Review: Pizza East

I love pizza. Even more than burgers. Controversial I know. So when we were discussing places to eat, I immediately came up with Pizza East and luckily my friends all gave their approval.  As we were coming from all over, we opted for the buzzing Shoreditch branch. Situated near Brick Lane, this old industrial tea warehouse building is right on the corner opposite Boxpark. I'd recommend booking just to ensure you don't end up disappointed. 

After being seated, we endeavoured the menu. It was a tough choice but I opted for the spicy sausage, mozzarella and tenderstem broccoli pizza. The generous chunks of succulent spicy sausage stole my heart. It added just the right amount of heat to the dish and the gooey mozzarella helped to compliment it. It was the first time I'd had broccoli on a pizza and I was sold on the first bite. It tastes delicious wrapped in the melted stringy cheese. The wood fried base was perfectly crispy and chewy at the same time. It tasted delicious dipped in the olive oil. 

Have you ever been to Pizza East?

Read more

3 quick and healthy snacks

I'm still trying to eat well and although I've managed to lose 6lbs since Christmas, I'm still carrying 1lb of Christmas weight. Those burgers and cakes clearly aren't helping matters. I was very kindly sent a yummy selections of goodies - more coming later! - from Nairns to help me keep on track with my healthy eating. The brand may be known for their oatcakes but they've also got some wheat-free oat crackers in their repertoire too. Perfect if you're not too keen on oatcakes! I've got my three favourite toppings to talk about - it makes a great change from munching on a bag of crisps at your desk!

Cream cheese and smoked salmon
This is such a classic and very tasty. I find the tiny individual pots of Light Philadelphia are perfect to take in your pack lunch. Simply smear some on a cracker and then top with a piece of salmon. Not too much as you don't want to overpower the cream cheese. Plus smoked salmon is very salty!

Guacamole and sundried tomatoes
I could easily eat sundried tomatoes like sweets. They're a great supplier of vitamin C and A as well as offering your body much needed calcium and magnesium. This will help your blood pressure. They provide the perfect accompaniment to zesty lime of the guacamole. I think this one is my favourite - it will work well with avocados too. I just find they go off a lot quicker - I can never use them up in time!

Low fat Hummus and chutney
This may sound a bit odd but it really does work well together. The sweetness of the chutney pairs great with the grainy hummus. You can never have too much hummus in your life right? Make sure you get the low fat version - it tastes exactly the same but you can save important calories.

Do you have suggestions for toppings?

Read more

Places to stay: Malmasion Oxford

Perhaps the reason why the boyfriend and I have been together eight years is because we both like slightly unusual things. Or he just amuses me by going along with slightly unusual things. One such unusual thing was booking me a nights stay in this amazing hotel as a birthday present. It is a converted prison in a medieval castle with a lot of the period features on show. The staff were extremely kind and helpful, they even tried to book us a table in town for dinner. But atlas, it was fully booked. We stayed in the superior suite - the lovely boy cheekily paid for an upgrade - and it consisted of three cells knocked together. It still has the cell down intact too. If you go down to the ground floor you can actually see a cell how it originally was.

I may have let out a little squeal when I spotted the roll top bath - filling it up to the brim on Sunday was pure heaven. We didn't touch the mini bar as we were too poor, but they had absolutely anything you could ever fancy. I loved the little touch of the bath robes and we kicked ourselves when we saw the DVD player. Games Of Thrones is crying out to be finished and we could totally have spent the entire evening in bed. The room was by far one of the best we've ever stayed in and we made that excuse when we trudged off after eating too many burgers to get into bed. At least we made full use of the room eh?!

Despite him remarking at least three times - 'The amount this cost me, we went to Berlin for the weekend' - it was certainly worth the money. The boyfriend has a very nice idea of taking me away for the birthday the kind soul he is. Sometimes in life you have throw caution to the wind and splash out. A little bit of luxury is what makes the world go round.

Read more