Friday 10 February 2017

January Favourites

Hi all and welcome back to the Tea Cozy Kitchen, we are almost at the weekend! Yay! My plan for the weekend is to drink all the coffee and eat all the cake (as always!). I have plans to bake two rather exciting cakes so stay tuned to my Instagram if you want to see how these turn out, I'm @rachheron1 if you want to follow me! Do you have any exciting plans for the weekend? Today, I'm sharing my January favourites, a little late I know but January was such a long and dreary month that it took me a while to think of what I was actually loving. I've got a couple of foodie favourites mixed with some other less foodie favourites. Let's get going...

  • Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
As you may or may not know, in January I started an evening class at my old university. The course is called 'The Hidden Lives of the Bronte Sisters'. So naturally I have been re-reading a couple of their novels. Wuthering Heights has always been one of my favourite books since I was 16 but re-reading it now (for the 3rd time!) and actually studying it has been a real eye-opener. I'm a real lover of classic literature anyway but this novel is so different to anything else I have ever read. I really recommend giving this a read if you haven't. It's one of those 'must read before you die' books (sorry, things got a bit morbid there!).
  • Smoothies
I have been really loving making smoothies for breakfast or snacks lately. You've probably seen this in my 'What I Eat in a Day' posts on the blog. I have loved experimenting with different fruit and veg combinations. Here are some of my favourites...

Banana and Mango,
Apple, Banana and Spinach,
Strawberry, Banana and Carrot,
Berries, Banana and Apple.

What are your favourite smoothie combos? I would love to know.
  • Baking
In January I started baking a lot more. I used to bake a lot a year or two ago but sort of lost my way a bit with it. But, I'm so happy to back at it. I really love to eat cake so this is a perfect past-time for me. So far I have made a cherry bakewell cake, a coffee cake, a marbled loaf cake, banana bread, mars bar rice krispie buns and a carrot cake. They have been some pretty yummy adventures in the kitchen, let me tell you!
  • Flowers of any description, mainly tulips.
I have really been craving colour lately, everything in Northern Ireland just seems a bit grey in January. I have loved having fresh, brightly coloured flowers about the house.  It's amazing how having bright flowers brightens your mood slightly! Tulips have been my favourites but I also love roses, carnations and of course, Daffodils (but I can't seem to find any at the moment, a bit early me thinks!).
  • Exercise videos on YouTube.
Exercise and me are just not friends, I've never been the kind of person who loved to work-out. I was never good at sports in school, I was always very clumsy and not co-ordinated, so sports were usually embarrassing and possibly dangerous for me to take part in. Over the years I have tried different things but nothing has stuck. I love going for walks in the beautiful countryside but we don't really get the weather for that all year round. But, in January I found 'The Fitness Marshall' on YouTube and have since been loving doing his dance workouts, I have actually stuck with it for about 5 weeks (a record for me!). And from there, a whole new world of different work-out possibilities opened up on YouTube. I love how I can fit in a work-out as long or as short as I like and the best thing is, no-one has to see me trip up or miss all the moves entirely. If you hate exercise but feel like you need a bit of activity this might be something to try, it's free and fun. If you have any exercise videos that you love, please do let me know?

So there you go, a few things that I have been loving in January. I would love to know what you have been loving in January too. January felt like the longest month EVER, so I'm very happy to be into February and hopefully spring is just around the corner with it's longer and warmer days. Thank you so much for reading, I hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Rachael xx.

No comments:

Post a Comment