Christmas cooking the fun way

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are easy to make, bake, baking powder, baking trays, caster sugar, cheese, cheese stars, cherry tomatoes, Christmas tree cookies, Christmas tree cuter, cling film, cook, cookies, cream, cucumber, decorate, dough, drinks, eat, eggs, escaping, family and friends, festive fun, fridge, friends, goodness, grated cheese, herbs, homemade biscuits and snacks, icing sugar, jolly, look good, love, messy, mild cheddar, milk, mix, mozzarella, mug, parchment, pens, plain flour, pre-made puff pastry, pretty boxes, recipes, salt, school party, scrubbing, sift, silver balls, silver foil platter, star cutter, stars, super healthy, table salt, tissue paper, tree, tree trunk, unsalted butter, vanilla extract, veggie, winning treats, wrap, yellow pepper

This year, why not impress family and friends with homemade biscuits and snacks, and as well as saving yourself some money, you can have festive fun too? We have several tried and tested recipes we love, and hope you will too!

Christmas tree cookies
These cute cookies look good, taste great, are easy to make and even the youngest members of the family can get involved and help you to decorate them!

For these winning treats, you will need:

470g of plain flour
1 level teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of table salt
225g of unsalted butter
300g of caster sugar
Two medium eggs
Two teaspoons of vanilla extract
A Christmas tree cuter
Colouring icing sugar pens
Silver balls

Sift together the baking powder, flour and salt. Cream together the butter and sugar until you have a light and fluffy mix, then beat in the eggs (one at a time) and finally stir in the vanilla. At this point you can then slowly add the flour mix, and when you have a ball of dough, wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge for around an hour.

When you get the dough from the fridge, pre-heat your oven to 200 C / gas mark 6 /180C fan and line two baking trays with parchment paper – this means the cookies will slide off once cool and you won’t have any nasty pan scrubbing to do.

Roll out the dough on a floured surface and cut out your cookies.

Bake for about eight minutes or until the edges are just turning light brown, and transfer from the baking trays to cooling racks.

Decorate with the icing pens when the cookies are completely cool and put on the little silver balls for an added touch, then either eat them (fast) or put them in pretty boxes with tissue paper and give them out as presents!

Cheese Stars

For the school party, or drinks with friends, these easy to make cheese stars are winners.

You will need:

A pack of pre-made puff pastry
One mug of grated cheese – a mild cheddar / mozzarella mix works well
Flour for dusting
2 table spoons of whole milk
A star cutter

It is best to make these on the day of eating, so when you are ready, preheat the oven to 200C / 180C fan / gas mark 6 and line two baking sheets with parchment paper, or grease them with a little butter.

Next roll out the sheet of pastry and put your grated cheese on half of it, fold it over and then on a floured surface, gently roll to around double the size. At this point just make sure no cheese is escaping from the sides as this can get messy in the oven! Next, cut out star shapes from the folded sheet and place on the baking sheets, brush with milk and cook for around ten minutes. You can add some herbs or salt to the tops of the stars if you like! They will last for a couple of days in a tin, but we don’t think they will be around that long!

Veggie Tree

For something super healthy for the party table, you can’t go wrong with savoury festive tree made with goodness and love.

For this you will need:

Lots of cherry tomatoes – cut in half
Green grapes – cut in half
A yellow pepper with a piece of the flesh cut into a star shape
Half a cucumber
Salsa
A large silver foil platter

Chop a 5cm piece of cucumber and place it at the bottom of the foil platter to make the tree trunk. Then you need to make a row of tomatoes and grapes to make the first part of the tree, and then add more layers, each one shorter than the last so you end up with a cute Christmas tree shape. At the top you can add your yellow pepper star, then serve with the salsa and the rest of the cucumber cut into sticks! This looks fun and jolly and also help to keep up your five a day!

Got a recipe you love, let us know about!

Team Pure Beauty

Eat well on a budget

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bananas, batch make, beans, big shop, BOGOF, braising steak, breakfast, cans, cereals, chickpeas, creamy sauces, crips, curries, eat sensibly, fibre, fish, fizzy drinks, freeze, freezer, Frozen fruit and vegetables, great tasting meal, green tea, healthy, hearty vegetables, highly nutritious diet, home, important, lentils, low-fat, lunch and dinner, meat, microwave meals, need, non perishable items, nutrients, nuts, pasta sauces, plan, recipes, salt rich dressings, save money, seal, shin, shopping bill, shopping online, shoulder, slow-cooker, smoothies, social media, stock, sugar tax, sweetcorn, takeaways, tinned tomatoes, vitamins, waistline, waste, Water with lemon and cucumber, work, yogurts

We all know how important it is to eat well and have a highly nutritious diet, but doing that a budget doesn’t always seem possible.

