seefoodplay.com

Category: Life

Re-launch & re-brand?

“Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien” is an expression in French that roughly translates to best is the enemy of good.

This has summed up my blogging experience, which began March 31^st 2015. From the very beginning, I had a very ambitious plan for this blog and worked tirelessly for months to meet my objectives and to churn out the type of content I had in mind. And I did. I hit all of my targets within the first six months, was averaging 10k visits per month, and my numbers were continuing to climb. Then, life happened – my 9-to-5 day job got a little intense (to say the least) and I found myself working crazy hours, traveling constantly (for work…), and being too exhausted to think about anything like a “hobby.” My life was work, work and more work.

Then, some other life stuff happened. And then some more, because…well… life. Slowly but surely, my thriving little nook of the internet looked more like a run-down shack on the side of the road, with old content, no engagement, and in need of some serious revival.

So here we are, nearing the end of 2020 and I can’t stop thinking of that quote – striving towards perfection is the enemy of the good, but it’s also a killer of creativity. I became frustrated that my blog is mostly recipes, because a true come-back as a food blog is impossible; I just don’t have the time (or the desire) to just blog about food. I have a baby now (refer back to the previous paragraph about life stuff happening), I’m still in London (for now), and I am less focused on recipe creation and entertaining, and more focused on other motherhood and lifestyle things. But how does this all fit in? Do I need a re-brand? Should I just start over? Does seefoodplay as a name even still make sense?

All of these questions have been swirling around in my head for the past year, and the lack of clarity on how to proceed has been nothing short of paralyzing.

So, here we are on yet another re-launch, but here’s to hoping that third time’s a charm. I recently came across a quote that I feel like applies to how I’m looking at my Blog Adventure now: the master has failed more times than the amateur has even tried.

So, I’m going to stop beating myself up about wanting to change directions of this blog, and for neglecting it while I got myself together.

I’m in a different (better?) place now, and it makes perfect sense that my blog should be, too.

I knowwwww blogs are supposed to have a narrowed-down niche, but… I have tried that, and it doesn’t work for me. I like a lot of things, I do a lot of stuff, and I have a bunch of hobbies. That’s what I want my blog to be about.

One major decision I’ve made is to keep the name of the blog as it was when I launched: seefoodplay. I still think it’s a clever play on words (that I didn’t come up with), and it still represents what this blog is about. The see still represents travel and exploring, there will still be new recipes, and the play represents pretty much everything else – all the fun stuff like DIY and whatnot that I get up to.

So, if I haven’t lost you yet – thanks for reading. Wish me luck on my new blogging journey. On my side, I promise to go easier on myself to focus on why I wanted to blog in the first place: to have a creative outlet and to document all the stuff I do and all the food I eat.

I’ve got lots of stuff to write about at the moment, so go ahead and follow me on my social media accounts so that you don’t miss a new post (or new youtube video – that’s right – I finally started that channel I’ve been talking about for the past 6 years).

xo

November 22, 2020
8 productivity tips to get your life together
Today’s post will hopefully give you some tips which you can easily incorporate into your life to help you to become more productive, and generally just get yourself together to be more organized! Whether you’re a new parent like me and struggled to find ways to “get it all done”, or if you’re just looking for some tips to make your life easier and to be more productive, this is for you.

Check out the video on my YouTube channel!

I will explain in this video how you can be productive, work full time, look after a baby, eat healthy meals, and do some semblance of self-care… yes, it is possible! Keep reading to see how I make it work for us.

