Healthy Creamy Avocado Pasta.

I'm gonna put this out there right away, I love avocados!!!! So I'm forever looking for new ways to add avocados to my meals. I heard avocados actually make you happy?.. yet another reason why they're amazing.

Avocados aren't for everyone though, just like any foods there's going to always be people that hate them. When I first tried them, I wasn't keen but I've grown to love them. Picking out the perfectly ripe avocado makes a huge difference in the way they taste too. Click here for tips on knowing when an avocado is ripe.

This avocado spaghetti recipe is so creamy, filling and extremely easy to make. It's really the perfect healthy comfort food. Who doesn't love a nice big bowl of spaghetti at the end of a long day? Enough blabbing, let's get started on the recipe.

Ingredients

-1 large ripe Avocado / 2 small Avocados.

-Squeeze of lemon juice (optional).

-Garlic powder to taste.

-Dash of milk (optional depending on how thick you want the sauce)

-Wholegrain spaghetti or pasta of your choice. 

-Any extras of your choice (I'm using feta cheese and wild rocket)

Either serves 2 normal sized portions.. Or 1 huge portion. (I refuse to share this with anyone it's that yum)

[2 Small Avocados, Wild Rocket, Wholegrain Spaghetti]

[Avocado Before & After Blending]

How to make: 

1. Cut avocado in half, remove pit, scoop out avocado with a spoon. And dice. 

2. Add the avocado, lemon juice, dash of milk and garlic powder to a blender/food processor and blend until smooth. 

3. Boil a saucepan of water and add the spaghetti/pasta. 

4. While the spaghetti is cooking, now is the time to prepare whatever you're choosing to eat with the pasta. For me it was as simple as cutting up feta cheese in to little cubes (I was feeling lazy)

5. Drain the pasta and add back to the sauce pan. Add the avocado 'sauce' and stir in. 

6. Serve with your choice of extra ingredients. I served on a bed of wild rocket and scattered the feta on top.

ENJOYYYY

[Healthy Avocado Spaghetti]

If you're an avocado lover like me I'm 99.9% sure you'll love this as much as I do. If you're not sure what to have with it I'll give you a little list of ideas. 

- Bacon 

- Mushrooms 

- Parmesan cheese 

- Chicken 

- Salmon 

- Tomatoes 

There's plenty of different things that go well with avocados.

Give this recipe a try and let me know in the comments if you enjoyed it :-) 

It's amazing hot or cold.. Which is pretty convenient since by the time I'd snapped 1000 photos for this I could still enjoy it. 

What's your favourite avocado based recipe?

I'll be posting some more healthy recipes in the next up coming weeks. 

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Nicole 

x

2 Ingredient Healthy Pancakes!!

Hiya. Hope everyone is well this Friday evening!

Since pancake day has passed and I'm pretty sure some of you are still getting a pancake craving. I thought I'd give you a pancake 'recipe' that I've been enjoying for many years now,(if you'd all 2 ingredients a recipe..) ready for your Saturday or Sunday morning breakfast this weekend!

These pancakes are very simple to make. And contain ingredients most people already have in the house. All you need is...

Ingredients:

-2 eggs.

-1 ripe banana. (best with brown speckles on)

I actually usually use 3 ingredients. I add some peanut butter to mine, I just love the combination of peanut butter and banana. If I don't have PB, sometimes I add a dash of cinnamon for extra flavour. But if you don't fancy adding anything else, they taste great with just the 2 ingredients!

How to make.

- First step is blend up the eggs and banana. If you don't have a blender, you can just mash the banana up with a fork (or a potato masher) as well as possible, and add to well whisked eggs. Sometimes warming the banana in the microwave for 30 secs, makes it easier to mash up. If you don't use a blender your mixture will be a little lumpier, but they will still taste the same.

