RIP Dolores O'Riordan

RIP Dolores O'Riordan

This amazing Irish singer will be missed worldwide

Sign her condolence book here

Halo Top has arrived in Ireland

Do you know about Halo Top?

It's an ice cream that is marketed as healthy due to it being low sugar and low calorie while being high protein.

It comes in a variety of flavours and it has just arrived on Irish shores.

My sister told me that it was available in Tesco so I went this afternoon to buy some. I reckon there had been a rush on it as there was only 4 left in the freeze. 2 vanilla, 1 mint and 1 chocolate.  

I bought the chocolate.

I sat down to watch The Jane Austen Book Club and cracked open the tub of chocolate. 

Well......my verdict was........ that it was good.  Not Ben & Jerry's good. But when you are off sugar you don't have much options.

I will say that I found it very sweet but I was able to solve that by putting a big dollop of whipped cream on top which took the edge off the sweetness.

So all in all a nice treat at the end of the weekend before the week ahead.

Clearing out and Bookcrossing.....

I was doing a little clear out of my bookshelves and rather than give the books to a charity shop I decided to have a little fun and register them on Bookcrossing.com

I used to bookcross years ago - it means you can register your books and then track them when you let them go.

I left a little stack of books for people to take in my local Starbucks.

There's some good ones in the pile, hopefully there is some interest from readers and they go to a good home.

Homemade Clotted Cream

So I made Clotted Cream!!

Have you ever tasted it? It is an intensely flavoured cream that tastes somewhere between cream or butter.

It takes a good length of time to make.  You need to put it in the oven at a low heat for 12 hours and then it sits in the fridge for another 8 hours. Whoa.

Click here to see a video about how to make your own clotted cream.

Once fully made I put the clotted cream in to a jar to store.

 

And then I slathered a load on to the keto bread that I made this morning.

It was delicious!

I may make a strawberry trifle with the keto bread (it is nearly like sponge cake), strawberries and the clotted cream. Watch this space!

Keto Coconut Flour Bread

I found a recipe for Keto Coconut Flour Bread online last night and as I had some coconut flour in my cupboard I decided to make it this morning.

There are not too many ingredients in the bread and you would probably have most of them in your house.

The recipe can be found here on Diet Doctor. As you can see I substituted butter for coconut oil. I made the substitution because I always have more butter than coconut oil in my house. The bread tasted very coconutty when cooked so I was glad I did this. I love the flavour of butter so I was glad I added it to the mix.

This is how the bread turned out.  I left it to cool for about an hour before I cut it.

It cut well.

I toasted a few slices.

Then I smoothered it in butter.  I think cream cheese would be a good option on this bread - or even clotted cream.

It is more cake like than bread but if you miss bread I think it is a good substitute and would work perfectly with smashed avocado and a fried egg. How filling does that sound?!

It is quite dry so you certainly need to put a creamy filling on top - but that is great to get additional fat in to your daily intake.

My Le Creuset Butter Bell came in to it's own as I slathered the bread in butter. It keeps the butter fresh room temperature at and perfectly spreadable. Delish!

I was impressed with this bread. I thought it was easy to make (mix the wet ingredients together and then add the dry) and it was a tasty loaf when made.

Let me know in the comments if you have ever made Keto Bread and what you think of this one.

Irish Life Mall - Dublin City

I met my twin sister at the Irish Life Mall this morning before we went for coffee in Starbucks on O'Connell Street. 

My twin sister works close to the Irish Life Mall so she gets to see the mall in all it's quirky glory most days of the week. 

I am rarely in this part of town so it was quite the experience for me to park in the mall car park and then walk up the stairs to the mall.

Here's a few pics which show you what it is like.......

                          Welcome to the Irish Life Mall!

This plaque is in the car park of the Irish Life Mall. 

It reads:

The Moland Street Stone

Moland Street appears on old maps of Dublin in the 18th and early 19th century. This stone originally marked the site of the street which was in the vicinity of the present Irish Life Centre.

 

The plaque is situated to the front of these plants - you see it to your left as you come out the doors to head up the stairs.

Love the stone work!

This place it unlike any other in Dublin City. When I visit, it reminds me of childhood trips to town. 

They have some nice Christmas decorations in the Irish Life Mall.

Thank you for visiting the 1980's!

Happy New Year - 2018 is here!

2018 is here after we had a lovely celebration yesterday. We had dinner in Dillingers and then returned home early and watched a film before switching on the TV just before midnight for the countdown.
We cracked open a bottle of prosecco and toasted in the New Year and made it to bed shortly after.

Earlier in the day, Ciaran had painted and videoed him and broadcast live on both Facebook and Periscope. You can watch the video here.
I also took a few pics of him for posterity on the last day of the year. Here's one of them.

For my New Year resolutions, I intend to give up my diet coke habit as I drink far to much of it. A far better option is to substitute with sparkling water at first and then switch out for regular water.

I also am going back off carbs as I have started back eating them since November and quite honestly I feel better when I am not eating a big load of processed sugar.

I'll let you know how I get on!

In the meanwhile here's a handy guide on what to eat and what not to.

Happy New Year to you all and Good Luck with your new year resolutions.