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Monday 30 January 2012

Giveaway: The Glamourous Housewife

This week over on http://talesofaretromodernhousewife.blogspot.com is having a giveaway week!

This is the first day of the giveaway and she's giving away a lovely cocktail ring.

To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is announce this week's giveaway on your blog and link back to this post. Then let me know in the comments with a link to your blog. If you don't have a blog, then a facebook post, twitter, or pin is also welcomed. I am leaving this contest open until next Monday, because I have noticed not everyone is obsessed with blogs like I am, and some only read them on the weekends, and I want to make sure everyone is included this week. Let the giveaway begin!

****UPDATE: INTERNATIONAL WELCOME TO JOIN***


Go enter now!!!!

Sunday 29 January 2012

Recipe: Blueberry Tart


Pastry:
-225g Flour
-1 egg
-2 Tablespoons Caster sugar
-2-3 Tablespoons Cold water
-125g Butter

Filling:
-300g Blueberries
-125g Sugar

What to do:
- Grease a tart or cake dish.
-Rub butter into flour until like breadcrumbs, Stir in sugar and add water to slowly form a dough.
-Refridgerate pastry for an hour.
- Stir in sugar with blueberries.
-Put the pastry in the dish and add blueberry mixture.
-Cook at 180 degrees centigrade for 20 minutes until pastry is golden.

Recipe: Caramel Apple Upside down Cake



This was my first tricky cake ....also I guess this is becoming a bit of an amateur food blog.

Cake mix:
110g butter
110g sugar
110g flour
2 eggs beaten

Apple base:
30g butter
30g sugar
2 apples
1/2 tsp cinnamon

What you need to do:
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade.
-Grease your cake tin, peel and core the apples line the base of the tin with them and sprinkle cinnamon on them.
-Cream together the butter and sugar.
-Add flour and the beaten eggs.
- For the caramel part, heat butter in a non-stick pan.
-When the butter begins to melt add the sugar to the pan.
-Pour the caramel sauce onto the apple base, then add the cake mixture on top of this.
-Cook for 15-20 minutes or until golden.
- To remove the cake from the tin, wait for the caramel to cool a bit maybe 10 mins then get a dish with hot water put your cake tin in this and a knife round the edge. Put a plate on top and flip. If some of the caramel is stuck or if there is not enough make another batch of caramel and pour on.

(I've adjusted the cooking time from the original recipe by Phil Vickery a professional chef, due to my cake coming out half cooked, he suggested 10-12 minutes)

Monday 23 January 2012

Fitness



So this is the workout I did this morning, I can tell you it absolutely killed me. I can tell you lovelies now that I have never sweated from working out, apart from when I was 14 and we had to do P.E. compulsory. I usually do yoga, pilates and about 200 sit ups a day, so to get the rest of my body working I thought this would be good even though it included dreaded running, which I ran on the spot.

The jumping jacks killed me due to not having a sports bra, but I managed just like we used to in school. The crunches didn't bother me as I usually do them and the squats didn't bother me since I've included them in workouts before. The leg lifts were a little difficult as I was trying to keep my balance and then running for 10 minutes was the killer, I went in thinking okay 10 minutes not that long, after 5 minutes I was flagging, my boyfriend kept me motivated by counting down the clock but still by the end of it I was sweating which is what a good workout should do.

I eat healthy anyway so this isn't a problem but I have been avoiding temptations such as chocolate as its what my boyfriend always eats in front of me. But tonight since its chinese new year we're having a chinese takeaway to celebrate, I will try to pick the healthiest dish and avoid fried things apart from spring rolls I love them but we'll see what other starters they have. I also do a lot of cleaning round the house so that's helping me lose weight without realising, I don't use scales but last time I did which was just after christmas/new year I was 158lbs /71 kg when I used to be 145lbs/66Kg, I usually get my weight checked when I do my contraception and the next time that will be is February so we will see if my effort has paid off.

Anyway have to go, I have to start writing my dissertation whilst my boyfriend is out so I've got no distractions.

Ciao xx

Thursday 19 January 2012

Recipe: Mexican Lasagne

I didn't mean for this to start becoming a food blog, but it seems it has with all these recipes, I have some stuff to review though as I received my giveaway winnings from Evey chua. Anyway on with the recipe.
This came about because one my boyfriend always took more of the filling for fajitas than me so I'd end up with more bread than the healthy stuff, so to stop this mexican lasagne.

Mexican lasagne

You will need:

-Tortillas (we used about 6 but we have a small tray)
-Kidney beans
-Chicken (about 4 medium size pieces)
-Chopped tomatoes (canned)
-1 bell pepper
-1 onion
-Tex mex seasoning
-Cajun seasoning
-Herbs
- Salt and pepper to taste
-Cheese

First you cook like you would fajitas, brown bitesized pieces of the chicken with chopped onion and pepper.
When brown add seasoning, I guess for this part but a tablespoon of each should do it.
Next add kidney beans and chopped tomatoes and herbs. Stir through until everything is coated nicely.
Then get out your baking pan, layer two tortillas on the bottom then add the chicken mixture and then add two more tortillas layer with cheese and then add more chicken mixture.
Continue this until you've run out of ingredients.
Then bake in the oven for 30 mins or until baked through, if the cheese on top browns too quickly cover with foil.