These 8 tips will hopefully help you to be more productive, and as a result lead a more organized (and happy!) life:
1. Meal planning: As often as I possibly can, I try to map out our weekly meals so that we have at minimum a rough idea of what we will be eating for breakfast, lunch, dinner (and snacks) every day of the week. I organize our meals using Pinterest, an excel spreadsheet, and the “Notes” app on my phone, and really the idea is just to make sure that I’m eating healthy and balanced meals as often as possible, and that I’m shopping for groceries with actual meal ideas, instead of just picking up a bunch of random ingredients which will inevitably go to waste. This is a much more economical way to shop for food and it makes it so much easier to eat healthy.
1. Family schedule: I’ve always been a pretty organized person, but since becoming a mom, having a schedule in place has become a make-or-break non-negotiable element to our lives. It is so tempting to just wing it every day, but I quickly realized that this was totally inefficient and always ended up with us not being productive at all. With a family schedule, we know what we need to do each day of the week, and around what time things should be getting done. We use time blocking, but any method works – as long as you have a rough idea of what you need to be doing. This way, you don’t find yourself at the end of the week realizing that you haven’t made time for personal things like going to the gym or self-care, you haven’t really cooked or done laundry, and generally speaking, you just haven’t been productive as you otherwise could have been. Family schedules give you the structure needed to be productive, while making sure that daily and weekly tasks aren’t forgotten.
1. Find balance & divide up tasks: If you’re in a two-parent family, then this tip is crucial to ensuring that things are getting done, but importantly, that the burden of managing the household doesn’t always fall on the same person. Sit down and think about which tasks you like doing, and which ones… not so much. Divide up tasks based on what makes sense for your family, but try to make sure that the division of tasks is as evenly distributed as possible. We are more productive when we are doing things we actually like doing, and when we don’t feel overwhelmed with having to do it *all*.
1. Clean daily: this might sound crazy, but if you’re anything like me, then you love having a clean and tidy home. This really impacts my mental health, and I feel anxious when my house is in a total disarray. It also distracts me from being able to concentrate and as a result, I’m not as productive as I could be. Instead of letting the household chores build up every day, resulting in a huge mess by the weekend, I instead clean up every single day. Nothing over the top, just picking up things laying around, making sure the kitchen is tidy, vacuuming and laundry. A little bit of cleaning every day means you won’t spend hours of cleaning on the weekend!
1. Routines: creating structure around daily tasks are great ways to improve productivity. If you’ve implemented a family schedule, then routines are the logical next step. Routines allow you to be more productive because you will spend less time trying to get organized for things that you do every day (like baby’s bathtime!). If you do the same steps every day for things like mealtimes and bedtimes, then over time they’ll become second nature and things will flow a lot more easily.
1. Prep the next day: this tip is especially useful if you have a very busy day, or if you need to go out. When you have littles to look after, you need to get yourself together *and* a whole other person together, too. A good way to make sure your morning is not chaotic and totally disorganized is to get your things ready for the next day, the day before. Before I started doing this, I cannot tell you how many times I got ready only to spend 20 minutes looking for something that I need to take with me. Now, I get everything ready and organize the day before, which in turn makes my morning departures more efficient and overall I’m more productive because I can focus on other things, instead of racing around the apartment looking for things (and therefore being late to whatever it is I had to do…).
1. Self-care: none of the previous steps will matter, if you’re totally burned out and exhausted. Part of staying productive is also about taking care of yourself! It is so easy to focus on everything else, and we are the easiest thing to neglect at the end of the day. This is so counter-productive because in order to accomplish everything we’ve talked about so far, you need to be happy and healthy, and have the energy to actually do the other tips on this list. So it’s important, if you want to stay productive, to also look after your own well-being. Take a bath (or even a slightly longer shower!), meditate, do a beauty routine, read a book. Do whatever makes *you* feel happy and relaxed and it will pay off in the long-run.
1. Be flexible: at the end of the day, life doesn’t always allow you to stick to your family schedule, or follow your routines exactly as planned. And that’s totally ok. Don’t be afraid to change things up, to deviate from your schedule, to not meal plan if you don’t feel like it, and so on. If you can find time and energy to do all these things, then great – I guarantee that you will be more productive. But these are guidelines to *try* to live by, and not strict rules. Give yourself a bit of grace if you don’t always get everything done, and if you totally throw you weekly schedule out the window. Just try again the next week, and the week after.
I hope these tips were helpful and have given you some motivation to get organized and to improve your productivity! x
September 13, 2020
Owlet Smart Sock Baby Monitor – Review [2020]
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If you’re interested in purchasing the Owlet smart sock monitor but aren’t sure if it’s right for you and importantly, if it’s worth it, then this post is for you! I’ll go through all of the reasons I love it (and also some reasons why I don’t love it so much…), which will hopefully help you to make your decision.

If you’d like to purchase the Owlet, click this link!

Don’t feel like reading? Check out my review over on YouTube!

When I was preparing for our baby’s arrival, I spent hours upon hours researching “newborn must-haves” and reading reviews on pretty much everything, trying to figure out which products I needed and which ones I could probably live without. I had my eye on the Owlet Smart Sock but the hefty price tag of £269 made me wonder if it was really worth it, so I decided not to get it. After all, a breathing and heart rate monitor that you put on your baby every time they sleep is a bit much right… right…?

