Mix n Match Nails

So I was bored and decided I wanted to do something different to my nails! Normally I just do the one accent nail but today I decided to mix n match these pinks and purple colours.

Here is what I used

I'm thinking I want to do some summery colours next, maybe yellow, orange and green!  Will be on the look out for the perfect shades, this takes me back to when I use to do my nails on a regular basis, I had everything you could think of when it came to nails, I even had my own portable spray paint machine.

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Dairy Free Chocolate Coated Banana Chips and Raisins

If you love chocolate and you love banana chips then why not try them together.  I spotted these on the Holland and Barratt website, had no idea that they even did these in chocolate let alone dairy free chocolate.

So the next day I went along to my local H&B store and bought two packets, everything is on offer at the moment at but one get one half price, but they are £2.99 each.

These are absolutely delicious and have fast become my new favourite treat! I subsequently polished of half of the pack (the pack is fairly small) before putting the rest away for later.  Needless to say I couldn't resist any longer.

The soft sweet chocolate over the crunchy sweet banana chip is a match made in heaven, even though I describe them as "sweet" they are not sickly sweet, just moreishly delicious treats.

I will be stocking up with every opportunity I get, I just don't know how long they will sit in the cupboard without me touching them!

Unfortunately I did not find these in my local H&B but luckily found them in another branch when I was out at the weekend.  A slightly smaller packet than the banana chips costing £2.49 each.

They don't compete with the banana chips but are still a good sweet treat, for me the soft sweet raisin just doesn't seem as moreish as the crunchy sweet banana chip.

I will definitely stock up on both and add them to my snack rotation for both home and on the go. Thumbs up to H&B for thinking of their lactose intolerant customers.

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Taste of London @ Regents Park - I won tickets!

I was lucky enough to win 2 tickets courtesy of Popcorn Kitchen to attend the Taste of London Festival  (18-22 June 2014) http://london.tastefestivals.com 

So we opted for Friday between 17:30 and 21:30, when we got there and proceeded to get our tickets which was left for us at the box office as instructed we walked through and was advised that we would need to purchase what was known as "crowns", taste currency, in order to buy anything within the festival. 

One crown = £1 and there were plenty of people in pink shirts selling books of 10 crowns or you could purchase them at any of the taste banks located around the festival.

However, when we got in we noticed that the majority of the stalls were also accepting cash!

The first stall that we stopped at was Lickalix (Twitter: @lickalix) who promptly informed us that we could get a free picture taken with every purchase, which encouraged us to purchase two ice lollies.  I had the Mango and Raspberry and my brother had the Carribeean Twist (Pineapple, Mango and Passionfruit).

We then proceeded to walk around just to see what was on offer before purchasing any crowns, if needed, I had already looked at the website to see what stalls there would be and what foods I might like to try at the restaurant stalls but there was no harm in looking around.

There were a few familiar stalls from the Foodies Festival, Popcorn Kitchen (obviously), Angelic Gluten Free, Soulful One Pot, The Coconut Collaborative as well as many others.

We sampled some treats at a few stalls, many of which I was unable to try but my mum and brother sampled them for me.

Apparently after purchasing a bottle of VOSS water (£1 or 1 crown) if you take a picture and upload it to Instagram you would be entered in to a competitor to win a case of VOSS.  After a short discussion the guy was not sure why it was limited to Instagram only, why they didn't include twitter or Facebook was a mystery!

There was lots of music coming from different stalls, the Mexico section had some guys dressed up in traditional wear playing instruments and singing (sorry no pics of them)

Just before getting round to the Thai section my brother noticed and opportunity for a picture

Doesn't he look great as a cow? Mooooooooooooo

This section had more variety of gluten free eats as they had rice or rice noodles with most of their dishes and two of the desserts I saw were sticky rice with coconut milk and some sort of fruit, however looking at the portion sizes compared with the prices I was promptly put of purchasing anything especially compared with what was on offer at the Foodies Festival.

They did however do some amazing artwork with fruit

 

 

All in all it was a good event but I would suggest that you come with your credit cards.  The cheapest ticket is £28 then the restaurant plates range from 3 to 11 crowns http://london.tastefestivals.com/media/2005/taste-london-menu-2014.pdf but there are taster plates (kinda like a Tapas style)! Plus there was loads of alcohol for sale, I think the only non alcoholic drinks were water, tea or coffee.

It was nice to walk around and take in the atmosphere and the sunshine, you are not obliged to buy anything but you are encouraged to sample everything in the hope that you will then make a purchase.

Thank-you Popcorn Kitchen for the tickets it was a lovely experience that I otherwise may not have attended.

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Food and Drink Storage - it's all PURPLE

Over the past few months I have collected a range of PURPLE food and drink storage containers in the vain attempt to encourage myself to take a homemade lunch to work as on the go gluten free products are scarce and expensive. So to ensure that I don't starve and to save myself some money I have also come up with some lunch and snack ideas to store and carry with me in these lovely containers.

