesterday. Pre workout shot. I still have a squish when I sit but I am comfortable with it. No make up because who wears make up to work out? Not me and no silly filters, just better skin because I am healthier and less eye bags because I am taking care of myself.

 

And then  post workout, cheeks are flushed, hair is sweaty and I am happy and proud of myself. I should point out this is a full 30 minutes after class ended, immediately after I looked like a wet tomato.

And this is how I look on most days. My hair is mostly wild and curly and now it is springtime I like simple tees, skinny black jeans, cool trainers and a denim jacket. Plus I am in love with a selection of suede baseball caps I have so one of those atop my head when I am out and about. Tomorrow night when I have a night out you may catch me all glammed up but for the most part I am casual and comfy, with minimal make up – BUT the big difference is in how I feel. I know I am no supermodel, I never will be and have lots of imperfections but I am confident enough now with my body shape and how I feel I look to not worry about being super dressed up all of the time.

Wow this feels like it has been a long post and almost like a diary entry. If you read this and only take one thing away from it, please let it be that looking after yourself in all forms is the best thing you can do for you and your family. I still have days where I want to crawl into bed in a foetal position and just let the world pass by but what I have realised rather brutally this past twelve months is that life is short. Very short and very cruel.  I owe it to myself to literally be the best version of me that I can be in all ways, physically and mentally. If I want writing to be my full time job then I have to work my ass off to make it my job, it may take me ten years – so what. If I want a good body and still be able to eat cake I have to work for it. If I want to be healthy and grow old I have to take care of myself, that may not work out for me as life sucks and I could be hit by a bus tomorrow but still I need to believe that won’t happen and give myself a fighting chance of being an 80 year old lady who maybe still works out at her local nightclub…way to embarrass the kids if nothing else. Maybe I have been watching too many Gary Vaynerchuck videos or maybe I have just realised I only get one life. I am gonna live the heck out of it.

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I thought I would finish up with a few tips, remember I am not a personal trainer and I have no qualifications but these are thing which have helped me, I hope they help you too.
Top Tips

1. Exercise when you really feel like you can’t – you will always find an excuse. It really does make you feel better more or less instantly. There have been so many days when I have felt too tired, too stressed or just under the weather but I am always glad that I force myself to go.

2. Get good workout gear – I was working out in the same old Adidas leggings and sports bra/top that were too big and well ten years old. They did the job just fine but recently I’ve bought some Under Armour products and the difference in comfort levels while I work out and also how much cooler I feel is amazing – cooler as in body temperature by the way. I do not look cool while I work out. Or at all really.

3. Drink lots of water. Why is something so simple such a battle? I always forget to drink enough so on the days I have classes I really force myself to hydrate. On the occasions when I haven’t had enough water before class I can guarantee a whomping headache during or afterwards. Drink.

4. Reward yourself for reaching goals – new clothes or a day at the spa. Goals can be weight loss related or a non scale victory like fitting into an old pair of jeans or just making it through an exercise routine that used to stop you midway. New underwear is a nice treat and one I really enjoy.

5. Sleep more. It seems obvious but the more you sleep then the more energy you have and the more energy you have then the more likely you are to want to get off your butt and do stuff. I have a love/hate relationship with sleep. I love it but it doesn’t seem to like me very much unfortunately and I have battled with sleeping well for years. Now I just try to get to bed earlier maybe 4 nights out of 7 and I feel better for it. Although right now it’s close to 1 am and I am still typing away….

6. When swinging kettle bells be careful not to bash your private parts. It hurts for women too, trust me. Also don’t be tempted to lift the heavier weights when you are just starting out, for two reasons – firstly you will likely injure or strain yourself and secondly it will not be enjoyable and you won’t want to carry on. I can never see me being the girl who lifts the big weights but I can manage a decent kettle bell workout now and that is enough for me. Strength is important for both men and women and lifting weights doesn’t have to mean getting bulky or having rippling biceps. Squat and press to start seeing big changes in your legs and butt.

