All About Me

I realised the other day I've never really done an introduction post. My followers have grown so much over the past couple of months. That its about time I did one.

Speaking of followers, I love you guys so much! Seriously like love you. The fact that you read and comment on my little piece of the world just blows my mind. I love getting to know you and I hope you're going to love getting to know me a little better.

I contacted some of my fav bloggers asking them to submit questions and they did.....

The Basics

Name - Helen Elizabeth Gash
Age - 24
Location - Sheffield, UK
Blog - Eat.Enjoy.Live.
I stated blogging in - October 2011

My friends would describe me as - strong, loud, flirty, loyal, independent, creative, generous, fun, understanding, funny, and stubborn.

I'm partial to the odd glass of wine, pair of shoes, handbag, in fact shopping in general.
I love the theatre, in fact I did my degree in Education Studies and Drama.
I have an unhealthy obsession with stationary, and will send a letter rather than e-mail any day.
I am saving up to get my Great-Grandfather's vintage typewriter fixed, and then you'll all be receiving letters!

The Questions


What inspires you to blog?
Asked by Katlyn Larson

So many things! You guys, the sunshine, the kids at work, my new nail colour, Pinterest, friends, moody days; you know when you just don't feel right, coffee, writing half finished novels and plays, reading, oh and of course Shakespeare.

What are your goals right now?
Asked by Katlyn Larson

To live free of hate. I know its not always possible, we all have bad days, but to love myself for who I am and others for who they are. 
To lose 1lb a week.
To get a job - the one I have finishes this summer!
Read more.
Take an e-course on soul restoration.
Pass my history exam.
Enjoy the summer!


Is that too many goals?

Where do you see yourself in 6 months?
Asked by Katlyn Larson

Oooo I hate these questions, thanks Katlyn! 
Happy, I know it sounds like one of the simplest things, but its so hard to do sometimes.
In a job, whatever that maybe.
Applying for my teacher training.
Have £1000 in my savings.

What do you do for a living?
Asked by Katlyn Larson

I work as a Learning Support Assistant in a local secondary school.

What's your favourite high school memory?
Asked by Rachel Gent

Believe it or not I was the quite one at school.
My favourite memory is any that took place in the drama room. Its the one place where, then and now, I feel like I can truly be myself. I was accepted and I could be anyone.

If you could write a fan letter to anyone, who would it be?
Asked by Rosie 

Do they have to be alive?
I'd write to Emily Bronte. I'd just want her to know that the book Wuthering Heights got me through my teenage years, and taught me what it is to really love.

If money and time where not a problem. Where in the world would you want to visit for a week and why?
Asked by Cassie

Egypt. I'm a 100% history buff, and I would just break down in tears if I ever got to see the pyramids. 

What's in your makeup bag?
Asked by Rachel 


BB cream, lip and cheek tint, whichever colour nail polish is taking my fancy, eye-liner, lip balm. I have my eyelashes dyed, so no need to mascara!

Where is your favourite place in the world?
Asked by Jessica

Lecce in Italy. I have so many fond memories of meeting so many amazing people.

My little bro and me =)

Thanks for all your questions girlies!

I hope you enjoyed finding out about me =)

Now a question for you.....


If you could learn one new skill what would it be?

2 Thank You's and a Parcel

The 1st thank you goes to the wonderful Danielle at Framed Frosting for organising the blogger parcel swap.

The 2nd to the wonderful Elizabeth at What I Love about today for sending me the most wonderful parcel.

Here were the rules for my swap:

She had $30 to spend.
She only knew 5 things about me and my blog URL.

I'm not even kidding when I say Elizabeth is the sweetest girl I have ever met.
She hardly knew anything about me and brought things that I would have brought myself. I have a feeling we are going to become great blogging friends.

What made this swap even better? Elizabeth lives in Vegas!! The one place on the earth that I've always wanted to visit and she lives there. Elizabeth, can I come and stay?!

Check out my goodies!

Mail makes me happy!

Vegas baby!

Elizabeth's letter was so cute.

Hugs and kisses.

A gorgeous notebook with a Shakespeare quote on the front - just perfect!

Stationary =) Check out the colours!

How stunning is this necklace? I am completely in love with it.

My ultimate favourite colour. This scarf is coming on holiday with me.

Once again Thank You girls! I've loved taking part in this.

I wonder who got the parcel I sent.......

DIY Notebook/Blog Organiser

I don't know about you, but since the age of about 8, I've been trying to figure out how to make notebooks without gluing, sewing, or having the pages in a very random order.

Well I think I've cracked it! Thanks to pinterest, and a little bit of glue, I can now make notebooks! Of course I'm going to share the tutorial with you guys too.

