Food Blogger

DAY TRIPPING TO YORK

Published on April 11, 2018September 2, 2024 by simplycarinaxo13 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

Yesterday I spent a lovely day in York with one of my best friends from uni. I hadn’t seen Chloe since autumn last year and so it was lovely to catch up again.

I hopped on the train at around 9.55 and arrived in York at 10.40 ish. We started our day with our umbrellas pitched against the pouring rain and fighting a battle with the wind as they kept blowing inside out. Because it was so miserable we decided to do a spot of shopping and went into Primark where I tried some nice pieces on but didn’t buy as sadly non looked good on, but I did come out with some basics that needed stocking up, more socks and simple tank tops and the like.

After having a browse around Topshop and a couple of other stores we sat down in Pret for a bite of lunch and I enjoyed a yummy avocado, olive and sun-dried tomato baguette.

The rain had finally stopped by the time we finished lunch and so we did a bit more window shopping discovering some really beautiful stores (I love a good window display) including a fragrance shop where I had to really resist spending my money. We also crossed paths with a cute tea shop where I bought a loose leaf gingerbread rooibush tea which I am excited to try as it smells amazing.

We then visited the three Harry Potter shops that can now be found in the Shambles and although I didn’t buy anything it made me want to go to the Harry Potter studios even more!

As it started getting colder we went for a pint and a nice long chat before walking along the wall a bit and then going for a cocktail. I tried an Amaretto in da ghetto aha which was super tasty!

Towards the end of the day we treated ourselves to dinner at the Botanist which was really tasty. I had olives for starters and then a delicious aubergine stake with giant Moroccan couscous for mains. I was happy with the Vegan options available, a good selection and lots I wanted try; I shall have to go back another time.

At around 7.30pm we sadly has to say goodbye and I made my way to the station to catch my train home.

It was such a nice day despite the rain. I love York, it’s such a beautiful place and it’s always nice to catch up with friends you don’t see often.

BEETROOT BROWNIES

Published on April 8, 2018March 3, 2025 by simplycarinaxo19 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

It’s time for me to share one of my favourite recipes with you – I hope you are excited!!!

This recipe is from the beautiful vegan cookbook Peace & Parsnips. I love this book and everything I have tried so far has been super tasty, so I can’t wait to try more recipes in the future!

I’ve made this beetroot brownie recipe a couple of times now; the brownies are super easy to make, perfectly moist and of course taste amazing! So no excuse not to try this recipe for yourselves!

I have altered the original recipe a little, but it is quite flexible so don’t worry about experimenting. Anyway, let’s jump right into it!

Ingredients:

300g dark chocolate
150ml vegetable oil
125g Flour
100g Prunes
100g Nuts
200g Silken tofu
125g Beetroot, finely grated
150g Unrefined brown sugar

(I also added some dried apricots and a little rosewater – although apparently not enough of the latter as I couldn’t taste the rose flavour – I need to experiment more with this I future)

Method:

Firstly, melt the dark chocolate carefully in the microwave on a low heat/defrost setting making sure you don’t burn it. Once melted stir in oil. Leave to cool.

Preheat oven to 190 degree.

Whisk tofu and sugar together in a bowl before stirring in the cooled down molten chocolate. Next add the beetroot, Prunes, and nuts (as well as apricots or whatever else you want to add) then slowly fold in the flour until all is combined.

Pour the mixture into a ca. 27×17 cm tin lined with banking paper and level out.

Pop in oven and bake for 25-30 minutes on the middle shelf.

Leave to cool in tray then lift out onto wire wrack and cut into squares. The brownies should be nice and moist with a slight crust on the outer edges.

Best served warm with vegan vanilla ice cream or fruit compote.

And there you have it! Brew yourself a nice cup of coffee, sit down, pick up your favourite book and enjoy this yummy treat!!

Please let me know if you try these as I’d love to see what you think!

LIEBSTER AWARD

Published on April 6, 2018April 6, 2018 by simplycarinaxo13 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

A couple of weeks ago I was nominated for the Liebster award by the lovely m4gical.com; if you don’t follow her already please go check her out she writes a lovely blog from makeup reviews to her wonderful ‘If we were having coffee’ chat posts – go show her some love!

The rules are:
1. Make a blog post saying you’ve been nominated for the Liebster Award
2. Include the picture in your post
3. Answer the questions I ask below
4. Nominate new upcoming bloggers
5. Set them your own questions

Here’s the questions I have been asked to answer:

If you had to rename your blog, what would you change it to?