7. If you try a boxing class, take your own gloves – don’t use the ones left by others at class …just don’t.

8. Like most women ( especially those who have had babies ) I found my lower belly was a problem area to tone and the absolute best exercise I have found for helping to target that is leg raises. They aren’t easy but they are super effective and you don’t need any special equipment just a flat surface. My lower belly or pouch has gone and it is reasonably toned now, of course my belly button still looks like a wrinkled balloon due to the op I had and I have stretch marks ( which have massively reduced in visibility due to daily aloe vera and cocoa butter usage ) but this is probably as good as my belly is gonna get. My tattoo definitely adds to how much I now love it and it is also about having massive respect for what my body has been through. Getting pregnant and having a baby is not a 9 months thing. It takes a long time to recover from it in all ways but it can be done.

9. What is key is to find something that you enjoy doing, I hate running so I don’t go running. I take my classes and I walk a lot. I do yoga at home but not as a set routine and not even on a regular basis, I grab a video on YouTube when I get a spare 20 minutes and I do it to destress or when I need to think something over. I am not very good at it, but I am a whole lot more flexible than I was even just a month ago.

10. Music. Ah music is so important to exercise, one of the best parts of the class I attend is the live DJ playing great songs and they are even tailored to the parts of the class we are in so you almost feel like you are part of a music video, I am the girl in the Call On Me video.. almost. If I workout at home or even when I go for a walk I have some kind of music blasting away in my ears.

11. Workout buddy. Now I quite like working out alone but I love that my sister is now coming to class with me as I feel almost obliged to keep going even when I don’t feel up to it. The second part of the class is boxing and in pairs so it is nice to have a partner that I know for that and not have to pair up with a stranger or the super fit instructors who punch a LOT harder than we do. If you can find someone who you feel comfortable getting sweaty and looking a fool in front of then that is a bonus.

12. Make time for it. Most of us have very busy lifestyles and it is easy to say that you just don’t have the time for it. You have to make it and I promise it will improve other areas in your life.

13. Don’t compare yourself to anyone. You may be fitter but two stone heavier than the person sat next to you who looks tiny and toned but does not exercise at all – yes it seems unfair but try to remember getting fit is a win for you and for your health. It’s great to look good as a result of it but don’t let that be the reason you do it.

 

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Pineapple Rum Punch Cocktail

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Any of my friends will be able to tell you that I do enjoy a cocktail. My absolute favourite is a Mojito but I am open to trying all of the cocktails…you know for research purposes. I am always playing about and experimenting with different combinations at home and today I created this Pineapple Rum Punch.

I love Pineapple in a drink especially when added to Rum with its heady exotic summer vibes but it is all too often combined with thick coconut milk or cream in a Pina Colada or something similar. I do like coconut based cocktails but I find these drinks kind of heavy on a hot summery day and what I really like is something refreshing and fruity, with a kick. This cocktail definitely delivers on all fronts. I intended to serve it over crushed ice but I realised at the last moment that I didn’t have any and I did not have the patience to wait for my freezer to provide. What I did have was a bag of frozen strawberries which I keep to add to Prosecco as it makes it look pretty so problem sorted. I sometimes add herbs to my cocktails, not always for flavour but they add a little something extra to a glass and Rosemary in particular smells so damn good and doesn’t wilt too quickly. Depending on how sweet you like your drinks you could substitute the lemonade with soda water – I prefer it with the lemonade but I do have a little bit of a sweet tooth.

Pineapple Rum Punch Cocktail

You will need:

60ml dark rum

120ml pineapple juice

15ml lime juice

100ml lemonade

ice or frozen fruit to chill

herbs ( optional )

Combine all of your ingredients and mix well.

 

pineapple rum punch

This will definitely be made a LOT this Summer.

