Vegan Chocolate Brownies

Okay, so I have to hold my hands up and say I did not expect this to go well! I've cooked vegan food but i've never baked anything vegan. So when I was doing my daily scan of Pinterest and stumbled upon a few different recipes and ideas, a lightbulb did flash above my head. WHY NOT EH?

The recipes I found were really straight forward - some only using four ingredients - however I've heard of these scary 'Making a Pinterest Recipe' stories from friends and I was a bit....well terrified. I sort of tailored the recipe to what I had in the cupboard because, well, bugger going to the shops when I was in full blown lounge wear and my hair resembling a milkmaid's with a bandana to stop my fringe pissing me off. For the record, this is not the cute look that you see on the 'milkmaid braids with bandana look' Pinterest search images; oh no! this is a sweaty, no make-up, faded and frizzy hair look - HOT!

So adorning my pinny, I ventured into the rarely-opened baking cupboard. The measuring was a bit of a faff (as I hate measuring) but it was reasonably easy to do as the recipe I was basing mine on was all cups. 

You've seen the photo *points above* and I actually haven't said this but the brownies are AMAZING! For someone who isn't actually vegan, I surprised myself with how much I loved these. The dark chocolate gives it a richness and the uncooked batter actually tastes like there's egg in there - BUT THERE'S NOT! I haven't actually tried any other vegan brownies so I can't compare to where these should be on the 'Awesome Vegan Brownie' list, so I encourage all you vegans to try it. I also used spelt flour for this to make it a bit more on the healthy side and less gluten-y and adds a bit of protein.

The recipe I made up is:

2 heaped cups of Spelt Flour (around 2 and a quarter cups)

2 cups dark drown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp sea salt

1 cup dark choc chips (for melting)

Half a cup dark (or dairy free milk) choc chips

1 large ripe banana

Half a cup olive oil

1 cup water (give or take half a cup depending on consistency)

4 tsp cider vinegar

Preheat the oven to 170C and grease and flour (or greaseproof paper) a rectangular cake pan that's about 11x7 inches.

Melt the cup of dark chocolate chips over a Bain-Marie until all the chocolate has melted. Keep this on a low heat until melted to stop the chocolate setting.

Sift the flour and add in the rest of the dry ingredients. In another bowl, mash the banana until it's a smooth consistency without any lumps then add in the oil, water and vinegar. Whisk these together and add to the dry ingredients. Before mixing, add the melted chocolate and stir until the mixture is fully combined and smooth. Add your chocolate chips. Bung in the oven for 15-25 minutes until the top looks cooked.

Hopefully this has made sense! As you can see it's all pretty easy and straightforward and measuring with cups made it a bit less stressful than all this measuring on scales malarkey!

ENJOY x

Clean Brown Rice Wild Mushroom Risotto

For the past few weeks we've been clean eating and introduced more weight training into our gym regime. Can I just say what a difference it's actually making? We're not 100% clean as we do enjoy a treat once a week, however we've noticed we have more energy, feel mentally better and I actually no longer crave sugary or salty foods - just last night I was saying how much I just wanted a bowl of broccoli to eat. Would I have said that a few months ago? Probably not.

But we're serious about this now. We're well on the way to the wedding with a year and a half to go and I do not want to be looking back at my photos thinking "God, why didn't I lose weight and get a bit fitter and healthier?...lazy cow" - or something to that effect!

This clean eating malarkey includes being a bit more ingenious in the kitchen. Luckily i'm part of an ace wee group on Facebook which provides support from people all over the world, so when you have a bad day you can go and vent and everyone is so understanding and supportive. It also includes all these lovely people posting recipes and their meals they've had, a lot which I wouldn't have thought of. So come join our wee group and get into the clean way of things!

ANYWAY! Back to the main matter at hand - this bad boy recipe *points up to photo* is an ideal way to have a yummy risotto (who doesn't love that stuff?) and be healthy. Brown rice is known to be a complex carb and has more nutrients compared to white rice and is also considered "Clean". It also feels lighter, so once i've eaten this I don't feel bloated or in need of a nap.

For this recipe I used (serves 2 - but can be altered to cater for more or less):

• 1/2 - 3/4 uncooked cup brown rice
• 1 onion - chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic - chopped finely
• Pack of dried Wild Mushrooms (I got mine from Tesco) - Try not to use stock as there is loads of artificial colourings and sugar in it - if you need to use stock (i.e not a wild mushroom risotto) use an organic or fresh kind and check the ingredients.
• 2/3 chesnut mushrooms - sliced relatively thick for texture

*You can also add in some veg too - i sometimes add in broccoli, asparagus or any green bean (add this before adding the stock)*

• Parmesan and Lemon Juice to taste

First, place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to sit for 20 minutes to get the moisture back into them - it WILL make the place smell like mushroom soup.

