A HUGE ESSENTIAL CLEANING PRODUCT HAUL

I actually filmed the accompanying YouTube video to this an age ago, but recently remembered I took a load of blog photos to go alongside it - so here we are. You can actually tell that these photos were taken before we were plunged into the depths of winter based on how much brighter my living room looks! 

A cleaning haul isn’t something I’ve ever done on my channel or blog before, but I’ve been loooong into my cleaning ever since [like so many of you!] becoming obsessed with Mrs. Hinch in 2017ish. There’s just something about plonking down onto your disinfected sofa after scrubbing your home to within an inch of its life on a Saturday that hits different now. Maybe it’s a sign of my mid-twenties age? It’s honestly become one of the biggest joys in my life.

VEGAN LUNCH + DINNER IDEAS #2

 

With Veganuary drawing to a close [and my god, how quickly has it gone??] I really cannot believe this is only #2 of this series. Considering all the delicious things we’ve had for dinner and how well we’ve stuck to it, I’m surprised I’ve not been churning these out every couple of days. But, to be honest, I really think that because we’ve just relaxed into it so well, it’s become a non-thing around the house. We haven’t really noticed we’re doing Veganuary and it’s just a normal, natural thing for us. That’s especially in the last couple of weeks of the month.

VEGAN CREAMY BACON + BROCCOLI PASTA RECIPE | OATLY, THIS™, VITALITE

This was definitely an ambitious one. Let’s be honest, nothing says ‘Veganuary’ like a cheesy bacon pasta, does it? But I really couldn’t see myself going a month without a comforting, melty and gooey bowl of savoury, creamy pasta. This was an entirely experimental recipe. I was really interested to see how far I could push the limits of dairy and meat alternatives. I wanted to see how close to a classic ‘normal’ dish I could get without using any animal products. Normally, I’ll make a creamy pasta dish for dinner once a fortnight or so, and I really wouldn’t want to go without it long-term. I do not think that a recipe like this would have been possible a few years ago, but with the incredible progress in vegan alternatives to things like double cream and bacon, it’s exciting to see what we can replicate. I actually ended up shooketh and impressed with the results of my playing about in the kitchen!

ASOS DESIGN ADA CHUNKY CHELSEA BOOTS | REVIEW

I did my best to avoid the Boxing Day and New Year’s sales…I really did. I’ve actually had a really good, productive month with decluttering and organising my wardrobe. The minimal, neutral fashion movement I’m seeing all over Instagram has really grabbed me. Plus, who doesn’t want a streamlined, easy-to-match wardrobe where everything goes with everything? Finally, it seems, I’ve discovered a style that really resonates with me. I’ve done away with all my needlessly floral, patterned or otherwise gaudy garms to make way for bold, statement, simple pieces like the one I am writing about today. I’ve always been a lover of a chunky boot, and it’s been a good six months since I added to my collection. I accidentally tripped and fell onto the ASOS website during their New Year’s sale and came across these boots…

VEGAN LUNCH + DINNER IDEAS #1

 

When I decided I was going to do Veganuary, I spent a lot of time trawling through various recipe websites and wrote up the meal-plan for the month before January even started! However, what I noticed was that a LOT of the recipes were things I wasn’t familiar with…things I wouldn’t normally fancy making…things that looked incredibly involved and fussy! So with that in mind, I decided to keep a sort-of food diary so I could share what I personally ate for lunch and dinner during my attempt at Veganuary. These are recipes or meal ideas that I’d tend to want to eat any time of the year, including when I’m eating meat and dairy products throughout the rest of the year.

I’m a big foodie, and I couldn’t even whittle myself down to a favourite cuisine. I love cooking pastas, stews, Mexican food, curries, soups…all sorts! This blog post will be the first in a series of a few to come, so here’s a sample of some of my more successful meals since we started the month. I so so thoroughly appreciate you all tolerating such a lot of Veganuary content; I really find that keeping a record of what I’m doing, taking pictures and blogging about it keeps me on the straight and narrow! So, without any further rambling, [because I’m beginning to feel like one of those bloggers who writes their entire life story before giving you the f****** recipe you’re on their page in the first place for] here are some Vegan lunch and dinner ideas:

HAIR CARE FAVOURITES

Here’s an old-school-blogging blog post if I ever saw one! Remember when we used to just actually review products we’d been using? One of my New Year’s resolutions was to get back into blogging - but I don’t half miss the way blogging used to be. So I decided to write a ‘Hair Care Favourites’ blog post and share the products I fell in love with over the course of last year. I’ve had many ups and downs with this hair of mine [many of which have been chronicled over on my YouTube channel] and I finally feel like I’m in a good place with its look, feel, length, thickness etc etc etc. I’d consider myself to be a little bit of an expert considering all the trials and tribulations me and my tresses have been through together. So these are all the best bits to grace my scalp over the hellscape that was 2021, and they will definitely be coming into 2022 with me.

LIFE UPDATE: BEGINNING MY CAREER

She’s only bloody gone and done it. She’s only bloody gone and accepted an offer for an incredibly promising job in the legal sector! I am writing this and I’m absolutely on cloud nine, and it’s only going to be a short and sweet one from me today. I’m incredibly pleased and proud to share that I have secured myself a position for a leading law firm in Bristol. I’ve had a couple of interviews since really knuckling down and giving my job-hunt a proper go, but none of the applications I’ve sent off have felt as exciting as this one. 

VEGAN FOOD HAUL FOR BEGINNERS | VEGANUARY 2022

 

Does the word ‘Veganuary’ strike fear into your soul? Or does it make you feel inspired? For me, I think it’s a bit of both. The inspiration comes from the notion that I’ll be getting incredibly creative in the kitchen; breaking away from the routine spag bols, chicken curries and bacon sandwiches. Not to mention the expectation that such a post-Christmas detox would do wonders for my skin, my liver, my energy levels. I have visions of myself getting up at the crack of dawn, going for a jog and doing yoga before bed [absolutely NONE of which are ever going to happen, but that’s just the imagery that doing Veganuary conjures up for me]. The ‘fear’ portion of such a commitment undoubtedly comes from breaking away from my beloved spag bols, chicken curries and bacon sandwiches, and the absolute daylight robbery I’m expected to courteously smile and thank the cashier for at the supermarket for the next 4 weeks. 

In any event, I’m known to be on the obsessive side. Once I’ve got an idea into my head, I’m getting it done and committing to it 100%. Come hell or high water, [or drained bank account and the runs] I will be completing Veganuary 2022. I’ve only done Veganuary once before, and it was definitely before all the hype surrounding veganism took off, and certainly long before all the big brands jumped on the meat-free hype and started releasing their own options. So with that in mind, I do think that if you’re thinking of trying it, then it’s much easier to get involved now than it has ever been before. 

I’d definitely categorise myself and Kyle as home-cooks; we are both definite foodies and make most meals from scratch. However, I’d definitely say we’re beginners in the vegan-department as literally 99.9% of meals we have at home contain some form of animal product. It’s currently day 3 of Veganuary 2022 and we managed to drop around £70 on a vegan food shop yesterday. If I didn’t write a blog post I’d probably feel quite sick at the thought of that spend, so as long as I can squeeze a bit of content out of it, it’ll definitely take the edge off. Here’s what we got!