Well fast-forward to Day 4 of having our brand new baby home and she fell ill and needed to be rushed to the hospital. This sent my anxiety into overdrive and I decided that if I was ever going to have any hope of sleeping again, I needed a bit more peace of mind. So, off to Amazon Prime I went and purchased the Owlet Smart Sock.

Spoiler alert: I love this device and highly recommend it. If you know you’ll be buying it, try to get it during one of their sales which happen throughout the year!

The Owlet Smart Sock is a device that you put on your baby’s right or left foot to monitor their oxygen levels and heart rate. It comes with a base station that you plug into the wall, and which is also used to charge the Owlet sock. You can use the app to monitor your baby’s stats in real-time, and to turn the base station on or off. If the app detects a dip or a spike in your baby’s stats, then the base station will flash and play a sound letting you know something’s up. If you use the app, then you will also get an alert on your phone, and if you have an Apple Watch, then you’ll get an alert on there too! Setup was very easy and only took a few minutes.

Some people love the Owlet, and some really hate it. It works for our family and we love it, but I should point out some of the reasons people don’t like it.

Firstly, the thing can be buggy and give false alerts (I’ll explain my experience with this down below). Some people feel it might make their anxiety worse as a result of false alerts (or even the mere fact of having the device). Secondly, if you’re in any “Safe Sleep” or parenting Facebook groups then you’ll know that the Owlet is often discussed and some feel that parents might be more inclined to practice unsafe sleeping because they’re “relying” on the Owlet Smart Sock to alert them if there’s a problem.

Those things didn’t apply to me, so I felt comfortable using it.

I’ve already said I love the Owlet Smart Sock, but there are definitely some things I don’t love about it.
1. It is not uncommon to get a defective or faulty device: when we first tried to use the sock, it didn’t work. After several frustrating nights of getting no readings or yellow alerts telling us that the sock was not “placed” correctly on the baby’s foot, we gave up. When I contacted the supplier though they sent a new sensor replacement and charging cable, and the Owlet then worked perfectly. Really disappointing given the cost of the product!
2. The app is buggy and sometimes it will disconnect from the base station, and you have to hard-close out of it and re-open it.
3. I suspect the range of the base station to your phone/app is not great. My apartment isn’t huge but when I’m on our balcony, the app cannot connect to the base station so I can’t keep an eye on it.
4. There is a green pulsating light on the base station letting you know whether it’s taking readings or not. This light is so bright it’s excessive… it was lighting up the whole room in a green glow. You can dim the light by pressing on the base station and holding it for a few seconds, and once I discovered that I found the light to be much more bearable.
5. If your baby moves even the tiniest bit, then the Owlet cannot take a reading. This could potentially be a problem if you’ve got a baby that moves a lot or… if you have a Snoo bassinet.
6. The Owlet Smart Sock does not work for us if the Snoo is soothing at any level higher than “baseline” so if you plan to lock you Snoo on Level 1 for example, it’s highly likely that the Owlet Smart Sock won’t work for you.
7. You can’t adjust the ranges that trigger alerts – they are hard coded into the device. We don’t need to change the levels as they are ok for us, but I can imagine a case where a parent might want to be able to manually adjust them.
8. The UK version of the app does not have historical data!! This is a huge disappointment, and my understanding is that this is GDPR-related. The US version of the app lets your review your baby’s stats so you can wake up in the morning and see how well they slept and what their vitals were all night. This would really set the Owlet apart from other monitors if it had the same functionality as the US version. I didn’t know this didn’t work on the UK version until I received it, and was sorely disappointed when I realized that feature was missing!
The Owlet Smart Sock is clearly not perfect and has room for improvement, but… I still absolutely love it and am thankful that it exists; I honestly don’t know how I would sleep without it.