Ok this is really difficult, I really have no idea, I struggled with the name part of my log the most having had previous blogs before I felt like I was running out of ideas aha, so no idea what I’d choose now if I had to rename my blog! Sorry!

What made you start a blog?

I started my first ever blog when I was about 13 and it was a book review blog hehe. Since then I have had different blogs on and off. I love writing and connecting with people. A blog is the best platform for me to share my passions with others and hopefully inspire and bring joy to other people too!

If you could choose anywhere to live where would it be?

I want to say somewhere warm, but then I don’t actually do well with the heat aha! But I mean Bali and so many other places look amazing! I would want to live in a place with ocean views and white sandy beaches as well as beautiful mountains for walks through stunning scenery close by. A place with an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables. A place with like minded people close by…

What’s your favourite colour and why?

Can I say black?! Ok I don’t have a favourite colour, but so much of my wardrobe is filled with dark colours haha. I’d say the autumnal colour schemes are definitely my favourite!

Do you like cake and what is your favourite kind?

Who doesn’t like cake?!? But again favourite?! I’m sorry peeps haha, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you know I’m not good with favourites! I have been vegan since January though and haven’t tried too many vegan cakes yet, I’m looking forward to baking and trying more in the future though! Before I went vegan one of my favourite cakes was a chilled strawberry cheesecake my dad would make for his cafe – it was the absolute bomb! ❤

I nominate:

https://elsielmc.wordpress.com

https://kittyp0p.wordpress.com

https://hunidasblog.com

https://justhannahhere.wordpress.com

https://ameliainhull.wordpress.com

And here are the questions I would like you to answer:

What made you start a blog?!
What would your dream vacation include?!
Do you have a favourite cocktail and if so what is it?!
Last series you binge watched on Neflix?!
Do you have a middle name? If so what is it?!
Favourite ice cream flavour?!
What was the last song you listened to?!

Thanks again for the nomination from m4gical.com, I enjoyed writing this post and look forward to reading your answers too nominees! ❤

SNOW FLURRIES

Published on February 28, 2018March 1, 2024 by simplycarinaxo21 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

How has your day been?! Have you been enjoying the snow as much as me?!

I was lucky enough to have a day off today, or should I say unlucky because both cafés I work at shut today anyway because of the wintery weather snowing everyone in. Yesterday I said I just wanted the spring and sunshine already, but when it snows properly like this I can’t help but change my mind because I do kinda love a winter wonderland!

I spent the morning doing some summer holiday research and then finally being crafty and starting to work on a Lino print which made me really happy! In the afternoon Jessica and I wrapped up warm, put on our wellies and walked into Durham to get some shopping done!

Laden with heavy shopping bags full of groceries to make vegan spaghetti bolognese for dinner and ingredients for yummy cocktails we hopped on the bus back home.

Once home we cleaned the house ready for Anna who is coming over for dinner any minute now for dinner and then we’ll probably sit down and watch the Theory of Everything. Has you seen this movie?! It’s amazing and I definitely recommend it!!

Anyway I better start cooking!

I hope you’ve had wonderful day too, maybe even been off work?!

3 DAY JUICE CLEANSE – 8lbs DOWN

Published on February 16, 2018March 3, 2025 by simplycarinaxo2 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

A couple of weeks ago I watched a documentary on Netflix called Fat Sick and Nearly Dead, which taught me a lot about juicing and it’s benefits. I’d also heard lots about juicing from various Youtuber’s I follow so it’s been on my radar for a while, although I never really considered doing it because juicing machines can be rather expensive. However, Jessica and I had popped into our local British Heart Foundation store to look for a secondhand food processor a while ago, and although they didn’t have any food processors they did have a juicer for £10, so I instantly decided to buy it. I could tell it wasn’t the best straight away, but for a £10 who could complain?!

Having been really ill last week I thought it would be a good idea to cleanse my body and give it a few days to detox, so I decided to give my immune system a boost and went on a three day juice cleanse. It wasn’t an easy three days but it was definitely helpful not having to do it alone as my housemate Jessica joined me.