Using a non-stick pan - or a tiny amount of olive or coconut oil - fry the onion and garlic on a medium heat until soft and translucent but not brown.

Squeeze the water out of the mushrooms but make sure that the water stays in the bowl - we need that! Slice roughly and add to the pan with the other mushrooms and selected veg. Cook for 2 minutes.

Add the rice to the pan and cook for a minute so it's soaked up all the juices from the mushrooms and veg.

Start adding the water from the mushrooms gradually - I say a ladle at a time - stirring each time and making sure the water has been soaked up by the rice before adding more water. Keep doing this until the rice is soft. I eventually ran out of mushroom water so I just used water from the kettle so as not to overpower the delicate mushroom flavour.

To finish I added a bit of lemon juice to taste. This lifts up the flavour without the need to use salt or pepper. You can add a sprinkling of parmesan too.



So there you have it. I must warn you - this, much like any risotto does take a while to make so be prepared and make sure you have the time. Also this can only be kept for a day - rice doesn't keep very well! Another idea I had was to maybe try it with quick-cook rice to see if it works - so if you happen to try that, give me a shout to let me know!

Bon Appetit!

x

Bleach London Wonderment

I stumbled upon Bleach London products by accident. I used to work for the Optical side of a very well known chemist and occasionally took advantage of the discount. So just as I was leaving I went and bought Christmas presents and took advantage of the 3 for 2 they had on. I was actually one item short so purchased the Bleach London Spin the Wheel Hair Dye Set Which contains six miniature bottles of their temporary hair dye; Sea Punk, Blullini, Washed Up Mermaid, Violet Skies, Rose and Awkward Peach.

I used to love playing with my hair colour when I was about twenty, but then I grew up and not alot of people dyed their hair weird colours. Until, that is, Bleach London came on the scene and with the addition of 'grunge' to fashion, having crazy colours became cool again. And everyone could do it! The past few months i've seen anyone from fourteen to sixty-odd year olds with anything from a streak of colour to a whole head of colour. Personally I think it's bloody brilliant! I've heard quite good things about Bleach London and they do quite a few products starting from a home bleaching kit to shampoos and condioners to enhance your blonde. The dyes are really condioning too and smell yummy!

So, back to what I was saying. I thought I'd give this Bleach London a go. After all it was temporary and is a fun way to get ready for the weekend or a night out!

So this is what my hair looked like pre-colour...

pre-make up too! :P

So as you can see my hair is pretty light. Not exactly blonde, but I thought i'd give it a try. The instructions say to wash your hair with shampoo ONLY (no conditioner - this is VERY important) then towel dry hair, apply colour and wait for fifteen minutes. After this you can rinse out. I tried the Sea Punk and it didn't show up at all on my hair. A bit miffed, I had this excellent idea to dip dye my hair. Yup, I reckoned it would be pretty straight forward. So i jumped in my car and zoomed off to said Chemist, discount card in hand and purchased the Bleach London DIY Dip Dye. 

I read the instructions carefully and then read them again. I hadn't bleached my hair in about 6 years so didn't want to mess up! Included in the pack is everything you need: gloves, bleach powder, pre-lightener, blending lotion, brush for application, a wee tub and a wee tube of their awesome Reincarnation Mask.

Reading the instructions, it seemed pretty straight forward; put on the blending lotion to where you want the dip dye to start then apply bleach. BOY WAS I WRONG! It was super footery and by the end of it I just wanted to chuck everything out the window and cry. Not really cry, but it was really messy and by the end of it, there was bleach and blending lotion everywhere (good job I put a ton of towels and plastic bags down - i'm super messy!).

It took a good while to develop and even then it felt like it wasn't as light as I was expecting...

Unfortunately, I didn't have time to make it lighter and I wanted to give my hair a rest from all the prodding about. So i added the rest of the Sea Punk. This time I added it to DRY hair (after reading reviews upon reviews) and got a more stronger, vibrant colour. It was still pretty light, but I put this down to my hair not being light enough!

So a few days later, I went out and bought another dip dye kit. This time I used L'Oreal Preference Wild Ombres No2 Dip Dye Hair Kit. Compared to the Bleach London stuff this was waaaaay easier. It had a wee plastic brush that you just brushed on the bleach and it just blended in with your hair. Luckily, I already had a guideline thanks to the other kit. This seemed to lift that little bit quicker and gave me the colour I was looking for. After washing and conditioning, I dried my hair then applied Washed Up Mermaid to my bleached bits. The Bleach London dyes contain a conditioner too so, as you're dying your hair, you're giving it a little bit more condition - perfect after a lot of bleaching! 

Et Voila!

