Simply Cook

Back in August I received an email from Simply Cook tempting me back to them with a half price box.  I had ordered myself a cook box back in April, however by the time it had arrived I had already received my results from my food intolerance test.  Each and every single recipe that was sent to me contained either garlic, chilli, ginger or meat stock – none of which I was able to use!  I gifted the box to a friend, and had accepted the fact that it just wasn’t meant to be.  Now that I’ve started introducing garlic and chilli back into my diet (I tried yeast, and it’s definitely a no go) I am now able to try out all of the lovely recipes that I had been sent out previously. 

Simply cook send you out a variety of different recipes, flavourings and spices every week, fortnight or monthly depending on your preference.  Each box costs just £8.95, which makes each meal pack just £2.23 (excluding anything you might need to pick up at the shop like veggies, chicken or pasta).  They normally do special offers on their boxes from time to time, however they offer a friend scheme for customers who are already signed up.  You can get your first box for £1 by using my name – lauren mcghee – in the promo code box, or clicking the link here https://simplycook.mention-me.com/m/ol/avm-lauren-mcghee-2

In my box I was sent a spicy vegetable stew, a Thai green curry, a spicy rice dish and a chorizo pasta dish.  Seeing as I’m vegetarian, I gifted the chorizo pasta dish to my dad, who cooked up a storm with it and told me it was amazing!  So good in fact, that mum decided to follow the same recipe guide – however adapted it completely to make it vegan.  She even made her own home made pepperoni for it!

So far I’ve made the spicy vegetable stew and the Thai green curry – both of which have been amazing!  The recipe cards come with a short and sweet shopping list for the extra bits that you’ll need to buy for each dish, you simply tear it off and take it with you to the supermarket, it’s really easy.  I made the Thai green curry dish for me and my boyfriend, and so had to prepare and cook them separately as he eats meat.  Despite this, the prep and cooking time was not hindered in the slightest, all it meant was two pans and splitting the flavourings.  Even though both dishes had half the spices it should have done, they were so strong and powerful that everything tasted simply delicious – it was really, really good!  The  whole meal only took about 30 minutes to prepare and cook, which was really surprising to me seeing as I don’t normally cook from scratch and following recipes normally means that I have to add an extra 20 minutes if not longer. 

I’m so super impressed the simplicity, easiness and taste of the simply cook dishes that I will definitely be ordering again!  The one thing I will tell you to look out for is the ingredients list, unfortunately you can only filter out the fish dishes and not all the meat ones, so if there is a dish you really like the look of double check that it is one you can actually eat.

What's your favourite dish to cook from scratch?

 Until the next one, 

Vegan Tuck Box

So after a couple of months of eyeing up this subscription box, this was the month that I decided to give it a go and make the purchase.  Although it did take a little longer than I had hoped to arrive in the post, when it did finally get here it made me really excited to find all of the goodies inside!

Tyrell's Sweet Chilli & Red Pepper Crisps 

These are AMAZING!  They taste just like the Sweet Chilli Sensations, but these are gluten free!  My only problem is that the bag was half full, not cool when you open up a bag of half air.  Despite this, I'll definitely buy these again because they are super good and make a change from my normal ready salted.  

Body Me Organic Protein Bar

First of all, I want to say that I love, love, love the packaging of all things – it’s super cute, looks pretty and states all the facts about the snack very clearly on the front, which I really like!  I had actually come across this brand on Twitter about a week before I received my vegan snack box, so was quite excited to get to try this one out!  I also love chocolate orange too, so that was an added bonus too.  I’m not really one for protein bars though, however as this one is organic and packed with plant protein, I decided it would make a good snack for when I’m feeling hungry but trying to be good.  The protein bar itself was really nice, not too overpowering with chocolate orange but just enough flavour to keep you going back for more!  It was a really weird texture, but again one that I actually quite enjoyed.  It almost feels powdery in your mouth as you’re chewing which might be a little off putting to some but I really liked it.  It was also a funky shape too, kind of shaped like an oval which make it easy to eat from the packet!  I really liked this one, and would pick up again for sure if I ever decide to quick myself into gear and get back into the gym life!

Loving Earth Chocolate

I was really excited to receive such a large bar of chocolate, as it’s been a while since I had a decent piece of choccy!  It was only after that I had started tucking into this that I realised that it was made from cashew nuts – however it is really, really nice!  I’ve not indulged in this in the one sitting, instead I’ve been enjoying this square by square – which obviously means that it has lasted me a lot longer – as well as allowing me to actually enjoy the flavours!  The chocolate melts in your mouth slowly in your mouth, and doesn’t leave a bitter or unpleasant taste afterwards either.  I would love to be able to purchase this again, however there are no stockists within a 50km radius that I know of yet!

