Dark Chocolate & Almond Popcorn

Winter is rolling around so quickly here in Australia and I can feel the temperature dropping everyday. This means that sunny days outside are slowly fading and snuggled up in bed movie days are becoming more and more frequent which I am by no means complaining about because I love the cold. Popcorn has always been a go to movie snack but sometimes just plain classic popcorn can get a little boring and repetitive so why not throw in some melted chocolate and almonds too create this delicious bowl of goodness. Its super simple too make and doesn't take much time at all which I love. Its safe to say that its slowly becoming my go to movie snack and it might just become yours too.

You will need...

- Popcorn
- Chocolate of your choice (I used the Nestle Dark Chocolate bits as they are vegan)
- Almonds
- Salt (I used Pink Himalayan rock salt as it is more natural than regular salt)

Lets Begin...

1. The first thing you need to do is pop your popcorn. I just use the raw packeted popcorn (which has no salt or butter added) from the supermarket that I just pop in the microwave for 2 minutes. Although you could buy popcorn kernels and cook them in a saucepan or even one of those cheap popcorn makers which is what I do sometimes if I feel like putting in the extra effort.

2. Next I crushed up my almonds. I started by blending them in the Nutri bullet which I wouldn't recommend as is kind of crushes them too finely. So instead I popped them into a zip lock baggy and smashed them using some weird utensil that I found in the kitchen.

3. Once your popcorn is popped and your almonds are crushed, you can then go ahead and melt your chocolate, again I just melt mine in the microwave because I'm lazy but you can always melt it in a saucepan if you prefer that.

4. Lastly, drizzle the melted chocolate onto the popcorn, sprinkle your crushed almonds on top and add a little bit of salt. You can leave it like that if you prefer a more gooey, wet texture but I like to put mine in the fridge for a bit to let the chocolate harden.

5. Snuggle up with your movie and your delicious popcorn which I promise you will become addicted to and enjoy.

Whats your go to movie snack?

DIY // Make A Scrunchie

I don't know about you but I personally love scrunchies and I am super happy that they are back in fashion. I love just throwing one into a high messy ponytail to add some retro 80's vibes to any outfit. They are super easy to make and cost way less than if you went out and bought one. There are also so many different patterns and styles of material to choose from meaning that your scrunch options are endless.

You will need...

- Material of your choice (the size of the material is totally up to you and how you want your scrunchie to look. For mine I used material strips that were 10x50cm).

- Scissors 

- Sewing machine with chosen cotton threaded through

- Elastic (again the size of the elastic is totally up to you, my elastic pieces were about 15cm long).

- Dress making pins if you need them

Lets Begin!

1. If your material isn't already cut into 10x50cm (or what ever measurements your doing) then do that now. 

2. Fold the material strip long ways with the right sides facing each other and pin along the edge. (If you are confident with the sewing machine then you don't have to pin it down.)

3. With the sewing machine, sew along that edge leaving about a 4cm gap at each end and a 1cm seam allowance. 

4. Next turn the material right side out. 

5. This is where is gets a little confusing, with the right sides facing each other sew the open ends together. 

6. After thats done you should have a hollow tube with a gap in it. Thread the elastic piece into the gap using a safety pin at one end to help feed your way through. Tie the end of the elastic into a double knot.

7. Sew up the remaining gap in the scrunchie and voila you are done! 

Have fun scrunchie making!

Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe

After testing and experimenting with many vegan cookie recipes I think I have finally found the perfect one. These cookies are crunchy on the outside, chewy in the middle and I promise that you won't even notice that their vegan. I also made this recipe into a youtube video so if you prefer to watch it in video form you can do so here.

You will need...

1/2 cup of vegan butter (I used Nuttelex)

1 cup of self raising flour

1/2 cup of caster sugar

1/2 cup of brown sugar 

1 tsp of vanilla essence

3/4 cup of vegan chocolate chips (I used the nestle dark melts because I had no nestle dark chocolate chips at the time)

Method

1. In an electric mixer you want to mix the room tempreture butter on a low setting.

2. Next you can add in your caster sugar, brown sugar and vanilla essence and until well combined.

3. After that you can sift in your flour gradually, stirring in between with a spatula.

4. Next you can pour in the chocolate chips and stir them in.

5. Use your fingers to mould the dough into balls and place them onto baking trays with 6 baking paper. (Remember that they will expand and spread out in the oven so be sure to leave generous gaps between each cookie ball.)

6. Next I use the palm of my hand to flatten out the cookies slightly, this is optional but it makes them look flatter in the end result.

7. You want to cook them in the oven at 180 degrees celsius for 10-15 minutes. I cooked mine for 12 minutes and that worked perfectly for me and made them crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle. 

8. Once there done cooking you can remove them from the oven and onto a cooling rack to cool and thats it. So easy and delicious!!

If you do end up trying this recipe, let me know what you think of them.

Autumn Essentials

Autumn is here! Which means the weather is cooling down and the leaves are changing colour. When I think of autumn I imagine myself snuggled up in bed, drinking hot chocolate and watching a film or going for a walk wearing a sweater and feeling the satisfaction of stepping on autumn leaves and hearing them crunch. Anyways, here are my autumn essentials.

I have very dry lips as it is but as the weather begins to cool it gets a lot worse and they need some extra special attention. To fix this I like to treat them to a lip scrub and the Lush Bubblegum Scrub is my favourite. It smells delicious and once your done scrubbing your lips, you can lick it off although it doesn't taste as nice as you would think. I'm pretty sure lush needs to bring out a cinnamon spice flavour lip scrub for this time of here but for now bubblegum will do. After scrubbing my lips and getting all the dead skin off (ew) I like to moisturise them. Lucas Papaw Ointment has been my favourite lip balm for years, so i'll lather on a thick layer of that and dry, chapped lips will no longer be a problem. 

As it gets colder and rain becomes a daily occurrence, you are going to be stuck inside a lot. To stop myself from being bored out of my brain I like to read (and watch films). I am currently reading Miss Peregrines Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. Its a wonderful novel that combines old haunting photographs with a peculiar story that will send chills down your spine. And if you finish that book, there are two more in the series that will keep you occupied for days on end. Whilst reading I recommend lighting a candle and munching on some Red Rock Deli Sweet Potato Chips (yes they are vegan). When I first tried these chips I didn't like them but they grew on me and now i'm obsessed. I bought 3 packets at the super market last week as they were on sale and I couldn't resist. I think the orange chip colours reminds me of the autumn leaves making these the perfect snack for a rainy day inside. 

As much as we would like to stay inside all autumn, we can't and there are days when we have to leave the house. This means we have to rug up in some warmer clothes. I absolutely love sweaters and recently I have purchased a couple of new ones. The cream one in the photos is from Glassons and I love it, the neck line can be left as is or you can roll it down for a different look. Its also cropped so its perfect to wear with a high waisted skirt. Which brings me onto my next essential; TIGHTS! Throughout autumn, tights will become your new best friend. It can be frustrating wanting to wear a skirt or a dress but its too cold to, well chuck some tights on underneath and your good to go. My favourite tights are from Bonds which I have been wearing tons recently. 

My last essential is of course a scarf. I have been on a serious hunt for the perfect plaid scarf and low and behold I found it. Its by the brand Princess Highway and I love it. The material is perfect, the colours are perfect and it will keep your neck nice a toasty when your outside. Plus its so big that if you ever want to have a spontaneous picnic, just throw this on the ground and you have a picnic blanket.

Those are my autumn essentials. What are yours?