Kibou Sushi restaurant review

I am SO excited for restaurants to open back up next week. Going out on date night meals and evenings out for food with friends is such an important part of 'normal' life for me, and I just hate sitting outside in the British weather. 

Cutting down on dairy: my tips

Okay, confession time: this post was totally going to be called 'cutting OUT dairy', but as it turns out lockdown is really really hard, and after months and months of being pretty much completely dairy free (apart from the odd biscuit or milk powder in something), I've started eating little bits of dairy here and there. It's hard to keep control of everything at this weird point in history, and honestly if making millionaire's shortbread over a weekend makes me feel better, then I'm going to do it.

Easter baking roundup 2019

Baking is a massive part of my self care routine. It de-stresses me (even with the kitchen looking like an absolute tip afterwards), makes me feel productive and there's a tasty reward at the end. It even has the added bonus of giving me some easy Insta content *side grin*.

What I baked for Halloween 2018

I *know* that Halloween is over, but I only just about got these baked in time for the big day and I really want to share them with you all! Halloween isn't one of my favourite times of year (I'm definitely all about the big C-word), but any excuse for getting festive in some way and I'm there. This is the first year I've fully embraced All Hallows Eve and I loved carving pumpkins, wearing dark lipstick and making a whole bunch of tasty treats. 

Afternoon office snacking with vegan treats from Doisy and Dam*

I'm a grazer. If I had the choice of only ever eating meals for the rest of my life or only ever eating snacks I'd always go with the latter. Snacks are just a necessity really - who wants to curl up to watch a movie without popcorn???

Vegan banana split recipe

I don't like ice cream. There, I said it. It's a real thing guys. So banana splits aren't really on my radar as enjoyable dishes. But I love the idea of them, so I've created my own version that makes for a hella yummy breakfast and is totally vegan. It's warm and filling and I love having it in the morning at this time of year.

Autumnal minestrone soup recipe

I'm not exaggerating when I say that this soup has been saving my life over the past month. Okay, okay that might be a slight exaggeration. BUT, it's been making my life a hell of a lot easier, and helped me fight off the god awful cold that plagued me at the start of September. I make this in a massive bulk, freeze it out and have it as my lunch at work. It's perfect because it's filling and healthy and I still haven't got sick of it. Sorta. 13 portions in and I'm starting to get a little overwhelmed.

Top 4 snacks to try at Walt Disney World, Orlando

Food is love, food is life. For real though, whenever I go on holiday, food is a major factor in terms of my spending, and in terms of what I'm most looking forward to. Holidays give you the chance to try new cuisines, and I'm ten times more likely to give new food a try if I'm away from home. Walt Disney World in Orlando offered up a zillion different food options, but we were on a fairly tight budget. Rather than spending a lot of money on a main meal at the parks, we often went for a light lunch and a snack during the day. Here are my favourites:
Mickey Mouse ice cream from Animal Kingdom. How cute does this look? I'm not a big ice cream fan, and the weather makes it melt pretty darn fast, so one scoop was perfect. The little mickey sprinkles and the chocolate chip 'ears' made it something that I just couldn't miss out on.
Giant pink doughnuts from Epcot. I mean, I'm pretty sure this is a rip-off of the Homer Simpson style ones they do in Universal Studios, but I got it here first. This is the biggest doughnut I've ever seen in my LIFE and that earns it a place on the list, even without how pretty it is factoring in.
Strawberry cider from Epcot. I know I left the UK and wanted to try new food & drink, but I could hardly miss out on the opportunity to try cider made in America in 'England' in Epcot. The strawberry taste was subtle, but still there, and it was such a refreshing drink to have in the heat of midday. 
Mickey Mouse pretzels from Hollywood Studios. I couldn't leave the States without getting a pretzel, could I?! We just don't have them on this scale here in the UK. The fact that it's shaped like Mickey Mouse just kind of boggles my mind (how do they do that?!) and makes it quite frankly epic.
Have you been to Walt Disney World? What were your favourite snacks?
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Get hydrated with fruit infused water*

I mentioned in my February life update/favourites that I joined a gym last month. I am loving it. It's all part of my plan to get more energy (seriously, naps are my LIFE but I've got to learn to adult sometime, right?) so that I can boss my life, do my best and live life to the fullest. I've started making other little changes too: I've mostly cut out naps so I'm not sleeping too much, I've switched out fruit juice for green tea and I've (mostly) given up the sweeties that give me a quick sugar fix. 