- Next put a frying pan on a high heat, with either a tiny bit of olive oil, a tiny bit of butter or if you can get a hold of it Frylite Olive Oil Spray, this spray is apparently 1 calorie a spray and it works well to prevent sticking. Once the pan is hot pour on the first pancake. It's best to make them quite small so it's easier to flip, cause at times they can be a nightmare when it comes to breaking apart. At this point I usually turn the heat down a little to prevent them burning, as the banana cooks pretty fast.

- Once the pancake is covered in lots of tiny bubbles it means its ready to flip, carefully push the edges of the pancake up all around before putting the spatula underneath to flip. You'll find on some of your pancakes the bottom will be very brown/dark, this doesn't always mean its burnt. Usually it's because the banana browns very fast on the heat. My first pancake on the photo below was a pretty decent colour.

- Pop the pancake to the side (in the oven on a low heat if you want to keep warm). And repeat until all of your batter is gone!

These pancakes like I said, are extremely easy to make. The only downside I find is that making them one by one is a little time consuming. Unless I have a lot of time on my hands, I now enjoy these pancakes in a different way. I make the batter all the same, but instead of making small pancakes - I make one giant pancake. Preheat the grill before hand and once the bottom of the pancake is cooked, instead of flipping. Pop the frying pan under the grill (not the handle! if the handle is plastic.. it will melt.) and just keep an eye on it for few minutes while the top browns off. Pop on a plate - DONE! Making one giant pancake tastes the same but it's just a lot faster if you don't have the time to make tiny ones. I kinda prefer the giant pancake too.

Now your pancakes are ready, serve them with a topping of your choice, more banana, other fruits, dark chocolate chips, maple syrup, honey!

I chose too drizzle mine with maple syrup - mmmmm

You may not find these pancakes are for you. But I love them, if I'm dying for some pancakes while I'm trying to be healthy these never disappoint! If you try them, leave me a comment on how you found them and if they were for you.

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Nicole 

xo

Dirty Dirty Fries - Hobgoblin Bristol

One place me and Curtis pop out for food too every now and then is Hobgoblin on Gloucester road. Pretty much just go for the Dirty Dirty Fries. Which is a pulled pork topped with spiced fries melted cheese and a drizzle of blue cheese/stilton on top. Don't be alarmed, if you hate blue cheese or any kind of strong cheese, you honestly can't taste it like you'd think. It just gives it a little extra flavour.

They do other foods too such as Burgers and Nachos too. 

Portions.. The portions are huge, Dirty Dirty Fries are typically for sharing. Which if I'm honest is more enjoyable to do. But occasionally me and Curt like to have a little food challenge, try and eat it all by ourselves. Which I've never done, but on Sunday I came very very close to eating it all. At just under £10 even if you're eating it alone it's worth the money, so it's a very 'budget friendly' meal if you're sharing it.

[Dirty Dirty Fries - Hobgoblin]

The inside of Hobgoblin is a very relaxed atmosphere, I'd say it has a very student feel to it. Maybe it's because of, all the students that go their for their famously known Dirty Dirty Fries and Burgers. Or because of the fact it's close to Gloucester road's pubs/bars. They're also known for their food Challenge called 'The Kraken', see photo below for info.

[http://www.eatingchallenges.co.uk/the-kraken-burger-in-bristol/]

I'd definitely tell anyone I know to visit this place! Even just once to give it a try, because to me it's worth it. Even if you are so full you can't move for 5 days after...

Below you'll see before/after photos of my almost completely finished Dirty Dirty Fries.. As you can tell I do have a pretty big appetite. 

[(Before) Dirty Dirty Fries - Hobgoblin, Bristol]

[(After) Dirty Dirty Fries - Hobgoblin, Bristol]

Anyone reading this should definitely go visit Hobgoblin soon for a feast. But as for me.. I'm not quite ready to eat these again just yet - maybe in a week or so ;-)

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(Hobgoblin Bristol Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Hobgoblin.bristol)

Healthy Eating When You're Not Feeling Up To Cooking.

As you may know by now if you've been keeping up to date with my posts. I'm not what you'd call 'well', I have a few chronic incurable illnesses that leave me in feeling exhausted, in pain and generally just really unwell. So eating healthy isn't always easy, from wanting to comfort eat myself 'better', to just not feeling well enough to cook a meal.

