Life Update #2

Hey everyone!

Hope you are all well, just thought I would do a little post to let you know what I've been up to lately. Firstly I have recently started a new job at Starbucks, I used to work there but I decided to come back when I saw that there was a new store opening close to me. I'm currently doing my training and it's so weird to be a new-old person if that makes any sense? I remembered quite a bit but of course there's plenty to catch up on and things that have completely changed that I didn't know about, but I'll get there! I'm so excited to meet the new team I will be working with but it will be a few weeks until that happens. I will keep you updated about how it goes when I start at my store.

The second thing I have been focusing on is trying to get sorted for Christmas. There is so much to do and I know if I don't make an effort to get on with it then it will creep up on me and everything will be done in a panic, which is not what I want as this will be the first Christmas I stay home and spend  with Jack. We have decided on a black Christmas tree with silver decorations, I have even got silver wrapping paper and tags to match the theme. I like that it's something a little different, I have never been into traditional style. So far present-wise I have two for Jack, my mum's and my nan's so I still have a few to get before I've finished! Plus I don't know if I am seeing my family in person to give them their presents after Christmas or if they want them posted, that part is all a bit up in the air at the moment. It should be good though, I have an image in my mind of our perfect day together, opening presents, having a lovely dinner and watching a film with a nice cozy blanket. Let's hope it goes to plan! I will be looking to Pinterest for my decor and foodie ideas, but more on that later.

Another thing I have been seriously considering for a while now is becoming vegan, after watching many videos about it on YouTube from people such as Freelee the Banana Girl and Kalel it made me realise how disgusting the dairy industry really is. The way they use and abuse those animals is heart-breaking and we basically choose to ignore it because the reality of it all is so unpleasant and people don't want to recognize they are supporting this. I admit I am one of those people right now, I still eat cheese, chocolate and yogurt. I no longer drink cow's milk and am trying to gradually stop eating one product at a time. I understand they are hard to give up, I really do. However there are alternatives for eeeeeverything so I am going to get those instead and see how it goes. Not preaching at you guys, I just feel people should be aware of what happens to the animals before they make their choice of whether to eat them/their products or not, a little bit of education never hurt anyone.

Anyway I think that's all for today I'm going to make some dinner and enjoy the rest of my evening, I hope you do the same. See you in the next post!

Love from Lily xxxx

HEALTHY SNACK REVIEW: PERKIER QUINOA BAR

Hey everyone!

Today I'm going to do a review on this healthy snack bar by a company called Perkier, I chose the Cacao and Cashew flavour as you can see. I am always on the hunt for things I can just throw in my handbag to eat on the go, but most of them are bad for me so when I was looking in the gluten free section in ASDA I found this. I have tried healthy bars before but had never come across one with quinoa in it so I thought why not give it a go? Also I have heard very good things about cacao (all the vegan bloggers and youtubers are always raving about it) it's meant to taste like chocolate but without all the nasty stuff!

"Our cacao is cold pressed, so unlike cocoa, cacao retains its vitamins, minerals & antioxidants" -perkier.co.uk

And if I'm honest it does! I really enjoyed this bar, I was worried it might taste grainy because of the quinoa but it didn't at all and the nutty chocolate flavour was delicious! If you're not already curious this bar is wheat, gluten and dairy free, vegan, plant based and rich in vitamin E antioxidants - so it's even good for your skin as well!

Here's the nutritional info (per bar):

Energy (KCal): 144

Total Fat (g): 6.2

– of which saturates: 1

Carbohydrate (g): 16.9

– of which sugars (g): 13.5

Total Fibre (g):1.8

Protein (g): 5

Salt (g): 0.1

Vit E (mg) 1.8

– % ref intake 15%

Phosphorus (mg) 102

– % ref intake 15%

I really liked this and will be purchasing it again in the future, here's where you can get it from:

ASDA = 75p each (also comes in goji and cranberry flavour)

Sainsburys = 75p (currently stocks chia, cashew and pumpkin seed flavour and goji and cranberry)

It's worth mentioning the other big supermarkets, whole foods, ocado and amazon also stock products from this brand but not the one mentioned in this post. 

Hope you enjoyed reading this, I thought it would be nice to do something a little different. Let me know if you would like to see more posts like this in the comments below and follow me on google+ if you like!

Love from Lily xxxx