12 Things I Do Which Show My Maturity Levels

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You know sometimes when you do something silly, then you catch yourself and think woah that was a little childish? I do that a lot. Don’t get me wrong I have a lot of very grown up responsibilities, being a parent, owning a house and working to name a few but in lots of ways I am still fairly immature. Like the other day when I taught the girls to say Cash me outside..how bow dah. Do we ever really fully grow up? Do we even want to? I’m not sure I do. I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the things I think reflect my maturity levels…and also help you to get to know me a little better too. So here we go, 12 things I do:

1. Laugh out loud at rude song lyrics. There is a line in one of the new Ed Sheeran songs ( New Man ) which makes me laugh like a teenager. I also like to sing these songs out loud when I am out walking..when I think there is nobody around and well I have been caught out at least once. Oh and I can’t carry a tune either so..

2. Watch movies like Mean Girls and The Prince and Me when I am at home alone. I also got into tv shows like Gossip Girls, The OC and One Tree Hill quite recently, years after everyone else and well I can relate to these teenage girls a bit more than I should. And obviously I want Blake Lively’s style and effortless beauty.. not to mention she has a rather cool husband.

3. Drool over Chris Hemsworth and watch films that he is in purely for that reason..sure I want to watch Thor again..and again…and again.

4. Regress to my childhood when I am with my best buddies. When I am with my closest friends I am like a giggling twelve year old at times but we all need that don’t we? You can’t take life seriously all the time.

5. Want to watch Disney films more than once. I saw Beauty & The Beast twice in one weekend when it was released and only the astounding prices in the local cinema stopped me from making a third trip. I also downloaded the soundtrack and may have spent a brief 15 minutes imagining I was Belle in the yellow dress. Is it too late for me to go to a ball in that yellow dress? Say it isn’t so.

6. Look for the grown up. Anyone else do this? Look around for someone who is more grown up..someone better at adulting than you are? Sometimes it can be a bit of a shock to realise that oops it’s me. I am the adult, responsible for the bills and being a parent and going to work. Pah.

7. Google the lyrics to songs. Because I must know the words and be able to sing along correctly. Although this is far easier than it was in my actual early teens when you had to record songs from the radio and rewind to get the lyrics.. oh you never did that? Me neither.

8. Write to do lists with tasks on it that I have already completed purely for the satisfaction of crossing things off, it’s a good excuse to linger in a coffee shop looking like I am doing something. Oh and I doodle all the time on everything, even in work. Sometimes hearts and flowers..because you know in my head I am that teenage girl still.

9. Avoid phone calls and face to face conversations. I am a little better with this lately as I know face to face meets are best for work but if I can contact you via whatsapp, text message, email or facebook messenger then expect that from me. If I speak to you on the phone or arrange actual meetings then you can be assured it is either very important to me or I like you a lot.

10. Eat the wrong things. I’m 33 years old, I know I should have a balanced diet and I make sure my kids do but when they are at school or not at home I will have days where I eat absolute rubbish. A kit kat for breakfast dunked in my tea why yes that is just fine. A potato waffle with mayo AND ketchup for lunch, why not.

11. Love McDonald’s. Can I tell you a secret? I have fallen in love..with McDonald’s coffee. I want to visit the Golden Arches at least once or twice a week JUST for my toffee latte. A few months ago I would have scoffed at it, being the new coffee lover that I was and telling myself it wasn’t the ultimate coffee experience BUT it is one of the best coffees I’ve tried so that is my treat to me. Sometimes a double cheeseburger slides on to my order too..I don’t know how but it just appears. I worked at McD’s when I was 16 for just under a year and for years afterwards I barely set foot in one but I am no food snob. I am happy to admit that I like the food, it’s not the most incredible food or the fanciest but it’s easy, fairly cheap and well the coffee is awesome.

12. Pretend I am Rocky in my fitness class. Or some super cool movie like female superhero. I have taken 3 months just to get to a stage where I hold my arms in the right way and get in the right stance, my instructor has been patient with me and it’s very funny now when I am about 15 minutes in I get so confident in my abilities and woah I can box. I really..really can’t but in my mind I am ready for the ring. Worth pointing out I am not training to be a boxer, it’s just a part of the class I go to.