Now onto the good stuff!
1. We have not experienced any false alerts thankfully and I am confident that the readings the Owlet Smart Sock is taking are accurate. It is NOT considered a medical device, but it has given me the same readings as medical-grade devices, so I feel reassured with the readings it gives.
2. The sock is very easy to put on – even on a wriggling baby – and stays on all night. Sometimes our Little kicks it off if she’s in a sleep-fighting mood, but you can just put a regular sock over it to prevent that. I’ve managed to put the sock on while nursing, with my non-dominant hand, and in the dark…! I was worried that it would be a hassle to put the sock on every time we put our baby down to sleep, but it takes around 5 seconds and I don’t even think twice about it now.
3. Monitoring works even if you don’t have the app open. For me, this point was crucial!! I have another breathing and roll-over monitor which I never really trusted to alert me if needed, because it didn’t have an independent base station – it was just bluetooth.
4. There is very little lag with the readings on the app. As soon as the baby moves, this is immediately picked up on the app. This is particularly useful as it tells me when baby is waking up. I can also use the readings to know when she is in a deep sleep or not (for our little girl, a heart rate below 125 usually means she’s sound asleep).
You might be noticing that my list of things that are not-so-great is literally twice as long as the things I love about it, and wondering why I’m still recommending this product.

The answer is simple: it works, and the pros far outweigh the cons. Could it be better? Absolutely. Does it do what it’s supposed to do (when the sensor isn’t defective…)? Absolutely.

If you’re anything like me and love a good baby gadget, or if you just want to have a little extra peace of mind, then I highly recommend checking out the Owlet Smart Sock.
August 2, 2020
My top Netflix UK binge worthy TV show recommendations | 2020
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Do you spend hours looking for something to watch before giving up and going to sleep? Then don’t worry, I got you covered! I’ve scoured Netflix UK for the best binge worthy TV shows available.

Don’t feel like reading? Check out my review video over on YouTube!

If you’re like most folks at the moment, you’re staying home as much as possible (or you should be at least, if you can). While you could use this time to make banana bread, or to work on your sourdough starter, sometimes you might want to just relax in front of the TV to distract yourself from the madness currently going on in the world. So if you’re looking for a few suggestions of truly binge worth shows to watch on Netflix UK at the moment, then you’ve come to the right place.

With a new baby wearing us out during the day, I would be lying if I said we didn’t have dinner (on the couch), with a Netflix show playing, too many nights during the week.

It can be a daunting task to find the *perfect* show to watch and if you’re anything like me, you can easily spend an hour or two looking for something to watch before giving up and not watching anything at all! So I thought I’d go through some of my favorite shows that are currently available on Netflix UK.

The list includes a diverse selection of shows so there should be something for everyone! Have a look and let me know what you think – have you seen these shows, and if so, did you love them as much as I did? Comment down below ❤️
June 21, 2020
New year, new blog!

Reading through my last blog post, all I keep thinking is… what a difference a year makes. This time last year, I was adventuring in the Maldives on a much-needed two week vacay. Now, I’m finishing the holiday period getting ready to head back into work in cold and rainy London.

The new year period is always a time for reflection: on the past year, lessons learned, experiences had and life in general. Last year, I remember a distinct feeling of exhaustion. Just plain tired, from work, from doing too much, and from the feeling of life not going in the direction that I hoped. I was happy to leave 2016 in the dust as I transitioned to 2017, dancing it up on a party boat in the Indian Ocean. This year, though, I’m feeling a bit different. I’m less inclined to write 2017 off as having been a shit year. Yes, lots of shit things happened and it was long, tough, and filled with more unpleasantness than I would have liked. But 2017 showed me something about myself that I already knew, but I didn’t know know. I’m resilient, and can handle whatever life throws at me.

Even in the saddest moments, or the most challenging situations, we can always come out on the other side, and will almost always be stronger for it. I’m less focused now on living a perfect life and more into the idea of living my best life, whatever that happens to be. I’ve always spent a lot of time looking forward to the next big adventure, the next big life milestone, the next big achievement… in 2018, that will be different. As cliché as it sounds, my most sincere resolution is to learn to live in the moment. I wrote about enjoying the moment a few years back, and this year, I plan to do exactly that.

So, you can call it a comeback – seefoodplay is renewed and refreshed, and will hopefully be better than ever! I’ve got lots of new content planned, and will be writing about some of my new favorite recipes, lots of travel ideas and trip reports, and of course a few DIY projects here and there.

Stay tuned 🙂 xx

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January 1, 2018
Life: enjoy the process

It’s already December 2015. As in, one month away from January 2016. Ever have the feeling that a whole year of your life just flew by, in the blink of an eye? That’s definitely what I’m feeling right now. This past year has seen its ups and downs (though, mostly ups) and honestly I don’t know where the time went.

