Sober October - Macmillan Support

Booze. 

I can take or leave it.

Don't get me wrong, i love a night out getting tipsy (sometimes a little more than tipsy, but that's about once a year, and I've never been arrested!)

But i also love a sober night out, I am queen of the dance floor with or without alcohol.

I have a lot of friends who would need a drink before getting up for a boogie, a lot of them tell me they don't know how i can manage a full night out without touching a drop of alcohol. 

I think i get that from my Mum and my Auntie, they never need a reason to get up on the dance floor!

So i decided that for October I would give up drinking all together for the whole Month.

I have set up a just giving page if any of you lovely lot would like to sponsor me :) 

Vanessa-Drink-Hic

I think the challenge will be this Sunday, I'm going to The Warped Tour A whole day not drinking, watching some of my fave bands.
Easy.....
But when everyone else is slowly getting a low level buzz, i'll be drinking water and still having an awesome time, just wishing i was drinking a crisp Cider!

I even set up my own Hashtag for the month #SoberKawaiiNessa you can check it out on Twitter and on Instagram.

Keep it positive (and wish me luck!)

Nessa

xx

Cake and Bake Show - London Excel

About a month ago my friend told me about this Cake and Bake show, The Money Saving Expert people were giving away some tickets for free.

So I grabbed a pair for the Sunday of the event, just like they said, totally free. Invited Mama Ward down and we had a girly weekend doing all things bake related.

My mum LOVEs baking, she's all about taste and less about presentation. My bag are Cupcakes, I LOVE them.

I love making them, but I agree not only should they look amazing (so good you almost don't want to eat them) they should taste amazing too.

I've dabbled in baking all of my life, my favourite childhood past time is licking the bowel and spoon out after baking! But I want to get into it, maybe even make some money from it.

I have a baking cupboard, living in a shared house doesn't provide me with much more space than that. But I knew there were a few things missing from my collection that would take my baking to the next level. 

You should have seen my face when we walked into the Cake and Bake show!!! Like a kid in a sweet shop! Here's a look at my haul!

As we walked in they offered us a Program with Class Time Table and a goodie bag....Well they had me at goodie bag, so for £5 we got one.

The goodie bag was awesome! I got a Sample of Dr Oetker Cupcake Centres, Salted Caramel Flavour. a sample of Ariel 3 in 1, some Menier Chocolate and Nestle Carnation Chocolate Filling and Topping. All of which I shall be using soon!

There were stalls and stalls of baking goodies, if I had my own house or shop for that matter I would have bought everything!!

The second stop we made was at the Bake Club Stand, and it being the last day of the show, lots of the stalls had some amazing deals.
I managed to get 2 silicone bake sets for £15!! They should be that each on the website! Even at £15 each, totally worth it!
Bake Club Shop

 

 

The Icing set is my fave, I've needed some bigger nozzles for a while now, and In the set I got 5 medium and 5 large, so my cupcakes are gonna be awesome!!

There was so much to look at, lots of stalls selling gadgets for the kitchen, so hard not to buy everything, there a few things I wish I'd got but didn't, but I would have spent a fortune if I'd got everything!

I did purchase a cheese mill, which seems to be awesome for grating everything!

Mama Ward got me a subscription (as an early Christmas present) to Baking Heaven and Cake Decoration Heaven, Food Heaven Magazines, to which I also got a free tote bag and the Official Bake off Cook Book!

I shall be updating everything I make on here from now on, and I'll no doubt be mentioning all the awesome things I got at the Cake and Bake Show.

Here's the website for the Show its self: The Cake and Bake Show
There are ones in Manchester and Edinburgh coming up!

Cant wait to share more of my baking with you.

Keep it Positive

Nessa

xx

Halloween - Cupcakes

Post to follow about my AMAZING time at the Cake and Bake show (apologies again for not keeping up with this, promise to be better)

So as the title suggests, I made Halloween cupcakes.

 

Trying to bake more often these days, have a gander at my Instagram for quick updates. @Endless_Night07

 

So here's how I did it!!

 

they are Orange and Black Vanilla Flavour Cupcakes with Buttercream Frosting also coloured Orange and Black.

 

 

Makes 12 Cupcakes:

 

140g Softened Butter

140g golden Caster Sugar

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

3 Medium Eggs

140g Self-Raising Flour

 

 

Cream butter and sugar together, gradually add the eggs and beat until light and fluffy. Sift in the flour and fold with a spatula.

 

I then halved the mixture and coloured 1 orange and 1 black. I use Wilton Gel colours, they are the BEST colours out there, they have just come out with a new colour system which allows you to mix colours together to create other colours. That may be my next baking purchase!

 

I then added the mixture to the cases black on the bottom and orange on the top.