We have had a look at how you can eat well and save pounds on your waistline and shopping bill.

Have a plan
Boring, maybe. Effective, definitely. Having a weekly meal plan means no last-minute microwave meals or takeaways because there is nothing in the cupboard. You can cover breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day of the week and will find that in no time at all you will no longer reach for the crisps when you come home from a hard day at work because you don’t know what to eat.

Buy what you need
Doing a ‘big shop’ might not be helping your quest to be healthy or to save money. Buy what you need for the next few days, then that is what you have to eat meaning you will have less waste. You might also find shopping online, using the cheaper and free delivery slots, helps you stop going buying the BOGOF offers you don ‘t need instead stock up on cans and other non perishable items that can be cheaper when bought in bulk.

Shop late in the day
You will be amazed at the fresh produce that is reduced at the end of the day to ensure it sells. Bananas, fish, meat, yogurt and bread are all up for grabs at a knock down price so be savvy and save money.

Freezer happy
Freeze any unused food, batch make curries and pasta sauces and if you aren’t going to eat something before (see above) the ‘best before’ – freeze it.

Buy frozen
Speaking of frozen food, you will find you waste less if you go for these options in the supermarket. Frozen fruit and vegetables are just as good for you than the fresh varieties as they are picked at the peak of freshness and frozen to seal in their nutrients. You will find many frozen fruit and vegetables come pre-chopped, ready to use and in handy portion sizes which not only help you eat sensibly but also save waste.

Don’t be a brand snob
Yes, the big brands have a good reputation but things like tinned tomatoes and sweetcorn, cereals and nuts will taste just as good whether they are the supermarket’s own option or the shiny famous choice. Go on, give it a go.

Be pulse happy
Beans, lentils and chickpeas are some super cheap but also packed with fibre, vitamins and are low-fat too. Using them to replace mince or chicken in meals like chilli con carne or chicken curry and you instantly have a cheaper, healthier and even tastier option.

Buy meat for less
If you spend longer cooking your meat, you can go for cheaper cuts like braising steak, shin or shoulder. Putting these in a slow cooker with hearty vegetables and stock is a great tasting meal at a good cost and if there are leftovers, have them for lunch the next day.

Cook from scratch
Forget creamy sauces and salt rich dressings and instead prepare your food from scratch. Social media has a wealth of great recipes that are easy to follow and as you tuck in you know exactly what you are eating.

Think about what you drink
With the new sugar tax now launched, there is one more reason to cut out the nutritious poor fizzy drinks from your diet. Water with lemon and cucumber is a great hydrator, smoothies offer a fruity punch and green tea is a sensible coffee swap.

Eating the healthy way doesn’t have to cost the earth but it certainly can help save some money.

Team Pure-Beauty

Great books for a happy 2018

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#1 New York Times bestselling author, activities, Amazon, ‘Lose Weight for Good: Full-flavour cooking for a low-calorie diet’, ‘The Wellbeing Journal’, baked doughnuts with sweet five-spice dust, beautiful pages, block to happiness, books, buy me, drawing prompts, exercise routines, fallen in love, Fat-Loss Plan, Favourites, fit, fitter, four million followers, Gabrielle Bernstein, gorgeous book, grounded, happier, healthier, healthy body, home, inner peace, inspirational quotes, January, Joe Wicks, Judgement Detox: Release the Beliefs That Hold You Back from Living a Better Life, Kate Moss, lean, life coach, Lily Cole, look after yourself, lose weight, low-fat recipes, meditating, mental health charity, Michelin-starred chef, mind, modern day, motivated, Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillips, New Year, personal weight loss journey, recipes, regular hot baths, Self Care for the Real World, self preservation, share, Sienna Miller, six-step programme, social media, start, steak taco with lime salsa, sticky pork chops, sweet potato and black bean burritos, sweet treats, Tom Kerridge, veggie super bowl, warm halloumi salad, work clothes, yoga

It’s the start of a new year so if you go into any bookshop or look online there are a whole host of books promising a healthier, fitter, happier you.