Logging in this morning I realized that it has been months (yes, months) since I’ve added content here. But then I reflected on all the other stuff I’ve been up to, and didn’t feel so bad after understanding that I’ve had to make a few…priority adjustments, and some things just took over. That’s not so say that I don’t loooove seefoodplay.com, but sometimes you need to focus on other things that are more important at a particular moment in your life.

So instead of pretending that I had 25 hours in a day and struggling to fit it all in, or worse yet, doing too much and start focusing on quantity rather than quality, I did what made sense for me: I took a break.

Last summer, I went on a leadership training course geared towards women where I learned all sorts of self-improvement techniques and personal leadership skills. During our break-out sessions, a common remark from other participants was a feeling of being constantly overwhelmed, having trouble finding time to accomplish everything, or the feeling of not being enough. I’m definitely guilty of waking up on Sunday morning, already feeling stressed that I only have 16 hours to get everything done on my to-do list. Sound crazy to you? It should, because it is!

My stress levels were through the roof, and I constantly felt like I wasn’t getting enough done. I wasn’t cooking enough, I wasn’t writing enough, I wasn’t spending enough time with Jonathan, I wasn’t working on creative projects enough. No matter what I did, it was never enough.

So I’ve taken a step back and I’m spending time focusing on what matters most: the process. I’ve struggled with this my whole life, but sometimes you really need to force yourself to just enjoy what you’ve accomplished at any given moment, instead of always working towards some arbitrary (and probably unattainable) golden ring of success.

When I was in high school, I couldn’t wait to go to college. In college, I couldn’t wait to study abroad. Couldn’t wait to get that next promotion. Couldn’t wait to buy an apartment. Couldn’t wait for that next travel experience. Couldn’t wait. couldn’t wait. couldn’t wait.

So I’m already looking forward to 2016 as I am vowing to have a new perspective, a healthier (and less stressful) way of getting through life. I’m never going to slow down (after all, we are who we are) but I’m going to make sure that I always enjoy the process. And sometimes, you just gotta cruise though life not doing too much all…pulled by a pack of overly-energetic Arctic huskies towards a gorgeous Finnish sunset:

And one of the processes that I truly enjoy is working on seefoodplay, so it’s back on my list of priorities and I’m really looking forward to sharing our adventures with you in the next few months. So stay tuned!

Xx

December 1, 2015
Life, love and Happiness

Sometimes life is filled with all sorts of unexpected surprises (sometimes good and sometimes bad) and these past few months have been full of ‘em for me. A few health issues, two surgeries and a full month off of work later, I’m back and finally getting back into the swing of things. Our health is fragile, and life is short, and these past few months have definitely helped me to appreciate that. Jonathan and I have had lots of deep and meaningful’s these past months, and we have decided to turn a few of our dreams into realities. More to come on that in the months to come, so keep an eye out for an update hopefully sooner rather than later!

So even though I haven’t been posting definitely does not mean that I haven’t been thinking up all sorts of recipes. I’m really focusing (even more than before) on whole foods that are completely preservative-free, and meats that are hormone-free and organic. I’ve always been hesitant to jump on the Organic Train, especially since opinions on whether it’s actually necessary are pretty divided, but I’ve been on the Organic diet kick for almost a month now, and I have to say… I feel fantastic. Many of the recipes that I’ll be posting will have been made with totally organic, totally unprocessed ingredients. Of course if I’m out of organic pasta, I don’t stress, I use regular. If I don’t have any organic milk, I use regular milk. The idea for me to is pay total attention to what I eat, even though there will always be exceptions because well…life. Business lunch? No problem, I’ll get the healthy option on the menu. Dinner with friends? Not gonna sweat it: a glass of wine (or two…) and a nice steak, definitely. But most of the time, I’m eating only things that I know without a doubt are good for me.

The thing is, I’ve never been big on processed foods anyway, as I’ve mentioned before: they’re not quite as common in Europe as they are in the U.S. (although sadly, that is changing). It would never occur to me to buy pre-made spaghetti sauce, or use seasoning packets these days, simply because the homemade version is easier, cheaper, and tastes better. But I realize this isn’t the case for everyone, so hopefully some of these recipes will help you make a few of your favorite meals from scratch.

