Sunday, 29 October 2017
SourcedBox: Healthy and Natural Snacks in your mailbox
I was beyond excited when this green/blueish package came in the mail and I found out it was SourcedBox. And what is SourcedBox? It is a snacking service that delivers healthy, natural and vegan snacks through the post every month. They usually aim to have ten to twelve snacks in each box and they don't contain refined sugars, artificial flavourings or preservatives, additives or chemicals. Now you can see why I was excited to try them all!
They usually send boxes out in the first week of the month and my October SourcedBox was shipped from Brighton on the 4th and took 10 bussiness days to get to my mailbox so it was right on their estimate delivery period (7-10 working days for Europe deliveries). The box comes with a little leaflet describing the snacks, two recipes, a discount code for Mindful Chef (unfortunately it only works in the UK) and some information about the companies that made the snacks in the box. It contained 11 snacks including two drink and a tea:
> Cherry Scrummies by Clearly Scrumptious - Inspired by childhood sweets, these cherry flavoured juice cranberries and succulent raisins are a great alternative to sweets! If you're a fan of raisins this is perfect for you because they're not too sweet but sweet enough as well so you won't end up eating any more sugar. A package comes with 20g so that's 58 kcal, 0,2g of fat, 14g of carbohydrates, 12,5g of sugar, 0,7g of fibre and 0,37g of protein.
> Cherry Scrummies by Clearly Scrumptious - Inspired by childhood sweets, these cherry flavoured juice cranberries and succulent raisins are a great alternative to sweets! If you're a fan of raisins this is perfect for you because they're not too sweet but sweet enough as well so you won't end up eating any more sugar. A package comes with 20g so that's 58 kcal, 0,2g of fat, 14g of carbohydrates, 12,5g of sugar, 0,7g of fibre and 0,37g of protein.
> Oat & Cacao Cookie by The Beginnings - The delicate oat flavour of these cookies is embellished with crunchy cocoa beans and rich coconut flakes. Maple syrup and aromatic cocoa butter adds creamy sweetness. These had all the potential to be my favourite ones but they only had one problem: the light coconut flavour. Since I'm not the biggest coconut fan, I could see myself ABSOLUTELY LOVING these if it were not the coconut. This package comes with three cookies (45g) so in total it has 231 kcal, 14g of fat, 21g of carbohydrates, 8g of sugar, 3g of protein, 3g of fiber and 0,1g of salt.
> Korean BBQ Chips by Wainut - The authentic smoky and fully BBQ flavour in each bite will leave you wondering where they hid the grill. An amazing sweet and savoury snack for any occasion. One of my favourites! Perfect, perfect, perfect flavour! The only fault I would point is that they're slightly hard but THE FLAVOUR THOUGH. Unfortunately I got sent a package with the wrong labeling (which is why I don't have the nutritional information) but I contacted the SourcedBox support and they kindly contacted Wainut. They're going to send me a package with a few of their snacks to try and I honestly can't wait for those amazing snacks again which my supermarkets unfortunately don't sell on their own (here's a suggestion, though, please come and sell here in Portugal!)!
> Cucumber Water by Dash - Refreshing, sparkling british spring water infused with whole, wonky, misshapen cucumbers for a dash of flavour that's pure from source to sip with no sugar, fake flavours and calories. Since I'm not a fan of carbonated drinks (I'll make an exception for Sprite and 7Up but don't even let me start on Coca-Cola) I feel like I could have enjoyed this one a lot more. It's definitely refreshing, though and if you enjoy soda and cucumber this one might be perfect for you! Personally, I feel like their lemon water would suit me better.
> Carrot & Spice Boost Banana Bar by Snact - Food waste featuring unawnted ugly fruit brings this delicious banana, oat and pumpkin seed bar with a superfood boost of anti-inflamatory cinnamon and anti-oxidant carrots and walnuts. I enjoyed this one as it had a lot of flavour as I felt like the pumpkin and cinnamon were an amazing mix, and I especially enjoyed the whole #deliciousprotest "more taste less waste" idea where every snack saves one apple or banana from going to waste! I'm also curious about their Apple & Cinnamon Kick Banana Bar and their fruit jerky packs. This one is a 35g bar so it comes with 128 kcal, 4,4g of fat, 17,6g of carbohydrates, 12,8g of sugar, 2,7g of fibre and 3,3g of protein.
