Nakd fun!

Hey peeps

Last night I was very excited (and also nervous!) because I was going to a blogger event. I was invited by nakd to attend an evening as part of them launching new products. When I got the email I decided right away not to go, because I find meting new people quite hard. I think once I get to know people I am very chatty, but I find it hard to meet new people, and I was worried that everyone would know each other already. But Andy encouraged me to go- he always has the attitude of what’s the worst that can happen, and I would probably enjoy it. Anyway, I am glad I went.

It was a bit of a rush to get into London after work, and I was also very worried about getting lost (seriously, I have an awful sense of direction- I even managed to come out of Kings Cross in order to go back down to the underground bit) but the little cafe was easy to find, in what seemed like a rather trendy area near to Farringdon.

The cafe was very cute, and filled with people in nakd t-shirts. They had some nice dips and nibbles, plus bowls of their new nakd bars to try.

One wall of the cafe was covered in CD shelves- reminds me of my youth!

I tried a bit of each new flavour- the rhubarb and custard was very sweet, like the berry bars. It really did taste like the sweets you used to get- very retro. Now I am not a fan of coffee, but I love the smell, and sometimes chocolate with coffee in it is OK, so I tried the mocha bar, and actually I think I prefer it to the rhubarb and custard one. It was like the cocoa ones (cocoa mint/ orange)- and it just had a hint of coffee flavour.

The founder (Jamie Combs) did a little talk about encouraging people to eat more whole foods (very Michael Pollan), and then Lucy-Ann Prideaux (the nutritionist who posts information on their facebook page) did a little talk (although I was hoping that she was going to talk for a bit longer).

Then, the best bit!

They put their “magic goo” in bowls on the tables (date paste) and then bowls of nuts, chocolate chips, marshmallows, dried fruits, spices, and little bottles of natural flavourings, and we got to make our own!

I was sharing with another blogger, and we decided to make a sort of Christmassy one. I love the nakd gingerbread bar, and gingerbread cookies are so lovely with a little dark chocolate, so we channelled that by adding some chopped nuts, a generous sprinkle of ginger, and some dark chocolate chips.

We mixed ours together, and then asked for some cling-film so make bar shapes.

I was quite pleased with my final effort. I did try a bit of it before I wrapped it up, and it was yummy.

We had some time to chat to the staff, and one of them told me that they were thinking of giving the Trek bars some love- updating the packaging and maybe introducing new flavours or changing them up a bit, which I think is really good news. I hardly ever have the trek bars now, but whenever I have them I really enjoy them. I suppose because they are much bigger I would not have them as a snack on a day-to-day basis like I do with the nakd bars.

During the evening the lovely Phil realised I was sat behind her, so we managed a little chat, and a photo!

(Me with my coat on as I was getting ready to leave!). It was lovely to meet someone that I “knew”, as a lot of the baking bloggers seemed to know each other very well- always nice to see a friendly face.

Then I had to run back to the station (partly because I was a bit late for the train, and partly because it was dark, and London in the dark scares me a little!)- by the time I got the underground I had missed the train, so had a half hour wait for the next one, but luckily I had packed a couple of running magazines in my bag, so I got to catch up on reading.

We were all given a goodie bag with bars and raisins (and badges!) and of course I got to take my home-made nakd bar back with me. I am still hoping that they make a peanut butter nakd bar 🙂

I am very proud of my home-made bar 🙂

They are doing 15 % off all online orders in September, so visit their website to have a look. Plus they do free delivery, and often the pixie puts in something extra too. I noticed that the mixed case has the new flavours in it, which is a good option if you wanted to try them but didn’t want a whole box.  I am still working my way through the massive box of cocoa mint bars which I ordered a while back.

Anyway, although I was a bit apprehensive about attending (getting lost/ meeting people I didn’t know) it was really good- I enjoyed making my own bar, and of course getting to try the new flavours. So, thanks nakd.

Today it was such a beautiful morning, but by the time I got home from work it was cloudy and super windy. I did have a run, so decided to make it a quick one- my first mile was 10.02! 3 miles in 30 mins so I kept pretty steady, although it felt so slow because of the wind.

I was planning on making some kind of roasted veggie lentil salad thing, but it was so cold that I wanted something warming (and also I was tired after being out all day yesterday and a long day today)- luckily in the freezer I had a lentil chilli, so I defrosted that, added some fresh veggies in, and served it with some butternut squash slices (I was lazy and bought them ready sliced)- I baked them with a little coconut oil and some cinnamon, and they were lovely.  Yum- am sure chilli is so much nicer after it has sat around- even in the freezer, it seems to make the flavours mingle much better.

It reminded me that I really loved having chickpea stew in the autumn/winter- I might have to make that again soon. What sort of meals will you be making now the weather is colder? And do you like the sound of the new nakd bars? What flavours would you like them to make?  Come on, vote with me for a peanut butter/ pb chocolate chip one!