What I have not always been good at, though, is making sure I eat balanced meals. I’m not a big meat eater, but I don’t really compensate enough with other proteins. I’m a self-diagnosed pasta addict, but don’t always get enough veggies, and my water intake was definitely in need of a boost. Meal planning was a step in the right direction, but now I’m consciously making an effort to get in three solid and nutritious meals per day. Starting with breakfast, I’ve been keeping track of what I eat every day, and more importantly, not skipping it altogether! Organic Earl Grey tea and oatmeal have been my staples lately, with mid-morning bananas and apples. Because of my 30-day organic cure that I’m 19 days into, I’ve pretty much been forced to bring my lunch to work every day which means: no more greasy (but oh so delicious) grilled sandwiches or grabbing a soup, while delicious, but not really enough to get me through the afternoon, and perhaps more importantly: no more Starbucks! (okay, I’ve had two, but decaf with soy milk… c’mon! how am I supposed to live without my pumpkin spice lattes..!?).

So, this post is to let you know that I’m back and better than ever ☺️ and I can’t wait to share some of the recipes I’ve been working on, as well as a few trip reports from some of our travel highlights from the past few months. In the meantime, and in the spirit of celebrating life and love, I’d like to share a few photos from me and Jonathan’s 1-year anniversary photo shoot. If there’s anything I’ve come to appreciate since I’ve met Jonathan, it’s the value of having someone always by my side, no matter what. These past twelve months have been filled with lots of changes, decisions, and complications, but also with lots of love, understanding, and adventures. We made it to Year One and I can’t wait to see what the rest of this adventure will bring ❤️

Photography: http://www.ksquared-photography.com

October 19, 2015
My birthday…and chocolate cake
This Saturday was my (31st….) birthday, and it was fabutastic. Yes, new word, that’s just how awesome it was. I had a few annoyances throughout and somehow managed to actually cry at one point, but all in all, it was one of my best birthdays yet! All of the credit goes to my husband, though, and he really hit a home run this year. Thanks to him, I have a few new London travel tips for you to check out — well worth it! Also — keep reading for another amazingly easy cake recipe!

Jonathan planned out my day, from start to finish, and I am still impressed by how perfect everything turned out to be. My Type-A self had a hard time not knowing what we were going to be doing at all times, but I quickly let go and am so glad I did.

When Jonathan said we had to be up and out of the flat by 6.30am I thought he was joking (again, this was Saturday…), but when we were up and out by 6.45 (getting out of the house always takes us ages) I knew he meant business with the “Day of Birthday Surprises” 🙂

Our first stop was for breakfast at E Pellicci, a tiny little hole-in-the-wall cafe serving up full English breakfasts (including a vegetarian option). Their cappuccino’s were everything you might possibly need that early on a Saturday morning, and the food was delish. Okay, Jonathan…. I see you.

Next we popped down to Oxford street to wander around a bit and to do some shopping. London is pretty awesome first thing in the morning, before all the tourists are milling about; there’s something really special about a big city like London with no cars or people around. When we travel, we try to make it a point to get up before the sun comes up to go out and explore: it’s a magical sleepy point in the day when everything is just a little bit more beautiful — I highly recommend giving it a try! So I guess we were tourists in London for the morning 🙂

After our Big Adventure visiting London, we headed back East to get some real shopping in: I needed new shoes (I’m using the term “need” quite loosely, here), so off to the mall to pick those out we went. I ended up getting an amaaaazing pair of Nine West black pumps for 75% off (um, hello? I’ll take that deal any day), so that alone made my day a sucess. But it wasn’t over yet…!

We had just enough time to come home to change and get ready for our night on the town, and this is where things got even more special.

Jonathan must have spent countless hours researching (and apparently my love of Tripadvisor rubbed off on him) until he found the perfect spot for dinner: The Sixtyone. Our food was exquisite, from the beginning to the end! We both love our grub, so I don’t take it lightly to say that this is one of the best meals I have had in a restaurant in a long time. We got fish and lamb, and both were cooked to perfection, and even our cocktails were out-of-this-world amazing. Check out the addresses below!

