Confessions of a non-shopaholic

Oh mercy.

After chirping on about how I don't usually treat myself I had not one, but two parcels turn up Thursday. Holy crap. How to explain that to the husband!

First up some more candles (yes, I am embarrassed as I type this). But there is a valid reason.. she says.... I am sharing these with my mum and sister (although they don't know it yet).
We are all partial to a Yankee candle and I just fell in love with the scents and colours while watching QVC... gosh, this gets worse doesn't it!!!!

I know mum will like the red and green 'Holiday Welcome', the 'Mrs Claus' Cookies' is for my sister and the Peppermint Swirl...... well, that is for yours truly. Spread the joy, that's what I say!

The second parcel was from Matalan online. I was in need (ha!) of some work tops and they had some items in the sale that I liked the look of.

Ok, for starters I admit the dress is not for work at all but I loved the colours and with the festive season parties coming up.... plus it was just £12...... with leggings or thick tights..... ya feeling it?

The shirt is for work and is a size 16. The dress is a 14. I don't know about you guys but with shirts I have to go a size up or the boobies try to burst out....

The last top is probably my favourite buy and yet I wasn't sure when I ordered it. Again it is for work and I love the touch of floral on the sleeves and neck.

To make matters worse after heading over to Ffion's blog: http://chocolateandraspberries.blogspot.com/2011/11/rawr.html and cathcing up on some posts, this review of Rawr chocolate bars sent me hurtling to the Rawr website where I promptly ordered some.

Buuuuut, they are for Xmas gifts I swear!
I find my brother-in-law's quite hard to buy for and I like to try and find things they wouldn't normally have heard about so these bars seemed perfect and really reasonable too. Perhaps an idea if you have that hard to buy for person in your life...... Paired with a nice bottle of Organic red........

I have a feeling there will be more parcels turning up as we approach Xmas. I stick by my original statement, I don't usually treat myself....................

Good job the coffee is free today.

Enjoy Friday x

Wind in the Sails

Happy Thursday folks!

We are nearly there..... can you smell it... (not the mushy pea curry).... Friday looms!

Today's eats while delicious were not really exciting.

The day started with 2 boiled eggs, a yogurt and a fiber bar.

I promise they are two eggs and not two testicles.......... :) And the out of date yogurt....... tasted fine. I can't throw anything away!

I then munched on a giant sharron fruit and a juicy comice pear mid-morning.

I don't know about you but I totally love my slow cooker at this time of year. This morning I threw some things together, set the slow cooker going and tonight when I walked in the smell was so delicious, comforting and warming that I instantly felt cozy.

I usually plug the slow cooker into one of those cheap timers so that it turns off about 4pm. This lets it sit a while and settle so that come tea time it is perfection.

All that remained was for me to cook up some veggies (sprouts were included of course) and serve up.

Mmmmm. Soooo good. I am calling it 'Yorkshire hot pot' seeing as the lamb was local :) I used a mandolin for the sliced potatoes so this was thrown together in super-quick time this morning (and all fingers intact even at 6am - bonus).

The husband thinks I am such a domestic goddess....... lets not shatter his illusion by letting him know how easy it really is :)

He opened a bottle to celebrate Thursday, a lovely Shiraz from M&S that we ordered online.

I fancied something sweet after tea so I had one little Adora chocolate disk which as well as being delicious was also healthy. (I got these from iHerb a few months back).

Coffee in the morning - check that - FREE coffee in the morning. I love Fridays!

I'm just off to wash my frilly Nigella pinny..........

One for you, one for me

Ahem.

Usually I am pretty good at resisting the urge to buy things willy-nilly. Especially considering that I'd already had a present to myself in the morning.

Buuuut, yesterday I had to pick up an item from a clothes shop that I'd ordered for my niece's birthday and I caught a flash sale that was on. Be rude not to look so I took a peek.

