Advent Calendars, Candles & Furry Things: BerryWeekly

Hello!

"housed in fur comfort with the outer material being velvet - luxurious? Not one bit ;)"

I refuse to believe it's almost 2015. Saying this in every post hasn't made it seem any more real. Nonetheless, my advent calendar was an exciting addition to this lovely month of December. Although my mother bought it for me on the 5th of December, I was over the moon - getting 5 chocolates on the first day is just bliss! Fast forward 5 days and I find that all the little doors are now opened and empty, and we haven't even reached the 13th just yet... my brother was to blame! Well, it's okay, because soon after I was gifted another Chocolate Treat...

"making me even more excited for snow to fall (come on London, let it snow!)"

Alongside the advent calendar, another thing that has been making every day special is the lighting of a candle. Special, really? You may ask. Well, yes, festive candles are the best and who doesn't like an occasional whiff of spiced scent and the relaxing feeling you get from flickering candle light? However, this beauty of a candle is almost waxed-out. But fear not, I've stocked up ;)

"you can only guess my excitement when I saw these"

Speaking of cosy-ing it up, these new additions to my slipper collection have been lovely! My feet couldn't be happier being housed in fur comfort with the outer material being velvet - luxurious? Not one bit ;)

"I refuse to believe it's almost 2015. Saying this in every post hasn't made it seem any more real. "

These coconut filled lindt chocolates do make up for the loss of advent calendar chocolates. I must say, Lindt have gone all out with the snowflake, festive packaging making me even more excited for snow to fall (come on London, let it snow!). These truffles are super yummy, you can only guess my excitement when I saw these if you know how much I love things coconut (refer to this, this and this!).

Do you have an advent Calendar, and have you stuck to it?

POTW: Nivea Creme Coconut Shower Cream

Hello!

"whenever I used it in the morning, I would be able to occasionally whiff it throughout the day, and I loved it!"

If it says 'coconut' on the pack, I can almost guarantee you I will be a fan. Coconut snacks, coconut hair oil, coconut body butter, coconut lip balms and you guessed it, coconut shower creme. Well, you can imagine me jumping around the shop when I saw this on the shelf in Sainsburys. Definitely my most exciting grocery shop this month! 

"I doubt it'll have the same effect as it's washed off - I shall keep you updated "

The actual product itself is the bog-standard Nivea shower product. They have released the in-shower  moisturiser which I have been meaning to try, because somedays we just want to skip the moisturising step, you know the days when you spent the night before finishing a really interesting book which lead you to run 3 hours past your 'bedtime'. 

"If it says 'coconut' on the pack, I can almost guarantee you I will be a fan."

Having not used this product yet, I can only hope that it leaves a lingering smell throughout the day. I used to have the Body Shop Coconut body butter and whenever I used it in the morning, I would be able to occasionally whiff it throughout the day, and I loved it! Getting that again would be great, yet as it's not a body butter, I doubt it'll have the same effect as it's washed off - I shall keep you updated on that.

"after I got out, I had forgotten I used it in the morning."

Having owned the powerfruit delight shower gel, I've already had a little experience with Nivea's shower products. Although powerfruit delight has a pleasant, wakening scent in the shower, after I got out, I had forgotten I used it in the morning. The positive aspect of powerfruit delight was the amount of lather it created - let's hope the creme coconut is as good, if not better, than powerfruit delight.

Have you used Nivea products before, if so, what are your thoughts?

BerryWeekly: Fireworks, London, Flowers and Piercings

Hello! 

"our family got together ...we ordered pizzas, played charades and blasted some fireworks!"

As you know, it was Diwali last week, and this week was also my week off! You know when you want a relaxing, chilled out week but it turns out to be super eventful - well this was one of them! So, here's what happened.

" There is now a hole in the top of my right ear"

I got my cartilage pierced. There is now a hole in the top of my right ear with a shiny gold and diamond stud. Did it hurt? It was bearable! But so far, I love it 

Also, I got this awesome bottle in the post and have been loving it. The image is a sneak peak of what's coming your way next week! ;)

"When in London, there's always good food!"

Going back to Diwali, our family got together at our house on Friday night, we ordered pizzas (a whopping 12 extra, extra large ones - you can imagine how big our family is!), played charades and blasted some fireworks! It was a beautiful display and my dad was sad to see one of the trees get a little burnt as the firework blasted in the wrong direction... whoops!

I also popped down to Covent Garden on Monday to see a huge crowd of people surrounding an entertainment man, but what I admired the most was the stunning Christmas decorations up in the square! 

When in London, there's always good food! A post coming to you next week on the dinner we had, but for dessert, it was Snog we went to. I ordered the Coconut Frozen Yogurt, with granola and raspberries and some chocolate sauce! It was super yummy!

 As for the flower part of this BerryWeekly, this arrangement was a put together of two bunches of flowers. I took the pleasure in snipping and trimming the stems, presenting them in a large, red vase and taking a million photos! Oh, and you can't forget tweeting about it! 

"took the pleasure in snipping and trimming the stems, presenting them ...and taking a million photos!"

