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