I have recently purchased a new blender from Breville called Blend-Active, which is a blender that allows you to make smoothies and shakes at home; and then by simply swapping the blade lid to a normal lid, you can take your creation ‘on the go’!
Being a huge lover of all things sweet, I have found that the snack cupboard is often far too tempting, usually resulting in me stuffing my face with half a packet of cookies before you even have the chance to say ‘Maryland’. Therefore I thought this blender would be a great way of satisfying my cravings – but the healthy way!
I have literally just created this recipe for the first time today, but I thought that it was so yummy that it would be selfish not to share it with you.
Recipe for one ‘banana, oatmeal, and peanut-butter’ shake:
You will need:
1 banana,
around 1 tbsp of plain oatmeal,
1 tsp of smooth peanut-butter,
200 ml of semi-skimmed/almond milk,
200 ml of water.
Okay so basically as you can imagine, there is no ‘special’ method to creating this shake – you just blend all of the above ingredients together until you get the consistency to your liking! If people prefer, you could change the quantities of milk to 400 ml without water, but I personally think that half and half works well as you can’t tell the difference taste wise, and it just makes it that little bit healthier! Likewise, you could also just use 400 ml of water without the milk too. For those who don’t like peanut-butter, I think cinnamon would be a nice substitute for some extra flavour, but by all means – just have plain banana if that’s what takes your fancy!
I hope that this satisfies your cravings to some extent, and that you enjoy making and tasting this shake as much as I have!
Having grown up in Oxford (well I say Oxford – I mean a little village nearby), yet attend University in Plymouth, I thought it may be fun to do a blog post on which city I believe to be best. I’ve decided to judge each city based on 3 main categories: food, affordability and attractions.
FOOD: Being a massive lover of all things edible, I felt it necessary to include a food category in order to help me weigh up the pros and cons of each city. One of my favourite places to grab a drink in Oxford is ‘Moo-Moos’ milkshake bar situated in Oxford’s covered market. Ranging from a chocolate bar category consisting of ‘after eight’ flavour to ‘nutella’; a biscuit category serving ‘custard cream’ milkshakes to ‘party rings’; a cereal category selling ‘golden nuggets’ to ‘fruit n fibr’; a cake category with ‘apple pie’ and ‘cherry bakewell’; a sweet category with ‘dolly mixtures’ and ‘apple pencils’; to a range of syrup sauces such as butterscotch or chocolate fudge – not to mention several fruit flavour milkshakes and smoothies as well, Moo-Moos is sure to have something to satisfy your cravings! Another great place in Oxford is ‘Thirsty Meeple’s Board Game Cafe’ which is literally as it says – a cafe filled with board games! With over 2,000 games to pick from, customers are welcome to spend their entire evening relaxing, eating and drinking whilst playing board games with family and friends to their heart’s content! However this cafe is extremely popular and is often full to the brim from around 12pm so it is well advised to book in advance so as not to avoid disappointment! However, whilst Oxford does have many lovely cafes, restaurants and bars; Plymouth is also full to the brim with places to eat and drink – my favourite being ‘Caffeine Club’. Caffeine Club is probably one of the most chilled cafes I have visited in Plymouth – probably because it is constantly packed to the brim with students! Perfect at any time of the day, Caffeine Club is open 24 hours which makes it ideal for drunk cravings! However don’t get me wrong – unlike many portions of food that are drunkenly consumed after a night out, you will not regret buying from Caffeine Club! Their food is literally to die for – the nachos being a personal fave along with a 2 pint milkshake (yes I did just say 2 pint); and to top it all off, it’s super cheap too!
AFFORDABILITY: Given that Oxford is one of the priciest city’s in the country, it can be readily assumed that Plymouth will win on this category. Whilst chain restaurants/cafes/bars will usually stick to the same prices no matter what city, it is the individual businesses, along with clubs where you really notice a difference in cost. To go out clubbing in Oxford, you should expect to pay around £6 entry fee for a club e.g. Camera which is £6 entry after 10:30pm on a Saturday. In comparison, clubs such as Oceana can be as little as £3 entry fee depending on which night you go. Drinks also differ a lot in price, with Plymouth proving considerably cheaper – especially when Odd Bar is selling 50p shots! Lastly, because of where I, and many of my friends at home live, getting into Oxford late at night always proves a long and expensive affair, whereas in Plymouth I am able to walk everywhere making it 100000x easier!
ATTRACTIONS: Ok so being a major shopaholic (despite probably not actually classing as an ‘attraction’); I would have to say that both city’s have really good shopping. Quite a lot of people probably won’t agree with me that Oxford has decent shops, but I personally think that with two fairly big shopping centres, in addition to two high streets, it deserves recognition (especially now that it’s home to a massive H&M!) Although people probably won’t agree with my view on Oxford’s shopping, I am sure that the majority will agree with me in saying that Plymouth’s huge shopping centre: ‘Drake Circus’, is of value. In addition to the hundreds of shops situated on Plymouth’s high street, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for! Ok so enough about shopping. Another favourite attraction of mine in Plymouth, is the ‘hoe’ which is a huge grassy/park area overlooking the sea. This is a really lovely place to go and visit when it’s sunny and warm – a must for any picnic goers! The view is amazing and it’s a great open space for playing a game like rounders or football with friends. The only thing I would say, is that it gets incredibly cold up there on a windy day, so make sure you take a coat!
Having blogged what I believe to be the best things about each city, despite loving to live in both areas, I would have to say that Oxford is still my favourite – after all, home is where the heart is! What do you think? Enter your thoughts in the poll below.
With summer fast approaching, I, like many others, felt the need to work towards my summer body…
I am a member of my University gym and following too much over-indulging at Christmas, have become a regular member – going around 4-5 times a week in comparison to the previous once a month. However despite noticing a substantial difference in my fitness levels, I still felt the need for a bit of extra help, hence I have decided to use Protein World’s ‘Slender Blend‘ for a trial period. Despite being classed under ‘weight loss’, slender blend claims to help you build toned and lean muscle and strong hair and nails – what’s to lose?!
After reading several product reviews, I opted for the vanilla flavour as this seemed to appear the most popular among other customers. The slender blend doesn’t come with a free cup unless you buy the entire ‘weight loss’ collection, so I also opted for that too; however this was only £3 and well worth the money in my opinion! Delivery was really fast and came in a bright yellow box that was branded with Protein World’s logo which I really liked. The package also contained a little hand written card and a healthy recipe book for making slender blend smoothies and pancakes, which I thought was a really nice touch and should prove very useful!
Protein World suggests that you mix 4 spoons of slender blend with 400 ml of either water or a nut based milk (I used almond milk), and have two times per day as meal substitutes – along with one healthy main meal. Upon trying my slender blend for the first time, I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised! The best way of describing the vanilla flavour is similar to that of a vanilla milkshake at McDonald’s (which I LOVE). Despite some reviews saying that the taste is too sweet, I would say that the taste is just right and really easy to drink! Another thing that really pleased me was the cup, as it contains a concealed plastic gauze beneath the lid which makes sure your drink doesn’t come out lumpy!
I am yet to try the slender blend with water instead of milk, but so far my opinions are very positive! I would say that anyone who is considering buying this product, should just go out and try it!
Life Online With Laura. 