£55 Chocolate strawberries and other nice things

There is nothing I enjoy more on a Friday night than to traipse around the beauty hall of Selfridges. Not only can I attempt to pretty myself up with the latest beauty bits before dinner but I am conveniently close to the place I can indulge in my second favourite thing to do, drool over the bags in the accessories hall. If you see a chinese girl with her nose pressed up to the glass of the Chanel bag concession that would probably be me!

Last Friday night I had the pleasure of my lovely colleague Larissa accompanying me, which makes it twice as much fun. We ambled around the beauty section, testing products to our hearts content before finding ourselves in the chocolate department. As we had dinner plans we resisted all temptation, despite the smell being divine. At Godiva we marvelled at the luscious looking strawberries dipped in white chocolate. Thankfully the £55 price tag for  a box of six meant our appetites weren't going to be spoilt.

Step aside Dulux, Melt have it sorted!

£55 for a box of 6! Fair enough, one was almost the size of a tennis ball but £55?!

For those that know me, they will know I am a sucker for all things cute so I couldn't resist a trip to ARTBOX. My colleague and I found ourselves wishing we could write in pencil so we had an excuse to buy the pretty erasers! Don't even get me started on the pretty letter packs.. almost worth taking up a pen pal for (if you can find one these days). 

My sisters in Selfridges. They were not amused when I sent them the picture!

Me caught in rush hour at Clapham Junction

For £150 you can either have the giant Miffy on the left or 3 boxes of strawberries in chocolate. Miffy for me please!

Anyone for a spot of Mario Kart?

Until next time Blush Babes and Boys!

xxx

Jenny's Not-So-Guilty Pleasure of Philadelphia and Mushroom Croute

Mega tasty, cheap and easy - enjoy!

As a huge fan of carbs (especially bread!), mushrooms and cheese I could easily devour a very indecent amount of this in one sitting. Inspired by one of my favourite starters and my best friend's claim that it was super easy to make, I decided to give it a go and I'm happy to say it's just as tasty as the restaurant version I've had. I did feel terribly guilty for eating carbs for dinner (after a gruelling gym session too - sob sob) but I give myself kudos for leaving 1/3 of the baguette on my plate and I promised to not slip into bad habits. Or try to anyway..

What you will need

• A fresh baguette or ciabatta (10 points)
• 1 pack of mushrooms (sliced) (0 points)
• 1 small red onion (sliced) (0 points)
• 1 generous tablespoon of garlic & herb Philadelphia Light (1 point)
• 1 pack of M&S peppercorn sauce (3 points per half a bag)

The restaurant version contains Blue Cheese but as Philadelphia Light is so low in points and super tasty I decided to use that instead. If you really want to go for broke then use a good Blue Cheese. 


First of all, brown the sliced onions in a frying pan with 1 spray of calorie controlled olive oil. The onions will sweat anyway, so no need to go OTT on oil. When the onions are brown, add in the mushrooms, seasoning with salt and pepper. When mushrooms are almost done, add in the peppercorn sauce (follow instructions on the pack and don't boil - just let it simmer) and cream cheese.

While this is simmering, slice the baguette or ciabatta in half and toast on a griddle pan on both sides until brown.

Cover the baguette with the piping hot mushroom sauce serve with a side salad. The bread turns deliciously soggy, absorbing the yummy sauce. It tastes so good I don't even mind the peppercorn sauce not being on a juicy piece of sirloin!

The best thing about this is that there should be plenty left for lunch if you were cooking for one like me.

Do you think you will be giving this recipe a go?

Until next time Blush babes and boys! Thanks for reading.

xxx

Bottles in a bottle!

Amidst all the glizty shops in Westfield Shephers Bush lies my version of a sweet shop, the Models Own Bottleshop. I first saw it from the side and didn't quite realise what it was until I walked out (which was a while!). It was so cool, I immediately wished I had thought of that idea (just like how I wish I wrote the Harry Potter books).

Sorry madam, the old woman in the shoe is across the other side of the shopping centre..

I want the lot!!

Sooo many pretty colours.. I don't have enough fingers to test them all!

Rows upon rows of pretty nail polish screamed "add me to your nail collection" and when I discovered there was a slight discount on the Nail Art pens I was sorely tempted (5 for £20 - a saving of £5). However, I managed to restrain myself and just purchased the white Nail Art pen. Had I not been with my sensible cousin who pointed out I might not quite need all the colours, I probably would have bought the lot. 

At £6, it is a bit dearer than the Andrea Fulerton but a quick test did make me think the 'pen' tip was more precise. Hopefully I'll have time to test it out this week!

Until next time blush babes and boys,

xxx

Best breakfast in Clapham Junction

One of my favourite things to do on a Weight Watchers Saturday cheat day (where I go mad an eat anything I like - worryingly happening more and more frequently) is to enjoy a nice fry up at Jack's in Clapham Junction. You can have anything your heart desires, from fluffy american pancakes, paninis, salads, hamburgers to a full on English breakfast. I try and curb the guilt by having an egg white and mushroom omlette with a salad but on this particular occasion I gave in and had a veggie breakfast. The veggie sausages are so good I did't even miss the bacon or meat sausages much. If you have space, try a chocolate brownie on your way out. I'm yet to have the room for one but they do look tasty!

