MISS HOLLY P
A BIT OF ME . A BIT OF FOOD . A BIT OF WINE
cooking

Willy’s Apple Cider Vinegar

I’ve been using ACV for various different uses on and off for a couple of years now and when I came across Willy’s it just sounded so lovely I needed to try it. I got in touch with them and they sent me out some to try, a bottle of their original ACV and a case of their new energy drinks too! Apple cider vinegar has a huge list of uses from cooking, to skin care, using it as a weight loss aid to being an active ingredient in a plethora of home remedies. For your ACV to have all of its benefits is must be raw, unapsteuripsed and with ‘the mother’, the mother is the fermented bits of apple that you will see in your bottle which may look bitty and add to that cloudiness of your ACV. Theres an interesting article on the site for The Academy of Culinary Nutrition about the many different and amazing uses for ACV, check that out here

I use ACV to mainly promote digestion and weight loss and the way that I take it is by using a generous splash diluted in some water and I drink it first thing in the morning before I go about my day. The key difference between Willy’s and other brands of ACV that I have tried is that it tastes more of cider with a real apple taste than it does of vinegar with that real sharpness of other ACVs. It is extremely palatable and no nasty gag faces over here!

Willy’s apples are grown in 300 year old orchards on their own farm and they see through production from start to finish and see that every bottle is live with ‘the mother’ and all her goodness!

I have recently been using this one on a cotton pad as a toner too as my skin has been dreadful and I have found it’s really good for drying out spots and clearing them up a little faster, however obviously your face will smell of vinegar.

I did a previous post on ACV as a new user a couple of years ago which tells you all about my first thoughts and experiences, you can check out here

To sum it up I’m extremely impressed with this ACV, I actually can’t quite believe the difference in flavour to all the others I have tried in the past. They have also launched a brand new energy drink so watch out for a review of that coming soon!

If you fancy trying some of Willy’s products, here’s a link to their shop so you can buy! 

Thanks so much for reading!

Hx

cooking

Tea + New Flavours

Tea + drinks have had a rebrand and introduced some brand new flavours which are replacing the old ones! So T+ has become Tea+ and with a brand new super sleek packaging these guys mean business! 

The 4 new combos are-

Vitamin D- Pineapple and Mango 

Cleanse- Apple and Blackcurrant 

Defence- Orange and Blueberry 

Energy- Raspberry and Pomegranate 

They are still green tea based with all the extras included! I absolutely love their new look website which you can check out here. It is really clear and concise about what is in each tea and then has a little drop down to see why each ingredient is included, how it works and why it’s beneficial. Sometimes I think that we opt for things that we think we know are good for us but we can’t really explain why it’s good for us and this is really important when selling a product- to educate the consumer, so that’s a HUGE win in my books. 

I chose 2 of the 4 flavours to try and when I received them I was feeling that start of the year slump so I went for Energy and Vitamin D! Energy was my favourite combo which was raspberry and pomegranate and in the old style I loved Detox which was apple and blackcurrant and I think has evolved into Cleanse!

These teas are amazing for many reasons, they’re a quick and easy way of getting your intake of specific vitals which you can tailor to yourself, if you’re a tea drinker anyway why not add those vitamins? Also if you’re not really into the taste of green tea these are a great so you can feel the benefits without that taste! 

So who’s going to try the new teas?

Thanks for reading, H x

health

Nims Edible Teas

The lovely people over at Nims Fruit Crisps sent me over a selection of their products as a gift in exchange for a review of their brand new edible fruit teas.

Many of you may have already heard of Nims fruit crisps, they are a 1 ingredient fruit and vegetable crisp and leaders on the market in this category, experimenting with more crisps than just the root vegetable ones you’ll regularly see on the shelves at the supermarket- although they do those too and they’re great! Their fruit crisps are particularly delicious and the crisping process has really enhanced the flavours of the fruit and they’re low calorie as well.