So I thought I'd write a post to say even if you don't feel well or you don't have time. There are still fast, healthy foods you can eat that takes the same time as a microwave/oven meal. Not all of these foods are perfect if you're 'eating clean'. But they definitely aren't bad/unhealthy.

I will say, my diet mainly consists of rice... microwave rice that is. Why not? Rice isn't the worst thing you can eat, it gives you energy, it's gluten free and it fills you up! People stay away from things like rice because of fear of carbs.. I love anything that is carbs. So I refuse to give them up!

So on this post I'll be talking you through what I do eat, or what you can eat while you aren't feeling up to cooking too much.

☻The main thing I eat when I'm really not well is Soup, I mainly just stick to one soup. Heinz lentil soup. With crackers or a slice of bread. There has also been times where I've had left over rice and I've added it to my soup to 'bulk it out' a little.

[Heinz Lentil Soup. With Jacobs 'thins']

☻Sandwiches are always a good quick meal! Bread isn't supposed to be great for you but I definitely haven't ever eliminated it from my diet, and I have what I'd call healthy eating habits. So if you aren't feeling up to cooking just make a sandwich, ham, egg, chicken, tuna or anything else that isn't too high in fat that you fancy.

[Ham Salad Sandwich... & A Cuppa]

☻Rice.. Well here we go, the paragraph about how much I love rice. I honestly would eat rice every single day... wait, I think I already do eat it every single day?! I have rice with a lot of things. But my main meals I stick too are rice with, pan fried salmon fillet/bacon & avocado/feta cheese/feta & avocado. 
All of those combinations are with rice and rocket. I always use microwave rice (Veetee long grain). I love this make of rice over others as it's nice and fluffy. I microwave the rice in 2 minutes and then season.. It's really not time consuming and doesn't use up much energy. Of course if you're having the salmon, bacon or avocado, these foods will need cooking/preparing but it doesn't take more than 10 minutes. My point about rice is, it takes no more than 2 minutes to microwave and you can have it with just about anything to make a meal a little more filling. Find a rice based meal you love and you'll have a super quick meal in no time! 

[Salmon, Mixed Rocket Salad & Rice]

[Left - Bacon, Avocado, Spinach/Rocket & Rice.  Right-Avocado, Feta Cheese, Rocket & Rice.]

☻Banana's and peanut butter is another thing that you can have as either a snack or breakfast. Have it any way you like, in oatmeal, in a sandwich, on toast, by itself is always fine too! It's super yummy. Peanut butter contains good fats and protein, only if you get the natural peanut butter. And banana's are great for you too! (So craving this now)

[Banana & Peanut Butter on Toast]

☻Stir frys are always a good option, the shops always do a ready chopped stir fry pack which provides enough for two servings. It only takes a few minutes to cook with a pre cooked (or uncooked) meat of your choice, just make sure you use a low fat and sugar sauce. And try to avoid the egg noodles. I usually buy wholewheat noodles and pop them in some boiling water while the stir fry is cooking.. and then stir them in at the end.

☻ No excuses if you're going to the shop and can only get a ready made lunch or what most shops call a lunch time 'meal deal'. There is always a healthier option sandwich, whether it's just a plain ham sandwich, a low fat egg mayo, tuna cucumber, or a chicken salad. There are healthier options. As for the snack, if I'm craving crisps I'd usually go for the Walkers Sunbites as they aren't AS bad. But otherwise I'll have carrot sticks, apple bag, pineapple or some kind of fruit. I always have water with my meal deal (although in my photo below they had no water left..my boyfriend drank the oasis). You can always find a healthier on the go food option in the shops.

[Left- Egg & Cress Sandwich, Sunbites Crisps (Don't Usually Have Oasis).  Right- Sainsbury's Made Fresh, Pesto pasta, With Mozzarella Salad]

☻With things like oven foods. There are options that you can pop in the oven and create a fairly healthy meal from. Bake in the bag fish, grilled chicken pieces, veggie burgers etc. They also do some amazing frozen sweet potato chips in Tesco!!! So if you're stuck to only oven foods, have a good look in the freezer sections.. you'll find there's healthier choices than pizza and chicken nuggets.

