Avobar

On the morning before coming back from London we went to Avobar in Covent Garden which is a brunch place that does avocado everything. Avocado in every dish and drink. We were early that they weren't even open yet and everywhere was dead and wasn't open yet as it was Sunday morning.

There is so much choice that we didn't know what to get.

We both got a matcha latte

Eggs Royale - with sliced avocado, house-cured pastrami salmon & avodaise - £12.50

Eggs Florentine - with sliced avocado, sautéed baby spinach & avodaise - £12.50

Matcha Pancakes Sweet - with caramelised banana, maple syrup & avo butter - £12.50

I got the eggs royale - avocado and salmon. Didn't know how my salmon was going to turn out but it just ended up being smoked salmon which is what I wanted luckily. Most places only do eggs royale - poached egg with avocado or eggs royale - with smoked salmon. I like having both salmon and avocado. My plate actually had a hair on it so I had to send it back and get another. Luckily we got the pancakes to share so I ate that before my food came back out. Couldn't taste the matcha in the pancakes - just tasted like normal pancakes really but the caramelised bananas was nice.

The avodaise was nice - avocado hollandaise which makes a change from the usual bright yellow stuff! If you love avocado definitely the place to visit if you're in London and around Covent Garden.

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Lunch

Had a cute little catch up lunch date with Sarah today. I met up with her during my lunch break before she started her shift at work. We went to Love Thy Neighbour in Hatton Garden. The one on Bold Street which I've been to twice has shut down. Not sure why - thought that would have been well busier than this one as one is hidden and out the way. Didn't even know where it actually was and it's pretty close to where I work. 

I got the Fresh berries, Matcha and yoghurt fluffy pancakes.

It was nice could have done with more yoghurt but it was filling.

I also got an Amazonian fruits smoothie - Banana, Amazonian Fruits, daily berries and oat milk which was nice. I was debating that or the Match smoothie (Matcha, spinach, banana and oat milk). Kinda wish I got the Match smoothie but thought it might have been Matcha over load since I had it with my pancakes. 

Sarah got a Buddha Bowl - Super Food Bowl - Crispy kale, charred tender stem broccoli, spinach, roasted squash, beets, sour cherries, toasted seeds, pomegranate, citrus pomace dressing and she added chicken to it.

I love the interior which is the same as what they had on Bold Street. We went at 12:30 and it was quiet only a few other people in there and our food was made really quick.

It was a nice catch up as Sarah is leaving the week after we do the marathon to go to Australia for a year to work and travel. I'm going to lose my gym buddy best mate for a whole year - I've kind of accepted it's for good though, I don't think she's ever coming back once she's left. But she should go there's nothing here holding her back and I wish I was brave enough to go. Sadly I'm not and she's going to have to settle for me going to visit her for a month or two! I've told her to promise me she can't sky dive until I visit as that is number 1 on my bucket list that I have to do. There's so many things on my bucket list I can tick off as well when I go so I'm excited to go and visit once she's settled!

Not going to get emotional over it now as we've still got a while and have a lot of things to fit in before she goes but I'm so excited for her to go and start her new journey and to go join her!

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Pancakes

Thick American style pancakes. Super easy to make only 4 ingredients.

Ingredients:

110g Self Raising Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 Egg

Milk

Using a non stick pan preferably, heat it up.

In a bowl whisk the flour, baking powder, egg together. Then add milk little by little until you get the right consistency. You want it to be quite a thick batter that you can whisk. 

Pour your batter into the pan. If you're using a non stick pan you can pour it straight in otherwise use a little oil or butter to stop it from sticking. 

Leave it for a couple of minutes then lift it up to check to see if it's brown. Once it's brown it's ready to flip over. You will start to see it raising & getting thicker. Once both sides are brown they're done!

Pancakes are so easy to make & you can add anything to the mixture. You can try adding cinnamon, ground ginger, peanut butter, vanilla, berries, chocolate or even protein powder. The possibilities are endless.

Once they're stacked you can drizzle with maple syrup, chocolate it's up to you! I like having it with jam or peanut butter.

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Shopping Spree

Catch with Danielle today not seen her since my birthday meal which was the end of August. We went for a super late lunch at Moose Cafe. I have a strange love for waffles & heard that their waffles & pancakes were really good.

I got the waffles with ice cream & Danielle got the pancakes with nutella. We shared them. I ended up having a waffle, pancake and a half. Felt sick after, ate way too much! The pancakes are so thick, 3 is too much looking around no-one seemed to be able to finish them so either got wasted or people took them away with them. (Can't see it being nice if you took it home). They don't just do waffles & pancakes they do full English breakfasts, sandwiches & other things that look good on the menu. Don't know how people can get a full English & have waffles or pancakes!

Wasn't expecting the interior to be like the way it is but it's a nice little cafe. I would recommend. It's on Dale Street down the road from the town hall. If I want my waffle fix I shall be returning! 

We did a bit of shopping, as I've been after a duster jacket/coat for over a year now I think I seen this khaki one in Topshop. Which happened to go into sale this week. 

