Spa day at Coworth Park, Ascot

For our grandma's birthday our mum booked us all in for a spa day at the beautiful Coworth Park Hotel in Ascot. Driving in through the amazing wild flower meadows had an instant calming effect and we knew it was going to be an amazingly relaxing day.

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When we arrived at the spa we were shown to the 'Spatisserie' for a welcome drink which was a choice of teas, coffees, or smoothies. I had a yummy berry smoothie and Lucy had a coffee. While mum and older sister, Milly, had their treatments (Swedish massages) Lucy and I hit the gym. I always feel so much more calm and relaxed after a good workout so it was a great way to start the spa day.

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dorchestercollection.com

All around the spa were big jugs of either lemon and lime or mint and cucumber infused water which tasted so good and were so refreshing, keeping us hydrated all day.

Until lunch time we lazed around on the sun loungers outside, soaking up some rays, as well as dipping into the beautiful indoor pool - which we discovered has under water music.. can't get much cooler than that!! We then headed back to the Spatisserie for a light and refreshing lunch of wraps served with vegetable crisps and salads topped with pretty edible flowers!

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Pretty fruit salad dessert - yum!

Lucy and her adorable raspberry macaron. We are firm believers in balance when it comes to food - for our happiness and wellbeing it is important to be able to treat yourself on special occasions and enjoy your food. As long as your diet consists predominantly of whole and natural foods, a little treat here and there is not going to have a noticeably adverse effect on your health - unless you have particular allergies or intolerances.

After lunch we went in the steam room. Steams are amazing for opening up your pores and releasing any toxins from your skin through sweat - it sounds disgusting but it actually feels very cleansing. Afterwards we jumped in a cold shower to close our pores up again and had another sunbed snooze before our treatments.

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I had a Swedish massage which was heaven on Earth.. I wanted to stay there forever. I felt so calm, happy and positive afterwards it was the best feeling! Lucy and our grandma, Babs, had facials which they also loved. Apparently we should have facials every 4-6 weeks to keep our skin in tip-top condition! I'm not sure I really have the time (or money) for that though.. As much as I'd love to.

So basically, we had the best day ever at Coworth Park spa, coming away feeling totally relaxed and refreshed. We want to go everyday!

Bob's Bake Shop Paris

After my quick trip to Bob's Juice Bar in the 10th arrondissement I really wanted to go and try out the food at the Bake Shop. It's in a bit of a weird area, in the north of the 18th, but when I finally made my way there I was pleasantly surprised by the big outdoor eating area and cute deck chairs. There is also seating inside but it was so sunny when we went so we took a seat at the picnic-style tables under the parasols. Lurrrrvly!

I got a cold pressed green juice filled with spinach, cucumber, fennel, spirulina, lemon and celery to give me a much needed energy boost.

Then we got these delicious poppy seed bagels. Mine, on the left, was vegan with roasted carrots, organic hummus, red onion and rocket. Tom opted for the salmon and avocado bagel, which he said tasted great - I'll have to take his word for it as a non-fish-eater.

As many people know, I have an incurable sweet tooth.. So I insisted we get a little dessert. We shared the vegan berry crumble and it didn't disappoint!

Bob's is great because it obviously serves lots of amazingly fresh and healthy food, but also provides some not so healthy treats such as cheesecakes, lemonades etc. It's all about balance after all! It also means its still a great place to take friends who would normally moan about going to a typically 'healthy' or vegan restaurant (we all have them), because there's something for everyone.

Thanks Bob!

Super Datey Flapjacks

Lucy and I have always had a major love for flapjacks. They’re just so simple but so sweet and yummy too (I have a serious sweet tooth..). They’re also so so easy to make and great for popping in your packed lunch or as an afternoon treat with your cup of tea.

These beauties that I whipped up last weekend are free from refined sugar and taste amazing. They’re packed with oats to give you a natural energy burst and the dates make them so sweet and sticky. Although dates are a completely natural and unprocessed sugar source, they are high in fructose so I wouldn’t recommend eating these everyday. That being said, a treat now and again won’t kill you and if you’re going to have sugar, it’s best to keep it as natural as possible, so in my opinion these datey flapjacks are the perfect treat!

Ingredients:

150g medjool dates (remember to remove the stones!)

2 tbsps coconut oil,

3 tbsps date or pure maple syrup,

1 tbsp almond butter, 150 g rolled oats. Feel free to add any extra dried fruit/seeds you want, I just kept mine simple.

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 170°C. Line a baking tin with baking paper or spread on some coconut oil.

Put the dates in a food processor and blend until they stick together to form a sort of paste.

