3 Days in Rome

How can I begin to describe Rome..?

When friends and family said I'd be blown away by the city, I was sceptical. Not because ancient Roman ruins and beautiful basilicas don't impress me, but because I thought I'd be prepared for it all.

I wasn't. It's totally mind blowing; a city where buildings spanning centuries fight for your attention, where some of the most incredible churches I've seen don't even make the map & where bruschetta is so fresh you have to have it with every meal you order...

We spent three days in Rome but you could easily spend a week and not see the same sight twice.

We spent the first day in awe inside Vatican City, spending hours climbing St. Peter's Basilica. Once you eventually get to the top (after ascending the teeniest, narrowest staircase), the views of Rome are unrivalled.

The church ceiling is beautifully intricate:

On the Friday we hopped on the metro to the Colosseum.

I'm not going to reel off everything we learnt from our trusty audio guide telephones (hello fashionista), but in a nutshell it's probably one of the best buildings I've been in to. You don't realise how much history is steeped within its walls, and despite how some have crumbled, you can't not be moved by how impressive it still looks.

Walking around Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum in 33 degree heat probably wasn't the best idea, but we still managed a good three hours taking it all in.

After sheltering from the sun with beer and pizza (preach), we had a nosey at the Pantheon.

Piazza Navona was the image of Rome I'd created in my head before I came: a bustling pedestrian square overflowing with busy cafes, people dining alfresco (bruschetta everywhere, naturally), prosecco and water feautres flowing..

That night we ate just off the square at Mimi e Coco - one of the nicest restaurants I've been to.

The Trevi fountain was being renovated, so we didn't have the opportunity to throw a penny in (the story has it that tossing a penny in the fountain ensures a return trip to the city), but given the chance I'd be back in an instant.

P.S. We stayed at the Hotel B-Cool, and I'd definitely recommend it. The rooms are gorgeous, the breakfast is good and the price is great. Plus, you're a five minute walk to the Vatican and one minute from the nearest tram stop.

Raw Brownie Recipe

I've been meaning to try these for ages, since reading queen of clean eating (in my opinion) Deliciously Ella's recipe back in April.

The reason it took me so long was that I didn't think my budget blender would be able to handle the volume of nuts and sticky dates. So I made a few tweaks and hey presto: my take on a raw brownie recipe without an industrial food processor!

You'll need:

• 1 small bowl of medjool dates 
• 1 small bowl of walnut halves
• 2 heaped tablespoons of organic raw cacao powder
• A splash of organic agave syrup.

Pour your walnut halves on a chopping board. Grab a fork and mash, crush and squash the nuts as finely as you can. 

Then blend. I added a few dashes of water to help the nuts mix.

Next, de-pip your dates and chop very, very finely (this is sticky. Very sticky). Add to the blender along with your whipped walnuts, adding more water if needed. 

Then add in the cacao powder and agave syrup before giving it one final blitz. If your blender struggles a bit (mine did), mix it round with a spoon.

Place in a baking tray and pop it in the freezer for an hour. 

After one hour, check how your chocolate mix is getting on. Mine was still not set, so I gave it another two hours. I took them out, cut one slice for myself and put the rest in the fridge to cool.

This is how it turned out:

Ok, ok, so not quite the brownie texture (or look!) I was expecting, but I think that's largely down to the water I added. But, for the sake of not wanting to break my blender, I'm pretty happy with what I ended up with.. imagine a dense, creamy frozen pudding - chocolately and gooey - it tastes like that. It tastes so good I can't actually believe there's no nasty processed ingredients in it!

If you think your blender can handle it without water, give it a go and let me know...

Courgette Noodles

There's been so much hype about these recently. Intrigued, I bought a Julienne peeler from Amazon (for a bargainous £3.29) to see what all the fuss was about.

Obviously, these carb-free noodles are packed with nutrients but I've always been a little sceptical about the taste when reading other 'zucchini' noodle recipes, but I can assure you, these really don't feel like a cheap swap. They go all squishy and soft and taste really, really good. Here's how to make them:

These ingredients are for one, so just multiply as needed.

For the noodles:

• 2 courgettes, spiralized (I used one courgette for myself here but I'd definitely use two next time - the noodles shrink quite a bit when they're cooking.)
• Tomato puree
• 1/4 avocado

I like my 'pasta' really tomatoey so added double the amount of puree to avocado.

For the veg:

• Half a red onion
• Half a pepper
• Handful of plum tomatoes
• 1 portobello mushroom
• Paprika
• Black pepper
• Wedge of lime

Obviously, you can swap around your accompanying veg, I was just chopping and cooking whatever I had in the fridge, and luckily it tasted alright!

Peel your courgettes and pop them in a pan with some olive oil. Sprinkle with paprika and black pepper. Cook for five minutes. 

In a separate pan toss in all your remaining vegetables and cook for ten minutes. 

Mash the avocado and spoon into the courgette mix. Add a generous dollop of tomato puree and stir in.

Pop your noodles on a warm plate, arrange your veg medley around it, and give the lime a tough squeeze... and that's it!

Genuinely one of the easiest, tastiest healthy dishes I've tried.

*** UPDATE! ***

Ok, ok, I think I'm officially in love with these; I can't stop making them - currently my favourite variation is with paprika prawns. It's so easy.

1) Cook your noodles. You can either saute them as above, or steam them (I steamed them for this dish and think I prefer it this way). After they've been steamed for ten minutes, add your mashed avocado and tomato puree.

2) In a separate pan, fry off half a red onion and a clove of garlic. Add your prawns and douse in paprika. Cook for five minutes.

3) Mix the prawns and noodles together, and serve.

Walking in the Peak District

I love getting out of the city on the weekend. On Saturday James and I got up early and headed over to Curbar Gap and the surrounding area in the Peak District for a big ass walk.

We waded through fern bushes (NB I am no horticulturist - there's a good chance this isn't fern. But, potato, potato).

Clambered on rocks...

Tried to tame some little lambs;

And breathed in a whole load of fresh, country air.

The walk's got everything.. a dense forest, rolling hills, kissing gates, quarrys, muddy paths and clear stream water. One of those 'country' places where you say hi to everyone you pass - which I do, but it always makes me laugh. If they were walking down a city street you wouldn't even acknowledge them.

 The photo below is my favourite from the day:

We walked for a few hours before driving to a lush country pub, The Fox House, for a much deserved lunch and pint of cider (or two).

On Sunday, we had a picnic in Buxton Pavillion Garden and watched a swing brass band - not exactly rock and roll but such a nice way to spend the weekend!

It's just over an hour away from Manchester in the car, so if you're reading this from the North West, put this on your weekend to do list.... and if anyone knows of any other good country routes up this way, please let me know..