The Snack Diaries | Part Six

Taylors of Harrogate Rose Lemonade Tea
(From Morrison’s, SALE £3.00 £2.00 for 20 tea bags)
I’m still catching up with some of my series posts, these snacks I tried and tested over the summer months. I received two flavours of the Taylors of Harrogate tea and was delighted with both. The rose lemonade was the perfect summer beverage, and one of my favourite ever fruit teas. I recommend you try it sometime.

Taylors of Harrogate Sour Cherry Fruit Tea
(From Morrison’s, SALE £3.00 £2.00 for 20 tea bags)
The sour cherry fruit tea tasted lovely too, there was a slight difference between this and the rose lemonade, and the cherry flavour was noticeable with a sour edge. Morrison’s often do offers, I picked mine up for my birthday, although the packaging has altered since.

Organix Punk’d Cocoa & Orange Oaty Bars
(From Too Good Farm Shop, £2.39 for 6 bars)
Admittedly the packaging drew me to these snack bars, but actually they were really yummy too, the cocoa and orange taste was lovely, but it didn’t come across too sweet. I can imagine these would be great for kids (or adults). The price seemed okay, but the individual portions felt a bit small.

Cocoa Republic Summer Sunshine White Chocolate
(From Too Good Farm Shop, £2.50 for 100g)
I bought this over the summer for a birthday treat at the farm shop, I shared on an earlier post and it felt like a real indulgence. The packaging is pretty, and the fruit pieces on the front of the chocolate are so decorative. The excellent quality shone through in the chocolate taste, it melted in your mouth, and the fruity pieces were a nice touch. The brand do other designs/flavours.

What are your favourite special tea brands? 

Does pretty packaging draw you in too? :-) Xx

Delicious Café & Deli Tour/Review

Welcome – Today I wanted to share with you a café and deli I’ve visited on numerous occasions on the way to visit a relative. My Dad was doing some research to see where to stop at and he came across Delicious. It’s one of my favourite cafés I’ve been too, they have twinkly fairy lights to create a cosy feel, photography on the walls and a fantastic menu. Every time we go in, I’m spoilt for choice for what to eat.

They do a superb salad, with all kinds of toppings, previously I went for the sliced chicken breast salad which was divine. On other occasions I’ve had cheese on toast, a full breakfast, crumpets with scrambled egg etc. My brother came with us once and was delighted with a burger and chips on a piece of slate. My Mum and Dad have had a variety of meals, but I remember the most the quiche and salad, it was impressive. 

Delicious do everyday meals really well, the presentation is always on point, and everything tastes amazing. The prices are pretty reasonable for the generous portions, the staff are helpful and friendly, and each time we’ve visited the experience has been very pleasant. The café is located in Shevington, Gisburn if you want to visit sometime, I recommend you do.

Where has been your favourite place to eat out lately? 

What do you normally order in cafés? :-) Xx

An Autumn Book Haul: The Works, Charity Shops & More

This particular book haul, is so unlike to what I normally go for, I guess I was in a different mood when buying them. I’m most looking forward to Flawed by Cecelia Ahern, as I believe it might be something enjoyable. Because I got these books second-hand, I felt it was easier to experiment with new genres and authors. I will let you know how I get on once I’ve read them!

Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

This is a dystopian series that I’ve heard a lot of good things about. I picked it up at a fair book stall for 50p. This one might be good to read over Halloween, I love the cover too!

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

I bought this in The Works, after wanting to delve into something with real significant topics. It’s very much outside my comfort zone, but maybe I’ll pick it up sometime.

How To Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran

I bought this just on the opinions from other people who have read it and my friend recommended the author. It was on sale in the British Heart Foundation charity shop, another book outside my comfort zone.

Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer

I vaguely recalled the title when I saw this one, and it mentions it’s won quite a few awards. It was 29p in another charity shop.

Do you have any thoughts on these books? 

What will you be reading this Halloween? :-) Xx

Halloween All-American Cookies with Pumpkin Seeds

Lately I’ve been getting back into baking, I find it to be a fun activity on days at home. My Mum reminded me we had a few ingredients to use up, so I started looking into my recipe books for something appropriate. Soon after browsing in my BBC Good Food Cakes & Bakes book, I came across some all-American chocolate chunk cookies. The ingredients included lots of chocolate (some for melting), crunchy peanut butter, peanuts as well as the typical things such as flour, sugar, and an egg etc. In my mind the recipe was too sugary from all the chocolate so I adapted the recipe a little. I added some chocolate but not as much, a bit of peanut butter, and to substitute some of the extra chocolate, I added pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, chopped brazil nuts and a very small amount of chocolate raisins along with the core ingredients.

They didn’t take long in the oven to cook, the main thing was weighing out the ingredients at the start and the mixing/preparation. They came out well in my mind, they had that earthy, made at home vibe to them and the texture was lovely. I don’t often adapt recipes, but doing so on this occasion gave me a bit of confidence to do it again. I made twelve cookies and we freezed some of the spare ones, having a little bit each day for nearly a week. I think with having the pumpkin seeds in, it’s quite a seasonal recipe, perfect for Halloween maybe. As shown are a few themed photos, they have a Halloween séance style to them, they are a bit quirky, but hope you like them!

Are you going to bake over Halloween? 

What recipes are on your bucket list? :-) Xx

Rowley’s Too Good Farm Shop Tour and Review

I’ve been meaning to write this post for a while now, when visiting my Nan in Wigan, we often stop at the Too Good farm shop just near Wrightington. It’s ever so lovely, they do a wide range of organic food and drink, gifts and a bit of natural beauty products. Every time I go in, it feels like a treat, and I’ve been picking bits and pieces up, mainly for my snack diary posts.

