Ella Minnow Pea is a story that follows a girl who lives on the island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina, which was named after the author of the well-known pangram, ‘The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.’ Ella’s happy and simple life begins to change as the island’s council adopts totalitarian […] Read more…

Animal Farm, by George Orwell, has been on my list to read for a long time (though as I read, it seemed familiar so perhaps I read it at school). I find 1984 so interesting and well-written, and subsequently reread it last year, so I was keen to give this book a go as it […] Read more…

How To Be Brave by Louise Beech is a special find. It is an incredibly powerful and immersive read, and that is an understatement.  I read this as a buddy read with Stephen, who has become a regular buddy-read friend. Our discussions were stimulating and thought-provoking, and through our shared love of not only books […] Read more…

Dean Mayes is an author who continues to show his talent with his latest novel, The Artisan Heart. Dean has stepped into the romance genre with this compelling book, and though this varies from his other great books, this style fits Dean perfectly. I have a not-so-secret confession. I am not a fan of romance […] Read more…

I have been getting more and more into thrillers over the past year (much to my surprise!) so when I repeatedly heard great reviews about You by Caroline Kepnes, it went high up on my TBR. And I am glad it did. This book is compelling and hooked me in from page one. I read […] Read more…

The first six months of this year have been very productive on the reading front for me! Last year, my goal was to read twenty seven books and I made it – just. This year, I have already read nineteen books, which is a lot for me. I can largely attribute this to needing to […] Read more…

Lasagne is right up high on my list of favourite foods and always has been. Melting cheese, gooey filling, tomato goodness…what could be better? It is definitely one of the meals I miss most since having to change to a gluten, dairy, egg and meat free, low FODMAP diet. Lasagne with mince has to be […] Read more…

I have been craving brownies lately (what is better than a warm brownie with ice cream?!). So I came up with this recipe to make gooey and delicious brownies that are gluten, egg and dairy free, low FODMAP and plant-based (but are definitely enjoyable for those without food restrictions – my brother would have eaten […] Read more…

Seeings how it is Easter, I think it is the perfect time (and excuse) to make a chocolate caramel slice! Of course caramel slice can be eaten anytime of the year (and really, why do we need to make excuses to eat a slice of yumminess?)! As sweet treats go, this is quite nutritious (but […] Read more…

Sometimes we don’t have time or energy to make an elaborate meal, so I have collected five of my favourite easy meals that you can just throw together. They are healthy and fresh, and are gluten, dairy, nut and egg free, and low FODMAP. You can even make them vegan if you choose to by […] Read more…

I have always loved spaghetti bolognese. It is simple, delicious and comforting. Recently I saw a technique of baking tofu to replicate mince. Now that I don’t eat meat I was keen to try it out, and it seemed a great opportunity to create a bolognese recipe! I have added in a lot of vegetables, […] Read more…

Hello! I hope that you all had a happy Christmas, or a relaxed few days if you do not celebrate it. I attempted to take part in Blogmas but unfortunately I just couldn’t get it together and only published four posts. My lovely auntie was visiting from England so we were out doing things or […] Read more…

I am constantly reading health related information and research; I really enjoy learning more about the body, nutrition and medical conditions and it helps me to put into practice a few things to potentially improve my own health. Recently, I’ve been focusing on what is good to do now that can impact health positively down […] Read more…

Today is Valentine’s Day. We know it as a day of love; it’s a day to show you care about a special someone; it’s a day to treat another with chocolate-dipped strawberries, fancy dinners and gooey love letters. But what if we turn it around? What if it doesn’t always have to be about showing […] Read more…

It has been a long time since I have done an update regarding my diet plan, so I decided that today is the day to talk about it! I began the Autoimmune Protocol (AIP) three years ago (time FLIES!). This is a diet that aims to heal the body when there are autoimmune diseases present. […] Read more…

This week marks 4 years since I stopped working as a nurse. I remember a doctor telling me a little while before that it would be ideal to have at least 6 months off to deal with my health. I drove to my parents’ house and burst into tears to Mum, thinking how on earth […] Read more…

I have been working on specific, small goals each month this year (instead of one or two large, vague and potentially unachievable New Year’s Resolutions). Lately, I’ve been finding myself in a rut of feeling a bit useless and that I’m not moving towards anything. When you have chronic health issues, I think this is […] Read more…

It is now April, which means that I am four months into having smaller goals to get me to an overall larger target of self improvement by the end of the year. I hope that these posts may be stirring up some thoughts and motivation for you too. Having a monthly list of goals is […] Read more…

It is already time to set March goals! I had mixed success with last month’s goals but that is to be expected at times and I am not going to beat myself up about it. These smaller goals are important to get me to a new place by the end of the year, so I […] Read more…

Somehow January has ended so it is time to reflect on the first month of my new monthly goals series! I started off the month feeling motivated and thought I’d totally nail these goals. It was not to be but I did fairly well! Over the past couple of weeks I have been pretty exhausted […] Read more…