The Bay Horse, Hutton Rudby

On Friday night me and Matt decided last minute that we'd go out for tea to a local country pub. We'd been to the Bay Horse before so thought we'd go there, however, there are so many pubs named the Bay Horse in the area that we weren't aware of at the time. When the sat nav brought us to this one we were confused but we went decided to try it out. It turns out we'd been to the one in Great Broughton before and this one is in Hutton Rudby... Nevertheless, we trudged inside to find a quaint little pub in which all the locals were staring us down as we looked for a find a table. We chose our meal from a board on the wall as they didn't seem to have any proper menus. The wait time was quite long for the food but when it came we could see why! The food looked gorgeous, like so much effort had gone into perfecting it. I chose the steak and mushroom pie whilst Matt went for a sirloin steak.

It's been a while since I had a pie so I was excited to try this one and it did not disappoint. The pastry was lovely, thick and crumbly with the steak inside being very tender and juicy. The sauce was quite rich and the mushrooms were whole which I thought was different! I had so much on my plate it was hard to finish and I didn't even touch the extra gravy! Matt enjoyed his steak and said he really liked his peppercorn sauce although it had a lot of full peppercorns! We didn't stay for dessert as we felt like we were about to burst but I wish we had as I am sure that would have been just as home-made and yummy. I'd definitely recommend the Bay Horse to anyone in the area as the food was very lovely and it was a nice place to spend a night. They even had a outside garden area for a sunny day.

Healthy snacks I've tried

Recently I've been trying to eat better. I am eating less processed junk and sticking to clean eating with gorgeous meals full of vegetables and snacking on lots of fruit. I've been looking for alternatives to snacks that I would have eaten such as crisps, jelly sweets and chocolate bars. I've been snooping round ASDA and Holland and Barrett to find these below.

Metcalfe's Skinny Popcorn - ASDA £1.00

Popcorn is a great alternative to snacking on crisps as it is lower in calories and can come in savoury or sweet flavours to suit whatever you are craving. Although this is a light snack it is packed with flavour and you'll never feel like you are eating plain popcorn! I've tried sweet and salty, sweet cinnamon spice and Sargent salt. My favourite has to be the cinnamon one, it is so tasty!
Beauty Sweeties - H&B £1.99 I picked these up because even through the packaging these sweets smelled amazing! Such a sweet, subtle melon smell. They are gluten, lactose and gelatine free with a high fruit juice concentrate. The texture of these sweets is very strange, they kind of melt away in your mouth as you chew. The taste is okay but very sweet. I'm not really a fan of these but they could be a possible swap for people who love sweets!
Nature Crops Quinoa Nutrition Bar This nutrition bar is a great alternative to a chocolate bar as it is filled with protein-rich quinoa. A lot of people may have had quinoa and thought it wasn't very nice but I assure when you get it right it is lovely. In this bar, the quinoa doesn't have a strong taste but acts as a base for the bar, almost like a biscuit would in a chocolate bar. It is filled with almonds which contain a lot of good fats and dark chocolate which is good for you in small doses. This bar is very yummy but I think to make it cleaner I want to start making my own!
Quinoa Crisps - H&B £1.99 These crisps have the texture of Walkers' Sunbites and are corrugated rectangle shapes rather than a traditional crisp shape. Made primarily with quinoa flour these crisps are suitable for vegans and vegetarians and gluten-free. They are great tasting crisps but the flavouring was a little bit too strong, but I'm sure that won't put some people off.
Urban Fruit Baked Mango - ASDA £2.00 I picked this up after seeing a few people review these on their blogs. This is basically mango that has been baked and nothing else - no preservatives or sugars. Although having said there is no sugar, this is no added sugar, the sugars from the fruit are quite high so you have to be mindful if you are eating a whole bag! The bite-size pieces in the bag aren't the most attractive snack but they do taste nice, almost like a tangy chewy mango. I'd definitely go and get another bag when I eat them all!
Although I've been trying out these few snacks you can't beat the basics. I've been trying to take as much fruit as possible with me to work so that I have something to eat when I am hungry to stop me buying something else from town. What I do struggle with is snacking on vegetables, this is my next task! Getting more veggies into my snacks.
Have you tried any of these? Got any new ones I should try? Any good snacks you can recommend?

Gingerbread Smiles turns one today!

I honestly can't believe how far this little blog has come in a year. I first started this blog one day bored, sitting in my bedroom. I have no idea where the thought came from to set it up but I went for it and I am so glad that I did. This year being a blogger has given me so much more than just a place on the internet to post my reviews and ideas. I've made so many good friends that I've actually met in person and so many more that I can't wait to meet. The online blogging community is so lovely to be part of, I swear they all welcome you in with open arms and can't do enough to help you or just chat to you. I'm so happy I've made such great friends through blogging.

My blog has given me such amazing opportunities to attend events with other bloggers as well as being sent lots of amazing products to review that I would have never imagined would have happened when I began. I'm so pleased to have organised two blogger meetups in Middlesbrough introducing the Geordies to our little town. I can't believe they went so well and that people actually went out of their way to make them so great. Thanks for ALL the cakes guys!

Another thing that I think blogging has helped with is my confidence. When I am at an event I am so much happier walking up to strangers and introducing myself. Before I would have never dreamed of that but when you are in such a friendly blogging community there is nothing to lose. This has definitely translated into my work and personal life as I am more likely to have the confidence to speak up or talk to new people.

Don't get me wrong blogging is hard work. Sometimes you want nothing more than to sit around in your PJs all day watching TV but something inside you makes you get on your laptop and start typing your heart out. I'm so pleased with the direction my blog has taken as it has naturally landed where it always should have. I don't wear a lot of makeup so to start my blog as a beauty one was probably not the best idea. I'm at a happy medium calling myself a lifestyle blogger having the chance to write about all sorts including places I've been, food I've eaten and the occasional post about new makeup!

I hope you all enjoy what I write about and continue to follow me for another year.