I've been looking for a cardigan for work that is good quality and that I can also wear with leggings if the mood takes. I spotted this on the rails and while I'd never pay full price for it I thought that 50% off was a good deal so I tried it on........

I love the fact that it is quite long - covers the lady lumps :) and I liked the detail of the little flower corsage. Plus the colour although grey is a welcome change from my usual black.

I also bought a bargain belt for £2 that will go with a dress I have with the same colour in and finally a little across-the-body bag for a Christmas gift.

Not forgetting the reason for the trip in the first place. Check out this all-in-one cow print pyjama that my niece wanted for her birthday:

The girls got style ;)

As I was passing I dropped by the local fruit and veg shop to stock up on some really good value goodies. Raspberries - 49p a punnet, 4 Sharron fruit £1, 5 huge English comice pears £1, Cuke, Romaine lettuce, 3 Kiwi's and a Pomelo.........

If you've never seen one before then the best I can describe the taste is a cross between a sweet grapefruit and a melon. It is not bitter at all but it does take some peeling; you need to remove the skin and the white pith in order to enjoy the delicious fruit within.

Last nights tea is a new recipe (if you can call it that) that I have been meaning to try. Bear with me here, I've not gone nuts.

I present........ Mushy Pea Curry...

Now before you gip I promise that this recipe is the bee's. I wouldn't post it if I didn't think you'd like it :)

If you are on a budget, hitting the kitchen running, vegetarian or just looking to try something filling yet delicious without meat then this is for you. It couldn't be simpler.

You need:
1 onion - peeled and finely chopped
Mushrooms - sliced
2 garlic cloves - minced
2 tins mushy peas
1 tin baked beans
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Curry powder to taste - I added quite a bit and some extra turmeric for a golden hue.

All you do is fry the onion and garlic in a little water and salt until its tender.
Add in the mushrooms and cook some more until they yield their juice and the pan becomes dry again.
Add in the spices of your choice / curry powder.
Add in the contents of all the tins.
Stir really well and let it bubble for 10 minutes.

Serve.

And slap your wrist for ever doubting it would be delicious.

It will however be a little windy the next day, a small price to pay; just don't say  didn't warn ya ;)

When you think about it (and I have) the peas really make it just another form of dahl..... another green form granted, but along the same principles.

Have I convinced you yet?

New flame

There was me talking about my addiction to love of candles and then the lovely post lady turns up bearing gifts. (I act like I knew nothing about it, I did of course order them for myself!)

The brilliant thing about todays order was that there were some free gifts inside!
If you bought a meduim tumbler then they included 2 packs of tea lights and 2 tea light holders free.

I needed wanted to try the Honeysuckle fragrance but it's hard to come by, it was included in the offer so I ordered it and took advantage of the free goodies.

I also ordered in some more spiced pumpkin & candy corn tealights and a candy corn wax tart for my burner.

The freebies were sweet. Two purple-glass holders and Meadow Blossoms and Sparkling Cinnamon tea lights. They all smell great and if I can I might even keep the holders and tea lights for Xmas gifts (not promising!)

The honeysuckle was just as I hoped and really reminded me of the scent of the honeysuckle that used to flower in the garden as a child. This will be a great one to burn in the spring so I'll put it away until then.

Now I once again have my wax quota supplemented.

Burn baby, burn :)

I'm headed out to the gym for Jump FX followed by Pump FX....... sweat coming my way.

Recap

Sooooo, it seems I am rubbish at blogging on a weekend!

BUT  I really have to find a way round it as for the past 3 weeks I have gained weight. A lot of weight. 
I think its because by not taking pictures (accidentally-on-purpose) I've nothing to blog about therefore I eat crap.

I need to change this or I'll be one fat Christmas fairy in 7 weeks.
So here goes.

This morning I wanted savoury and filling. I looked at the baked beans as I knew I wanted toast, then a tin of cherry tomatoes caught my eye. So I swapped and went for veggies on toast and saved the beans for another meal.