Recently Nims have released a range of 3 flavours of edible fruit tea with a great concept… you infuse your loose fruit and then once the tea is brewed you then take the rehydrated fruit out and eat it. So today I tried the parsnip, beetroot and pineapple tea (the other two flavours are pineapple and kiwi and parsnip and beetroot), my first thoughts were how much easier this whole brewing process would be if I had one of those fancy glass infuser teapots to capture my fruit pieces, I kind of had to awkwardly decant the brewed tea and strain it with a sieve and then transfer over to another cup. It created quite a lot of washing up so to enjoy these I think that the teapot is a must, this does make the product a little restrictive for the masses and could be a good idea for Nims to launch their own teapot or perhaps collaborate with a 3rd party that sells them to link up. If you are keen to try these teas or just like the sound of a super fancy clear teapot I’ve linked the best value one that I could find on eBay and actually coming in at under a fiver its not exactly a huge investment. Check it our here !!

Flavour wise the pineapple and kiwi was my favorite to drink, all of them were quite pleasant to eat, I used them as a porridge topping which worked so well and suited me with the the timing of breakfast and having a cuppa too. I’m not 100% on the flavour of drinking the parsnip and beetroot tea and think that if they launched more flavours in just fruit that it would appeal to more people as a drink.

 

All in all I love the idea, I hate wasting food and throwing away anything unnecessarily so I like how resourceful it is to waste nothing, the flavours could use some extras in the range or development to the current ones to suit different tastes and they either need to link a teapot on their site or develop a solution to maybe encase the fruit in a biodegradable bag that could be opened after infusing so they can be used in a traditional ‘kettle, bag, mug, brew’ method which is really easy for all!

 

Thanks so much for reading my review, if this sounds your cup of tea (no pun intended) head over to the Nims site here and check out what they have to offer!

H x

beauty

Let’s Talk About Health

Health. What does that really even mean? It seems to be very trendy at the moment to be ‘healthy’ which don’t get me wrong I’m so down with! It hopefully will make the world full on clean living young adults who binge on the gym as opposed to my generation’s teen years when it was cool to give your liver a bashing in the local park. However there’s so much more to health that just going to the gym, eating kale and drinking matcha. I saw a post on Instagram from @sophieshealthykitchen saying “Health isn’t just about what you’re eating or doing. It’s also about what you’re thinking, feeling or saying to yourself” and it got me thinking on a topic I feel extremely passionate about.

Health certainly does not have one definition and most definitely is not linear. Right on time with the season’s change I’ve had this lingering cold for weeks, I’m feeling the effects of leaving home in darkness and coming home in darkness- I miss daylight and the sun and I work in retail- as you can imagine I’m entering my most stressful time of year, so, although I gym 3-5 times a week and eat an extremely healthy diet I’m feeling majorly sub par. My skin is playing up in a big way, my recent enthusiasm for running has resulted in a casualty of my big toenail (soz if TMI but seriously this is stressing me out!), I’m too tired all the time to get into the gym as often as I would like so I’m visually feeling sub par too and mentally feeling guilty about that too, its just all a little ‘meh’. So internally and externally I’m feeling around a 5/10. I know its completely each to their own on your personal preference of how you would like to look or take care of yourself but personally having a really good skincare routine to keep my skin looking and feeling healthy counts as part of my health for me. Grooming myself and keeping my roots touched up and nails looking nice etc for me is my self care, it promotes self confidence for me and makes me feel good. On one of my bed ridden sick days I read a big chunk of Pretty Honest by Sali Hughes and her prologue really sums it up well that beauty and make up can really work wonders to how you are feeling and if that’s your health and that’s what makes you feeling good physically and mentally then I don’t think anyone should judge that. My blogger life is all about eating clean, no waste, exercise and all that jazz but my 9-5 life is as a beauty retail manager is multi billion pound industry that despite the negatives that can spawn from things revolving around looks is predominately about feeling good while looking good too. I’ve been doing ALOT of listening to my body recently- its been saying ‘EAT’, ‘SLEEP’, ‘REST’ and although I’m gone majorly off piste with my normal routines it has worked to get me back to where I need to be, as a final push I got my nails and brows done and have upped the ante on my skin care which I didn’t think was possible and as I write this- fresh from a Monday morning spin- for the first day in I can’t remember I feel like myself again- physically and mentally I feel like I’ve got my mojo back.

