Europe Trip 2015: Day 6 | Milan, Italy

 On our 6th Day in Europe we decided to drive away to Milan for the day which resulted in really good weather and perfectly suited gelato ice cream from an Italian restaurant in the city centre. We were all very happy people!

 

At first we had some trouble arriving as nobody seemed to speak English, all the signs were in Italian, parking was a little troublesome and our navigation seemed a little unhelpful but eventually we did get out of the car.

There were many expensive stores and some of the best ice cream parlours obviously! My sister decided she wanted coffee flavoured ice cream but surprisingly it tasted like strongly brewed coffee as it was made at the restaurant directly from coffee beans.

A lovely Italian waiter serving us ice cream...

 

I found it hilarious that she looked so miserable that her ice cream was melting and dripping all over her!

Best ice cream ever!

 

Unfortunately, my parents decided that we were not going to be terribly hungry for a while and that pizza could wait until a little later, so we drove a little out of the main city to see if there was anything else worth visiting locally. However, by the time we parked and tried to find a pizzeria, all the restaurants had closed for the day.

 

Guess where we ended up eating lunch?

 

A Turkish kebab shop selling pizza and kebabs.

 

I might have taken a 3 minute drive from my house in London.

 

Yes, I was very angry, irritated and annoyed for the rest of the day.

 

Have you been to Milan? Where did you eat out?

 

Priyanka xx

Healthy Pear and Fig Snack

 

I had never even tried figs until a few weeks ago when I saw them in Asda and decided I was up for trying something new since they are probably in season at the moment.

 

Here is a simple recipe I tried out which you might enjoy.

 

Ingredients:

 

-1 Medium Soft Pear

-1 Fig

 

- 2 Tablespoons Ground Hazelnuts

- 1 Tablespoon Coco Powder

 

- 2 Teaspoons Coconut Oil / Olive Oil

-1 Table Spoon Honey /Maple Syrup

 

-Desiccated Coconuts (to sprinkle)

 

Instructions:

 

1) Cut the pear flat, sideways, into slices and place on a small plate

2) Cut the figs into quarters and then into eighths and arrange with the pear

3) In small mixing bowl add the ground hazelnuts, coco powder, oil and honey together and mix well to help it stick together slightly (don't worry, this won't stick perfectly together but that's fine as they are meant to be crumbs)

4) Sprinkle the hazelnut 'crumbs' over the pear and figs - you can add more or less of any ingredient to make it work for you

5) Decorate with a some desiccated coconuts and dig in

 

I hope you try this recipe if you have figs in your kitchen and let me know if you liked it.

 

Do you have any healthy fig snacks you have been enjoying? I would love to know!

 

Priyanka xx

Tips to Help Reduce Your Cold Symptoms

It's that time of the year again, autumn leaves falling, darker mornings, shorter days, thicker jumpers and of course, colds.

Everyone seems to be coughing, sneezing and complaining that they have a cold and I am someone who has been constantly shivering unless I wear 2 vests, a thermal top, a regular top and a thick jumper outside but have found some of these things useful in helping reduce my cold/flu-like symptoms.

 

1. Drink Hot Herbal Tea

I found that sipping on hot cups of ginger and lemon tea (Twinning's Settling Ginger and Revitalising Lemon & Ginger are two of my favourites) really helps my throat feel less sore and dry; it also helps making me feel a little more warm and cosy which is always really comforting.

 

2. Stay Hydrated

I know this may be one point you rather skip out off the list, but when you're ill having plenty of water for your body to take care of itself is definitely the wiser option. During the day, drinking water should help increase your energy levels too.

 

3. Take Multi Vitamins

 

Vitamins, vitamins, vitamins. Don't forget your vitamins. I regularly take multivitamins all year round and swap between Floradix Liquid Iron and Vitamin Formula and Metatone Tonic as well as Vitamin D and Iron tablets (since my GP has recommended this to me).  Especially when I feel like any sympotoms of a cold is arising or simply feel fatigue, I will take Vitamin C tablets to help my immune system keep up with everything that's going on.

 

4. Get Enough Sleep

 Tired all the time? Go to bed a little earlier because you owe yourself that much. After all, its probably not your fault you were infected by the coughing bus passenger next to you, right? A little more snooze ain't gonna hurt no body.

 

5. Eat Oranges

Now orange juice doesn't classify as fresh oranges, there is something very different about the two things I would have thought. Eating oranges and other citus fruits, berries and fresh vegetables also helps your body repair itself quicker and more easily due to the higher amounts of antioxidants your body receives.

 

6. Strepsils, Tissues and Paracetamol

My mother never let me leave the house without all of these things. Always keeping paracetamol handy means that you should be able to battle the day to the end like a hero...

 

Hopefully this has reminded you that nourishing your body with all that it deserves will help you feel energized much more faster than if you binged on junk foods and walked around the roads with a light shirt on!

 

Priyanka xx

 

Two Old Friends Eating Their Way Through Westfield

How cheeky is she?

 

I really wish I could answer that, but I still don't know even after nearly 10 years of knowing her....

A cod burger and sweet potato chips for lunch.

