Follow LouLouLoves On Twitter!

I just went and did something that I have avoided for absolutely ages.....I created a Twitter account! Now I'm not even sure why I put it off for so long, I've only been on it an hour and I'm already addicted. You can find me here and I would love it if some of you will follow me for a more of a personal insight into my everyday shenanigans.

As always thank you for reading.

LouLou.

Teapigs Pick-A-Mix Box Review.

My other half is a huge tea drinker and whilst browsing the web for a luxury tea gift for his birthday I stumbled across the brand Teapigs. Teapigs provide a range of quality teas so many in fact that I decided to go for the pick-a-mix box as I couldn't decide on which type to go for.

The pick-a-mix box allows you to choose 12 different tea's to make up the box each one containing two teabags for a cost of £15 plus delivery which can be found here. Firstly what a perfect gift for a tea lover? It was exactly what I was looking for! Also the mix of classic and unusual tea flavours to choose from makes this product extra special. I will go into the different flavours in a second but first I have to just appreciate the great packaging Teapigs tea come in. Each tea bag duo comes in a small cardboard box detailing the flavour and a recommended way to brew and take the tea and the tea bags themselves are quality fabric pyramids that wont tear and ruin your cuppa.

The tea itself contains whole ingredients none of that crappy dust you get in regular tea, In the green tea you can see actual leafs, the chai tea has cardamon pods and the chocolate tea little pieces of chocolate!

......Yes I did actually say chocolate tea! Here are just a few of the flavours that I really enjoyed:

Chocolate Tea: It might sound strange but it really works! A regular everyday brew flavour but with the smallest hint of chocolate really enhances this cuppa. Like having your tea and chocolate biscuit all in one drink, a great afternoon treat.

Everyday Brew: One of the best tea's I've tried! Its a strong no nonsense builders tea but it tastes so much fresher and cleaner then your regular supermarket tea. This is where you can taste how much difference having whole ingredients makes in your tea bag!

Popcorn Tea: Another crazy sounding one but what a unique taste! Its a green tea but with added toasted rice to give that nutty popcorn flavour and it really does taste of popcorn! Great for people who want the benefits of green tea but are not too keen on the taste.

Superfruit Tea: I always find berry teas smell lovely but taste of nothing but hot water, this however is totally different! Having actual dried fruit infusing in the bag means this tea actually does taste fruity and slightly sweet so no need to ruin it with yucky sugar.   

Another nice touch was these two free samples included in the box, a sample of a tea I hadn't included in my pick-a-mix and a small sample sachet of manuka honey which is the perfect accompaniment to the tea when you are fancying a little of something sweet without adding sugar.  

Overall I am thoroughly impressed with this gift and every tea I tried I will definitely be placing subsequent orders with Teapigs in the future!

Thank you for reading.

LouLou.

Weekly Menu.

Like I said in yesterdays post I am trying to change my cooking habits at the moment and I have decided the best way to do this is to plan plan plan! Weekly meal plans will help me make sure I don't just rely on all the carbs and it also means I don't buy any naughties when shopping. So here is my weekly menu of dinners and I will try to blog as many of these recipes as possible!

Day 1: Mexican style chorizo and feta salad.

Day 2: Thai green chicken curry with coconut, cashews, broccoli and green beans.

Day 3: Chicken and bacon salad with a reduced fat creme fraiche dressing and shaved parmesan.

Day 4: Minted Lamb and feta burgers in wholemeal pitta with humous and salad.

Day 5: Italian meatball minestrone soup with homemade pesto and parmesan.

Day 6: Lamb kofta kebabs with couscous salad and a lemon and mint yogurt.

Day 7: Gilled haloumi and quinoa salad with roasted sweet potato.


Stay tuned for recipes!

LouLou.


   

Instagram CatchUp!

From L-R.

Teapigs chia tea | Forgotten film cameras | Zoo souvenirs | OOTD | Picnic food | Weight lifting | Another coat that doesn't suit me | Baby dinners | Highlighter lipstick | Clinique swatching | Naughty treat | Happy 1 year old | Dump truck watching | Birthday boy | Party baking | Den | Caught in the act | Shameless selfie. 

I haven't posted an Instagram catch up in some time now but because I the past few weeks have been so busy I thought I'd give you an insight into my day to day snaps. I post a lot of pictures on Instagram and have finally made the decision to open my account up to the public and I would love it if you should come follow me!

Mexican Style Chorizo & Feta Salad.

Recently I have become completely stuck in a cooking rut, making the same old easy things and eating way too many carbs and cakes and my body sure has felt the repercussions of it too. The past week I have had such painful stomach bloating, I am snacking all the time and generally feeling sluggish so I have decided enough it enough I need to get my eating back on track. So I am going to go back to eating healthier again with reducing my carb intake, eating tons of fruit and vegetable and drinking only water or herbal tea.

I needed some recipe inspiration and became momentarily tempted by the hellofresh food subscription box where you are delivered all the ingredients and step by step recipe for 3-5 meals a week but its super expensive and not realistic for a family of 4! Although what I did do is trawl through their bank recipes on their website and noted down tons of yummy looking meals and their ingredients for me to make off my own back instead.