Heat the coconut oil, almond butter, syrup and blended dates together in a saucepan over a low heat, stirring until the coconut oil and almond butter have melted and the blended dates have mixed in well with the syrup.

Add the oats and any dried fruit/seeds you're using to the pan and stir them in so that everything is mixed in well with the liquid.

Spoon the mixture into the baking tin and spread evenly.

Bake for 15 minutes. Take them out of the oven and slice into squares.

Then leave them to cool for half an hour or so, so that they Harden into crunchy but sticky bites of datey heaven. If they're still a bit soft when they've cooled down, put them in the fridge for another half an hour to harden up.

Happy baking!!!

Breakfast Beauty Bowl

Breakfast bowl of green goodness

Having a green smoothie is a great way to nourish your body with loads of goodness all at once, but often I feel like a green juice in the morning just doesn't feel like breakfast. It may sound silly but actually sitting down and properly enjoying your green smoothie rather than downing it in one will make you feel so much more satisfied for longer - promise!

This particular smoothie bowl I have named the Breakfast Beauty Bowl because 1) The ingredients are packed with vitamins and minerals that are great for your skin, eyes and general glow and 2) It looks quite pretty which makes it all the more fun to eat. 

Recipe 

1 Apple

contains antioxidants called 'flavanoids' that can help lower your chance of diabetes and asthma

1 Pear

Good source of fibre (Great for regulating bowel movements) and of vitamin B, C, E (Pear juice is great for building up the immune system!)

Handful of Spinach

Spinach is packed with amazing nutrients such as vitamin K, A and C as well as Folic acid, magnesium and iron - all these are excellent for maintaining healthy skin, hair and bones

Handful of Kale

This 'Super Green' is full of nutrition. Its amazing for hair, skin and bones (packed with Vitamin A and C)  It also aids good digestion and lowering blood pressure

1 Carrot 

Carrots are packed with Vitamin A which is amazing for your eyes. Its also great for anti-aging and promotes healthier skin! Carrots are great for cleansing your body as Vitamin A assists the liver in flushing out toxins!

1/2 Teaspoon of Whole Earth Peanut Butter

1/2 Cup Almond Milk

Ice 

There you have it ! How amazing is it that you can get all that in one meal. Whats more is its delicious and so so easy and quick to make. Just pop all the ingredients into a blend and pour into a bowl. 

I top mine with some nutty granola and bee pollen just to add that extra crunch! Be creative and top yours with whatever you want. 

Happy Breakfast-ing! 

YUM!

Bob's Juice Bar

I didn't come across a huge number of great juice bars in Paris - I don't think the juice trend has quite caught on there just yet - but Bob's Juice Bar is one of them.

It's a really tiny place on rue Lucien Sampaix in the 10th arrondissement (just down the road from HolyBelly).

I loved the cute and cosy atmosphere and the staff are really friendly. They serve salads, soups and bagels for a light lunch, as well as delicious cold pressed juices.

And some slightly less healthy snacks because why not!

I had a massive carrot, apple and ginger juice. It tasted sooo good and was so refreshing on a hot day in Paris. 

Nama Raw Food Restaurant

A while ago I (Katie) went to Nama, a raw vegan restaurant in Notting Hill, with three of my lovely friends Lucy, Frankie and Georgie. This was my first trip to a fully raw vegan restaurant - very exciting!

Having been a vegetarian pretty much my entire life, it was a new (and really amazing) experience for me to be able to pick absolutely anything from the menu - usually I just give it a quick scan for the little v sign.. Anyway, so Nama had me at the menu. There is a huge choice of a range of different foods, from wraps and salads to pizzas, curries and spaghetti dishes - and ALL the food is unprocessed, free from dairy, wheat and refined sugar.

I had the 'Italian Pizza'. The base was made from courgette and walnuts and it had the most delicious tomato sauce topped with a nut and seed 'cheese', caramelised onions, mushrooms, olives and sun dried tomatoes. It was amazing.

The Italian Pizza

Frankie had chilli which was made from walnuts, carrot, mushroom and pepper, with guacamole, vegan sour cream and corn chips - so yummy!

Frankie's chilli

Lucy and Georgie went for zucchini pasta with tomato sauce, caramelised onions, sun dried tomatoes, olives and mushrooms which was also really yummy (I tried them all..)

Beautiful Lucy with her zucchini pasta

After my unprocessed, raw, vegan pizza I felt like something sweet so I had a lovely little bottle of chocolate nut milk. Frankie ordered the chocolate ganache tart which we all had a little taste of - it genuinely tasted better than any other sugar-filled, processed chocolatey tart I've had in the past; the coconutty base made it incredible.

