The Brunch Bunch

Monday again - where on earth did the weekend go!? Only one thing for it, get planning next weekend and what better place to start than breakfasts to be gobbled up in a duvet cocoon...

So here's three scrum recipes to give you a little brekspiration!

Baked Eggs in Portobello Mushrooms

Ingredients

2 Portobello Mushrooms

2 Eggs

Couple of Cherry Tomatoes 

Feta 

Parmesan grated

This is the perfect breakfast in bed meal. Hop up and grab your dressing gown. Preheat your oven to 180 C. Take two mushrooms and scoop out a little of the inside if you need to make some extra room. Put the mushrooms in a baking tray. Chop up your cherry tomatoes and scatter inside the mushrooms. Crack an egg into each mushroom. Crumble the feta and scatter it over the eggs and then top with a sprinkle of parmesan. Bake in the oven until the eggs are set. Climb back into bed and devour with a cup of strong coffee and a good book. 

Shakshuka

Ingredients
1 onion finely chopped
1 red pepper thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic crushed
4 Eggs
1 tsp Ground Cumin
1 tsp Paprika
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper
1 jar of Pasata
2 tsp of Tomato Paste
Feta 
Handful of Coriander
Handful of Mint

This was inspired by sun soaked brunches in Sydney - the most scrumptious brunch best eaten straight out of the pan. Preheat the oven to 180 C. While you're waiting for it to warm up, take a frying pan and gently fry the onion and pepper until its soft. Add the garlic and fry for another couple of minutes. Now add the cumin, paprika and cayenne and cook for a minute. Pour in the pasata and add the tomato paste, season and let the sauce simmer away for ten minutes. Stir in half the crumbled feta. Use a spoon to make four little dips in the sauce and crack an egg into each. Scatter the rest of the crumbled feta across the top of the pan. Put the pan in the oven and bake until the eggs have set. Pull out and top with the chopped fresh herbs. Serve with big hunks of bread for dipping.

Overnight Protein Oats

Ingredients

50g Greek Yoghurt

100ml Almond Milk

1 Apple Grated

1 scoop of Vanilla Protein Powder

pinch of Ground Cinnamon

50g Rolled Oats

Handful of Blueberries

Scattering of Grated Orange Zest

This delicious and super easy breakfast is borrowed from the Body Coach and is our new post-training meal. The night before you want to have this for breakfast put all the ingredients except the blueberries and orange zest in a big bowl. Mix it all up and then pop it in the fridge overnight. In the morning pop it in a bowl and top with blueberries and a scattering of orange zest.

This Week The Mice Have Mostly Been...

It's F... F... F...

And thank goodness for that. 

I think we definitely all deserve a lie-in or two and a couple of days of hardcore hibernation. I don't know if it's the plummeting temperatures, the vast expanse of time that seems to have dragged by since my last pay cheque, or just general January malaise, but right now there's nowhere I'd rather spend the weekend than sprawled out on the sofa. So you know what? That's exactly where I'm going to spend it! 

If you're feeling similarly languid, let us run you through what's served as our lounging entertainment in the past seven days - this week the Mice have mostly been...

Neglecting work, household chores and husbands because I can't get my nose out of my Kindle thanks to Rebecca Thornton's brilliantly unputdownable debut novel, The Exclusives.

I was tipped off about this little gem when Esther Coren blogged about it last Friday (if you haven't discovered her new blog, The Spike, yet, say hello to an amazing weekend treat...). By Monday morning I'd been dragged back a couple of decades and immersed in a world Mallory Towers meets Gone Girl. Download it now and be prepared to do nothing you meant to do until you reach the last page...

Beginning to work my way through the Oscar nominations list and kicking off with what has to be the favourite for this year's best picture - the Revenant. This epic survival-adventure film is made even more exceptional when you read about the lengths that director, Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams, Babel, Birdman), and his long-suffering cast went to in order to make this stunning piece of cinema. Insisting on shooting using only natural light, in the remotest of locations where at times temperatures reached as low as minus 27 - it's hardly surprising that this project took an arduous nine months to shoot. Beautiful, heart-wrenching and without a doubt the performance of Di Caprio's career.

Next up - Steve Jobs, Joy and Carol... Pass the popcorn.

Getting max use out of my brand new Frends Laylas with an iPod full of Podcasts. I recognise I'm monumentally late to the Podcast party, but having heard a zillion people raving on about Serial last year, I finally decided to download a couple of Podcast episodes, and within a couple of listens, I was well and truly obsessed. Swapping my usual morning Spotify session for half an hour's Podcasting makes me feel like I'm using my commute for something constructive and now I finally feel like I have a bit more of substance to discuss at the coffee machine with my colleagues.

(Hyper intelligent earphone face clearly illustrating the point).

A few of my current favs:

Answer Me This - fortnightly Podcast during which Helen and Olly answer a set of random questions sent in by listeners which run across a range of ridiculous subjects from the proper name for the insert in a box of chocolates that tells you what flavour each chocolate is to why there are so few paintings of the pregnant Virgin Mary. This makes me laugh out loud on the train - you've been warned.

