Cheat Day Recipe: Slutty Brownies

I know everyone in the world right now is on a health kick but if you are planning on having a cheat day then you need to do it right and by right I mean a day filled with chocolate and I have the perfect recipe for you. It mixes three delicious desserts: Oreos, brownies and cookie dough and it tastes sooooooo good. I first spotted the recipe on The Londoner and just had to make it,  the name 'slutty brownies; has been coined due to them being super easy and a little bit filthy. Be warned this recipe hosts many calories.

So lets see how easy these brownies are to make....

• 1 box of chocolate chip cookie mix
• 1 box of chocolate fudge mix

You can make the cookie mix and brownie mix from scratch - but who really had time for that?!?

• 2 x eggs
• 2 packs of Oreos - one is just to eat
• Splash of oil

1. Preheat your oven to 350F, 180C, gas mark 4.
2. Line a baking tray with grease proof paper.
3. Follow the instructions on the cookie mix box & use a mixer stir furiously until you have gooey cookie dough, I would add TSP extra of water and oil to keep it moist as it will be in the oven for longer.
4. Squidge (technical term) the cookie dough onto a lined baking tray, until it covers the surface.
5. Cover this layer with your Oreos. Don’t use the broken ones, eat them as you go, you don't want to go hungry!
6. Pour your brownie mixture over the Oreos then ensure every last bit of the Oreos are covered. 
7. Put them in the oven for around 30 minutes. Check with a knife that the brownies are cooked.

WARNING: this is extremely rich you do not need much to make you feel like your about to pop.

Happy cheat day lovelies

XxX

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Restaurant Review: Charlotte's Place

If you are hungry and want exceptional food then Charlotte's Place is the restaurant for you. With 5 courses of Michelin star quality food, it's perfect for a celebration, date or girly catch up - it's a great price as well. Charlotte's Place is based in Ealing Common, which is a little further than I would usually like to travel but the quality and photo perfect food was worth it. 

Head chef, Lee Cadden is always introducing and testing new menu items, I was lucky enough to be there on the day of the beef bavette and I have said it must become a permanent staple on the menu. Not only was the bavette perfectly cooked but the smoked onions where just incredible. 

As you can see I am quite passionate about this menu, the meal was incredible from the first sip of champagne to the ice cream. The food I ate at Charlotte's Place was:

Glass of Champagne

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Sourdough Bread

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Amuse Bouche

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Isle of Wight Tomatoes, Jersey Milk Curd, Black Olive

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Ink Poached Pollock, Chickpea & Harissa

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Char Grilled Bavette, Smoked Onion, Chervil Root

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English Strawberries, Frozen Lemon Curd

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         Condensed Milk Cream Horn, Granny Smith Apple Compote, Apple Vinegar, Ice Cream.  

Monday to Friday Lunch: 5 Course Tasting Menu £29.95

Saturday to Sunday Lunch: 5 Course Tasting Menu £34.95

You can choose between a meat menu or vegetarian but the whole table has to take it

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#LunchBreakHoliday

The sun is out in the UK and for some reason there is a Garage Festival on in Streatham Common so my friends and I headed to the common to enjoy some free music along with many other people! We took along a homemade picnic to enjoy a #LunchBreakHoliday which, Travel Supermarket is currently running a competition - make sure you check it out.  

We brought some homemade gin and tonic with Gordon's gin mixed with elderflower and pomegranate cordial from BottleGreen. This was mixed with cucumber and lemon to serve as the perfect summer tipple. 

For food we made some baguettes with parma ham, chorizo and philedephia and some homemade potato salad which was made with new potatoes, chives, leek, mayonnaise, lemon, olive oil, feta & olives. For dessert we had a selection of summer fruits.

After feeling stuffed and the festival in full swing we played frisbee and beach ball like kids - your never too old! 

You can win a Summer party with Travel Supermarket worth £4,000. To enter, simply Tweet or Instagram your images, with the hashtag #LunchBreakHoliday (adding @TravelSupermkt on Twitter).  

