Birthdays are the best excuse to gather your friends and family, drink a little too much champagne, dance until your feet hurt and eat what you want all day without caring about the calories…and that’s why I love them! 

If you’re anything like me your first thought upon waking is… ‘IS IT SATURDAY?!’ followed by a begruding ‘Oh, no, what’s for breakfast?’

Whilst weekend breakfasts are a bit of an elborate occasion chez Ally, during the week I really need something healthy that will stir my sorry self back to life at 7AM and sustain me right through till lunch time (lets be honest, there’s a mid morning snack in between).

So, a sucker for anything wholesome and homemade, I jumped on this Abel and Cole Coconut and Cashew granola- a much heathlier version to the sugary supermarket kind, otherwise known as the devil in disguise. Being the kind-hearted soul I am, I wanted to share it with my fellow foodies as it really is rather delicious and you can make batches of it at the weekend ready for the week ahead. This is crazy city living, folks.

So here’s what we do: toast 100g of cashews in a big flat plan until they go golden and have dark, not quite burnt patches (= flavour). Add the desiccated coconut (recipe says 50g but I whack loads in), the coconut is guaranteed to spill everywhere but hey, shake the pan so it’s evenly distributed. Fold in the porridge oats and spice (cinnamon and/or cardamom). Let it cook a little and get all toasty.

Drizzle honey (or agave syrup if you’re being extra good) and fold in some virgin coconut oil (I like Biona) but the recipe does say coconut oil or olive oil and give it a gentle stir so it’s well encorporated. The granola will go hard and crunchy as it cools- I’d recommend serving it with natural yoghurt rather than milk in order to retain the crunchy texture but each to their own!

And enjoy. All that’s left for you to do is get dressed, leave for work and not forget your oyster card (DOH!).

 

What is it about travelling that sets you free from yourself, even when it’s so overcast you don’t even make it to the beach for some long-awaited sunbathing. So instead, we spent our time exploring the surroundings, enjoying long, lazy breakfasts, playing games, being daft and soaking up Majorca’s chaotic nightlife. It’s refreshing to break out of routine, even when breaking out of routine means eating Nutella by the spoonful for breakfast. Oh if only every day could be so carefree and fun, undefined by 6:15AM wake up calls and sensible early nights!

Lets face it, I don’t do skinny. Nuh-uh, no siree, thank you kindly. What I do do, however, is anything that falls under the category of healthy, wholesome or delicious. So my breakfast today looked a little bit like this… 2 slices of toasted rye bread with real butter, one large mocha at my local cafe, Artisan, melon with fat-free natural yoghurt and a drizzle of agave syrup. Yup, I kid you not. I am a firm advocate that strong is the new sexy, and there’s nothing more sexy than having the energy to go about your day with bounds of energy and colour in your cheeks.

Now, you may be asking what has spurred this part rant/part ramble about what was essentially the hearty breakfast I had this morning,  the answer lies in an article I devoured in today’s Sunday Time’s Style Magazine, about fashion’s obsession with skinny (Hadley Freeman). I still think the industry is wildly irresponsible in plucking pre-pubescent teenagers and making us believe that their barely there bodies are all we must covet and desire.That said, the article made a lot of sense and I particularly liked this quote:

The wisest and healthiest thing for a woman to do is to see all these images for what they really are [...] just a weird alternative that reflects the inflated desires” of the readership.

Good on you, Hadley.  I’m glad that not everyone in the industry is emaciated and/or completely barking mad.

“Jette ton coeur loin devant toi et cours l’attraper.”

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