Khajur Pak 'ENERGY BALLS' | RECIPE

Hello! 

"A vegan friendly, healthy yet delicious snack to grab whenever you feel a sweet craving"

Medjool dates are getting popular by the minute. Known for their incredible caramel-like taste and sticky texture which is great for no-bake treats. Yet little did I know the treat I'd been having since as long as I can remember would be huge in the 'Western World' too! Being Indian, my family love the good old sweet treat and the now known 'Energy Balls' were always called Khajur Pak [kha-joor pah-kh] in my book. So, as I made a batch, I thought I'd give you the low-down to these incredibly tasty, nutritious and super EASY treat!

Wahaca - Lunch in Covent Garden

Hello! 

"Food comes in various sizes."

As mentioned in Friday's post, last week was my week off, so obviously that means catching up with friends over lunch in London! Duh.. who really relaxes during their week off?! *looks around like she didn't sleep all day for most of the week* 

Wahaca is near Covent Garden station - it's a small, cute little Mexican restaurant inspired by Mexican Market/Street Eating.

"service was great, the atmosphere lovely"

As you walk in, you see this skeleton on a display table surrounded by macaron hearts and gingerbread men! It's so super cute and it decorated for 'The Day of the Dead'. The whole decor in Wahaca is very quirky and full of primary colours!

"small, cute little Mexican restaurant inspired by Mexican Market/Street Eating"

Food comes in various sizes. There's 'Street Food' which is recommended to order 2-3 plates per person, and there's classics with foods such as Burritos. Unfortunately for the one dish meals, there weren't many vegetarian choices. Being a vegetarian, I was a little disappointed. However, they had a few other dishes in the street food section which were vegetarian. I went with the mushroom, corn and cheese Quesadilla and it was exactly what it said on the tin. 

Overall, not a bad place to have lunch with friends, especially if you go for Frozen Yogurt at Snog down the road later, which is what we did! They did have desserts, such as churros, if you want to have your sweet treat in the same seat. The service was great, the atmosphere lovely and not too busy (bear in mind we went on Monday at around 1.30pm) and the food is good.

What's your favourite Mexican Dish?

RECIPE: Healthier Blueberry Muffins

 Hello!

"get a couple of ingredients... and throw them all together - simples :)"

The same question pops up time and time again, during this point in the week: What's happening in the weekend?! Well, here's an idea that is super fun and super yummy! If you're a total sweet tooth like me, you could never resist a chance at cake, and when you're offered a slightly healthier version - well, why not?

Click HERE to Download

There ya go! Just save a copy, get a couple of ingredients (most of which you may have at home) and throw them all together - simples :)

I hope you enjoy-  and what fruit/toppings would you put in?

BerryWeekly: Chocolate Fondue, Food and MORE Flowers?!

Hello!

"looking like a complete weirdo trying to get the perfect shot"

BerryWeekly is such a fun segment on BBXO! You know you're a blogger when you take photos of everything, looking like a complete weirdo trying to get the perfect shot of the things in front of you in a public place - that's what it was like while getting photos for this post, too. I was at the restaurant standing up and kneeling down and whipping out the camera at every opportunity! 

However, due to the likes of Instagram, this is much more usual now than it has ever been... And I'm okay with it! 

"if you had seen the menu you'd understand why we went for the Fondue"

One of the more exciting food-related places I visited was a dessert place in London. Actually, I was taken there as a treat and it was super fun! There were four of us that went and if you had seen the menu you'd understand why we went for the Fondue for Four - there were so many amazing options that it was difficult to decide one each, so choosing this option meant there was a bit of everything! 

"Is your mouth watering already?"

The platter came with a wide array of choices: brownies, cookies, 16 mini scoops of ice cream and a bowl of fruit, all to dip in the melted chocolate! Yummy! And on the side, there's chocolate fudge cake with ice cream and whipped cream. Is your mouth watering already? 

If you have read the previous BerryWeekly earlier this month, you would realise my love for flowers. Having a garden whose blooms are looking beautiful this season, who can resist picking some? I did some more arrangements for the study and the bedroom!

"makes me feel so good inside!"

Seeing fresh flowers as soon as I wake up makes me feel so good inside! I also read somewhere that seeing green, fresh leaves and plants in the morning is great for eyes and I'm a firm believer in this as it also makes me feel more peaceful!

