Vegetable Bean Soup

Everyone has their off days and today was mine. So I put together this recipe, courtesy of the famous Essie Button. It is perfect for those cold days to warm your body from the inside out. You'd be a fool not to try it!

Ingredients:

1 Sweet Potato

1 Pepper (red, yellow or green)

1 White onion

2 Cans of Beans of your preferred choice

1 Carrot

1 Can of Tinned Tomatoes

3 Cloves of Garlic

1 Chili 

1 Vegetable Stock Cube

1 Teaspoon of Brown Sugar

1 Teaspoon of Soy Sauce 

Salt and Pepper

1 Teaspoon of Paprika

Materials: 

1 Large Pot

1 Baking Tray 

Step One: preheat your oven to 200 degrees celsius. Chop up all of your veggies into your preferred size, keep in mind that the larger the vegetable the longer it will need to be baked.  Add the paprika, chili and garlic to the pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Place in the oven for 30 minutes, depending on the vegetable size. 

Step Two: Place a stock cube into 600ml of boiling water and stir. Meanwhile, add your tinned tomatoes and the beans of your choice to your pot on the stove and leave to simmer for roughly 2 minutes - once the two minutes is over turn the heat down. Next add your stock and pop the lid on the pot until your timer for the veggies goes off.

Step Three: Once the veggies are cooked, pop them into the pot and give it a good ol' mix. Leave it to simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Step Four: Place some toast into the toaster, pop the soup in a bowl and enjoy!

Chocolate Banana Nut Bites

Happy Friday everyone! 

Today I am so excited to be sharing with you my all time favorite treat. It is as the title suggests. These are great to keep in the freezer for a cheeky treat, but take my word for it when I say they do not last long. 

Ingredients:

Half a bar of Dark Chocolate (or chocolate of choice)

1 Banana 

Nut butter (I prefer almond)

Step One: Slice your banana into chunks, the size is up to you. Spread your nut butter over the slices and pop them in the freezer for  about 10 minutes.

Step Two: Break your chocolate up, place it in a heat proof bowl and then pop it in the microwave for 1 minute 30 seconds (until melted). Using a spoon, place a blob of the chocolate on each banana piece. Because it has been in the freezer it should solidify quickly. Sprinkle some salt onto the top and place them back in the freezer for 5 minutes before digging in.

Step Three: Enjoy!

Protein Bliss Balls

You would be lying if you said these didn't look good. And boy oh boy do they taste good!

I stumbled across this recipe earlier on this week and since then I have already made two batches. I think that says something for itself. Once you have one, I promise you you will be tempted to have another one...or five!

I won't keep the suspense going any longer. You need 7 ingredients, one bowl or a food processor and you'll be a very happy chappy. 

Makes approximately 22 balls. 

Ingredients:

1 cup Almonds

1/4 cup Oats

1/4 cup Shredded Coconut

3 tbsp Cacao powder

1 tsp Vanilla

3-5 tbsp Protein Powder of choice

2 cups Dates

2 tbsp of Water 

Toppings of Choice - Eg. Coconut, Chia seeds, Flax seeds, Cacao powder

Step One: Place the almonds, oats, coconut, cacao and protein powder into a food processor and process until fine and crumbly. Alternatively, you can place the dry ingredients into a blender.

Step Two: Add the dates into the food processor until sticky, thick mixture. Alternatively you could do it the good ol' fashioned way, with your hands! I opted for this option as our food processor decided to break down. Turns out I had far more fun doing it this way and it tasted just as good!

Step Three: Roll the mixture into a long roll, slicing it equally into 22 balls (give or take depending on your preferred size). Roll them up and coat in desired topping. 

Step Three: The best part comes next. You don't even need to cook them, take a bite from one of these bad boys. 

Enjoy!

Dubai For The Weekend

In the early hours of friday morning, my mum and I hopped on a plane to Dubai. 

And an hour later we arrived. We Rees ladies don't mess around, we went to our friends apartment to quickly drop our bags (empty of-course, so we had space for our shopping...sorry dad!) and then straight to Dubai Mall.  For those who haven't been before, it is gi-jimmy-normous. Oh and it has a large fish tank in the middle. 

Look!

We arrived and headed straight to the Cheesecake Factory for lunch, which might I add excited me far more than it should have. A mountain of Kale and Quinoa salad washed down with a blueberry and white chocolate cheesecake was right up my street. 

We shopped until we dropped, literally. Six hours later, we were back at the apartment feeling more than sorry for ourselves with sore feet and bad backs. But it was nothing chocolate and a good coffee couldn't fix. 

We plonked ourselves on the sofa and didn't move until the late evening. 

Now seems a fitting time to show you the view from my bedroom, prepare yourselves...

This, ladies and gents, is Dubai!

Once you have taken in the view you might be able to take in the fact that we went to see Gary Barlow later that night! 

Take That was my first concert so needless to say I was up at the front singing his songs, word for word. And I do not regret a single bit of it, even though I was the youngest amongst a sea of middle aged women.

Drinks in hand, you can tell I am my mothers daughter. 

Confession: I stole this from Gary's twitter. But look at the sea of hands! (I have tried to find myself, I was on the left hand side at the front)

The fine man himself, an up close and personal shot. 

Here is a picture to express our excitement of this moment. 

Despite the lack of sleep and exhaustion the following morning, my mum and I managed to make it to the Mall of the Emirates.  The sacrifices we make...

We hopped on the metro and made our way to the mall for a few final hours of retail therapy. 

Eye spy the Burj Khalifa. 

We didn't last long, our exhaustion got the best of us. After a delicious lunch at Paul, we headed on home to the apartment. Might I add the chocolate that was waiting for us there was a huge incentive. As well as the Coffee machine!

