Healthy Fruit Smoothie

Trying to get as much fruit and vegetables into your diet as possible can be difficult, and eating the same two pieces of fruit a day can get kinda boring. The easiest way i have found is to drink the stuff!! This year I bought myself my beloved juicer, you can put all sorts into this baby including spinach, beetroot, and celery (things I normally dislike) pop in a few oranges and apples and I promise you only ever taste the good stuff!

Another way of introducing more variety is smoothie making, who doesn't love smoothies! All you need is a cheap blender and your good to go. Here is a how to for a delicious, super healthy and easy smoothie:

This makes around four smoothies,
1 large handful of spinach leaves
2 handfuls of blueberries
300grms of strawberries
500ml of almond milk (unsweetened)
2 ripe bananas
8 ice cubes

Chop the bananas and take the tops of the strawberries, in the blender pour the almond milk then add the ice, followed by the berries, bananas and then spinach, pulse a few times and then turn the blender on to full power for about a minute. This results in a thick delicious smoothie that tastes divine... and it is packed full of goodness.

Give this a try!

A Simple Balanced Tuna Pasta Bake

Carbohydrates? Check, Protein? Check, Vegetables? Check!

This is such a simple and quick recipe that you don't need to use any bought sauces which can contain a whole load of rubbish. To feed two hungry people I used:

400 grms of Rigatoni pasta (wholewheat would be even better)
2 cans of chopped tomatos
1 can of Tuna
1 red onion, diced
A squirt of tomato puree  
4 medium sized mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, cut into chunks
2 gloves of garlic, finely chopped
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Cheddar cheese (optional)

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees.
Prepare all your vegetables, chop, dice and slice! Heat some oil in a pan and pop in the onions and garlic. Once softened add your chopped carrot. Add the chopped tomato to the pan along with some puree and the sliced mushrooms, after five minutes add the tuna. Boil some slightly salted water in a large pan, once boiling add your pasta and cook until soft or al dente. Season the sauce to taste. Drain the pasta and combine the two in an oven proof dish, sprinkle with grated cheese and pop into the oven for around twenty minutes.

Not only is this a balanced meal it is really cheap and easy too!

Afternoon Tea with Graze Box

After being really impressed with my first graze box I was looking forward to opening my second one when it came on Monday. First things first I like to snack... and even though alot of people assume that to be a bad thing, snacking actually helps to keep your metabolism going in-between meal times. Where people go wrong is they choose bad types of food to snack on.

So.. in order to improve my snacking diet so to speak I signed up to Graze Box, the healthy snack brand that delivers a lovely little box right to your door as often as you like. I have opted for a once every two week box which costs £3.89 per box including delivery. Already I have found it to be a great way of introducing myself to healthier options.

This weeks box was just as good as the last, I received Billionaires shortbread - fudge pieces, blanched almonds, milk chocolate drops and cranberries, Tomato and Basil Pizza - basil crunchini, mini tomato breadsticks and cheese cashews, Tomato Dipinetti -  slow cooked cherry tomato relish with rosemary grissinetti and of course my favourite Banana cake with an afternoon infusion.... sound yummy?

This lovely Graze Box High Tea has a weeny 59 calories in! and for something that has been in the post it tasted like it was straight out of a bakery. I had this as a snack but it would also make a nice pudding. I really cannot wait for my next box!

If you think you would like to try your own Graze Box then here is a code for a free box: RZHR5DFD.
Check out www.graze.com/uk

The Bathroom Cupboard

I thought I would give you a sneak peak into my bathroom cupboard to see what products I keep handy for my daily skincare routine. My skincare products are always on rotation but at this point in time this is pretty much what I have been using. I have already reviewed a few of these products like the Botanics Rosewater Toner and the L'Oreal Micellar Solution and you can find those reviews here on my blog.

Today I am going to talk about a few skincare saviors that I can't live without, to start with it's the Simply Essentials Make-up Remover by Garnier If I have been wearing my L'Oreal Telescopic waterproof mascara then nothing can make it budge like this, with other removers I have to rub and scrub to get it off but with this one I just apply a small dap to a cotton pad and press down onto my eyelashes and its gone!! The consistency of this product is abit like oil (you have to shake it to blend the liquid) I prefer to use this just for eye make-up so I stick to a cleanser to remove foundation etc, I either like to use The Body Shop Aloe Vera Calming Facial Cleanser or the Botanics All Bright Gentle Cleanser, both have a lotion consistency and work in the same way. Apply with a cotton pad and wash away along with your make-up, if I had to pick one I would go with Botanics just because I love the smell.

Also one of my favourites is the This Works Perfect Look Skin Miracle, this does everything, it hydrates, moisturises and covers slight imperfections as it has a slight tint to it, I wear this alone as a tinted moisturiser or as a primer under foundation if I need a little more coverage.

I'm thinking of doing a make-up inspired post about looks I am currently loving or my daily make-up routine... let me know what you think!

Love Danielle