Health

MY FAVOURITE FRESH JUICE

Published on May 14, 2018March 3, 2025 by simplycarinaxo11 Comments

Good morning beautiful souls,

I hope you had a great weekend! I must apologise for not posting last night, I had a busy weekend and was busy socializing both evenings and thus didn’t get around to finishing a post. So I thought I’d recycle a post this morning as it’s an easy peasy recipe for a fresh yummy start to a new week.

Here goes, this is my absolute favourite fresh juice of all time. Sadly making fresh juice can be quite expensive sometimes, so this is a treat, however occasionally you can find reduced fruit so keep your eyes open and look in local fruit and veg shops too!

The drink – it’s nothing special, just freshly squeezed oranges, grapefruits and lime with a sprig of mint, but the combination is kinda amazing!

I would usually squeeze 3 oranges, 1 red grapefruit, 1 lime and garnish with a sprig of mint. I would also recommend popping the freshly squeezed juice in the fridge to chill before drinking or adding and ice cube or two – it is the most tasty and refreshing when cool!

Well I really hope you all make this because I’m obsessed with this juice aha. Do let me know if you try & enjoy it too!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Published on April 22, 2018April 25, 2018 by simplycarinaxo6 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

“The ultimate test of man’s conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard.” ― Gaylord Nelson

As it’s Earth Day today I wanted to draw your attention to the unsustainable lives we are living. Through our modern lifestyles we are destroying & hurting our earth, all it’s earthlings and our ecosystem – something needs to change!!!

I would love you all to take a moment and reflect on the lifestyle choices you make and how you might be able to adjust things to live greener more environmentally friendly lives. I urge you all to take part and make a conscious effort to make some little changes so that we may create a happier, healthier planet for ourselves and generations to come!

No change is to small – every little helps and it’s important we all play our part and look after the earth!!!

Here are just few ideas to get you started:

Recycle!!! Everything that can be recycled please don’t just dump it into general waste!
Invest in some stainless steel straws for home use. Refuse straws when out and about or get into the habit of bringing your own straw with you (yes I am one of those people who carries a stainless steel straw in her backpack)
Start buying loose fruit and vegetables and bring your own mesh bags to put them in.
Or why not invest in a local organic veg bag subscription!
Bring your own bag to the supermarket instead of buying plastic ones!
If you are a tea drinker buy loose leaf teas and use a tea strainer (most tea bags are still made with plastic)
Use roll on deodorants instead of aerosols
Try and avoid aerosol products in general. You can swap most things eg. use good old fashioned talcum powder instead of dry shampoo, buy reed diffusers instead of air fresheners…
Invest in a reusable takeaway coffee/tea mug
Buy biodegradable bamboo toothbrushes, plastic ones fill our landfills and take over 400 years to decompose!!!
Ladies – buy yourself a menstrual cup – not only are you saving yourself money but your helping the environment and your body as they are far less dangerous!
Have a go at going vegan (or at least making some swaps and cutting down your animal product consumption) – don’t diss veganism straight away beautiful souls – animal agriculture is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transportation system combined!
Use reusable cleansing pads instead of throwaway cleansing wipes (reusable bamboo breast pads area great option)
Use natural shampoo & soap bars instead of going through bottles of shampoo and conditioner (lush gave some really nice ones)
Invest in an electric razor/shaver rather than using one use plastic razors.
Install the Ecosia web browser which plants trees as you do your online browsing – I mean what’s not to like – this is such an easy change to make!!

The list is endless, I could go on forever. Please have a look into making some changes ❤ This really isn’t an issue we can ignore!!!

I’ll leave you with another quote:

“It’s going to take all of us, gathering our voices and acting together. Saying, “Not on our watch” to create a future for humans, animals and the environment.” ― Eileen Anglin

P.s. If you already are making some changes I’d love to know what you are doing!

COOK BOOK HAUL

Published on February 23, 2018March 3, 2025 by simplycarinaxo10 Comments

Good evening beautiful souls,

I recently purchased a few new cook books from The Works and thought I’d show you. If you’re not in the habit of frequenting The Works, I really urge you to check it out on a regular basis because they always have some amazing deals and sales on.

I always find it too easy to fall into the same cooking patterns recycling the same recipes over and over again, so I’m really looking forward to trying out some new recipes from these books. There’s so many yummy recipes out there I just need to make more of an effort to try them all. Which makes me think… Has anyone ever watched Julie & Julia?! It’s about a woman named Julie who decides to cook every single recipe from Julia Child’s cookbook in a year and blogs about it. I’ve always wanted to do that haha a day although it’s never going to happen, the idea of actually cooking every single recipe in a cookbook is kinda cool. I’d love to achieve that, I mean who knows what delicacies we’re missing out on by not trying more recipes!

Anyway here’s the cook books I just added to my collection and I can’t wait to read through them and try some new recipes out!

