I love Eaton Mess. It isnt something I indulge in very often but I bloody love meringue and strawberries so it is my ideal desert!! Meringue is ok on slimming world as are strawberries but the cream is a big no no!
So I decided to make this low syn alternative. I used 1 meringue nest - I used the Sainsburys ones from the bakery which are 2.5 syns, Strawberries and in place of the cream I used 0% total Greek yoghurt with some sweetener in it.
For 2 and a half syns this is definitely a good compromise! Have you tried this? Do you love Eaton Mess?
I love a good kitchen gadget. Despite the fact I haven't got my own kitchen, I love having lots of different gadgets to play about with when I am cooking. Now George Forman Grills are by no means a new gadget, in fact they have been knocking around on the market for years but quite recently, my brother picked up a bargain one for his 'bottom draw' and my mum desperately tried to get one at the same deal with no such luck - my brother appeared to have had the last one from Sainsburys anywhere within our county.
A couple of weeks later however I went on to the Argos website and noticed that they had the George Foreman Grills on offer - granted it wasn't the £17 that my brother had paid but we did manage to pick up a 5 person grill for £29.99 saving £30.
Since we brought this grill 2 weeks ago, we have had SO much use out of it! We have cooked steaks, pork, turkey, fish and roasted vegetables on it! It comes with a special dish to collect all of the fat which drains off it. We just spray the grill with fry light keeping it syn free when cooking.
This has got to be one of the best kitchen gadgets we have brought and even better when you consider the bargain we got it for!
A couple of weeks later however I went on to the Argos website and noticed that they had the George Foreman Grills on offer - granted it wasn't the £17 that my brother had paid but we did manage to pick up a 5 person grill for £29.99 saving £30.
Since we brought this grill 2 weeks ago, we have had SO much use out of it! We have cooked steaks, pork, turkey, fish and roasted vegetables on it! It comes with a special dish to collect all of the fat which drains off it. We just spray the grill with fry light keeping it syn free when cooking.
This has got to be one of the best kitchen gadgets we have brought and even better when you consider the bargain we got it for!
I have decided to start up my weekly Thursday post slimming world weigh in post!
This week I have lost another pound and a half which takes me up to a total of 2 stone and 12 pounds meaning I am just 2 pounds away from 3 stone!!!
I am on a mission to work hard and get that this week :)
If you follow me on Instagram (if you dont there is a link of the left) - you will see I have been posting lost of pictures recently of my slimming world meals which I have been making. Back on Sunday I posted the below picture and I promised on Instagram I would share the recipe with you.
Potato Scones
You will need:
- Packet of Smash (I used Cheddar and Onion one)
- Tub of Cottage Cheese
- 2 eggs
- Spring Onions
- Fry Light
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl (except the fry light) so it goes like a dough. Mould the dough into small balls and spray with fry light, putting them on to a baking sheet or tin foil on a baking tray and into the oven on gas mark 4 for about 10 minutes.
As you can see I used these as a alternative to using bread to dip into soup, however I am planning on experimenting with them to see if you could make sweet scones with them (i'll let you know what I come up with). Obviously you could use the different kinds of smash (plain or the onion one) or you could add in any flavours that you wanted to. I will keep you updated with any other flavour experiments that I come up with!
If you follow a lot of beauty blogs online, I am sure that this product will not be something new that you will have seen. Baby lips are a recently released product here in the UK, I saw them over in the US when I was there and for some reason I did not pick any up, however I couldnt resist picking them up in Boots when I saw them, especially as they were on 3 for 2.
Basically these are like a lip balm. Each of them offers a different flavour or product offer. Some are designed to hydrate the lips more than others however all of them offer an 8 hour hydration.
The ones that I picked up are the Cherry (which smells FANTASTIC), Intensive Care and Pink Punch. So far so good with these. I love that the Cherry one offers a hint of colour. I haven't really used the other 2 very much yet but I am really loving these. They are perfect to keep in your handbag or on your desk at work and they look pretty compared to a regular lip balm. I wouldn't say that they can offer an 8 hour protection for lips but then again how many of us can say that they go 8 hours without reapplying it? I know I always have something like this handy for putting on.
Baby lips are available from Boots and are currently on 3 for 2 (link)
Basically these are like a lip balm. Each of them offers a different flavour or product offer. Some are designed to hydrate the lips more than others however all of them offer an 8 hour hydration.
The ones that I picked up are the Cherry (which smells FANTASTIC), Intensive Care and Pink Punch. So far so good with these. I love that the Cherry one offers a hint of colour. I haven't really used the other 2 very much yet but I am really loving these. They are perfect to keep in your handbag or on your desk at work and they look pretty compared to a regular lip balm. I wouldn't say that they can offer an 8 hour protection for lips but then again how many of us can say that they go 8 hours without reapplying it? I know I always have something like this handy for putting on.
