I was first introduced to the concept of zucchini pasta a few years ago by my good friend Tanya; a raw food guru who blogs over at Better Raw. As a raw foodie, Tanya had this amazing spiralizer machine at her house that  turned zucchinis / courgettes super quickly into spaghetti! Ok so it is not really pasta but it is an amazing low carb substitute.

Over time I kept seeing zucchini noodles pop up on blogs, so I decided I needed to get myself a similar clever little gadget so I could make my own zucchini pasta. I found this great Gefu spiral cutter on Amazon (link) and for £21.69 and it has been one of the best kitchen purchases I have made in a while!

So let me tell you how to make Zucchini Pasta in no time! First up you need to wash the zucchini. Now I leave the skin on my zucchinis, as I don’t mind the green colour plus it actually contains a load of fibre and nutrients but you can peel it if you don’t want it to look green and more pasta-like. Then I simply slice off the bottom of my zucchini and place it into my spiral cutter. I twist and twist and tada beautiful thick spaghetti looking ribbons will come out (whilst simultaneously discarding the seedy core in the middle). This spiral cutter can actually be used from both ends – the stripes on the side show you which side will give you thinner or thicker noodles.

If you don’t want to invest in one of these spiral cutters you can also make zucchini pasta with a julienne peeler, a mandoline or if you want to practice your knife skills, you can even finely slice the zucchini in ribbons by hand.

Once you have your beautiful zucchini pasta (I normally use about 1 or 2 medium sized zucchinis per person) there are lots of delicious ways to enjoy them! You can have them cold and raw (as part of a crunchy salad), you can quickly stir fry them with a tiny bit of oil or you place them in a microwave safe dish and heat them for about 2 minutes until they are warm and then serve them with for example your favourite pasta sauce! Do watch the ‘spaghetti’ closely when heating because you don’t want to overcook them, they will become soggy! You want them warm but still with a nice ‘al dente’ crunch ;)

I am now hooked and absolutely love eating zucchini pasta because it is such a great way to have a healthy, filling delicious low carb lunch or dinner. Soon I will share some more recipes on how I like to eat my Zucchini Pasta!

Is Zucchini ‘Pasta’ something you’ve heard of before, or would be keen to try?

The post Low carb Zucchini Pasta! appeared first on Dutchess Roz.

Sometimes it’s about being bold and take chances in life, however scary it may seem…

On  that note I am also loving this quote at the moment; “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination!” ~ Jimmy Dean

So let’s set those sails shall we? ;)
Happy Hump Day everyone!

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This new adaptation of The Great Gatsby stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the young mysterious business magnate Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy, the object of his passion, and Tobey Maguire as Daisy’s cousin Nick, the outsider-insider through whose wondering narration the story is filtered. The setting for this vibrant movie is New York in the roaring 20s. Not having read the book I can’t really say if it does the original novel justice, but I actually enjoyed the movie very much.

I loved Leonardo in this film – he’s funny and dramatic at the same time and portrays the character of the mysterious Mr Gatsby really well. Oh and did I mention he’s so very handsome? ;)

This movie really re-sparked my love for the 20s era. After walking out of the cinema I really wanted to get dressed up in a stunning flapper dress and get dancing away at one of these amazing parties! The movie is certainly visually spectacular plus another thing I really liked about the movie was the soundtrack! Baz Luhrman hired American rap royalty Jay-Z as executive producer which gave the music a sexy and dangerous mood. The soundtrack has a mix of songs that blend of hip-hop, traditional jazz and other contemporary musical together. I have downloaded the soundtrack and these so far are my favourite songs:

- A Little Party Never Killed Nobody by Fergie, Q-Tip and GoonRock)
- Young & Beautiful by Lana Del Ray
- Over the Love by Florence and the Machine
- Into the past by Nero
- Bang Bang by Will.I.am
- Crazy in Love by Emili Sandé

See the trailer for the movie below featuring some of these songs….

Are you thinking about going to see ‘The Great Gatsby’?

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If you are not familiar with Pinterest yet then it’s about time you jumped on board! Pinterest is an online tool for collecting and organizing things that you love. It’s a bit like a virtual set of moodboards that you can continually add to without running out of space. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favourite recipes. You can ‘pin’ from other websites and clip images into Pinterest, or you can repin images that appear on your timeline from other pinners that you follow. Browsing other peoples pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share the same interests. These are some of my boards!

Recent updates to Pinterest now allow you to keep both public and private boards. Public boards can be seen by all Pinterest users, giving users the choice of searching for ideas within Pinterest itself, while private board can only be seen by people who are allowed to pin on that board. For example I may or may not have a secret wedding pinboard…ssshhhhh! Is that really bad seeing I am single? Haha!

Before the days of Pinterest, I used to collect pictures and clips from magazines and pile them into a notebook or pin them onto a cork board, or I’d bookmark many different websites to remember links to articles and images. Pinterest has made all this so much easier for me and what’s the best about Pinterest is that each image links back to its source, so with one click on the visual image it will take you back to details/link of the image as well! Amazing right?

The #pinitforward campaign means that over 30 days, 300 bloggers from the UK will be featuring their favourite Pinterest boards to give you some ideas of what fun and beautiful boards you can create yourself! One of my favourite boards has to be my Fashion Inspirations board where I pin images of street style fashionistas, bloggers and celebs outfits that that I love. The images always give me inspiration to create looks with items from my own wardrobe or to keep up to date with the fashion trends. Click on the link below to have a look at some of my favourite pinned fashion looks.