☻Eating out, even when you have to eat out, there are still ways to be healthy. And you don't even have to spend much money. There will always be healthy food choices on menus in restaurants and you have the choice to substitute things from normal meals, like fries for boiled potatoes. If I'm trying to be really healthy eating out for food, I order a starter and a side, and ask them to bring them out with the main courses. Things like soups are good on the starters, and salads for the sides. There will always be something you can chose.

[Tomato Soup & Mozzarella with Tomato Salad]

☻Other options you can have are eggs, eggs are fairly fast and easy to cook. Especially poached or scrambled eggs. Have scrambled eggs alone, on toast or with baked beans. I usually have poached eggs with avocado. But there are plenty of ways you can make eggs and add more nutrients to the meal.

[Left - scrambled eggs. Right - Avocados]

☻Pizza... yes healthy pizza. Pop the oven on, grab a wholewheat tortilla wrap, cover it in pizza/tomato sauce and add your choice of toppings. Chuck it in the oven until the cheese has melted or the wrap has crisped slightly.. then enjoy!!!

The point in this whole post was to advise you that there are ways to eat healthy in circumstances where you don't want to cook, or you don't have the time to cook. Where you need to eat out at least once a week. Or you're in such a rush that the only thing you can pick up is a sandwich from the shops. If you truly want to be healthy, you will find a way to eat healthy. If you look for healthy options you'll find them.

I hope this post was helpful to some of you, good luck on healthy eating! :-)

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All photos were taken by myself - follow me on Instagram @colemaria_

Nicole 

xoxoxo

Birthday Meal At San Carlos Bristol!

If you read my previous post about my birthday celebrations, you'd see I mentioned that I went to eat at San Carlos, in Bristol. 

It's an extremely posh place, some of the meals are pretty pricey too. But I've been out to eat a lot, and it was honestly one of the best place's I'd ever eaten.

Our table was booked for 7pm and when we got there it was already pretty busy. We were placed on a table towards the front of the restaurant, the inside is so fascinating. The walls were all marble with giant mirrors and lots of sphere shaped lights which when reflected off of the mirrors gave the appearance of the restaurant being larger than it was (although it does go back further than you think already, if you see the photos below you can see the an archway at the back, where extra tables were placed). It gave off a very relaxing vibe due to the lighting being lovely and soft.

[Front of the restaurant]

[Back of the restaurant]

Now for the food. They had a larger menu than I had expected, which was ideal as it gives everyone you're with to chose something to their taste. After we had ordered everything they came out and changed our cutlery to suit our food orders, which was very kind.

For the Appetisers. I ordered Mussels in a white wine sauce. It was amazing, I'm serious, one of the best starters I've ever had in my life. They were huge, and cooked perfectly. Weren't skimpy on the portions either, they arrived in a giant brass pot! (photos below). The boyfriend had a starter sized portion of carbonara and my Dad had crab cakes. My Mum appeared to have enjoyed the starter she had as well which was, Scallops wrapped in bacon on a bed of risotto rice. (photo of this below)

[Huge brass pot full of Mussels!]

[Best Mussels I've EVER had]

[My Mums starter of Scallops wrapped in bacon with a risotto rice]

Mains next. Not going to lie, I was a little cheeky and went all out and ordered the Lobster Thermidor.. Very expensive. I mentioned to my parents that I had always wanted to try it, so they insisted I ordered it. It was so delicious, I can't even explain how it tasted, other than that it was amazing.. If anyone doesn't know what it is, it's a whole lobster cut in half to be cooked with a sauce and cheese on top. (Photos below)

My Mum ordered a Sea food and Shellfish pasta, originally came with tomato sauce but she changed it for white sauce. Dad had the main meal portion of Carbonara, the same as Curtis had for starters. Finally, Curtis had a gigantic chicken and spinach Calzone, it was huge. Yet he managed to finish it all, so it must of tasted good too! (Photos below)

We all had a garlic bread pizza to share between us also.

