Bake with me!

June 24, 2020 trulyraisa3 Comments

Hello everyone! I’m a little excited for today’s post because it’s been a while since I wrote a post like this! Today’s post

I’m going to be sharing some things I’ve been baking during the lockdown!

Brownies

The first thing I baked was brownies! I liked brownies before, but because we baked them two or three times I started to dislike them. 😦 The recipe is actually very easy, but with this recipe I would recommend that you add something else to give it more flavour, some things I would recommend would be adding some walnuts or orange zest to it. It’s quite plain by itself. This is the recipe that I use to make these brownies Chocolate Brownies recipe.

Cinnamon Rolls

I also attempted to make Cinnamon Rolls! I have to be honest and tell you that they looked delicious but I must have done something wrong because they did not taste good at all. I also didn’t make the icing but it is also included in this recipe. But the first try doesn’t always have to be successful! This is the recipe I used Cinnamon Rolls recipe.

Oat Bars

This was probably the most easiest thing I’ve baked! It was a really simple recipe to follow through and when I had made them I didn’t add any of the seeds and instead of berries I used raisins but they still turned out delicious! This is the recipe I used Granola bars.

Chocolate chip cookies

Chocolate chip cookies are probably a very straightforward thing to bake but when I baked them for the first time they didn’t turn out as I had hoped. But when I tried them for a second they were just perfect! The recipe is quite easy to make so you can try this at home too!

Shortbread

Shortbread is something I bake often because it’s the easiest thing in the world to make. It doesn’t require too many ingredients or even much effort and they taste delicious anyway! The recipe I use is Shortbread recipe

That’s all I have for today! I hope you will try and enjoy some of these recipes and be sure to leave a comment or tag me in your photos on Instagram!

Snacking is the problem!

May 13, 2020 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hello! Welcome back to my space! Today’s post is all about snacking! It’s a problem 😦 Shall we begin?

Let’s face it, we all eat when we’re bored. Don’t even deny it, we all get bored at sometime at home and end up in the kitchen cupboard or the fridge looking for food. What if I were to tell you that most of the time people gain weight not because of the three meals a day they eat, but because of the snacks they eat in between.

I’m not going to deny it, I’m also guilty of it! But its something I am trying to eliminate. Well, I guess you don’t have to completely eliminate the element of snacking, maybe if we change what we eat then maybe it can make a difference.

If you’re someone who doesn’t like eating fruit……..shame on you (I’m joking) because you should be eating five a day anyway.

I know there are a lot of people who say to swap your snacks for fruit but you can make the fruit any way you feel comfortable! There are a lot of recipes out there to make sweet, delicious snacks from fruit in your home! It’s a few ideas to try while we’re stuck in quarantine too!

I created a Pinterest board with some ideas and recipes to try out: Fruit Snack Ideas!

There are also other things that are considered healthy snacks too, such as popcorn, crackers that you often get from the supermarket, oat bars and more! So maybe swap that bar of chocolate for one of these snacks and you’ll benefit much more!

Getting back into routine after the holidays!

January 28, 2020 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hello everyone! I’m back with another post! As you all may know from my previous post I went on holiday for the month of December to Dubai and Pakistan and we all know getting back into routine after a holiday is the hardest thing to do. That’s what this week’s post is going to be about! Shall we begin?

As you all may know from my long hiatus and from my previous post I went on holiday for the month of December. If you missed the post you can click on this link and read that first Dubai 2019! . I missed all the days where I can just wake up and have no checklist or anything to do but do nothing.

Work and student life can get stressful sometimes and a break away from it all sounds amazing sometimes. So then the long-awaited holiday comes and you’re living your best life and it all passes by pretty quickly and the dreaded journey home finally comes. Dreading going back to work and back into studying can be the worst. I was absolutely dreading it when I had to come back and I only had 6 days to revise for my exam! I spent 6 days cramming revision in when I wanted nothing more than to be back on holiday again. After my exam had ended it was the biggest sigh of relief but I still hadn’t got back into any routine. My diet was a mess and I so badly wanted to go back to my regular exercises but was too lazy to do so.

I slowly went back to work but only once or twice in the week where the rest of my days were spent either at university preparing for my dissertation or at home being the lazy ass I was.