I’ve already got one of Aine’s cook books but for a fiver I couldn’t complain and the more new recipes for inspiration the better. Then I also liked the idea of discovering some raw food ideas, as I’ve heard lots of positive things about a raw vegan diet. Oh and the last book I guess isn’t a cook book, but a book about vitamins and minerals which I thought would be a very interesting and hopefully informative read. Being vegan now has opened my eyes more to making sure I’m receiving all the nutrients my body needs; and this is not due to the ever present stigma that vegans struggle to get all the nutrients their body needs (a rant for another time), but rather because the whole vegan lifestyle for me is about starting to take better care of my body. So I’m looking forward to educating myself some more!

Now I’d love to know if any of you already own these cookbooks and if so what are your favourite recipes?!

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.

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 WISHLIST!

Published on December 1, 2017December 1, 2017 by simplycarinaxo4 Comments

Hey there beautiful souls,

Now that autumn is slowly transcending into winter and Halloween and bonfire night are well and truly over I can slowly start to get excited for Christmas! I love Christmas, I mean who doesn’t bar the Grinch!?! The last few years I haven’t really had a Christmas wishlist but this year there are actually a few things I really want and I can’t wait to share them with you and look forward to reading your wishlist posts too!

Dinosaur £25 Wilkos – I know I am 24 years old, supposed to be adulting, but I’m sorry this Dino is just way to cute!!! And my childhood dream of having a large cuddly toy has yet to be fullfilled!

Epilator £44.99 Amazon – Anyone else hate shaving? It’s so tedious so I love using my electric shaver to just quickly go over my legs. Admittedly it’s not as clean a shave as using a razor, but does the job if you’re in a hurry. So as my old Philips epilator/shaver decided to give up I would really like a new one for Christmas and this Braun epilator seems a great deal. I’ve shopped around and amaxon definitely has the cheapest deal.

Milk and Honey £6.99 Amazon – This book has been on my wishlist for ages. I keep seeing her words float around instagram and have thus wanted to read her work for a while now.

Turtles all the way Down £7 Amazon – I really enjoyed all of John Green’s other books so I’d love to read his new one. Although I do already have a huge to.read list! Let’s be honest you can never have too many books!

Catan Extension pack £22.73 – this is one of my favourite games, but when my flatmates and I get together there’s often more than four of us so I would love this extension pack so that more of us can play together, because it’s not really a game you can play in teams.

Vikings Seasons 1-4 £34.99 Amazon – I absolutely love this series nand really want to rewatch it. However now that I do not have Amazon prime anymore I thought the best option was to add this series to my collection.

Bamboo Bathtub Caddy £17.99 Amazon – I love a good bath, who doesn’t!!! I go all out and make it a real pamper experience. I get out the wine, the candles a healthy snack and watch an episode of something. However there’s never enough space for everything, so I’ve had my eye on a bath caddy for ages! Hopefully this will be under the Christmas tree!

So here are just a few of the things that are on my wishlist this year. What about you? What’s on your wish lists this year??

Love Carina xo

RECENT BUYS – HAUL TIME!

Published on September 24, 2017 by simplycarinaxo4 Comments

Hello guys,

So I’ve been really excited to write this blog post! I have been spending a little too much money recently aha but sometimes I just can’t help it, all things fashion, beauty or homeware just excite me too much and I don’t always have enough willpower to listen to my reason telling me ‘No Carina you don’t need this!’ aha. So here is my haul, anything I can find online I will add a link to. I hope you enjoy!

Unicorn Slippers – £4.99 B&M

Black Loafers – £15 Asda, Sunglasses – £1 B&M

Palm Leaf Duvet Cover – £14 (King Size) Asda, Yellow Cushion – £4 Asda

Buddha Tealight Holders – £3 each Asda, Fairylighs – £1 Poundland

Ivy plants – £1.50 each B&Q, White Romantisk Tray – £7 Ikea, Napkins – £0.90 Ikea, Tealights – £1.35 Ikea

Trinket dish – £1.50 Ikea, Candle holder – £2 Asda

Reusable Glass Bottle – £3 TKMaxx

Anybody else in a current shopping phase and buy anything exciting?

Hope you are all having a lovely day!

Love Carina xo

7 TIPS ON HOW TO SURVIVE A CRAZY BUSY MONTH!

Published on September 2, 2017August 31, 2017 by simplycarinaxo1 Comment

Good morning beautiful souls,

This month has been crazy busy for me! It began with me having to work 19 days in a row without a single day off! (Ok quick disclaimer, I technically had 3 days off in between however they were for my best friends wedding so although I wasn’t working, they were not exactly days off in the sense that I could physically and mentally recuperate). As soon as I had a day off I was off to Manchester to visit a friend for two days and when I got back I had one more day of work followed by one day to clean the house before my friend and her fiance came to visit me for a week. As soon as they left I was back at work again! I have never felt so stressed and busy in my life! Now I am currently away at the Lindisfarne festival, finally enjoying a well earned getaway!