Also how I imagine I look during my class:

In reality I’m a sweaty mess.

The thing with getting older is that while your face and body age your mind doesn’t really. Not much anyway. Yes I think differently about a lot of things but that is a result of experience and learning. In my mind I am still 25 and quite often I will act like a silly 15 year old. I laugh too much at inappropriate things, I wear superhero character t shirts and get overexcited still by the fact that I have a pretty awesome tattoo. On most days I don’t feel mature or responsible enough to be a mother but I manage, I wing it. I don’t really want to change. I am a big kid at heart and I think in the world we live in, a little of that is needed. I’ll be a grown up 75% of the time because I have to but that other 25% it keeps me sane, keeps me happy, keeps me..me.

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Panasonic Steam Microwave Review

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The latest gadget that I have been sent to play with as part of my role as a Panasonic ambassador is the NN-CS894 Steam Combi Microwave.

panasonic steam microwave

It’s a bit swish isn’t it? Touch screen technology and smart sensors make this a properly modern microwave. The swipe and touch technology will be familiar to us all, it feels a little like using a smart phone or iPad. It is the first microwave I have used without a turntable and this in itself feels like a leap forward. The lack of turntable means you have lots more space for larger and different shaped dishes which would normally get stuck while rotating. Let’s talk about the various cooking functions that it offers. It steams, grills, bakes and microwaves so it is like having an extra oven in your kitchen and I can imagine it would be a massive help at times like Christmas when there is never enough oven space. Then there are the health benefits, steaming your food helps it to retain nutrients and vitamins making  it a healthy gadget choice. I used it to cook various meals during the trial and my favourite uses for it were fish, baked potatoes and I made the most incredible joint of ham which was super succulent.

Did I mention the top and back of the oven are self cleaning? That certainly appeals to my lazy side and the rest of the oven is coated with fluoric making it easier to clean. The base of the oven has in built sensors which means you don’t need to input the weight of your meat joints and it will automatically choose the cooking time and power level. You can even make cakes.. in your microwave oven and I am not talking about mug cakes, also the low starting point for the temperature on this oven means you can prove your bread as well as bake it.

I can certainly recommend the steam combi oven if you are on the hunt for a new microwave, yes it’s a little bigger and pricier than general models but I think you have to look at it as a a product which is so much more than a microwave. It will become like a second oven and it’s speed and versatility will more than likely result in you using it more than your traditional oven. A big thumbs up from me. Next month I will be reviewing the Slow Juicer which I have been pretty excited about so lets hope it lives up to my expectations.

  • I review products as part of my role as a Panasonic blogger, I am compensated for my time.

Being Brilliantly Different

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Being different is sometimes confused for being strange or weird. It’s not normal to be different, many of us strive so hard to just be the same.

I feel like I spent a lot of my life trying to be the same and just keep up with my friends and siblings. Wanting or telling myself I wanted the same things, a nice house and a steady job and the perfect 2.4 family. And it’s not that I no longer want those things but my wants and needs have changed, I have changed. I am a very different Becky to the one I was a year ago and I wish I could tell you that some huge life event had changed that or give you some kind of magic formula but I can’t things have just happened as they do and I’ve changed. In the famous words of Kendall Jenner 2016 was my year of just realising stuff. On my birthday last year I really sat down and thought about the way my life was going and about how I was literally the only person with the power to change it, nearly a year on I am not quite there but I am making leaps and bounds. Reassessing areas of my life and accepting what may or may not be for me.

And the main thing I realised is that I’m different. I’m not my siblings, I am not my friends.