I spent about two weeks being lazy and watching too many dramas with take-away twice or skipping dinner altogether. One thing I am happy is that I am reunited with my laptop and my blog! There is nothing I wanted more than to write a post as I am now!

I started getting back into routine last week and started running after work and applying for some work experience and jobs. This is my latest struggle. I am studying Nutrition in university and want to build on my work experience but haven’t been able to find a placement. If there is anyone in London who is a fellow Nutrition student or even a Nutritionist and has any advice about where to look for work experience please comment some advice below and help a sister out! 😦

I also kind of lost most of my appetite since I’ve been back, I’ve been skipping breakfast and lunch when I’m not at home and I’m quite used to it because back in Pakistan I used to skip breakfast and lunch too and just eat dinner at weddings or something. Now before any of you say that it’s not good to skip meals I know it’s not, but I can’t force myself to eat when I’m not hungry because that can easily turn into binge-eating for me so I need to find a healthy balance soon.

Now you can see my struggle of getting back into routine 😦 University will officially reopen next week and it will be back to the same old stresses about dissertations and assignments but, I plan to build a healthy routine and get a head start on my assignments soon so I won’t be stressing too much!

That’s all I had for this week! I’ll be back next week with another post, if you have any topics you want me to talk about let me know in the comments below!

-Yours Truly Raisa

How to diet when you’re not dieting + Holiday 2019!

January 14, 2020 trulyraisa2 Comments

Hello everyone! Although I literally say this all the time, but it really has been a long time since I have blogged and I’ve missed it a lot 😦 There is just a certain type of creativity here that somehow always brings me back to this space. Moving on, the reason for my unannounced hiatus was because I went on holiday! This week’s post is all about my time off and some advice about dieting. Shall we begin?

Dubai 2019!

The first part of the trip was our short stay in Dubai. We stayed there for 4 days and it honestly was amazing! It felt so good to step into hot weather after being in the cold London winter. On the first evening, we went out to this place called Global Village. Inside there were little marketplaces representing each country in the world and they sold famous things from that specific country. It was quite interesting to go into some of the marketplaces and see the specialities of different countries. I even tried Turkish ice-cream too! Unfortunately, I don’t have many pictures from the Global Village that I can share publicly 😦

The second day was actually my favourite. We left early in the morning and took a drive to Abu Dhabi to visit the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and it was a sight to see. In all the mosques I have visited in my life so far this would have to be my favourite. It had this peaceful, serene vibe that made me not want to leave the place. Enjoy a few pictures of the mosque and it is a place that I recommend everyone to go to!

Later that night we went to the Dubai Mall and we saw the water fountain show near the Burj Khalifa which was pretty amazing, considering it is my first water fountain show. There was an animated show that played on the Burj Khalifa first and was beautiful seeing the Burj Khalifa light up in different colours! This is a picture I took from the water fountain show.

On the next morning, we took a yacht ride around Dubai and the views were breathtaking. with the sun shining on the blue water as it was sparkling. This is a picture of the view from the yacht.

In the afternoon, we went sight seeing to Jumeirah Beach to take pictures near the Burj Al Arab. We didn’t spend very long as we were all tired so we took pictures and we had to go to the Safari desert for dinner. The Safari dinner started off actually really well with a very jumpy ride on the safari desert and to top it off there was dinner and entertainment such as traditional dances and more. The sunset on the safari was something of a painting and although my phone’s camera wasn’t so good I hope I managed to capture a good picture.

On the last day we just had lunch and headed to the airport to go home to Pakistan. Pakistan was just really busy and there was literally no room to breathe because there were so many weddings! I won’t share in detail what happened as it was a personal holiday and there was so much that happened that I’ll literally be ending up writing an essay! So that’s all for my holiday for 2019, I hope you enjoyed it and all the pictures, there is more on my highlights on my Instagram! The link should be on the Contact page so you can find that there!

How to diet when you’re not on a diet.

Now, if you have read my previous post about diet culture you’ll probably be questioning why I’m writing this post. But, while I can rant about how disgusting the diet culture is I can only offer advice to the people that still choose to diet regardless. If you are a person who likes to diet or even doesn’t like to diet but still wants to have some control over what you eat then be free to read on. I won’t be asking you to follow any of those celebrity-endorsed diets that helps you lose weight but works only for a period of time before you gain weight again. Hopefully, these tips will help you gain healthy eating habits.

