A Dinner Party With A Private Chef

I love being a host, having people over to my house for food/drinks/movies/whatever we fancy is one of my favourite things. If you know me you know I'll always choose a night in over a night out. Recently I had the chance to have my very own chef for the evening, perfect for people like me who aren't the greatest at cooking. Whenever I invite people round it often results in us ordering a takeaway due to my fear of being a bad cook! La Belle Assiette is an online private chef service who aim to make hosting a dinner party easier & a lot more enjoyable. They have chefs located all over the country so wherever you are there is a chef ready & waiting to host a dinner party for you! 

April Degustabox

Whenever a Degustabox* arrives at my door I'm always intrigued to find out what edible treats are inside. Dom also shares my excitement & actually I often come home to the box already opened! Degustabox is a monthly subscription box filled with 10 to 15 products that are completely new to the market, it's a great opportunity to try out the latest food launches for a fraction of the price. If you want to give Degustabox a go be sure to use the code 'BLDEG15' to get £6.00 off, making the cost of the box only £6.99.

I'm always drawn to the chocolates & other sweet snacks included in the box, whereas Dom loves seeing the savoury goodies. My favourite item from the April box has got to be the Milkybar Milk & Crunch Bars, a delicious biscuit coated in a thick layer of Milkybar chocolate, so good. The other chocolate-y treat I received was the Smarties Sharing Block which has been my evening snack when I've been snuggled on the sofa watching TV with Dom & the Pugs. Kervanigda Bebeto Mini Fruit Strings are suitable for both Vegetarians & Vegans & are a delicious fruit sweet. I love Strawberry laces so much but these ones are much better for me with the reduced amount of processed sugars & they taste just as good. My favourite flavour was the Raspberry ones.  One sugary item we won't be using is the Merisant Canderel Sweetener as I'm not keen on the idea of it after reading some health articles but Doms Mum uses Sweetener & was pleased to receive this from us. The final two sweet food items are from a brand called Parle, one of the largest selling biscuit brands - a fun fact for a Tuesday evening! The Parle Rusk is a crunchy & crispy toast, nice enough to eat on it's own but Parle recommend dunking it in a cup of tea, more specifically a chai tea. Parle G are a milk & wheat biscuit that provide enough nourishment that they a meal substitute for some. I'll be eating these as a tasty snack when I next crave a biscuit. 

There is always a couple of drinks in the boxes too, the THOR Dry Apple Spritz in Mint was my favourite, its really refreshing & crisp, I'll be stocking up on this for the Summer! We also received the Mint & Apple flavour too but I'm yet to try that one, I imagine it will be just as delicious though. The other beverage in the box was a Rejuvenation Water in Apple & Mint which is enriched with Amino Acids to help fuel the immune system & build up a natural resilience to anxiety & depression. I think this is such a unique idea, I've saved this drink to try on a day when I'm not feeling the best to see if it will boost my mood.

Onto the savoury food items, the first to catch my eye was the Levi Roots Coat 'n' Cook Marinade as I absolutely love Reggae Reggae sauce so I know I'll love this. I'm gonna pop this over some Chicken & stir fry it with the Veetee Basmati Rice that came in this months selection. I'll be eating the Veetee Wholegrain & Quinoa Rice myself though as Dom isn't really into the 'healthier' versions of his favourite foods! A savoury snack that was included was a big packet of Popchips in the new flavour Sea Salt, Garlic & Rosemary. I've become addicted to crisps & dips at the moment so I've already demolished the whole bag, tasty & a healthy option to your standard bag of crisps. 

