The Stable Cardiff

Morning all!

We were super lucky last week and were invbited to try out the new menu at The Stable. If you haven't tried this place yet you absolutely have to!

We've been a few times before and sampled the pizzas which we thoroughly enjoyed, but this time they have a new menu with many extras I hadn't noticed before...including.....Nutella pizza. Actual Nutella on a pizza! Who wouldn't want to try that out?!

But let's talk savoury first.

Life

Hello!

Today's post is a mismatch of photos I've taken over the last few weeks of places I've been and things I've eaten. I've got a lot better at not taking pictures of everything I eat when out but sometimes, it's just got to be done!

First up I'd like to congratulate myself and announce that I have finally paid off all of my debts. This includes my credit card (ENDLESS!) and also the money I borrowed from my parents to pay for my car and then all of the subsequent things that went wrong with it plus the insurance and tax that I couldn't afford from having still not paid the original money back - phew.

This means I can finally get on with my life and start savings for real! This is exciting and I can't wait to have some savings to fall back on in future and save for things like holidays and moving out.

I cannot wait to move out but I'm not going now until I've got enough to buy my own place - no point wasting money renting for a few months. I love going to vintage fairs now and my mum mentioned Cardiff Indoor Flea Market so we HAD to go and check it out. It's basically in a warehouse but it's a permanent fixture and they had loads of pretty much everything!

I loved that even though it was full of so much stuff they still had some coloured flags and bicycles hanging from the ceiling! It's a very cold place as it's not insulated at all but it's quite happy and busy too.

The furniture in there was amazing, so many old wooden pieces that I would love to get and do up myself. I know where I'll be going when I get my own place!

At home I've had to do some DIY - the inside of my fixed wardrobes were pretty much outside wall and have been letting in damp. They've been there for 33 years and we've lived in this house for 16 but of course my dad decided it had to be done NOW.

It took FOREVER to empty out the clothes and make up residing inside but if I'm honest, the real issue was the books. I'm such a hoarder of books that its a bit ridiculous but the number one thing I want in my house is a bookshelf so I'm saving them up! Here's the disaster I came home to one day after work....

What a nightmare! After a few days it was dry and I had to move everything back again, decorating is hard work but you don't even get to see this work which is even more annoying....

I've been trying to start reading again. I failed miserably with my plan to read more last year so this year I've set myself the target of reading a book per month - this way its doable and I can hopefully make a dent in some of the books I have.

This was a murder mystery that my neighbour leant me and my mum and one Friday things had been so exhausting throughout the week that I sat there with my tub of Nutella (with my name on obviously) and proceeded to eat 1/4 of the jar....whoops!

Normally a spoon of it does the trick for me and it curbs my cravings any further but that week was particularly draining and I went a bit crazy! Made me feel so much better though so I'm convinced it's what the doctor would have ordered....

Another change I've made in my room is finally getting a picture up. I've wanted a globe of the world for absolutely ages but can never seem to find one in sepia tones that I can afford....I found this print and frame in ikea for less than £20 and I knew I just had to get it. It's a map from 1881 so it's not correct at all but that's what I love about it even more. I stare at it all the time now, making a mental wishlist of where I'm going to go :)

I've finally signed up for Women's Health again after my subscription ran out mid year. I managed to get a good new year deal so was really pleased, I'd fully recommend it for anyone who's the slightest bit into health. It's got lots of fitness in it but also beauty, clothing and interviews with people like Britney, and who doesn't want a flat stomach like hers??

I recently realised that my hair has grown loads - look at the length on this! My hairdresser dyed it at Christmas for me but didn't have time to cut it so I drove to her house after work, she put the dye on and I drove home and washed it off myself half hour later! I looked a right mess in the car haha.

By the time I got it cut this time I really felt like the ends were a bit heavy so I also had a few layers put in so that it's not all one big block of hair - even straightened it looks a bit straggly which isn't a good look!

Lastly I've been looking into creating my own palette like the one above. I have a few of those colours but if you have any suggestions for me then please send them my way.
I've recently bought Brule and liked it but it wasn't the white highlighter I was looking for, the more I look into the colours the more I find I need!

You can never have too many nude coloured eye shadows can you??

What have you been eating and drinking this month? Did you manage to make it through Dry January without a drink or complete a month of a clean eating diet?

I think aside from my slip up with Nutella I've not done too badly....

L xxx

Recipe: Easy Oreo Cake Pops

Hey all

Hope you've not got the Monday blues! I thought I'd share an easy recipe, I've been struggling to resist cake lately. One of my work colleagues gave me it but I'm not sure where it is from originally.

It's an easy one, all you need is 

• Two packs of oreos
• Nutella
• White Chocolate (I used one pack of white cooking chocolate, think it's about 200g)
• Lollipop sticks (ebay is great for these)

These are really easy to make and taste amazing! Firstly you need to separate the oreo's and remove the cream bit and put them in a food processor (I don't have one so my blender did the job). Apologies for some of the photos, my camera wouldn't focus due to the silver and my hands were dirty!

Whizz them up till they are a smooth crumb. I found I need to keep scraping the sides and freeing the mixture up, as when it got smoother it got stuck a bit.

Once it's too a fine breadcrumb mixture add the nutella. I find it works best to add it a teaspoon at a time and stir well after each addition. Too much nutella made the soft. You want the mixture to just bind.

When the mixture is bound, roll into balls. I placed mine onto a tin foil tray to save them sticking. This part gets you very messy!! Lots of hand washing is needed as your hands will get very sticky.

When you've made it into balls pop in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up. While they are in the freezer melt the chocolate. 

Pull out of the freezer and dip the lolly sticks into the chocolate, then press into the balls. The chocolate will work as glue for the sticks. Again freeze for 10 minutes so the chocolate sets.

Pull out of the freezer and dip each of the cake pops in chocolate. As it's white chocolate and dark mixture, I double dipped the cake pops so they looked white. It also makes a firmer shell. 

They can be decorated in a variety of ways. For my niece I made them into cookie monsters by colouring dessicated coconut and adding the features with icing. With these while the second coat of chocolate is still wet sprinkle with coconut. I also used fondant icing cut into shapes for a grown up version.

They are sooo tasty and super easy to whip up! Will you be trying these?

Love M

xxx