Veggie Breakfast - I was extremely proud that I didn't eat all the bread or chips, as tempting as it was.

The Double with extra sausage and bacon instead of eggs

Fish in a Tie - a hidden gem.

Now I have been debating if I should post about one of my favourite restaurants as it is already hard enough to get a table in there. However, I figured if you are kind enough to read my blog then you certainly deserve to know about one of Clapham's foodie delights.

Geddit? Fish in a Tie. I guess Fish in a Tie in Rollerskates would be going a step too far.

Everyone raves on about how nice Clapham Common is or how there are so many cool bars but one of my favourite things about living in Clapham is being within walking distance to Fish in a Tie. Hidden away from the popular areas such as Clapham High Street, Northcote Road, Battersea Rise and my very local St John's Hill lies a fantastic Mediterranean restaurant that is not only quirky and cool, with excellent food but damn good value for money. You can get a 2 course meal for £10 from a set menu Monday - Sunday, or choose from the a la carte or specials menu. The menu is big enough to make you feel like you are spoilt for choice. Having eaten there a fair few times I can honestly say I am yet to be disappointed with anything.

The restaurant can get very noisy when packed but I guess that's what happens when a room has good acoustics! The decor is romantic and charming, with candles on each table and pretty mismatched mirrors  and chandeliers adorning the walls and ceiling.

Don't be deceived by the neatly sized portions, the food is fresh and rich in taste so you feel nice and full afterwards. Do try and save space for dessert though, the profiteroles with a scoop of ice cream on the side (an extra £1.50) is too delicious to miss out on.

Calamari

One of my favourite places for mussels, £5.95 for a starter or £7.95 for a main.

So fat and juicey! The white white, cream and garlic sauce was so tasty I drank it like a soup.

Cod and Chips

Fillet of Lamb with sage and lemon sauce - deliciously tender, cooked to perfection!

A picture says a thousand words....

I have realised since starting this blog I have started to eat out a lot more, very naughty of me. Next week it'll be all Weightwatcher friendly meals...

Until next time blush babes and boys!

xxx

Sumo sized portions at Misato

The first thing that strikes you about Misato is the huge queue outside. No matter what time of day there will probably be a stream of people waiting to get in and the reason is quite simple; it is good value for money, with portion sizes to match the hungry crowd waiting outside.

I would like to point out that this shared between three of us!

Back when I was a student, Japanese food could be quite expensive and Misato was a wonderful find. Tasty  Japanese favourites for a fraction of the price. Fair enough, the fish was never the freshest but it was good enough to satisfy my sushi cravings (if you want fresh, you go to Sakura but that's another review). Besides I suspect like me, anyone who visits Misato would most likely be going for the generous portions of rice, meat and yummy curry sauce.

My favourite bento box which I shamelessly managed to polish most of it off  by myself! Order a curry sauce on the side for an extra 40p.

It is in short, a Japanese equivalent of a greasy spoon cafe, cheap, tasty and fills you up. In the nicest way of course, otherwise my friends and I wouldn't still be going there after years of discovering other nice places for our sushi fix.

Beef udon. I was assured it was very tasty. The noodles seemed never ending.

The only drawback apart from the long queue - best go in a party of two, any more than that and you're in for a wait which leaves you staring at the food being served like someone just released from prison - is that service is almost a bit too quick, you're in and out in no time, so don't expect a nice leisurely chat. Still though, more time for treating yourself to a nice dessert in one of the many places popping up in Chinatown! Also, be warned, Misato is a cash only place.

Anyway, don't just take my word for it. See what other's say here.

Until next time blush babes and boys!

xxx

Dinner at East Street

Breaking my own Weightwatchers rule, I had dinner out for once and dined with some friends at East Street. Upon entering I was transported to my beloved Hong Kong thanks to the colourful signs inside.The menu was vast but after much deliberating I settled back for something other than protein and vegetables for dinner, which alone was enough to make me giddy with excitement.

The Vietnamese coffee was delicious and sweet. I have never tried it before and was very entertained by the dripping effect of the coffee much to the amusement of my friends.

Leave to drip...

...give it a stir

....and voila!

The starter was a sharing platter and it was delicious. No complaints there at all.

The prawns were my favourite!

Unfortunately the noodles for my main were undercooked so a little hard to chew through but our lovely waitress was very apologetic and changed it for me straight away.

Chewy rice noodles but the beef was nice and tender

Lovely soft udon

For dessert I wasn't feeling too adventurous so settled for my favourite green tea ice cream (actually all ice cream is good for me!) and I wasn't disappointed. I finished off all three scoops before it even had a chance to melt.

All in all a pleasant enough experience and I'd definitely go back.

Nailed it!