I’d previously tried a smoothie diet (just drinking smoothies – I can’t remember for how long I set out to do this but I didn’t last long). The thing I found hardest was just drinking meals, I almost instantly missed the action being able to chew and actually eat something. Although I’ve not done a juice cleanse before I knew I was going to face the same problem as when I tried the smoothie diet. It was going to be hard, but unlike last time I was determined to complete a full three day detox.

We started on Tuesday, my day off. Every morning began with a cup of green tea, then a glass of lukewarm water with a tablespoon of chia seeds. The slime of chia seeds when wet is supposed to help clear out/scrape toxins from the body and they have great nutritional profile so are very good for you. After this we drank ca. 800ml of juice for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Day 1 was all juice. By day 2 we were craving food really bad and so we compromised dinner by having a homemade well blended soup. On day three we did the same juicing for breakfast and lunch and having a soup for dinner. Being able to have something savory and warm in the evening definitely helped.

I don’t know how much hood this cleanse has done me as I don’t think I did it long enough to see the difference, as in day 3 is supposed to be the worst regarding how you feel (eg. more tired and headachey) and then you’re supposed to feel an increase in energy and the likes. It’s hard for me to say how tired the cleanse made me because I was working ridiculous long busy days at work with no real break. But I did loose ca.7lbs in three days so I’m happy with that!

I decided to slowly work food back into my body by having a smoothie for breakfast and lunch today, and now for dinner finally having my first meal in four days.

I’m glad I stuck out with the cleanse and loosing some weight has only motivated me to continue eating more healthily! And I will definitely be adding a juice day into my life now and then!

Has any one else ever done a juice cleanse?! I’d love to know!

THE VERSATILE BLOGGER AWARD

Published on January 28, 2018January 28, 2018 by simplycarinaxo17 Comments

Hey there beautiful souls,

The other day I was nominated for The Versatile Blogger Award by the lovely Sarah from Vintage Tea Rose – so firstly I’d like to say a big thank you to Sarah for nominating me! And secondly, if any of you don’t follow her already you should definitely go check out her beautiful blog!

RULES

Thank the person who gave you this award and link to their blog.
List 7 things about yourself.
Nominate 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award

7 THINGS ABOUT MYSELF

I am quarter German, quarter Austrian and half Northern Irish. I was born in Germany and lived the first 11 years of my life there; which means I am fluent in German, although admittedly somewhat rusty.
I have 16 piercings and 11 tattoos, here’s just a few:

If I could travel back in time I would choose to visit the roaring 20’s with all the fabulous music and dancing in all the speakeasies or I would go even further back to the times of Jane Austen in the regency era, the fashion and the accomplishments ladies had to have in those days are right up my street. They had to be musical, artistic, enjoy reading… I mean those are my main talents, so what’s not to like?! (and I know I know it was only the upper classes who had those privileges, but you know, one can still dream hehe )
I graduated with a BA in Fine Art in 2016 (if you’d like to see some more of my art click here or follow me on Instagram @carinaroxannenausnerart) I love working with many mediums from photography to painting, printmaking and mixed media.

I am pretty much the same height and shoe size as my mum and sister which is 5ft 2in & size 5 / 38
I have never travelled outside of Europe, something I mean to change as soon as I have saved up some dosh!
About 3 years ago I shaved all my hair off for the Macmillan charity. I went from beautiful long red hair to a level 2 buzz cut!

NOMINATIONS

Savanna from Rose Recast
Bradley from Brakinsop
Michelle from Plantiful Trail
Jasmin from UGHMANGO
Maria from What Is Maria
Rebecca from All Things Allatt
Angela from The Life Of Angela
Kat from KatX
Sarah from Sarah Aurora
Miggy from Kpop Khop

(Note: Yes I know there aren’t 15 nominations here, sorry guys! Hope you enjoyed this post though)

BUTTERBEAN DIP

Published on January 26, 2018March 3, 2025 by simplycarinaxo9 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

I have recently been obsessed with this Butterbean dip for the Peace & Parsnips recipe book. It is soo good I just had to share it with you! I use my mini food processor to blend this delight together and recommend you buy yourself one (you can find a link on my Shop page) it’s cheap and super useful. The Cookbook is another I would recommend – even if you aren’t vegan I believe it’s great to try different healthy meals you wouldn’t usually eat and have some fun exploring new recipes. Anyway here goes the easy quick Butterbean dip:

Ingredients:

Garlic (I would use at least 4 large cloves – use this as your starting point and you can always add more or less depending on your taste)
Butter Beans
Parsley or Coriander (I like to use quite a lot of fresh herbs, more than in the recipe, but again start with a little and keep adding to suit your taste)
Pepper & Salt
Olive Oil
Lemon Juice

Method:

Depending on the size of your blender you might be able to make this in one go or like me have to split the ingredients in half and blend two lots.

