The Linkables

The best news of the week: India bans animal testing!!!!

Why naming welfare claiments is a bad idea

10 things you should know about food bloggers (or why you should think twice about eating out with us)

Please keep Instagramming your perfect life

Layered Oreo & Nutella Popsicles

I reckon one of my American readers should post this 'donut' ring across to me (or the watermelon one, or the snake one)

My new favourite thing: how they blog.

How to grill pizza dough.

This is how easy it is to make your own almond milk.

I am British and really do love a good queue. In fact I really do get quite appalled by the lack of it whilst abroad!

Honestly WTF is a new favourite of mine.

If you're big in wind power then there's a new certification for products produced with more than 75% wind power.

21 actors who almost got the part. (I can't even fathom that Patrick Verona was almost played by someone other than Heath Ledger. Just can't.)

What the voices of Disney characters look like.

I don't know how I got this far in life without knowing this: how to wrap a burrito

Watermelon Soda Float

If you're USA-ing it this summer (or are American anyway): The 10 best farmers' markets in America.

Matilda (or, you know, the girl who played Matilda) has written about why child stars go crazy.

Morag

mòrag

1 Comments

How much does my every day face cost?

I'm not really a huge make-up person so have always refrained from doing these types of posts because I didn't think there would be a particularly shocking price tag for my daily make-up (I can however spend hours getting ready for a special occasion). However the pieces of make-up I do wear are 'premium' so maybe this could actually be quite interesting.

Above is a nice wee family portrait of my daily make-up. As you may know the high percentage of Arbonne make-up is due to me being an Arbonne Consultant so I get a 35% discount so the high price tag is removed slightly for me :P

Arbonne Primer - £16.90 (£26 normally)

Arbonne Foundation in Alabaster - £21 (£31 normally)

Arbonne Foundation in Soft Blush - £21 (£31 normally)

Illamasqua Concealer in 210 - £13

B. Under eye concealer in light - £5.32 *

Arbonne blusher in Apricot - £13 (normally £20)

Soap & Glory supercat eyeliner - £6.00

Hd Brows (may or may not be cruelty-free - they ignored my e-mail) - circa £17 (I got mine in a Glossy box)

No7 mascara (not pictured because I'm a pleb) - £11.00 (I have a 'gift' sample though)

Total = £171.32 (though I paid £92.90)

So yep, even the simplest everyday face can add up! But one of the reasons I prefer high end make-up as it does so much longer! I have already owned that HD brows pallette years and some other products have been going months and don't look close to running soon.

Lots of premium make-up love!

mòrag

6 Comments

food

Bulgar wheat avocado wraps

I've seen quite a few fish taco recipes going about (such and Gillian's and Rose's) but even though they look mega tasty there are, well, not quite my thing. But I've become quite the master of adapting meat recipes to fit a veggie diet. I'd usually go for chunky veggies or kidney beans to replace meat but because I need something that could be wrapped up, and also summery, I opted for bulgar wheat. Yes, I see your raised eyebrow as you question what this is (even the spell check is asking questions). You can find bulgar wheat in the cous cous area of Tesco (if you really don't want to try a new food, then cous cous would also work) along with the dried fruit (essentially the mega healthy vegan section). Before you knock this food before trying it it is brilliant at soaking up flavours.

The same goes for avocados, which seem a popular choice for people to turn their noses up at. Avocados are full of good fat (the type of fat your body needs - and they're a super food, dontyouknow) and that helps this feel super greasy but healthy at the same time. This is hangover food.

Anyway, on to the recipe!