How to make caprese garlic bread

This recipe legitimately haunts my dreams. And not in an 'oh no, I ate too much cheese before bed and now the cheese is chasing me in a nightmare' kind of way, more like a waking up with a lil patch of drool kind of way. Cute, I know. 

The Perfect Dairy-Free Hot Chocolate

Wrapping cold fingers around steaming mugs of hot drinks is one of the best feelings you can have during the festive season in my opinion. I just have one problem though: milk isn't my friend. It makes me feel so nauseous, and totally ruins any hot drink I have. Thankfully more and more companies are warming to the idea that not everyone likes/can drink milk, so soya milk or a similar alternative is becoming more readily available in coffee shops and cafes. However, you still need to keep an eye out for hot chocolate powder that contains milk solids. Ugh. 
Hot chocolate is one of those things that is just totally irreplaceable. Sometimes you just need one, especially if you're sat down wrapping presents and want to feel extra festive. Tomorrow I think I'll have to recreate this recipe when I pop the Grinch on and attempt to tackle the mammoth amount of presents I need to wrap before the big day.
Here's what I need to make my favourite hot chocolate recipe, ever:
Ingredients: - 2 heaped teaspoons cacao powder - Le Sirop de Monin Chocolate Cookie Syrup - Rice milk - Mini marshmallows
Method: - Heat the rice milk in a saucepan until hot all the way through. - Whilst it's heating, mix the syrup and cacao powder in your glass/mug - Pour the milk into the glass and stir into the powder and syrup mixture until everything is completely smooth. - Top with as many marshmallows as you like
This recipe is so good at this time of year, and makes me feel as though I don't have to miss out on festive drinks by not drinking cow's milk!
What's your favourite festive drink to make?
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Alice in Wonderland Inspired 'Eat Me' Cookies

Sugar cookies are the simplest little tasty thing to bake, and I can't believe it has taken me years to get around to it. One of my favourite memories of being a child is standing on a wooden footstool at my Grandma's house, helping her bake tiny little sugar cookies to take home with me on a Saturday afternoon. So, feeling a little nostalgic and homesick a few weeks ago, I made a massive batch of these and fell in love with the simple design.
I bought an 'eat me' cookie cutter and stamp from Amazon for a couple of pounds and I was good to go. It was far easier than it would ever have been for me to hand cut these. That would have been a total disaster and I think I would have given up half way through, flooded with tears of frustration.
Alice in Wonderland is one of my all-time favourite Disney films. As a child I was absolutely obsessed, and I really think it helped my imagination to expand, as it showed that anything was possible. Even if it did it in a pretty weird, trippy way. When I saw cookies like these on Pinterest months ago they totally rose to the top of my baking bucket list. And yes, I totally have one of those. I'm not sure that I'm quite skilled enough to have a go at icing yet, so I've left mine plain. Maybe I'll add that to the 2017 baking bucket list!
Sugar cookies are SO easy to make that I'm pretty sure anyone should be able to do it. They're pretty hard to burn too: a few extra minutes in the oven isn't going to lead to a full on disaster.
Ingredients:
225g butter 200g sugar 340g plain flour 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 1 egg
Method:
1.) Cream together the sugar and butter in a large bowl.
2.) Stir in the egg and vanilla essence.
3.) Add the flour and combine the mixture until everything is mixed in and it forms a dough.
4.) Chill for one hour. If you're in a rush you can leave this step out, but it does make rolling the dough out a lot harder
5.) Preheat your oven to 190 degrees celsius.
6.) Line a baking tray (or two) with baking paper.
7.) Flour a work surface and roll out your cookie dough.
8.) Use the cookie cutter and stamp to create your cookies.
9.) Place trays of cookies in the oven for approximately 8-10 minutes. They should be golden when they're ready to come out.
What's your favourite nostalgic recipe to make?
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Warming vegetable soup recipe