Being prepared is very important for such a busy month and taking care of you body and mental health is a necessity. So I want to share with you some tips that helped me get through this month and that can hopefully help you in busy stressful times too to keep you energised and calm.

Tip no.1 – PLAN YOUR MEALS

After a long day at work I usually never know what to cook when I get home and I stumbled about the kitchen nibbling on stuff before I eventually decide what to cook! So having it all laid out before you means no wasting time being indecisive!

Tip no.2 – MEAL PREP

A very easy and important one! When working long days (which working at my dads coffee shop is as I have to leave the house at 7am ish and don’t get home till 6pm ish) I often can’t be bothered to cook in the evening. Thus the temptation for quick unhealthy carb filled meals or a takeaways is soo much more tempting (especially as I have just discovered the Lebaneat 3 mins away from me which makes Borak Sabanekh, a deep-fried Lebanese pastry filled with onion and spinach, that is absolutely delicious!). Also as my friend Nadia and her fiance came to stay with me, it was good to have some meals cooked in advance so I didn’t have to waste time when they were here, stressing about cooking; I can just defrost and warm up a soup or a curry in no time at all, quick and easy!

Tip no.3 – GET A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP

This is an important one for me! I’m terrible for not getting enough sleep. It is something I really need to make a conscious effort with. I try to go to bed between 10pm-11pm and I feel so much better when I do manage this and get 8-9hs sleep. My usual is more like 6-7hs and I don’t do well with little sleep!

Tip no.4 – CREATE A PRODUCTIVE MORNING ROUTINE

The other week I woke up at like 4.55 am!!! I think my housemate going to the toilet woke me up or maybe it was the sunrise as it was so bright already, who knows! Anyway as I couldn’t get to sleep again I browsed my Instagram and grumbled over the idea of whether I should rest some more or be good and just get up and start my day. About an hour later I decided to start my day on a positive high by being productive. I made myself a cleansing green tea and started planning some blog posts. About 40 mins later I made a smoothie and then headed to the gym followed by a swim before starting work at 10 am. Go me! The sun was out that morning and I was on such a high from having started my day productively! It really helps me feel good if I give myself some time in the morning to get things done before work!

Tip no.5 – DRINK PLENTY OF WATER

Again, another thing I have always been terrible at! I never drink enough water; so of course I had to put this on my tip list. Staying hydrated is very important and can help the body feel less sluggish a symptom I feel I live with 24/7. So my aim was to drink 2 liters of water a day and that could be made up from water, tea or squash. When I am home I find it a great help to have my large 900ml mason jar next to me and then I will automatically just keep sipping from it! Although I usually didn’t manage 2l a day, I definitely increased my water intake and am continuing to make a conscious effort to drink more.

Tip no.6 – SCHEDULE IN SOME ME TIME

Let’s say 2-3 times a week; set aside some time for yourself to relax. Candles, incense, a movie, a hot chocolate, a bath, some pamper time with a face mask and calming music, whatever feels right for you, just make sure to give yourself some time to relax and put your feet up!

Tip no.7 – EXERCISE

I really struggled with this over the past few weeks as I was just so exhausted from working long days. The only exercise I managed to fit in was Yoga on a Wednesday evening. However I do know that getting some exercise done makes me feel instantly better as I’m doing good to my body and feel like I am being productive. So I will try and schedule in a little bit more exercise again now, at least 2-4 times a week hopefully, even if it’s just a 30min swim before work!

It just makes me feel so much better about myself if I’ve started the day with some exercise 🙂

Well these are my top tips on how to survive a busy month! I hope you find these tips helpful and I’d be interested in hearing about your best coping mechanisms for busy stressful times!

Love Carina xo

MY VEGAN MONTH REVIEW

Published on July 19, 2017July 19, 2017 by simplycarinaxoLeave a comment

Hey guys,

Firstly, I am so sorry that I have been MIA recently! I have now finally got the internet back and will be trying to get back to blogging regularly again!

As you know I spent the last month being vegan. I really enjoyed the challenge and only caved once to have a nibble, literally a teeny bite of an egg and of a teeny bite of a slice of salami. However although I managed pretty well I did miss certain things, or rather a month without was fine, but a forever without stresses me a little aha. Thus I have decided for now to allow myself the occasional exception, eg. 1 croissant a month and a dippy egg or something.

You may think well that’s not being vegan and no, it isn’t being 100% vegan, but you know what, I am still proud of myself for the changes I have made so far. Leading a mostly vegan diet is still making a bigger impact on my health, the environment and animal welfare than if I hadn’t made any changes at all! I used to eat a lot of meat and dairy and I do hope that I will eventually become 100% vegan, just not right now.

So here just a couple of my Vegan meals from the last month: