British fashion, beauty and lifestyle blog.
Coco Vail is Barcelona’s first beer hall and is a seriously great place to spend a few afternoon hours during a Barcelona city break. We loved it so much here that we actually went back twice during a 4 day break, the first time for lunch and then the second time just for a drink but both times we were so glad we went.
Today’s post is a quick recipe update of my Strawberry & Banana Oaty Bars which are a go-to snack for me at the moment! They’re super comforting, great with a cup of tea and come in at just over 100 calories per bar. I’m whipping up a batch every weekend right now as they’re so easy to take to work for snacks and are super tasty but this week I decided to give them a bit of a decadent edge with the addition of some Butterfly & The Bee jam in Apricot & Amaretto flavour. Yes, it’s as good as it sounds. I’ve replaced the chia and strawberry jam with this delightful jar of sweetness and they’ve turned out pretty well! I’ve also upped the oat content to 100g instead of 80g and replaced the instant oats/oat flour with oat bran and they’ve come out much more solid each time I’ve made them this way. A definite improvement.
Brunch is big business in Barcelona! We found that breakfast, brunch, and lunch were super easy meals to find great places to eat but dinner was a little more difficult. That said, here are my top 3 (& a bonus doughnut place) eateries in Barca for an amazing brunch. Whether you love a healthy brunch or a giant stack of pancakes I’ve got something for you here.
My usual style of cooking is pretty quick! The dishes that I tend to whip are usually whack everything in a casserole dish and leave in the oven for 30 minutes or something I can fry or boil up quickly in a pan. But, after finding a crazy bargain leg of pork from Morrisons’ reduced section, about £1.49 if I remember rightly (which I do because I’ve been bragging about it to my fellow yellow label lovers), I decided to do a roast.
As much as I love clean eating, and I eat clean 70-80% of the time and I love fresh food. But sometimes you need that sweet hit that isn’t just agave syrup and dates. Sometimes you need actual artificial sweetness to kick that sugar craving and these are my go-to treats for when I don’t want to go over my calories but need that super sweet hit!
Here comes another hotel review for all you keen travellers! This weekend we stayed at the Risley Hall Hotel & Spa as part of a Red Letter Days gift that we received for Christmas and the hotel was so pretty I thought I’d write a little review as it’s a great location for the East Midlands.
Yep, I love pizza and these Chicago Town ‘The Takeaway’ pizzas are insanely good. They actually taste like the perfect fresh out of the box pizza that you dream about on a Saturday evening. We indulged with a little pizza action this weekend. As much as I love healthy food, working out and the occasional clean eating stint, pizza is good for the soul and it’s probably one of my favourite foods ever.
If you’re in need of a seriously good scone or slice of amazing home baked cake then Copper is the place to head. They have three locations in Nottingham, one city centre, Mapperley and West Bridgford. I’ve been to all three and they’re all amazing. I’m here to chat all things cream tea today but their brunch, main meals and lunchtime menu are equally awesome. I really recommend heading here if you’re anywhere near and are the slightest bit hungry.
What’s better than cosying up with tea and cake on a rainy Saturday afternoon? Pretty much nothing in my opinion. We headed to Browns in Nottingham to sample the Royal Afternoon Tea which comes with all your usual Afternoon Tea goodies but with a bonus British Royale cocktail topped with juicy blackberries.
If you’re looking for a really different place for an extra special occasion then Ginza Teppanyaki is the place to go. Located on the Mansfield Road, in Sherwood, this unassuming Japanese restaurant is surprisingly awesome. If you’re in Nottingham and you like Japanese flavours, freshly cooked food and amazing service, I’d definitely recommend checking this place out.