 

Petite Contrast Panel Duster Coat

I got this in a size 4 from the petite section. Petite is for women who are 5"3 & below & the clothes are suppose to be 3cm shorter than the standard. But this is still super long. I'm hoping my mum can take it up so it isn't as long... It's gone 30% in the sale £50 which student discount & had £20 voucher I only paid £25 for it. I'm undecided on whether I suit it but I think if I can get it shortened then it should look ok as I really like it & it's sold out online.

Chain Detail Leather Ankle Boots

Since I seen these on the Zara website I fell in love with them. I've been after a pair of lace up boots & just love the chain detailing on them. I wish they were lace up & didn't have the zip on the inside but not much I can do about that. They're £89.99 on the website but on the size 5 & 6 they had in store they were priced £79.99 which meant they had to sell me them for that price. Holly got me £20 gift card for my birthday so paid £60 for them which is reasonable for real leather boots. I got them in a size 5 as they 6 felt really big even though all my boots are a 6. I'm going to be selling 2 pairs of my Zara boots I've previously worn on my blog just to try & justify my buying these. Plus I don't wear them anyway!

Danielle also got 2 jackets from Zara. She took some dresses back & swapped them for this jacket.

Double Faced Coat £39.99

This is from the kids section. She got in 13-14 years old. It's so nice I love the colour. I'd buy it if I didn't already have my black one I got from Topshop last year. I love shearling jackets they're so soft & warm!

Jackets with Zips - £19.99

She also got this faux leather jacket, think it was meant to be £39.99. She's currently undecided whether she's going to keep them both. I do love the shearling & think she should keep that one, as she does have a few leather jackets & needs to invest in a real leather one!

I go through fazes where I just spend so much money! Today wasn't the only day where I've spent a lot I bought some new trainers that were meant to be for the gym but I like them too much, I think they're going to be day ones. I also got a new top for the gym. They were both in the sale.

Been after a pair of Nike Prestos for over a year I think now (I've done wishlists in the past with them on) got these in the Nike sale online juniors for £33.59 as they have an extra 20% off sale. These are unfortunately sold out. 

Nike Dry Miler

I got a grey & black patterned one from the JD sale earlier on in the year. I love the fit & material as it's not that horrible clingy material that sticks to your body. It just fits loosely on you. I paid £12.79 for it.

Topshop Moto Rip Jamie Jeans

I got these when Topsohp were doing 20% student discount. Been after a pair of nice ripped jeans for so long. Just couldn't get a pair that were proper jeans material & positioned where I wanted them on my knees! I also got the super rip ones but didn't like them & kept these.

I need to stop spending money but I still need gym trainers, gym pants & tops! It's just never ending! I need to win the lottery to fund it all.

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Fluffy American Pancakes

How to make thick Fluffy American Pancakes

Thick pancakes are definitely better than the thin crepes! I followed the BBC Good Food recipe for Fluffy American Pancakes.

135g/4¾oz plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp caster sugar
130ml/4½fl oz milk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp melted butter (allowed to cool slightly) or olive oil, plus extra for cooking

1) Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and caster sugar into a large bowl. In a separate bowl or jug, lightly whisk together the milk and egg, then whisk in the melted butter.

2) Pour the milk mixture into the flour mixture and, using a fork, beat until you have a smooth batter. Any lumps will soon disappear with a little mixing. Let the batter stand for a few minutes.

3) Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and add a knob of butter. When it's melted, add a ladle of batter (or two if your frying pan is big enough to cook two pancakes at the same time). It will seem very thick but this is how it should be. Wait until the top of the pancake begins to bubble, then turn it over and cook until both sides are golden brown and the pancake has risen to about 1cm (½in) thick.

There were actually were thick, too thick actually so I had to add more milk. I don't really know why there's so many bubbles on it? But I definitely prefer my own recipe for the pancakes I usually make which you can find here.

Let me know which ones you prefer & send me some photos!

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Belated Pancakes

Belated Happy Pancake Day! I didn't get the chance to make pancakes yesterday so I made them for breakfast today instead. I did go through a faze at one point where I had pancakes pretty much everyday as I'd become the pancake queen & mastered how to make them & they're so easy, that they were just something I'd make for either breakfast or lunch. It is so simple just plain flour, an egg & milk!

60g Plain Flour

1 Egg

105ml Milk

Just weigh your floor then put your egg in, whisk then add milk till you get the consistency you want! I don't measure how much milk I put in I just know when it's right.

I love having pancakes with strawberry jam! I don't think I've ever had it with the traditional lemon & sugar... I had one with peanut butter as well as that's my new obsession lately I'm loving peanut butter with everything considering I never used to like it & have learnt to love it! Peanut butter on New York Bagel Co microwaved for 10 seconds are the best things ever can't get enough of them!

I only ended up with 3 pancakes with them measurements as the pan I was using was pretty big as you can see with the size of my pancake. But it's up to you how much you pour into the pan. You can double the weight of flour & use 2 eggs. I need to learn how to make the thick American ones I prefer them over crepes.

It really is so easy to make & so much cheaper than using them batter mixes!

Did you make any pancakes for pancake day? What do you have them with? 

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