There's obviously still some bits that didn't pick up the dye but I kind of like it as it merges well with my hair colour and doesn't look too blocky. I would definitely recommend applying the colour to dry hair first to get a better effect!

The pinks and purples tend to wash out easier than the blues and green (they tend to have staying power) but to get rid of them easier Bleach London have a Washing Out Shampoo for that (which is probably similar to Vosene or Head & Shoulders). Another thing I learned with getting rid of the green tinge is to apply the Rose dye over it and it tones out the green.

I also recently stumbled upon the Rose Shampoo and Rose Conditoner. This is great for keeping the pinky tones in your hair. Like the dye, it work a little on wet hair. I apply the shampoo to my dry ends before I get in the shower then wash out and you're left with a lovely pale pink colour. This is ideal if you haven't got time to apply the pink dye in your hair and you want a wee touch of colour. They also do a Silver Shampoo and Silver Conditoner for toning out the yellow in your hair.

I would definitely recommend the colours as I think they're great for adding a light touch of colour to hair without being overly bright. I'd advise to apply it to dry hair though, to get the best out of your colour. As for the dip dye it definitely worked, however just not enough. Either I should have left it a wee bit longer (which I was scared to do) or it's quite a weak bleach. It did give me that blended colour though which is what I was looking for.

Bleach London seems to have hit the nail on the head with it's array of hair care products. The packaging looks bright, attractive and catches your eye. It's also really easy to get a hold of them. Their hair care products are really good as well. Most of their products price around £6-7 and Boots tend to include them on their 3 for 2. So you can get a dye, shampoo and conditioner for a reasonable price.

Now excuse me while I go try out Awkard Peach...

Check out the Bleach Bible

Optrex Eye Revive Moisture Mist Review

When I first got offered to try this product, my eyes lit up - literally!

I am terrible for dry eyes especially when i'm wearing my contact lenses. Mix that with an air conditioned or heavily heated workplace and you have the right concoction for feeling like your eyes are heavy and you just flat out want to peel your contacts out your eyes!

Before using this, i'd advise you to check with your optician about dry eyes. Things like blepharitis or underlying issues could be causing your eyes to be dry so you might need something "stronger".

My issue is mainly with my contact lenses so something to use before i put my lenses in and throughout the day as and when needed. This products main aim is to restore the eyes natural moisture barrier and hydrate the skin around the eyes - which in turn helps you feel and LOOK more awake.

I'm lucky enough to work in an opticians where talk of brands etc is a general day-to-day occurrence. So you get to learn what brands are quite good and what ones are just awful. Optrex is one of the ones that has a good reputation.

The first thing i noticed is the packaging; very pink and shiny! I imagine this and the fact there's a marketing note on how it won't smudge your make up makes it pretty clear it's aimed as us ladies! This is a first in the eye drop world so i imagine a lot more women would go for this.

It's easy to use as well. All you do is spray it on closed eyes and it puts a layer of moisture on the eyes without having eye drop overload you have with most drops where it looks like you've been crying!

I found it good to use during the day - at lunch and before I head out to roller derby training; points during the day where my eyes are tired feeling and a bit dry. This spray instantly revives them.

I would use this again,however the price of this is at the more higher end of the eye drop range. However, it is easy to use and you don't have to worry about your make-up afterwards. You just spray and go.

Taking simple steps to help your eyes keep hydrated can include:

- Get plenty of sleep, as this will revitalise your eyes and face.

- Drinking lots of water is good for your eyes too; because it helps them stay hydrated.

- Go for regular eye check-ups to make sure your vision and your eyes are at their best.

- If you wear contact lenses, always follow your optician's advised hygiene routine.

 - If you work at a computer, remember to take regular breaks so that your eyes don't get strained or tired. Reduce the screen brightness or use a screen shield, as glare can dry your eyes.

 - In winter, turn your central heating down a little - you'll save money and help stop your eyes drying out!

 - If you go swimming, wear goggles to stop chlorine irritating your eyes.

 - Always wear safety glasses when doing DIY or gardening to protect eyes from injury or dust particles

Summer, Summer, Summertime....Lemonade

Time to sit back and unwind! Apologies for the nod to Will Smith there but I couldn't help it!

So Summer has well and truly arrived in the Highlands and for most it would be "taps aff" but here it was a bit more reserved kettle of fish with picnics on the bistro set in our garden and the idea of making homemade lemonade thanks to a Tesco version we tried recently.

This version of lemonade is really refreshing and really light tasting (despite the sugar) and I am really happy with the way it turned out.

What you will need:

3 unwaxed lemons, cut randomly (skin on - the lot!)
140g sugar (to taste, you can add more)
1 litre water

Add the lemons, sugar and half the water to a blender or food processor and blend.

