Sunday Mornings #25

Well hello there pals! My apologies that my posts have been a little thin on the ground this week :| It's been a busy old one, lots of life admin going on and of course some seriously fun shenanigans. I hope your week's have been grand? Let me fill you in on mine...

:: A lovely afternoon date in the city with my love. We had a few beers and ate an amazing late lunch which consisted of baked Camembert and the best chorizo burger I've had in a long while! I also managed to bag a free venti Maple Macchiato from Starbucks for the train journey home. This is how every Sunday should be!

:: Takeaway pizza. Sometimes you just need pizza. No excuses needed, right?

:: Jamie Oliver's sausage fusilli from his 15 Minute Meals cookbook. It cooks in no time (well...15 minutes actually!) and tastes amazing!

:: Discovering Friday Night Lights is now on Netflix. I may have to watch all five seasons all over again!

:: Finding a few little bargains in the Primark home section. I'm now the proud owner of a new duvet set (you know I bought the new geometric one!), a pineapple candle and two other little mini candles.

:: A breakfast date with my lovely buddy Shivonne. We had breakfast in TriBeCa in the West End (best french toast ever!) and spent the rest of the morning and afternoon shopping with a little juice break thrown in for good measure. Shivonne is my jam! 

:: Heading up to St Andrews this weekend for some R&R with my buddy Machelle. In fact, as you read this, I'll be en route! We haven't seen each other in months, so there will be lots of catch ups and even more wine! :)

:: Spending about an hour in Lush being tempted by all their delish products. I may have even gotten a hand massage or two...

:: Realising that our cacti have made it through the winter in one piece! I'm so surprised that we didn't manage to kill them!

:: Thinking about my sugar intake. I've just bought one of the "I Quit Sugar" books and can't wait to try out some of the recipes. 

:: Hitting my food and exercise goals every single day this week. *High fives*

So my lovelies, it's your turn to fill me in on what's made your week a brilliant one! :)

Squash, Kale + Feta Salad

Now I know it's probably still a little on the chilly side for salad season, but there's one particular salad recipe that I like to make all year round. My squash, kale and feta salad is the perfect dish for a light lunch or we like to eat it along side some homemade pasta or pizza in the evening. The lovely people at Florette Salad were kind enough to send me some vouchers to try out some of their products including baby kale and after leafing through lots of kale recipes, I decided to use my own favourite recipe. This recipe is super super easy and the beauty of it is that you can add any ingredients you like, especially if you're a fan of eating seasonally. 

Ingredients ::

1 medium butternut squash (or any other squash of your liking)

1/2 pack of feta cheese

A few handfuls of mixed salad leaves

Kale/ baby kale

Cucumber

Cherry tomatoes

Red onion

Salt, pepper, olive oil + balsamic vinegar

- Chop the squash up into small cubes/slices and place in a baking tray. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle olive oil. Bake for about 30 minutes or until soft and crispy at about 190 degrees. 

- Whilst your squash is baking, chop up your cucumber, red onion, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese. 

- Place your mixed salad leaves and kale in a bowl/plate and add your chopped salad vegetables. Once your squash has cooled, add this along with a sprinkling of feta. 

- Mix some olive oil and balsamic vinegar together to make a dressing and drizzle this over your salad.

If you're anything like me, you'll artfully arrange it and then take an Instagram photo before demolishing it in 5 seconds flat! Enjoy! :) 

**This post was created in collaboration with Florette Salad who sent me some vouchers and some Florette swag in exchange for a review. As always, all opinions are truthful and entirely my own!**

Sunday Mornings #24

This week I've made a conscious effort to get out of bed early and get stuff done. Housework chores, holiday prep and general life admin have been ticked off my to-do list and it feels great! Hasn't this week flown by? Or maybe because I've kept myself so busy, it's just whizzed right by me! Here's a little catch up of what made my week a lovely one...

:: Getting to the beach twice this week. It's only a 15 minute walk away, so I don't know why I don't go more often, but when I do it seriously makes my soul happy. We've been lucky enough to have amazing weather on the west coast this week, so there's been blue skies galore...it's like a little sneak peak of what summer holds! 

:: Being able to open the kitchen door wide and let all the sunshine and fresh air in our little bungalow. I love cooking with the door open and the radio blasting (sorry neighbours!) and this week I've been doing it every damn day. I've even managed to hang washing out in the garden!

:: I've been playing around with Steller Stories this week and I'm loving it! It's kinda like a cross between blogging and Instagram. I'm 'weezyduffy' if you want to follow along!

:: Brookies. My friend Shivonne has been baking brookies all week and snapchatting me (I'm 'weezyduffy' on Snapchat if you want to add me!) the photos, so eventually I broke and made some of my own again! The mixture makes SO many, so I gave some to my neighbour before O and I scoffed the whole lot!

