Hello Autumn!

 

On the hunt for a pizza stone my younger sister Katie, and I, went searching in TK Maxx.  However, we got a little sidetracked when we saw all the Halloween and Autumn decorations.

 

I love the Autumnal colours!

I'm happy to see all of this seasonal decorations on display......because it means that soon they will have their Christmas stock on display!

And just before we went home we called in to Starbucks on Chatham street for a double espresso machiatto.  This drawing on the chalkboard made us laugh.  Never a truer word written!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza That Does NOT Fall Apart! Low Carb Pizza

I saw this video on Youtube and decided I'd make my own Low Carb Pizza.  


To make my base I followed the instructions in the video but used Parmesan and Mozzarella cheese and egg to mix with the cauliflower to make the base.  I also used oregano, basil and chilli flakes in the base mix.


Here's the pics of how it turned out.  Let me know what you think!

Here is the pizza base when I took it out of the oven.

I was going to make my own tomato sauce but saw Janet's Just Delicious Pizza Sauce in Supervalu in the Food Academy and thought it looked it good (it was very tasty).

Here is the sauce spread on the base - next time I will use more sauce.

 Then I covered the sauce in Mozzarella cheese

Ciaran got in on the act - he said it needed more cheese

In to the oven with it after it got topped in pepperoni

 This is the finished product.  My verdict is that it was fairly tasty but next time I will add more sauce, cheese and pepperoni.......that probably says a lot about the cauliflower pizza base!!!

As a regular pizza substitute this Cauli-Crust Pizza is not too bad. However, it does take a lot of preparation.  Perhaps if you are used to making homemade pizza you may not think it takes too long to make.  For me, pizza means picking up the phone and getting a delivery of a Domino's Pizza in 40 minutes so I found this to be a lot of work.........but definitely worthwhile to do!

Banting "Kung Pao Chicken on Coconut Cauli-Rice" from Real Meal Revolution Book

I borrowed The Real Meal Revolution from the library yesterday.  It is a Banting or LCHF (low carb high fat) cookbook and the recipes are amazing!!

I decided that I would try to cook the Kung Pao with Coconut Cauliflower Rice.  It looks so good in the cookbook and from the video you can see that it seems fairly easy to cook.

 I'm intrigued to see what the Coconut Cauli-Rice tastes like.  Cauliflower Rice is a low carb alternative to rice - have you ever tasted it? 

 I had to buy every single ingredient as I had nothing in my pantry. 

And voila - here is the finished dish!

It was very tasty but next time I will add less water to the cauli-rice as it was a little watery.  But definitely a success and was given the thumbs up by my husband......even though he spotted straight away that there was not real rice on the plate.

The Real Meal Revolution is available from Amazon - if you are looking for a Low Carb High Fat cookbook I would think this is a good buy.  As well as including lots of great recipes with super pics, all the science behind Banting or LCHF and why fat doesn't cause obesity but Carbohydrate does is explained thoroughly at the back by Professor Tim Noakes.  It's a whopper of a book and I think it is the LCHF bible!

Granby Burger Patties

While buying Clonakilty pudding tonight, these Granby Burger Patties caught my eye.

They are marked at only 39c and are made by Granby which was established in 1933!!

Have you ever eaten one?! What was it like??  

I am a giant!

"I am a giant"

Well obviously not!

But drinking from little espresso cups does make you feel like a giant sometimes.

 Amy and I found these adorable little espresso cups in Easons in Dun Laoghaire (at the Ukulele Festival).  I got 4 cups.  Three with a dog print and one with the message "In case of hangover add COFFEE".......which I am sure I will need to do at some time!!

Rain Rain Go Away!

On both Saturday & Sunday we visited the Ukulele Festival in Dun Laoghaire.  The weather was fairly bad (typical for Ireland) but we were wrapped up well and we brought our umbrellas.

There was a fair crowd at the event considering the bad weather.....but I hope they get sun next year as it was fairly bad weather last year too. 

 We enjoyed the music and had drinks, sausage and sweet potato fries - I loved spending the time with my twin sister.

At one point we were cold and wet so we ventured to Costa for a coffee.  We both had double espressos and cream.  Delish - and warming too!

I'm already looking forward to next year's hooley :-)

Christmas in August!

It's been a horrible wet August weekend here in Dublin.  So I was so happy to visit the newly opened Christmas Shop in Brown Thomas with my twin sister!

I love this Nutcracker!  I would consider buying a large nutcracker this year except that I plan to get a train to go round my tree.  

 My tree is decorated in traditional red and green colours so I bought this glittery train decoration.  Amy's tree is decorated in white and silver so I bought her this 3 dimensional silver star ornament. 

As you can see, I was in my element!

I look forward to visiting this Christmas Shop (and the Marvel Room) again at a much closer time to Christmas - and I also look forward to the Dunnes Stores & Penneys Christmas Shops opening!!

Where do you store your eggs?!

In Ireland, we buy our eggs off the shelf.  Where are your eggs shelved in your store?  Are they refrigerated?

Then when we take them home we generally store in the fridge.

Why, I don't really know?!

Any ideas???

Our eggs are generally brown here in Ireland (I'm not sure of the variety of chicken that gives brown eggs) but I found Duck Eggs in a butcher shop in Dun Laoghaire so I bought a few for breakfast this morning.  Quite yummy! Very silky and indulgent.