> Hazelnut Praline Chocolate Bar by Rythm 108 - A gloriously swiss dark chocolate bar with praline oat and quinoa filling that melts in your mouth and is guaranteed to bring a smile to any chocolate lovers face. And it was released just in October! I absolutely loved this one!! The only problem with it is that it's too small as it's only 33g. I swear I could eat another one (more like 100 more, to be honest) because the taste is so amazing you have trouble believing it's actually healthy, with 47% less sugar than comparable products in the same category. My only question now is where can I buy 100 more of these? A 33g bar has 19 kcal, 14g of fat, 12g of carbohydrates, 8g of sugar, 4g of fibre and 2g of protein.
> Banana Bread Chai Tea by Bluebird Tea Co. - Imagine the blissful smell of freshly baked banana bread cooling straight from the oven and there you go, an amazing blend of banana, cinnamon, ginger, vanilla and cardamom. A warming hug in a mug that sort of reminded me of Christmas and cozy winter evenings under a blanket and a book in your hands! Even with a cold I was able to smell that cozy smell and, not going to lie, it not only made me feel all warm but also managed to unblock my nose for a while!
> Waku Waku Cashews by Kimoni - Crunchy cashew nuts, coated with an intriguing blend of Norwegian arctic seaweed, Iranian Sumac and a signature soy sauce glaze, creating a rich, satisfying savoury flavour. Hands down another of my favourites from this box! This one has exactly the right flavour for a nice salty/savoury snack, I would absolutely recommend this one! I went to their website and they don't ship to Portugal (but according to the company they're working on it - I'll keep waiting!) and I'm disappointed the Portuguese supermarkets don't sell this one. This unfortunately only comes with 20g so it has around 123 kcal, 10g of fat, 5g of carbohydrates, 0,92g of sugar, 0,82g of fibre, 4g of protein and 0,06g of salt.
> Dehydrated Mango by I Love Snacks - Hand-picked and carefully selected from a sustainable sourced orchards in Thailand, this gently dehydrated mango contains no added sugar, is gmo free and is deliciously tasty! I enjoyed this one, it had just the right amount of sweetness! I've seen their other products and would absolutely love to try the dark belgian chocolate one! This one, though, comes in 25g with 85 kcal, 20g of carbohydrates, 15g of sugar, 1,75g of fibre, 0,7g of protein and 0,02g of salt.
> Fruit Jelly by Naturelly - They have Apple & Blackcurrant, Summer Fruits and Tropical Fruits flavours and I got the Summer Fruits one. It is brilliant for lunchboxes, after-school snacks or tasty treats on days out and I feel like it's perfect for kids and teens to bring to school beause it's very sweet even though it has no added sugar or sweeteners. Honestly, it was too sweet for me but I usually stay away from juices anyway so it'd be perfect for people who like sweet juices. This fruity jelly snack has been made with scrumptious fruit juice, in my case apple, strawberry, raspberry and blackcurrant, blended with water and a special gelatine free jelly called gelan gum which is a natural dietary fibre found in lily plants. It comes in 100g with 36 kcal, 8,1g of carbohydrates, 7,2g of sugar, 0,5g of fibre, 0,6g of protein and 80mg of vitamin C.
> Banananut Bites by Moral Fibre - Deliciously chewy bites of Fairtrade bananas and organic dates with rich pecans and coconut. An energising quick bite when time is short and craving strikes. When you look at them, they resemble Ferrero Rocher so I'm not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed they didn't have a chocolaty flavour. However, after getting rid of the Ferrero Rocher thoughts I was able to appreciate them. Again, not the biggest fan of coconut so despite them being really good I thought they were a bit too sweet after a few of them (it's the coconut, I know). I've checked their website and I'm really interested in their Choco Banananut Bites, Raspberry Cocolossal Balls and Banana Berry Bites. This package comes with 70g, so around 10 moral bites (I confess I didn't count, I just ate). Each 7g moral bite contains roughly 27 kcal, 1,8g of fat, 2g of sugar, 0,3g of protein, 0,5g of fibre and 0g of salt.