Cut down on portion sizes: The first step to any kind of diet you want to follow might be cutting down on portion sizes. If you have two slices of bread for breakfast and lunch maybe cutting it down to consuming bread only once in a day.
More physical activity: 1 hour of exercise a week may not be enough, maybe completing 2 and a half hours of any kind of physical activity including house chores.
More fruit and vegetables: Fruit and vegetable consumption is very low recently and more fruit and vegetables mean more nutrients and fibre in your diet.
Eat a balanced diet: Try to balance what’s on your plate between protein, vegetables and some carbohydrate. An example of this could be some rice and chicken with asparagus on the side.
Decrease snacking: One of the biggest culprits of gaining weight is snacking. Maybe trying to decrease the number of snacks consumed in a day or even to swap some unhealthy snacks with some healthy ones.

This is all the tips I have for now but starting off with these tips could really lead to a healthier diet.

This is all I had for this week but I hope you enjoyed my post and I can’t wait to see you guys next week!

-Yours Truly Raisa

Diet Culture.

October 22, 2019October 22, 2019 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hey everyone! I’m back with another post! Recently, I’ve been watching the news and there’s talks about banning eating on public transport as a tactic to prevent childhood obesity. If you ask me, I think it’s worth an effort but it won’t be entirely effective because people can just eat the same regular sugary foods before or after their bus or train ride. So inspired about talking all things diet, I’ve decided to talk about diet culture. Shall we begin?

What is Diet Culture?

These days diets, clean eating and the fitness world are becoming a popular industry. There’s a million different diets out there, some of which are sponsered by celebrities and social media influencers but do these diets really work? Diet culture is literally the whole system of following different diets in the hopes that individuals can have that “perfect” body image in the media that is haunting innocent souls. Books, Apps, magazines and many other things are being bought by individuals in the public about different fad diets to try and the money companies are making brainwashing individuals that their diet actually works! I’m not going to lie, most of the diets actually work and people lose the weight, but what happens after they finally get that “perfect” body image? They’ll feel accomplished and then go back to eating all the foods they restricted from their diets for so long and eventually gain back all the weight they worked so hard to lose.

Fad Diets

Fad diets are usually diets we see in the media that are often really restricting and have claims of losing a large amount of weight in only a week! Fad diets could either be a diet that promises that one ingredient can make you lose weight without any effort, or how one food has this crazy effect that can help you lose weight and you should only consume that one food. I know drinking celery juice is a huge hype and while it has been proven not to have any harmful effects, there isnt any studies suggesting it can help any medical condition or weight loss problem you might have.

The only advice I would have when following a specific diet is to find a diet that promotes balanced eating of all nutrients including carbs and fats, and something that won’t promise that one special food or one special ingredient is the magic bean to all your weight problems. A diet that seems realistic, promotes eating healthy and eating a balanced diet while placing emphasis on physical activity and eating fruit and vegetables! Most of these fad diets do work, I’m not denying that they dont work, but they may not necesarily be good for your health so eating a balanced diet is the best with flaws and carbs and all.

My last piece of advice I would like to give to anyone who is trying to lose weight is to try and enjoy the food you eat and try to indulge in the good, the bad and the ugly. Don’t hate food and try not to overthink too much about “clean eating ” its okay to have a chocolate filled Krispy Kreme doughnut every once in a while. And definitely NO cheat days! You can have an unhealthy snack or a meal every once in a while don’t set a specific day to do this otherwise it might be hard to turn back into a habit of eating healthy. Just try not to have a bad relationship with your food and constantly obsess over your weight and your appearance and how you eat, it’s not healthy mentally or physically. You’re perfect just as you are!

Thank you all for being with me today! I hope you like this post and together we can overcome diet culture!

-Yours Truly, Raisa

Dinner ideas.

September 4, 2019 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hello everyone! I’m back with another blog post, and if you have seen in my previous posts I mostly discuss breakfast ideas or ideas for packed lunches but this week is going to be about dinner ideas. So if you’re planning a party or a dinner for family or friends then this is the post for you! Shall we begin?

So the first idea is dedicated to my undying love for prawns and shrimp! And this recipe is for shrimp pasta with creamy mozarella sauce! This is a fairly simple recipe that takes about 30 minutes to make, so if you are someone who tends to be fairly busy in the day, I would recommend this to you! I would definitely try this at some point! The link to the recipe is here: Shrimp pasta with creamy mozarella sauce!

