Blogger Awards – Thank You’s and ‘Nom’inations!

I’ve been very recipe focused recently, I havent had a rant about anything for a while or expressed too much opinion other than within my recipe posts and I’ve been thinking about why. I do have opinions and my own views on the food world of course, I have made my diet choices and I feel strongly about some aspects of the food industry, however what it really comes down to is the fact that my passion is simply food.

It’s new and exciting ingredients which get me thinking, its recipes and photos of food and random ideas which pop into my head which inspire me. I can spend hours reading a cook book or browsing recipes online, a fun day out is at a farmers market chatting to farmers about their produce and a relaxing weekend is spent from 8am-6pm in the kitchen seeing what I come up with.

I admire the people who take a stand and shout about their views and I’m always the first to chip in on the conversation but for me, this blog I am slowly building with love, is really just an online page screaming out about my love of good food! It makes me so happy when I see that people have enjoyed recipes I’ve created and I feel lucky that my passion has introduced me to the food blogging industry (unlike my uni degree which after 3-4 years in the fashion industry put me off forever) and I want to say a big thankyou to the bloggers who have recently nominated me for blogger awards I am sorry some are a little belated but I am really thankful for being noticed and appreciated. so THANKYOU!

Blogger Awards are a bit of fun and a great way of meeting new people and spreading the love of food. If I’ve nominated you and you don’t want to take part that’s absolutely fine, there is no pressure here

Each blog award comes with an instruction to tell some facts about yourself and to nominate new people for the award. To make everything a little simpler because I have bunched them into one post I will share 10 facts about myself and I will nominate 4 bloggers for each award. If I’ve nominated you then feel free to check out the actual rules for your award from the person who nominated me

Thank you so much to Vegan Blogger Live blissful for nominating me for three awards!  Very inspiring blog award, Reality Blog Award, Blog of the year 2012. I won’t pass on the 2012 blog award since its now 2013 but I wanted to say thanks

Inspiring Blogger Nominations -

1. The Road to Serendipity. I love your stories and your lifestyle! Truly inspiring
2. Fork n Beans. The most inspiring baker I have ever come across!
3. Vegan Sparkles. Puts a sprinkle of fun into everything she does inspires me to smile!
4. Veggie Diva’s Kitchen. A huge variety of cuisines and amazing veggie recipes!

Reality Blog Nominations -

1. My Food Religion. It was “Energizing” which made me think of Shannon with her great health and exercise tips
2. The Beach House Kitchen. Pure happiness in a food blog…definitely Yipeee!!
3. Turning Veganese. I’m addicted to their videos, especially the bunnies!!!
4. Vegan Monologue. Amazing photos and mouth-watering recipes!

The super creative blogger Alexander from “In Vegetables we Trust” nominated me for the Sunshine Blog Award! Thankyou! Everytime I get a new notification that he has posted I run straight over there because his food is inspiring and so so delicious!

Sunshine Award Nominations -

1. In My Bowl. A gorgeous collection of plant based recipes focusing on being healthy and delicious.
2. An Ode to Mung Beans. I literally want to try every recipe on Sammy’s blog, really exciting recipes!
3. For the Love of Taste. I love the wide variety of flavour combinations and the way Cornelia experiments with food (with success!)
4. Megg Salad. Really healthy (she is a health coach!) and really vibrant, yummy moreish recipes!

Poppy over at Bunny Kitchen recently nominated my rice pudding recipe for the Super Sweet Blogging Award I’ve got more into baking and puddings recently and I will try to continue this over the year to improve my skills!

Super Sweet Blogger Nominations -

1. Go lightly Gourmet. Great ethos on whole foods and how food is about nurture not just fuel!
2. Blisteringly Drunk. Firstly – love the name! haha also some great recipes from a group of friends who all obviously love food!
3. Better Bites. I feel like we have loads in common and I love the gf almond joy bars OMG!
4. Time for Tea, Room for Cake. A great mix of sweet and savoury recipes – the Blood Orange Cake caught my eye, cant wait to try it!

Ok and here are 10 facts about me which you may or may not know!

1. I’m really scared of ants. I know they are tiny but they come in the millions and if they were the size of dogs we would be extinct! I was once stood waiting for a friend and I was wearing flip flops when I felt a tickle on my toes, I looked down and I was stood in an ant’s nest and I had ants all over my feet and crawling up my legs. I’ve never screamed so loud in public in my whole life and I started jumping around trying to brush my feet whilst strangers looked at me in horror. I’m still scarred!