This is one meal I have made with a little hellofresh inspiration which I thought I'd share with you. It is so so simple and a great way to jazz up a boring salad especially if you find eating salads difficult this one is packed with flavour and extremely filling. Here is what you will need:

• 1/2 can black beans.
• 1/2 can sweetcorn.
• 2 spring onions.
• 1/2 a pepper.
• Handful of halved cherry tomatoes.
• Chorizo sausage.
• 100g of feta cheese.
• Juice of half a lemon.
• Fresh coriander. 
• Diced chilli (optional)
• Salad leaves of your choice. 

The method is so simple just gently warm some sliced chorizo in a dry frying pan until the sausage starts to release its oil meanwhile mix together all your other ingredients in a bowl adding the lemon juice, diced coriander and the optional chilli. Finally adding your warm chorizo and then spoon the mixture onto your chosen salad leaves, I opted for a mixture of lettuce and spinach. 

There you have a tasty mexican inspired salad and if you wasn't worried about the calories I bet this would taste nice with a few cheeky nachos on the side!

Thank you for reading.

LouLou.

Our Day At The Howletts Zoo In Pictures....

We wanted to take Wesley somewhere nice for his birthday but because we had been so busy we didn't end up going till today instead. We decided on Howletts Zoo in Canterbury when I found out I could exchange my Tesco's Clubcard points for 5 x the value in vouchers for lots of different days out across the country. In the end my £8 of Clubcard vouchers got us £40 off the zoo tickets meaning we only had to pay around £8 in entrance fees! 

We had such a lovely day the weather was beautifully sunny with a nice breeze to keep it cool, Eli had so much fun even though he got so tired we had to carry him some of the way around....It's a long walk for a two year old! He loved the monkeys and the 'emmets' (elephants) and even made a little monkey friend trying to hold his hand through the glass. We had a picnic of homemade tuna and broccoli pasta salad, chicken drum sticks and popcorn and even left with a couple of plastic animal figures from the gift shop for the boys which they are very attached to now. 

Sadly on arrival at the zoo I found that my macro zoom lens had broken so I couldn't get any great pictures of the animals like I had on previous visits but here is our day in pictures.....

Another Weekly Wishlist!

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight.

The allure of all the sales has lead me to do a lot of window shopping recently, that and the fact that my birthday is just around the corner means I have compiled a fair few wish lists so this may be one of a series which I post over the next few weeks.  

First lets start with the Zara sale....oh how I could spend so much money in that sale! I have already ordered a coat and a bag which I should be receiving today (eeek!) so keep your eyes peeled for a review post soon. Part of me really wishes that I also ordered this pale pink faux leather jacket, its such a great spring summer staple that will look so pretty over summer dresses and I absolutely love the shape of it. 

Now everybody knows I'm a boot girl I could wear them all day every day, when it comes to shoes I'm totally comfort over style. I absolutely love these boots by Ash in a stone coloured suede with a small wooden heel they are so neutral that they would go with everything which means there a winner in my book. They look so sophisticated and are a little bit pricey at over the £100 mark but I know I would get so much wear out of them and a good pair of boots will last years. 

Im a total lipstick addict I might even do a whole lipstick wish list at some point. I have such a tiny lipstick collection that definitely needs expanding and the Elizabeth Arden Moisturising Lipstick in the shade 'Red Door Red' is at the top of my list. I love a red lip and this is such a classic red colour that everybody needs in their make up bag....and the packaging....well just look at it! Its so stunning it looks like a piece of architecture! 

The next lipstick on my wish list is a new release from Clinique, the new Long Lasting Matt Lipstick collection boasts great wear time without being at all drying which sounds just about perfect to me. In a recent trip to a Clinique counter I swatched a few and decided that I definitely need the shade 'Matt Beauty' a mid tones dusky pink which is very wearable everyday colour.

Another amazing sale find which is at the top of my Birthday list is the Laura Mercier Bath and Body Luxury Quartet currently half price from NKSpace. Laura Mercier bath and body products are much raved about by bloggers for their quality and the price reflects that! The individual full sized products are expensive but this gift set of mini's is a great way to try them out without having to fork out a lot of pennies!     

Olivia Burton watches has popped up on my wish lists for almost a year now and I still haven't got my hands on one. My favourite from the current collection is this large dial watch in rose gold with a brown leather strap, it looks so stylish and rose gold is my absolute favourite. 

Ted baker has an awesome sale on right now and I am in desperate need of a new purse! I am loving this large white leather purse with black detailing....very Chanel-esk. It also comes with a hidden mirror for those make up touch ups on the go and is a lovely size to fit everything in. It will also match the new Zara bag I have bought so I have got to get it right??

Lastly a pretty little eyeshadow palette by Too Faced called 'Natural Eyes' I've already seen many fantastic reviews for this eyeshadow palette and I have to admit the shade selection is gorgeous. Each eyeshadow is laid out in coordinating sets of three (a wash colour, transitional colour and crease colour) so that several different looks can be created. I think this is very clever and great for any eyeshadow noob!

Thank you for reading. 

LouLou.