Soup is usually a perfect starter for any dinner planned! I love my family’s famous chicken soups in the winter, so I found a recipe for a chicken soup that is similar! Italian Chicken Soup! This recipe is a little different than what we are used to making in our family as we like to add more spices and have a nice tingly flavour in the mouth as you’re eating your soup, however this is a really simple recipe that would bring a warm, cozy feeling on a cold winter’s night!

For me, I’ve always liked the idea of a rice bowl! It’s always a filling and healthy way of a dinner! So I have found the perfect recipe for Cajun chicken with coriander and Lime rice! It’s a 30 minute recipe which includes a lot of vegetables and nutrients such as vitamin C, A and protein! The link to this recipe is here: Cajun Chicken with Coriander and Lime Rice.

If you don’t already know, I absolutely LOVE salad bowls! It makes a perfect side dish or even a main course! It’s very simple to put together some rice, vegetables and any other ingredients you may enjoy! So this next recipe is for a healthy quinoa summer salad which consists of quinoa, avocado, cucumber, spring onions, tomatoes and her s! The recipe for this delicious salad is here: Healthy Quinoa Summer Salad.

Burritos also make a very delicious dinner idea! This recipe I found is specially for anyone following a vegan diet! It is rich in fibre and protein and packed full of vegetables! I have personally never ate a burrito but after reading the recipe I would definitely try it out one day and when I do, I will upload it onto my instagram! You can find the recipe here: The Ultimate Vegan Protein Burrito. This burrito is a very healthy alternative and is packed with nutrients and a LOT of protein!

The Ultimate Vegan Protein Burrito — This is the picture of the burrito from the website!

So that is all I had for now! Honestly there were so many recipes to choose from and my main problem is that I can’t seem to choose just one! If you have any recipe suggestions feel free to leave a comment or if you have anything you want me to write a post about you can always DM me on my instagram which can be found on my contacts page at the bottom!

-Yours Truly, Raisa

Vegan Q&A

July 27, 2019July 29, 2019 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hello everyone! I’m back with another blog post and this time I decided to switch things up a bit and write a Q&A post. Now before you all start to think it, no I’m not a vegan but today’s post is in collaboration with my friend Sonia@PeachxSoda who has kindly let me ask her a few questions as she is following a vegan diet. Shall we begin?

I have really wanted to do a post related to the vegan diet for a long time but had no idea how to write it. In this post I have a few questions that are common questions that I think people following a vegan diet would have to answer so decided to share this with you all so you guys can have more information about what being a vegan means and hopefully inspire a few of you too!

What made you decide you wanted to become a vegan?

Well, I wasn’t vegan from the start. I first went pescatarian for a year, then I went vegetarian for about 8 months and then I went vegan. I went pescatarian because I was watching a video about veganism and the girl I was watching said something along the lines of “I don’t want my body to be a graveyard for innocent souls.” Needless to say, I put down the piece of chicken I was eating (I was having lunch). I first went pescatarian because I was worried about what my mother would say about it since she was the one cooking my meals at the time but the more I got into cooking the easier it was to give up fish. After I went vegetarian, I immediately started cutting down on animal products but for some reason, I couldn’t give up cheese so when my mum questioned me about this whole ‘save the animals’ thing, I kind of got annoyed and gave up cheese on the same day. So to answer the question, I became vegan out of compassion for animals and spite.

What were some of the struggles when you first started eating vegan?

Hm… considering that I was already used to not eating meat and fish, giving up other animal products was easy. I think the hardest thing for me was eating out with friends and family who are not vegan or vegetarian. Still, thankfully, now I have a few friends who are vegan so eating out has become easier.

What are some things you like or love about being vegan?

A clean conscience, for one. I also love how much veganism opened me up to trying different types of veg and fruit as well as recipes. I have learnt to make so many things I wouldn’t have been interested in if I wasn’t vegan. Also, my food is always so colourful and I don’t feel bloated and heavy after a meal.

Some advice on how to deal with some families or cultures who may not be very accepting of the vegan diet.