I'm covering mine in washi tape and making them my new blog planning notebooks.

You will need:

6 pieces of A5 sized paper (I just cut A4 in half) 
Pencil
Ruler
Scissors
Glue (super works best)
A piece of card or pretty paper for the cover, even a photo would be good

How to:
1. Fold all the pieces of A5 paper in half.

2. In half (3) of them cut a 1 inch slit in the top and bottom, where the fold is. We'll call these X. The rest want a slit leaving 1 inch on either end. Let's call these Y. (I hope this all makes sense! I've never been very good at instructions.)
3. X and Y fit together. Roll one half of an X page slight, this is what the slits are for, and push it through the Y opening. There you go! You've put pages together. Now just 'attach' the rest. Threading X through Y.

4. Cut a piece of card to fit your notebook and glue down the fold. Glue your notebook pages in and leave to dry.

I REALLY hope the pictures helped you more than the instructions. I'm one of those people you never ask for directions!

WLUD + BBQ time!

Have I had to fight the boredom eating urge this week or what?!

As most of you know I live with my parents, so always have someone to talk to etc.

This week....everyone was on holiday. I'm not even joking, if it wasn't for you lovely followers and the blogging world I would have been totally alone. 

So this week hasn't been super successful and I went to weigh in with the mind set that I was happy if I stayed the same, well......
I gained 2lbs. UGH! I'll do better next week.

Week 1 - lost 1.5lbs
Week 2 - lost 2.5lbs
Week 3 - gained 2lbs

Over all - lost 2lbs

The weather has been super the past week and Saturday just called for a BBQ. Check out the blue sky!

I was determined to make everything myself and make sure it was healthy.

I put on my culinary thinking camp and got to work with some marinades.

This is what happened....

All recipes serve 10

You can use the marinades for veggies, meat or fish. 

Pesto Lemon Marinade

Propoints - 1

1 jar of pesto (red or green)

Juice of 1 lemon

Leave to marinate for 24 hours.

Chilli Lime Marinade

ProPoints - 0

1 chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

Juice of 1 lime

Leave to marinate for 24 hours.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

ProPoints - 0

2 cups ketchup (I used passata)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 minced onion

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp water

3 garlic cloves crushed

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp cayenne

Fresh ground to taste

Blend the water and onion into a purée.

Heat a saucepan over a medium heat and add the oil.

Pour in the onion purée, and simmer until lightly browned.

Add the remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly and simmer for 20 minutes.

Here's what I did with some of the BBQ sauce......

BBQ chicken pasta salad!

Loves,

Royal Jubilee Strawberry Scones

Even if you don't live in the UK I'm sure you've heard its Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee. 60 years on the throne!
To celebrate there are street parties happening in nearly every county. I love it when a Country comes together to celebrate something. I'm planning on going to a street party, and of course I need to bring something to eat. What better than these strawberry scones, right? What makes you think of England more than tea and scones?

OK so mine turned out more like biscuits, I've never been very good at making scones. They still tasted amazing though with a little dollop of cream. What a great way to get your 5 a day!

They just taste of summer.

Royal Jubilee Strawberry Scones


Makes - 12
ProPoints - 4

Ingredients:
75g cubed butter
225g self-raising flour
1 large egg
1-2 tbsp buttermilk
50g caster sugar
24 strawberries, roughly chopped




Method:
1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4.
2. Mix the butter into the flour and add the egg, buttermilk and sugar until combined.
3. Roll out to a 2.5cm thickness and sprinkle the strawberries over half the dough. Fold over the other half and roll again to 2.5cm thick.
4. Cut into 5cm squares, put on a baking tray and brush with buttermilk.
5. Bake for 12 minutes until golden and risen. Leave to cool.

I really hope you like these =) They're great to make with kids too!

Since I've recently got more followers, Hello! Thanks for following, I'm doing an 'All about me' post soon and I need some questions. Ask me anything. It would be great if you could leave them in the comments.

Have a good week Y'all.

Top 10 Washi Tape Projects

If you'd asked me 2 weeks ago what washi tape was, I wouldn't have had a clue. 

Then I brought some and now I'm obsessed!

Then I got stuck.....

What can you do with it apart from scrapbook?!

This is where your imagination (and pinterest) come in. 

You can literally do anything with this stuff.

Here are my top 10!

1. Decorate the top of a jar. This one I did last night. 

2. Cover coasters.

{Via}

3. Make pretty candles.

{Via}

4. Make bangles.

{Via}

5. Cover and old battered phone.

{Via}

6. Decorate place mats.

{Via}

7. Make peg note holders.

{Via}

8. Decorate a picture frame.

{Via}

9. Decorate glass bottles and vases.

{Via}

10. Make these cute bird house key holders.

{Via}

Which is your favourite?

