A Day in London

As it was my fiances birthday a few weeks ago and we both had the day off work, I thought I would arrange a a spontaneous day to the city, London City. We both absolutely love spending time in London and everytime we go we find somewhere new to fall in love with. As we have been to the city numerous times we could avoid all the usual touristy activities and just explore.

Check out what we got up to and a few tips on how to make the most of 12 hours in London.

Travelling

Booking the earliest flight in the day and the latest flight home and booking well in advance will almost always guarantee the best price for that day. Booking the Stansted Express from Stansted Aiport into Liverpool Street Station online in advance also enables you to get a better deal, so being organised is ALWAYS good.

Belfast International Airport

Liverpool Street Station

Eating

We both love love having food with a view and what better place to eat great food and have an excellent view of London - than the Duck & Waffle. After researching and reading online reviews and blogs I knew we had to visit.The Duck & Waffle is based at Bishopsgate a few minutes walk from Liverpool Street Station on the 40th floor and it is open 24/7. We went for brunch around 10am, I would definitely recommend booking this well in advance as the online booking system books up extremely fast and I understand why. It was AMAZING, such a relaxed atmosphere, breath taking views and excellent food & cocktails.

Mimosa Cocktail - Duck & Waffle

Duck & Waffle Breakfast - Duck & Waffle

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club - Stadium Tour

Much to my fiance delight this trip was less about shopping and more about eating and exploring. In an attempt to be nominated for finacee of the year award I booked stadium tour tickets for White Hart Lane.

White Hart lane - Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Home Changing Room - Tottenham Hotspur Football Club

Covent Garden & Neals Yard

Covent Garden is one my favourite places to visit in London (excluding the 190+ steps out of the underground). It's quirky, interesting -  I love the atmosphere, street performers, the food, the bars, the shops and everything inbetween, This time round we discovered the Neal's Yard, this is such a hidden gem, the place bright beautiful and full of life.

Covent Garden

Neal's Yard

Homeslice Pizza- Neal's Yard

Where are your favourite places to visit when in London?

Bernadette

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Introducing Bruno

This is Bruno, also known as Bruce, Brucie, Brunz and answers to all - usually when food is involved! He is an 8 month old Jackie Bichon, this is a Jack Russell and Bichon Frise mix. He has the most adorable little face and the biggest personality.

Bruno couldn't wait to get his paws on his very first parcel from PetShop.co.uk* - a box full of delicious food!

Treat Box* contained - Huntland - The Natural Hunters Diet (Scottish Loch  Salmon with River Trout & Sweet Potato, PRO PLAN dry food & Pedigree Dentastix

PetShop.co.uk - Online Pet Shop

PetShop.co.uk is an Online Pet Shop and provides wide range of products for your pet (dogs, cats and other small pets) in one online shop from food, beds, medicines to poop scoops and bags. These can all be purchased online and delivered right to your door. The bottomless bowl service allows you to order your pets food online and automatically reorders as and when required to ensure that your wee pet never runs out of food.

As you can see Bruno loved his treat box from PetShop.co.uk and could't wait to dig in!

If you have a pet check out PetShop.co.uk for a wide range of items delivered straight to your door, handy right?

Bernadette

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Exploring the Markets - Belfast

This weekend my family and I decided to visit St.George’s Market in Belfast, this is an indoor market with all the authenticity of an outdoor country market. This is one of Belfast’s oldest attractions dating back to 1890’s and on Saturday it's host to the City Food and Craft market. What better way to spend a rainy Saturday than live music, great coffee and indulging in delicious food.

                 

City Food and Craft Market

The City Food and Craft Market is on a Saturday offers a large range of local, continental and speciality foods from around the world. It also represents local handmade crafts, flowers, pottery, photography, glass and metal work with local musicians providing entertainment throughout the day.

The beautiful building and great atmosphere was a welcome change to my usual jaunt around the nearby retail stores. You can easily get lost in your thoughts wondering around the market sampling food and coffee and listening to music, and that’s exactly how I spent my Saturday afternoon.

Belly Busters

Dolci Italiani

Suki Tea

Bailies handroasted coffee 

Jam and Olly's Country Stall

I would definitely recommend spending a Saturday afternoon browsing around St.George’s Market if you are Belfast, to sample the food and coffee, soak up the atmosphere and check out the local craftsmanship.

How do you like to spend an alternative Saturday afternoon?

Bernadette

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Not Just a Salad

Recently I have slowly but surely started trying to improve my diet and take up exercising with the overall aim of leading a healthier lifestyle. Working in an office environment all week and spending a lot of time on my laptop at home, I have found it has started to have an effect on my lifestyle. Mainly low energy and a bad appetite. Armed with my ‘To Do’ list I have started my journey to a healthier lifestyle.