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” Dr Seuss

I know this is the kind of thing we hear all the time and see in motivational quotes but it really is true. There will never be another me or another you. There will be others like us of course but no one person will be the exact mix of lazy, workaholic, brave, anxious, loving and soppy that makes me who I am. Nobody. And that is quite a thing to fully accept. Now because of that you must work on being the absolute best version of yourself, that won’t work for everyone, not everyone will love the best version of you, just make sure that you do. You are the one you have to answer to at the end of the day.

Most days I read posts from bloggers, Instagrammers and social media influencer companies telling me how I should blog and Instagram. I should have a niche on Instagram, my photos should have the same filter or follow the same theme and I should never stray from that set route and I will admit that I tried that for a VERY short amount of time. It doesn’t work for me, some of my photos have no filter, some are filtered to the best of my filtering abilities. I share photos of food alongside travel pics, self love bikini photos next to hipster avocado toast and I have even started recommending beauty products – it is a real mish mash but that is me and most of my followers seem to enjoy that, there are over 4.5k of them so I must be doing something that pleases people.

Inspirational quotes and coffee shots too of course.

I am told that I am a brand now. My blog is a brand. To a point that is true, my blog is also my business but I am a person. I will ramble on here about all kinds of matters like this post for example whilst also sharing my favourite recipes and travel stories, it is what makes my blog me. It started for me and and I expected a handful of my friends to read it, times have changed and my blog has changed with it but it will always be personal for me. I am aware that at times that may cost me work, some brands will prefer the professional, polished approach to blogging and if so I am probably the wrong person for the job anyway.

The thing is I feel in some way I have to work doubly hard, I left college at 17 because I was a bit of a silly easily influenced teen in a damaging relationship, I saw the easy financial benefits of working and I wanted money rather than further education. I hugely regret this, I always wanted to be a writer, a journalist in fact when I was younger but it is never too late. I work at my office day job part time which is my mortgage payments and bills sorted and then the blog is my everything else. I couldn’t be a regular 9-5er in an office 5 days a week, I am someone who needs to be her own boss and because of that I know that hard work lies in my future for years when most of my friends are in successful, well paid careers. It means I can’t Netflix all night long because once the girls are in bed I am recipe testing or writing or working on my social media accounts. But I control my time, the girls have my full attention when they are awake, we play and learn and bake and I am doing this for them as much as I am doing it for myself.  They deserve for me to be the best I can be and it will make for a happy home life. Sometimes I feel as though others judge slightly, they question why I only work part time, why I don’t want to further myself in my current role in my office job. But that is not my dream, if I worked more hours I would miss out on time with the girls which is so important to me, if I wanted more power at work then I wouldn’t have the time or indeed brain space to work on the blog. It is a balancing act and right now the see saw is just about at the right place. I am a writer now. I write this blog and I write for other food websites, I am doing it and it is a long, slow process but I’m doing it, I’m really doing it ( saying this always reminds me of Peter Pan.. You’re doing it Peter… ).

Another big change for me has been worrying less about what others think. I will probably never shake that completely and I think we all worry a little if we are being honest with ourselves. But I worry a lot less. Am I supposed to be wearing Batman and Wonderwoman t shirts or Captain America sweaters at the age of 33 with two children? Am I? I don’t really care. I wear them because I like them. I am at my happiest in a pair of jeans, comfy trainers or vans and a tee shirt. Yes I love to get dressed up, I am a girl after all ( well woman ) but I prefer to be casual. Is it ok or braggy to talk about weight loss and being happy (wish) with how my body looks? I don’t care. I have worked so hard to get to a point where I feel comfortable with myself and I think sharing that kind of positivity but can only be a good thing. It’s not a vanity thing, if you know me then you know I am not in the slightest bit vain.. and hey people can always unfollow or mute or just scroll on by.

I am getting braver, stronger and more confident in my abilities. And you know I will admit that I have been anxious and weak in the past, I will have times like that again perhaps but right now I am not letting anything beat me. I’m holding my head up, moving forward all the time and achieving my goals. I can do this. So can you.

I am different. It’s not a bad thing.

 

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