2. I currently have “raspberry” coloured hair with black streaks in it. I change my hair colour a few times a year but it mostly revolves around shades of red and purple. Last summer I tried having black hair with a sharp fringe which was fun but not something I could maintain! My fringe has grown out now phew, I really find them annoying!

3. I am still really into watching the WWE wrestling with the hubby Scott. My favourites are Randy Orton and Sheamus (If I’m judging as a girl who likes pretty men to look at – yes I think Sheamus is pretty) or triple H and Ryback if I’m judging from a wrestling point of view. I didn’t like the whole CM Punk Respect phase but now I am loving his feud with The Undertaker….21-0 YES!?

4. I’m really into Rock and Metal music (today I’m wearing my favourite Iron Maiden North America Tour T-shirt for “dress down friday” at work) and my favourite album at the moment is “Asylum” by Disturbd. They were one of my fave bands when I was younger and this new album reminded me of the good ole days! Also got to see them in 2011 at Download Festival and they literally blew my mind they were so good!

5. My favourite ingredient at the moment is kale. I can’t seem to get enough of it! I have it for breakfast with eggs, I add it to soups, salads and stirfries. I found a purple variety last week which I have used in a recipe coming up and it’s so pretty. It’s also really good for you!

6. I joined the Burlesque Society whilst at uni and helped organise a fund-raiser for my course which involved a lingerie catwalk show mixed with tasteful burlesque. I did a couple of shows myself which were so much fun but I mainly enjoyed the organising part. My degree was in lingerie design (which I havent used as I now work in finance and write this blog) so it was all relevant at the time.

7. I got married in Britain’s oldest Brewery in Faversham (Shepherds Neame) but I don’t like ale! Although we did have a mulled ale as our reception drink (it was in October so cold weather!) and I actually really liked that.

8. I used to do ballet and street dance and actually got really good (my dance teacher asked me if I wanted to train to teach dance) but then I just sort of stopped. Now I just dance in my house and sometimes on nights out if I’ve had some wine! I really miss dancing, maybe I’ll think about doing it again!

9. One of my favourite memories from uni was a night in with Scott when we had just got together. We bought some cheap wine and didn’t have any wine glasses so we drank it out of mugs and sat and played games on the play station and watched films. Looking back now (with a cupboard full of wine glasses) it reminds me that no matter how much money we may have or not have in our life as long as we have each other and are happy drinking wine from mis matched mugs we’ll be happy forever.

10. I have never made meringues before but I really want to give it a go. I will put some time aside at some point to try making meringues!

One Lovely Blog Award!

This is a really over due post but I’ve had so much going on, so many recipes running through my mind that needed bringing to life etc that it got put on a shelf for a rainy day! Laura from the “Cook to Love” blog gave me a ‘One Lovely Blog’ award back in April and I was really chuffed as her blog is really inspiring with tonnes of vegan/ gluten free recipes!

Vegan and gluten free seems to be a mix I am seeing a lot of recently and after my realisation that I am a carb monster since giving up meat I wonder how they do it! My mother in law is gluten free and so I am always keen to learn more about cooking and baking without gluten (I think I do alot of it without realising). There are so many alternatives and gluten free products out there now it’s interesting to see how baking has evolved.

OK so to accept this award I have to tell you some things about myself. I think you all know quite abit now but luckily there were some questions prepared to give a bit of structure -

1. Favorite color: I don’t really have a favourite colour any more…but I do like green!
2. Favorite animal: hmm I really like all kinds of birds, they’re so interesting to watch
3. Favorite number: I have two numbers I consider lucky – 7 and 14!
4. Favorite non-alcoholic drink: Slimline tonic….with a side of gin and a wedge of lime
5. Facebook or Twitter: I miss myspace!
6. My passion: cooking, painting, drawing, cuddling and picnicing
7. Getting or giving presents: honestly….giving presents!!
8. Favorite pattern: ??? I have an awesome red leopard print pencil skirt I love!
9. Favorite day of the week: Sunday! Me and Scott have a lazy morning then we walk into town and get coffees and spend an hour in HMV browsing music and people watching.
10. Favorite flower: Daisies (the teeny ones)

Ok and the five people I would like to pass this on to are…..drum roll…. (in no particular order)

An Unrefined Vegan – To quote her website “Unprocessed, unbleached and cruelty-free:  low-fat, low-sugar, whole food and plant-based recipes to nurture body, brain and conscience.” Seriously her recipes are amazing and so inspiring that she has found such a natural, healthy way of life!