Baby lips are available from Boots and are currently on 3 for 2 (link)
I decided to use my 3 day weekend productively and aside from going to the gym, I thought it was about time that here at Unloved Button we had a bit of a make over.
I have decided to advertise with the lovely Frances over on her blog for the month of September and as part of this I wanted to knock up a new 200 x 200 image for her to use so I thought I would go mad and design a new header too! I am going to have a look tomorrow and give the layout and colours a bit of a spruce too and sit and write out some of the posts which are swimming round in my head or I have a collection of photos on my iphone for!
Stay tuned for lots of lovely posts coming up soon and dont forget you can follow me on instagram (unlovedbutton) and twitter (@laura8289) :)
I have decided to advertise with the lovely Frances over on her blog for the month of September and as part of this I wanted to knock up a new 200 x 200 image for her to use so I thought I would go mad and design a new header too! I am going to have a look tomorrow and give the layout and colours a bit of a spruce too and sit and write out some of the posts which are swimming round in my head or I have a collection of photos on my iphone for!
Stay tuned for lots of lovely posts coming up soon and dont forget you can follow me on instagram (unlovedbutton) and twitter (@laura8289) :)
I can't even believe that I am posting this but I went to slimming world last night and was crowed the class woman of the year!! I can not even believe it at all!!
I was completely not expecting it at all! There are so many wonderful ladies in my class and to know that a lot of them voted for me is so overwhelming and such a massive boost!
I was so excited to weigh in last night because I had aimed to lose 2 pounds as a mini target and I only needed to lose 1 pound to go into a stone I haven't seen for probably 7 or 8 years! I got my 2 pound weight loss taking my total up to 2 stone 10 and a half pounds!!
It has made me so much more focused! I have set myself some small goals that I want to lose and one of them is to get into a nice dress at Christmas for our work Christmas party! I have seen the dress I want and I am planning on buying in a size smaller! I'll share the dress in another post!!
Here's to more goals and achievements :D
As i mentioned the other day, I have become quite addicted to Pinterest and am always on the look out for some low syn alternatives to foods that I enjoy.
When I was browsing the other week, I came across an alternative for Garlic bread. Now I had heard this recipe knocking around a while back but for Pizza but I never thought about using the same recipe to make garlic bread!!
I cant believe how easy this is to make and it is SO yummy!!! Here is what you do:
You will need:
- Smash
- Cold Water
- Herbs
- Garlic
- Cheese (if you want)
- Fry Light
Make up the smash using cold water instead of hot. Don't make it too sloppy, make it quite dough like but obviously make it so you mix it well. Add in garlic and herbs to taste, obviously you can make it with as much or little as you want.
Put some tin foil on a baking tray and spray with Fry Light and spread the smash out thinly. Bake it in the oven and when it starts going golden brown and crispy on one side, turn it over and bake on the other side. Once it has gone brown and crispy on both sides, this is the point to add cheese if you wish and put back in the oven for 5 more minutes. It probably takes about 15 minutes in all depending on your oven etc.
And that is it! How easy was that!
And if your doing slimming world, the best thing about this is, if you count your cheese as a Healthy Extra then this is freeeeeeee which in my eyes makes it even better!!!
Have you found any low syn alternatives to your favourite foods???
I knew when I started slimming world a long time ago that I had quite a bit of weight to lose. I sometimes think it can be a little bit overwhelming when you know you have more than a couple of stone to lose and I think sometimes this has thrown me. For a while, I got to my close to my 2 stone (even within half a pound one time) and then put weight back on. I yoyo'ed up and down for quite a few years doing slimming world, I always went to class but I think i felt like getting over the 2 stone hurdle was something which seemed quite a mental challenge for me.
When you have a lot of weight to lose it can be hard to see the end in site. If you follow me on instagram or twitter you may have seen me posting lots of slimming world related pictures. I am really focused at the moment. I dont know what has clicked in my head but it did. I got over the 2 stone hurdle and havent looked back. However knowing I have a way to go, even looking at it at half a stone at a time can still seem daunting.
Queue Wunderlist. I LOVE making lists. Weird how some of us are like that isnt it. I think there is nothing more satisfying than crossing a goal off once you achieve it and I decided to set up myself a little wunderlist called Operation Skinny. Yes I want to lose weight and get to a target weight but I also want to get fit and healthy at the same time and so my Operation Skinny lists include goals. It does include 2 weight related goals in which I have changed my weight to kg and pounds to make mini goals for me to achieve but I thought i would share a couple of the other goals with you!
