Eat

Ultimate comfort food; Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter icing

It’s winter. It's cold. And it is soo the time for comfort food! Give up on the post xmas weight loss and indulge in a one off treat with this chocolate cake.



Cake

3 eggs

6oz sugar

6oz self raising flour

75g cocoa powerder

6oz butter

1 teaspoon baking powder



Icing

500g icing sugar

150g smooth peanut butter

275g cream cheese

50g butter

Grated chocolate and maltesers to decorate



Set the oven to 175 degrees. Add all cake ingredients together and mix until the mixture forms a batter. Keep mixing to ensure you’ve got as much air as possible in there (you don’t want it to be a flat cake). Place in two greased cake tins and put in the oven for 30-35 minutes. Don't open the oven for at least 30 minutes (golden rule!). Take out and cool.

To make the icing, beat the butter and cream cheese together to form a smooth fluffy consistency. Gradually add in the icing sugar. Finally beat in the peanut butter. Spread half onto the middle of the cake and sandwhich. Then ice the top before grating chocolate over and, if you like add some maltesers to finish off (but you can do whatever you like to decorate – we thought these good look very cute…. )

Totes tuck in and savour.

Post work cocktails
When the clock strikes 6 o'clock there is nothing (and we nean n.o.t.h.i.n.g, nothing in this world) better than a cocktail - we think they are without doubt one of life's well earned post work indulgences.




Are favourites are bellow; perfect for entertaining friends in the evening.


And if you dont fancy entertaining, go sip a marghertia here
The Experimental Cocktail Club, Soho W1D 5PS the parisian bar's stylish little brother hidden in China Town
Purl, Marylebone W1U 7HX eclectic decor to recreate the New York Speak Easy
Milk and Honey , Soho W1F 7NU an old time favourite for thirty something olds
Sketch, Mayfair W1S 2XG luxourious and definately not boring on the eye
Beach Blanket Babylon, Notting Hill and Liverpool street decadence and deliciously alcholic
Tini, Chelsea SW3 2HP, sophistcaited, young and fun with an array of cocktails
Worship Street Whistling Shop, Shoreditch EC2A 2DU a semi secret location in Shoreditch 
Callooh Callay, Shoreditch EC2A 3AY a fun young cocktail bar for the twenty somethings

Healthy Lunches

Here are some lunches that are perfect to take to work, will save the pennies and help you get back into those skinny jeans and pencil skirts post Christmas.

Sweet Potatoe and Sour Cream (bake the potatoe in the microwave and add a dollop of sour cream. The sweet potatoe will fill you up and stem sugar cravings, plus its FULL of health benefits, and the sour cream will mix things up a little)

Stuffed Pitta (smoked salmon, salad, cucumber, pepper and olives - the smoked salmon has healthy oils, the salad low calories and the cucumber, pepper and olives are packed with nutrients. We love cold roasted peppers in these so if you're having some the night before cook some extra)

Cesar Salad without the dressing and croutons (smoked chicken, baby gem lettace chopped, bacon pieces sliced and lightly fried, black olives, parmesan shavings with a dollop of organic mayonnaise - you have no idea how unhealthy the processed mayonnaise is! Squeeze some lemon juice over)

Butternut Squash soup (make the night before by chopping and gently roasting half a butternut squash and an onion. Whizz in a blender, add 1/2 pint of vegetable or chicken stock, a sprinkle of chilli flakes and a dash of milk if desired. Heat it all up and then re-heat for lunch the next day)

It's detox time! - Breakfast!

So we've all had our fair share of chocolates, wine, turkey and Christmas nibbles over the last few weeks. But even if your jeans aren't feeling any tighter (we're not going to lie about this, ours definitely are) January is a good time to hit a detox. Why not kick start a new year healthily?

The best.ever.breakfast.smoothie - it is absolutely full of protein, superfood and fibre to help cleanse and restore your body post the festive season

three quarters a glass of milk, soya or rice milk (we love rice milk - its so easy to digest!)