Chocolate ganache tart

Georgie with her chai tea, almond milk and coconut sugar (she was obsessed with that teapot)

I definitely recommend Nama to anyone who is interested in trying out some amazing raw vegan food!

Raw coco bites

In our opinion, one of the best and easiest ways to stay healthy is to have healthy snacks on hand all the time, so that sudden sugar cravings can't catch you off guard, resulting in you raiding your cupboard for those old sweets left over from Christmas (come on we've all been there). 

So, we wanted to make something that we could put in a little tuppawear and carry around (to work , on journeys etc) or keep in the fridge for an afternoon sweetness fix. If you have a crazy sweet tooth like I do, but still want to eat nourishing, natural wholefoods, these coco bites are for you! They’re also so so quick and easy to make, with very few ingredients, so you can whip them up on a Sunday afternoon and your sweet snack for the week is sorted.

They also look really cute so are great to serve with cups of tea when friends pop over, or put in sweet little packages and give as gifts. 

Ingredients:

12 medjool dates
125g almonds
3 tbsps coco powder/raw cacao powder
Coconut sugar to roll the bites in (optional)

Method:

Soak the dates for half an hour to an hour so that they’re really soft for blending.
Remove the stones (do not forget to do this I (Katie) have made this mistake before and it was a terrible experience).
Blend the almonds, but not so much that they form a smooth flour, you want to have them a sort of gravel-like consistency.
Add the dates to the blended almonds and blend until they form a sticky paste.
Add the coco/cacao powder to the mixture. Obviously, the more cacao you add the more chocolatey they will be so feel free to add more! Nothing can ever be too chocolatey..
Roll the mixture into bite-sized balls and then roll them in the coconut sugar if you like, but this is completely optional. we made half with and half without and both tasted great. I’d say if you have less of a sweet tooth, go without.

Let them set in the freezer for about half an hour and then enjoy your natural little sugar kick!

Blueberry and Banana Muffins

Baking is such a fun rainy day activity, but it can be hard to keep it natural and healthy. These yummy little treats are naturally gluten and dairy free and don't contain loads of weird ingredients that are hard to get hold of.

The muffins are seriously good and the blueberries make them lovely and gooey. You essentially make your own flour by blending almonds, oats and ground flaxseed - which is pretty fun!

Anyway, here are the ingredients we used to make 15 muffins:

• 85g oats
• 150g almonds (or ground almonds could be easier)
• 85g ground Flaxseed
• 4 ripe bananas
• 85g raisins (we used dried cranberries as Katie has an irrational hatred of raisins)
• 250g fresh blueberries 
• 180ml apple juice 
• 240ml water
• 6tbsp organic honey
• 2tsp cinnamon

Method:

If you have a food processor, put the almonds, oats and ground flaxseed in it and blend until it is nice and smooth. I don't, so I ground the almonds in a pestle and mortar (so old school, you might want to buy ground almonds instead) and then put those, the oats and the flaxseed in a blender and it worked just fine!

Add your homemade flour (be proud) to a mixing bowl, then slice the bananas into it. Next add the water, apple juice, honey and cinnamon and whisk into a smooth muffin mixture.

When this is done, stir in the raisins/any dried berry and the blueberries, pour into muffin cases in a muffin tray and bake for about 40 minutes.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Happy baking x

Banana Honey Nut Granola

We absolutely adore granola - it's genuinely what gets us out of bed most mornings. So we've come up with another little granola recipe working in some of our favourite ingredients; almond butter, banana, and honey.

We love making homemade granola because often shop bought varieties are packed with unnecessary sugar - and I know this granola still has sugar in it, but it is much more natural and unrefined (in the form of the banana and organic honey) which is better than any processed rubbish.

Ingredients:

400g oats

1 large banana

2 tbsps almond butter

2 tbsps honey (can be replaced with date syrup)

3 tbsps melted coconut oil

100g nuts (we used a mix of walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 125˚C.

2. Mash the banana in a small bowl.

3. Add the oats and nuts into a large mixing bowl, and then add the almond butter, honey, mashed banana, and coconut oil and mix it well so that no oats are left at the bottom of the bowl.

4. Line a baking tray with some more coconut oil and spread the mixture evenly.

5. Bake for 30 minutes, but after the first 15 minutes turn it around with a spoon so that it doesn't turn into a granola bar.

6. Leave to cool and set so it becomes crunchy.

Our favourite thing at the moment is having it with banana 'ice cream' (frozen bananas blended with almond milk and raw cacao powder).

Yummyyyy!

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We're sisters/best buds who love all things healthy. On this blog, we want to share our favourite recipes, restaurant recommendations, and exercises routines. We think looking after our bodies is vital for living life to the fullest so we hope to show how easy and fun healthy living can be!