So overall I would totally recommend trying SourcedBox at least once. It's an amazing and fun way to discover new healthy and vegan snacks! Of course you will not LOVE everything they put in the box but I'm sure there will be at least a few items you'll wish they'd sent more of. At least I know I would love to get a whole box of cashews, chocolate bars and korean chips! I also like that they give smaller companies a chance to get some visibility by choosing companies that aren't huge already. The only suggestion I have is the discounts part to be more inclusive for non-UK residents. This October box discount to Mindful Chef could only be used for people living in the UK, as I've previously mentioned, and while I assume a huge percentage of the SourcedBox subscribers are indeed UK residents, some of us aren't so I feel like it could be more global instead.
SourcedBox has monthly subscriptions which cost 18.95£ and you can keep, pause or cancel your subscription any time as well as annual subcriptions for 189.95£ where you’ll essencially get 12 months of SourcedBox for the price of 10. But you can get 15% off by subscribing through this link (:
SourcedBox has monthly subscriptions which cost 18.95£ and you can keep, pause or cancel your subscription any time as well as annual subcriptions for 189.95£ where you’ll essencially get 12 months of SourcedBox for the price of 10. But you can get 15% off by subscribing through this link (:
Sunday, 22 October 2017
Book review: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
“Anybody can look at you. It's quite rare to find someone who sees the same world you see.”
"A second book review in a row? Are you serious?" You ask.
Yes, you read correctly. As it happens, the fourth trimester of the year is filled with book launches (I'm looking at you, Philip Pullman and J. K. Rowling) and a bookworm like me has to do quite a bit of budget management so not to spend all my paycheck on books (the struggle is real, my friends). Turtles All the Way Down came out on the 10th so last friday I marched to the nearest bookshop to pick it up.
I've been a John Green fan for quite a while now. I've read all his books except Will Grayson, Will Grayson (which I'll get to, eventually) and enjoyed them immensely though my favourite is definitely The Fault in Our Stars. So since I heard he was going to finally release a new book I've been counting the days until October 10th. I tried not to have my hopes up since I knew it would be difficult to top The Fault in Our Stars and I must say it didn't, mostly because it's so different than his other books, but it came quite close.
Turtles All the Way Down is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Aza Holmes living in Indianapolis. She never intended to pursue the mystery of the fugitive billionaire Russell Picket who disappeared in the middle of the night from his mansion and no one never heard from him again, not even his sons. There is a hundred-thousand dollar reward at stake and her best friend, aka famous Star Wars fan fiction writer Daisy, is eager to investigate the case. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett's son, Davis, and start their investigation.
This book is different from his other works as it is a bit more slow paced than what we're used to from John Green, and the plot is also more subtle. Instead of foccusing on romance between two teenagers this one's main focus is Aza and her mental health, living with the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. She is terribly intelligent (I learnt SO MUCH with her, especially about Clostridium difficile and human microbiome) and she's very much in her own head, as noted in the book towards the end, because of her anxiety and OCD. And this is not just the type of person who needs to have all her pencils lined up and makes sure she locks all her doors. No. This is the real and brutal type of OCD. You are not just reading about her OCD, with John Green's writing you're actually experiencing what it's like to have real OCD with her intrusive thought-spirals. And that's why it's very different and, honestly, what makes it so good, having a lot of psychology and metaphors involved. It's very intense to live as Aza, going through her experiences and how she tries to fight her mental health disease. Because “The thing about a spiral is, if you follow it inward, it never actually ends. It just keeps tightening, infinitely.”.
By the way, there's no turtles involved in this book except the metaphorical ones. There is, however, a pet tuatara named Tua, a reptile from New Zealand that will get the whole Picket's fortune if he's dead.
So please do yourself a favour, even if you've never read a John Green book, and get Turtle All the Way Down on Book Depository with free shipping or Amazon. You can thank me later!
Turtles All the Way Down is about a sixteen-year-old girl named Aza Holmes living in Indianapolis. She never intended to pursue the mystery of the fugitive billionaire Russell Picket who disappeared in the middle of the night from his mansion and no one never heard from him again, not even his sons. There is a hundred-thousand dollar reward at stake and her best friend, aka famous Star Wars fan fiction writer Daisy, is eager to investigate the case. So together, they navigate the short distance and broad divides that separate them from Russell Pickett's son, Davis, and start their investigation.