Have you tried Degustabox?
L x

Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin' | Facebook | Pinterest

5 Things To Bake

Now that I am the proud owner of a KitchenAid Mixer I've been looking for recipes more than ever. I've always been into baking & would often whip up a batch of cupcakes or a plate of cookies so I feel like I can take my baking skills to the next level & start experimenting a bit more!
Pastel Rainbow Layer Cake: I've been obsessed with the idea of creating a rainbow layer cake for years now, in fact I have made two, the first turned out to be a massive fail as the sponges all turned funny murky looking colours (I now know that gel food colour is your best friend when baking colourful cakes etc), the second one was layers 3 layers of different blue shades for Doms 21st. I was actually pretty impressed with that one but sadly I have no photos of it as my iPhone was stolen that night & we didn't have wifi in the flat so the photos never saved to my iCloud! Anyway my next goal is to attempt a 6 layer pastel sponge cake, I'll keep you all updated!

Pug Shaped Cookies: I guess this is a kinda obvious one, anything Pug related & I'm immediately drawn to it & whilst cookies are a pretty easy bake, it would be cute to make Pug shaped ones. My only problem is trying to find a Pug shaped cookie cutter that isn't ridiculously overpriced, no way am I paying £20!
Macarons: I really, really love Macarons, especially ones from Laduree which I've been lucky enough to sample a few times now. They're such a luxury little treat, but one that is really worth the wait! I've heard Macarons are quite a challenge to make, but I'm still tempted to have a go, especially as Macarons are so pricey to buy so it would be nice to be able to make my own!
Funfetti Doughnuts: I feel like baking doughnuts would be like unlocking a level in a game, doughnuts are life, well for me anyway! I think it would be pretty awesome to invite all my friends round & be like "hey! look I made doughnuts!" - I feel like they would be impressed with me anyway haha (:
Nutella Braided Bread: Nutella on toast is one of my fave sugary snacks when I've no chocolate bars/sweets to binge on so a bread that has nutella plaited through it would be my ultimate comfort food.
L x

Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin' | Facebook | Pinterest

American Food Haul

I don't really share many food posts over on this little blog of mine, which is quite surprising considering my huge amount of love for it! When I lived in London I posted a review of The Breakfast Club in Spitalfields & whilst I was scrolling through old posts for inspiration & ideas I remembered how much I'd enjoyed putting together that piece & made a note, both mental & on my iPhone, to document more foodie things which brings me to today's post, an American food haul! 
One evening after Dom had picked me up from work we stopped off at Tesco to pick up something for tea & I was also keen for him to show me the American food aisle that I mentioned in this post. I let the excitement get to me a little too much & even Dom didn't manage to restrain me from spending a slightly silly amount on a certain box of cereal... I did only intend to buy some poptarts as I wasn't expecting to be faced with so much choice, but never mind! It seems I have developed a slight obsession with Peanut Butter recently so naturally I had to buy the Peanut Butter flavoured M&Ms as well as Reese's Puffs. Reese's Peanut Butter cups are my downfall at the moment, whenever I'm buying lunch I can never resist picking up a pack! Reese's Puff cereal is a 100 times better than I anticipated which makes me feel less bad about paying £5 for it, eating it by the handfuls whilst sat in bed is my favourite way to enjoy it haha. The Wrigley's Extra Dessert Delights Mint Chocolate Chip Chewing Gum is something I've seen quite a lot over on Instagram so I was excited to discover it sitting on the shelves amongst all the other American foods. The Strawberry Marshmellow Fluff was actually Dom's pick as he had never tried it before, I prefer the original version though. Finally, last but not least I actually remembered to get the one item I went in for, poptarts, Hot Fudge Sundae flavour! I've been super jealous of America having all these different flavours of gum/m&ms/poptarts that I'm glad I can experience a few of them now without having to fly across the Atlantic Ocean first!
When we get our own place again I definitely want to share some of my favourite recipes, not just cakes & sweet treats but also savoury options like the risotto I seem to forever be cooking & a chicken dish I love to cook on special occasions/when I can be bothered making the effort! Look out for them in the near future (:
L x

Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin' | Facebook | Pinterest

the breakfast club - spitalfields

A good few months ago now Dom & I decided to finally visit The Breakfast Club & see what all the fuss was about & it certainly lived up to its expectations & more! 