Veggie What now – A vegetarian allergic to Soy and Nuts! She’s creative though and there are some really interesting ideas on her blog.

Sophies Oven – Really delicious home cooking and a great theory on cookies! One of my fave non veggie food blogs!

Vegan Sparkles – Mouth watering photos, inspired recipes and a really genuinely lovely personality. Oh and I love the starwars/ sci fi references dotted throughout, so fun!

I ate lunch – Each recipe is enveloped in a story or memory and it’s really nice to read a blog where the writer is so honest and open about everything! Plenty to read plus some pretty snazzy lunch ideas!

Now I’m done passing on the love I’d like to just give you an update on how my bread roll friday challenge is going. To be honest it started off boring because I realised that making bread rolls actually isn’t that difficult! But I think it has picked up again after spending a Saturday banning Scott from his computer and browsing the online world for inspiration.

The great thing I have got from it is that I now think I could whip up a pretty decent bread roll without worrying too much about it and without the need for too much of a recipe. It has made my confidence in baking grow as I am now trying out different flours and letting it be fun rather than an exercise doomed for failure.
I do also now have a freezer full of bread rolls because we don’t really eat too much bread (only for a scrummy fried egg sarnie which Im abit addicted to at the moment) but atleast I know that the next time I want a roll with my soup or I need a burger bun I have one ready and it’s not full of chemicals and additives!

Kreativ Blogger Award!

I love writing my blog, especially now I have people reading it and one of the best things which I never expected was the encouragement and support from other bloggers! Everyone wants to compliment each others recipes, marvel at improvements and gush over mouth watering photography and I enjoy reading and commenting on other blogs as much as I love creating my own posts!

Jennifer over at Down Home South Journey was one of the first people to really move me with a comment. She said she loved my enthusiasm and that has stayed with me with every post! Enthusiasm is one thing I have buckets full of so when she passed over a Kreativ blogger award I was over the moon! It’s so nice to be thought of by other bloggers and I think the blogger awards are such a lovely way of building friendships and discovering new talent! So everyone please go check out Jennifer’s blog (click here), she writes about her home, local wines (she’s an expert!) and of course recipes and delicious food posts!

So rules of the award:

• Thank the nominating blogger and provide a link to that blog; (see above)
• Spread the love by nominating seven other bloggers, include their links here, and notify them; and
• Tell you seven interesting things about myself.

Well I have so many blogs I love, here are 7 of them

1. Fork n Beans – Cara recently did a guest post for me which you can see here. She is the epitome of creativity so this award is made for her! She focuses on gluten free, vegan cooking and baking and when you see me say “Raw Cream Egg” I know you will all run over there! Oh yes she’s a genius!

2. Turning VEGANese – Ah I love these guys! They are a group of friends who all post on the blog and what I love the most is you instantly know who you are reading because their styles are so unique. It brings a freshness to the blog, plus their recipes are great and the write up is always full of fun!

3. Lucy’s Friendly Foods – Have an allergy? Head over to Lucy’s blog and you’ll find advice and recipes for you! With a library full of allergy friendly recipes her ideas are original and inventive! There are lots of really yummy looking sweet recipes such as banana sundae cupcakes mmm!

4. Healthy Belly Ellie – If your after something delicious and super healthy then check out Ellie’s blog Bright colours, fresh flavours and plenty of personality! Lots of gluten free and vegan recipes too (something I am really interested in learning more about!)

5. Emmycooks – You can’t help but end up spending a good hour browsing through this blog, the photos are amazing and the recipes are so inspiring. AND you get a brand new recipe every day – I am literally in awe! – now that is passion.