Applicants must be aged 18 or over and the competition closes on July 30. The office party will be held in August. See full T&Cs via TravelSupermarket.

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Give your water some WOW!

The Gossip: Enhance Drinks

Where2Buy: Ocado, Amazon, ASDA

The Price: £2 in ASDA until 12th Feb RRP £2.49

For more information: www.enhancedrinks.co.uk

With the new healthy lifestyle I have been trying to adopt since the New Year, water forms a large chunk - trying to drink at least 2lts can be hard and can get a bit boring!

That's where Enhance comes in. This little portable water enhancer comes in four fruity flavours to ‘enhance’ your drink:

Orange & Passion Fruit

Apple & Blackcurrant

Strawberry & Kiwi

Lemon & Lime

With just one squeeze water turns into a refreshing and tasty drink and these are perfect for keeping in your handbag or at your desk, creating around 32 drinks. 

Each bottle of Enhance is filled with real fruit juice, no added sugar, no artificial flavours and just 1 calorie per drink. It makes the perfect addition to my new healthy lifestyle and hopefully I will end up drinking more water as a result. 

Enhance also works with the charity Just a Drop and for every bottle sold Enhance will make a donation to help provide children in Africa with clean & safe drinking water.

What flavour would you choose?

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Restaurant of the month: La Tasca

The Restaurant: La Tasca

The Location: Most of the UK

Average price: £25

It's January and T2G suggests heading to La Tasca to get your full of Spanish Tapas.

What to drink

The number one drink in La Tasca is the Sangria and unfortuabtley I am not a fan of the main ingredient 'Red Wine' but La Tasca has a solution 'Cava Sangria'.  

A little appetiser to start

To take me all the way to Spain I had some bread with oils and olives - a simple starter, to not get to full so I am all ready for the tapas.

For Tapas it's best to choose between two or three each to share. So between two people we had:

• Calamares, squid in batter with sea salt - (as an FYI this dish was massive)
• Potatas Bravas, drizzled in a spicy tomato sauce and roasted garlic mayo.
• Chicken Wings, in a smokey sauce.
• Paella Del Dia, which is a smallest potion of the daily paella special.

We also tried the two specials I wasn't sure on the pork as it was too chewy for my liking but the prawns were delish.

• Roast belly pork with chorizo and a sherry and tomato sauce.
• Gabas on a skewer, king prawns with garlic and basil.

After all the delicious tapas I was pretty stuffed but as usual I could not resit a dessert. I shared the Fondant de Chocolate with vanilla Madagascan ice cream - which was extremely indulgent and was a lovely finish to the meal

What kind of Tapas do you normally choose? 

Fiona 

Xxx

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Restaurant of the month: Zumbura

Zumbura is a humble little Indian restaurant, located on the main square in Clapham Old Town. This is not your normal curry house but instead specialises on the cuisine from the Purab region in North East India. 

At Zumbura you get a real authentic experience with authentic Indian food and a few cocktails thrown in on the side. There are only a few options which are broken down into Stews, Grills, Roasts, Fish, Vegatables, Bread and Rice. 

We went for a broad selection of dishes which included:

• Murghi Ka Salan :home-style chicken curry cooked on the bone for a rich sauce £7.5
• Hari Murghi :chicken marinated in fresh herbs and yoghurt overnight and then roasted £7
• Machli Ka Salan :pollock fish curry with mustard seeds and fenugreek £8.5
• ghuggni :black chickpeas braised in onion and mango powder £4.5

To drink:

• Molly Moo Moo : Stoli Vanilla, Stoli Raspberry, Limoncello, fresh raspberries, apple & passion fruit juice. £7
• Indian Negroni :Woodford Reserve, Aperol, Antica Formula, Cointreau & Peychaud Bitters. £7

 All in all, Zumbura provided an intimate setting to eat food you believed was being served straight from a kitchen all the way over in India. Coupled with stunning cocktails, this small restaurant really gives you the feeling of trying something completely different.

More information can be found at their website: www.zumbura.com

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