75g (or a really big handful of blueberries)

half a banana (optional)

tbsp of rolled oats

sprinkle of flaxseed and pumpkin seed crushed (you can buy ready made satchees in most supermarkets or health food stores)

Whizz the fruit, oats and flaxseed mix in a food processor. Slowly pour in the milk, soya or rice milk. And pour into a glass. Enjoy! And off to work! You'll be full 'til lunch!

Hot Chocolate at your Desk....

We have no shame, we think that hot chocolate at your desk at this time of year is A-ok.
Take one mug of hot milk and heat in the microwave
Add two tsp of coco powder (with a pinch of cinamon if you're that organised)
1 tbsp of nutella (your office should have a stock of some and if not introduce it to the kitchen!)
And some marshmallows

And if making hot chocolate seems too much of an effort there is always Hotel Chocolat's finest instant hot chocolate, so good but so very naughty...


Top table
Its the holiday season and so for most of us it means time to play host! And why not have some fun with table wear? A great way to add atmosphere to a party and impress those guests, guests and more guests!

Ultra Modern

Table mats (Anthropologie), water glasses and silver candle holder (John Lewis), Wine glasses (Brissi), Salt and Pepper shakers (Conran shop), China (John Lewis)

Classic...

China (Emma Bridgewater), a big vase of roses, silver candle wear (this one is John Lewis), table napkins (The Linen Works), wine glass (Brissi)

Ski lodge or cosy country...

Jug and Candles (Graham and Green), napkins (marks and spencer), wooden chopping board (john lewis), china (john lewis)


Enjoy good food

If you're worried about managing the calories over the Christmas period but still want to indulge and enjoy good food, then Ladies, your answers await here in Mireille Guiliano's book; French Women Dont Get Fat.

"French women don't get fat, but they do eat bread and pastry, drink wine and regularly enjoy three-course meals". This book unlocks the simple secrets of this french paradox - how to enjoy good food and stay slim and healthy. Emphasizing the virtues of freshness, variety and always balance, Mireille before she turned author, was previously a long time spokesperson for Verve Clicquot and CEO of Clicquot Inc, so gastronomy clearly runs in her blood.

Her book has been around for a while and some of you may have read it (we love it) but we think it has an appropriate philosophy to abide by, especially at this time of year when the chocolates are being passed round.





Snacking: with a conscience

Really fancy reaching for the biscuits? We understand. All to often come 4pm we need a sugar fix and that invariably comes in the form of a delicious chocolate biscuit (or three). But aside from the calories these biscuits not only have a high sugar content (which quickly converts to fat) but for most of us we are sitting on our bottoms at a desk, so there's no real chance of being able to work any of that sugar off.
But help is at hand, next time you fancy a quick fix sugar snack try an oatcake topped with avocado and wafer thin ham. The avocado cures sweet cravings, the oat cake fills our stomachs and releases energy slowly and the ham, well it just tastes good. Easily kept in the office fridge, this snack is a waistline lifesaver and it really helps flagging energy levels pick up to ensure you plough on through till the end of the day


Lunch time Special: Penny Saving Soup

How buying lunch each day stacks up financially and causes a really unnecessary pinch in our pocket! On average for a half decent lunch to fill us up we need to spend around £7, and that excludes the coffee grabbed on the go in the morning. So, listen here early birds and night owls, we propose making a pack lunch either first thing or last thing. There are some simple healthy recipes to go by and in many respects you have much more of an opportunity to tailor your dietary needs exactly. A winters favourite of ours…



Spicy Parsnip soup

4 parsnips chopped

1 onion chopped

A tbsp. of olive oil and a small knob of butter

Salt and pepper

2tsp of mustard

Half a pint of boiling water plus a vegetable stock cube.

Pop the parsnip and onion in a saucepan with the oil butter and season to taste. Leave to sweat for 45 minutes (so put the lid on and turn the heat down, go watch tv, check emails or grab a morning shower). When the parsnip has softened place in a food processor or blender and whizz. Add the vegetable stock as you go until you’ve reached the right consistency. Finally stir in the mustard and pour into a small flask. The rest can be stored for up to a week!