Give your guts a facial

Over the weekend I was watching The River Cottage with Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. They made some ‘booster bars’ {aka healthy flapjacks} and I immediately had to make this recipe the moment I saw it. These simple yet super-healthy bars will fill you until lunchtime. There can be as many ingredients as you like, or as little. I cannot stress how much you need to try this recipe.
The bars got me thinking – we’re always so concerned with our outer appearance and spend countless hours prepping, plucking, and plastering our faces. So why not give the ole guts some attention? A little scrub and a high-five while you’re down there. They’ll thank you for it. They put up with a lot of crap, afterall.
Click read more below to check out Hugh’s recipe.

Ingredients
250g butter
250g peanut butter {try to use non-salted}
300g brown sugar {if there’s sugar in your  peanut butter, and if you want to be really good, you can use less brown sugar. I chose to further substitute sugar with a little extra honey, as I thought this was a lot}
Squeeze of honey
Zest from 2 oranges and 2 lemons {I only used one of each, but that’s just me}
300g dried fruits, seeds, nuts – I used poppy seeds, almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds, pine nuts, sunflower seeds, dried cranberries and a bit of dried coconut. 
400g oats
Method
Mix the sticky ingredients together in a pot with brown sugar and zest on a very low heat – all you need is to melt the butter – no simmering or boiling. Turn off heat, add the oats and nuts and stir. Heap into a large baking tin {preferably lined, since it’s tough to get out later}, and bake in the oven at 160°C for 30 minutes.

Once it’s ready, leave to sit for about 20 minutes or so until cool enough to handle, and still soft enough to cut. Cut into bars or squares and leave to cool further and harden. Eat, enjoy, and love your guts. 
Click here for a handy cooking calculator, should you prefer to measure in cups, mls, oz etc. 

Knowing when to fake it

My name is Alex, and I have a problem. I kill any plant that comes into my care – unintentionally. And I don’t know how or why. For as long as I can remember, whenever I had a plant, it wouldn’t be long before it died. And it still happens. Basil or parsley plant? Give it a week. Potted plant? You will suffer longer and your death will not be as swift. I will love you as hard as I can, but I think that makes it worse.
For Valentine’s Day I was met with a wonderful surprise. My boyfriend gave me three gorgeous faux hydrangeas from the wonderful  Madison. I like how he figured out my need of fake flowers long before I did.

Before now, I wouldn’t dream of having fake flowers in my home. They were the epitome of tack. But as I’m shamefully realizing, they are now my only option. But I think they’re growing on me.
The trick is to not go cheap. The level of detail with good quality faux flowers is dangerously convincing.

The Arnotts artificial flower collection is ridiculous. Very pricey, but you will have them forever. I picked up this small hydrangea for €6.75 to go along with my new Madison hydrangeas. Their artificial orchid collection would fool anyone. Baby steps, Alex. 
In action | for the moment I’ve coupled my new fauxs with dried pussy willow we’ve had hanging in our bedroom for many years. Another idea I had was to occasionally pop a fresh flower or two in the mix in plastic water vials to {hopefully} further persuade people that the rest are real. Even the stems are pretty convincing. 
In the background | my watch painting, plus, faboosh kitteh frame from velabronx. Bloggette holla. 

My favorite picks – spring forward

1. Old MacDonnell’s Farm yoghurt. Seriously, this is the best yoghurt I have ever had. If you can – get it.
2. Kylie at home collection. I picked up two sets of gorgeous Casablanca housewife pillows of Kylie’s in TK Maxx for €3.99 – usually priced €31.99. Who wouldn’t?
3. The Lost Symbol. I think Dan Brown could get me addicted to anything.
4. Koppaberg Wildberries. It’s like spring in a can.
5. Gaultier Home. I attended the launch of Gaultier’s nautical home collection at Roche Bobois. It’s low and it’s fabulous.