On the side is an Egg-Nog flavoured coffee, I am trying to use this up rather than waste it. I've found that I need to add quite a lot of coffee grounds to get a good coffee flavour so actually the bag won't last too long and then I can go back to normal.

Did you spot the candle?

See, I even burn food-flavoured candles - there is no hope!

But this is a really nice candle. It's by Kringle and this scent is Gingerbread.
Echoes of Christmas are floating round the office and I love its spicy-sweet smell. I have the larger one of this fragrance waiting in the wings at home and I can't wait to burn it in the house come December.

I'm following things up with an Activia fat free yogurt

and I may or may not have several satsumas around my person for snacking.
Have a lovely day x

Fun Fry-Day

Friday was fun, lots of laughs at work and I got to hold a very cute and tiny baby. She was adorable and slept the whole time. Don't panic though, I'm not getting broody.

Lunch was comforting and delicious.
Soup (again) of the vegetable variety. I forgot to snap a picture of it today but it was the same as yesterday except there was no pasta or green beans in today's, just the naked soup :)

Followed up by another pasta/salad combo. Lettuce leaves, roasted beetroot and roasted pumpkin topped with spicy beef pasta.

Snackage was fruit - 3 satsumas, a pear and a yogurt with 2 HiFi bars.

Friday's gym session was spinning followed by brutal circuits. Ooof. Friday circuits always get me. After a double session I come out looking like a drowned rat; drowned in rat-sweat that is. Nice.

Number 16 was the bike for me tonight

And Friday circuits means disco lights, banging music and air con....

I totally coveted this pie tonight as it was a Beef Wellington.......... Fillet steak, duxelle of mushrooms on a shredded potato base. Served with chips and tomato sauce of course. How on earth I kept my greasy fingers off it I don't know. Perhaps the promise of melted cheese atop my bolognese helped keep me focused :)

With a side of sprouts of course.
So we were both happy with tonight's menu. I could eat pasta every day of the week whereas the husband could happily never eat it again. Good job I love him ;)


Today I am hoping to level the house work, write the Xmas cards (really) do the ironing,  do some cooking and then we are heading out to see some friends in their new house.

Sunday might be a chill-out day. Think I'm gonna need it looking at today!


Happy weekend peeps x

Coffee (not cough-ee) Friday

Why morning sleepy heads!
Annnnnnnd, yes, it would be Friday - woot!

Yucky outside though:

Fog and rain, what a lovely combination........
But to lift the spirits I celebrated 'Coffee Friday with a Drive-Thru special this morning.

And guess what?! Next Friday's coffee is FREE as I filled my little card. Oooooo, the thrill :)
Ok, as promised let me share my breakfast recipe with y'all.


Pumpkin breakfast bake

There is cheese involved........ oh yeah, thank me later.


It is so simple to make.
In a bowl, mix 3/4 of a tin of pureed pumpkin (or blend your own cooked pumpkin) with 1 tsp wholegrain mustard. I also stirred through some roasted pumpkin chunks for a bit of texture but only because they were lurking in the fridge.


(If you don't have pumpkin you could use pureed butternut squash or even defrosted frozen chopped spinach).


Layer the pumpkin mixture in the bottom of a small baking dish that you have first sprayed with cooking spray.

Season with some mixed spice (just a sprinkle).
Beat 4 eggs with some salt and pepper and pour over the pumpkin.
I then topped mine with 42g reduced fat cheddar cheese.

Put it into the oven for 25 minutes. Mine baked at 140 degrees c in a fan assisted oven.

Boy, my oven is clean :) (Thank you Mr Oven-Clean man, worth every penny)

20 minutes later........ cheese-scented heaven.

I am having mine warmed in the microwave this morning although you could also eat it cold.

Whichever way you take it though, just make sure it's on the menu - and soon.  

Must dash, Happy Friday! :)