Chocolate and Coconut Flapjacks

My mum had actually received these in one of her The Vegan Kind boxes that myself and my boyfriend had purchased for her for her birthday.  She offered me one a few times to try when she had them, but I politely declined seeing as these were her treats!  It made me super happy when they arrived in my Vegan Tuck Box, as they’re gluten free too and I could finally try them.  They reminded me of the breakfast bars that I used to eat when I was little at primary school, they’re very nice but also a little sickly.  I couldn’t sit and eat them one after the other for sure – and they’re pretty small bars so that’s saying something!  They make a lovely wee treat with a lovely cuppa – day or night.

I loved having the chance to try out a lot of different bits and bobs that I probably wouldn't have picked up if I saw them in the shop.  Although this definitely won't be something that I purchase myself every month, it will be one of my go to treats in the future.

What's your favourite subscription box right now?

Until the next one,

Bakedin Gluten Free Brownie Mug

At the end of July I came across a fab brand called Bakedin – they create the perfect mixes for all sorts of baked goodies and send them out to you in the post for you to make at home.  I added them to my August lust list after discovering that they had gluten free mixes that can easily adapted to be made dairy free too.  I was just about to place my order on their website, when I received my Vegan Tuck Box (post to come soon) which featured one of these brownie mug mixes!  As you can imagine I was pretty excited, so I decided to leave my actual order until I had tried this one out.

Now mug mixes are easy, they don’t take much time or effort and they usually turn out pretty good.  Bakedin mug cakes are AMAZING – they take legit two minutes in total to put together and cook, and they taste FANTASTIC!  It really is so super easy, you simply melt the butter for 10 seconds, throw in the powdered mix and the splash of milk (I used plant based alternatives for both) mix together and put it in the microwave for one minute.  That’s it!  Leave to cool for a few minutes and tada – you’ve got yourself a pretty damn good dessert ready to tuck in to.

No big messes needed with Bakediin like one!

The mix turns into a delicious sponge – it’s so good that you couldn’t even tell that it was diary or gluten free.  There are no clumpy bits throughout like there normally tends to be in your regular mug cakes – just tasty spongey goodness.  The mix creates the perfect sized cake, just enough to satisfy your sweet tooth but not enough to make you feel sick afterwards or feel the need to leave any.  Every mouthful is as yum as the last one, and you find little chocolate chunks throughout the sponge which adds to the indulgence of the cake.  It’s honestly so good that it’s hard to believe that this was a quick mix fix.

I am absolutely delighted that I got to try this in my Vegan Tuck box this month, I am so in love with the gluten free brownie mug cake – and can’t wait till pay day to place my order for a pack!   I think I’m going to treat myself to one of the gluten free brownie mixes too, just because I’ve got the feeling that it’s going to be equally as good.

Have you tried out any of the Bakedin mug cakes yet?

Until the next one,

Summer Berries at Tesco

This month The Orchard at Tesco invited me to be a part of their Summer Berries programme, which I was super pleased about because its strawberry season!  They kindly sent me a £3 voucher to pick myself up a punnet of berries of my choosing, and in return would like to know my honest thoughts about the product I chose.  I grabbed myself the largest and nicest looking punnet of strawberries from my local Tesco, with a dessert in mind that I found from my nutritionists website here.  I’ve been dying to try out coconut cream for a while now, so thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to give it a go!

The strawberries are the most gorgeous shade of red ever – they look really healthy and fresh in the punnet, as if I have just picked them off a farm myself there and then!  As I washed them under the tap, the sweet aroma of the strawberries filled the kitchen, which is one of my all-time favourite smells ever.  There is nothing quite like the smell of fresh strawberries.  I picked myself a decent sized portion from the punnet, and cut them into halves to enjoy with my coconut cream.  The smell grew stronger as I did this, and the juices spilled onto the chopping board – proving that I had a really delicious and fresh bunch too! 

To make your coconut cream, you simply need to purchase yourself a tin of full fat coconut milk.  Pop in the fridge overnight, and the next day your milk will have turned into a really thick cream – which is absolutely delightful with strawberries, might I add!   I added a tiny amount of agave nectar to my bowl for a little extra sweetness, however this really was not necessary because the strawberries tasted as good as they smelt!  Sometimes when I buy strawberries, I find them to look really appealing but taste rather bland or simply like water as I make my way through the punnet.  Tesco did not disappoint with these ones though, every strawberry tastes as good as the last one – and unfortunately for me, my family seem to think so too!  I went to bed with a near half full punnet last night, only to discover this morning that I’ll be needing to make another purchase sooner rather than later! 

I’m really, really pleased with these strawberries from Tesco, and super chuffed that I got to try them for free, thanks to The Orchard programme!

What’s your favourite summer berry?

Until the next one,

August Lust List

So July was a pretty busy and rather expensive month.  Hulk needed a vet check that ended up costing a small fortune, it was brought to my attention that I was driving around with an illegal tyre – goodbye fitty dollars – and then I had three birthdays to fund.  That being said, I decided that my vegan subscription box could wait till this month (I can’t wait for it to come now though!) and decided to skip the Nakd delivery too.  It’s hard to believe that we are now in August – where had this year gone?” – and now that most of the birthdays are done for the year (there is still two to go for me) it’s time to start thinking about Christmas as I’ve lots of people to get for.  This month I have a few bits that I’ve had my eyes on for a while now, which I’ll hopefully be able to pick up throughout the month.