Cooking is one of my favourite things to do, but in the run up to the Christmas season I've been finding my time a little pushed for making recipes that take longer than half an hour in total (this includes prep). I work in a restaurant and it is starting to get a little hectic right now, so my shifts are increasing, getting longer and getting a little bit more stressful.
So, on my day off last week I whipped up a massive batch of this homemade vegetable soup. And I mean massive: I had 17 portions of it in the end. My freezer has been looking a little rammed, but it has made for an easy lunch each day, giving me that extra little bit of time to chill out. The winter colds have been doing their rounds at the moments, but this soup is so stuffed with goodness that I'm hoping *fingers crossed* it'll stop me from getting one ... again. 
An added bonus really is that it is so cheap to make. All of the ingredients I used came to around £3 altogether, which makes each portion around 18p to make!
Ingredients:
4 salad tomatoes 3 sticks of celery 3 carrots 6 potatoes 3 small onions (or 1 large onion) 6 cloves garlic 2 400g cans of haricot beans 1 400g can of chickpeas 3 handfuls brown pasta 2 pints chicken stock Olive oil Chili flakes Salt and pepper Mixed herbs
Method:
1.) The prep time of this soup is going to take up most of your time, so prepare yourself for a lot of chopping. Before you start any actual cooking, dice the carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, celery and onion. Mince your garlic cloves. 2.) Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a large saucepan (I use a big casserole pan for mine). Add the onions and garlic and cook until softened.  3.) Whilst this is cooking make your stock. 4.) Add in all of the rest of the vegetables and a pinch or two of chili flakes, Stir for one minute. 5.) Season with salt and pepper. Add the stock.  6.) Simmer for 15 minutes. 7.) Add the beans, chickpeas, pasta and a tablespoon of mixed herbs (or to taste). Simmer for another 15-20 minutes. 
And that's it folks. It's actually a really easy soup to make. There's only a small chance of really burning it, which is something that I definitely need. If you want, you can also add a little grated cheese to your bowl, because, well, who doesn't love cheese?
What's your favourite soup recipe for this time of year?
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Chili and Lime Salmon Recipe with Lurpak

Salmon gets cooked only on the rare occasion in our household. It's one of those things that I'm totally aware is very good for me, but that I can't bring myself to make and eat very often. Even then, when we do have salmon, it's most likely raw atop a lil' bed of sushi rice, mmmmm. 
But, when Lurpak invited me to try their new range of infused butter, I knew the chili and lime flavour* had to be tried on a nice piece of salmon. I've always been a much bigger lime fan than lemon, which is the more classic addition to any fish seasoning. Usually I spend a bit of time adding olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice (sometimes it just feels right) and parsley, but with this I simply dolloped a teaspoon of the infused butter on top of the salmon and we were ready to get cracking in the oven. 
The chili added a nice kick of heat to something that otherwise may have been overtly fish-y, and it is definitely something I would give a go again. I served mine over brown rice with cabbage, but there are so many other ways this could be served. Next time, I'm thinking a salmon pasta dish will be really tasty with the chili and lime!
If you're a little lazy in the kitchen, or don't have the time to season your salmon with care, I would recommend giving this a go to please guests or the family.
Ingredients (serves 1): - 1 piece of salmon (preferably boneless) - 1 tablespoon Lurpak Chili and Lime infused butter*
Method - Preheat your oven to 180 degrees (Celsius) - Place a fairly large piece of foil on a baking tray. - Pop the salmon on the centre of the foil and place the butter on top of the salmon. - Bring the edges of the foil together over the salmon and lightly scrunch. - Cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes. - Unfold the foil and enjoy!
What is your favourite way to cook salmon?
Although this post features gifted products, all opinions are as always my own.
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Chipotle Infused Cottage Pie Recipe

As Summer starts to wind down in the UK, I'm thinking ahead to all the gooey, wholesome, toasty meals that I love to make in Autumn and Winter. Here comes the seasons of pies, bourgignon, stew and copious amounts of soup to sort out a rough day. So, when Lurpak asked me to create a recipe with their new chipotle infused spreadable butter* in, my little cooking cogs got a-whirring and I finally settled on the idea of a cottage pie.