Well, that's it for this weeks BerryWeekly! I hope you have a super fun Halloween, if you celebrate, and an exciting, fun week ahead of you!

What would/do you order at a Frozen Yogurt Place?

BerryWeekly: Flowers, Room Scents & Vita Coco

Hello!

"prepare to get some tips to spice up your room for Summer"

Another Friday has approached us! OMG I feel like every Friday I start with the same intro, either that or 'TGIF'. Gosh, it's getting old! Anyway, that may be getting old but lets see what's new and loving this week! Also, prepare to get some tips to spice up your room for Summer, too! :)

"you would have NEVER in a billion years thought of it"

The flowers in the garden have been blooming and that's when the most creative idea ever hit me: Cut up a few flowers and leaves and stick them in a vase for the room! Yes, I know - you would have NEVER in a billion years thought of it!

Why not make the most out of what we have - so if you have flowers in your garden or if anyone allows you to take their flowers, definitely do this - it's super easy and looks amazing! Plus, it's always lovely to wake up to these beauties in the morning!

"you would understand my excitement when a whole box of it landed on my doorstep"

You may be as hyped about coconuts as I am - as shown in this post, this post and this post - and if you are, you would understand my excitement when a whole box of it landed on my doorstep on Monday! I ordered it from Amazon, by the way.

"Definitely recommend it"

Finally, another thing thats great for your room is this fragrance diffuser. It is a plug-in and has 3 scents which change every 45 minutes. This makes it so you can smell the fragrance every time it changes and realise it is there. I have the trio in 'Thai Orchid' and this is the 3volution fragrance diffuser by Ambi Pur. Definitely recommend it and it lasts forever!

I hope you had a fantastic week and tell me: What's your favourite type of Flowers? 

Apologies, Coconut & Desktop Roses!

Hello!

First of all, I do apologise that I haven't been able to reply to your comments recently! I love reading them and have read them all as I get an email on my phone too. I reply to them in my head but don't get a chance to type that out haha!! That sounds silly but to put it into perspective: This is the first time I've turned my laptop on for the last 2 days (that's a lot for me!)! Less than a month to go until exam season is over, though!!! :D

Well, you know that I haven't been able to reply to comments, but I can't leave you hanging on not doing a Friday post, therefore, this needed to be written!

So, the sun is finally out full blast since Wednesday and everyone in England seems to be loving it!
The grass was cut, hedges trimmed in the garden and a fresh coconut split into pieces to enjoy! I love coconut.. everything! I've made coconut cookies and a post on coconut water! So, you can imagine how happy I was to consume raw coconut!

Also, I changed my desktop picture! I blurred out the files and folders but it looks so lovely! Changing things up is super fun and with it being Spring and the sun popping out, I loved how the roses looked: Fresh, Pure and Girly. Link to image HERE. 

Okay, obviously I don't have much going on in my life right now but exams, hence the post was a bit boring! But mainly I wanted to apologise for not being able to reply to you! Expect posts and soon I'll begin replying again too! Thanks for sticking with me!

Well, I hope you enjoyed it, now the Laptop is turning off again! But tell me: what's your desktop background at the moment?

BerryHealthy: Vita Coco - Quench your thirst!

Hello!

How are you? Looking forward to the colder weather or missing summer already? Well, if you're anything like me, you LOVE the fresh fruits and foods that summer brings! Well, one of those things are COCONUTS.

Actually, coconuts are available year round in a lot of countries, but it just feels more fun to drink the cool coconut water in the summer. However, if you live in England, or colder places, coconuts don't grow on trees on the side of the road - Oh, I wish!

So, instead of that, I bought a big box of Vita Coco from Costco the other day! Vita Coco is packaged pure coconut water. It has an array of benefits which makes me love it even more!

"Vita Coco's all natural, super-hydrating, fat-free, cholesterol-free, nutrient-packed, potassium-stacked, mega-electrolyte coconut water!" is what it says on the bottle. Basically, I love anything coconut. Coconut has a huge nutritional benefit hype going on right now - actually I even used Coconut Oil in these cookies and the taste was incredible!

Anyway, did you know: Vita Coco has more potassium than a banana! Potassium is needed to reduce the sodium in your body. It is actually said that most people lack enough potassium in their diet1 and potassium relieves the body from stroke, blood pressure, heart and kidney disorders, anxiety and stress as well as MORE benefits (that you can always google... hehe!). By the way, other coconut water brands include Zico and I think I've even seen a Sainbury's brand coconut water... but I've always like Vita Coco!

As well as a great source of potassium, Vita Coco has electrolytes which I didn't know what they do, but after some research discovered: Electrolytes are electrically-charged substances that are found in your urine, blood and other bodily fluids. You know how people always say that drinking your own urine is really good for you? Well, maybe this is why. Basically, electrolytes are great to replenish your body of any fluids that may have been excreted - that is why sports drinks (which contain electrolytes) are drunk after exercise: to ensure that the body is not deprived of any necessary fluid!

Anyway, as well as all these amazing benefits of coconut water, it tastes amazing! So, give Vita Coco a go! :D

Have you tried it before? And loads of people I know do not like bananas (I LOVE THEM) so this is a great source of potassium!

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)!