6. The Silly Asparagus – What I love about Colette’s blog is that she is always sharing things she’s learnt about the world of vegetarians, research on the big animal production debates and plenty of background into the choices we all make! Theres just so much to read and explore within her posts so I definitely recommend you get a cup of tea and go soak in some knowledge

7. The Beach House Kitchen – When I first stumbled across this blog I was so excited by the idyllic photos, creative recipes and well just how inspiring they are! They are hugely passionate about the vegetarian lifestyle and it’s catching

OK well I also need to say 7 interesting things about myself… Heres a few possibly interesting facts about me – (by the way I just asked my husband what would he say was interesting about me and he said “You are vegetarian, you like animals, you have a fringe and you like collecting scarfs” hehe I love him but I feel a bit dull now xx)

1. I have a secret dream to own my own cafe with a herb garden and fresh produce and mint tea on the house…it used to be a dream about owning a cocktail bar but I may be my best customer haha! I also have a dream to live on an island and spend my days painting soo I imagine the dream will keep adapting as life moves on!

2. I am a rock music junkie! You know when music just hits a spot in your heart and you light up inside – well a heavy guitar riff and a mind blowing drum solo (Joey from Slipknot I mean you!) does that to me Ahh I’m seeing some amazing bands this year including Iron Maiden, Alice Cooper, Metallica and Black Sabbath!

3. Ok I’m stealing one from the hubby – I do collect scarfs! I have hundreds in boxes around the house. They are just so pretty and you always look good in them even on a fat day. When we go to Spain there is a pashmina stall on the local market and they are 2 Euros and they are such good quality.

4. I am currently re watching the TV Show One Tree Hill from the beginning (havent seen the last series so don’t tell me!) and I’m addicted! I am a sucker for a story what can I say. My favourite character is Jamie! Seriously he is a dude!

5. I once ate salad cream on my cornflakes to prove a point…the point was that I loved salad cream…

6. I don’t enjoy housework…infact I spend a lot of time moving things around the house so it looks like its been cleaned and then I tell Scott to do jobs and I feel like its a team effort I do enjoy ironing now though as it gives me more time to watch One Tree hill

7. I’m not really into shoes…infact I hardly have any shoes but I don’t care. Some heels, black pumps, my favourite docs and some trainers – sorted!!

Thanks again Jennifer for the award and I hope you’re all enjoying my chocolate month I’m definitely learning I can cook puddings I’m just stubborn.

Forget the Oscars…it’s all about the Food blogs today!

I’m really excited because this week I was given a blog award from the blog Avocado Pesto! The Liebster award recognises blogs with less than 200 followers (got to support us little guys!) and so I’m really chuffed that she chose me as one of her 5 blogs to pass it on to! Thankyou!!

I recently discovered Avocado Pesto a while ago and I love the freshness of her site, the mouth watering photos and the really lovely recipe ideas! Everyone must go check her out!

These rules apply:

1. Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog. (see my comment above!)
2. Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you. (click on the link above or here it is again……click!)
3. Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.
4. Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserve to be noticed.
5. Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog.

I decided to take my time when choosing the blogs to nominate as since starting to write my own blog I have found so many wonderful blogs and now have an inbox crammed full of culinary delights every morning! I have to admit that my foodie obsession has taken over and I only follow 3 or 4 non food related blogs just because they simply made me laugh so loud everyone around me thought I was a lunatic! Everyone needs a bit of that in the morning.

Anyway here are my list of blogs I <3 that have 200 or less followers!

1. Spices and Spackle – Noreen has a lovely blog and the best thing is that she Veganises all my favourite foods!! Mac n Cheese, BLT and pancakes, nom nom! I really like the occasional insight into her DIY ventures too, Im rubbish at DIY!

2. Don’t forget the olive oil – I started blogging around the same time as Lara and I found her blog pretty soon after venturing into the blogging world and loved it! She has a great mix between sweets and savoury and it’s all foods I enjoy so can’t go wrong! Plenty of veggie recipes too!

3. Goodfooding – This is a relatively new blog but I already check back often. She does great simple, hearty veggie meals and I love the step by step photographs for each recipe! Also she shares my dislike for dishwashers!

4. Reluctantly Meat Free – I genuinely love the fact that he has gone veggie “reluctantly” for his girlfriend and started this blog to share his recipes! The recipes are all really nice so definitely one to check back on! A really different perspective on the food blogging world which is quite refreshing really!

5. I have Tried it – She really has tried it! I love this blog because she posts so many handy tips on how to not only save money but just make things more convenient too!

On a separate note I want to say goodluck to any girls out there today proposing to their boyfriends and taking advantage of this leap year!! I proposed to my boyfriend 4 years ago today and have been happily married since October! It can work!! xxxx

Versatile Blogger Award!