 "lasagne was made from Spinach pasta sheets"

Another restaurant we went to was Pizza Express. Funnily enough, I've never actually been to Pizza Express and when we got a chance to go, we all ordered the Vegetarian Lasagna! It was nice, though and the lasagne was made from Spinach pasta sheets!

Well, that was a few pictures from the week and you can imagine some of the awkward positioned shots taken!

I hope you liked the pictures and do you prefer chocolate fondue or cake? 

5 Simple Strawberry + Chocolate Recipes

Hello!

British Strawberries - the fruit of the season, especially in the UK (I guess that goes without saying!). The thing with strawberries is that they don't last for very long - so simple recipes are perfect for when you want them eaten before they go to waste. Also, what better way to eat strawberries than with chocolate?

Here are 5 easy recipes which can be substituted with Raw Chocolate (1 cup cacao, 1 cup melted coconut oil, 4 tbsp agave syrup)  for a healthier version! Healthier White Chocolate recipe here.

This is a simple recipe which is easy to replicate (the whole idea of this post) and is so versatile as you can add things to it without much worry. You can add almond flakes or make it a coconut chocolate filled strawberries or whatever you wish! 

This is a little different but just as simple. If you use whipped cream, ensure that you eat it soon and not leave for too long!

This idea is another simple one. Sort of like the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups but with strawberries instead of peanut butter - not saying peanut butter cannot be added to it!

This idea I thought was totally different. I would have never thought of it yet it's such a lovely idea! You can add any fruits you want or any other toppings.

A little trickier but just as tasty and yummy as all the others, this recipe consists of an oreo crust and a strawberry and chocolate filling!

What's your favourite simple go-to recipe with strawberries?

image sources: 1//2//3//4//5

BerryWeekly: Picking Strawberries, Google Street Car & Pancakes!

Hello! 

June, July and August - the months of the year the Pick Your Own Farms are busiest. August is the month of Sweetcorn, July the month of Raspberries and Strawberries are the fruits of June.
Last weekend, my family and I went to a 'Pick Your Own' farm. We go every year and this year was just as fun!

Overdramatic photo? It's an edit from the one below - how cool?!

Less Dramatic Photo
PS. Manicure Shade HERE

While going into the grocery store I passed this robotic thing. That's right, there's like a load of cameras on that blue ball attached to the car. Definitely a sight you don't see everyday. So, I had to take a picture and it looked sooooo cool!! I never thought they looked liked that! Well, now we know! 

As we finished exams (which you've probably heard too many times now), a celebration was due! We went to a local pancake spot and ordered food for a late Sunday lunch. More specifically, I ordered Pancake (more like a crepe) with bananas, toasted nuts, ice-cream and the oh-so-heavenly chocolate sauce. It was so yum!

Oh, and for a drink I got a Smoothie with Mango, Passionfruit and something else which I forgot... maybe pineapple?

Finally, I tidied away the years worth of work and this is the completed exam timetable - all exams crossed off. Oh, what a great feeling!

Did you know there was a 'Google Street Maps' CAR?! 

Healthy Chocolate - Is it really tasty?

Hello!

Hearing the words 'healthy' and 'chocolate' together sounds a little weird... And slightly untrue! However, it might be a bit more normal to hear after you've read this post!

Healthy Chocolate. Oxymoron - yet couldn't be truer with Conscious Chocolate! Conscious chocolate is chocolate (duh!) made with raw products. It is sweetened with Agave Nectar which is obviously better than the over-processed and bleached white sugar found in regular chocolates! 

The oh-so-raw chocolate has a different texture to your regular dairy milk. It has a truffle-like texture which is very soft. If you try to break the chocolate into pieces, it doesn't snap, it kind of slowly breaks apart - sort of like caramel  (Does that even make sense?!).

Conscious chocolate have a wide range of flavours to choose from, ranging from 'Goji and Coconut' to a nutty chocolate bar to a cherry flavour and loads of flavours in between! 

I got to try the 'Essential Orange' and 'Mint Hint'. You're bound to find something that catches your attention! 

I love the 'Essential Orange' flavour. The chocolate is more on the dark chocolate, bitter taste - which I wasn't too fond of at first but it definitely grew on me! As I had more of the orange, I started liking it more and more. It's true what they say about your taste buds adapting! 