Chop up you garlic and parsley/coriander and put into blender
Add the Butter Beans, the olive oil and the lemon juice
Grind some salt and pepper into the mix
Now blend together

Suggestion – I admit I never measure the lemon juice and olive oil, I just keep adding them into the mix bit by bit until I get a smooth slightly thicker than hummus consistency

Ways to use the Butter Bean dip:

This recipe comes in the cookbook as an accompaniment to the beetroot burger (which recipe I will most definitely be sharing at some point too as it’s amazing!) but I have since used it in many different ways and here are some of my favourite – have a go and see what you like and if you can think of any other ways to use the Butter Bean dip, do tell me because I would love to know!

Use it like a dip (make it less thick by adding more oil, lemon juice or a splash of water) then chop up some carrot and cucumber sticks or use bread sticks, dip in and enjoy!
My favourite is probably these pitta breads – pop a pitta in the toaster and spread the Butter Bean dip on then top with tomatoes or cucumbers or whatever topping you like!
I tried this one for the first time last week and though it was yummy – the Butter Bean dip works well in a wrap and filled with delicious fresh veg like carrots, cucumber and salad – you could also add some falafel which would be scrumptious.

FAJITAS

Published on January 19, 2018March 3, 2025 by simplycarinaxo19 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

The other day I made vegan fajitas – it’s one of my favourite easy meals to make and so I thought I’d share my recipe with you – I hope you enjoy!

(serves 4-5 people)

Ingredients:

1 onion
4 garlic cloves
1 red pepper
3 large tomatoes
1 chilli
1 can of kidney beans
Tofu (Instead of meat I use tofu, although I guess you could use vegan mince as well)
Fajita spices
Salad
Wraps

Method:

Chop up your onion, garlic, pepper, chilli and tomatoes
Drain the tofu and cut up, then marinate in the fajita spices. Tofu by itself is rather tasteless I feel, but marinate it in fajita spices and it changes everything.
Fry your onion and garlic in a little olive oil, once a little brown add the peppers and chilli. After 5 mins add the tomatoes and kidney beans
Wash the salad (I used Kale to fill the fajitas, but it is quite coarse so any other salad would work well too)
Fill your wraps (I recently discovered these amazing beetroot and spinach wraps in Tesco – I definitely recommend). Alternatively you can use romaine lettuce as a wrap which makes for a lighter fresh meal.

Now sit down and enjoy!

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MATE DATE AT THE BOHEMIAN

Published on January 12, 2018January 12, 2018 by simplycarinaxo1 Comment

Good evening beautiful souls,

On Wednesday I went to Newcastle to catch up with an old friend from uni. My friend Rachel was doing dry January and so we decided to meet up over lunch in Newcastle instead of over drinks as we usually would. I was excited to see what Newcastle had on offer regarding food because with my biggest new years resolution being to eat a vegan diet this was a great opportunity to try out a new restaurant I wouldn’t previously have given much thought. After some browsing I decided on The Bohemian which had great reviews. It took us a couple of minutes to find (google maps aren’t always helpful aha), but once we found it I realised I’d walked past it many times before as it was just past one of my favourite pubs in Newcastle, The Fourth. It has a cute vibe and is a mix of restaurant, bar and record shop. I didn’t look at the records this time round but will definitely have a browse next time I go!

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Once in and seated we were lucky to discover that The Bohemian was participating in the Newcastle restaurant week and so we got a special three course menu for £15, not a bad deal at all. After some deliberating (I’m actually glad we had a restricted menu as all the choices sounded so good) I went for the Shredded Peking Jackfruit, with hoi sin sauce, pancakes, spring onion and cucumber for starters, The ‘Greek’ Pizza for mains and the Cointreau and chocolate tart for dessert. Wow it felt like I was splashing out, I mean I never order three courses when I go out!

I really loved the starters, the peking jackfruit was ok on it’s own but wrapped up in the pancake with the spring onion and cucumber and dipped into the hoi sin sauce was an amazing combination!