:: Coming home on Saturday morning after a long walk on the beach with O to find that my April issue of the Simple Things had been delivered! I love magazine subscriptions, especially when I can sit out in the garden reading it!

:: Yoga with Adriene. I can't remember if I mentioned this in a previous post, but I absolutely love her! I've been following her 30 Days of Yoga this month and I'm becoming a little addicted to it! I'm no yogi, but I swear the backs of feet are almost touching the mat now during downward facing dog...!

:: Papa Johns. Yup, a PJ has finally opened up in our town and they keep sending us "large pizzas for £6" vouchers through the door! How are we supposed to not buy one?!

:: Today O and I are heading into Glasgow for a free dinner! Our lovely friend MC had a Living Social voucher that was about to expire and she couldn't use, so she kindly gave it to us! We're heading in early for a little shopping and a few drinks before hand. Can't wait for a little date night!

How has your week been? I hope it's been a lovely one! :)

Nakd Bars!

You may have noticed that I've been on a bit of a health and fitness kick lately. I've been following 5:2, doing a spot of yoga and even getting up early and going for a run in the mornings! I know, I know...who am I?! We've been trying out some new healthier recipes in the evenings too and trying to replace our usual naughty snacks with something slightly cleaner. So when the lovely people over at Natural Balance Foods asked if I wanted to try and review their Nakd bars, I was more than happy to oblige! 

Oscar has been a massive fan of Nakd bars for months now, but I was completely new to them. I love the fact that they are jam-packed with tasty natural ingredients and that there's no hidden nasties lurking around. They're also cold-pressed, so they keep all of their lovely goodness. I've been trying to cut down in my dairy intake lately (I think it's making my tummy poorly - TMI?), so the fact that they are dairy, gluten and wheat free is an extra bonus and they're also one of my five a day! I also discovered that some of the ingredients they use are seriously iron rich foods and we all know that iron is a must for us active girls! 

My favourite is definitely the Bakewell Tart bar. I'm a huge bakewell fan and this really does taste like the real thing, minus all the nasties. Oscar loves the Rhubarb & Custard bar, he says it tastes just like those retro sweets he used to eat when he was a kid! 

We will definitely be adding these to our weekly shopping list now and much to Oscar's dismay, I'll be pilfering his secret stash now! :)

Have you tried Nakd bars? Which is your favourite?

**This post was created in collaboration with Natural Balance Foods who sent me a box of Nakd bars to review. As always, all opinions are truthful and entirely my own!**

What we ate last week...

Monday :: Hairy Dieters' chicken cordon bleu

Tuesday :: Hairy Dieters' spanish-style chicken bake

Wednesday :: Hairy Dieters' chilli bowls

Thursday :: Hairy Dieters' lamb kebabs

Friday :: Steak, Deliciously Ella cinnamon sweet potato wedges and patlican

Saturday :: Hairy Dieters' chicken bhuna

What did you eat this week? Can you tell we bought some Hairy Bikers recipe books?! 

Printable Art #2 with eFrame!

Do you remember this post where I declared my obsession with printable art? Well that addiction is still going strong! My only issue is that I'm so indecisive! I've put up at least four feature walls in the last few months and then taken them all down again because I'm not happy with the layout! Luckily the lovely people at eFrame were on hand to help. I'd been looking for some larger A4 sized frames for our sitting room fireplace and eFrame let me choose a few to help spruce up this space. 

The eFrame website is AMAZING! There are so many options to choose from. Not only can you upload the photo/print you want to frame and they will print it and frame it for you, but you can also design your own custom made frame! Now being the indecisive soul that I am, this option was perfect for me, but as we've yet to decide on our colour scheme for the sitting room, I opted for some ready made frames this time. I wanted a bold black frame for our fireplace and this one here is perfect! Of course, being obsessed with everything bronze and copper at the moment, I had to have this beautiful brushed bronze frame. I couldn't fault their service and the frames are so easy to to handle and hang (they come with the accessories for this). I've changed the prints in them twice already and may have just placed an Etsy order for some more...don't judge me! 

**This post was created in collaboration with eFrame. All opinions are my own and I would wholeheartedly use and recommend this service again and again.**

A few photos from our weekend + thoughts on getting outside.

For the first time in a really long time, we had no plans for this weekend just gone. We had nowhere to be, no one to see and nothing to do. If you know O and I, you'll know that we're not great at sitting around and doing nothing...O especially. I can wile away the hours reading a book or watching Netflix, but Oscar always needs to be doing something. So in true W&P style we decided to get outside. 

