Healthy Granola Bars

I haven't posted anything on here in a while, let alone a recipe post but here you go! Quite a bit different than my usual sugar-laden, super sweet desserts but still very tasty - granola bars! These are absolutely packed with plenty of good-for-you ingredients and are addicting to snack on. They come together quite quickly and make the perfect snack. I got the recipe from aunt but made a few minor changes. You can totally customize the bars to fit your preference - add whatever nuts or seeds you prefer or add in dried fruit or dark chocolate. Whatever! Here's what I did:

Ingredients -

2 Cups Oats

1 Cup Roughly Chopped Almonds

1 Cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut

1/4 Cup Raw Sunflower Seeds

1/4 Cup Raw Pumpkin Seeds

1/4 Cup Chopped Walnuts

1/4 Cup Chopped Pistachios

1/4 Cup Chia Seeds

3 TBSP Coconut Oil

1/2 Cup Raw Honey

Just Shy 1/4 Cup Coconut Sugar

1 TSP Ground Cinnamon

3/4 Cup Puffed Rice

1/4 Cup Hemp Hearts

Method -

1 - Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. On a baking tray combine oats, almonds, shredded coconut, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, walnuts and pistachios. Bake in oven for 10-15 minutes or until oats and coconut are golden brown. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add chia seeds.

2 - In a saucepan on medium heat, combine coconut oil, honey and coconut sugar. Bring to a boil and stir until all ingredients are combined.

3 - Pour over the oats mixture. Add in your cinnamon, puffed rice and hemp hearts. If you are using dried fruit or any additional ingredients, add them in now. Mix until everything comes together.

4 - On a baking tray lined with parchment paper, pour the mixture out. Wet your hands to prevent mixture from sticking, and flatten out until about 1.5 cm thick. Bake for 20-25 minutes.

5 - Once out of the oven, set the baking tray on a cooling rack until the granola is slightly warm and firm. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into however wide and long you would like your pieces to be. Keep any crumbs or pieces that break off when you're cutting and use them to sprinkle over yogurt or cereal. Store bars in an airtight container.

Easy peasy! Enjoy! x

We danced all night to the best song ever

One Direction are not my guilty pleasure. I'm twenty-two years old and I absolutely love them - guilt-free and unashamedly. And nOOOO (!!!!) I do not think I'm far too old to like a boy band and nOOOO (!!!!) I'm not embarrassed to call myself a Directioner, however I wouldn't catogorize myself  as a diehard fan - you won't catch me staking out their hotels or chasing them down the street (though I would love to meet them!). But, singing at the top of my voice in a stadium full of 48,000 screaming fans? That, I can most definitely do all over again. 

One thing (pun unintended) that I love about 1D is how much fun they always seem to be having. They don't take themselves too seriously and whether it's in an interview I'm watching online or seeing them live, they're constantly making me smile. 

Seeing them live was incredible, I've never been to a concert of that level and it was intense. We had excellent seats, right on the floor, and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. The energy that I felt walking into that stadium was insane! It was such an amazing atmosphere and I had the best time being there. I thought the boys performed brilliantly and I really enjoyed their setlist, though a few of my personal favourite songs were left out. But, that's okay! The guys still had me and my friend out of our seats, screaming lyrics out at the top of our lungs and it was all very magical. Especially seeing Louis Tomlinson in the flesh *heart eyes emoji*

Oh and if you LOVE One Direction just as much as I do you can head on over *here* and donate to Stand Up to Cancer. By supporting such a great cause you have a chance to win a trip to Miami with your bestest pal (!!!) to not only SEE One Direction live but meet them as well! How fab is that?!! 

Thanks for reading x

London Photo Diary

After an incredibly long (and a little bit stressful) day of travelling from Munich to London (with a two hour stop in Paris) I finally arrived! For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to visit England, London particularly. I think it might have a little bit to do with my obsession with the Spice Girls at such a young age. Who knows? While my friends and I were planning our European holiday I knew that I absolutely had to go to London, so I made plans with my friend Stephanie to meet her there. Before Steph and I met up, I spent a few days on my own in London. I stayed at the most lovely hotel in Belgravia, Z Hotel Victoria. It was very small but so cute and the staff were so kind, I'd definitely love to stay there again. While I was alone I didn't do too much exploring, I mostly just wandered around Belgravia and Chelsea and ate some amazing baked goods from Baker & Spice (such good scones!). I was really excited to meet up with Stephanie, she had been studying in Southern England and I was looking forward to catching up with her. She has family living in London and they were so lovely to let us stay with them. 

We wanted to get all the typical tourist attractions out of the way, so we got up early the next morning and made our way to the London Eye. I've always wanted to take a ride on it and I was not let down. The views were absolutely spectacular! There was a very long queue but it moved along quite quickly. If you ever get the chance, do take a ride - I swear it's worth it! Next, we walked over to Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace, passing Big Ben along the way. It was so bizarre seeing all of these famous sights in person after dreaming about visiting London for so long now. It was then when it finally began to sink in that I was really in England!