I was thrilled to log in this morning and see that Veghotpot has received a Versatile Blogger Award! A massive thank you to Jennifer who passed this over to me, she writes an amazing blog about local foods/ wines and places to see in New Jersey, it is definitely worth a read -http://downhomesouthjersey.com/.

To accept this award I must:

1. Formally thank the person who gave me the award (please see above!)

2. List 7 things about myself that others might not know about me (this is further down the page)

3. Pass on the award to 5- 15 other bloggers

4. Inform the bloggers I have given them the award.

5. Put the Versatile Blogger Award Picture in the post.

I’ve been writing my blog for a few months now and it started off as a way to re-ignite my love of cooking and also to help me be abit more creative. It has been an easy transition for me to become a vegetarian but I still wanted to cook for my husband so Ive faced the challenge of catering for both of us on a budget. I also focus on low dairy recipes as I am lactose intolerant which has been great as you really have to push your mind outside of the normal “vegetarian alternatives”. I love writing my blog so much and the excitment of thinking up a  new recipe which I can share with friends, family and anyone reading is a great feeling

Now one of the conditions of accepting the award is that I must post 7 random facts about myself so here you go – a little insight into me

1. I used to go vegetarian every few years for about a week growing up but I never kept it up, I didn’t really understand it back then!
2. My favourite evening snack is a mug of cereal with soya milk – it has to be in a mug to be a snack otherwise its just an extra meal.
3. I have a degree in lingerie design and can design, pattern cut and make bras, corsets, knickers, night wear etc etc. I don’t really do it any more though.
4. We get through a bottle of ketchup every couple of weeks- and we don’t have kids so there’s no excuses!
5. When I was at uni and had no money I decided to bake presents for christmas (but I can’t bake!) so I came up with a brand/ packaging called “Pants at baking” where all the labels were shaped like pants and the food was terrible! It made everyone laugh though and I have since been practising my baking alot more.
6. I watch cooking programmes with a note pad and pen and scribble away with any ideas or tips, I also have a stack of cookbooks next to my bed!
7. I love Rock music/ Heavy Metal and love head banging in my kitchen whilst im cooking! I do close the curtains though!!

Now I’m not sure if I’m meant to wait before nominating the blogs I love for this award but it was such an easy choice for me as I have spent such a long time reading many many other blogs online that I’m going to let them know now!

For those who I have nominated please see the instructions above -

1. http://theclassyscavenger.wordpress.com/- This concept is becoming more and more popular and I think it’s a great idea to use produce which supermarkets and restaurants have thrown out! When I worked at Marks and Spencers we were made to pour bleach on all food in the bins so no one could steal it – steal rubbish?!?!? ridiculous! The recipes they come up with look great and they’ve definitely educated me and entertained me with their scavenging antics!

2. http://rachael-jane.blogspot.com/- I love this blog, Rachy opens her heart and pours it all out into a witty and entertaining blog. You can’t help liking her and I am so inspired by the whole retro look!! This blog makes me laugh out loud in public!

3. http://thefoodieat.org/- So so inspired by Rachel! Her recipes and photos make your mouth water and I love seeing what she gets up to in the professional kitchen too! Brilliant blog.

4. http://atablespoonofliz.wordpress.com/- Liz’s blog makes me laugh, she mixes food ideas with a great sense of humour and it makes for a great read! We’re also both lactose intolerant vegetarians so we have that in common

5. http://dkscooks.wordpress.com/- “so hungry I could blog” – This is a brilliant Foodies blog packed full of photos and brilliant ideas/ recipes. My favourite part of this blog is the “our guides” page where each month they post a few ideas under a theme! I love the look of the “A dip and a Sip” recipes I will be trying those.

6. http://katcameronillustration.wordpress.com/- As soon as you click on this blog your hit with artwork and colour and I love it! Kat lives in Barcelona and has posted about the life there including some tips on where to eat and what to eat! A really beautiful blog about a culture Id like to know more about.

7. http://brunchforeverymeal.com/- “Aspiring Comedic Actor, Writer, Mover, Shaker” – I read that tagline and I was hooked lol! This blogs not really about brunch or food but it’s a very well written, funny and current blog. Dara is really funny and clever with the way she writes.

So there you go what a good feeling! xx