What do you like to do with washi tape?

Grilled Pepper Salsa

I'm actually calling this summer right now. Going through the winter months I think I'm never going to hear that word again, but its here; SUMMER!

What does summer mean to you?


For me it means, BBQ's, visiting friends and family, going on holiday, the beach, reading in the garden, sunbathing, swimming, and actually getting some vitamin D!

I've dived into the salsa pool! I must admit, I always thought I wasn't a huge fan of salsa. In fact I'd never really tried it, and just thought it wasn't my thing. Oh how wrong can a girl be?!

I'm home alone at the moment, so on a sunny day with nothing else to do, it was salsa making time for one.

Grilled Pepper Salsa
(Adapted from WW Magazine)


Serves - 1 (just double up everything for the number of guests you have)
ProPoints - 1

Ingredients:
2 peppers, halved and deseeded
2 beef tomatoes
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp fresh coriander leave, finely chopped

Method:
1. Preheat the grill to high (or use the BBQ). Grill the peppers for 15-20 minutes or until the skin is blackened and the peppers are tender. Place in a bow, cover with clingfilm and set aside for 10 minutes to cool.
2. Slice crosses into the bottom of the tomatoes and place in a heatproof bowl. Cover with boiling water and leave for 2 minutes. Drain and peel off the tomato skins. Halve, deseed and chop. Place in a bowl.
3. Peel the skin off the peppers and finely chop. Stir into the tomatoes with the chilli, spices and fresh coriander. Season and mix.

Sounds yummy right.?
I used a 2PP packet of WW crackers to dip into it. A filling snack for only 3PP, I was very happy.

I'm on the hunt for salsa recipes now, which are your favorites?

Thursday Meet and Tweet

I'm joining up with Laura over at Our Reflection this week. 

Come and join us for the awesome meet and tweet these lovely ladies and I are hosting.

I'm starting with 193 followers, how many will I end with?

One of my favorite things about blogging is the community. Especially Twitter.
It's a fun way to make some new blogging friends and keep in touch.

Here's how this Meet & Tweet works...

HOST

Laura @ Our Reflection

This week's co-hosts are:

Courtney from Baxtron Life

Jess from Jess Is More

L from All Glorious Within

Kendall from Songbirds and Buttons

Helen from Eat.Enjoy.Live.

Christine from The DIY Dreamer

Jennifer from Mommy Huh 

The Rules

1. Mandatory you follow your hosts

{They are the first 8 in the linky.}

2. Follow at least 5 new people via Twitter

{Or more! Introduce yourself... Its a great way to make new friends!}

3. Tweet about the Meet & Tweet!

You can use "Meet new friends & gain new followers! Join the Meet & Tweet at @_laurahernandez aka Our Reflection blog. I did! http://our-reflection.blogspot.com/"

4. Spread the word!

The more the merrier! Grab a button and add it to

your blog, Tweet or Facebook about the link up.

<div align="center"><a href="http://our-reflection.blogspot.com/" title="Our Reflection"><img src="http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g383/_laurahernandez/MeetTweet-2.jpg" alt="Our Reflection" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

One lucky link up person will WIN a FREE

solo guest post on Our Reflection blog!

Drum roll please....

Last weeks Meet & Tweet winner is Amanda from Royal Daughter Designs.

Congratulations!

Please link up your Twitter account, not your blog.

Want to be a future co-host?
Only requirement is your become an Our Reflection sponsor.
Email me at momsgonnasnap@gmail.com.

We need a catch up......

Oh thank goodness, you're still here! I know I've been totally MIA lately but things have been hectic and blogging has been the last thing on my mind.

What's been going on with you?


I'm loving spending the day catching up with all your blogs, and I hope you enjoy catching up with me too.

Are you like me and weather changes your mood? I'm sure everyone is like it in someway. Well I LOVE the summer! The sun has been shining these past two days and my mood has lifted. I wanna go walking, bake, eat healthy, craft, and just love life.
I need to soak up as much sunshine as possible to keep this feeling going.
Why am I so happy?

Summer is coming......
I have a job interview on Friday, woop woop!
I lost another 2.5lbs this week, totaling 4lbs.
I'm starting my first linky party (look out for 'here comes the summer' in a few weeks.)
I feel at peace with myself.

I am a strong woman but sometimes my strength falters and I struggle to find it again. I had a revelation; I don't have to be strong all the time. It is OK to feel weak and need help.
I may not be the prettiest, most talented, have the best job, have masses of savings, earn lots of money, have a really good social life, be strong all the time, and I may be 6 stone overweight, but I am happy being me.