Rose of Tralee Party #ROTparty

The Rose of Tralee was held over Monday and Tuesday this week. For the final on Tuesday, my twin sister held a #ROT party!

The catering was traditional Irish - smoked salmon on brown bread followed by Apple Tart.

Amy even took out her Castleknock Rose sash - she was a Dublin Rose entrant about 17 yrs ago representing the Castleknock area.  

Jessie, our cousin by marriage, was over from Singapore - she loved trying on the sash and the pink plastic tiara!

What a fun night!

And during the break Amy gave gifts to Jessie &  Kasey for attending their first #ROT party......

Amy Winehouse Documentary at the Rathmines Omniplex

I went to see "Amy" yesterday evening.  What an incredible talent she was.  It was really sad to see how her life and ultimately tragic death unfolded.  Perhaps her troubles were what made her so talented....or was it her talent that caused her troubles?







It's a tough watch (but enjoyable in parts - particularly the music) and I definitely recommend you go see it in the cinema.  

The best gifts are.......homemade!

It's my older sister's birthday shortly.  Last year she had a big birthday party where she received a lot of lovely presents including something nice from me.

This year, however, I decided to make something for her.  She has so much stuff that I was at a loss as to what I should get for her.  So homemade was definitely a better option.

I made her this lovely floral bunting.  She has a large back garden and often holds gatherings in it for family and friends so I think she will certainly have a use for this bunting as garden decoration.

Here it is all packaged up and ready to be given to her.

I wrapped it in cellophane and put a ribbon on it along with a tag that I sewed on my "Handmade By" label.

I'm very happy with how it turned out and hopefully my sister will be happy when she receives it next week!

Click here to see a small bunting tutorial and there is also a further link to my "No-Sew Bunting"

Irish Premiere of "Trainwreck"

I managed to snag 2 tickets to the Irish premiere of the new Amy Schumer film, "Trainwreck".  My twin sister was thrilled to hear this and kept uttering "Gold Dust" along with saying that it was amazing that I got the tickets!

The movie was screened in the Savoy Cinema - here are some pics of the red carpet before anyone had arrived.

Before the film started the stars of the film were introduced.  Here's Amy Schumer, Bill Hader, Vanessa Bayer  & Director Judd Apatow.  

They chatted a little, answered a few rehearsed questions and told a few jokes.  All very funny - and brilliant to see Hollywood stars in such close proximity.

The main event then began with the screening of the film written by Amy Schumer.

Afterwards, Amy (not Amy Schumer, but actually Amy B., my twin sister!) said that she thought the movie was very real and also very clever.  I gave a little bit of thought to what she said.  Like sure, it was clever, as most good comedies are.  But thinking about it more, I have to agree with her.  It was very clever.  The humour was clever and cleverly done in the sense that it wasn't playing for laughs......it was as real and as funny as real life is.  For example, there was no over the top, funny but unbelievable, scenes like in say the movie "Bridesmaids"....you know the scene I'm talking about....the one that took place in the bridal store.  It's a funny scene but not one bit realistic and waaay over the top.  So for that reason I'd say, Yes, Trainwreck is very clever and also very "real".  It's extremely engaging, honest, funny and I could relate to it (probably because I fancy myself as a bit of a feminist!).....It's just a funny real life film which I think all women should go see!

When I got home  I went straight on IMDB to see who played Amy's sister in the movie.  I didn't recognize her from any films that I had seen but thought that she was excellent in the role. Stunningly beautiful but quietly unassuming, she was perfect.  Her name is Brie Larson  and although she has been in loads of films I haven't seen any of them.  I'll be watching out for her in future films!

Here's the obligatory cinema selfie of my twin and I!

Oh and to see what Amy (not Schumer Amy) thought, you can read her blog post about the event here!

Getting Holiday Ready!

I'm heading from Ireland to California in a few short weeks at the beginning of September.  At this point I'm trying to get bikini ready for my trip.

Here's my tips for looking your best on vacation.

Hair
I love how my hair looks when I am on holidays.  When I am by the beach the salt water gives my hair great body and it looks beachy and relaxed.  Currently I am overdue a hair cut and my highlights also need to be touched up.  
However, I am waiting until the week before I go away to get my hair done.  This means that it will look its best for my trip!

Skin
In order to get a good tan while away you need to have ultra moisturized skin. While in the shower I use a body scrub to remove any dead skin and I've been religiously using lotion and cream every day and after showering.  As an extra you could also use a tanning moisturizer which will give you a tan base......but I'm not too bothered about this.

 

Body
In order to get in to your best shape, it's best to start a good workout plan about 8-12 weeks before you go away. Unfortunately, I didn't give myself that length of time.  However, I am currently using a Fitness Blender Workout programme which seems to be working!  I would also recommend cutting carbs and eating clean in order to lose a few pounds.  Eating non processed food is an easy way to do this.

 



Feet
I will be exposing my feet on my holidays when I wear my nice holiday shoes so I need my feet to be in good shape.  I do find that once you have spent a day or two on the beach, your feet feel really good.  Walking in the sand massages off dead skin and bring your feet up really nicely.  Currently I have been using an awesome L'Occitane foot cream which is really moisturizing and smells so good.

Other than all of the above(!) I'm not doing anything else.

I'm currently using this Cidal soap.  It's cheap and cheerful, available in Boots, grapefruit flavoured and totally gorgeous!!!  You need to get some!  :-)


Do you have any tips to get bikini ready for vacationing?