Recipes for the perfect Girls Night in on Valentines Day

It's that time of the year when we are bombarded with cutesy love messages from left, right and centre, but if you're single you can have just as much fun participating in the event created for those in love. It's a great excuse to get all your friends together, have a giggle, eat lots and watch films - perfect night in! However, I'm wanting to share with you a couple of healthier alternatives to some of the more common "guests" who make an appearance on most girly nights in. I hope you enjoy them and let me know if you do end up trying some of these recipes!

Pamper your skin with a DIY organic face masks

What you'll need:

strawberries

lemon

oats

avocado

cucumber

We're going to make two face masks: one is a strawberry and lemon mask to help combat spots, and another an avocado and cucumber to help soothe and nourish the skin. I didn't give exact measurements as it's really up to how many people you have to calculate how much products you will need. Grab two bowls, a garlic crusher and a knife - for the strawberry mask you need to wash and cut the strawberries in small pieces (just enough to fit into the garlic crusher) and squeeze them through into the bowl. You will get juice and plum from them which you need for your mask. Squeeze half a lemon per a punnet of strawberries, and you will notice the consistency will be really watery and runny. This is where you need to add a handful of oats to make the mask sticky and gloopy. The natural acids in lemons and strawberries will kill bacteria and the excess oils produced by your skin and will leave your complexion brighter and smoother - and no chemicals! 

For the avocado mask, carefully cut the avocado and remove the seed, then mash the insides of the avocado until they are smooth and creamy. Wash the cucumber and cut into tiny pieces to fit into the garlic crusher and start crushing the cucumber (probably a quarter of a large cucumber) - you will need both the juice and the pulp. Then your mask is ready! It's that easy. The avocado nourishes your skin and the cucumber adds a refreshing and hydrating element to the mask. I also cut two round slices of the cucumber to put on my eyes to awaken them. 

You now have two masks with incredible skin benefits which are 100% natural! I find that these face mask suit any skin type, and if they go into your mouth you can just eat it! 

Replace cocktails and milkshake with superfood smoothies

What you'll need: 

Faux Strawberry Milkshake: 

almond milk

a handful of almonds

strawberries

blueberries

raspberries

milled flaxseed

Faux Sex on The Beach cocktail

oranges

strawberries

red currant 

ginger

milled flaxseed

For both of the recipes, chuck in the ingredients into a blender and whisk them up! For the strawberry milkshake, you want to add probably half of the almond milk carton as I think I would have preferred mine a little more creamy than it turned out; and for the cocktail remember not to put too much ginger as it can be overpowering! 

These smoothies are both brilliant to wake you up in the morning as they contain Vitamin C; berries like raspberries and strawberries are great for the skin;  and blueberry is a superfood. I add flaxseed as these are considered to be a superfood and are also quite tasty! 

Mexican healthy hot chocolate (my take on a Hemlsey + Hemsley recipe) 

What you'll need (for two cups): 

2 cups almond milk

3 tablespoons of cacao powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

cinnamon stick (to decorate)

pinch of cayenne pepper

pinch of sea salt

1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons golden syrup

I found this recipe in my Hemsley + Hemsley recipe book (which is amazing and so good for you!), and I fell in love with this recipe which is not only tasty but also really healthy for your body. 

Mix all the ingredients in a pan and stir until the mixture gets smooth and creamy - do not allow it to boil! Pour into cups and decorate with cinnamon bark - and enjoy without feeling guilty! The cayenne pepper and cinnamon is excellent for circulation, cacao powder is a superfood and the mix of salt and sweet is just delicious! 

To finish this post, I recommend sticking on Netflix and watching terrible but brilliant films like Mean Girls, My Bloody Valentine, Clueless and 10 Things I Hate About You!