VEGANUARY: MY EXPERIENCE

Hello everyone!

Today I thought that I would share my experiences with Veganuary that I took part in last month. This is something that about 3 years ago, I would never have thought I would have done, however after coming across a lot of bloggers, vloggers, documentaries and my own research, I have seen that there are lots of benefits to becoming Vegan. I won't delve into them now, but I will leave some resources at the end of the post. In August 2016 I tried being vegetarian for a month and actually really loved it, and whilst I hadn't been strict for the last year and a half, I had dramatically decreased my meat in take. After really over eating at Christmas, January was the perfect time to start Veganuary. 

Vegan breakfast at Conto Lounge

HEALTHY BUTTERNUT SQUASH CURRY RECIPE

Hello everyone!
I hope that you are having a good day so far. So, this year, I decided that I was going to start cooking more and making things from scratch rather than relying on shop bought sauces and meals. Yesterday, I had a butternut squash I needed to use up , so I decided that I would put it to good use and create a curry. This dish is so quick, simple and cheap - perfect for the students out there! It's also 100 percent vegetarian and I believe it is also vegan (the only questionable thing is the curry paste - I read the ingredients, and it appears to not have any dairy products, however the jar did not specify that it was suitable for vegans).

The total time this dish takes is 30 minutes and serves one person (obviously just add more ingredients for more people) - read on if you want to find out how to make this delicious dish!

Life: Double Choc Chip Cupcakes

Hello Everyone!

I'm back today with another baking blog post for you, which I have been absolutely loving doing recently. I have really been enjoying taking a basic recipe and changing it up my self to what I have in my cupboard or to what I fancy. Yesterday, I initially thought that I was going to just make some simple cupcakes, but somehow, I ended up with double chocolate chip cupcakes with a butter cream frosting, and I have to say (not blowing my own trumpet) but they were too delicious not to share with you. The best part of this recipe? They are so quick and easy to make, any of you can do it, even if you're a bit of a novice in the kitchen and you don't need any fancy equipment!

Ingredients (Cupcakes)

110g butter (soft, room temperature)

110g caster sugar

110g self raising flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp cocoa powder

chocolate chips (as many as you like)

Ingredients (Butter icing)

140g butter

280g icing sugar

1-2 tablespoons of milk

Method

1) Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Line  a muffin tray with paper cases (I used these adorable ones with pink polka dots on!)

2) Beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and fluffy

3) Sift in flour, baking powder, salt, cocoa powder into the bowl

4) Beat the eggs and vanilla extract then add to the main bowl and beat until combined

5) Stir in chocolate chips

6) put the mixture into the paper cases and bake for around twenty minutes, testing if it is cooked by poking a knife into one of the cakes and seeing whether it comes out clean

7) Leave to cool before decorating or your icing will melt

These cakes are of course delicious on their own, but if you want something a bit extra, butter icing is perfect!

1)Beat the butter in the bowl to make it more smooth

2) Gradually add your icing sugar and continue to beat until all combined 

3) add some milk to make it extra creamy

4) put them on yours cakes! You can be fancy and use a piping bag, but I tend to just swipe it on with a knife

Finally I just popped some more chocolate chips on top. Et voila! Some light and delicious chocolate cupcakes perfect for any occasion 

I hope you enjoyed this post! Let me know if you would like to see even more recipes from me, as I love writing about them. What are your favourite recipes?

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Christmas Gift Guide - Boyfriend

'What do you buy a boy???!' this is a question that I always think whenever it comes to an occasion where I have to buy my boyfriend a present, and it always seems that my friends are exactly the same. However, this year, it seems that I have managed to formulate quite a good mix of things for my boyfriend that are both affordable, but he will use. So here we are, my first Christmas gift guide of this year...


1) Touch screen gloves... to be honest who doesn't need these? Your outside in the cold, waiting for a train, or meeting a friend, all wrapped up and then you hear it... the vibrate and 'PING' indicating you have a message. First you try to unlock your phone with your gloves on, no such luck. You then reluctantly take your gloves off and feel the cold completely numbing your hands. Too much of a palaver. I found these ones on Amazon for £4.69, but I believe that they can be found in local markets quite inexpensively too.

 

 

2) A couple of months ago, my boyfriend and I went to see 'The Maze Runner' at the cinema. For about 2 weeks afterwards he just kept saying 'That was such a cool film!!!!' I then realise that the film was an adaptation of a book franchise, and as he is an avid reader, I thought that this would make an excellent present. The one I picked up was from Waterstones for £6.39

 

 

3) So this one, I probably wont buy until the day before I actually give presents to my boyfriend. The both of us have a little tradition where we like to buy a big box of Dunkin Donuts for ourselves every so often. I found out that they now have Christmas edition donuts, that look adorable. A box of 12 is just £9.99.

 

 

Hope these ideas have helped you for a boyfriends or even any one else! Is there anything you've picked up that you're super proud of?