If you would like to sign up to Pinterest, it’s really easy and quick . All you need to do is click this link for a simple registration. Oh and once you’re there maybe you can Follow Me too ;)

So, what do you think? Is Pinterest something you use already?
If not, do you feel inspired to give it a go?

Now I’d like to Pin It Forward to the beautiful Simone who blogs over at  The Bottom of the Ironing Basket. I am so glad I’ve found her blog and Pinterest boards through this campaign. I especially love her Wise Words and Chocolate boards, plus how can you not like her Hello Handsome board. Definitely following that! ;) Make sure you check it out.

If you are already a Pinterest fan I would love to see your favourite boards. Link them up in the comments below and that way we can all take a look and follow each other. It’s a great way to find new and inspiring boards and pinners to follow. Happy pinning everyone!

The post Pin It Forward UK – Are you on Pinterest yet? appeared first on Dutchess Roz.

Back in March I spotted this amazing neon & gem statement necklace in Stylist Magazine and I instantly new I had to make it mine. I rushed onto the New Look website and made a quick purchase. That was a smart move in the end because it was sold out the day after and I have received so many comments on it!

This is definitely a bold & high bling factor kind of statement necklace that you can add to any outfit to sparkle it up. I think it looks amazing with a little black or white dress, a simple white t-shirt and jeans, or as seen here with a denim shirt for a fun but casual look.

Denim shirt H&M // Grey tank top H&M Basics // Black jeans Topshop // Neon Pink & Green Gem statement necklace New Look (link) // Watch Michael Kors // Sunglasses Ray Ban (as seen here)

Photos by Rory from the lightwheel

Even though this beauty has now sold out I would definitely recommend checking out New Look’s accessory range, they have a great collection including some more neon bling! For example I love these yellow neon earrings or this pink neon necklace.

Do you like this way of styling a bling statement necklace?

The post Neon Pink & Green Gem Statement Necklace appeared first on Dutchess Roz.

Just like any other girl there have been times in my life where I have struggled with my weight. I either have felt unhappy about how I look or feel or was just keen to lose those few extra kilos to feel good in a bikini or try to squeeze myself back into that favourite pair of jeans! We all constantly feel the pressure to be thin and many of us of girls think (too much) about what we ‘allow’ ourselves to eat or feeling guilty for having that piece of cake.

And now that is my main problem right there; I LOVE FOOD! Eating cakes and chocolate, going out for dinners, fun nights out drinking cocktails or indulging in Ben & Jerry’s ice cream when at the movies. I just wouldn’t want to imagine my life without it. And most people know you could pretty much wake me up for a perfectly warm oozing chocolate fondant any time of the night! So as a real foodie the thought of some restricting diet just doesn’t work for me.

Now I am no expert (so this is just my personal opinion and experience) but for me I have given up on diets. Diets can be soul (and body) destroying. These days my focus is all about being and staying healthy. Diets are hard because when you restrict yourself, it makes it easy to fall of the wagon. For me I have found the best way to lose weight and keep the weight off is more about a lifestyle change. A wise man (my dad) once told me you can eat ‘everything in moderation’ which pretty much explains my diet. So here it is. I don’t diet, I eat healthy….most of the time!

Because if I ate healthy all the time; my life (and me included) would be no fun. But if I treated myself to too much naughty food all the time then I’d be an unhappy fatso. So when it comes down to it, it’s all about balance! This brings me to my ‘diet’ – the 80/20 diet.

The 80/20 diet is super simple; The idea is to eat healthily for around 80% of the time and then you are feel free to eat the foods you love for the other 20% of the time!

What I try to do myself is to exercise and eat very healthily during the week and then I relax and treat myself at the weekends. But the 80/20 rule also works for me on a daily basis. Say I’m having something naughty like a greasy burger or cheesy pizza for dinner, then I’ll have a light breakfast & maybe a salad for lunch. Plus I will try to ensure I work out or go for a run the day before or the day after. It’s all a matter of balance, balance, balance!!

This way I have learned not be too hard on myself. For example when I go away for a weekend, I always want to try all the amazing foods from that country! So I treat myself and I ENJOY it (without the guilt) because I will balance it out by upping my exercise sessions and eating correctly before and after my trip! So just think; after couple of naughty days, just be good for the rest of the week. Très simples!

Victoria’s Secret model, Miranda Kerr also follows this diet saying, “I adopt the 80/20 rule. 80% healthy and organic, 20% indulgent and that works for me and my body personally. I indulge occasionally and avoid counting calories.”

Being good (80%) for me looks like this;

• Fill up on lots fruits and vegetables
• Exercise at least 30min a day
• No ready-made meals
• Drink lots of water
• No starchy carbs for dinner (think pasta, rice, potatoes, white bread)
• Eat healthy fats like salmon, avocado and raw nuts
• Cutting out sugar, cakes and candy
• Breakfast & lunch include healthy foods like porridge, sushi, eggs, butternut squash, quinoa, salads and soups.
• No alcohol during the week
• Plenty of sleep

I probably don’t have to explain what being ‘bad’ (20%) looks like. You can use your own imagination here but for me it looks a little something like this….

YUM!!! See, I never want to have to give up these delicious things and with the 80/20 diet I don’t have to as long as I just remember to balance it with healthy living. I love cooking and baking so on the blog here I will continue to share my favourite recipes for naughty treats but also some healthy recipes I use on a daily basis to give you some inspiration for the 80% part! People often ask me how I stay healthy/skinny and I hope this post helps or can inspire you in some way. In the end I feel it is all about loving yourself and your body and making a lifestyle choice to be healthy and fit instead of starving yourself to be a size 0!

What a great formula to live by.
Life is too short so you may as well enjoy the ride right?
Happy Hump Day everyone :)

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