Honestly, my advice is always ‘have a solid set of morals and stick to them no matter what’. My family is religious and I definetly come from a country where you can go to a coffee shop and ask for soy milk and they look at you like you have ten eyes so transitioning to veganism has been a bit of a battle. My mum and sister are supportive and although nobody ever tried to force me to eat meat, they all make subtle digs about it; be it because of their religion or just the culture they grew up in. How do I deal with that? I stick to my guns because I know that what I’m doing is (and feels) right. I guess it’s harder for younger people who are still reliant on their parents, but in that case, my advice is to become more independent. Learning how to cook for yourself is definetly helpful.

Putting diet and nutrition aside, how do you feel about animals being hunted or killed for food or even experiments being done on animals for any purpose?

Disgusted to say the least. I genuinely get so incredibly upset just thinking about it. I personally never watch slaughterhouse footage because my heart just can’t handle it but to know that some people are aware and still choose to put an innocent being through that? It’s heart-stopping. At this point, I have lost so much faith in humanity but I am hoping that the more people learn and the more they see the more animals we’ll be able to save.

What advice do you have for people who want to try a vegetarian, pescatarian or a vegan diet?

Have a good reason so that you don’t give up. Also, start slowly, let your body get used to the changes. Oh, and don’t try to look for recipes online since they’re always complicated and require crazy ingredients. Instead, write down your favourite foods and make them vegan by swapping stuff out.

A huge thanks to Sonny for answerig these questions and I hope that they may in some way have informed you or inspired you to find out more about the vegan diet and try becoming a vegan, vegetarian or pescatarian yourself!

If you have any more questions for Sonia, feel free to comment or leave a message on my instagram which is @yourstrulyraisa I hope you all have a lovely day, until next time…

-Yours Truly, Raisa

Sweet Treats to divulge in!

July 10, 2019July 9, 2019 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! This post is an idea that Nisha@Nishable Blog gave me! I’m going to be listing some healthy sweet treats and desserts that are absolutely delicious to divulge in! Shall we begin?

I believe desserts don’t necessarily mean cakes and chocolate things and all things ice cream but fruits are also the best desserts! If you are health conscious, why not try a simple fruit bowl, or if you find that too bla

nd then maybe finding some recipes that are fruit based?

This first recipe I found is a salted caramel apple crumble! Apple crumble is something

that reminds me of my mother, because she absolutely loved this dessert and with this recipe it tells you how to add a twist to it with the salted caramel! It’s a classic dessert that doesn’t require much effort and will be a great sweet treat! You can find the recipe here Salted Caramel Apple Crumble Recipe!

While scrolling through Pinterest, I found several recipes that include baked pears and I found a simple yet, delicious recipe for baked pars with cinnamon and honey! This is probably best to eat if you’re really craving something sweet or even if you just have a sweet tooth like me! You can find the link to the recipe here! Baked Pears with cinnamon and honey.

Another dessert that is perfect for this catergory of desserts is a simple berry fruit salad! This is probably the most effortless desserts yet. All you have to do is buy strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries and also some cherries although they’re not from the berry family they are also a good fruit to add to the salad! There is also a fruit salad dressing to finish! The full recipe is here: Berry Fruit Salad!

There is another really delicious dessert that looks classy and elegant is vegan mini fruit tarts! This caught my eye as I was scrolling through pinterest and something I definitely would consider baking in the future! This is a perfect spring or summer dessert so I would definitely reccomend trying it soon before summer ends! To me, it seems like the perfect end to a relaxed summer barbeque dinner! You can find the recipe here: Vegan Mini Fruit Tarts!

The next recipe is for something Im sure you have all heard me talk about before and that is overnight oats! I have not yet made this but heard it is very convenient and easy to make! Although this is not a dessert it is still a perfect sweet treat for breakfast to take to work or school and almost effortless to make! You can find the recipe here: Overnight Oats Recipe!

Recently, I’ve been into desserts that you can serve in a glass! They’re really pretty and creative desserts so for this last dessers, I will let you decide which dessert you like best from this pinterest page! Comment which one you would choose and if you attempt to make any then share them with me on Instagram with #dessertinaglass and I’ll add your beautiful creations to my story!

Here is the pinterest page: Dessert in a glass Pinterest board!

So that’s all I had for today, be sure to comment, like and follow! DM me pictures of any of the recipes in this post that you decide to bake, I’d love to see what you guys make!

-Yours Truly, Raisa