We thought we would share our favourites, so you can buy something you think will work for you.

With an enthusiasm for life and an impressive mop of dark curls, Joe Wicks has yet another book out in 2018. Inside the glossy cover of his ‘Fat-Loss Plan’ are a series of recipes and exercise routines that are designed to help you achieve a fit, lean and healthy body. We love the steak taco with lime salsa, we are pretty partial to his goodness packed veggie super bowl and are impressed that he has included some sweet treats to keep you motivated on those dark January nights. With more than four million followers on social media, we are pretty sure this book will be as much of a success as the others.

With endorsements from Kate Moss, Sienna Miller and Lily Cole, it is little wonder that ‘Self Care for the Real World’ is flying off book shelves around the world. Sisters, Nadia Narain and Katia Narain Phillips, use this book to get to the heart of how to look after yourself if you often putting others first. From changing out of your work clothes when you get home, to having regular hot baths and meditating, this fantastic book shows you that even when the waves of life are high, you can keep grounded and well. We think this self-preservation read has ‘buy me’ written all over it.

For something a bit different, we love the Judgement Detox: Release the Beliefs That Hold You Back from Living a Better Life. By Gabrielle Bernstein, a life coach and #1 New York Times bestselling author, this book explores the notion of being judged as well as judging others, something that is part of modern-day and a block to happiness for many. Bernstein uses a six-step programme that includes yoga, meditation and other healing teachings to allow readers to let go of judgement and find inner peace.

Even if you don’t want to lose weight, Michelin-starred chef, Tom Kerridge has a new book out full of low-fat recipes that are beyond tasty. His experiences in the kitchen have been blended with a personal weight loss journey and the results on the pages of ‘Lose Weight for Good: Full-flavour cooking for a low-calorie diet’ are amazing. The warm halloumi salad, sweet potato and black bean burritos and sticky pork chops are good but for us the winner has to be the baked doughnuts with sweet five-spice dust. Genius!

Journaling isn’t anything new, but we have fallen in love with the ‘The Wellbeing Journal’ that’s been created in partnership with the mental health charity, Mind. The beautiful pages of this gorgeous book include activities, drawing prompts, inspirational quotes together with space for writing and reflecting on your thoughts so you can have a more creative, positive life.

Team Pure-Beauty

There’s an app for that

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1Password, 24 hours, access, adore, agility, app, balance, bed, calm, camera, carpets, class, clean, control, cook, easy to use, exercise, flexibility, focus, food discovery app, free, friends, Handpick, hangout, hangover, healthy habits, Houseparty, inspiring, inspiring recipes, jot, journaling, live, love, meditation and mindfulness, mess, mobility, mood, Moodnotes, online banking, own pace, password, physical and mental, question, recipes, relaxation, safe, schedule, screens, secrets, secure, self-aware, shop, Smartphone, snow, socialise, sofa, stickers, strength, tasty meals, teaches, technology, tidy, trending, trending dishes, tube, video app, video messaging app, web, well being, work, work surfaces, world, yoga, Yoga 15

Ever noticed how often you ask someone a question and they tell you ‘there’s an app for that’?

Increasingly people are turning to technology in all parts of their lives and while having some downtime away from screens is a good thing, apps can actually really help with the way you live, work, exercise and socialise.

We’ve had a look at some of our favourite apps that we think you might like too.

If you love journaling, you will adore Moodnotes. This cool app lets you jot down your mood and thoughts in an online journal that is easy to use and look cute. As well as tracking how you are feeling, with this on your phone you can learn healthy habits when it comes to thinking patterns and overtime, you can use it to help feel upbeat, more self-aware and it can be a way of taking control of your well-being.

Ever tried to get into your online banking or order your weekly shop and forgotten your password? Well, there’s an app for that. 1Password is free, easy to use and remembers all your passwords and keeps them safe and secure. All you need to remember is that one password and you’ll never be left scratching your head again.

If you struggle to come up with tasty meals, you need the Handpick app. By putting this ‘food discovery app’ on your phone, you will have access to a tonne of trending dishes and inspiring recipes that have been sourced from around the world, and web, that will change the way you cook forever.

Love yoga but never quite make it to your class, then you need Yoga 15 in your life. As well as a great website, the brilliant app teaches agility, balance, flexibility, focus, mobility, strength and relaxation. The easy to follow videos let you take things at your own pace and each one enhances your physical and mental well-being and means you can check out of your schedule for just a little while.