Now if you live on the west coast of Scotland, you'll know that Saturday was pretty miserable, weather-wise. But we didn't let this stop us! We drove up to a little village right on the banks of Loch Lomond called Luss (points if you know which Scottish TV show was filmed here!). Of course, as soon as we parked the car, the torrential rain began to fall, so we headed to one of my favourite little coffee shops. The Coach House serves the best coffee (banoffee coffee, anyone?) and soup around. They had five soups of the day, for goodness sake! O had said banoffee coffee and I had the Ben Lomond cappuccino. The thick lentil soup and crusty bread was just what we needed to warm us through and prepare us for going outside again. I love the tartan crockery (which you can buy in the little shop) and the waiters even wear kilts. What more can you ask for?! 

We then headed to the opposite side of the loch to meet Mr Tom Weir. Just in case you don't know, Tom Weir was an amazing climber, writer and broadcaster who also presented Weir's Way back in the day. A statue was erected of him last year right on the edge of the loch, beside Conic Hill and we'd been meaning to visit it for months now. 

On Sunday morning we got up early (what's wrong with us?) and went to Lochwinnoch for a little hike. We donned our proper walking boots and packed a little picnic lunch. Of course, the weather had other plans and again it poured from the heavens...needless to say, our lunch was eaten in the car. We met a lovely farmer who pointed us in the direction of some ancient church ruins and we had a little chat with his cows along the way. 

This weekend I also started practising some yoga. If you're a yoga fan, you'll probably have heard of the lovely Adriene of the "Yoga with Adriene" YouTube channel and blog. At the beginning of the year she released the 30 Days of Yoga program and I've been following that this week. Don't be fooled, it starts off gentle but this morning my abs (abs? What abs?!) were screaming at me! This week's been a particularly stressful one for me, so the yoga has definitely helped with keeping calm and mindful. Oh, on that mindful note, I've also been using my Mindfulness Colouring Book to take my mind of things. Yes, I am a child and I love colouring! Just don't look too closely...I'm not so good at keeping inside the lines!

How was your weekend? O and I are huge advocates of getting outside, exploring and blowing the cobwebs away. Even if I've had the worst day and I'm not feeling it, I always come home feeling ten times better. We're trying to increase our fitness levels too, so any excuse to get out into the countryside and walk our asses off has been wholeheartedly accepted this weekend...despite the dreadful weather!

Sunday Mornings #23

Has your week been a good 'un? Mine has been pretty much food and housework oriented and it's gone by in a flash! The weather up here has been pretty bleak. Lots of wind, rain and hail. Pretty standard for the beginning of Spring in Scotland, really! Ok, enough weather chat, let's have a catch up, shall we?

:: Getting some exercise in! I bought a Jawbone Up24 this week and it's making me much more aware of how much I move...or not as the case may be! This week I've been out running, walking, hitting up some Zumba and a little yoga!

:: Having a girly night with one of my bestests. We had Japanese takeaway, chocolate and in-between all the chatty banter, we watched What If. Best film I've watched in a long while...soul food!

:: Heading up to Loch Lomond for a little lunch date with my Mr. It was the worst weather, but we got all snug inside the loveliest little cafe, ate the thickest lentil soup with crusty bread and then topped it all off with a massive coffee!

:: Wasting afternoons sat on the sofa with a blanket reading issues of The Simple Things and Oh Comely. Procrastination at it's finest!

:: Propercorn! I know I'm a little late to this party, but oh! So damn tasty! So far the salty and sweet variety is my fave!

:: The best porridge I've made ever. Scottish oats, topped with sliced banana, maple syrup and a little dollop of peanut butter. Breakfast of champions!

:: Getting some free money from Nikon! Thanks Nikon, you bought us some camera lens cases, some filters and a spare battery! :)

:: Going for long walks in the woods. So needed this week.

How has your week been? Which little moments have brightened your days? :)

Culzean Castle + Country Park

 

Ok, I know what you're thinking...photo overload, right? I did try to split this post into two, but it just didn't flow. So I'm afraid you'll have to be bombarded with almost thirty photos...you're ok with that, huh? Phew! 

Can I just say that Culzean Castle and Country Park is right up there with my most favourite places? Bold statement, I know! The castle wasn't even open (closed til April) and I was blown away by how spectacular this place was. It's been featured in lots of films too (The Queen and Wicker Man to name a few).  We're already planning our next visit in April so we can storm that castle and cover the rest of the grounds/park that we missed. I would love to get married here...can you imagine the photos?!

I can't make up my miind what my favourite part of the day was. The walled gardens are draw-droppingly beautiful. The deer park is amazing, how often can you get this close to these beauties? The cliff top castle looking out over the sea...did I mention that we have all of this on our doorstep? It's only a 30 minute drive from our front door. Scotland, you are a beauty!

Have you been to visit Culzean Castle? If not, it's a must if you're in the area (and even if you're not) and definitely one for the travel list!