Beginning with food, I have a collection of cook books that have been my go to when prepping my week day lunches and dinners. I have recently purchased Deliciously Ella, an inspiring story of Ella Woodward who has transformed her life through her diet. This book in particular focuses on only consuming food that is good for your body; natural plant based, dairy free and gluten free food. I feel that everyone would benefit from incorporating more natural food into their diet, and this is what I am aiming to do. Admittedly this involves me eating a lot of food that I have never heard of, never mind tasted.

I incorporated ingredients from a recipe in "Mary BerryCooks the Perfect - Step by Step” book and tips from Deliciously Ella to prep my lunch for last week and to my surprise it was delicious. I used a lot of ingredients that I have never tried before and I am looking forward to trying a lot more.

Quinoa Salad with Feta, Pomegranate and Fresh Herbs

·         Quinoa

·         Spring Onions

·         Peppadew Peppers

·         Lemon Juice

·         Olive Oil

·         Fresh Coriander

·         Fresh Mint

·         Fresh Flat-Leaf Parsley

·         Pomegranate seeds (my new favourite snack)

·         Feta Cheese

Do you have any good food/good lifestyle recommendations?

Bernadette

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Easter Aftermath

So Easter Sunday has been and gone, and you still have a mountain of chocolate? Even though I feel I have eaten nothing but chocolate for the past few days, the house still seems to be full of it. I thought I would use some chocolate eggs to make some treats that all the family could enjoy. And as the saying goes...”the diet starts tomorrow”...

Chocolate Nests

What you will need: Chocolate, Shredded Wheat, Cadburys Mini Eggs

I made these simple no bake Chocolate Nests and they went down a treat, using Cadburys Mini Eggs.

Break the chocolate Easter egg  into smaller pieces and melt slowly over a bain marie. Using a large mixing bowl break the shredded wheat into tiny pieces and pour in the melted chocolate and mix together until all the shredded wheat is covered.  Divide the mixture into bun cases and place mini eggs on each nest, leave to set... and voila!

Chocolate and Vanilla Milkshake

What you will need: Vanilla Ice Cream, Crushed Ice Cubes, Chocolate, Semi Skimmed Milk, blender.

With the sun making an appearance today, I thought an ice cold milkshake would be the perfect afternoon treat.

Break the chocolate Easter egg into smaller pieces, for this one I used a Galaxy egg and melt it slowly over a bain marie, drizzle the melted chocolate into your glass of choice.  Blitz the vanilla ice cream, milk and crushed ice cubes using a blender and pour into the glass. Grate some of your remaining chocolate over the top of the milkshake for an extra chocolaty flavour.

Cream Egg Chessecake

What you will need: Chocolate, Cream Eggs, 190g Philadelphia Cream Cheese, 250g Icing Sugar, 250g Double Cream, 1 pk Digestive Biscuits, Butter, Cake Tin, Greaseproof Paper.

Cheesecakes have to be one of my favourite deserts, so I thought I would make it for desert for Easter Monday, using some Cadburys Cream Eggs.

Base

Crush the digestive biscuits; this can be done using a food processor to save some time. Melt the butter in the microwave and mix together until the consistency you prefer is reached. I like the base of a cheesecake to be crumbly so I don’t use a lot of butter. If you would like the base to be very firm more butter would be required.  Line the cake tin of your choice with the greaseproof paper and place the biscuit and butter mixture into the tin and pat down using the base of a spoon, place in the fridge to set for 20 minutes.

Cheesecake

While the base is setting, you can make the cheesecake mixture. Break the chocolate egg into small pieces for mixing into the cheesecake mixture; you can also cut up one for two cream eggs to mix throughout the mixture but be sure to save some for the top for decorating.  Beat the double cream using a whisk until stiff peaks can be formed. Place the icing sugar and cream cheese into a large mixing bowl. Mix the cream cheese, icing sugar and chocolate into the bowl and fold in the double cream. Once the base is set pour on the cheesecake mixture and spread evenly.

Decorating the Cheesecake

Cut the cream eggs in half and place on top of the cheesecake, use the remaining chocolate to sprinkle over the top. You can also make yellow icing for an extra yolk effect, the yellow I used didn’t quite match the cream eggs yolk colour so as you can see I have covered it with melted chocolate, but you can never have too much chocolate, right? Leave to set over night for the best consistency.

Hope you enjoyed reading how I made use of my Easter Eggs, let me know if you try out any of these chocolate treats.

Bernadette 

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