This book is different from his other works as it is a bit more slow paced than what we're used to from John Green, and the plot is also more subtle. Instead of foccusing on romance between two teenagers this one's main focus is Aza and her mental health, living with the ever-tightening spiral of her own thoughts. She is terribly intelligent (I learnt SO MUCH with her, especially about Clostridium difficile and human microbiome) and she's very much in her own head, as noted in the book towards the end, because of her anxiety and OCD. And this is not just the type of person who needs to have all her pencils lined up and makes sure she locks all her doors. No. This is the real and brutal type of OCD. You are not just reading about her OCD, with John Green's writing you're actually experiencing what it's like to have real OCD with her intrusive thought-spirals. And that's why it's very different and, honestly, what makes it so good, having a lot of psychology and metaphors involved. It's very intense to live as Aza, going through her experiences and how she tries to fight her mental health disease. Because “The thing about a spiral is, if you follow it inward, it never actually ends. It just keeps tightening, infinitely.”.
By the way, there's no turtles involved in this book except the metaphorical ones. There is, however, a pet tuatara named Tua, a reptile from New Zealand that will get the whole Picket's fortune if he's dead.
So please do yourself a favour, even if you've never read a John Green book, and get Turtle All the Way Down on Book Depository with free shipping or Amazon. You can thank me later!
“You're both the fire and the water that extinguishes it. You're the narrator, the protagonist, and the sidekick. You're the storyteller and the story told. You are somebody's something, but you are also your you.”
Sunday, 15 October 2017
Book review: Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
Moxie (ˈmɒksi/): force of character, determination, or nerve.
This past Wednesday, on October 11th, it was the International Day of the Girl so I thought it would be perfect to get this review out this week since this book is all about girls.
I confess I was halfway through this book before I decided to look up what Moxie actually meant and I feel it fits perfectly. I bought this one at the airport, on my way back home and read half of it during the plane ride. It is an easy and fun to read book with a feminist message, for anyone who has ever had to deal with #everydaysexism especially in school.
I confess I was halfway through this book before I decided to look up what Moxie actually meant and I feel it fits perfectly. I bought this one at the airport, on my way back home and read half of it during the plane ride. It is an easy and fun to read book with a feminist message, for anyone who has ever had to deal with #everydaysexism especially in school.
Moxie, by Jennifer Mathieu is a story about a sixteen year old Texas girl, Vivian Carter and she is fed up. Fed up with her high school teachers who think the football team can do no wrong. Fed up with sexist dress codes, hallway harassment and gross comments from guys during class. While she is in class she has to put up with the football's team comments asking girls to "make them a sandwich" and gross t-shirts. But most of all, Viv Carter is fed up with always following the rules. So she was inspired by her mother and created a newsletter zine that she distributes anonymously amongst her highschool classmates. Slowly, she "recruits" girls by asking them to draw hearts and stars in their hands to find other girls that are also fed up with the school's attitude and wearing bathrobes to school as a protest against the sexist dress code. After a while, the Moxie zine doesn't just belong to her but to every girl in East Rockport High who wants to be part of it.
Shortly, this book is about girls supporting each other and wanting to be treated like human beings. I really liked Viv, the main character. She's a very realistic high school girl and you can see her growth as you read the book. It starts off a little bit slow but the last 50 pages are SO AMAZING you won't be able to put it down!
So why should you read this book? Because it empowers all kinds of girls. Honestly, after reading it I was ready to start a riot against sexism somewhere. I felt like girls, when united, can do anything they want to and it was amazing to see that in a book!
You can get Moxie on Amazon or Book Depository (free shipping) and then let me know what you thought about it!
Shortly, this book is about girls supporting each other and wanting to be treated like human beings. I really liked Viv, the main character. She's a very realistic high school girl and you can see her growth as you read the book. It starts off a little bit slow but the last 50 pages are SO AMAZING you won't be able to put it down!