Beauty Box

I’ve been fancying treating myself to a beauty box for quite some time now, however over these last few months I’ve noticed lot a beauty bloggers posting about how they’ve not been overly impressed by some of the more popular boxes.  After doing my own research, I discovered You Beauty and Love Me Beauty – both reasonably priced boxed with a difference – if you’re quick enough, you get to choose what items you receive in your boxes.  Since going cruelty free though, it’s been a tough one trying to find a month when the boxes contain a good selection of suitable brands.  August looks like it could be the one though for both – so now I’ve just the decision to decide on what one I want.  Watch this space…

Multipurpose Balm

You’ve heard me whine and whine again about my dry lips and sore skin around my mouth – so this month I’m determined to find something that is going to solve the problem once and for all!  It popped up on my Facebook ads that Dr Pawpaw were on special offer in Superdrug, so naturally this is one I’m considering as I’ve heard great things about this cruelty free balm.  It’s also been suggested to me several times that I give the Lush Ultrbalm a go, as again they say it works wonders on dry skin, sore lips and simply just tired skin.  This is another strong contender as let’s face it, I do enjoy a Lush trip.  The final one I’ve seen throughout this last month was actually one featured in the Love Me Beauty Box, is the Dr Lipp balm.  Although I’ve not heard so much about this particular one, the website suggests that it does exactly what I’m looking for.  Stay tuned, as I’m going to make sure that this is the month that my lips stop hurting once and for all!

Bakedin

After one of my favourite bloggers posted online several weeks back that they had received a lovely selection of mug cakes from a company called Bakedin, I was very much interested to see what it was all about.  I thought it would make a lovely and quirky present for a couple of people, but didn’t have much hope in finding anything that would be gluten and dairy free.  I was pleasantly surprised though when I came across a gluten free brownie cake mix and mug cakes!  After an email questioning if the recipes could be adapted to dairy free alternatives – they got back to me very promptly confirming that it should work with no real problems.  I think I’m going to try out the mug cakes first, so fingers crossed everything turns out fabulously!

What are you treating yourself too this month?

Until the next one,

A Nutritional Update

Some of you might remember that back in April I went to see a nutritionist in regards to my eczema.  My skin was particularly bad at the time, however certainly not as bad as it was here.  As we are approaching August, and I’m now onto my fourth month of my new diet, I thought I’d share with you my progress and how I’ve been getting on!

Yeast, gluten, dairy, chilli, ginger and garlic were all eliminated from my diet for a minimum of six weeks – you can read more about it here – in order to give my skin and body a chance to detox from the bacteria’s causing my problems.  I won’t lie, it was really tough for the first week, I ate around 30 eggs over breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks!  After that though, I found a lot of new things to try, and got myself into a pretty consistent routine.  Breakfast was a nutrigrain style Weetabix with plant based milk or a gluten free granola with Alpro yoghurt.  Lunch was either an omelette/hard boiled eggs with baked beans or a bowl of gluten free pasta.  Then for tea it tended to vary from an omelette, pasta or a tortilla pizza!  Hard boiled eggs were often a snack of choice as they are super easy and quick to prepare, as well as being rather filling and healthy! 

For a while I found it really hard to find things to snack on between meals, as I used to be the type of person who would reach for a bag of crisps or a bar of chocolate – no matter what time of day it was.  Now however I know I can go for foods that are not only tasty, but pretty heathy and filling too.  Nakd bars, Pulsin brownies and Kettle Chips have been my snacks of choice as of late due to their convenience and special offers!  I felt really restricted when I first started my diet, as I went from being able to eat whatever I wanted whenever to being very much limited on a day to day basis.  I now know that there is just as much that I can eat and enjoy as there is that I cannot! 

Since having switched up my diet, I have seen a huge improvement in my overall health, not just my skin.  My eczema has improved tremendously, and although it has flared up a little on my hands right now – this normally happens when the weather goes from one extreme to another.  When my diet was mostly rubbish based, I would often take a nap during the day as I would get quite tired around 3pm.  I can now function like a normal person from 6am – 11pm without a nap, which is a massive improvement as I can actually do things after work and with my evenings!

I no longer need a nap before my evening walk with Hulk!

Finally, the results that I have been most pleased with is my stomach.  I no longer feel bloated on a day to day basis.  I no longer need to eat and eat and eat to feel full, and I’ve lost around about a stone – solely from switch around my diet, which no extra exercise, which is amazing!

Of course this is all still a work in progress, however I’m absolutely delighted with all of my results.  I feel a whole lot healthy on the inside and out - and would very much recommend a visit to a nutritionist if you feel that your diet could be improved, but you don’t know how to go about it.  If you stay in or around Aberdeenshire, I would highly recommend using Nourishing Insights, as Beverly has been great helping not only me but also my brother and boyfriend too!  You can read all about the work they do here.

What’s the best thing you’ve done for yourself that has changed your life completely?

Until the next one,