Low calorie, low fat Rilakkuma cookies!

Hello Lovelies!

It's time for another Lets Cook! Today we're making Rilakkuma cookies that are super low calorie (it works out about 15 calories a cookie!)

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You will need for 26 cookies:

• 100g Self  raising flour + 3TBSP for rolling out
• 26g Weight Watchers Dairy Spread
• 1 TBSP Stevia (possibly more if you like very sweet cookies)
• 1 TSP Vanilla Extract (Or any flavouring you'd like)
• 1 TBSP Water (to bind)
• 1 Cal cooking spray

1. Rolling Pin
2. Cookie cutters
3. Baking Tray
4. Pallet Knife (Optional)
5. Bowl
6. Spoon
7. Scales

Pre-heat your oven to 180c (I have a fan over so you may need to counter for this. Give your baking sheet a good spray over the 1 cal spray to ensure that the cookies won't stick to it! Measure out your flour into a bowl

Add in the Stevia and stir to mix in

Add in the Dairy spread 

rub between your thumbs and fingers until it lumps together - If you have a pastry mixer (It looks like a half horse shoe, with a handle and several slatted blades, you can use this to save your fingers getting messy!)

Gradually add in some of the water and mix - you need enough to to cause the dough to stick together but not be super sticky

Dust your rolling board/counter top as well as your hands with some of the flour left over

Roll out your dough until its about 3mm thick and cut out your shapes

Transfer to thegreased baking sheet and pop into the oven for 10-15 minutes (Check them regularly to make sure they aren't over cooked, they should just be turning golden brown)

Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool - Store these in an airtight container else you may find they go rather soggy!

And there you have it! Tasty cookies for not many calories - I may try making these again with cinnamon or nutmeg instead!

I hope you enjoy these!

Ta-ta for now!
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MCN & Carole Nash London 2015 Bike show - London ExCel

Hello Lovelies,

Another Bike centered post today! I spent Valentine's day with my lovely Husband going to the London ExCel center to see the Carole Nash 2015 bike show!

Now I've never been to a bike show before so I wasn't sure what to expect, though from the photos I saw pop up on my Facebook news feed it looked like it was going to be fun!

We took the train into London Waterloo and National Rail had changed the departures board to say WaterLove instead of Waterloo for Valentine's day which was pretty cute. It didn't take that long to get there, though the DLR was pretty packed - I'd recommend getting off at the second stop for ExCel as there were way less people on the train/using that entrance. Opnce inside we brought our tickets and went into the show! I appologise for the lack of pictures but it was so crowded it was almost impossible to get a photo of anything with out people bumping into you!

The new Ducati Scrambler! My Husband had really wanted to see this and wasn't disappointed, it's a rather lovely bike! (I got to see the Triumph Rocket and I'm still convinced that it'll be the bike I get next!)

 

More Ducati's.

 

Part of the bikes on show - the one on the right is a BMW. 

 

 

These bikes were part of Top Gear's Richard Hammond and James May's personal collection! I'd been hoping they'd both be around but I didn't spot them. I was quite surprised by the Velocette and the Vincent in the collection.

A custom build bike - This one was covered in loads of different pictures, including Hello Kitty!

All in all this was a really fun day out, there was a lot to see and quite a few stalls selling clothing, parts and accessories. I brought a few t-shirts but nothing else as a lot gear stalls  that had jackets and gloves seemed to be very cheap makes, or had no information about the material they were made from (I'm pretty particular about my bike clothing as I'm rather attached to my skin!) I did nearly buy a Shoei Helmet as they had a very good offer on but I decided to wait and save for a particular model I have my eye on. I'd definitely go again next year.

Ta-ta for now!

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Changing brake pads on a CBR600F!

Hello Lovelies!

Today I've a slightly different post for you - How to change the brake pads on a motorbike! Specifically this is a how to on my bike a 95 CBR600F, but it's very similar on most bikes and really isn't that hard to do!

If you've never done this before a Hayne's manual/someone who knows what they are doing is going to come in very handy! Haynes manuals are especially useful as it'll have the torque settings. You'll also need a pair of brake pads for each calliper on the bike - I got mine direct from Honda for £50.00 for both sets, a screw driver (check what screws you have on your bike), allen keys, brake cleaner (Make sure it's suitable for use on all brake parts), piston tool, nylon brush, brass brush, spray copper grease and red rubber grease. We also used a sonic cleaner but it is possible to clean everything by hand, but it's way easier to use a sonic cleaner - and handily my husband had one from when he'd changed the brake pads on his bike. 

I'd also recommend one of these handy little dishes - it's magnetic so if you knock it over you won't loose all your screws! (Which, if you're me, you'll knock over a lot!)

Lastly, I did start off with rubber gloves, with the intention of not getting mega grubby (these brake callipers were filthy)/ covered in brake cleaner and grease. By the time I got to the second calliper I gave up with that idea and just went with it!

The first thing to do is remove the pinch bolt that holds the calliper in place over the brake disk, mine came away pretty easy with a screwdriver.

Underneath this is another bolt that you need to withdraw using an allen key - at some point you'll find its not coming out any further by turning the key and you should be able to remove it with your fingers to withdraw the entire pin.

Next, carefully remove the screws that hold the brake calliper, you should then be able to lift the entire unit off of the brake disk - do this very gently else you run the risk of scratching your disk or wheel. Make sure you keep the calliper supported as letting it hang can damage the hose.

Remove the old brake pads and disguard them - you'll also want to remove the top of the calliper and the two clips that keep the pads in place.

Either put everything in the sonic cleaner or clean the items by hand using the brake cleaner and a nylon brush.

The next step step is to clean the calliper - spray this generously and scrub with the nylon brush, once you've done this - you'll then want to clean the pistons - to get the pistons to come out place the piston tool in between the pistons and the side of the calliper, fully shut, then pump the brake leaver to get the pistons to move out - stop before it becomes too tight to remove the tool. Give these a really good clean with the nylon brush and use the brass brush if there are any stubborn marks to get these clean. Coat the outside of the pistons with a thin layer of red rubber grease and use the piston tool to push them back into the calliper.

By this point the remaining parts should be clean, lay them out on some clean sheets of kitchen towel. Remove the new brake pads from the packets and lay these down also being careful not to touch the fronts of the pads.

Next spray everything with the copper grease - be very careful NOT to get this on the front of the brake pads.

Next replace the clips, and carefully pop in the brake pads. Replace the top of the calliper and reinsert the retaining pin through. Pop the calliper back over the brake disk carefully and re-attach the bolts - you will need to do these hand tight then use a torque wrench to get the right tightness (check Hayne's manual for torque settings). Replace the pinch bolt and do this up as well. Lastly pump the front brake to push out the pistons and check everything is working as it should do! You can then repeat this process for the other side.

Lastly you can admire the awesome shade of soot you've accumulated on your hands/arms/face during the entire process!

Once you've finished changing both I suggest you check everything is working as it should do with a very gentle ride up and down the road - and remember the new pads will need to bed in so don't go crazy with them!

Ta-ta for now
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