You will need:
four tablespoons bulgar wheat
one vegetable stock cube
a few teaspoons mix of paprika and cayenne pepper
one avocado
half a red onion - chopped
four cherry tomatoes - quartered
one small can of pineapples chunks drained ('small can' seems standard in the UK - sorry if you're international)
one tablespoon coriander (can add more if you're a fan - I'm not :p)
some lettuce leaves (you can prepare your own or buy the pre-made bag like I did)
some cucumber, chopped
mayola to taste (or mayonnaise, whatever)
tortilla warps

Method:
1. Add the crumbled stock cube and your spice mix of cayenne and paprika to a pan of boiling water. Add the bulgar wheat and simmer for 5-7 minutes (or more you can't accidentally 'over-do' bulgar wheat)
2. Peel the avocado and mash it up in a bowl until it is no longer solid but still lumpy
3. Add your chopped onions, then cherry tomatoes, the very well drained pineapple chunks and then the coriander. Then mixed this together.
4. By now your bulgar wheat should be ready. Let it cool/run it under cold water and drain it thoroughly
5. Mix the bulgar wheat in with the avocado mix.
6. Prepare your salad. Mine is just a pre-maid lettuce pack from The Co-op with some chopped cucumber and some egg-free mayonnaise.
7. Open your tortillas, spoon on the salad, add the avocado mixture and wrap it all up.
8. Nom it up in the sun, or in your bed on a hungover Sunday morning, that too.

Lots of avocado love!

Morag

mòrag

5 Comments

the linkables

The Linkables

Classic structures dressed as hipsters

This week there was a disgusting project on Kickstarter but with enough screaming and shouting something was done about it.

Hilary Clinton's former press secretary wrote a letter to his daughter apologising for being a former sexist.

If you're a man who would like to receive catcalls walking along a street, then this piece explains why you are wrong.

From the same author as above, why you shouldn't tell that random woman she's hot.

Deep fried strawberries with dipping sauce. You're welcome.

Strawberry & Meyer Lemon Marmalade.

More strawberries: strawberry iced tea.

Some interesting words on travelling whilst working freelance.

Something I nodded along to: catch-ups are overrated.

It's Sascha's one year vegan-versary!

As a female with a bucket-load of male friends I welcome this pro-platonic male/female friendship piece. (I've seen a lot of hateful posts towards females who have lots of male friends and am really tempted to write my re-butle).

Christy wrote up a great review of Musa in Aberdeen.

New food for my lunch box: pizza made from tortillas.

Paris Hilton cries during a viewing of The Bling Ring (as a fellow burglary victim my heart is with Paris 100%).

Morag

mòrag

0 Comments

food glasgow

Papa Tony's at Springfield Quay

As I mentioned, my ma and pa were in Glasgow for a visit last weekend. As per their visits we went out for a meal however this time they requested we didn't stray far from base so I grudgingly decided to take them to Springfield Quay since I'm a south side dweller but generally not a fan of the restaurants you tend to find in these areas.

I was originally going to take them to Panda however when we were wondering through I spotted Papa Tony's which I had never spotted before and decided I was much more in the mood for Italian than Chinese. The big ice-creams I seen the waitresses carrying to the outside diners certainly helped sway me too!

The menu was large and contained plenty of veggie options however there wasn't anything particularly different for veggies or meat-eaters. My mum selected her usually favourite of breaded mushrooms (and these were delicious breaded mushrooms) whereas I picked out the vegetarian platter, and boy, what a platter it was! The menu didn't specify how big this platter was but when I received it was certainly bigger than for one person. Thankfully my parents helped me get through it alongside their own dishes.

And then we had the decision of main course, which took all of us a long time! I ordered the Tortelloni Crema e Salvia (first picture), my mum picked out the Cozze alla Marinara(second picture) whereas my dad selected the Quatrro stagioni pizza (third picture). I can't speak for my parents food (though they did gobble it up) but my dish was absolutely delish however it did have a very rich flavour with the combination of spinach, ricotta, cream, lemon and sage. To die for but I couldn't eat a lot of it in one sitting.

I did mention that Papa Tony's had a big selection of drool worthy ice-creams however after all that we were pretty stuffed! Maybe another time we'll skip starters and go for dessert.

Overall, I would say Papa Tony's is what you would expect from the kind of restaurants that tend to congregate around Quay's and beach front areas (or Union Square in Aberdeen). Whilst these places aren't my usual scene I would say Papa Tony's was a cut above, so if you do like these kind of places I'd completely recommend it!

mòrag