However, I wasn't a huge fan if mint to begin with so naturally, I preferred the Orange flavoured chocolate! 

I like how they didn't try to fool us with the nutritional information. Sometimes products show the nutritional information about 1/5th if the packet and we assume it's the whole thing - however, Consious Chocolate give us info of the whole thing! Also, all the products are natural, minimal process and still taste great. Good going, conscious!

The products are packaged in 3 wrappers. 

1) it is wrapped in a bit of paper

2) it's put inside a foil baggie (as shown in the picture) 

3) it is then inside the main packaging with the name if the flavour

Just to mention, I love the packaging and how all the flavours have different outer package! The paper packaging (1) is good as it keeps the chocolate together and not melting on your hand as you get it out, the foil baggie keeps the chocolate fresh and the other packaging to name the flavours! 

Overall the chocolates from 'Conscious Chocolate' taste so yummy and it's nice to know they're not processed and are raw. Oh, and I have to mentioned the scents of them - they are so good! Like you open the first packaging and the scent lingers! It's a lovely strong scent of the essential flavours -yum! 

So, is it a little more normal to hear 'healthy chocolate' after reading this? Or are those two words together will never sound normal! Try out 'Conscious Chocolate' (link here) and then tell me these two words are made for each other: Healthy Chocolate! 

What are your favourite healthy desserts?

*Conscious Chocolate did send the two products to me for review purposes, but all of the information is honest and not biased

Happy Pancake Day!

Hello!

Tomorrow is no ordinary Tuesday… it's Shrove Tuesday! Yay, pancakes for all! :)

Of course, this post has to be based around the festivities! Well today I bought a packet of Pancake Mix and was thinking what toppings to put on the pancakes tomorrow, and incase you're in the same situation, here are some intriguing ideas that may help:

Go Fruity

Adding Fruits of your choice with a bit of Golden Syrup or Honey on top will be lovely! I love the combination of Strawberries and Banana.

Nuts & Custard

The idea of warm custard drizzled on the pancake sounds amazing, with a bit of cinnamon and some nuts on top would be perfect for a comforting pancake

Jam it Up

Jam is so sweet with a fruity flavour too, top that on your pancake for a nice spread - if you want a PB&J version, add some Peanut Butter!

Nutella, Duh! 

What's a crepe or pancake without some Nutella? The world's favourite chocolate hazelnut spread…. on a pancake… on Shrove Tuesday… yumm 

Granola Pancake

Crunch form the granola and a soft pancake sounds so well-fitting! 

Ice-Cream and Fruit

Ice-Cream with Fruit and honey/golden syrup is the perfect pancake. Add a drizzle of Nutella and that's heaven for ya.

What's your favourite Pancake Topping? 

image sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Weekly Roundup #1

Hello!

I was catching up with one of my favourite blogs: laurenconrad.com as I had received an email update of the newest post which was a 'Friday Favorites' post. The 'Friday Favorites' are a) Spelt wrong as 'Favorites' are spelt 'Favourites' in England - haha - and b) nice light hearted post which rounds up Lauren's finds for the week. I loved this idea and decided to write something similar to give you an insight of my week! So, I was looking through my photos I took on my phone and picked a few from this week that I wanted to share:

Satisfying my sweet tooth:

There was some cake on the kitchen counter, it was before dinner time and I was feeling a little hungry... so naturally, I went ahead and cut myself some cake, and with the weather being very hot recently, I took advantage of this and had some Carte D'Or Vanilla Ice-Cream on the side.... weird to have dessert before dinner, but, hey, it was fun! The cake had a vanilla icing in between which was nice.

Organising my closet:

I had a some clothes piling up in the corner of my room that I was determined to not tidy away until I decided to completely clean out my closet, I knew that if this pile kept on building up I would be further motivated to clean my closet quickly and it would be a constant reminder as I entered my room that this needed to be done! After I had moved into my new house I had not gotten a chance to completely sort out my closet AND I didn't have the correct clothes hangers. I wanted cream, matching ones... Call me picky! I DID NOT want to fully do my closet until I had found the right ones so at the time my clothes were just folded and in the shelves - none on hangers - and let me tell you, it was a mess!
When I had found the time, I searched and found some great hangers online. They're velvet, in the colour beige and seem so luxurious.