The prices are actually really reasonable, and in comparison to similar shops, cheaper. My favourite part of the shop is the tea, chocolate and snacks area. They stock food and drink brands such as Clipper, Tick Tock, Doisy & Dam, Organix, Rude Health, Nine and some less known. In the beauty section they stock mostly Faith in Nature etc. 

I’ve taken some photos with my compact camera, so the quality isn’t as good as usual but you can get the idea from the images what the shop is like. From the outside there are beautiful flowers and plants on display, and on the inside the shop has a really cosy and welcoming atmosphere. I would recommend you visit or try something similar closer to you!

Does this farm shop look like somewhere you would like to visit? 

What have you been up to lately? :-) Xx

Burt’s Bees White Tea Facial Cleansing Towelettes

Hi, how are you all doing? Following the last blog post, I decided to share with you these Burt’s Bees face wipes. I think these have been my favourite item in the gift set my friend kindly gave me. They are scented beautifully with tea extract and have a generous amount of moisture, leaving the skin satisfied. They feel extremely calming on the skin, perfect if you want to use them just before bed.

They are fairly pricey, on naturisimo.com, you can buy them individually for £6.49 here and there is ten wipes included. I also think it’s very odd a natural brand, on a natural website, and featuring a leaping bunny logo, are selling in China with their beauty product laws. I consider this to be a bit false-advertising. I enjoyed using these wipes very much, but it’s just a shame for cruelty-free bloggers.

Are you a cruelty-free blogger? 

I would love to hear your thoughts on buying natural! :-)

Burt’s Bees Vanilla Bean Lip Balm

Hi to you all, today I wanted to do a review of a lip balm, so keep reading if you want to find out more.... My good friend bought me a Burt’s Bees gift set for my birthday, with all sorts of handy products in there. You can actually buy the items individually, so I thought I would do individual reviews for the products I enjoyed the most. My existing lip balm was the Hurraw! lime flavoured one, and was an exciting purchase at the time, but I’ve had it a while now, so was happy to be gifted a new one to try.

From doing a little research this Burt’s Bees product comes in more than one flavour, but the vanilla bean sounded appealing to me, and after the first application, I was very pleased with the way it was scented. Vanilla is one of those that you can enjoy any time of the year too. The packaging is nicely made, and I love the mix of vibrant yellow against the navy and red. While using the lip balm, I enjoyed the smooth, gliding application which wasn’t greasy, and it felt comfortable on the lips, leaving them soft and moisturised.

The Burt’s Bees brand is known for being all natural, and on the Naturisimo website they are stated as cruelty-free, but with the loophole of being sold in China, a country which participates in animal testing as a law. It confuses me too! Despite that, I am happy with my new lip balm, along with some other bits from the gift set, reviews coming soon! Buy the lip balm here for £3.99.

Have you tried any products by Burt’s Bees?

What lip balm scents are your favourite? :-) Xx

The Snack Diaries | Part Five

Twinings Cherry Bakewell Green Tea
(From Morrison’s, £2.00 for 20 tea bags)
I have to say I did enjoy this flavour of tea, it was quite unusual but tasty nonetheless. It’s a flavoured green tea, but the taste of cherry bakewell was there. I did add sweeteners into it as I do with all my teas for extra sweetness. It took me a while to get hooked on this beverage, but I would recommend you give it a try!

Nuts & Honey Breakfast Biscuits 
(From Heron Foods, £0.49 for 4 portions)
I was pleasantly surprised by this brand of biscuits, my brother works in Heron Foods so he picks up bits and pieces sometimes. I asked him about any healthier snacks, and he kindly bought this for me. The biscuits are super tasty but not too sweet, and great value.

Crispy Galaxy Chocolate 
(From Heron Foods, £0.65 for 100g)
This was another gift from my brother, Heron were doing an offer on Galaxy chocolate, and this particular variation has crispy bits in, which I found very appetising. Galaxy is a well-known brand which is widely available, and I much prefer it to Cadbury’s.

Raw Health Organic Fruity Coconut Balls
(From Boots.com, £1.99 for 3 portions)
I bought these online with my Boots points, and I was so excited to try this brand, the packaging is modern, and the fruity coconut balls were just as tasty as they look. They were probably my favourite snack from this haul, and were a real treat. They are a little pricey, but can see myself repurchasing with my Boots points.

What food brands do you gravitate towards for snacking? 

Would you like to try anything from this haul? :-) Xx

October Book Haul

I popped into a community bookshop in Wigan, offering free books, while we were visiting a relative nearby. The bookshop had a lovely, friendly atmosphere, I found three books that interested me and happily donated a small amount to them. I had a positive experience, and the books I picked up were in new or nearly new condition. Here’s a little bit about each book…

You Had Me At Hello by Mhairi McFarlane

A sparkling comedy, ‘What happens when the one that got away comes back?’ A story of Rachel and Ben who had been partners in crime and best of friends, bump into each other after many years apart. I enjoyed another book by the same author, so I picked this one up and although it’s an oldy, on Amazon there are thousands of positive reviews so I can see myself really enjoying this one, hopefully!

We Were On a Break by Lindsey Kelk

It says it all in the title really. Another romantic comedy, the story takes you on the journey of Liv and Adam who decide on a relationship break after going on a holiday together that goes pear shaped. I absolutely love the author, and from her previous books I knew the writing style would be for me. Lindsey Kelk makes me laugh out loud – I have actually finished this book so look out for a review coming.

The Art of Being Normal by Lisa Williamson

The story follows David, a high school student, his parents think he’s gay, he actually wants to be a girl. Leo, another student, stands up for David, one day and an unlikely friendship forms. I’m hoping I enjoy this one, it’s made its rounds online, and it sounds like it could be an interesting read. I will let you know how I get on!

Are rom-com books your thing too? 

What genre do you gravitate towards? :-) Xx