Jumping on a bandwagon..... {Juicing}

Juicing seems to have been kicking around a lot in the last year or so.  The amount of articles and blog posts and tweets that I've seen raving about juicing and then I've seen how much juicers cost and I've rolled my eyes more then a couple of times and moved on with my life. Need fruit? Eat an apple I say. So now I have to back track a lot because we were very kindly given a Magi mix juicer by H's step dad and last week I decided to skeptically give it a go. And boy has it changed our lives - hair is glossier,  skin is clearer, diets are healthier and energy levels are higher. I won't go on and on becasue it's annoying but I would say both H and I have been thrilled with what a difference starting the day with a juice can make. Do you juice? What juices do you recommend?

Fresh Juices 

Some combinations we've enjoyed:

carrot, ginger, red apple, lime

spinach, celery, kiwi, green apple, lemon, cucumber 

carrot, orange, apple, pear, ginger 

beetroot, apple, spinach, cucumber, ginger  

Hosting a Spa party at Home {My Temple Spa Party}

Here in the UK there is great company called Temple Spa  who make some lush products - that are really great for the skin! The best thing about the company is that their representative comes to your house and you have a mini facial as you learn about the products. Its a great chance to get the girls together and have a girly pamper!

When I was organising my party I knew that the food had to be important and look great. In fitting with the night I also made sure it was all super healthy! Here's how it looked:

The Spread!

The Food:

 Kale Crisps 

Bake kale in an oven with some S&P and a little olive oil until crisp

Baked Tortilla Chips and Dip

Cut Tortillas into triangles and put under a grill for a few minutes until golden and then turn and do the same. Serve with guacamole and salsa

Salmon on Rye

Cut some Rye bread into small squares, top with extra light soft cheese, some smoked salmon, a squeeze of lemon and some black pepper

Mushroom Pate and Rosemary Biscuits

not going to lie - i bought these
Hummus and Crudites
I bought the hummus and cut up celery, peppers and carrots to dunk 

Chocolate strawberries

melt some dark chocolate and dunk the strawberries in. Chill and then serve 

Fruit Kebabs

Cocktail stick with cubes of fruit and grapes - easy! 

The food was a hit and the fact that it was guilt free really helped!  I decorated the table simply with fresh flowers and little tags saying what each item was. I think its really easy to go overboard with these sorts of things so I tried not to make to much and kept it to little nibbles. Once I came in from work I only had an hour or so to get ready so it had to be quick! 

Chocolate strawberries - everyone's favourite

The Drinks:

Prosecco - Our favourite

Raspberry Fizz

Prosecco with a fresh raspberry

Ginger Lemonade 

Sparkling water with freshly squeezed lemon juice and slices of fresh ginger 

Spa Water 

jug filled with water, ice, lemon, lime and cucumber

Ginger Lemonade ans a bit of the spa water!

And there you have it, my ideas for throwing a Spa party. You could always do your own and do face masks, pedicures and manicure.... Although its much easier when someone comes and does it for you!

Because Gin is the Tonic to my life…..

Day Two and I’m linking up with the lovely Jenni to try and get my butt in gear and blog every day in May – maybe it will get me some of those elusive followers as well? Hmmm maybe I’m asking a bit too much….

So today’s prompt is “Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at” I know lots about food and cooking so I could educate you on that – or you could just click on my recipes on the side bar and I’ll educate you step by step on whatever one you fancy! So in order to not go with the predictable I am going to educate you on something else that I know a lot a bout and I’m good at….

Drinking.....

Or to be exact making the perfect drink  (I am a part time barmaid after all)

Gin and Tonic is one of my favourite drinks; so quintessentially British and perfect on a sunny day, believe it or not we’ve actually had some sunny days here in the UK recently!

So in my humble opinion a G&T has to be made with limes because lemons just aren’t the same and limes compliment the gin better

The perfect G&T is made with Bombay Sapphire gin because I’m a snob it tastes better

You have to get a long glass, even better a pint glass (disclosure: I am not promoting excessive consumption of alcohol)

 

You then have to add 3 cubes of ice – 2 is too few, 4 makes your drink watery

 

Add 2 large slices of lime 

Pour in this amount of Gin

You then pour over the tonic – carefully because it loves to fizz

Serve with a straw, and a paddle and another thing you found in that bartenders set you randomly purchased from Amazon that one time!



I also poured my housemate a glass of wine - its bad practice to drink alone (unless your heartbroken, in which case its perfectly acceptable)



I feel great having educated you on G&T’s - never let me see you drink one in with lemon again! What would you educate someone on?