 

 

Cooked on 180 for about 15 minutes, until they spring back when i pressed on them.

 

Woo they rose more than I was expecting! 





I let them cool while I was making the frosting! (My fave bit!!)

So I got a new gadget (post about this to come) the Wilton Colour Swirl System! How to easily pipe upto 3 colours!!

I LOVE THIS THING!!!

So as I was only using 2 colours I didn't fill the 3rd space. then you just pipe as normal. and Hey Presto!!

Perfect duel Colour Piping!!

Then I added Sprinkles (cupcakes aren't complete without SPRINKLES!!!) I should have used more, but...there's always next time!

I was really happy with how the duel colours turned out!!



 

Let me know what you all think!!

 

Keep it Positive

 

Nessa

 

xx

Prested Hall - AMAZING!

Last month i went on a little trip away with work and had to stay over a few nights.

The second night we stayed at Prested Hall.....one word! WOW!

As we drove down the long drive way (which is always a sign of a fancy place) we were already blown away with the surroundings.

All the girls in the car were going on about how this would be an amazing place for a wedding! And they weren't wrong!

As we all checked in at the reception desk which was surrounded by dark woods and county house furnishings i was super excited to see what my room would be like. Firstly my key was an actual metal key! You don't find those much anymore...

As i climbed the grand stairs up to the first floor i saw my room was first. I put the key in the lock which was probably an original feature looking at the wear and tear around it.

I was greeted with this sight... *gasp*

So beautiful! I soon had the rest of the girls running in after me to have a look, we swiftly took a look in everyone else's rooms who had a similar beautiful old decor but all with a slight twist, but it came apparent that i had the biggest room.

 View from the bathroom door

 I really wanted to steal that vanity table!

That BATH!! Have no worries that i filled that with bubbles, picture further down.

We later had dinner in the adjacent building on site, which is also where they had a spa and pool. This building is a lot newer than the house itself, so for that i feel it is a little ugly in the grand setting. The restaurant is very new and modern, which again i found didn't feel as grand next to the decor in the house. That evening they had an Italian themed evening. the Food never the less was beautiful!

Starter - Roasted Vegetables with goats cheese tart.....Yum Yum Yum!

Mains - Roasted Chicken Wrapped in bacon with Beans and tomatoes.

Desert! (my fave part of all meals!)

Strawberry's with Vanilla Ice Cream! - lovely!!

As i mentioned earlier with the bath, as soon as i got back from dinner i put all the complimentary bubble bath in and set the water going.....

needless to say it was the best bath I've been in for a looooooong time! (HAHA)

After a lush nights sleep in the bed from the Princess and the Pea (at least that's how i felt) we all met downstairs for breakfast.

There was a huge selection for breakfast, there was the usual table of cereals and juices laid out just as you walked in, then on the table this little menu of scrumptious breakfast items! I went for the Three Egg Omelet.

I wasnt dissapointed! It was AMAZING! 

 My colleague had Eggs Benedict. I almost stole his plate!

When it came to leaving this wonderful place i was asked the usual, "was everything ok with your stay" Question. I said i couldn't fault it, beautiful house with beautiful rooms in an amazing setting! then i found out the best news! I'd had one of the bridal suits!! YES!!##

I would absolutely recommend a visit if you are planning a wedding!!

http://www.prested.co.uk/ 

Snacks....out and about.

Having been eating well this week and feeling great for it (loosing 5lb helps) I was a little worried about going home this weekend. *back story* When I usually go home, I don't think about what I'm eating, I eat what ever I want, have desert at every possible moment, I enjoy my food.
This weekend I'm still going to have fun, and eat what I want (making good choices though) cos this is a lifestyle change, and I know its not going to be maintainable carrying round Tupperware for the rest of my life like I do at work.

I go shopping on a weekend and prep everything I'm going to eat for the next week. (Might sound crazy to some people) It keeps me focused, helps me make good choices and saves me money as I can't go down to the canteen at work and buy things I probably don't need.

So going for the train back to the Motherland this morning and because its a Saturday I didn't have any fruit left in the fridge as I've eaten it all week, no carrot sticks left. So I thought I could just grab a few things at the station for the train. Easy right....... How wrong I was....

I'm not a huge lover of fruit as it is and I wouldn't want to eat too much cos its all just sugar anyway (good sugar, but still too much and its still bad for you)
But there really isn't much else out there to pick up that is actually a healthy snack. There's lots of things that look like they are a health snack, but they're usually full of sugar.

So first I went into waitrose it was only 10am so I wanted something breakfasty, didn't want a sandwich (and let's face it, pre made sandwiches really aren't good for you) there was a few yogurts, but all with fruit compote or some similar (full of sugar) lots of fruit options and I really couldn't see anything else that I could eat there and then so I grabbed a bag of over priced apple and grapes.