Place into a sieve over a bowl and stir until all the juice has come though. Discard the pulp (coz there will be seeds and rind there - YUCK!)

Add the juice to the rest of the water and chill. Add ice to serve.

Simple as that really! If you want to make it PINK lemonade, add raspberries or cranberries for a bit more tartness and a lovely pinky colour :)

Pardon for the lack of arty photos!

Nair Argan Oil Shower Power Cream

When I first got offered this campaign I was quite dubious I have to admit! I've used these shower-off hair removal stuff before and it didn't work and it smelled very chemically. However I tried to keep a level opinion and try it anyway.

So after a long winter of wooly tights and jeans wearing, I got my legs out. I tell you, It wasn't a pretty sight! I have to admit, my legs were faaaar from smooth. The hair was pretty long! The pack comes with quite a big bottle of cream and a spatula that you use for applying and scraping the cream off.

The cream was really cold but went of easy. And it smells good! None of this horrible chemical smell! You've to apply an even layer of cream to cover the hair and leave for 1-2 minutes before getting in the shower. Now the difficult part; to stand in the shower for 5 minutes (I assume this is so the pores open up etc) but NOT to stand in direct aim of the shower head. So, after 5 minutes of standing about in an awkward way, i FINALLY got to take the stuff off. It's really easy to scrape off using the wee spatula as its shaped to glide against the curve of your legs (the other side in a concave shape so if you were to do your underarms or bikini line, it'd be a breeze) It's kind of difficult to see if all the hair comes off in the shower as your legs are a WAAAAY down there so I never seen the results until I was out the shower. 

Some hairs were left behind, which was a bit annoying. However there was ALOT of hairs and we can't expect miracles from what these legs once were. The remainder hairs were easily shaved off and my legs were left silky smooth! I also noticed my legs were left looking alot less dry than what they were.

I think next time i use this it'll work completely. I'm puting it down to the fact there was a lot of work to do on my legs that not all of the hair came off. Upkeep will definitely be easier with this stuff around as shaving is a total nightmare and you always manage to miss a spot. With this stuff, coz the cream is white you know exactly which part you've covered and its quite thick so its not going to run off easy.

In short, i'd totally recommend to try this out! I had my doubts before I tried this but this is waaaaay easier than shaving and you won't fall over in the shower trying to shave a leg!

And yes, I totally done that thing with clean jammies and clean bedsheets where your legs just feel all silky!

Butternut Squash,Cabbage and Green Lentil Curry

Say whaaaaaat? Curry that's healthy? AAAAND vegan? Yes! Yes, it is!

I am a super fan of curries. I am not, however, a super fan of the aftermath of curries. Yes, the bloats, the gurgles and the inability to move.

So I found a curry recipe online that included lentils and decided to put my own twist on it using the basic recipe I found. Of course I included my all time favourite veg - the Butternut Squash. Seriously, this guy ca do no wrong in my eyes! AND! You only need one pan! Plus a tray to roast the butternut squash and parsnips.

I thought i'd need to accompany this dish with rice, but I found the lentils helped fill out the meal and there really was no need for any side dish. Which is a step in the right healthy direction as a) no naan is involved and b) no stodgy rice.

You can obviously add and subtract veg depending on what your personal taste is and of course make it hotter and mix it up with different spices.


So here's my spin (Serves two - and some for lunch the next day)

For the roast veg;

1 Butternut Squash - peeled and cubed
2 Parsnips - peeled and cubed
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Madras Curry Powder
1 tsp Garam Masala
Salt and Pepper

For the Curry;

1 tsp Olive Oil
1 Onion - diced
3 Garlic Cloves - or less depending how much you love garlic!
2 tsp Garam Masala
2 tsp Madras Curry Powder
2 cups Veg Stock/Broth
Half cup Green Lentils (or any other type you fancy!)
A few leaves of Cabbage - or a handful of Spinach

Preheat your oven to 220oC/Gas7/fan 200oC. Place the Butternut squash and Parsnips into a bowl and add the oil, spices and salt and pepper (about a pink of both) and toss until all is covered. Place on a baking sheet and cook for about 30 minutes until soft and brown at the edges.

Heat the oil and add the garlic and onion. Cook until the onion starts to look transparent.

Add the spices and give a good ol' stir until the place smells amazing! Add the lentils, cabbage and the stock and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat then simmer for about 10/15 minutes or until the lentils have soaked up the stock and you're left with a thick curry.

Taste to see if you need to add anything - Salt? Pepper? More spice?

Serve into bowls and add a good old dollop of Creme Fraiche or Yoghurt. Prepare to eat it all as it's so goddamn YUM!

Okay, so that's me done with the recipes for today! Hope you find them as delicious as I did and as easy to make!