Stuff Mom Never Told You - Like a night in with your wittiest older sister and her super cool best mate, Stuff Mom Never Told You tackles any and all girl-related topics from the skinny on the science behind juice cleanses to knitting and the history of abortion to feminist witchcraft...

Jeremy Vine's Being Human - brilliant BBC 2 radio show which each week asks a celebrity guest what defining feature makes us human. With guests ranging from Caitlin Moran to Ruby Wax and Terry Waite to the Archbishop of Canterbury, each episode starts with the week's subject reading an essay on their defining feature and finishes up with the guest's lifestory. 

Planet Money - great commute-friendly, sub-20 minute bubbles of really clever but genuinely interesting stuff that's loosely economics-related. Think everything from the marketing strategy behind keeping the Hermes Birkin the number one "it" bag to why the price of Coca Cola didn't change for 70 years.

5 Live Hit List - a great source of coffee machine chatter - this 5 Live show counts down through the most shared stories on social media during the previous week which makes for a guaranteed mix of crazy weirdness, key current affairs stories and odd celeb titbits. 

And now we think it's time to leave you to crack on with the weekend's adventures. 

x

The Mice

Sofa Sundays...

If, like me, you're still in Sunday hibernation mode, then you'll appreciate the feeling of finishing a really awesome box set and the gaping hole it leaves in your life!! I get so engrossed in the characters and story-lines that I genuinely feel as if I know them / am part of their world!!!

I'm up to date on all episodes of Greys Anatomy, Suits, Scandal, Girls, Orange is The New Black, True Blood, Entourage and even Nashville... so now it's time to start a newbie! 

Decision made. Making A Murderer it is... we started watching and were finding it all very confusing keeping track of who was who and what they were referring to, only to find out when the episode finished that Middle Mouse had started us on the last episode by mistake?! So another one bites the dust!!

There's so many recommended, it's just where to start... Breaking Bad, House of Cards, Game of Thrones... all constantly raved about but just not what I'm after! I want suspense, tears, lovable characters and a few beautiful people to become obsessed with... Avery, Harvey, McSteamy... I'm not picky!  

Completely confused and daunted by the prospect of getting to grips with a whole new cast and story, I've decided instead to catch up on trillions of films I've never got round to watching whilst nursing my unenviable Sunday hangover! 

So far my favourites and perfect for your next day of lounging are... 

The Next Three Days - Russell Crowe plays the lead character who becomes obsessed with the idea of breaking his wrongly convicted wife out of prison. You'll be kept on the edge on your sofa from start to finish!

The Departed - a stellar cast and an amazing watch! Leonardo, Matt and Jack have you immediately engrossed in the corrupt and darn right stressful story of gangsters and police moles! 

Law Abiding Citizen - another one to keep you gripped and guessing, Gerard Butler calls the shots like the boss that he is, along with Jamie Foxx in the plot of ultimate revenge. 

Whiplash - the story of a drummer and (scary!) jazz conductor, slightly dark and intense in places but pretty amazing, compelling and beautifully shot. 

Soooooooo Grab a duvet, hot water bottle, hop into your PJs and get watching my friends...more to come soon! 

Monday Blues : Roundie Towels & Sunshine Smiles...

I think we're all in agreement when I say Mondays are beyond bleak, week in week out. Well today - the 18th January - is apparently the worst Monday of the entire year. It makes sense ... it's freezing and on top of that we're all super poor thanks to early pay days in December. Bah humbug! My work has tried to help ease the pain by giving everyone an extra hour in bed - sooooo PR - but we still have 7 whole hours remaining to get through...

I've tried to think about how us Mice could help, and I think the only thing for it is to think of sunnier destinations far far away which in a few months time we'll be jetting off to. Instagram-inspiration below to help you turn that Monday moan into a Saturday state of mind...

Holidays are my number one happy thing but shopping for them also never fails to draw a smile. This year I plan to buy lots of Marysia bikinis, Josa cover ups and my latest obsession ... roundie beach towels! I follow lots of travel and fashion bloggers on Instagram and they all seem to have them. They're essentially giant round towels embellished with beautiful patterns, colours and some even feature fabulous fringing. Not only are they great for the beach but they'll also be useful for picnic days in London when the sun decides to shine!

Royal Furnish & The Beach People seem to have strong collections online from the research I've done but just type 'roundie towels' into google to shop away...

Hopefully today's blog has transported you to a cheerier place for 5 minutes of your Monday. Chin up Micettes - holidays are coming! 

This Week The Mice Have Mostly Been...

HAPPY NEW YEAR to our favourite people in the whole wide world...

After the most indulgent Christmas, in every sense of the word, we're BACK! Suitably rested and revitalised for 2016...well we were but with two working week under our belt, we're just about ready for another break!!

When we haven't been resisting the urge to pour a glass of champagne at midday or nibble on a late night cheese board...the mice have mostly been...

Tricking ourselves into getting up at the crack of dawn to fit in an early morning gym visit...as you can imagine it isn't going too well! With our body clocks accustomed to lay ins, afternoon naps and generally being super duper lazy - we're struggling to say the least!