What's happening with Eat.Enjoy.Live...

I've got some gorgeous recipes coming your way.
A couple of crafts too.
'Here comes the Summer' linky party.

And even more exciting.....
I'm accepting sponsors from 1st July! (more details to follow) There will be large, medium, and small ad spaces. If you are interested in sponsoring, e-mail eatenjoyliveh@gmail.com and I will reserve you a slot.
I'm also looking for guest posts when I am away in July. Fancy posting? E-mail eatenjoyliveh@gmail.com.

Have a great day!

The Ultimate Playlist

OK Ladies here it is. 

My ultimate dance around the room, lift me up, motivational playlist.

I hope it gives you some inspiration and gets you dancing around the room.

Otis Redding - (Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay

Bare Naked Ladies - If I Had A Million Dollars

Etta James - At Last

Taylor Swift - Ours

Kelly Clarkson -Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)

Alesha Dixon - Do It Our Way (Play)

Taylor Swift - Fearless

Train - Hey, Soul Sister

Emeli Sande - Next To Me

Apology's for the lack of videos. You Tube and my laptop have decided to gang up on me!

What song do you always have on repeat?

Mini Orange Shortbreads and a WLUD

(WARNING. Yucky picture coming up)

I'm sat at my Mum's desk writing this post patiently waiting until the time I have to leave to get to the hospital. Panic ye not! It's only for routine blood tests, but still, who likes needles right?

You're probably confused by the title of this post...WLUD...what does that mean!? Well let me enlighten you. From now on WLUD will happen every two weeks and its my weightloss update. You guys need to know what's going on if you going to keep me on track (thanks Vanisha!).

So here it goes:

This week I lost..........1.5lbs.

Total.......1.5lbs.

Yay go me! Pat on the back, jump in the air, high five all of you. OK so its only 1.5lbs, but I'm pretty excited. When 'only' a lb of fat looks like this

I'm happy that its gone. 

I know you're all going ewww, but I did warn you.

It may seem rather strange that after talking about weightloss I'm posting a recipe for cookies. These are special mini orange shortbread 30 calorie cookies. Yes, you read right, 30 calories!!

Mini Orange Shortbreads

Makes - 80

ProPoints - 1 (for 2 cookies)

Ingredients:

250g plain flour, sifted

175g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

grated rind of 1 orange

1/2 tsp mixed spice

75g caster sugar

2 tsp cold water

To serve:

2 tsp icing sugar

3 tsp cocoa powder

Method:

1. Place the flour in a bowl, ass the butter and rub in with the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix to form a dough.

2. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 2.5mm. Using a 1.5cm plain cutter, cut out approx 80 rounds.

3. Place the rounds on nonstick baking sheets and bake in a preheated oven, gas mark 6, for 10-12 minutes until golden. Carefully transfer to a wire rack to cool.

4. Mix together the icing sugar and cocoa powder and dust a little over the shortbreads before serving.

Don't you just love the sound of these?

They were totally yummy too!

You could use so many other flavourings; lemon and lime would be amazing. Ummmm new baking idea......

Do you have any low calorie dessert recipes?

Would you be interested in a monthly linky party?

Pinterest Fest + A Winner!

Like most of the blogging population I am completely obsessed with Pinterest. I always get loads of inspiration from it, most of which ends up on this blog in some way or another.

I thought it was high time I shared some of my current favourites with you, in my own little Pinterest fest. I hope you find some inspiration too.

I'm sharing my most recent posts from my boards.

Total Yummyness

Courgette Bites

Via raylynntexas on Flickr

Place, Spaces & People

Lipari, Aeolian Island, Sicily

Photo by Giuseppe Finocchiaro

Worth Reading

Each day.....

Via

Products I Love

Glee: The Graduation Album

Via

Homely Dreaming

World Map Wallpaper

Via

Sassy Styling

Kate Middleton's Jenny Packham Gown

Via

Getting Crafty With It

DIY Shoe Clips

Via

Weight Loss

Top 10 exercise myths

Via

Blog Help

How to start your blog with a bang

Via

Party Time

Princess party sparklers

Via

Beauty

Obsessed with this colour

Via

Beautiful/Inspirational

Rusty Key

Via

Hair Affair

Side Twist

Via

I hope you like my current pins. Maybe you'll come and visit my little world sometime.

We have a winner(s)!

Thank You soooooo much to everyone who entered the 100 followers giveaway.

The winners are.....

1st prize of the scarf and white earrings - Marty!

2nd prize of the yellow earrings - Felicity!

Congratulations ladies, I'll be in touch soon.

WOW, that was a long post.

Over and out!