When you have a lot of weight to lose it can be hard to see the end in site. If you follow me on instagram or twitter you may have seen me posting lots of slimming world related pictures. I am really focused at the moment. I dont know what has clicked in my head but it did. I got over the 2 stone hurdle and havent looked back. However knowing I have a way to go, even looking at it at half a stone at a time can still seem daunting.
Queue Wunderlist. I LOVE making lists. Weird how some of us are like that isnt it. I think there is nothing more satisfying than crossing a goal off once you achieve it and I decided to set up myself a little wunderlist called Operation Skinny. Yes I want to lose weight and get to a target weight but I also want to get fit and healthy at the same time and so my Operation Skinny lists include goals. It does include 2 weight related goals in which I have changed my weight to kg and pounds to make mini goals for me to achieve but I thought i would share a couple of the other goals with you!
- Do a spin class (again and try and fall in love)
- Do a Pilates class
- Do a Yoga Class
- Run a mile without stopping
- Hold a plank for 10 secs
- Hold a plank for 30 secs
- Hold a plank for 60 secs
- Do 10 (proper) push ups
- Get BMI under 30
- Get into a size 12
- Do the colour run
These are all the goals I have at the moment but I am working on extending this list! I love making little goals especially ones like this when you can physically see the benefits of your actions :)
Are you a list maker? Do you make fitness Goals??
Vaseline have introduced a new spray and go moisturising body. I say new, it came out at the start of July but I knew as I saw it that this was the product for me! I love anything that spreads up my process of getting ready in the morning and I have been using the product since it was released. I love Vaselines moisturising range and I always take one of their moisturisers away with me; either the cocoa butter one or the aloa Vera one.
This cocoa butter spray is fab. You can literally just spray and go. You don't even need to rub it in. And even better is it smells amazing! I love the smell of cocoa butter and this definitely encapsulates that smell.
These are priced at £4.99 and I know for definite you can get them in boots. They come in 3 flavours, cocoa butter, aloa Vera and a wheaty flavoured one (I think). I know they seem expensive for what they are but I am definitely impressed and will be repurchasing.
Have you tried these?? What did you thinks??
I have to confess.... I have developed quite an addiction to Pinterest! Teamed with my love of cooking and experimenting and my health eating through slimming world I have been browsing the pages of Pinterest to find lots of slimming world recipes.
One I found last week was this tomato sauce! When I make pasta or spag Bol I usually either use passata which is free or dolmio which obviously you have to syn. On browsing Pinterest last week I came across a tomato sauce which sounded really nice. Basically what you do is roasted your own tomatoes, carrots, onions and garlic on a baking tray with some fry light and then blitz them in a blender or I used a hand whisk. I did add a bit of veg stock (1 veg stock cube with half a mug of hot water) to give it some liquid to blend better but i think you could omit this if you used a blender - you would have to see how thick it was. For an added extra I also added some peppers to roast as well just to give it that extra flavour!!
This is SO tasty! It has a lovely flavour and makes a difference that just passata and is so much better than having to syn dolmio sauce! You can obviously adjust the flavour to how you like and add or take bits out! Like I say I added some pepper but you could whack in anything you love for a bit of flavour.
I tried this last week with pasta and last night with spag Bol and it was beautiful with both!
Defiantly worth a try! Have you tried any recipes inspired by Pinterest???
Wow this week has been one busy week so sorry for the lack of blogging!
Last saturday I finally sorted my hair out and when for the chop! I had been wanting to have something done for a while and had seen a couple of things online I loved and I trust my hair dresser Matt completely to do a fab job so I went for it!
Last saturday I finally sorted my hair out and when for the chop! I had been wanting to have something done for a while and had seen a couple of things online I loved and I trust my hair dresser Matt completely to do a fab job so I went for it!
Heres a before and after shot. Excuse the dopy face on the second one - its not easy trying to take a cheeky selfie in the middle of town!
On Wednesday (yes Wednesday) I went to a very lovely wedding!!! I have known the couple for a long time and have been very much looking forward to this wedding since the date was set! The couple were are my (are you ready for this) brothers fiancé's Sister and her fiancé. My brother and his fiancé have been dating for 8 years and her Sister and her now husband have been dating about 5 or so I think. They are an absolutely lovely couple. Ash (the groom) and my brother are really good pals and get on really well so naturally he asked my brother to be the best man which was lovely! Anyway some piccies!