My first item was this thermal mug which I found in Asda known as a travel tumbler which cost £2.

http://direct.asda.com/george/george-home/asda-400ml-travel-tumbler-purple/001434665,default,pd.html?cgid=D24M09G01C06

It is great for hot and cold liquids, the instructions state that you should add boling/ice water for a few minutes to get the tumbler up to temperature before discarding and then adding your desired beverage.

I have tried both hot and cold drinks and I must say it works very well.  When I have peppermint tea it stays hot for at least an hour before the temperature starts to drop but you still have at least another hour before it goes completely cold.

So I would normally prepare my tea just before I leave the house then by the time I get to work 45 mins to an hour later it would be drinkable.  I also used it for my green juice and again it kept it ice cold format least an hour.

Overall this is a very good purchase and at only £2 it's a bargain!

My next purchase which I have not yet used was a salad bowl with a separate container in the lid for salad dressing which I found in Poundland, yep, it was only £1.

I have not yet had the opportunity to use this so I am not sure on how well it would store the salad and dressing but I don't envisage any problems as long as the container is kept in the fridge.  My plan is to make a variety of salads for lunch when I go back to work.

Next I got these separates from the Sistema brand in Asda.

http://direct.asda.com/Sistema-Purple-Gripper-Sports-Bottle/002009612,default,pd.html?cgid=D10M15G1C4

The first is a water bottle with a twist sip cap to ensure that it does not leak, when I purchased it, it was on sale at £4.  Since I bought it I have used it every day in an attempt to drink more liquids.  I would refill it at least twice a day and because I like my drinks cold I would store it the the fridge.

I did attempt to put it in the freezer but I must say that this was a bad idea as it freezes the twist cap mechanism, but that's not a major problem as all I did was put it in some hot water for a couple of minutes until the ice in the mechanism melted.

It has really helped me to consume more water throughout the day so I hope to keep this up at work as well.

Next is the large sandwich container again this was on sale I think it was £4 also, unfortunately this is no longer available in Asda

They had a smaller one which was literally the size of one sandwich, which for me would not have been practical if I wanted to add fruit or crisps or a yoghurt etc to my lunch. So opted for the larger one so that I could carry everything in one container.

Again I have not had the opportunity to use this but I would imagine that I would be able to pack in enough food for lunch!

Then finally I purchased this split container which I think was £2.

This seems to be no longer available at Asda either, but my thinking behind this was to use it for snacks, so maybe cheese and oatcakes or sliced strawberries and grapes or banana chips and sesame sticks or granola and raisins or carrot and cucumber sticks, the list is endless.

So no more crisps and fruit for lunch when I can't find a gluten free sandwich because I have taken a late lunch and everywhere have sold out of the 2 gluten free sandwiches that they stock. No more spending £5 plus a day on lunch because the sandwich alone is £3 upwards!

All in all some good purchase that benefit me in more ways than one!

Prewett's - Jammy Wheels

Whilst browsing the free from section in Sainsbury's I found this gluten free version of jammy dodgers  called Jammy Wheels by Prewett's.  They also had (if I remember correctly) Bourbons and Custard Creams.

You get about 10 biscuits in the pack and they appear to be just like the jammy dodger biscuits.

They taste the same too! Only difference would be that theses ones are not as sweet and has more of a crunch to it, however there is definitely more jam in the middle, which is a plus.

They are a good subtitute for those that are newly gluten free and finding it hard to adjust to their new diet.  I think it would be something that I would repurchase and i am also inclined to purchase the other biscuits in the Prewett's range.

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Snack - Oatcakes

A quick and easy gluten and dairy free snack!

What you will need:

- Oatcakes (Angelic Gluten Free)

- Cream Cheese (Lactofree)

- Cucumber

- Baby Plum Tomatoes

Step one

Lay out 6 oat cakes (if using larger oatcakes I would suggest a serving of 2) and top with cream cheese

Step two 

Slice the cucmber and place on top of the cream cheese

Step three

Slice the baby plum tomatoes and place on top of the cucumber

Step four

Season/garnish as desired

Tips and Variations

Try playing around with the toppings to suit your taste. Maybe added some smoked salmon!

These would be great as hors d'oeuvres at a dinner party for your gluten/dairy free guests

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ManiPedi - Shellac Nails

I was in desperate need of a manicure and pedicure after I came out of hospital and had been wanting to try Shellac Nails for a long time, so I made a visit to the nail shop.

Whenever I get my nails done at the shop  I tend to keep it simple with just white tips, my days of different designs and colours seem to be over.

I only opted to get Shellac on my finger nails, no false nails, with just a standard polish on the toe nails.