My point is- health is made up of so many different factors which will differ person to person.

Don’t follow the hype and have negative thoughts and feelings of guilt on yourself for doing/not doing certain things, we are all so different and should not judge one another if someone is doing something that didn’t work for you. If you want to drink spirulina and you like it and it works for you great but don’t feel pressured in to doing things because the internet says you should. If a good pamper is your therapy then go for it! If you’re exhausted and your body says rest don’t gym then listen to it. Trust your own mind and body. Health being such a popular topic is great, it’s so openly talked about and there’s so much information to help people on their journey, however, when it has the attitude of making you feel stupid or like you’re wrong and shaming certain choices is when things can get a bit nasty and be detrimental to your mental health even if it is for example the correct way to do something for your physical health.

Thanks for reading, lets all look out for each other and uplift one another and have a cracking week. Happy Monday folks xxx

health

David Lloyd Clubs Autumn/Winter Menu

So the cold season is upon us and whilst you’re digging out your winter favourite chunky knits and an hats and scarves your local David Lloyd club has been revamping its menu ready for those cold early starts and nights when you just fancy something warm and filling and it’s coming to a club near you at DLicious this Wednesday the 3rd of October.

Alongside the standard menu which has had a more dishes to cater for vegans and veggies there is also a specific gluten free menu too which is really useful for those additional dietary requirements. Don’t worry my fellow meat eaters, the meat isn’t taking back seat, theres even new appearances to the usual chicken and beef like wild boar and venison!

The menu has added the new seasonal dishes to its existing classics and bestsellers so don’t fret if theres something you really loved it could well still be featured (I’m an omelette addict myself and happy to see its still there)

So last night I had the pleasure of attending a tasting of loads of the brand new dishes and am here to share my faves with you guys and to make you really hungry!

My absolute top choice is the sausage and mash which was 2 amazing venison sausages served with sweet potato and carrot mash and a little steamed kale and red wine gravy! Coming in at a modest 396 this healthier twist on a British classic won’t leave you feeling guilty after a workout, I’ll definitely be ordering this very soon on a cold evening!

The other winner for me was the brand new vegan breakfast, this was made up of grilled asparagus spears, grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, wilted spinach with omega seeds and baked beans, a lovely vegan dish to appeal to all the senses with a host of flavours and textures.

I was well and truly spoiled with all the different dishes I got to sample and travelled across breakfast, lunch and dinner, tasting veggie, vegan, fish, meat and gluten free!

We had wild boar tortellini- very meaty and full of flavour, grilled sea bass with new potatoes and spinach- light and fresh, veggie breakfast- featuring new vegetarian sausages, 2 different types of the flatbread one veggie one meaty- lovely thin bread packed with fillings and served with a really lovely little salad, the new beetroot and goats cheese veggies burger- for the vegetarian cheat day and the new Brunch burger- egg, cheese, mushroom, bacon in a brioche bun, so naughty and delicious, this will definitely be a favourite for my fella and I’ll be nicking a bite for sure!

All in all theres some really nice new additions and plenty more than I’ve listed here (the new Goan fish curry is quite high up my list to try too!) and in true fashion for a restaurant at a gym all calories are still listed too so you know exactly what you are eating and how it fits into your diet plan!

So I hear you say…I’m not a member of David Lloyd! Well answer 1- you should consider becoming one, its a wonderful club group and welcoming to everyone, but if you don’t fancy signing up but know a member you can get them to get you a social pass to use the restaurant anytime for free so tap up your mates who are members and have some good healthy grub in a lovely, newly refurbished setting.

Thanks for reading!

H x