Dilemma:

Mid-week my entire street was faced with a problem: no water. There was a huge pipe that burst at the top of the road meaning that we didn't have water for most of the day! There was enough to brush teeth and take quick showers but no flowing water from the tap. I went to the top of my road and saw a huge flood of water - the police were there, as well as the fire engines and some other people fussing over this! The water was gushing out of the pipe and looked like a flowing river - I was shocked! Anyway, that day felt really weird to me as usually there'd be an unlimited amount of tap water available  this just proves how much we take for granted! The water did come back at about 6pm, though, so we didn't go without it for THAT long, thankfully.

Enjoying the summer:

The fair is back in town! I went to the fair which comes every summer - it's a flashback from my childhood where they sell cotton candy, popcorn and have the same rides which we go on every time, and each year we go on with less and less fear. I went with one of my best friends which I hadn't really had a chance to catch up with for a long while and to be quite honest, when we were on the rides, we didn't notice anything but the deep talks we had gotten into, so it didn't matter whether we were on the ride or sitting on a bench. We then ended up sitting under a tree and this was the picture I took. Enjoying the summer and the gorgeous foliage!

To be honest, I didn't expect to be writing this post and kind of wish I had taken more interesting pictures! Well, I guess I know for the future, now!

So, tell me, what was your highlight of the week?
Hope you have a lovely weekend!

Keep blooming, berries!
xoxo,
BerryBloomXO

BerryBakes: Vegan, Gluten-free, Sugar-free Cookies?!

Hello!
 If you're anything like me, then you love sweet stuff: cakes, cookies and candy floss - you name it! So, you want to eat it all but it seems kinda unhealthy... Solution? Sugar Free, HEALTHIER Cookies!
That seems a little like an oxymoron, but I put it to the test... and I like it!

My mum and I were actually making regular biscuits/cookies for my grandma (She's recovering from an operation and loves the biscuits we make and currently can't bake herself, so we made her some and she was full of smiles!), and I went ahead and took the opportunity of an already on and heated oven to make a small trial batch of sugar-free cookies (and it didn't take very long, so that was a plus)!

This is what they turned out like:

They were slightly crunchy on the outside and nice and chewy towards the middle, it tasted a little like coconut but the flavour wasn't overwhelming. It also had a nutty flavour due to the flour used and to be quite honest - I liked it! If I were to do it again, I'd add more sweetener, just because I like my sweet stuff, but the reason I think mine turned out slightly less sweet is because I used a slightly different type of Stevia than the one in the original recipe, yet the texture and overall flavour was lovely!

The original recipe stated that loads more would be made yet I only got to make 7-8 (maybe because I ate some cookie dough while rolling it out - whoops!)... yet they were nice!

Recipe (adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie):

• 1 cup almond flour (ground almonds in a food processor - I needed about 3 handfuls of almonds)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoon Stevia
• 1 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 tablespoon milk (I used Almond Milk)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

  - heat oven to 325 degrees F. (about 163 degrees C.) 

  - mix all dry ingredients together in one bowl and liquid ingredients in another

  - mix together the liquid and dry ingredients by adding about half liquid first, then stir, then add the other half (this will become a slightly chunky dough)

  - roll this into a ball and then pat out on a smooth surface until desired thickness is reached (the thicker it is, the chewier the cookies will be yet the smaller number of cookies able to make - or bake for a shorter time for chewier cookies)

  - cut cookies 

  - place them on a non-stick baking tray (or greased, if not non-stick)

  - place in oven for 10-15 minutes based on how chewy you want them (I left them in for about 12)

In the original recipe it states that you need to freeze the dough before placing in the oven, but my mixture was stiff enough already and I didn't feel the need to freeze it - feel free if you find you need to.

Also you could put in chocolate chips or glaze with icing if you would like to! 

This cookie recipe is sugar free, gluten free and easily lactose free (depending on type of milk used) - also it is vegan! Great! :D

I hope you enjoyed this recipe and let me know if you would like more tried and tested recipes!

I'll leave you with a picture of my half-eaten cookie:

xoxo,

your fellow foodie (BerryBloomXO)

PS. have you noticed the recent craze for Coconut Oil recently? I LOVE anything coconut - coconut scented candles, coconut water and even the food itself! Oh, and coconut oil is a great beauty product - I use it on my locks (let me know if you want a post)!