The next day was Stephanie's 21st birthday, so this obviously meant cake for breakfast. We headed over to Peggy Porschen in Belgravia to treat ourselves to something delicious. I went for the strawberry and champagne cupcake and the birthday girl grabbed a slice of the strawberry and champagne layer cake, both very delicious. The shop itself was so cute - a pink building with a wonderfully pastel interior. We continued the birthday celebrations with some shopping down Kings Road and afternoon tea at the Cadogen Hotel, complete with champagne and tasty tea sandwiches, scones and pastries. Silly me, I didn't take any pictures during tea. Oops!

One of my favourite places we visited in London was the Camden market. I could've spent days wandering around the stalls and eating all the delicious food that they offer. We paid a visit to Evil from the Needle tattoo studio, where the two of us got a tattoo. The staff inside were so friendly and it was definitely a great experience. I have always wanted to get a tattoo while travelling and I'm so happy I did! Stephanie got two bird silhouettes behind her ear and I got a teacup on my forearm. I love it so much, it will forever remind of having the greatest time in London with one of my closest friends. The majority of our time in London was spent shopping and and eating. I visited the Topshop in Oxford Circus and I honestly thought this is what heaven must look like. We also ate a lot of Ben's Cookies (my favourites being the coconut and the peanut butter cookies - amazing!) and a lot of fish and chips (I have never had mushy peas until I got to London and I loved them far too much!). 

I've been to quite a few foreign cities, all of which hold special places in my heart. I have been dreaming of visiting London nearly all of my life and I was not disappointed. The minute I arrived I instantly knew that it would become my favourite city. I honestly cannot wait until I can go back. 

During our stay we grabbed a train to Paris for two days before returning back to finish off our time in London. Look out for my Paris travel diary coming at you soon! Thank you for reading! x

Plum Cake

Hello! I thought I would take a break in-between my travel diary posts to give you my favourite recipe of the moment - super delicious plum cake! My mother grabbed this recipe from an issue of Martha Stewart Living a few years back and it's a real gem. I don't know about you but usually when I try one of Martha Stewarts recipes things do not go well. I truly think Martha leaves important instructions/ingredients out of her recipes just so no one can ever truly recreate her masterpieces (I have a love/hate relationship with her). Anyways, this is the one Martha Stewart recipe I've tried that always goes over very well. The cake is soft and sweet with a crunchy outer layer with thinly sliced plums fanned over top. One great thing about this recipe is that you can go ahead and top it with whatever fruit you have laying about. I've tried with plums, nectarines and cherries and they all came out great. I can't wait for Autumn so I could try a version with apples or pears. So exciting!

Martha Stewart's Plum Cake -

Ingredients:

4 TBSP unsalted butter, room temperature + more for the pan

1 cup all-purpose flour + more for the pan

1/2 TSP baking powder

1/4 TSP baking soda

1/2 TSP coarse salt

3/4 sugar + more for sprinkling over top

1 large egg

1/2 cup butter milk (or 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 TBSP white vinegar mixed in - sit for 10 minutes)

2-3 ripe plums (or whatever fruits you have on hand), thinly sliced

Method:

1 - Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 8-9 inch cake pan and dust with flour. Tap out any excess.

2 - Whisk together your dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Using your electric mixer on medium speed, cream together your butter and sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg. In three additions add in your dry ingredients mixture, alternating with your buttermilk.

3 - Pour your batter into the prepared cake pan and smooth the top over with an offset spatula or a knife. Fan your thinly sliced plums (or whatever fruit you have) over top and sprinkle with sugar.

4 - Pop your pan in the oven of 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool and enjoy!

Thank you for reading! x

Munich Photo Diary

From Salzburg we took a train into Munich, where we spent the next five days. Germany was never on my list of places I needed to visit, but I'm so glad I did. Munich is so historic and beautiful, I'm sure my eyes were as big as saucers looking around at all of the beautiful sights. Two days while we were in Munich we specifically for two different tours, so during the rest of our time there we mostly just wandered around and ate a lot of pretzels. 

One day we traveled to the town of Füssen to visit Neuschwanstein Castle. I like to think I'm some what well traveled and I can safely say that I have never seen anything quite as impressive as this castle. My photos hardly do it any justice. It was spectacular and I was in absolute awe.  To get up to the castle we had to trek up this steep hill, which was not fun at all - but it was so worth it. If you are ever near Füssen you really need to go! I demand it. This castle was another one of the highlights of my trip.

Another day we took a trip to the town of Dachau to take a tour of the Dachau Concentration Camp. The camp now serves as a memorial site and there are several memorials located on site. I didn't take any photos during our visit, I borrowed the photograph of one of the memorials from my lovely pal Monika (Monika - I hope you don't mind!). We walked through Barrack X, which housed the gas chamber and walking through there was truly chilling. It was interesting (and utterly horrifying) to hear some of the stories our tour guide shared with us. Definitely one of the most eye opening experiences of my trip.

On a much lighter note, our remaining days in Munich were spent popping in and out of shops and visiting beer gardens. In the evenings the beer gardens would stop serving half litres of beer, so only full litres were available. I'm not much of a beer drinker, so I struggled a bit (my two friends finished with ease). I was quite sad to be leaving Munich, mainly because I was leaving my two friends behind. I made the decision to leave my friends halfway through our trip to visit  England. So I boarded a train and was now en route to London! 

Stay tuned for my London photo diary coming up soon! x