If you like your carpets to be clean and your work surfaces tidy but still want to hangout with your friends, you need Houseparty in your life and one your phone. This handy app opens in your smartphone’s camera and allows up to seven friends to join you, hang out and party on your own terms but without the mess or hangover.

Want to be down with the kids? Well then you need to download SNOW. This is a creative video messaging app that’s already been snapped up by over 100 million users around the world. You can use this app to send stickers and funny vid’s with live face effects to your friends during calls. You can send notes while chatting and invite friends to a group chat so you can catch up and share your secrets, well for 24 hours at least.

Nothing new about this one but we love the Calm app. Thousands of people around the world are benefitting from meditation and mindfulness thanks to this easy to use app. Listen in bed, on the sofa, even on the tube and learn how to bring your breath into the moment and how to keep a handle on your stressful thoughts.

Got an app you love? Let us know what it is.

Team Pure-Beauty

Which subscription box is for you?

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3, 6 or 12 month options, ‘Awesome as you are’, Baebox, balance and joy, bang on the money, Beautifully illustrated cards and paper, Birchbox, Bloom & Wild, blooms, carefully selected products, Clarins, consumer revolution, cool games, cranberries and pecan nuts and pop-it-yourself popcorn, Favourites, flowers, gift tags, girls, Glossybox, Graze, healthy, home, HoneyTreePost, iconic brands, inspirational quotes, luxury range, Maybelline, monthly subscription, MUA, Nails Inc, natural colour, notecards, one-off box, personalised boxes, pineapple and coconut flakes to pots of almonds, positive messages, post, postage, postcards, recipes, retreat information, rustic flapjacks with honeycomb and chocolate drizzle and mango, smile, stationery, stationery lover, stems, tasty snacks, Toiletries, tote bags, trend, UK subscription box, vending machine, yogi, Yogi and Bare, Yogi and Bare box

The UK subscription box market is booming and as people demand more convenience when it comes to shopping, things can only get bigger.

The subscription box trend was started, like so many things, in the US, when
Birchbox, offered monthly deliveries of make-up and beauty products and started a consumer revolution.

The concept quickly took off and is now a thriving industry around the world.

With so much to choose from, we have done a round-up of our favourites.

Baebox is a fab monthly subscription box aimed at girls aged eight to 15. Each box costs £16.00 and is packed with cute stationery, tote bags, toiletries and cool games. We love these boxes because they also feature postcards that come with inspirational quotes and positive messages that make you feel fab. The Baebox ethos is ‘Awesome as you are’ and with a box just for boys too, this subscription is bang on the money.

If you are fed up of the vending machine to get your afternoon fix, why not try Graze? These guys have been around for a while and send out personalised boxes of healthy, tasty snacks that are brilliant. From rustic flapjacks with honeycomb and chocolate drizzle and mango, pineapple and coconut flakes to pots of almonds, cranberries and pecan nuts and pop-it-yourself popcorn with a touch of salt, there is something for everyone.

If the free spirit in you needs a regular fix, you will love Yogi and Bare. This is either a monthly subscription or a one-off box that is full of carefully selected products that bring balance and joy to your life. From £26.00 (plus postage) your day will be brightened when you open the post and find a selection of skincare products, clothing, jewellery or snacks, as well as retreat information, recipes and so much more.

Flowers through the letterbox sounds wrong, but Bloom & Wild have made it oh so right. The luxury range of blooms and stems plus premium packaging will put a smile on even the most stressed face. With 3, 6 or 12 month options, this is an affordable way to have a pop of natural colour in your home all year round and because the flowers come ‘flat-packed’, you don’t need to be home to sign for them.

If you’re a stationery lover, then HoneyTreePost is going to be the subscription box for you. Each month a collection of inspired stationery is put together and sent straight to your desk. Beautifully illustrated cards and paper, postcards, notecards and gift tags could be amongst the seven items you receive and each one will make you smile.

We couldn’t complete this round-up without mention the amazing Glossybox. From just £10 a month, you will receive a super-stylish box containing five products from iconic brands like MUA, Clarins, Maybelline and Nails Inc together with expert tips and tricks. We think you will love it so much, you will want to buy subscriptions for family and friends too.

Got a box you love? Write in and let us know more!

Team Pure Beauty