Let There Be Crumbs - Blogger Cake Club Review - Roker Sunderland

Us North East bloggers LOVE cake! Any reason to eat some and we are there. Luckily, Chloe (New Girl in Toon) has started to organise a bloggers cake club in which she sets up a time and venue for us all to meet and gorge ourselves on all sorts of baked goods! I didn't get to go to the first one as it was too far North, so when she announced the next meet would be in Sunderland, I was up for the 50-minute drive.

The venue she picked was called Let There Be Crumbs and it was part of the Best Western Roker Hotel on the seafront. Although it wasn't a very nice day we sat at the window to get some sea views. The girls that attended were Chloe (obvs), Caroline (Notes from Caroline), Kayleigh (I Dream of Coco), Lisa (Is it Me Me), Shivani (Cloud in a Teacup) and Julie (Julie and the Knits).

The venue was great. Large space with lots of seating and great quirky touches such as large tea sacks as blinds and cushion covers as well as wooden boards on the counter covered in tea prints. We all got sat down and started to wonder what cake we should pick. There was a lot of choice. We even got up to go to the counter so that we could decide which one to pick. A few people got just tea and cake, whilst three of us got cream tea AND a piece of cake. When it came it included two large scones, a cheese one and a fruit one which were very yummy. I picked Mississipi Mud pie for my cake which was so tasty but very rich.

The food was lovely but we didn't get enough tea! Us Northern Bloggers need copious amounts of tea but we were sharing teapots between three and scraping by on sips. Also, the service was a bit poor. Although I understand there were a few of us, it doesn't take that long to get pieces of cake and then for some to be forgotten. A bit all over the place but we enjoyed ourselves laughing at how English we were for wanting more tea but not speaking up because we were so polite. This was a nice place and although the cakes were lovely I wouldn't rush back to visit because the service was quite poor. Hopefully, they will sort it out and then I'd love to go back! Has anyone been?

Why I Meal Plan

Recently I came across an article that said that healthy food was expensive and that the person in question had to eat junk food. Um no, I don't think so. For me, eating junk food would be more expensive and most of all terrible unhealthy. When I moved into my house I was easily spending £60+ on a weekly shop for two people, but what on?!  Rubbish, that's what. Biscuits, crisps, bread, sweets and too much food.When I started trying to be healthier and eat 'cleaner' I decided to meal plan and only buy what I needed for that week including a few treats of course. Now my food shop costs around £40 a week dependent on toiletries and kitchen essentials I need to pick up.
How do I meal plan?

To start my meal planning I look at what shifts Matt is on, next to if I am out any day that week (to see how many meals I need to plan) and then I decide what I fancy cooking. It does take me a good 30 minutes to plan but that is because I like to do something different each week and I search recipe books and pinterest to find new ideas. I've started recording all my meal plans so I can go back over previous weeks plans to get ideas for future weeks. This way I know what we've had and what we liked.

Why should you meal plan?

• You know exactly what you will be picking up in the shopping. As you know what you are cooking you can search your cupboards to see what staples you already have and what you still need. This makes shopping easier, quicker and stress-free. In the past, I would be stood in the fruit and vegetable aisle for ages stressing out as to what I needed. Now I simply go in and follow my list.

• It can make your weekly shop cheaper. If you know exactly what you need to pick up at the supermarket then you aren't adding unnecessary extras to your trolley. Now don't get me wrong I pick up the occasional pack of biscuits, crisps and cheese snacks but that doesn't really add a whole lot on to the total price. Be reasonable and if you want a little treat, pick one up!

• When you plan you have more time to consider your diet and how to get more fruit and vegetables into it. I look over Pinterest to find healthy alternatives to my favourites like chilli and spaghetti and incorporate them into my weekly plans. I find planning like this gives you less room to deviate from your plan as you don't have bad foods in the house!

When I tell people I meal plan for the week they do look at me like I'm crazy, but I think it works! It saves us money, makes us healthier and shopping is less of a hassle!

What do you think? Does meal planning help you? Could it?

Love Niche London Collection Fashion Preview - Newcastle

Last month I was invited to the preview of a collection called Love Niche London put together by fashion entrepreneur, Nisha Vedhara. She'd put on a gorgeous spread of treats including cocktails, fruit, popcorn and sweets which we munched on whilst we waited to go into the studio.

The studio was amazing. It was filled with lots of clothes, sorted by colour, on racks around the room accompanied by lots of sparkling jewellery. I felt like I was in Kim Kardashian's walk-in wardrobe! We all started browsing the clothes and picking our favourites. As we did, Nisha announced there would be an outfit competition so we all raced around the room picking items we loved that would go great together.

I fell in love with this gorgeous blue jacket, so I had to try and find items that would go with it. I found this pretty simple top with an accompanying necklace that I thought went perfectly underneath. The trouble came from me when I had to find trousers! I personally think this would go great with jeans but there were none to be seen so I tried out some white trousers with them.

Unfortunately, I didn't win, fashion blogger Tasha Steel scooped first prize and got to take her chosen outfit home with her! We all took numerous pictures and browsed the clothes for potential buys. Throughout I got the chance to chat to my blogger friends who I don't see unless we are at blogger events; Chloe (New Girl in Toon), Lisa (Is it Just Meme) and Kayleigh (I Dream of Coco). I also met Alexis (Newcastle Sparkles) which was great as I love meeting other local bloggers. It was a brilliant night spent with some lovely bloggers and gorgeous clothes. I think the plan is for Love Niche London to appear online shortly so you will be able to have a browse at the clothes yourself!