 'Girl, down the goddamn burger already'

 

That's what she was saying to me across the table whilst I continuously took photos of her and my food. Yes, indeed I am one of 'those' people who spend more time taking lovely photos rather than actually eating the food.

 

Well, then I'll be the one with the nicer photo of the food to reminisce upon in low moments in my life right?

 

 Even after all these years of knowing each other, we are both eager to see one another once in a while, even though we haven't been going to the same school since being in primary school.

 

(We were the girls who were perfectly behaved unless found together spending our time doing use less things, of course...)

 

So it seemed that we made our way to Westfield Stratford in the summer and I decided to treat myself to some/lots of unhealthy food.

 

Cos, that's the way I do it honey.

 

So here is a review of the food I consumed that day:

 

Chip and Fish

 

I can't ever make up my mind but eventually I went for the chunky cod burger with sweet potato fries. The burger was pretty oily but crispy and worked well with the crisp bread. I really was craving a burger and this satisfied my carb filled desires.

 

I would have liked the sweet  potato fries to be more thinly cut and crispy rather than just chunky chips. I do sometimes make sweet potato fries at home where I oven cook them and put in some spice which really livens the sweet taste up (maybe I will put up a recipe later for you...)

 

Overall, a good burger but not the best chips. I had to dip the fries into a lot of ketchup and mayonnaise to really get much flavour.

 

Shake Shack

 

Oh, it was beautiful.

 

I looked online before going to Westfield  and found that the Concrete Custard they serve is really good. I'm glad to say, yes; it fulfilled my love for peanut butter, chocolate, banana and ice cream all at once and I can't think of any improvements. I found the chunks of chocolate and slices of banana was really something I haven't seen food places serve before (even though I love doing this at home!)

 

I really would have liked to try their burgers because the cheesiness of them seems worth indulging in.

 

Have you been to these places before? Is there anything in particular you like off the Shake Shack menu? If there is, let me know because I will head over there once I get the chance!

Priyanka xx 

Europe Trip 2015: Day 5 | Interlaken and Jungfrau, Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland

Interlaken is probably the most beautiful, vibrant, turquoise lakes I have ever seen. As we drove past the lake and stopped to take photos all I could really think was how beautiful the area truly was. I remember feeling greatly in awe from what I saw in front of me and through the entire drive I kept thinking how immensely fortunate I am to visit just breath taking places  with such a wonderful family.

 

I hope these photos have illustrated visually how beautiful the day was...

 

Do you like long drives around beautiful views? I know I do.

 

Priyanka xx

 

La Roche-Posay Effaclar

During the summer months, my skin had decided to switch things up a little...and turn into a mini disaster (as least in my life).

Around my forehead, my pores had become enlarged so that blackheads and spots were forming there very easily and all the time. I tried keeping my face clean, began exfoliating with blackhead eliminating scrubs, steaming my face and trying out natural masks all to find that really I was doing things that made my skin worse or didn't help my skin's situation.

I learnt that blackheads are caused by the pores of your skin becoming clogged and dried up (by over exfoliating) so they begin produce excess oils - these appear black on the skin. Then I realised that I should probably stop using the scrubs everyday.....

I've read a lot of reviews about the La Roche-Posay's range and a local pharmacists who I spoke to recommended some products to me to try out myself. I obviously thought it was worth a try even though they are more expensive compared to products I've used before.

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo[+] :

 

After using this on my face for a good few weeks there was definitely some serious changes. Firstly, the area on my forehead looked less oily and the blemishes seemed to be improving in appearance because the product has been keeping the oils away.

 

However, when a product is recommended for blemish prone oily skin, I would now think twice about using it on my face. This is because by using the cream alone on my face as a moisturiser it left my entire face in dry patches, which overtime started to look red and damaged. This is as the acne/ blackhead prone skin was only on my forehead and therefore my whole face did not need to be treated in the same way.

 

If your whole face is prone to acne and is oily I would definitely think that this would help your situation by controlling the oils but if not then you should only use this cream on the area which needs targeting, if possible , as I've been doing for several months now and it has been doing a great job at refining the skin. 

 

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Purifying Cleansing Gel:

 

I did begin to think this cleanser joint with the cream were the products causing my skin to become overly dry but after switching from the Effaclar Duo to my usual face cream (but using the Effaclar Duo on my target area only) I have been using the cleansing gel as I would as any basic cleanser.

 

Unless, with use this with other products I don't necessarily think that it does anything special than clean the skin but it does claim to remove excess amounts of sebum.

 

La Roche-Posay Effaclar Clarifying Lotion:

 

I apply this toner like product over my t-zone after I finish cleansing. After forgetting to use this for just under a week I began to see that my apparently improved pore sizes were getting larger. I'm taking a wild guess here, but I really do think this toner has really helped with closing up my pores so that dirt is unable to get inside and develop spots!

 

Overall, I have seen a great difference to my skin, even after a little trouble with dryness.  Well, at least I  have learnt that my skin type is definitely not oily!

 

If you have tried the Effaclar range out please let me know if it worked on your skin. Have you tried any other products that have helped with blackheads?

 

Priyanka xx