So why should you read this book? Because it empowers all kinds of girls. Honestly, after reading it I was ready to start a riot against sexism somewhere. I felt like girls, when united, can do anything they want to and it was amazing to see that in a book!
You can get Moxie on Amazon or Book Depository (free shipping) and then let me know what you thought about it!
Sunday, 8 October 2017
A Muggle's Magical Musings: A Guide to the WB Harry Potter Studio Tour
As a great big Potterhead since childhood, my visit to London would not be complete had I not visited the studios that brought the books to life. I have lost count of how many times I reread the books and reviewed the films and how much of my childhood (and adolescence) was spent waiting for a letter to Hogwarts so obviously visiting the Warner Bros. Studio Tour was the highlight of my trip, I am not going to lie.
If you are as big of Harry Potter fan as I am, I guarantee the visit to the studios will be the best memory of the trip. And why? Because we can see with our own eyes the magical world becoming real with all the sets, clothing and real props used in the movies! Here is a summary of my experience as well as some tips and information for someone who wants to visit:
* TICKETS *
The first step is to book your tickets online in advance through the Warner Bros. Studio Tour website. They do not sell tickets at the entrance so this step is essential. Then just print out the booking confirmation and get the tickets when you arrive there. A regular adult ticket (>16 years) costs 39£ and there are some package options with additional souvenirs and/or guides included. In my opinion, however, the standard ticket is more than enough.
You should also book the visit as early as possible because there is no time limit to be there and the sooner you arrive, the more you can enjoy with less people getting in the way! I spent almost 4 hours there and I don't think it was enough!
* TRANSPORTATION *
The studios are in the outskirts of London and the nearest train station is Watford Junction. From London Euston station you can catch the train to that station for 9.9£. There are two types of trains departing from this station which stop at Watford Junction: the Overground (the local train, which stops at all stations until it arrives there, taking between 50 minutes to 1 hour) and the Express (which has only two or three stops between the two stations and takes 20 minutes). Since we had arrived at Euston with more than enough time we chose to catch the slow train but we picked up the fast one afterwards, coming back to London.
From Watford Junction there are buses to the studios every 20 minutes and it takes about 15 minutes to get there. The ticket costs 2.5£ roundtrip and has to be paid in cash. They are big buses full of Harry Potter pictures so you absolutely can't miss them!
* THE MAGIC BEGINS *
After we passed through security we found the closet under the stairs where Harry slept before entering a dark room with several posters of the movies. While we are queuing to get in, I recommend here asking someone for the tour passport, it's more a free souvenir! They are flexible regarding the check in time. In our case, my enthusiasm was so big that I had booked the visit for 11h30 but by 10h we were already there. We went to the queue and got in at around 10h15.
After the room with the posters we see a small movie where the actors introduce the tour. The screen goes up, we face the door to the Great Hall and this is where the experience truly begins! The studios are divided into two parts, separated by the Backlot where you can eat, experience the so famous Butterbeer and see Privet Drive, Knight Bus and more! Personally, I did not think the taste of the drink was that good but I ended up buying just to try it and it comes with a souvenir cup if you want to (but you have to pay more for that, of course). I advise you to take food instead of buying it because of the confusion, time lost waiting in line and the money you save that can later be used in the final souvenir shop!
Here are some of my highlights of this first part because I can not express it by words and the pictures are worth more than words:
The second part is made up of special effects, the Diagon Alley and Harry Potter Art Work. Here the highlights are definitely the Diagon Alley and the giant Hogwarts model at the end of the visit:
The second part is made up of special effects, the Diagon Alley and Harry Potter Art Work. Here the highlights are definitely the Diagon Alley and the giant Hogwarts model at the end of the visit:
The tour ends up with a visit at the souvenir shop and guys, the strugle is real. It was very hard not to spend all the pounds we had brought and my whole bank account there! The trick has to be coming up with a certain budget and not exceeding it. Because, let's face it, even though that store is the biggest dream of any Potterhead, it's all pretty expensive! I ended up buying a necklace with a snitch (and I didn't go over the budget).
I may have never gotten my Hogwarts letter but I sure have been to Hogwarts! In short: one of the best days of my life!
I may have never gotten my Hogwarts letter but I sure have been to Hogwarts! In short: one of the best days of my life!