Me and my boyfriend don't always eat meat, and when we do it's almost always restricted to chicken or fish. This is basically because it's cheaper and so versatile. It does however mean that any meal like this one is a total treat and I was more than a little excited to get cracking. 

Although I'm not always a big fan of heat, I found that just using this in the mashed potato atop the pie gave the meal a nice kick without scorching your mouth, and it was totally easy to add in. Usually I spend a little while adding a variety of seasoning into my mash to ensure that it's a little nicer than just bland potato, so this sped up my mash creation process a whole tonne as I simply just had to add the butter!

Ingredients: 

- 400g beef/lamb mince

- 1 onion

- 2 carrots

- 1 cup peas

- 1 tablespoon tomato puree

- 500ml beef stock

- 2 garlic cloves

- Bay leaf

- Sea salt and black pepper

- 1 stick celery

- 500g potatoes

- 4 tablespooons Lurpak Infusions Chipotle Spreadable Butter

Method: 

1.) Chop the onion and garlic. Fry the beef, onion and garlic in a pan until the onion is soft and beef is browned. 

2.) Chop the carrots and celery. Add to the pan with the beef stock, tomato puree, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Simmer for 25 minutes. 

3.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

4.) Boil the potatoes.

5.) Once the potatoes are boiled and the filling has simmered, pour the filling into an ovenproof dish. 

6.) Mash the potatoes and add the butter.

7.) Top the filling with the mash potatoes and place in the oven for 15 minutes.

8.) Top with a sprinkling of cheese if you wish and enjoy!

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What to do on a day trip to Camden

It's no secret that I've got a good ol' case of wanderlust at the moment. If you have a browse through my Pinterest you'll be more than a little bombarded with dreamy repins of destinations all over the world. But alas, adult responsibilities and finances mean that (for the moment at least) these are still dreams. So, I've decided to discover a lot more of the UK this year. I'm hoping to head to Bristol, Brighton and Liverpool, but hit me up with anymore suggestions!
Having said that, Camden isn't actually a new place for me, but rather one of my favourite places in London that I try to make an annual trip to. The last time I visited was (I believe) for my sister's 18th birthday two years ago, so when she turned the big 2-0 a fortnight ago I decided a trip back was totally overdue. 
After travelling down to Slough with the other half, we headed into London with my sister, her boyfriend and best friend. Naturally the journey wasn't without disasters: the tube station at Camden road was closed, which meant we had to go on a really long-ass route that involved overground trains and all sorts. Cross that over with the fact that we were on a train going towards Wembley on the day of the Charity Shield (basically a massive football match), and you've got a packed, sweaty train on a boiling hot day. Brill. 
But, when we finally got there we were truly excited. We hit up Camden's Cereal Killer Cafe, which I've written a whole post on here. In my opinion this is a must-do if you're heading to this little part of London. They stock well over 100 cereals and although we did book a table, there was absolutely no need to as they had tonnes of free seating inside. Having said that, we did book for 3pm, so it may have been a lot busier during 'the lunch time rush'.
Next up on the must-see list is obviously a quick meander around their outdoor market. This is one of my favourite places, and I always get totally drawn in by vendors, pretty colours and semi-unique gifts. Prewarn: don't buy anything in the first half hour - a lot of merchandise is repeated on these stalls, so that gives you time to see exactly what there is to offer. 
The Stables market is also something that I would definitely recommend going to if you have a few hours to spare to wander around. I've lost count of the number of times I've got lost in here, and I really think it makes for an incredible experience. You're surrounded by people of a whole variety of cultures, with goodies to suit any kind of style or desire. For example, we wandered past a stall dedicated to light reflective mosaic lamps, to one filled with stuffed llamas of varying colours and sizes, to one that sold homemade soy candles. There's so much to do and see and I always come home feeling as if my senses are a little worn out.
It wouldn't really be a post about Camden if I didn't mention the street food would it? This is probably one of my favourite, if not the favourite part of visiting Camden. You can pretty much get anything you want if you wander around enough, and despite being tempted by crepes, deep fried chocolate bars, pizza slices the size of my head and cupcakes that are made of my dreams, I eventually settled for some bang bang chicken and noodles. Seriously though, if you're as much of a food obsessive as I am, then you'll understand how painful it was to walk past so many beautiful food stalls and decide on just one. 
Oh, and did I mention that they've got a MAC store and a Dr Marten one *heart eye-emoji*?
I vlogged my day in Camden, so please give it a watch if you want to see first hand (ish) what it's like!