The Greek pizza was also scrumptious; on what seemed like a homemade stone baked pizza base the vegan cheese was perfectly melted and flavours fantastic. Now I’ll admit vegan cheese can definitely taste different and isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but the vegan mozzarella on the pizza tasted fab to me and I really enjoyed the pizza as it had been a while since I had a freshly made stone baked pizza.

After starters and mains I really was rather full, however I still managed to polish of my dessert! The chocolate tart served with a fruity sorbet was the perfect combination of light and tart with creamy and heavy chocolate – heaven.

So if you haven’t been able to guess – I would highly recommend The Bohemian in Newcastle. If you ever try out this restaurant do let me know what you think – I’d love to know!

Love Carina xo

CHRISTMAS !!!

Published on December 27, 2017December 27, 2017 by simplycarinaxo7 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

I’ve had a lovely couple of days off celebrating Christmas with friends and family. Being both German and Irish my Christmas traditions are a mixed bag and I love it. Here’s what I got up to.

I have always celebrated Christmas on Christmas eve – that’s the German tradition and I love it! This is the first year I have my own place and am not just home from uni for the holidays, so it was the first year I didn’t have a family breakfast on Christmas eve with my parents and sister. Instead I made a yummy brunch for Jessica and myself and we had a relaxing morning watching Santa Claus, drinking coffee and enjoying a cheeky sausage on avocado & egg toast.

After a lazy morning I packed all my things up to take to my parents later that day and got ready. I enjoyed the routine of glaming up and putting a full face of makeup on whilst listening to Christmas songs and feeling more festive with every song I sang along to. I decided to pair my LBD with a wine coloured polo neck as my parents house tends to be on the cold side compared to mine and then went for dangly earrings as a statement piece and dark lips to match the polo.

Just after 2pm my mum and sister picked me up and we went into Durham to go to the 3pm 9 lessons and carols service at the Cathedral. We didn’t stay for the full thing however as sadly being right at the back we could hardly hear and had to stand; however we did enjoy belting out some descants to our favourite carols before we left. As we’d left a bit earlier we decided to grab a coffee before heading home to give my dad a bit more time to rest because he wasn’t feeling great. We popped into Flat White in Durham and treated ourselves to some nice peanut butter bar thing too.

Finally it was time to head home and for me to see our Christmas tree for the first time!! I love our Christmas tree; we always get a real one and the pine just smells wonderful. After adding my presents to the pile under the tree I finished painting my nails (as I’d totally mis-planned my time getting ready earlier) and then we all sat down together for our Christmas Eve dinner. It was time for another first this year as we changed up our family traditional meal for some salmon with rice and salad. It was very tasty but I have to say I missed our usual Christmas eve meal.

After dinner we read the Christmas Story and sang some carols together in both English and German before sitting around the tree to open all our presents. We always take it in turns to open gifts so everyone sees what the other received and also so the process of opening gifts lasts as long as possible. About half way through we usually pause to make some tea and enjoy some Lebkuchen and Stollen some of our favourite German Christmas goodies. I’ll do a what I got for Christmas post soon, but for now I’ll just share my best present with you. I got a cello on loan!!! I haven’t played the cello in about 6 years as I’ve never owned my own instrument so when I stopped lessons after 9 years I had to return the cello to the music school. I’ve been itching to have another go at the cello for years now and so to finally be able to do this was the best present I could ask for – and it was a complete surprise! What made me even happier was that I remembered a lot more than I thought I had!

Eventually we were all tire and crept to bed, but not before filling each others stockings. You see with also being British we still get stockings and Santa on Christmas Day, even though Christmas eve is our main celebration. The last few years we started a new tradition where everyone in the family was responsible for one persons stocking, this year I had my mum. So the next morning I got everyone out of bed at around 9am – no more 6am wakeup calls like when I was younger, although I ma still always the first one up who gathers everyone together so that we can open our stockings together. Once opened we made breakfast and enjoyed a lazy morning. In the afternoon we went to pick up Jessica who was joining us for Christmas dinner and some games. It was a lovely afternoon which we ended with snuggling up to watch the Call The Midwives Christmas special before my sister drove Jessica and myself home.

On Boxing Day it was our turn to host and we invited my family over and my good friend Anna from work for a yummy spread, cocktails and games evening. We got stuck into Cluedo and Settlers which were both great fun!

So all in all it’s been a lovely couple of days relaxing and enjoying each others company with good food, drinks and lot’s of laughter. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too!

Love Carina xo