MINI EGG COOKIE SQUARES

If you know me personally, you will know that I never bake and if I do, it's usually a good ol' box of Betty Crocker cake mix. This is the first ever time I've baked from scratch and honestly, I could take this up as a hobby! I decided that I wanted to bake some Easter treats this year and had so much fun making these Mini Egg Cookie Squares.

Ingredients:

275g Plain Flour

1 tbsp Cornflour

1 tsp Bicarbonate of Soda

1/2 tsp of Salt

115g Unsalted Butter

55g Granulated Sugar

135g Light Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

300g Mini Eggs

100g Milk Chocolate Chips

Method:

- Preheat your oven to 190 degrees and line a square baking tin with parchment paper.

- Mix in a bowl, the Plain Flour, Bicarbonate of Soda, Cornflour and Salt together and leave to the side.

- In another bowl, add the Unsalted Butter, both the Light Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar and whisk until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is smooth. Then, add in the Egg and Vanilla Extract and whisk until smooth again. 

- Then, add in the ingredients from the first bowl which you left aside and mix in with a spatula. Milk Choc Chips can now be added as well as the Mini Eggs (leave about 15/20 of them to the side), again fold these in with a spatula to create a thick cookie dough.

- Once all folded in, put the mixture into the baking tin - you may have to press it in with your spatula or fingers. After it's all even and level, you can then grab the remaining 15/20 Mini Eggs and press them into the top of the mixture. 

- Bake the traybake in the oven for 20-24 minutes.

- Leave the traybake to cool off for about 10 minutes, then remove the cookie from the tin and put onto a cooling rack to cool further. Once cooled, cut the cookie traybake into squares.

I was honestly so chuffed with how these turned out! I know cookies can be a bit hit and miss on timing so I thought they would either be undercooked or burnt but they were the perfect in-between. Family also gave great feedback on these Easter treats and wanted me to bake them again.

My Self-Care Sunday Afternoon

I love a good self-care sesh and a Sunday is one of my favourite days to do that. Mainly because it's my day off, but also because it's the perfect day to unwind, relax and prepare for the week ahead.

I love to have a good ol' candlelit bubble bath. I light my favourite candles and either pop them around the bath or on my bath tray - this is one of my favourite ways to de-stress and relax. 
My skin changes so much when the seasons change, so I like to do a good proper skincare routine and slap a face mask on.

Whilst my face mask is on, I also like to apply a hair mask too. My blonde hair can get very dull, brassy, and dry, especially at the moment as I haven't been able to get it done, so a good hair mask always manages to replenish it and freshen it up.

I also like to put fresh sheets on my bed along with jumping into clean pyjamas. There's nothing like getting into fresh sheets with fresh PJs on, right? I then like to make myself a vanilla latte or a hot chocolate and grab the blankets and sprawl out on the sofa binging a Netflix series or TV show.

How do you spend a self-care day?

A NEXT Beauty Box for Only £20?

I have been so excited to write this post for you all, because did you know that Next did beauty boxes?  Neither did I. It actually came to such a shock for me, because of the amount of times I've shopped their website and I've never come across them.

This is my first ever beauty box. I have considered Glossybox and Cohorted before, but I never got round to trying them out. I was so close to purchasing the Look Fantastic beauty box over Christmas but I was too late to the game as it sold out so quickly.

Next currently have a range of different boxes at different prices. I decided to go for the Self-Care Beauty Edit Box for £20, because as soon as I saw that Bobbi Brown, Smashbox and TooFaced were included in this box, I was sold!

Next states "As with all our Next beauty boxes, the total combined value is based on full-size and travel-sized items only; sample-sized items (that may read 'not for resale') are NOT counted in this value."

Next also states that this box is worth over £70, which just didn't add up to me. How can two full sized products and three travel-sized products add up to over £70? So, I decided to do a little bit of research beforehand to see how much the box is really worth. Adding up the full sized and the travel-sized products, this box is actually worth over £50 - coming in at exactly £53.95.

Even though their calculations aren't correct, I still think it's definitely worth paying £20 for as it includes some amazing brands and pricey products that I've always wanted to try but didn't want to splurge my money on before trying them first.

Overall, we have some great little products in here. I've always wanted to try Bobbi Browns Vitamin Enriched Face Base - it is sample sized but a little always goes a long way with Bobbi Brown so I'm chuffed. 

I have also wanted to give the Too Faced Better Than Sex mascara a go for a while but never got round to it as I always had lash extensions on, so I'm glad that I can finally try it. 

The Rabot Liquid Chocolate Body Mask smells absolutely incredible, it literally smells like you've just whisked up a chocolate cake mix. This product is hefty and will most probably last me a while, I just can't wait to smell like chocolate 24/7.

Reflecting on my 2020 Goals + A Few Goals for 2021

 I'm sitting here on this early Monday morning wondering where the heck to even begin because I literally haven't posted on my blog since late November. I have also been so undecided on whether to post this or not as it's a little late to the party, but I suppose it's better late than never, right? 

2020 was a year to remember wasn't it!? I didn't really have any goals for 2020 as Liam and I had some big things planned which we wanted to focus on, but unfortunately those plans weren't able to go ahead. However, I did mention exercise and losing a bit of weight which, with the help of lockdown, I actually achieved and stuck to, as well as actually taking exercise up as a hobby. Never in a million years would I have thought that I'd admit to enjoying exercise.

Like last year, I don't have many goals for 2021. The goals that I want to achieve are more for self-care and wellbeing, which I think sprouted from the rough year we had last year. However, I am determined to focus on them, and hopefully come out of 2021 as an even more positive person.

Take each day as it comes

Don't stress over things I can't control

Appreciate the little things in life

Take time off social media more often

Improve my skincare routine

Three of these goals have derived from the past year we've had. I'm not going to lie, I have found it really difficult at times. But 2021 is a fresh year, it hasn't started off great but I'm trying not to be a negative Nancy and more of a positive Polly and just take each day as it comes.

Since Christmas, I have taken a few well needed breaks here and there from social media, and it has done wonders for my mental health. At first, I actually thought that I would struggle because I check social media multiple times daily, even more so at the moment as I'm not back at work yet. 

I usually just randomly check social media throughout the day without even thinking about clicking on the apps. Half the time, I don't even need to check social media or I was only on it about thirty minutes prior. I found it easier during my social media break if I logged out of each social and put them in a separate folder on my phone, I didn't seem to find myself looking for the apps. Whereas, when I left them where they always have been, I just click on them out of habit, it's like a routine. I've told myself to definitely take breaks more often when I need to this year.

Lastly, there's always room to improve your skincare regime. I personally feel like I have been so slack over the past few months with my skin. I'm slowly getting myself back into a routine and I'm hoping to stick to it and try new products.