Motivation, Goals and Organising ~ Saturday's with Payton

Hey!

It's Payton again, and today I feel motivated and I want to share my motivation with you! "Motivated about what?" you may ask, well today I have been motivated about cleaning, tidying, and getting organised! Yes it's been 5 and a half weeks since New Year's Day 2015, and I want to ask you how have your resolutions been going? Have you stuck to them? Have they changed your life? In these first 5 and a half weeks of 2015 or 37 days, you could have broken a habit (it only takes 21 days) and you could be a few days away from completing breaking a second habit, so have you done that yet?

I want to share with you how my new years resolutions have been going on because I feel that this year I have accomplished something big in my own eyes, wait for it............. I have remembered my new years resolutions!

Now, usually I would not have remembered them for this long, however I feel that blogging about them as made them stick in my head due to them being written down, so I thank you the wonderful readers of the blog for helping me do something so small but yet so rewarding for me!

Next onto the nitty-gritty, on what I have really achieved. My resolutions were to lose some weight, tone up, eat healthily/ try new foods, be organised and be on time. That list seemed to go on for ages, and I know for certain that I haven't achieved many of them to a high standard, but baby steps will get me and you there!

Let's start with my organisation goal seeing as I have been motivated to get organised today. I feel that I achieved some of this goal and I feel really proud about it, today was the day that I cleaned, tidied and organised under my bed, the part of the room that many (it probably includes you) that you never go in your room. 

I thoroughly suggest to you that you do this! It makes you feel amazing! To stay organised buy some cheap big plastic boxes that will fit under your bed and label them so that it stays tidy under there, you will thank me in the future when you need to find something in 6 months time!

It wasn't just organising my room that I have started to do, however I have organised school folders and I have organised my time more to get more work done in free lessons at school, so my work is done not the night before it is due!

Time for my health goals, I have set many health goals for myself this year, some of them I feel like I have achieved more than others, but we all have to start from somewhere! I admit to not doing as much exercise as I like however I have hurt my knee, which is not a good thing, but hopefully it will be able to heal properly and quickly so I can do more activities again. On a happier note, my goal with eating new foods and healthy foods has been going really well. I have been trying new foods and I am starting to like them, granted that some of them are not healthy, but at least I am trying new things! My newest foods that I love are macaroni cheese ready meal and toasting waffles! On a healthier note though, I am eating more fruits and vegetables like peppers, cucumber, carrots, blueberries and healthy foods like fish especially on a weekday. 

I would like to roundup this blog post by saying that anything can be done, if you put your mind to it, small changes, can make a big difference in your life and you will feel much happier about it too! Trust me, if I have managed to stick to my goals, I know that you can too because I am the last person to achieve a goal that has been set! Comment what New Years goals that you have set, that you have stuck to or new goals in which you wish to accomplish!

See you next Saturday!

~Payton <3

Mug Cakes! - Tuesdays with Ash

Hey guys! =D

First of all, a late Happy New Year!! I hope that you have all recovered from your food comas and that your sleep cycles aren't completely destroyed for those of you who have to return to school =P I have a few New Year's resolutions: Lose weight/tone up, procrastinate less, be more active as well as be a lot more organised! Though as you can tell from the title of this post it doesn't really go with my lose weight resolution, so think of this recipe as a little treat for having gone let's say a fortnight of healthy eating. However, don't slip back into your old habits afterwards as I probably would do! 

A quick update on my life, I've just finished my mock exams and now I have the rest of the week off! Woop woop! Even though I know for a fact that I completely mucked my French mock up but hey, what are mocks for? XD However, I am happy with how my other mocks went so that cheered me up =)

Anywho, for Christmas my friend got me a recipe book called, surprise surprise, Mug Cakes by Mima Sinclair. This is an extremely adorable way of making cakes, breads and other little treats quickly in a microwave! My favourite one to make is chocolate brownie as it is absolutely delicious!

Before preparation, please make sure that the mug or cup you use is microwavable and that you check what power settings your microwave has. For example, whether your microwave uses 600W, 800W or 1000W as its highest setting.

Recipe for Chocolate Brownie Mug Cake:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of soft butter 

2 tablespoons of caster sugar

1 tablespoon of light soft brown sugar

1 tablespoon of cocoa powder

1 medium egg yolk

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

4 tablespoons of self-raising flour

A pinch of salt

2 tablespoons of chocolate chips (milk, dark or white or even all three types!)

Method:

1. Place the butter into your microwavable 250ml mug or cup and microwave for 10-20 seconds until melted on high.
2. Add the caster sugar, light brown sugar and cocoa powder and beat with a fork until thoroughly combined.
3. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat together, then add the self-raising flour, salt and beat again until thoroughly combined and smooth. Stir some of the chocolates chips into the mixture.
4. Cook in the microwave for 50 seconds at 600W, 30 seconds at 800W or 25 seconds at 1000W depending on what microwave you have. Afterwards, scatter the remaining chocolate chips onto the top of the brownie and cook in the microwave for a further 30 seconds at the same temperature.
5. Leave to cool for 10 minutes (I usually eat it after 5 because I can't wait but if you do this, watch out at it will still be hot inside) and enjoy! =D

I hope that your mug brownies turn out great and that they taste super yummy! I'm going to try making a few different ones (not too many though - gotta lose those calories!) and if another other ones take my interest, I'll post the recipes on here!

See you guys next week!

Ash xx

This is what your chocolate brownie should look like! =D x