When we arrived at the Spitalfields branch we expected to be stood in a queue for at least half an hour, going by what we had heard anyway but to our surprise there was absolutely no waiting time. That was possibly because we went at a really odd time of the day at like 3pm or something because we are forever late to anything & it's perfectly acceptable to eat breakfast in late afternoon right!?

I opted for the fruit pancakes, without cream (yuk!) & a latte whilst Dom chose 'The All American' which consisted of eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, streaky bacon, pancakes & maple syrup along with a mug of tea. I can't even tell you how good the pancakes were, like seriously I wish I could eat them every single day. They were perfectly fluffy & sweet but not too sweet & honestly just so delicious.

The cafe itself was filled with vintage memorabilia, mismatched tables & chairs giving it a true 80's vibe. I didn't get any good photos of inside really as I only had my iPhone & lighting is quite dull so because I'm no pro at photography I decided it wasn't worth the hassle but have a little google & you'll see what I mean! Plus I was too busy soaking up the atmosphere, listening to The Black Keys & enjoying my pancakes!

I really enjoy sharing these little lifestyle posts on my blog & they will probably become more of a regular feature. I'm one of those people who loves to look back on what I got up to so it's a perfect way to document these moments (:

Have you ever been to The Breakfast Club?

L x

Twitter | Instagram | Bloglovin' | Facebook

my week in photos #4

Regent Street decorated with flags for the Olympics | Gerrards Cross is a lovely place | Meet Maisy the Yorkshire Terrier :) | & here is Abi our other Yorkshire Terrier | Treated Dom & I to a Starbucks lunch | Cloud the Husky puppy - he is super naughty & had roller about in all the mud haha! | Addicted to this Angelica nail polish! | Made a stuffed crust pizza for my baba bro (who is 8 but to me he is still a lil baby!) | Baked these with my little brother too!

I'm so sorry about the lack of posts this week, I've been a little stressed out because I'm sorting out my student house in London. This resulted in me travelling down the country, firstly to Leicester & then onto London the next day, which has been very tiring! I'm not sure I'll get to blog alot next week either as I've gotta go to Leeds, London again & Leeds again at the end of the week... please bare with me! I have lots of ideas on posts, it really is just having the time to compile them ):

I've gone a little crazy taking millions of pictures of my little brother, Conor, & our doggies because on Friday they are moving to Turkey, genuinely so so so sad that they're leaving (my Stepmum wants to live there) which has resulted in me wanting lots of memories. I'm thinking about making a little book for my brother to give him when he is a bit older, full of all the pictures of us! He is an important little person in my life & I have made him promise to Skype me everyday if he can :'(

Anyway, as usual I hope you have all had a lovely weekend - I've started revision for my resits in 12 days :(

L x

Follow me on Twitter | Find me on Instagram: loulabeth | Follow me on Bloglovin

my week in photos #3

Wow this is a very food heavy post, oops! If food looks pretty I can't help but take a photo though...

Received these Angelica nail polishes in the post, the colours are fab! | Core collection, finally... | Dom treated me to Krispy Kreme | Disappointing glossybox | Pink french fancy - the best ones :) | Berries from the picnic! (on a healthy eating 'kick', you can't tell from these photos though, whoooooops | A customized studded jumper that I'm selling - comment/tweet me if you're interested | Bow bracelet & earrings | Cookie & coffee for breakfast

Been abit of a strange week really as I've not done much, blogged every day though! I have lots of blog post ideas for next week too. I might nip down to London this week, crazy I know as it'll be hectic due to the Olympics, but I kinda like that haha. I need to sort out a flat anyway so I need to have a visit sooner rather than later! Hope you're all having a lovely Sunday afternoon

L x

Follow me on Twitter | Find me on Instagram: loulabeth | Follow me on Bloglovin