"I never want to eat again. Ever" - this is me after every meal I have over Christmas. Of course, a few hours later I can be found indulging in more mince pies and knocking back the mulled wine. But that's okay because 'it's Christmas!'... 

Except, I won't be able to use that excuse anymore so in an attempt to make a transition to the healthy side, I whipped up this delicious cinnamon and vanilla milkshake, using Forever Lite Ultra* in vanilla flavour.

To make, simply add a level scoop of your forever lite powder to 300ml of semi-skimmed milk (by all means use skimmed to save on calories, but I'm not quite at that stage yet!). Then simply sprinkle in some cinnamon and give it a good ol' whisk to give it a nice creamy texture!

Sprinkle a little more cinnamon on the top, et voila!

If made with skimmed milk, that makes a grand total of 201 calories. Not bad for a tasty milkshake!!

I actually made this because I was scavenging the house looking for some Christmas leftovers as we're not having lunch till we've gone to the bank and some shops AND the garden centre, and I knew that if I didn't eat something, I'd end up eating more rubbish.

I was starving before I drank this and I can honestly say I now feel completely satisfied...and for me as the biggest eater for a little person you'll know, is saying something.

If you're really wanting to shed some pounds then you can take on the seven day challenge where you replace two of your meals with a shake! I think I'll play around with more recipes before attempting that because my love for food is just too great! And remember that if you do try the challenge then it should only be short-term..a sorta kick-start to your healthy lifestyle!

If you have any other recipes, I'd love to try them so do let me know :)

p.s. I now have a facebook page which you can find here

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The Festive Build up

I am so happy to have a spare bit of time to myself to write a post. It has been a while now! Sadly, I forgot my charger for my camera when I came home for Christmas so I'm afraid these pics are just from my phone- sorry!

With Christmas quickly approaching, I wanted to bring some of that festiveness to my blog :)

Last weekend, Tom and I decided to make some iced Christmas cookies to share with friends. We used this recipe, which is ironically called Easter Biscuits but never mind..it worked! We left out the cinnamon and currants though and just stuck to vanilla essence (so actually we forgot to put that in but I recommend adding a drop or two!). 

For more festive bakes, have a look at the melting snowmen I made last year! 

Both are the sort of biscuits you made in primary school and they bring back so many childhood memories making (and eating) them.

I drove home for Christmas on Thursday and walked in to my bedroom to find my parents had got me a brand new bed, bedding and fairy lights as an early birthday present. My mum also got me a little Christmas tree which I am in love with!! 

The bedding is from Asda, who apparently have a fair few festive designs out at the moment. I love how it's Christmassy without being too tacky. Just a nice subtle nod that says "yes, it's winter." 

The fairy lights that you can just about see are little pine cones, made from silver and white glass! They're so cute!

Finally, I just wanted to mention a little something I treated myself to; the Soap and Glory Box! You get 9 full size products for £30 which I think is an absolute steal when you think how much the products are individually. I got one last year and I still have some left over - it really is fab! 

You can find the link for it here.

What have you been up to over the festive build up? Let me know in the comments below or send me links to any Christmassy posts! I'd love a read!

Manchester Christmas Markets

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...well, at least it is in Manchester! Its annual Christmas market has arrived and is there to stay till the 22nd December

Last weekend, Tom and I spent the day exploring the festive streets of Manchester and I have since been sooooo excited for Christmas. The miserable weather did not get me down that day..

The air was filled with the smell of waffles, bratwursts and ...garlic (in a good way trust me!) I'm also a huge fan of the German style wooden huts they had like this ^^^^^^^^

I haven't been to Manchester that much so hadn't realised how amazing it is for shopping! Selfridges was certainly getting its Christmas on with these beautiful decorations!

A Selfridges in Manchester..who knew!!?? Or maybe you did and that's just me..

The talking tree was begging for a photo really wasn't it.

When is the right time to get excited for Christmas? Everyone seems to disagree on that one but I think we'll all agree that you can't control the festive bug if you go somewhere like this.

I managed to pick up a few Christmas gifts which I'd love to share with you but I know some of the present receivers will be reading this so I  better stay hushed for now! There was a good range of traditional and a bit more unique gifts though and also lots of edible ones!!

 Sooo much chocolate and fudge!!!

We ended the day in one of the bigger markets and by this time it was getting darker so the lights had their full effect.

Cheese filled bratwust anyone?! I wish they had stalls selling these all year round because they really are better than your standard hotdog!

And what better way to wash it down than with tummy-warming mulled wine! You pay a £2 deposit for the mug so if you really love you can keep it :)

I love this photo of all the roof tops. Imagine if we all lived in little Christmas villages like this all the time - how cute :)

So I'd say this day was my first big festive event :) Have you got anything Christmassy planned or do you still think it's too early for all that?