Sadly our short trip had come to an end. But I loved each and every minute of it.

Dubai, you were good. Until next time!

Five Ways To Be Happy

I am definitely no specialist and what I am about to say may not apply to you. But these five factors are things I stand by, or am trying my hardest too. Each and everyone enables me to make the most of everything, helps me to be myself and helps me to embrace my happiness. Being happy is something I have personally been struggling with recently so it felt fitting to share this post with you, because even if it helps just one person that would make me feel so great. It is so easy to get lost in social media and their perceptions of how you should be/how you should act; put your phone down, get off twitter/instagram/tumblr and take a moment to breathe. Too many people spend too much time on their phone and laptop, it is easier than ever to lose yourself and forget about the things in life that matter, so take a moment to appreciate them. This has turned into a point itself...so before I waffle on anymore, I am going to share with you my five ways to be happy!

One

Build your own dreams not somebody else's.

Now this one is extremely self explanatory. But if you want to do something in life, don't listen to what somebody else's dreams are, you go out and catch your own! Change can only come from you. And the most important thing to remember is you are you, so embrace that because it is something nobody can take from you.

This is something I live by, starting this blog was a huge step towards doing what I want to do. Not everyone understands why I do it, nor my desire to do so. But I do. And I am doing something I want to do in life, without anyone else's input! And guess what, I love it!

Two

Challenge yourself and don't give up. 

Set yourself ambitions. Set yourself tasks. Set yourself goals. And push yourself to do it! If you want to run a marathon, put a date in your diary and you run that marathon! If you want 4 A*'s in your Alevels, set yourself the goal and get them! Anything is possible, the world is quite literally your oyster and you're free to do whatever it is you want to do. 

Three

Worrying.

It is pretty likely that this is something each and every one of you has experienced, I know I for one can relate. You get into bed and suddenly your mind ignites; thoughts run through your head and the next thing you know, you are worrying about everything and anything. Stop. The one thing we all forget is everything happens for a reason, whether it be failing an exam or breaking an arm. These things teach us lessons, they make us stronger both mentally and emotionally (sometimes physically too). Some days you feel absolutely pants, not even an endless supply of chocolate could make you feel better. But everything that happens, does happen for a reason; good or bad. And these things we do, right or wrong, shape who we are. Don't feel the need to think everything will fall perfectly into place at the most convenient of times because some things are beyond our control. And whether you worry about them or not, there is nothing you can do about them.

It is far easier said than done and it is most definitely something  I am working on, but try your best, we both in it together. Always remember that there are 7 billion people in this world, you are not alone in worrying.

Four

Being complacent.

Humans are creatures of habit. I'm sure I don't stand alone in being someone that goes into a restaurant and orders the same meal every time. Take Wagamamas: for the longest time I only ever ordered Chicken Katsu Curry, it wasn't until recently I tried something new and enjoyed it so much more. This strives further than Wagamamas, step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself to doing something new. Of course this goes further than food ladies and gentlemen.

Five.

Preparation.

I am sure you have heard it all before, on multiple occasions - by failing to prepare you are preparing to fail. Work, school, exercise, your diet. Anything. If you don't prepare, you are failing yourself. At the end of the day, you are only failing yourself. And no matter how many people tell you think, you won't fully understand until you experience it. This can be done the hard way or the easy way. But, for example, if you want to get fit - prepare yourself, prepare your clothes and do it!

So now: shut your laptop, pop your phone down and go and do something that makes you happy! 

Kayaking Through The Mangroves

Nestled along the coast near Al Khor is a beautiful mangrove forest and one of the best ways to access the forest is by a kayak. So, kan-yak guess what we did today?

A half team photo, notice the smiles on our faces...they didn't last long when we realized quite how much rowing we had got ourselves into.

Here is Maxine, striving to be in-front of all of her opponents behind her.

Maxine was ready, looking a little larger than life. 

Karen and B were ready.

Ready. Steady. 

Kayak!

With Maxine in the lead (I, too, am totally baffled as to how that happened) and everyone else in a swamp behind. (ha. get it!)

Maybe this would be a good time to have a look around and take in the mangroves around us, which might I add were beautiful...as far as a swamp goes that is. And if anyone lives in Doha, this most certainly doesn't look like it, you feel as if you're in a totally different world.

Maxine has fallen behind, but trying to pick up the pace as she can see a drink stop ahead. (and no, to her despise, it wasn't a glass of Rose)

Here she comes!

Joined by Marie and her friend. 

Our drink stop called for a snap. Because why not when you're in the mangroves.

These two slow coaches caught up, unfortunately not taking the lead. Karen most certainly does not look like she is struggling, while poor B looks as if she has run a marathon!

We had reached the finish line, totally swamped with how much rowing we had done. 

Thankfully, it was cooling down and my mum and I managed to race off so we had a leisurely row back. I bet my upper body won't agree with the term leisurely when I wake up tomorrow though.

Maxine clearly took this opportunity to sneak off ahead, but don't you worry I caught up. Unfortunately, just after I snapped this moment, I didn't catch it with my camera, but she somehow managed to go head on into a bush. Picture this, half of a kayak in a bush, with a crazy lady (sorry mum) screaming "how do I  stop?!". I didn't help, it was far too amusing.

She escaped! Maxine: 0, mangroves: 1.

At this point we all felt like salty sea dogs, but the beautiful sunset made it worth it. (and touring the mangroves of-course).

Here we are; some might say ordinary rowers, we prefer the term champions. Beating the rest of the group by a long way, that's right ladies and gentlemen, the Rees ladies killed it. But we also killed our muscles and I am sure we will know about it in the morning...

Because of our glorious win, one photo just didn't cut it.