The Shellac process is very quick but at £25 I'm not sure if it is worth it even if it is meant to last for 2 weeks!

However after 2 days this happened

Now this was probably my fault as I accidentally got my nail in the way when I was slicing some onions and a piece of the polish came off, so rather than leave it looking chipped knowing that water would get under it and make it lift, I just decided to peel the whole lot off.

It came off pretty easily with no damage to my nail, which is good, but the fact that it did come off easily worries me.

Other than that I have had no problems with it. I am going to try to stretch it past the 2 weeks as I can not justify £100 a month (including £25 for the pedicure) on nails!

My pedicure as always is good and I know I can stretch it out for at least 6 weeks, especially when you only get tips done. I normally only get pedicures in the summer anyway!

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Bessant and Drury's - Strawberry flavoured Coconut Ice Cream

I first tried the chocolate flavour of Bessant & Drury's icecream which is dairy free as it is made with coconut milk.

So when I found more flavours in Wholefoods I opted to try the strawberry one.

Compared with the chocolate flavour you get more of a coconut flavour coming through with the strawberry flavour.

I have tried it on its own, with some granola and then also in a smoothie!  I love it!

I'm about to go back to Wholefoods to try another flavour!

Soulful One Pot - Thai Green Chicken Curry with Kelp Noodles

I found these lovely people at the Foodies Festival (see Foodies Festival Haul) last weekend.

The Thai Green Chicken Curry with Kelp Noidles is both gluten and dairy free!

They made use if the inside of the packaging by added info about how they started out, kelp noodles and other varieties of the Soulful One Pot.

The container is microwaveable, so all you have to do is break the seal and release the lid before putting it in the mucriwave for 2 minutes, stir, then back in for another minute, then your done!

Full of flavour and very filling! The size of the container is very deceiving, there was actually a lot more in their than I thought!

I was told that the retail price is £3.99 but they were on offer (2 for £5) at the Foodies Festival, which will be at Battersea Park in August!

This is perfect for lunch or even an evening meal with a side if veggies or maybe some sort of flat bread (gf of course).

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Takeaway Food - Nando's and Tortilla

My go to takeaway options right now are Nandos (http://www.nandos.co.uk) and Tortilla (http://tortilla.co.uk).

There menus are straight forward enough that I do not have to worry about gluten or dairy, I can just order my food and enjoy!

Nandos

My usual order is 1/2 Chicken - Hot, Corn on the Cob and Chips. Sometimes I may switch it up with the Spicy Rice or Coleslaw.  (£9.95)

If I'm feeling super hungry, which is hardly ever as I normally end up saving 1/4 chicken for the next day, then I may add Chicken Wings as well.

They now have Chicken Thighs, which are boneless, on the menu (4 chicken thighs and 2 sides - £10.25), so if you don't want to get your fingers dirty this would be a safer option!

Anyone that loves chicken, loves Nandos!

Tortilla

Tortilla opened a few months ago in Clapham Junction and at first I thought I wouldn't be able to enjoy anything on the menu as the main item on the menu has gluten in it!

However, to my surprise, they do what is known as a 'Naked Burrito', which is basically a Burrito without the wrap! I really shouldn't have been surprised after watching all these youtubers when they go out to eat in America and they get burrito bowls.

Perfect!

I normally get, Tomato Rice, Onions & Peppers, Black Beans, Chicken, Salsa and Lettuce. A medium is £5 and a large is £6. The same price as the Burritos.

It's great for lunch or dinner and very filling!

Smoothie - Banana and Strawberry

What you will need:

- Banana

- Strawberries

- Lactofree Semi Skimmed Milk

- Udi's Gluten Free Au Naturel Granola

Step 1

Chop up your strawberries and add to the blender

Step 2

Peel and chop your banana and add to the blender

Step 3

Measure 1/4 cup of granola and add to the blender

Step 4

Measure 1 cup if milk and add to the blender

Step 5

Secure the lid in the blender and blend until smooth

Step 6

Pour into your favourite cup/glass and enjoy!

Tips and Variations

You can add 3 or 4 ice cubes and blend to get a thicker and colder smoothie.

Or try adding some strawberry yoghurt or ice cream (dairy free of course!) for a creamy texture.

Play around with the fruits according to what you prefer.

The granola is optional, I added this as I was making the smoothie for breakfast, as it makes it more filling.

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Breakfast - Eggs, Ham and Spinach

Have been enjoying my breakfasts recently because I actually have time to sit down and eat, rather than grabbing something as I rush out the door to get to work.

So one of my favourites so far is egg, ham and spinach with a sprinkling of hot pepper sauce and some bread/toast (Genius Brown Bread with Pure Sunflower Spread).

It is very filling and helps to make your eggs go that little bit further making it a more substantial meal.

Like they say "breakfast is the most important meal of the day"!

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