£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.