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

Maybelline Baby Lips

As soon as I heard Baby Lips were in available to buy in the UK I was desperate to get my hands on some. They are so hyped up by everyone, they have been available in America for around 2 years so I have been long awaiting them to arrive here. Basically they are tinted lip balms. After looking in 2 Boots' and not being able to find the tinted ones I finally found them about a month ago. I know every blogger has written about these but I thought I would put my input in as well.

The 2 Baby Lips I chose to pick up were Cherry Me and Pink Punch. Cherry Me is a gorgeous red shade in the tube and it translates to a sort of raspberry colour on the lips and is also quite glossy. The scent of it is lovely too, its smells like those cherry jelly sweets and is a very artificial cherry smell. Once it's on the lips I personally can't smell it. I find this to be very nourishing and moisturising and now its one of my favourite lip products I own.

Pink Punch is a barbie pink shade in the tube and surprisingly it translates like this onto the lips. I wasn't expecting it to be that pigmented at all and it is the only lip product I have in this shade of pink as I don't tend to go for the light pinks. Although I am impressed with the pigmentation of Pink Punch I do find it a bit difficult to work with because it really highlights dry patches. The scent of this one is very sweet and fruity and I definitely prefer this scent of the two.

The tinted lip balms don't contain SPF like the non tinted ones do but I don't see it as a massive problem although it would be nice if they did. The only thing I really dislike about the Baby Lips is that the packaging is so cheap feeling and really flimsy. Overall though I do think that these are worth the hype and I would definitely buy more tinted ones if they bring them out in different colours. I don't think that these would be ideal if you wanted a lip balm to repair lips but as an everyday lip balm these are amazing especially as you get the colour pay off too. At only £2.99 I would definitely recommend these especially as they have replaced my nivea lip balm that I used to use on a daily basis. 

Have you tried the Baby Lips?

Megan xx

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 

Sunday Bakes #1 Cupcakes

Baking is something I love to do and end up baking something most weekends. I have decided to start a new series called Sunday Bakes (sorry deciding on names isn't my strong point!). Anyway in the past when I have done baking posts they have gone down quite well so thought this series would quite nice to have on my blog. Hopefully there will be a post every Sunday but some weekends I do just bake the same things as before so there is obviously no point in posting the same recipe twice!

This weekend I made some cupcakes, very basic and very yummy! I also used the duo piping bag from Lakeland for the first time and think it went quite well. Anyway onto the foody bit.

To make 12 cupcakes you will need.......
4oz of caster/granulated sugar
4oz of margarine/butter (I use Stork)
4oz of self raising flour
2 medium eggs
Vanilla essence

1. Pre-heat your oven to around 180 degrees and sort your cupcake cases out into the muffin tin (or not if your using a silicone muffin tin). 
2. Mix the margarine and sugar together until it becomes very pale and fluffy. (I use a hand whisk) 
3. Add the vanilla essence and eggs and mix again until everything is combined.
4. Fold the flour into the mixture until it is combined but don't over work it.
5. Separate into the cupcake cases and bake for around 20 minutes or until they are golden and the sponge springs back when you touch them. I always skewer them to check if they are done as well, just to make sure.

See, making the cakes is so simple and doesn't take long at all.

I love to pipe buttercream onto my cupcakes. I normally just use a plastic piping tube thing but today I tried the Lakeland duo piping bag. To make my buttercream I use 6oz of icing sugar and 3oz of stork. This amount just about covers 12 cakes however make as much as you need using the 2:1 ratio. I also used red food colouring to colour half of the butter cream pink so that I could use the duo piping bag.

Will you be trying these out? Don't forget to let me know what you think of baking posts.

Megan xx