Simple Summer Salads

Salad is one of those seasonal foods that people tend to eat more in the warmer, summer months. I am trying to make my lifestyle and diet more healthy so when I was kindly sent the Simply Salads book I was really happy as it is a great way to find new ways to make salad. I'm the type of person who sticks to the same thing, pasta salad or ham salad, so this proved a great way to change up what I usually do.

The books contains "more than 100 delicious creative recipes made from pre-packaged greens and a few easy to find ingredients". This book screams easy recipes, most recipe books have ingredients that you would have to fly to Japan to find. All the ingredients included in this book are really easily accessible, the hardest ingredients to find are probably the shellfish and seafood. The recipes are all really easy to follow and are all bullet pointed so the steps are all clear without there being paragraphs of unnecessary text. 

So far I have only tried the Warm Wild Mushroom Salad using Florette Salad but instead of using the wild mushrooms as suggested I just used a range from the supermarket (better to be safe than sorry, right?). This was a great way to use up mushrooms that had been left in the fridge and the salad turned out lovely.

Although the book is very simple and isn't needed in order to make a great salad, it does act as a great source of inspiration if you are looking for ways to spice up salads that you currently eat. I love the pictures in the book, they are large and clear and make the food look great. For me pictures are what makes or breaks a recipe book and the pictures in this book definitely make the book. I make recipes based on how good the pictures for that recipe are so I think pictures are really important. 

The book costs around £15 which I personally think is very expensive for what it is but if you are a massive fan of salads, this is the book for you.  Don't get me wrong I love the book but would never have thought of buying a recipe book of salads, especially as I don't eat salads as a meal very often and only tend to use it to garnish meals. 

I'd love to know what your favourite salad is.

Megan x

*This post contains a sponsored link. All views of the book are my own.

Eggs Recipe Book

Egg's has got the be the book with the least original name ever! I love baking so love getting new recipe books which I can use. Eggs does what it says on the front and inside it houses hundreds of recipes which use eggs. The book has everything from ice cream and sauce recipes to how long to boil an egg for which is something a lot of people aren't sure of. There really is a recipe in here for everyone. Every recipe is accompanied by beautiful pictures and really easy to follow instructions.

The book is great if you like to cook or if you like to bake and I'd say it's a really great recipe book if you don't have many as there is a recipe for most things in there. Another thing that I love is that unlike other recipe books the recipes in Eggs are things which I would actually make/eat and doesn't include ingredients that you can only get from that one market in Italy!

The book only costs £6.99 on Amazon so you really get a lot of recipes for your money as the book is pretty thick, it has over 300 pages! It's also a hard back so will stay in good condition even whilst it's being thrown around in the kitchen. I have referred to this book a few times since I got it and am really enjoying using it.

What's your favourite recipe book?

Megan xx

*Contains a sponsored link

Natural Balance Foods

Natural Balance Foods are the company who make my favourite healthy snack, Nakd bars. Until recently though this was all I knew that they made. When I found out the Natural Balance Foods actually make Trek protein bars I knew I had to try them. I have been snacking loads lately (I think it's because it's so cold!) so decided to try the cocoa brownie bar from Trek. First of all let me tell you that it was yummy and definitely didn't taste like a healthy snack, more of an indulgent treat. It was quite sweet but I don't think that they taste was as strong as the Nakd bars that I have tried, it's not far off though. There is 11-12g of protein in each bar which while i'm not very knowledgeable about these things, I think is a beneficial amount for refueling after exercise or just to have as breakfast on the go!

Another great thing about the Trek protein bars are that practically anyone can eat them. They don't contain dairy or wheat and are also vegan and kosher approved. As well as this they don't contain any artificial ingredients and are one of your 5 a day!

Another thing that I wanted to mention is that on the Natural Balance website there are accessories from Nakd bars. The only accessory that is available so far is a drawstring backpack which while I think is practical, doesn't really appeal to me. However Nakd are bringing out a new accessory which I got a little bit too excited about. A carry cup which is super cute, it's white and green with a little bumble bee on each side. One side also has the Nakd logo on it while the other side says 'Hey hot stuff' which I really love. Ever since starting sixth form I have become addicted to hot drinks so I think this carry cup will come in really handy for me. Let me know what you think of the carry cup in the comments. 

Have you tried any of the foods that Natural Balance make? 

Megan xx

Gousto

Until earlier this year I hadn't heard of Gousto or any other other food boxes. Gousto is basically a food box delivery service. This means you pay a set price and you get the ingredients for 3 meals a week. On the website when you order your meals for the week ahead you have a choice of about 10 meals, some of which are vegetarian. You can choose to have a box for a couple or a family which is for 4-5 people. When I was offered the chance to try 2 days worth of meals I was super excited. I love cooking and also feel like ingredient boxes like these are a great way to eat clean.

On the menu, each meal has a preparation time and a country of origin as well as a difficulty level. Another great thing about Gousto is although you get all of the ingredients you can decide not to add all of something of may choose to miss out an ingredient completely. 

