Tag: Baking

Tiny things Tuesday #43

My laptop is back! The positive was that it wasn’t the harddrive so I haven’t lost any of my data. It’s so nice to be able to type properly and listen to all the music that I didn’t have on my ipod.

I’m finding that I have too much to do at the moment and not so much a case of not enough time but a case of not enough time to relax AND do the things I need or want to do. I’m still learning my own limits. Taking one evening a night to attend a class leaves me a little exhausted the following night so I find that I just spend evenings either at class, studying or relaxing. I feel guilty sometimes like I should be doing more but then when I try to do more, I wipe myself out.

Here’s this weeks things;

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1. I have been hoarding this unicorn horn bath bar for month now and finally used it on Sunday evening. It was lovely to relax with after a weekend of tidying and sorting. I also put on a face mask and concentrated on stretching out my achy back and legs.

2. The sad ghost club does some wonderful work around mental health support and awareness as well as making some super cute illustrations. I treated myself to one of their shirts last week and its so soft and lovely.

3. I love pancakes! They are a staple thing that I will make for people who stay over at our house (and just for me and J on a weekend if I am feeling fancy). I usually make crepe style ones but after having some amazing american style ones that my friend Sarah made, I tried making my own tonight (and last night as a practice run) I used this recipe from Edgy Veg and it worked so well. I substituted the coconut oil with standard sunflower oil and found the trick was to wait until bubbled came through the batter to the topside before flipping them over.

4. I haven’t finished reading the whole of “The life changing magic of tidying up” by Marie Kondo but I liked what I have read. I’m working on overhauling my house at the moment and at the weekend I used Marie’s method of organizing clothes to sort my wardrobe and drawers. Look at all my neatly folded tops! I hope it’s something I can maintain.

Till next time…

Tiny things Tuesday #33

And just like that, my holiday is over and I’m back at work today.

I had a wonderful time in Barcelona and I’m planning to write at least 1 post about it (maybe 2 if I decided to do a separate post just about all the amazing vegan places I ate at)

Returning to my “normal” life, back at work today was a bit of a slog. Still…4 day week and all that!

Here’s this weeks list;

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1. I went to a BBQ at the weekend at a friend’s house – one of the other guests decided to knock up some fresh focaccia bread at the party and it was so delicious. I decided to have a go at making my own yesterday. I used this recipe and I’m really happy with how it came out. I will definitely make it again and perhaps add more seasonings/ingredients like chopped olives and sundried tomatoes it the dough before cooking it.

2. I had left over taaka daal for lunch today and it was so good. Really garlicky and comforting to eat. Made my first day back at work a little easier. I’m trying to get in the habit of not eating all of my takeaway when we have one and splitting it into two meals. I always end up over stuffed when I eat it all so this way seems better plus I get to enjoy it for longer.

3. My friend Donna went to Tokyo on holiday and sent me this wonderful package of Alice items. Thank you Donna – they are so beautiful! There is a notebook, a tiny writing set and some balm. I love the floral patterns on it.

4. I signed up to pinclub a few months ago and this was my second arrival. I really love how it’s not gold toned edging as so many pins seem to be. I also love his little grumpy face and the heart shaped bubbles. I look forward to seeing what I get next month.

A lot of the small things that I have been enjoying this week have been things that I haven’t photographed (or am not able to). Things like the gratitude I felt today when someone I only know in passing at work has offered to help fix my bike for me, returning home to a very dribbly and affectionate cat, sleeping in my own bed, working on winter survival plans, replying to letters and pinning many, many craft ideas on pinterest.

Till next time…

Tiny things Tuesday #23

Hello July! Even though the weather can’t seem to make up it’s mind what it’s doing, I’m feeling summery.

Here are this week’s tiny things;

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1. I am in LOVE with this Brow Box by Urban Decay. it was a gift from my lovely friend Donna and have I have the Brown Sugar version. I usually use pencils for defining/emphasising my brows but this product is so much better. It’s also really, really cute with its tiny mirror, angled brushes and mini tweezers*

2. I got home tonight with energy to spare so I made this bread. The recipe was also in a vegan book that I was given for my birthday by my partners parents. They gave me some carrots and courgettes from their garden when I saw them last week, so I’ve put them to good use.

3. We got new bed linen last week and I picked up the matching bottom sheet today. I love the bright colours and the bold pattern. I’m pretty sure this year is all about embracing bright colours into my life. It really does seem to helping with my mood too.

4. This weekend I had a lovely time on Saturday hanging out with some friends at the Godiva Festival that Coventry puts on once a year. It was lovely to sit in the sunshine chatting with friends. We had a BBQ afterwards at a friends house and I was presented with some belated gifts. One of them was this cuddle version of the Prince from the Katamari games. I love playing Beautiful Katamari when I’m in the mood to relax and they have the best soundtracks.

& now I’ve worn myself out with baking and cleaning, it’s time to relax with my feet up, some fresh bread and Netflix.

Till next time…

* It’s really hard to find information about which Urban Decay products are vegan any more it seems. I’m not 100% that the brow wax included in this box is vegan but I’ve emailed to check.

Tiny things Tuesday #11

I think I’m still riding high on the energy from my trip away last week. I’ve felt really positive since I got back and have also been working on channeling that energy into my time at work. I am pretty tired though so I’m glad we have a long weekend coming up (and I’ll be staying close to home for this one)

Here’s this weeks list;

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1. I made these savory sweet potato and rosemary scones last night using the recipe from here. They are delicious, specially when warmed slightly and with some vitalite on. I altered the recipe slightly as I didn’t have any nutritional yeast so I put in a heaped teaspoon of vegan Parmesan and I used dried rosemary instead of fresh.

The blog is run by my friend Sian and I’m excited to try out more of her recipes.

2. I joined the Kanken club this week after musing for months over what colour to get (so much choice!) I finally settled on this one in salvia green and it had its first outing today. I put in it everything I had in my shoulder bag yesterday and it felt so much lighter and easier to carry. I am a convert.

3. My legs are pleasingly achy after 1 hours of dancing tonight at Ego. I saw this session advertised when I was in their cafe at the weekend and thought I’d give it a go. You pay £1, say beforehand on the FB group what songs you would like to hear and then all dance for 1 hour. It was good fun, got my heart rate up and also made me think about how much less self conscious I am these days. I’m looking forward to going back next week and hopefully they will play this for me (which has been my theme song the last few days)

It’s also worth saying that Ego is amazing because it not only runs as a not for profit arts company with a lot of different things going on, its cafe/bar is the only all veggie/vegan place in Coventry. I love it!

4. I brought myself these flowers at the weekend for £1 because tulips are my favourites and I thought the happiness I got from seeing these each day was worth splashing out £1 on. I wish I could have them in the bedroom but I’m a pain in the bum for flailing around and knocking over water/wine/coffee when I’m stretching.

Time for me to get some rest. I think the dancing tired me out more than I was expecting.

Till next time…