Month: May 2016

House of Dreams: Why We’re Addicted to Pinning

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I recently spent a full, sunny (!) afternoon busily decorating my home, picking out gorgeous fabrics, lamps, plants and all that good stuff. Of course this was my imaginary, completely not real home. Which lives, in a way, on my Pinterest account. I’m obsessive about collecting these images and relish looking at their loveliness, weirdly, like an actual home, I believe my choice in virtual decor reflects well upon me.  Of course I have never and maybe will never own a home, I live in London… actually, scratch that, I live nowhere! I’ve just returned to England after travelling for several months, so technically I’m homeless. But when I do move into some place it is 100% going to be incredibly expensive rented accommodation. I’ve lived in house-shares my entire adult life; which are so fun, always a friend to share a bottle of Tempranillo with, parties, hungover breakfasts. However the drawback is that you don’t have a space that’s really yours. The house is literally owned by someone else, you are merely a paying …

5 Cheap, Easy and Healthy Meals To Impress Your Friends

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I love cooking at home, it’s a lot cheaper than going out to eat all the time (especially in London) and it means you know exactly what’s going into your meal. I’m no Nigella, but there are a few staple dishes that I can make really well and I thought I’d share a few of them with you… Courgetti with Pesto & Salmon If you haven’t heard of spiralizing then you’ve probably been living under a rock… either that or you have way more fun things to do than play with vegetables! However, we all gotta eat, right? And if you have to eat you may as well do it the quick and healthy way. Substituting pasta or noodles for veggies is great for people who are gluten intolerant (or pretending to be), or those of us who bloat after a good spag bol. Courgette noodles or ‘courgetti’ are probably the most popular vegetable to spiralize, you can use carrots or squash, and to do so you need to buy a spiralizer… or do you? …

& Other Stories Just Slayed Summer Dressing

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My all-time favourite high street store & Other Stories just killed everything. They win. I went into their Regent Street store the other day and was blown away by their spring/summer collections, they have the prefect pretty dresses for all your BBQ, wedding and festival needs and some seriously ‘fashwan’ accessories. I had (I mean literally had) to buy their sequinned floral dress, it’s the best dress I’ve ever seen in my life. It does come up incredibly small (I hope) and I had to go up by two sizes, either that or I’m in major denial about my physique. Regardless of their slim Scandi sizing, I just adore this shop, the clothing is always great quality and on point – not too trendy, but never dull – and their beauty range is awesome too, but that’s another story for another day. Here’s a tip, buy online and save 10% with the code FRIENDS.   MY TOP STORIES PICKS

In Defence of ‘Wellness’ and Healthy Eating

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There is a recent VICE article doing the rounds The Unhealthy Truth Behind ‘Wellness’ and ‘Clean Eating’ by ex Bake Off star  Ruby Tandoh that caught my attention. In the article which is definitely worth a read, Tandoh questions whether this new obession with juicing, eating gluten-free and detoxing is really healthy at all. In fact she shares a little about her own eating disorder (she suffered from anorexia) and how advocates of clean eating such as Ella Woodward of Deliciously Ella and the Hemsley sisters gave her an excuse to restrict her eating and cut out certain food groups. While a part of me agrees with her, it is only a small part, and while I also know that orthorexia (an eating disorder centered around a fixation on healthy or clean foods) is very real and I feel terrible for the people who suffer with that or any other eating disorder, when it comes to some pretty girls flogging healthy cookbooks and posting chia seeds on Instagram, I can’t help but think ‘what’s the …

India: The Best & The Worst

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It seems ages ago since I went to India, needless to say I loved it and I will be back. You have my word. So to refresh my memory and to also give you guys some travel tips here is the best (and worst) India has to offer. The Best Bits The Best Food Definitely momos which are kind of steamed filled dumplings and apparently tibetan, but wherever they’re from they are good. They cost roughly 30-40IR (30-40p) from street vendors. Or there is a fast food chain version called Wow Momo which does every kind of momo known to man – chocolate, tandoori style, momo burger, fried, steamed, you name it and they do it. Wow Momo, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi  The Best Vibezzz Varanasi at sunrise was an unforgettable experience. Being in the holiest place in India and therefore the world (FU Vatican City) was pretty spesh, the river Ganga is where Hindus and some other religions burn their dead to send them off to the spirit world all pure. I also …

Sheree’s Super Smoothie Bowl Recipe

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Since my trip to Bali where I tried my first smoothie bowl at this awesome cafe (Alchemy, check out the review here) I have been craving smoothie bowls like there’s no tomorrow. Which makes a change from craving Toffee Crisps, and is much, much healthier. So I thought I’d have a crack at making my own since they are incredibly expensive to buy here in the UK. So here is my recipe, oh and it was DELICIOUS!!!! 3 Steps To Breakfast Heaven STEP ONE: The Smoothie Base This is important because it’s the main component of your bowl, your smoothie needs to be thick, a lot thicker than a usual smoothie. So I use bananas because they thicken anything up and they’re cheap, but you can also try avocados, yoghurt (or a dairy free alternative if you’re lactose intolerant like me. Blend everything together in a Nutribullet or blender. 1 Banana Handful Frozen summer fruits Almond milk Manuka Honey STEP 2: The Fruit You can use anything here to be honest, just chop up some …

My Beauty Routine

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I would say I’m pretty low-maintenance, although I love to experiment with new lotions and potions. During the day I don’t wear much makeup at all (except for filling in my brows with Rimmel Brow Pencil in Brown/Black) so it’s important my skin looks clear. If I eat badly I break out so I try and drink gallons of water and lots of green veg and eggs, I do have a sweet tooth but I think as long as the good outweighs the bad it’s cool. I drink the Hemsley + Hemsley green juice a few times a week which gives you an inner glow. My skin is quite sensitive so I’m drawn to unfragranced products and love French pharmacy brands like La Roche Posay which you can get easily in the UK now. Their Effaclair face wash is amazing, I buy the biggest bottle they do, it makes your face feel super-clean but doesn’t strip it of all its oils. I have shiny skin so I don’t moisturise in the morning unless it’s deep winter …

Five Minute Guacamole Recipe

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This is a variation of the delicious guac my old housemate Amy used to make for me (under duress), now, I don’t have her patience for carefully crafting amazing dips, I just want to eat. So I figured out how to make my own guacamole in a matter of minutes. Hers will always be best… but this is a pretty good recipe too. INGREDIENTS Large Ripe Avocado Small Red Onion (Diced) Tomato (Diced) 1/2 Tsp Chilli Powder Handful of Fresh Chopped Coriander Juice of 1 Small Lime Salt & Pepper to Season Once you’ve diced what you need to dice, peel the avocado – is that to obvious? Anyway, do peel and de-stone it. Telling if an avocado is ripe is pretty difficult, I say, if it’s soft to touch, use it, anther way to tell is to remove the brown stem at the top and if it comes away easily and is green underneath the fruit is ripe. If not and it’s brown underneath, it’s unripe… other than that you’re on your own. Anyway, …

The Palomar, Soho

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After months of trying to get a booking for this unassuming Soho eatery I finally managed to get in for an early evening supper and I’m already planning my next visit. The Palomar is sister to the uber cool Machneyuda restaurant in Jerusalem. Like Machneyuda, The Palomar’s delectable menu features dishes from Southern Spain, North Africa and the Levant – but with a twist. As usual I took my trusty iPhone along to document my meal…