REVIEW - Ben and Jerry's Cinnamon Buns

It's finally February! Don't get me wrong, I don't despise January quite as much as some people do, but you have to admit that it doesn't have much going for it. It's cold and damp, there's never anything good in the sales, your boiler breaks down (well, maybe that's just me) and you're subjected to a barrage of healthy recipes and fitness tips every single day.

February is much more exciting. Pancake Day! Valentine's Day! Cut-price Valentine's chocolate on the 15th! And, by now it's surely an acceptable time to admit that your New Year's resolutions were never going to be successful and you might as well get back to eating some nice food. Possibly in the form of Cinnamon Buns Ben and Jerry's ice cream.

A February delight

REVIEW - M&S Roasted Vegetable and Avocado Sandwich

It's been a very long month but finally, FINALLY, my exams are over and I have a brief period of freedom before starting all over again in semester two. After my last exam yesterday (which was horrendous) I decided to pop on the train and come back home for a week - I'm seriously needing some 'me' time and some home comforts. Being ridiculous early for my train (I have a thing for punctuality) and also having no food to sustain me for the journey, I decided to splash the cash and get a sandwich from M&S.

This 'roasted vegetable and avocado' sandwich caught my eye straight away - partly because I thought it sounded nice and also partly because it had a green "new!" sticker on the shelf. I have no willpower for new foods. I haven't been loitering around the sandwich section of M&S for a while, so I couldn't say how recently this was brought out, but probably since after Christmas.

LET'S EAT - Pizza Express (again)

Monday night found me in Pizza Express (yes, again), devouring a generously sized pizza and a good helping of dessert. This was mainly as a way to have an early birthday celebration for one of my closest friends, but it just so happened that it coincided with the completion of my first exam so I was very much in a 'treat yourself' and 'eat your sorrows' mood. We were drawn to Pizza Express largely because of the promise of pizza, however the 40% NUS discount on Mondays was also incredibly appealing.

Pizza for two

REVIEW - Muller Light Peanut and Caramel

I find it difficult to believe that we're well over halfway into January now. Christmas seems like a distant memory, there are Easter eggs filling the shelves of the supermarkets (why?! I don't understand?) and the newspapers are taking great delight in informing us that the country has "come to a standstill" (it hasn't) under "4 feet of snow" (there's not). And I am slowly but surely battling my way through pages and pages of exam notes as I try and emerge from my January exams reasonably unscathed. One exam down, two to go!

As I've been constantly cramming my brain full of information on polyphenols, fat metabolism and dietary assessment methods, I haven't had much time to venture to the supermarket (or beyond my front room, if I'm honest) and pick up some new foods to try. However I did manage to get my hands on this new 'peanut and caramel' Muller light yogurt, which has been intriguing me ever since it popped up on social media a week or so ago. I'm not the greatest fan of peanuts (but will eat a Snickers bar if there's really nothing else going) but I wanted to give this a try all the same.

REVIEW - Nakd Gingerbread

A while back, I lamented the fact that I can never seem to find the perfect cereal bar - despite the hoards of them that fill the supermarket aisles, nothing so far has ever quite lived up to my (admittedly high) expectations.
In all truthfulness, maybe this is because my perfect cereal bar isn't actually a cereal bar at all - but rather a smooshed together combination of dried fruits and nuts in a bar shape. Yep, it can only be the one and only Nakd! I do really like Nakd products, particularly the bars, however don't purchase them all that often because I usually find it difficult to justify the 75p cost for a single bar. For that reason, I suppose they can't be classed as my perfect cereal or snack bar (the quest continues) however they certainly fall pretty close.

Feeling extravagant the other day (and spurred on by the special offer price of 50p) I picked myself up a gingerbread Nakd bar - something I've had in the past, but not for a long time. I'd completely forgotten what it tasted like so thought I might as well get reacquainted. Truth be told I was actually hoping for the Christmas pud Nakd bar (always tasty) but that seemed to have been whipped off the shelves as quickly as the Easter eggs were brought in.

REVIEW - Twining's Earl Grey Green Tea

It's only the 6th day of January and yet I'm already suitably fed up with the daily headlines and articles telling us all about how we can 'eat clean, lose weight, get fit and shed those festive pounds!'. Don't get me wrong, I wholeheartedly support the idea that we should all be eating more veggies, having fewer processed foods and doing more exercise to improve our health (both physical and mental), but the barrage of information that we're subjected to every year after Christmas is a little overbearing and it doesn't do much to blow away the January blues.

Still, if you are feeling like making a few changes to your diet and lifestyle this month, then drinking more fluids (not alcoholic or sugary!) is a good way to go. This is something I'm trying to do myself - I'm generally really good with drinking water in the mornings and the evenings but seem to completely forget during the daytime. It's safe to say that water is pretty bland and boring (hence why I'm so disinclined to get myself a glass) so I do try and drink green tea to keep myself hydrated.

Green... Earl Grey?

REVIEW - Ben and Jerry's Save Our Swirled

My Christmas this year (or technically last year) was lovely - a full 5 days of festive tunes, lots of food, family get-togethers, slobbing around watching tv and occasionally going on blustery walks in the afternoons. Sadly it was over all too quickly and the period since then has been a bit of a whirlwind of working at my part-time job and trying to squeeze in some revision for my January exams. This evening I definitely decided it was time for a treat and I finally got stuck in to this Save Our Swirled tub of Ben and Jerry's.

Ben and Jerry's is definitely up there in my top 3 favourite brands of ice cream, my only niggle being that I can only ever buy it when it's on offer! However I am also blessed to have an amazing mum who picks me up a tub every now and again as a treat for when I come back from university in the holidays. I've been waiting months to give this one a try, as I know she bought it some time back in October.

Healthy January?