Food: Meat free carbonara

Cook time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Diced mushrooms
Fat free creame fraiche
Spinach
Grated parmesan 
Season 
Tsp paprika
Peas
Broccoli 
Coconut oil

Method:

1. Warm a tablespoon of coconut oil in a saucepan and lightly cook the mushrooms, followed by the vegetables. Do this for 3 mins. Whilst you are goldening that goodness - cook some pasta on the side. 

2. Add the tub of creame fraiche, pepper, paprika and grated parmesan.

3. Add the pasta, mix together for 5 mins.

4. Serve with a slight topping of parmesan.


See how easy is that? 

Food: Meat free veggie lasagne

Prep time: 15

Cook 1 hour

Treat yourself to this wholesome, easy, meat free lasagne -fuelled with protein and nutrients, to set your taste buds tingling.

Ingredients:

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

1 400g can chopped tomatoes

Garlic granules

1 portion size of cauliflower

1 portion size of broccoli

2 celery sticks

Tomato puree

6 Lasagne sheets (depending on dish size)

2 Handfuls of spinach

1 Jar of cream lasagne sauce

75g of grated light cheddar cheese

Bag of quorn mince

Method:

•           Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6
•           Heat two tablespoons of rapeseed oil in a pan and cook the chopped onion and garlic.
•           Add the quorn mince and cook until lightly browned. Add all the chopped vegetables and cook until slightly soft.
•           Add the chopped tomatoes, puree, garlic granules and season with salt and pepper.
•           Spoon a third of the vegetable mixture over the base of a 2½ –3 litre/4½–5¼ pint ovenproof lasagne dish and cover with a single layer of lasagne. Top with another third of the vegetable mixture (don’t worry if it doesn’t cover evenly) and a second layer of lasagne.
•           Pour over the jar of white sauce and add the reserved cheese over the top.
•           Bake for 35–40 minutes, or until the pasta has softened and the topping is golden brown and bubbling. Stand for 5 minutes before cutting to allow the filling to settle.
•           Serve and enjoy!

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xoxo

                                                           

Travel: Marmaris, Turkey

You may have noticed the endless amounts of holiday spam across Instagram and Facebook these past few weeks – sorry but not sorry.

If you didn’t know, I went on holiday to tenacious Turkey and what a great time of year to go too. The weather in the UK was dropping, temperatures there were rising and it wasn’t overrun like peak season.

If you are looking for a good holiday, that does not have to cost the earth I would highly suggest Turkey! For under £2,000 for a small group of people, we were able to spend about two weeks in a luxury five-star, all-inclusive hotel, set in the beautiful location of Icmelar! Surrounded by an idyllic blue ocean lagoon and rolling mountains, the scenery is something to behold!

The hotel – Marmaris Palace was a peaceful and relaxing stay, with the friendliest staff! Our room was comfy, with a slight ocean view, (a better ocean view can be arranged upon request) spacious rooms and the hotel décor itself was stylish and chic.

The hotel food was delicious, with maybe the odd night of cold food on the buffet and of course the cocktails were delicious, and many went down a treat and perhaps too often (but what are holidays for right?). The hotel also had its own private beach and jetty/pontoon/decking (I heard it referred to all three of those descriptions), which was a favourite spot to layout and sunbathe. It was the most peaceful location out of everywhere, with the best views and comforting sounds of the sea gently lapping up the sides. The sea was as clear as glass and the colour of a turquoise diamond. However, the only niggle I have (pun coming that is not meant to be a pun) the fish nibbled at you. I presume they must be the same breed as the ones you have in salons. I wasn’t so keen on them - considering they went for the blisters on my feet, from my heels the night before! So apart from the standard situation of my chasing the sun and trying to tan my hardest, let’s see what there is to do in Marmaris.

Top ten things to do in Turkey:

·       Get yourself a boat trip! There are so many luxurious and grand ships/yachts moored up in the harbour, situated in Marmaris. Have yourself a lazy day boat tour – sunbathe on the loungers on top deck, eat, drink, and swim in the lagoons. Take in the scenery of the mountains and open oceans and enjoy!

·       Marmaris harbour – I had plenty of fun just casually walking around the harbour, checking out the yachts, picturing myself cruising around the world and living the high life! There are some highly impressive “boats” there believe me!

·       Grand Bazaar – If you like designer things, this is the place for you. It is of course all fake but incredibly close to the real thing I must say! The prices are impressively cheap but still prepare to haggle with them for a good bargain! Do not be put off, if it seems overwhelming in terms of them getting a tad in your face, be polite and get used to it.

·       Visit Turtle beach! Book yourself a day out on a boat, visit the Turtle beach to witness the marine turtles in their natural habitat. You will also have a pleasant river cruise on a small taxi boat afterwards and weave through the reeds, to see the temple of the King, creatively carved into the mountains. There you will also see the tombs of his wife, children and right-hand men. You will end the day trip, with a visit to the traditional Turkish mud baths. Turkish mud baths are said to provide you with a clean, youthful glow after using.