E Pellicci
Full English breakfast & Italian classics
332 Bethnal Green Rd, London E2 0AG, England
+44 20 7739 487

Westfield Shopping Center (Stratford)
uk.westfield.com/stratfordcity
Montfichet Rd, London E20 1EJ
020 8221 7300

Sixtyone Restaurant
sixtyonerestaurant.co.uk
61 Upper Berkeley St, London W1H 7PP
020 7958 3222

Now onto that cake recipe I promised you. Okay so first of all, I need to confess: I originally wanted to take a bunch of photos during the day to add them to this post, but as usual, I’m terrible at snapping shots so only had one sad little photo of my Birthday Dessert graciously offered to me by the Sixtyone staff:

Then I started thinking — I should post a picture of my own cake that I’ve baked (because I’m so good at baking…). I’ve been playing around a bit with my Easiest Chocolate cake recipe for a while, trying different variations, mostly for when I’m in the mood for something fluffier. You guys… trust me when I tell you: this cakey cake recipe is so easy, so fast, and so perfect for a birthday cake celebration for two…! It came out so good I couldn’t believe that I made it, totally from scratch, in less than 30 minutes all together.

Baking isn’t easy for me, so I need my recipes to be fool-proof (times ten). Given that, I’ve kept the quantities as uniform as possible — nothing is worse than when a recipe calls for 1.5 cups of this, 3/4 cups of that, 2 tbps of another thing, sprinkled with 1.5 tsps of that one ingredient you already forgot you needed…! So, here’s my take on the classic chocolate cake — whether you’re a super-star when it comes to baking, or (like me) need to keep it simple — this recipe will not let you down.

Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1/2 cup cocoa
- 1/2 heaping cup flour
- 1/2 heaping cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
Instructions:
1. Combine the egg, sugar, milk, and oil whisking for about 1 minute
2. Next, whisk in the flour, sugar, baking powder and cocoa powder
3. Whisk for another minute or two until everything is nice and smooth
4. Pour your mixture into a small buttered baking pan (this fills two 5 inch spring form pans, which are what I use)
5. Bake on 190degrees (celsius) for about 20-25 minutes
6. Once cooled, finish it off with your favorite icing, and enjoy your teensy weensy perfect-for-couples birthday cake!
*Note: this cake mix fills two of my pans, but would also work quite well in cupcake tins – I think it would fill about 5 cupcake molds.

**Note: I had two molds, so I made the cutest little two-layer cake ever, but you could just serve this as a single layer cake for one person, too!
July 20, 2015
Red-chili hummus + Bastille Day
You guys…this is the first time in ten years that I’ll actually have to work on the 14th of July (without earning holiday pay, at least…!). This is also my first Bastille Day that I’ll be celebrating since actually being French! Much like the last time I had the 4th of July off work was ten years ago, I now have two countries whose independance day festivities must be celebrated from my office. I survived though, and have a nice little spicy hummus recipe to share with you today! Also, keep reading for a little bonus all the way at the bottom of this post 😉

July 14th is Bastille Day or La Fete Nationale in France, which commemorates the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789. I’m feeling particularly nostalgic for my adoptive country today, and am a bit disappointed to be missing out on the parade, the picnics, BBQs and all-around good cheer. If you’re wondering what French people actually do on the 14th of July, then check out this video from Comme un Francaise: http://www.commeunefrancaise.com/bastille-day/.

I’ve got my adorable French husband by my side here in London, though, so I suppose I have all the French-ness that I need at all times anyway 🙂

So while Jonathan and I would prefer to be picnicing out on the Champs de Mars in Paris, instead we are at home in our lovely little London apartment, enjoying a nice bottle of Médoc that his parents kindly brought us when they were in town last week, waiting for our chicken to roast 🍷🍗

On the menu for tonight is a Harissa-rubbed roast chicken (yum! lol) with potatoes cooked in the drippings, with homemade red-chili hummus and pitta chips as an appetizer. A nice multicultural meal for our multicultural home ❤️🇺🇸🇫🇷

This hummus was so on-point, you guys — I even surprised myself with the stuff! The best part of hummus is the garlic (yummmmm) but since I can’t really eat it in mass quantities like I would do if I could, I was worried that it’d come out bland. Oh, and I didn’t use tahini. It all worked out, though, and this recipe got the Jonathan stamp of approval, too. This one’s a winner you guys — try it for yourself!