* Mischief Managed *
Sunday, 1 October 2017
10 tips for a trip to London
This past week I left both internet and pharmacy aside and got to know and revisit the fantastic city of London! I say revisiting since I had previously been there when I was younger but it was different to bring the boyfriend along and being responsible for planning our entire itinerary (I believe I did not do bad). So I took the camera and the boy there and went to discover this wonderful capital!
Here are some tips I have been putting together from my days there that may be useful for a future trip (either for myself or anyone else reading):
1 - Book your hotel near/in the center of London with breakfast included
They are slightly more expensive, that is true, but in my opinion it is totally worth it. This is because we ended up saving money on transport and it took us a lot less time to get to London's main attractions. If we choose a hotel near the center we can easily get there on foot. There are a lot of things you can do and visit in London and the last thing you want to do is having to waste your time on transportation to get there.
Regarding breakfast, I think it is an essential requirement to a proper start of the day. Having to leave the hotel and then still being overcharged for breakfast just makes your day slightly more complicated.
Here are some tips I have been putting together from my days there that may be useful for a future trip (either for myself or anyone else reading):
1 - Book your hotel near/in the center of London with breakfast included
They are slightly more expensive, that is true, but in my opinion it is totally worth it. This is because we ended up saving money on transport and it took us a lot less time to get to London's main attractions. If we choose a hotel near the center we can easily get there on foot. There are a lot of things you can do and visit in London and the last thing you want to do is having to waste your time on transportation to get there.
Regarding breakfast, I think it is an essential requirement to a proper start of the day. Having to leave the hotel and then still being overcharged for breakfast just makes your day slightly more complicated.
2 - Walk, walk, walk!
London has the advantage of being extremely flat, unlike Lisbon, which is great for walking. It ends up saving money on transportation and you end up doing more sightseeing. Also, the underground is absolutely CHAOTIC during rush hour and the ticket fare is more expensive!
3 - Buy all yout tickets online
All the attractions I went to had the option of buying tickets online. It is not only cheaper but also saves time in queues, you just get in and out! For Madame Tussauds and London Eye you can also get the combined pass where you save 20£.
4 - Enjoy the free stuff
Honestly, I found that most of London's attractions are quite expensive. You can not get into the most commonly known attractions without dropping at least 20£. So please enjoy every free stuff you can get! There are many great museums in which admission is free, although they recommend a small donation. We visited The National Gallery, The National History Museum, The British Museum and The Science Museum.
If you are visiting the Tower of London, I recommend that you take the free guided tour that takes place every 30 minutes. The guide is fantastic and you end up learning a lot!
5 - Sky Garden
This falls into the category above but I think it deserves its own spotlight. It is a 360º view of the entire city of London from a 35th floor, terrace and an interior garden included! Access to the Sky Garden is free but you must book your visit through their website.
6 - Meals
A great way to save some money on meals we discovered is through Sainsburry's meal deals. For 3£ you can eat a sandwich, a packet of crips, a chocolate or fruit, and a drink. You can also buy a small pizza already heated for 3.6£ there (4,6£ for a big one, if I'm not mistaken)! By the way, you can also get a 2l water bottle there for only 50p.
7 - Pack accordingly and always carry a raincoat
Everyone knows the typical grey and cloudy London weather so a raincoat in your backpack is a must. I consider myself lucky since it only rained on the last day I was there but it's always better to play it safe.
8 - Outlet adaptor
EU outlets are different from UK ones (apparently it was not enough for them to just drive on a different side!). So either bring an adaptor from home or ask for one at the hotel. Most of the time they have adapters for tourists. But please, never buy at the airport. That's 10£ you will never see again!
9 - Oyster card refund
Do not forget to get your Oyster card refund at the airport machines when you leave. That's 5£ and if you haven't used all the credit you had in it you will also get that money back!
10 - Take someone special
As cliché as it might sound, taking someone special with you and visiting this wonderful city with them definitely makes the trip much better!
Aaaand that's a wrap, I hope they have been somewhat useful! I am open to questions, suggestions and comments! (:
Over the next few days my instagram will be full of photos of this trip, take a peek!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