·       The waterparks - with numerous parks located in Marmaris you can have a splashing time! They are easy to book, simply find a rep at your hotel, or you can go into the town of Marmaris. There are plenty of shops/guides selling tickets, far cheaper than the holiday reps.

·       Marmaris Castle boasts beautiful views from the top point. Easy to find, as it is situated just off the marina. So, enjoy a leisurely walk and take in the views.

·       Trip to Rhodes – what is better than getting to visit two places whilst away? You can easily organise a day trip to Rhodes. I suggest going to book this in town through one of the guides as it is cheaper than booking via your holiday company or hotel. They will ask you to bring your passports and take a photo of you for a day visa, three days in advance. It is an astonishing cheap price of £47.00 for the whole thing. You will be taken across by ferry and enjoy a good six hours in the city of Rhodes. I would recommend booking the trip and take advantage of visiting a part of Greece.

·       Visit the holy house, of the Virgin Mary. You can easily book a trip, to take a visit to the house where the holy Virgin Mary lived. Guides are available to book this, in Marmaris town.

·       Learn to dive! Marmaris and Icmelar offer a whole range of diving courses. You could come back a pro if you really want to! Dive into the exciting undersea world!

·       Nightlife – you can enjoy the great nightlife Marmaris has to offer. With a bar street – the name says it all really, with a number of luxurious clubs, that suits everyone’s tastes.

That is just a handful of things to do in Marmaris/Icmelar. I think my favourite parts were the jet skiing, walks along the beach to Icmelar – enjoying the picturesque points of the town - the small and beautiful bridges over the water, the colourful flowers and the beach bars lined along the say.

I would definitely recommend a trip over there, it is such good value for money, the people and scenery are amazing! All the boxes were ticked and I now cannot wait to see where we go exploring next! I don't want to bore you with all my holiday pictures, you can head to the Gram for that, but here is a short video instead.

Love Chlobo's Closet

xx

Lifestyle: Things you don't think about when buying your first home.

First Time House Buyer

I can’t believe it was two years ago since I purchased my house and yet it is still brick’s and dust. Renovations are excitingly starting and progressing, and I cannot wait to share my projects with you.

However, I felt that there wasn’t much information on what I need to know or wished I had known when I was looking and buying. So, I thought I would share some useful tips and pointers, to help someone else out. This is primarily focused on a fixed mortgage, not buy and let.

 ·       Bit of an obvious one when buying your first home but save, save and save some more. You will need at least 10% of the asking price of your chosen property if you are applying for a mortgage.

·       Establish what you can afford, you might have to be realistic instead of just focusing your search on luxury apartments in Kensington.

·       Start looking at what you can borrow, without applying. Do not apply for mortgages and then cancel, as this will frustratingly mess your credit rating up.

·       The fun bit (although I found this the reality shock at just how expensive property really is and that 6-bed cottage with a moat wasn’t happening) looking for properties to visit. Online and estate agents are good – costly through an estate agent though. I found my little cottage in the local paper, having just driven by months before saying how sweet it was.

·       Book multiple viewings. Even though I was ready to say yes, I will buy it in five minutes of being in my hobbit hole - look at it over and over again. Different times of day can also highlight areas or show things you did not see before.

·       Take people who have experience in purchasing property with you, for overall opinions and advice.

·       View more than one property, do not just go for the first thing you fall in love with.

·       I was fortunate to view a lot of great houses, but at the time I really couldn’t visualise what they would look like. As my mum would say always try and look past what you see and imagine what it could look like with some TLC.

·       When you finally agree on a home and want to put that offer in, offer lower than the original asking price. Be the haggler.

·       Get a solicitor! This is a huge life decision, you do not want anything going wrong.

·       Have a surveyor come and check your property. You don’t want to be sold something that is dangerous or could fall. I had a surveyor come and condemn mine before our offer went officially through. I was heartbroken, so I got a second surveyor to come and inspect it and thankfully it did.

·       When it goes through, pop the champagne but you aren’t there yet!

·       See anything you like in the house? Do not presume its yours, speak to the seller and ask if it is included the in price or if they are willing to part with it for money. Even appliances – I presumed the cooker was included but it wasn’t. However, I struck lucky and I got it for free anyway.

·       Mortgages take a while to go through, make sure you have this set-in place as soon as you are accepted. Shop around for good deals without signing up for anything.

·       Be patient with the whole process, honestly as much as it is exciting it is really, stressful. Until you get those keys anything can happen, so be prepared. I lost my house three times but, in the end, it was fate.

·       All being well, and all parties have completed their parts, you have all administrative sides in the place, the process should be complete.

·       Get your keys and crack open the bubbly!

·       If you need or require any further help, pleas