bexxgo.

Saturday, 17 September 2016

Autumn Haul

After one day of slightly miserable weather I thought I must replace my entire wardrobe with wool and muted tones. After some actual consideration I thought it probably not a good idea as I am *trying* to streamline my wardrobe. I bought a couple of bits from Zara, Topshop and ASOS for the start of Autumn. I know it is quite early to be buying things for Autumn but I like to buy boots and jackets early on otherwise I find they sell out quickly. I am really happy with the things I've bought and think they will help me to transition my existing wardrobe into the colder season.

ankle boots - Topshop - £49.00
bag - Zara - £29.99
bobble hat - Zara - £9.99
camel coat - Zara - £89.99
knee high boots - ASOS - £45.00
dress - Zara - £29.99

Hope you enjoyed -

Bex xx

Monday, 11 July 2016

Work Lunch Idea's

Lunches at work are always a nightmare. I don't want to spend money on food when I can buy shoes and nail varnish. Work is especially bad as I, and I'm sure many others either have to have cold lunch or use the microwave. I thought I would put together a little post with some go to Tupperware, microwave and semi-waistline friendly lunches.

1. Lentil cous cous bolognese:
This one is a spin on my normal lentil bolognese. I don't eat meat, so when the rest of my family have bolognese it's an easy (and soya free) alternative. I've changed it slightly as I am trying to limit my pasta intake at the moment but if you prefer pasta you can absolutely swap out the cous cous for that.

Ingredients: Green lentils (a can in water is what I use), chopped tomatoes, mushrooms, white onion, peppers, cous cous, vegetable stock and any seasoning - I like chilli flakes and pepper.

Basically chuck the mushrooms, onions, pepper into a pan with a little oil. Add the lentils and chopped tomatoes, season and leave to simmer until it looks bolognese like. Boil some water and add that, the stock and cous cous to a pan. Throw it all in your lunch box and any spare bolognese into the freezer for another day and thats Monday sorted.

2. Quorn chicken, mushroom and broccoli stir fry:

I am, next level, obsessed with broccoli, it is definitely in my top 5 foods and as a child I would eat raw broccoli in the supermarket over a packet of crisps. I've never made this before and made it up with some leftovers I had in the fridge, I also have yet to try it, so good luck!

Ingredients: Quorn chicken (chopped fillets or pieces, whichever you have), mushrooms, broccoli, soy sauce and any seasoning or flavour you like (garlic, ginger, chilli, jalepenos would all work)

Put it all in a large pan with a little oil, keep on the heat until it looks cooked.

3. Roasted vegetables and cous cous:

I have phases with roasted vegetables, sometimes I am obsessed and insist we have them with everything and other times I couldn't care less. This 'recipe' is more of a summery option that the two previous ones as it could probably be eaten cold as well as hot.

Ingredients: Any vegetable you have to roast (I used pepper, red onion, mushrooms and courgette), cous cous, oil, seasoning.

Put your vegetables on a tray with a little oil and pepper (salt too if you wish), cook your cous cous as before with the vegetable stock. I added a little too much oil to my roasted veg so just patted them with some kitchen roll before adding to the small line of lunch boxes.

4. Salad:

Salad use to be something I thought I hated. Just the word sounds boring. I now however have salad at least 3 times a week as a lunch or dinner. I'm not that creative with it and prefer not to add any sauce to mines but as it is something I eat so regularly, thought I would include it here.

Ingredients: Cucumber, pepper, spinach, red onion, sweetcorn, quoin chicken

Cut everything into fork size chunks and put in the box, I like to dollop some hummus on as it is a bit healthier than mayo or anything else creamy.

Hope you enjoyed!

What are your favourite lunch recipes for on the go?

Bex xx

Wednesday, 7 October 2015

Singapore

I'd been to Singapore back in 2012 with my family but it was somewhere I wanted to return too and made sense with our route. Singapore is by far the most expensive place we went too but we hadn't spent a great deal of our budget so had a bit of left over money. We stayed in Geylang as it was considerably cheaper than anywhere better. The area isn't the best and not somewhere I'd really like to stay alone or recommend for a family holiday but for the two of us it was ok as we spent so little time there. We had cards for there tube system from 2012 which made travel easier and cheaper to get around.

We did quite a lot including Sentosa, Universal Disney, Pulau Ubin, Night Safari and loads of other touristy things. One morning I organised for us to go to Baba House in China Town which was great to see some history of Singapore. I do love Singapore and is probably the only place I could see myself living in SE Asia.

Evening at Marina Bay

Pulau Ubin

Universal Studios

Waiting for the fireworks

Evening Lights

Marina Bay Sans Hotel

Pulau Ubin

Biking Around Ubin

China Town

Singapore at Night

Sentosa Beach

Marina Bay Sans

Raffles

Pulau Ubin

Fireworks at Universal

Clarke Quay

Thank you for reading! This is the last of my travel posts for now. I have nothing else booked at the moment and will be focusing on work. I really want to keep up to date with my blog so will hopefully be posting more foody, lifestyle, fashion and make up posts.

Bex xx

Indonesia

Indonesia was my favourite country of this trip, I found the people friendly and the places were beautiful. We started in Ubud and rented the most amazing Airbnb, it was a little further out than we were expecting but only about a 30 minute walk from the centre. I really enjoyed Ubud and it was Dan's favourite place we went too. We visited a lot of temples, did a cooking class, went to the rice fields and explored the centre. It was very humid but both of us don't mind a lot of walking so we went to and from our villa a few times a day. We also had a small pool in our villa which was amazing for cooling off after a full day.

We then headed to Gili T for a few days and were upgraded from our hostel room to a double as they were over booked and ended up being dramatically undercharged which was great. Gili T was fun and we spent the majority of the days on the beach and snorkelling. A lot of the coral has been killed by people standing on it as the marine life is so close to shore. We saw turtles and tons of amazing fish which is like a dream for me, I've always wanted to see turtles! Kinda felt like I was in Finding Nemo.

After Gili T we took a terrifying boat trip to Lombok, the boats were kind of like old fishing boats stuffed with about 40 backpackers. I really enjoyed Lombok, we were only there a couple of days so stayed in the popular Kuta (not Bali Kuta!) we'd booked 1 night but couldn't find anywhere online for the next few days so spent the first afternoon. The beach wasn't the greatest there so we rented a bike for a few days and headed to other beaches recommended online. The food in Kuta was also really good! Not very authentic but the Australian burger place was great if you're craving western food.

Our last stop in Indonesia was Seminyak in Bali. We wanted to stay a little bit out of Kuta and I thought it would be quieter. It wasn't as quiet as I thought or the paradise I'd envisaged Bali to be. However it was a lot nicer than Kuta. There are again some lovely places nearer Potato Head beach club and it has a much more sophisticated vibe than Kuta did. It's probably not somewhere I would return too as for a beach holiday as I prefer somewhere a bit more remote but was great to see and sitting on the beach listening to live music was a highlight for me.