The Best Things in Life... in March

Spring has sprung; the sun is shining and the lambs are bouncing around the fields but we've moved out of the country and into London to open our first Not Dogs pop-up shop! In our 'Best Things in Life' this month we talk feeling inspired, veggie chilli, new coffee love and exploring new areas.

Katie

Best things in life?

Being inspired daily by Sam Baker, ex-editor at Red Magazine & now very successful author. Each day she tweets a quote from somebody she admires with the hashtag #todayimchannelling – I always find it such a positive and happy start to the day. You can find Sam tweeting @SamBaker

Launching our very first Not Dogs pop-up shop in London and meeting all our new customers – the feedback across Twitter & Instagram has been so exciting to see! Our most popular dog so far has been The Original Frank, and we’ve been having fun collecting lots of #SausageSelfies. We’re very busy creating lots of new recipe ideas, so those looking for a lighter or vegan option – watch this space!

The Pool UK is a very exciting, but secretive new concept launched by Lauren Laverne this month, and all we know so far is that it aims to give opportunities to women. Lauren has been quoted as saying “There’s loads of us out there; I wanna claim our half of the world!” I guess we’ll just have to be patient for the time being… www.the-pool.com

What's your favourite Not Dog?

I’ve chosen from our Winter menu as I want to highlight how much I love vegetarian chilli! The Cha-Cha Chilli Dog is packed with our home-made chilli con carne, with a layer of tortilla chips and finished off with a sprinkle of birds eye chilli flakes – it’s a spicy dog that’s for sure! To me, there is nothing lost in substituting meat in a chilli to Quorn, in fact I find it tastier & far more lighter, but still very meaty too!

The pin of the moment for me is...

 Jane

Best things in life?

The Watch House, Bermondsey - Katie and I are living in Bermondsey while we're running the Not Dogs pop-up shop and it seems like a really distinctive, funky area to be in. We stumbled upon The Watch House on Bermondsey Street one morning - an artisan coffee shop located within a unique 19th Century building with housed guards who protected the churchyard graves. There's loads more amazing restaurants and bars that I can't wait to try.

The new Starbucks Maple Macchiato - there's a big marketing push on Starbucks' new drink and, of course, I've been sucked in by all the amazing branding so my usual Skinny Caramel Cappuccino has been relegated and the Maple Macchiato is in!

The Skinny Bitch Collective - SBC is loved by many of the amazing, inspirational women I follow on Instagram so I had to find out more about this wellness and lifestyle project created by Russell Bateman. The collective promotes lean, strong, empowering women and is loved by Millie Mackintosh and Ellie Goulding to name a few. While Katie and I are in London I really hope we can attend the 'illusive class designed to throw you as far away from your comfort zone as possible'!

What's your favourite Not Dog?

I should say the Plain Jane as it's obviously 'my dog' but I'll have to go with Hello Houmous as although I love houmous I really didn't think it would go well on our Not Dogs but that's the surprising thing... it so does! Quorn Bratwurst, Houmous, Roasted Red Peppers and Smoked Paprika make for a pretty perfect Not Dog!

The pin of the moment for me is...