Each day I convince myself 'tomorrow I'll be good and give myself no option'....the very next day there is absolutely nothing that will pull me from my cosy duvet cocoon any earlier than is required, especially not in the pitch black and squeezed into Lycra!

Something has to give, otherwise we'll officially have to change the name of the blog to 2 bad mice and 1 chubby kid...and that's clearly not catchy enough!!

So my plan of action...purchase brand new gym get up as motivation...anything as an excuse to shop! Plus with sales coming to an end, there's some serious bargains to be had...so far I've snapped up... 

And the most comfortable running trainers in the world...

And now I have my eye on these little beauties... 

Reliving every moment of the amazingly scrumptious Hoppers. If you've never made it to Gymkhana (shame - you should as it's simply awesome in every way!) then here's your chance to experience creations from it's new slightly more attainable sister!

The Sethi siblings have struck again with this gem, located in the heart of Soho on Frith Street with a concept based around Sri Lankan street food.

You'll have to grin and bare the 'no reservations' policy yet again - however once your name is down you can keep track of your table progress via a link on Qudini. Fear not you can very easily pass your wait time just around the corner at Chotto Matte who do a mean Pisco Sour...the perfect solution to sup away whilst timing your cocktail rounds according to your table countdown!

Once you're in, the wood panelling, yellow patterned floor tiles and soft lighting creates an upbeat and inviting vibe, perfect for a Friday night meal with friends to kick off the weekend! 

Now onto more important matters...the menu! 

We went for a handful of short eats which are perfect to share - our favourites were the mutton rolls, hot butter devilled shrimps and bone marrow varuval with the most delicious pillowy rotis to soak up the rich buttery sauce!

Then for the main event you order meat or fish with either a hopper or dosa! I went for a hopper (which I was obsessed with when we visited Sri Lanka a few years ago) and of course opted for the egg version! For those of you who don't know, hoppers are bowl shaped pancakes made from fermented rice batter and coconut milk (with an optional fried egg at the bottom) and a dosa is a crepe made from rice batter and black lentils. 

Following our lovely waitress' recommendation, I opted for the black pork with the trio of chutneys - tender pork in a deep sticky marinade - if I could have licked my plate I definitely would have!!!

And just because we're piglets we also ordered the renowned buffalo buriani to share - make sure you save room as definitely one not to be missed! A show stopping huge portion of buffalo shank and rice served with duck egg curry, yogurt and aubergine pickle...YUM!!!!

Once our banquet was complete there was no chance of fitting in dessert, however we of course said yes to a cocktail or 2! Which once again they excelled at and notched up another A* - their talents are endless! I'm now officially in love with the Hopper G&T, a mix of lemongrass infused Sipsmith gin, lemongrass and tonic...delish and oh so easy to slurp away!  

And the final bonus, your bill arrives and there's not a wince in sight!! Get yourself down there ASAP and make sure you starve yourself all day in preparation! 

Before I convince myself to return for another sitting, I better shimmy into my lycra and burn some buriani!!!

  

3BM cooks : Pecan & Coconut Granola

For clean eating bunnies out there granola is a big no no as the majority on the market are bound together with lashings of honey and oil – ick! The following Detox Kitchen recipe I’m about to talk you through however uses coconut oil and a smidgen of Manuka honey as an alternative which makes it a delectable yet healthy breakfast bite – yay! 

See a step-by-step guide below on how to re-create for yourself – remember to couple the granola with a dollop of coyo or plain soya yogurt with a sprinkle of fresh berries!

Ingredients:

Ample for x10 servings / approx. 200 calories per serving

1 tbsp coconut oil
400g porridge oats
150ml rice milk
1 tbsp Manuka honey
40g pecans
A pinch of ground cinnamon
20g of coconut curls 

1. Get that oven warmed up to 200C and prep a baking tray with greaseproof paper and pop to one side

2. Melt the coco oil and combine with the oats, rice milk and honey in a big mixing bowl. Get stuck in and create chunks of oaty goodness with your hands 

3. Spread the oat mixture evenly on the tray you've prepared and slide it into the oven for 20 minutes 

4. Lay the pecans out on foil and put into the oven to toast up for the last 10 minutes alongside the oat mixture 

5. Take everything out of the oven and leave to cool off

6. Once cold add the pecans to the core granola, sprinkle on the cinnamon and delicate coco curls 

7. Voila! It will keep for 2 weeks if you keep it in an airtight jar and remember to jazz up with some yog and berries. Enjoy! 

On the 3BM iPod: Billie Marten

It's a brand new year, and what better subject for our first post than a fresh new singer who we're tipping as likely to feature heavily on your 2016 soundtrack? 

Warning though, if like us you feel like the millennium really wasn't that long ago, this post is likely to make you feel not just old but ancient.   Because the singer songwriter we're talking about wasn't even born when the clock struck midnight in 1999... Billie Marten, a singer songwriter from Yorkshire, wears braces and hasn't even sat her GCSEs yet but the 15 year old's soulful sound belies her age. 

If your Monday needs a little lift, grab your earphones, hit play on the videos below and prepare to be wowed...

Billie Marten - Bird

Billie Marten - Heavy Weather




Billie Marten - Ribbon