Friday 13 January 2012

B.B Cream


So I thought I'd post a little review of this BB cream I brought over Christmas, one reason I got it is because I'm so pale I can never really get a moisturiser to match and the other was because I'd heard good things about it.
It comes in two colours light and medium, I obviously went for light but was a bit worried because when I used the tester it seemed a bit dark still. However when I used it, it matched my skin tone very well probably because its more like a tinted moisturiser than a foundation.

Texture: The texture at first felt like it would be heavier than foundation but as soon as I started applying it, it felt light on my skin, as there is one thing I hate is feeling my make up on me.
Smell: I actually really love the smell of this is smells like apricots which is great as most things for your face smell like chemicals or just plain disgusting but I don't mind wearing this as it smells really nice.
Application: The application of this product is really easy I use it like a moisturiser which technically it is as well as providing protection against UVA rays its has a SPF 15 in it. Coverage is quite good, but it will need to be reapplied throughout the day. Also just a little side note if you have acne or other skin conditions it doesn't seem to cover these, I had a spot on my chin and it basically pointed out to everyone as it lightens as well.
Overall: I would buy this product again definitely I don't know what it compares like against its asian counterparts but as an international product its pretty good. I get good coverage and it lightens and matches my skin tone.

Recipe: Apple Pie

So since I'm trying to shed this stone I have gained, which is about 6kg, and more I've decided no chocolate and make healthier choices. So my boyfriend the other day asked me to make apple pie now with no custard or ice cream it should be fine if I have a small slice, plus it has fruit in it which makes it healthy right? Well apart from the pastry which is mostly butter (-_-').

So for this kind of healthy pie you will need:
Pastry (if you can't make your own or are short for time buy ready-made shortcrust)
-225g butter at room temperature
-50g sugar
-2 eggs
-350g flour

Filling
-1kg apples
-140g sugar
-1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

To make:
-Mix the butter and sugar with your hands (it can get a little messy), break in the eggs and stir with a spoon. Now add the flour slowly with a wooden spoon, begin to clump it up with your hands to make a dough ball, then refrigerate for 45 mins (I left mine overnight).
-Peel and slice the apples so they're in small chunks.
-After pastry has been chilled, heat the oven to 190c/170c fan or 350F if your oven is like that. Mix 140g sugar with the cinnamon and then coat the apples in this mixture . Cut a third of the pastry, then roll the rest out and line a pie tin thats 20-22cm and 4 cm deep, I used a cake tin it was fine, Put the apple mixture into the pastry lined tin.
-Make the Pastry lid with the third of pastry you cut off earlier. Seal the edges you can make a fancy crust pattern using a fork if you would like. Make five little slashes on the top so steam can escape. Bake for 40-45 mins until golden and then let sit for 5-10 mins to cool a little bit.

Can be served hot or cold.




In other news I've received some eyelashes I ordered unfortunately they don't come with glue and My friend Ivana received her Christmas package and she liked it. And I finally got paid from my Christmas job and have been looking for a new one.

Sunday 8 January 2012

Holidays

These are the cupcakes my mum got me for Christmas in lemon,vanilla and chocolate.
This quiche I baked for my nan as a Christmas present it was spinach and feta, I was really impressed and will be making quiche more often.
Package off my friend Ivana from Prague. There is a cat hand warmer with lavender, Caramel tea which is slightly bitter and beer hair balm which I haven't tried out yet.

This was our family Christmas tree.

For the holidays I didn't do much since I was working at the bar and on top of that we were redecorating my room. For Christmas day I went to my nan's for dinner as my mum was on holiday but I was working boxing day so I couldn't drink too much so I just ate a lot. For New years I went to visit my boyfriend in reading and did a little shopping I got underwear, some much needed jeans and a new satchel style bag as mine was broken. We went to lunch at wagamama's where I discovered my boyfriend had never used chopsticks before so he tried using them to eat gyoza and a bowl of ramen, he managed it luckily and he's getting better at trying new things which I appreciate. He came to visit mine for a few days as well and met my mum I think it went well and we went to Nando's. I think I can understand why I've put on a stone over the holidays which I will work off. From now on its healthy eating and trying to lose weight and hopefully by the end of this year me and my boyfriend will have a flat to move into, we have to start looking this semester. Also speaking of moving I have changed rooms to the smaller room in my house which is £90 a month cheaper and amazingly all my things fit into it so finances should be better although I still need to get onto student finance about that. Also a little surprise over the holidays I won eveychuas giveaway so I look forward to receiving that in the post.

Ciao xx