Left: Me and my bro - Right: My bro and his fiancé Carrie
Left: The newlyweds (Ash looks a little startled) - Right: Me and my brother at the reception
Left: The Boys outside the church - Right: Bit of Gangham style
The table centre pieces complete with real gold fish
Left: First dance - Right: Cake Cutting
It was a really lovely day. The weather stayed nice all day. The brides dress was absolutely stunning and not what I expected at all. Not only was the wedding lovely but it was so nice to see my brother all dressed up. It was so weird seeing him standing up there at the front of the church next to Ash. My brother and his fiancé havent set a date for their wedding but they know that they are going to get married in about 3 years time which makes me extremely excited!!!
To end my in a lovely way. Friday I finished my last day in my job and on Monday I am starting a new job. Its within the same office and the same team I have been working with but I will be working as a data manager which I am really looking forward to. Basically it will mean that you know when you hear all these stats on the news about patients that have been operated on and percentages of people treated with cancer etc, i will be the one behind the scenes doing the work for the 2 teams at our hospital that I will be working for. I am very excited about starting this. I haven't been 100% happy at work for a couple of months now since a lot of changes went on and this step forward is completely in my direction.
Yesterday I had arranged to meet up with my best friend from high school. We talk on a regular basis but I don't see her as much as we would like! We always say every time we go out we should make girly days more of a regular thing and yet one thing or another gets in the way. However this time we are determined to do it! We are planning a girly trip to Birmingham in the next couple of months which I am very excited about. I had a really lovely day. We chatted about anything and everything; babies (she has a little boy), love lives and enjoyed a couple of cheeky afternoon drinks. It was lovely having a nice afternoon and chatting to someone who knows exactly where my head is at! You know when you have that one friend you can talk about anything to.. thats her!
So all in all a fab week really. I am excited about the week ahead, starting my new job and I have some posts lined up for you - some foodie, some beauty so a mixed bag for you :) I hope you dont mind this! If you have any ideas of what you would like to see give me a shout :)
Hope you have all had a good week and are looking forward to the week ahead :) xx
We all do it... you get to the end of a bottle of product, that time when it will no longer come out, and in the bin it goes. I remember reading a blog post a while back when Thifty Mrs said about how much product was wasted when we throw products away like this. I have been desperately tried to get the dregg ends of my Rimmel Primer out for weeks then one sunny Thursday morning I squidged and squidged and it just would not come out. Something in the back of my mind came back to this post and before I knew it I was cutting into the top of the primer. I figured it would last me a couple of extra days but then when I looked into the cut open packet I was shocked!!!
I could not even believe how much primer there was left in there! I was using it since then and it lasted an extra 2 weeks! I was shocked! I mean you wouldn't throw away anything else with product left in would you, so why do we do with beauty products? I have definitely learnt my lesson now and shall be doing this again.
Are you a chucker or a cutter???
I could not even believe how much primer there was left in there! I was using it since then and it lasted an extra 2 weeks! I was shocked! I mean you wouldn't throw away anything else with product left in would you, so why do we do with beauty products? I have definitely learnt my lesson now and shall be doing this again.
Are you a chucker or a cutter???
I have decided that Fridays are now going to be Foodie Friday - I know that I have been throwing a lot of posts in there about Slimming World and my weight loss and I have been mooching about on Pinterest and Instagram for new ideas to spice up my weight loss. So I thought I would share some of the recipes that I have found, tested and loved with you.
So to start things off I wanted to share with you something I have been absolutely LOVING! I have made these about 3 or 4 times since I saw the recipe on Instagram. If your not following her, head over and follow Frances cassandra. Frances is a fellow blogger but she also has a fitness Instagram where she posts lots of foodie ideas - here
A few weeks ago she posted a picture of some Oatmeal Pancakes she had make. I did a bit of tweaking (just using less porridge oaks) to make it slimming world friendly.
So to start things off I wanted to share with you something I have been absolutely LOVING! I have made these about 3 or 4 times since I saw the recipe on Instagram. If your not following her, head over and follow Frances cassandra. Frances is a fellow blogger but she also has a fitness Instagram where she posts lots of foodie ideas - here
A few weeks ago she posted a picture of some Oatmeal Pancakes she had make. I did a bit of tweaking (just using less porridge oaks) to make it slimming world friendly.
35g Porridge Oats
1 egg
1 egg white
50ml of Milk
I served these up with Total Greek yoghurt with 1tbsp of Maple Syrup stirred in for 2 syns and blueberries and strawberries.
I cannot even begin to tell you how lovely these are! I have been having these as a (still on plan) treat for my breakfast either on a Saturday or a Sunday. And for 2 syns (which you could omit if you wanted) they are a lovely breakfast treat.
Have you tried these??? What did you think???
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