I am a self confessed beauty hoarder with an unhealthy obsession for nail products in particular. As a result, I have had the Nails Inc Haymarket nail varnish for about 2 years (I distinctly remember buying it at the Clothes Show - I was like a kid in a sweet shop!) and have only just used it for the first time. I don't know what took me so long as it's a lovely flattering shade that really brings out my tan. Alternated with the pretty purple Rimmel varnish in 312 Ultra Violet it is simple yet striking. 

Inspired by the current trend of nail art popping up in all the magazines I decided to give it a go myself and jazz up my Haymarket loner nail. So, off I went to hunt for the Andrea Fulerton Nail Art pen I saw used at an event recently (the lovely girls at Warehouse gave all guests to their press day manicures courtesy of Andrea Fulerton). I managed to find one in Superdrug and was pleasantly surprised by the £2.99 price tag. I would have given my right arm back in my school days to have one of these but back then I made do using a pin head and nail varnish for my daisy print nails.

The nail art pen takes some getting used to but after two tries I was able to get perfect polka dots with the 'dot' end of the pen and a pink tip with the 'flick' end. I'm yet to repeat this success for my right hand, but hopefully with practice I'll get there!

For fellow 80's / 90's children, I have realised my colour choices resemble that of the Dino Babies. Oh well, I thought they were pretty cute..

Food heaven in Villamoura, Portugal.

Desperately in need of a sunshine holiday, my boyfriend and I booked in a last minute trip to Vilamoura, Portugal over the Jubilee weekend and it was every bit as nice as I hoped. Under a mere 3 hour flight  is glorious sunshine, fantastic food and beautiful pools to chill next to. I have to say any regrets of missing the Jubilee celebrations back home were replaced with a feeling of slight smugness after I saw the downpours on the BBC coverage.

Vilamoura is resort built in the 70's and at the centre of it is a marina so it's something I would imagine Cannes to feel like (probably on a much smaller scale - I'll have to squeeze in trip to compare the two!). It is probably one of the pricier resorts in Portugal but after much research I did find the price range for hotels varied widely so there is something for everyone. With both my boyfriend and I keen to stay somewhere 4 stars or above we decided to really push the boat out and stay at The Lake Resort, a decision we did not regret. The hotel was stunning, a few minutes walk away from the marina, and the staff were fantastic, their restaurant recommendations were spot on. They rightly deserve the number one spot on Trip Advisor. Even the fellow guests were lovely, with a kindly man giving me the last book in the Girl With The Dragon Tattoo trilogy when he saw I was nearing the end of my book.

We woke up each morning to a lovely breakfast buffet spread (included in the room rate) before choosing one of the many sunbeds by one of the three pools. I managed to motivate myself a couple of days with an early gym session pre-breakfast but as the week went on the most I could muster up was a few lengths of the pool in the late afternoon. The whole hotel just screamed 'relax' and who was I to argue?

We were lucky enough to grab a day bed to lounge on a couple of times

My favourite view

A view of The Lake hotel from our pedalo in the middle of the lake

A gym with a view

So, the days were spent by the pool and the evenings discovering the tasty delights of Vilamoura. Being a huge fan of seafood I was in foodie heaven. I was also pleasantly surprised by the amount of Gelato places available too - Nosolo Italia being the best I discovered.

Our first meal in Vilamoura, Goats Cheese with Walnuts and Honey on toast from Nosolo Italia.  Even simple things like oranges were  amazingly sweet in Portugal. Ummm...

Clam pasta at Nosolo Italia

THE Best Gelato on crepes. I ate the whole thing minus the cream all by myself!

My favourite restaurant was a very close call between two very different places. Both were so good we went twice in the short space of time we were there. The first was our own discovery in the next town of Quarteira, a 30 minute walk along the beach (once you figure out the route). I don't actually remember the name of the restaurant but it was a Pizzeria with the best mussels and seafood rice. Luckily I took a photo of the napkin (as you do) and the name on it is Mamamia Quarteira.

Grilled Squid from Mamamia, Quarteira.

My favourite seafood rice

These mussels were the tastiest during our entire trip - and trust me we ate  enough to know!

The other restaurant was O Cesteiro recommended by the staff at The Lake, located on the marina. If I had to pick between Mamamia or O Cesteiro, I think O Cesteiro just about wins it for me.  If you are lucky enough to visit Vilamoura you definitely need to visit this amazing place. The seafood is not cheap but as the staff at The Lake say you get what you pay for.The service was brilliant and they served tastiest Tiger Prawns I have ever eaten. If you choose to sit on the terrace you also get a great view that overlooks the Marina. The best thing about O Cesteiro is that the meat choices are really reasonable (and just as tasty) with my Peri Peri chicken making Nandos feel rather inferior (although I do love a bit of Nandos!). 

Ah, the memories

The biggest Tiger Prawn ever!

Nandos eat your heart out

Another place well worth visiting is just behind the main bars and restaurants of the marina called Don Alfonzo, another great recommendation from The Lake staff.

Mussels from Don Alfonzo

Tasty monkfish and prawns

A fabulous hotel, friendly locals, sunshine and good food made our last minute trip a brilliant one.

xx