Low Cal Sweet Summer Treat - Whipped Strawberry Smoothies!

Hi Beautiful!

When Summer arrives I'm all about self improvement, just those few extra tweaks that I want to do when the sun shines. But this doesn't mean I don't crave a treat every now and then!

Enter Whipped Strawberry Smoothies!

They are so easy to make and under 150kcal!

Take some Angel Delight, (I used strawberry, but you could use any) and make it up according to the instructions (I use roughly half a packet for my own portion). Use Skimmed Milk to keep the calories down, add a little more than normal to ensure it doesn't thicken too much.   

Grab you blender, and pour you mix in, then add an equal part of skimmed milk, a handful of strawberries and plenty of ice. Blend like crazy!

It's lovely and thick and creamy, but still cold and refreshing!

Put it into a cute jar with retro straws or spoons, to serve for the girls on a sunny afternoon!

Have a fun day everyone <3

Lea

x

p.s. All this hype about GFC; it's still going to be working (so I am informed), so if you'd like to follow me, please still click on the button to the right :) Alternatively, you can follow me via Bloglovin' <3.

Image via weheartit.com

Donut Burger?!

Morning lovelies,

This post is not for the faint hearted, calorie baulking, of you out there - RUN!

Red's True BBQ is at the very top of Call lane, next to The Corn Exchange, in Leeds. It specialises in BBQ food, and my God it is GLORIOUS! 

I have wanted to go to Red's for a really long time, but the pricing has meant that I've had to stay away. Realistically, it's not that expensive, no more so than a steak restaurant would be, but since I was on a student budget, I just didn't have the spare cash floating about. 

The atmosphere is very relaxed, and I'm not going to lie, it really is quite smokey from the grills, but not in an eye-watering, cough inducing manner. It really just adds to the authenticity of the place. Don't dress up, my advice is keep it casual, and wear something loose!!

 Choose from a variety of BBQ/Hot sauces, I really recommend the second and third from the left.

Meet Red's Ultimate Milkshake, Pecan Apple Pie and fudge blended together - absolute heaven.

The Donut burger, and yes, that really is a donut on the top. This is the single most amazing thing I have ever eaten in my life, I cannot tell you how incredible it was! The sweet potato fries and fried gherkins were also to die for!

This is an incredible place to get together with friends; it's a great casual and friendly atmosphere, with amazing food that's such a good talking point. Aim for lunch there, as you can't make reservations so the dinner time queue can be lengthy. I also think the obvious thing to say here, is that it's not the most Vegetarian friendly place out there! 

If you're in or near Leeds, give this place a shot, I dare you!

Lea

x

p.s. All this hype about GFC; it's still going to be working (so I am informed), so if you'd like to follow me, please still click on the button to the right :) Alternatively, you can follow me via Bloglovin' <3. 

Oh Christmas Tree!

Hello Darlings,

Yesterday marked Alex and I's two year anniversary; we both took the day off so we could spend it together, and we had an absolutely lovely day. 

We had breakfast at an old favourite place that we used to go to when we lived in our last house, did some shopping for some Christmas bits and pieces and then came home and put all of our Christmas decorations out. Putting our first Christmas tree up, in our first real home together was a wonderful moment that I'll always cherish, it was such a fun and special thing to do together.

Later on we had steak for dinner that we bought down at the local market, and home made apple crumble for desert. I wrapped up most of my presents and put them under the tree, and we watched some of our favourite programmes with a bottle of wine. 

I know some of you won't be able to believe that my Christmas Tree is up already, but Alex and I spend a lot of time away from home in December, so we've put it up early so that we get the benefit!

Today we're doing a few crafty things, so as long as it goes to plan, I might share them with you tomorrow!

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

Lea

x

Don't forget to check out my Christmas Yankee Candle giveaway HERE. 

Halloween In My Home..

Hi Darlings,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I've had such a busy couple of days so I thought I'd show you some of the highlights!

The night before Halloween:

 Alex Baking her Witch Cake

Decorating Halloween cupcakes

 Some of the finished results

 My favourite winter jumper, so cosy and homely for crafty projects

 Alex bringing our stash of pumpkins in

 Yes we really did have that many!

Carving out the pumpkin houses

 One of the finished results

 Outlining the freshly carved Jack o Lantern

Halloween:

 Zombie fingers - made from chocolate fingers, pumpkin seeds and blackcurrant jam

 Some of the fun cakes we made including Luce's Rocky Road Spiders

 The Jack o Lantern in action

Luce, having just drawn her spider on (it is now somewhat smudged)

The Witch Cake

 Snacks table

Spiders! 

 Toes - made of hotdog sausages, tomato sauce and tortillas

Our pumpkin village 

 A close up of one of the pumpkin houses

Frogspawn jacket potatoes for dinner

We've had so many Trick or Treaters tonight, some of them had put so much effort into their costumes and were lovely - it was so much fun to see them all. A group of 13 year old zombie schoolgirls (read tarty schoolgirls) not quite so nice, but you can't have it all!

Now I'm off to watch The Witches, (it's something we do every year) and eat a massive amount of sugar.

See you all tomorrow lovelies, I hope you had an awesome night!

Lea

x

Trick Or Treat?

Good Afternoon Darlings,

When I was growing up and lived at home, Halloween was always a lot of fun. Even after I stopped going Trick or Treating, my mum used to put so much effort into the food that she gave out at the door. Rather than giving sweets or chocolate away, she used to make hotdogs for the children and parents who came with them. 

