Refreshing smoothie bowl

Anyone else missing going on holiday? I certainly am. Today I grabbed my coconut bowl, made my favourite smoothie bowl and imagined I was somewhere exotic.

Here’s our go to smoothie bowl recipe at Shobrooke.

What you need (serves 1):

· 1 banana

· Small cup of frozen summer berries

· 3 large tablespoons of greek yoghurt

To decorate:

· Granola

· Flaked almonds

· Chia seeds

· Grapes

· Blueberries

Note: you can mess around with the quantities of the ingredients. Me and Carl do different quantities and the consistency is slightly different but still yummy. These quantiles make the smoothie bowl quite runny which I like.

Method:

1. Add frozen berries in your blender (we have a nutri bullet)

2. Blitz until fruit is fully blended

3. Break banana in to quarters and add the banana to the blender

4. Blitz until ingredients turn in to a liquid

5. Add 3 tablespoons of yoghurt

6. Blitz until all ingredients have been blended

7. Pour smoothie in to your favourite bowl

8. Decorate with granola, chia seeds, flaked almonds and fresh fruit

And there you have it, hope you enjoy.

12 Staycation ideas

Staycations are becoming more popular whist Covid is still around so thought I would share some ideas of what you can do on your weekends/weeks off if you can't go anywhere.

Move in to the guest room

One way of feeling like you are on holiday whilst still being at home is moving in to the spare room. We have done this a few times now and it tricks your mind in to feeling like it is on holiday.

Turn off the alarm

Turn that alarm off and wake up naturally every morning. Try to keep your mornings pretty chilled to accommodate lazy starts and big lie ins.

Get the treats in

We wanted to get some treats in and decided to shop locally. We got some delightful sweet treats from Honeysuckle bakery and the most divine bread and pesto swirls from Farm Cottage Bakery. It feels good to shop locally and it all tasted amazing!

Rainforest spa day

Recreate a spa day at home. I went with a rainforest theme and decided to theme the food too which made it more fun. To find out how to recreate a spa day at home, check out this blog post.

Movie day

Grab your duvet, your favourite cinema snacks (popcorn and fruit guns for us) and spend the day watching movies. Again you can theme if you want depending on the time of year.

Go for a walk/cycle and enjoy a snack

Go for a walk/cycle. We had hoped to go for a cycle down to our local beach and enjoy our jam doughnuts on the beach with a cup of tea but we couldn't due to rain so I just went for a walk around the village. It was nice to get some fresh air. Need to do this more often.

Digital detox

Have a day with no technology. Put your phone away, keep the TV off. Read your book, cook your favourite meal and just enjoy each others company.

Craft/DIY day

For me, a DIY craft day is essential when we are off. This time I actually did some painting by numbers. I found this very therapeutic and took my mind off everything else going on in the world. I had this as a gift and it is a picture of where we got engaged. The paint by numbers print was from MiiCreative.

Cocktail making

Grab your cocktail maker and try out some new recipes. I did some research and we tried the following recipes:

• Orange and Cranberry spritz

• Apple prosecco punch

• Elderflower & cucumber G&Ts

• Frozen Mojito sorbet from Lidl

We staggered them throughout the day. I also used different glasses for each drink to spice it up a bit.

Free time

Whilst it's lovely to hang out together it's also nice to have some time apart to do what we want to do. Make sure you factor in free time too.

Make a three course meal from scratch

Do some research and pick your three meals. Go to the supermarket and pick up your ingredients then spend the afternoon prepping a three course meal. We went with:

• Starter - garlic mushrooms on toast

• Main - Venison steak, sweet potatoes, grilled tomatoes and pak choi

• Pudding - Homemade banana bread and custard

Tie Dye

Have you got an old white t-shirt or pair of socks hanging around? If yes, why not grab a sachet of dye and get creative. I usually get mine from amazon.

Thanks for reading!

Kath

How to create a spa day at home

Anyone else planned a spa day but Covid19 had different ideas for you? Don't let rona ruin your plans. Recreate a spa day at home. Here are some top tips on how to create a rainforest inspired spa day.

Prepare your space

Get your space ready for your rainforest inspired spa day. Move all your plants in to your bathroom and your spa room (I used our bedroom) to make you feel like you are in the rainforest.

Tip: Turn up the heating in your designated spa room so you don't get chilly after your bath.

Pick the perfect scent

For a rainforest inspired spa day I had to get a rainforest essential oil. I really liked the smell of this one and found it very relaxing. Add a few drops to a diffuser (if you have one) in your spa room. If you don't have a diffuser add a few drops of the essential oil to your pillow. I also added loads of drops in to the bath. This made my bathroom smell amazing.

Don't have a bath? Add a few drops of the essential oil to your shower tray. The steam of the shower will release the aroma in to the room.

If you don't have essential oils you can light your favourite scented candle as an alternative.

Choose your music

I have apple music so searched for rainforest spa music and found this Rainforest music album. If you don't have apple music you can search on youtube for a rainforest spa playlist, there were loads to choose from.

Run a fancy bath

Treat yourself to a new green bath bomb to keep in the theme. I got mine from a local shop but love Lush bath bombs too. I also added some epsom salts as they are good for muscle soreness. While I was in the bath I cleansed my face. No idea if it was the right time to do it but I did it and I used my plant themed flannel from Robyn Northover, it also fitted in perfectly with the theme.

Face mask time

After your bath put on your favourite dressing gown and do a face mask in your spa room. To make it a bit more luxurious place a piece of cucumber on each eye.

Relax and read your favourite book

Once you have done your face mask, spend some time relaxing and reading. Keep the main lights off and use bedside table lamps if you have them. Make sure you still have that difuser on as well.

Eat well

I decided to theme the whole day, food and all. We had a Tropical smoothie bowl at the breakfast bar (not somewhere we usually eat) for brunch and it was delicious.

We had watermelon as our tropical snacks and then a jungle curry in the evening.

Keep hydrated

Keep hydrated throughout your spa day. I added lemon slices to our water which was very refreshing. We also had a peppermint tea while we were reading. I really don't like peppermint tea but if you do like it then have one while you are reading.

So there you have it, your very own rainforest spa day. I hope you find some time to treat yourself to a day like this, we honestly both felt so relaxed and recharged after it.

Kath x