Not super happy with my choices I went to M&S...they're known for being great at health things!
I managed to grab a snack pot of reduced fat hummus and carrot sticks, perfect little snack. I made oil free, low fat hummus the other day, (post to come) so I know pre made stuff even when its reduced fat still isn't the best because its full of oil, but least the carrot sticks are super good.
I also grabbed a bag of "Guilt free snacking" sour cream & chilli lentil curls. Not bad, but the salt content was insane and I don't put salt in anything much, maybe the smallest pinch in my eggs, so they were super salty for me!!

That should keep me going on the train back home, but it was super hard to find and I'm still not happy about the Lentil Curls....

Looks like its Tupperware for life....

Stay positive

Nessa

Slimming World Secret.....Scan Bran

Scan Bran, chances are unless you've done slimming world or had a friend that's tried it, you'll never have heard of Scan Bran. 

It basically 40% fiber "cracker bread" (bread is used in the loosest sense of the word!)

Eating Scan Bran can get really boring, really fast. Least it was for me. Its hard to eat, I mean it tastes like fiber (AKA Cardboard). Its the secret ingredient for a lot of people trying to lose weight on slimming world. 5 of these fiber bad-boys count as your "Healthy Extra B" a day. I have a friend who can eat all 5  in one sitting for lunch. I can't get through more than 3 (even then it's a struggle)

for Lunch I would usually have a Laughing Cow Light Triangle, some meat (usually Ham or chicken) some Tomato and some rd onion. It certainly is easier to eat it like this. But i still struggle eating this more than once a week, and daily is the best way to lose weight with it. I've heard of people eating it with soups and making cakes with it (I tried that once....not great, but i need to perfect the recipe)

So I decided to try to make it into a type of breakfast loaf. Seen as eating at lunch was more of a success that turning it into a sweet thing.

If you use the Scan Bran as your Healthy Extra B and the cheese as your Healthy Extra A this is totally FREEEEEEEE!!

Here's the recipe I used (if you can call it that, as I pretty much made it up)

7 scan bran
4 eggs
3 Large Mushrooms
Handful of cherry tomatoes
1 small red onion

2 Rashers of lean bacon

42g Low Fat Chedder

Method:

First i blended the Scan Bran, the few recipes i found for cakes said to just break them up and soak them, but i wasn't sure about that, so i ground them up as fine as i could get them, then soaked them in some boiling water.

Then i fried up some onions and bacon, with some Tomatoes and mushrooms.

I then added the eggs and cheese together, then the scan bran, then the rest of the ingredients and mixed them together.

I added in to a non stick baking tin and cooked for about 30 minutes on 180. 

It came out well. and tastes really good.

I will do two things differently next time.

I will add in half a teaspoon of baking powder to make it rise slightly. (which will add half a syn to the whole thing)

And i will add a little seasoning to the eggs (I always forget to do this!!)

Enjoy!

If you have any questions write them in the comments below :)

Stay Positive

Nessa

27 and Counting

Recently I've seen a lot of posts about how people around my age should be married with kids, either because other members of their families are married with kids, or their friends have all stated pairing off....

I feel their struggle, but where a lot of posts have been about how it makes them feel hurt or empty or like the aren't "doing life right"

This post isn't about that at all!

My best friends know my feelings about kids...they all come out with "Nessa hates kids" this isn't technically true....I don't hate kids, you can't hate kids they're THE most innocent thing on this planet! If anything, its their parents I can't stand, the way the have no control on their kids, force them into situation they clearly don't want to be in because their parents are being selfish or let them do things my mother would have (and damn right she should have) knocked me every way to Sunday!

I'm a free spirit, a strong girl (still can't call myself a woman, makes me sound old) I know what I want in life. I might not know how to make it happen, but I'm sure I'll have fun along the way.

I'm happy being childless, (and this is no disrespect to any one who has kids, I see you loving those little people fiercely, and I throw massive props your way!) It's not for me, every now and again a little one comes into my life (take the little girl on the coach to Disneyland) and they are so sweet, cute and for some reason (maybe its my blue hair) are so in awe of me I can spend time talking to them, but I have never had this 'urge' to go out and make my own. (Maybe I loved the attention too)

As for being married, I'd kinda need a partner first, and I'm in no rush to fall into a relationship, (I wouldn't push it away, but I certainly wouldn't chase it) being married is a huge life goal for me, I'm not gonna apologise for that, but I'm also not gonna force that to happen.

When I do find that right person for me they best understand that kids aren't on my list....and I probably won't change my mind (I am, after all, like my Father and stubborn as hell)

Keep It Positive

Nessa

xx