It warmed them up when it was freezing and they were out in the cold dressed as a cat for half the night, and was something a bit different from what they got at every other house.

With that in mind, this is the first year where we're expecting Trick or Treaters. Where we live now, there are quite a few children in the houses that surround us, which is a stark contrast from student-ville where we've been for the past few years!

We obviously weren't going with the boring options then were we?

These are the ideas for this year:

 (here)

 (here)

 (here)

 (here)

(here)

You can find the recipes for all of these by clicking on the 'here' button.

They are all from a lovely site called Spoonful.com, if you like arts and crafts, cute recipes and Disney (!) You'll love it!

Abiento,

Lea

x

What's in my fridge?

I finally got some food back in the house! I don't have to starve anymore hehe :)

I always try to eat as healthily as possible, and a few things in here are things that never really leave my fridge. The chocolate for example goes down very slowly, but it's good to know if I want some there's plenty there!

What's in your fridge?

Lea

x

Grocery Time!

So I'm finally back in Leeds after our holiday. It's been an amazing almost two weeks and I'm sad to leave it behind, but I'm also super happy to be back in our little house (even though I have a list as long as my arm of jobs to do!).

One thing you can definitely tell I need to do ASAP is get my tush down to Sainsburys! I'm afraid that empty doesn't even cover my fridge, it looks practically desolate, and this is after I lifted some meat out of the Freezer!

I always love to watch Grocery Hauls; I have no idea why, it must be a weird thing about me hehe, so I might pop one up when I get back.

(Eggs and Cocktails for tea at this rate!)

I also need to do some paperwork and some blog work while I tackle the mountain of washing that needs doing after the holiday. Thankfully Geordie Shore is firmly series linked in our house so it looks like we have a bit of catching up to do this evening, and maybe even an episode or two of the Bachelor too!

Tomorrow I have a heap of Land Law work to do and I need to sort out picking up the rabbit from Megan, and also find out my work hours for this month! Whew!

Hope you've all had a lovely time while I've been away :)

Lea

x

Up for a snog?

Don't worry, this is not my attempt at a chat up line!

After we finished up at the Natural History Museum, (which was brilliant!) we were running a bit late for Harrods (read Pinkberry :p) so we decided to head back and freshen up. On the way I dragged Alex to Snog to get some fro-yo; what can I say? I'm addicted! It was lovely; more bitter than Yoomoo I would say, but still nice. Their toppings were definitely very interesting too. I went for watermelon and brownie with natural yoghurt and it was lovely! I have to say, call me biased, but I still do prefer Yoomoo. I'd say the main difference is that Snog yoghurt isn't as soft and creamy as Yoomoo, which is the main reason why I love it so much.

Now we're off to Brick Lane for a curry so I'd better dash :)!

Lea

X

The Workday Lunch Dilemma

A lot of people that I know who work full time are big fans of junk food for their lunch. It's quick, accessible and tasty. For me, since I work in a shopping centre, I'm literally 100m or less away from an entire food court compromising of the likes of McDonald's, Spud U Like, and Nando's. But I have never ventured up there, and I'm definitely reaping the benefits.

I like to pack up my lunch/dinner before I leave the house, and enter the nutritional values into MyFitnessPal so I know exactly how many calories I will have consumed and whether there are a few left over for some frozen yoghurt, for example. This means that although I'm making healthier, low cal choices which are making me drop pounds, it's making my purse gain them. And what's better motivation than zipping up a pair of jeans in a size lower than usual, and finding that you have the money to pay for them too!

I'm in work from 4:30 until 9:30 today, so I don't have a huge dinner packed up to take with me. I've just had my lunch which was cucumber sandwiches and a pot of low fat Ambrosia, so I know that'll keep me going for a while.

This is what I'm taking with me today:

Campbells Asparagus Cup Soup ( it has little croutons in it which I really like)

Weight Watchers Caramel Mallow

Petits Filous peach flavour yoghurt

This comes in at just 234 calories which is just a fraction of what a Big Mac Medium Meal with Diet Coke would be, which comes in at a whopping 820 calories!

I know it is a little time consuming to make your own lunch, but it doesn't take that long. Setting 5 minutes aside from your day could make such a huge impact on your waistline!

Do you always make your own lunch? Or do you prefer to go the unhealthy (but admittedly delicious) route?

Lea

x

Cinema Snacking?

So we're going to take a second shot at MIB 2 tonight since we didn't get there yesterday!

I was just eating my dinner and watching ANTM, when I found myself pondering on how many calories there are in cinema popcorn, not that many I told myself, it's only puffed corn and air and it hardly fills you up does it? I did some googling on the subject and found out that it contains almost 500 calories in the smallest box, that is a hell of a lot of calories!

I don't think I'll ever be able to look popcorn in the box again!

So this has left me with a dilemma, everyone wants to snack on something naughty at the cinema right? These are my top picks:

• A Milkybar - 140 cals
• A small pot of Ben and Jerries Frozen Yoghurt at the cinema - should come in at 180 cals or under
• Skinny Topcorn Sea Salt flavour - 115 cals per bag
• 4 Strawberry Cables - 144 cals
• A fruit pot - around 100 cals depending on what fruit is in there
• Rainbow drops - 40g 107 cals

What do you recommend?

Lea

x