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Ombre Strawberries

So, um are these Pinterest worthy or what? I pin a buttload of baking-y recipes every week, and a few ideas for these babies have been sat there staring at me for a while now, willing me to give making them a go. At the moment I don't have a proper kitchen, and not being able to make cute little things like this, let alone full-on bake things has really been getting me down. So, when I went to visit my little sister recently, I went armed with a chock-a-block Pinterest baking board. Naturally.
I've seen ombre strawberries a few times on the interwebs now, and they looked like they'd make a totally dreamy Instagram picture. They were fairly easy to make - not quite as easy as I had imagined though! But, in the end, I did get my Insta-worthy snaps, so it was all worth it!
Here's how we made them:
Ingredients: Strawberries Milkybar white chocolate Pink gel food colouring
Method:  1.) Wash your strawbs (gotta be done) 2.) Split the white chocolate into 4 equal parts and melt. Place into 4 bowls. 3.) Keep one bowl food colouring free. Add 3 drops of food colouring to the second bowl, 6 to the third and nine to the final. 4.) Swirl your strawberries in the mixtures, and place in whatever order you fancy!
There we have it guys! Have you ever tried anything similar?
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Visiting Camden's Cereal Killer Cafe

I've been wanting to head to this little cafe in the heart of Camden ever since it hit the news a couple of years ago. Naturally it faced a lot of bad press because y'know over £3 for a bowl of cereal is obscene, according to news reports. But when you really think about it - is a fiver for a meal and a drink plus service and a fab atmosphere in Central London really a bad price? Er, no. 
The basic premise of the cafe is that is sells cereal. Only cereal. Over 120 cereals. From all over the globe. Got your attention yet? Then you have over 30 varieties of milk. And then you have over 20 toppings. Basically it's cereal lovers' heaven. They even have totally vegan options. And y'know, actually more than one - total madness. 
I'm such a ditherer that I had to look up the menu of course. Here I found a zone of glory: the cereal cocktail section. Sadly this was alcohol free, BUT this is where the creators of The Cereal Cafe get let their passion run wild. The cocktail menu is a mixture of complementary cereals, milks and toppings. I went for unicorn poop (all the sugar), which was made up of ricicles, mini marshmallows, marshmallow fluff, broken-up party rings and hundreds & thousands. Like is that heaven or what?! All of us chose a different cereal cocktail, which comes in clear plastic bowls with the cutest little milk bottles so that you can choose how much to add. 
Once you got over the whole cereal-ness of the place, you're then hit with the unique decor. All 120 cereal boxes line the shelves around the front counter, and they look INCREDIBLE. Then, as you move into the back of the cafe where the seating is, you pass a spice girls wallpapered selfie wall, more cereal memorabilia and general '90s funk. Our table had a VHS case as the reserved sign, a nightlight lamp in the centre of the table, and we sat on kids beds with '90s duvet covers on. There were Super Mario, Bart Simpson and Powerpuff Girls covers to name just a few. 100 points for '90s nostalgia here.
Seriously though, I had the best time at the Cereal Killer Cafe, and I would totally recommend going there if you head to Camden. It's hidden near the lower entrance to the Stables Market and is definitely one of the town's hidden gems.
Have you ever been?
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