The meals I chose were;

PARMESAN-SAGE CRUSTED PORK MEDALLIONS WITH SAVOY CABBAGE

You get an instruction sheet for every meal that you get. They are very easy to follow although make sure you read it through before hand so that everything is completely clear. 


You get everything that you needed even down to the egg for the coating of the pork. The only things you needed to add were simple things like seasoning, oil and flour.

The meal was super easy to make and was my favourite out of the 2. It was my first time having savoy cabbage and loved it, its definitely not a bland tasting vegetable. The prep time for this was around 40 minutes and the difficulty level was 2 out of 3 although I don't personally think it was difficult at all as long as you follow the instructions.

CHICKEN CASHEW STIR FRY

The chicken stir fry had a few ingredients that we didn't put in such as the spring onion and peppers due to allergy but they were used at a later date by other family members so no ingredients went to waste. Everything again is included even a tiny stock cube. Again this was a 2 out of 3 difficulty but I found this easier to make than the pork dish. Even though the plates look rather empty the meal was very filling and was definitely enough. It would have bulked up a bit more if I had included the pepper too.

I would definitely recommend Gousto. If you want to find out more about the service which includes free delivery you can check out there website here.

Have you tried a food box like Gousto?

Megan x

Sunday Bakes #2 Chocolate Cupcakes

Today I have been busy doing my English coursework so wanted to bake something quick and easy. I'm sorry that last week was cupcakes as well but I promise next week will be something different. Anyway I figured that people like basic and easy recipes so didn't think you'd mind to much.

The recipe is practically the same as last weeks, sorry!

You will need 
4oz of butter (I use stork)
4oz of caster sugar
2 medium sized eggs (free range are best)
Just under 4oz of self raising flour
3 tablespoons of cocoa powder (the unsweetened type)

1. First line a muffin tray with 12 paper or silicone cases.
2. Cream together the sugar and butter until it's a very pale colour and has a fluffy consistency
3. Add the eggs and mix again until combined.
4. Take 3 tablespoons of flour out of the 4oz and add 3 tablespoons of cocoa powder.
5. Fold the flour and cocoa powder into the mixture.
6. Dollop the mixture evenly into the 12 cases.
7. Bake for 20 minutes at around 180 degrees.

As I've already mentioned I have been busy doing coursework today so didn't have time to decorate them but they were delicious as they are.

What are your favourite types of cupcakes? Also if you have any ideas of what I could bake in the future please let me know in the comments.

Megan xx 

Nakd Bars

I am currently on a health and fitness mission and hope to be documenting my progress and ideas on my blog. Please let me know if this is something you would be interested in seeing. Nakd bars have become one of my favourite snacks recently.

Nakd bars are 99% natural bars and are made from mainly nuts and dates plus the fruit of the flavor of the bar. As they are natural they are a healthy snack to have even though they are relatively high in calories. Its healthier to eat this than a chocolate bar because of what is going in to your body.

Nakd bars are surprisingly sweet which is because of the dates i'm guessing. I tried the cocoa orange flavour and they taste amazing, and really kick a sugar craving. They are usually on offer in supermarkets for around 50p. I am looking forward to trying some different flavors of the nakd bars.

What are your favourite healthy snacks?

Megan xx

Nando's!

Nando's is one of those places that I never went to because I thought it was overly hyped up and popular. I also thought its just 'a chicken restaurant'. When I was kindly given the chance to go for a meal at Nando's I was pleased beyond expectation.

When we arrived we were told about how to order, where to collect sauce from and were told how spicy each spice was. Nando's is a relaxed kind of restaurant which I wasn't expecting. You go to the 'bar' area to order and then if you have a soft drink you go and make it yourself and they are refillable - bonus! I would also like to point out now that all the people who worked there were incredibly friendly and helpful. 

I do not like overly spicy things so me and my mum opted for the lemon and herb butterfly chicken. The great thing about Nando's in that you choose a food and pick the spice you want on it and then pick the sides you want too which is great. We both chose to have chips and coleslaw as sides. Apologies for the pictures, I started to eat before I remembered to take pictures whoops. The chicken was lovely and so filling.

My little sister had the chicken strips off the children's menu and had it as mild with sweetcorn and chips. She is an extremely fussy eater but enjoyed the meal and ate every last bit of it. Nando's really is a great family restaurant as it caters well for all ages.

Please also excuse this horrible picture, again I started eating without remembering to take a picture. I had a choc-o-late cake for dessert and let me tell you it was delicious. When I was debating about ordering it, our lovely waiter told us that if I couldn't manage it all he would box it up for me to take home. This again was brilliant customer service and that alone made me order the cake.

Overall I would say Nando's is definitely worth a visit and it is my new favourite restaurant. I will certainly be visiting again and as prices are average for a restaurant it won't break the bank either!

What do you think of Nando's?

Megan xx