[Lobster Thermidor] 

[Lobster Thermidor]

[Curtis' Calzone]

Lastly, dessert! Me and Curtis had seen on their online menu a few weeks before that they had Creme Brulee. So we had our hearts set on that already. My Mum then also decided on the Creme Brulee. It had dark chocolate chips in the bottom and a raspberry placed on top for decoration. We all finished them, of course!. As for my Dad he isn't a dessert person, so he went for the cheese and biscuits. (Photos Below)

I'm not sure about everyone else but my dessert was what a typical Bristolian would call 'lush'. It was the perfect end to a lovely dinner.

[Creme Brulee]

[Cheese and Biscuits]

Overall, San Carlos was one of the best meals I've had as of yet. Definitely a place to go on special occasions! Thank you to my parents for treating me and Curtis to dinner, especially for letting me order the Lobster to try!!

My birthday was great but this dinner just made it that extra bit special.

Thankyou for reading.

Follow me on blog lovin' here ! :-)

Nicole 

xoxoxox

My 20th Birthday!

Hellooooo

It was my birthday on the 7th of February, as I mentioned in my previous post. Just thought I would update any reader's on what I got up to. 

I was supposed to go out on Friday the 6th for a night having drinks in bars as a pre birthday celebration with my friends, but the plans ended up not happening unfortunately.. But it's okay, I had a huge headache due to spending the whole day moving out of my house so me and Curtis just ordered a Dominos feast, had a lovely chilled out evening!

[Birthday Card from Curtis]

So for my actual birthday, me and Curt got up nice and early, got ready, then went to Toby Carvery for an all you can eat breakfast (soooo yummy). We drove separately as he said he needed to 'get something' after breakfast. I got back to his and waited for him. The sweetie only went and came back with a giant Millie's Cookie for me!! (Photos are below) .. YES it does taste as amazing as it looks!

[Sparkler candle!!!]

[Giant cookie]

That wasn't all he'd gotten me, he also got me a watch I've wanted since before Christmas. A Lilac Fossil Georgia Watch! I've fallen inlove with it, I haven't stopped looking at it since. It came with two little bracelets to match. I'm not usually one for gifts, if someone asks what I'd like there's a 99% chance they won't get an answer from me unless the gift is £10 or less. I suppose I just feel guilty when I have presents bought for me. Of course that makes me a lot more appreciative of the gifts i do get! Suppose you could say I'm doing the typical "lucky girl" post... 

Photo below of my favourite new accessory ever!!

[Fossil Lilac Georgia Watch]

I also had some workout leggings, they're plain black with WORK OUT written on the side in white. We then went out to Bath for the day for a spot of shopping, I didn't buy anything, just window shopped. I wore a H&M dress that Curt also picked out and bought for me a week or so before my birthday. 

[Birthday outfit. Dress - H&M. Shoes - Matalan]

After Bath we came home and I ended up lying on the bed for a few hours as I wasn't feeling well. Once I felt a little better we got ready to go out for my birthday meal with my Parents. We went to San Carlos in Bristol. Very very posh place, I felt a little out of place if I'm honest as I'm not what I'd call 'posh'. It was sooo delicious though. I'll be doing a post about the meal tomorrow.

[Me & Curtis at San Carlos]

[Me, Curtis & My Parents]

So I guess you could say this Birthday I was completely spoilt. I feel bad for having these gifts bought for me, but I'll just need to make sure I spoil back with gifts on upcoming Birthdays!

Thankyou to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. Especially a big thankyou to my amazing boyfriend for going that extra mile to make my birthday special. And to my parent's for one of the best meals I've ever had!

Hope I haven't came across as bragging, I'm not, just simply writing a post about my birthday.

Thanks for reading!

Follow me on blog lovin' here :-)

Nicole.

xoxoxox