Ingredients:
- 1 400g can of chickpeas (drained, save the liquid)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 tablespoon of salt
- Juice from 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil (plus extra to drizzle on top)
- 1 teaspoon of sesame oil
- Sesame seeds & red chili flakes for garnish
Instructions:
1. Place the chickpeas, garlic, lemon juice, sesame oil and salt in a food processor and pulse for about 60 seconds to break down the chickpeas and combine the ingredients. Scrape down the sides a bit, if needed.
2. Turn the food processor back on, and slowly add in the olive oil (through the little spout thingy). If yours doesn’t have a spout that you can pour into while running, just add all the oil in and continue processing.
3. Serve garnished with some red chili flakes, sesame seeds and extra olive oil. Then go crazy with pitta chips, carrot sticks, or whatever else you want! This stuff goes with everything. Enjoy!
Note: I had to let my food processor go for a good 2 minutes before I got a nice and smooth consistency. If yours is too thick, then slowly add in the liquid that you saved when you drained the chickpeas.

As a bonus, maybe because our wedding anniversary is coming up and maybe because I’m missing Paris just a little bit more than usual, here are two of my favorite moments from our engagement photo shoot 💕

Xx
July 14, 2015
Weekly meal planning: update
It’s Sunday evening (8:10pm, to be precise) and for the first time in weeks I feel ready to take on the upcoming week energized and not stressed out feeling that I didn’t accomplish everything that I wanted to over the weekend. I think there are two types of “weekend people” — some people use the weekend to relax, and just recuperate from a tiring work week, and some (crazy) people view the weekend as the only time they can really get stuff done. I definitely am in the latter group, and sometimes drive myself crazy trying to get through a to-do list of about 45 things (for Saturday morning). I’m often left feeling like I have wasted my weekend if I sleep in (seriously, if I’m still asleep at 7am on Saturday morning…panic). Just “taking it easy” ain’t really my thing, and staying as organized as possible is what gets me through it, and meal planning has definitely become my saving grace throughout the week. Nothing like having a rough day at work, then coming home to a hungry husband, a fridge full of random food, and no idea what to cook. I’m lucky that I loooove Jonathan’s cooking, but I also loooove to cook myself. Enter: weekly food shops & meal planning.

I had fallen off the weekly meal prep wagon for the past few weeks, since we had house guests and were eating out so much, but I’m back on track and am even more resolved than I was before to keep up with it. As is always the case when I plan out my weekly meals, my grocery costs are way down and my “intelligent recipe-based shopping” is preventing me from wasting food, too! No more buying random stuff and trying to figure out what to cook as an after-thought.

It took me a little over an hour to plan out this week’s meals, another hour to order the groceries (hello, distracting internet), and then about 30 minutes to wash all the fruits & veggies when the groceries arrived this morning. I’ve kept the recipes pretty simple this week, and will probably add in some salads here and there to keep things fresh.

So, here’s what’s on our menu this week:

Monday
- Breakfast: Apple slices & peanut butter + copycat McMuffins
- Lunch: Carrot sticks w/hummous + BLT Bagel
- Dinner: Roast chicken
- Dessert: Giada’s lemon & ricotta cookies
Tuesday
- Breakfast: Cottage cheese w/berries + sliced swiss cheese
- Lunch: Black bean soup + English muffin grilled cheese
- Dinner: Baked salmon & asparagus
- Dessert: Mousse au chocolat
Wednesday
- Breakfast: Copycat McMuffin & fruit
- Lunch: Greek salad & homemade pita chips
- Dinner: Oven roasted garlic chili shrimp, avocado, cilantro rice
- Dessert: Homemade salted caramel popcorn
Thursday
- Breakfast: Bagel w/turkey & swiss cheese & granny smith apple slices
- Lunch: Homemade chicken & vegetable soup
- Dinner: Turkey meatballs w/marinara sauce & pasta
- Dessert: Cottage cheese w/sliced fruit
Friday
- Breakfast: Avocado toast w/soft-boiled egg & cherry tomatoes
- Lunch: Leftover spaghetti & meatballs
- Dinner: Homemade pizza w/bresaola + portobello mushrooms & garden salad
This week’s grocery bill was a little over £100, but mainly because we had a few pricy items to stock up on..like..ahem…tequila. As usual, I don’t really plan out the weekend’s meals since we often go out to eat, or just eat leftovers. Besides, this Saturday is my birthday 🎉 so maybe Jonathan has something planned for me…that involves him taking me out to a nice restaurant and showering me with gifts? 😉

Anyway, I hope you all had a productive weekend (or a relaxing one, if that’s your thing!) and are also looking forward to this beautiful new week. Enjoy!
July 12, 2015