Thursday 27 February 2014

Cook With Me #2: Tandoori Chicken



A few weeks I posted my Garlic Potato Bake recipe, which is here if you'd like to see it. That post was really well received and I got some lovely comments and tweets about it, so I decided that I'd post another recipe today!

I love Indian food, and always order Tandoori Chicken it's my favourite! I've also been making it myself at home for years and it's really simple to make and has become one of my favourite things to make. You'll find that with any recipe I post, they're really easy but really tasty! I'm all about things being as easy as possible!

Ingredients

2-3 Chicken Breast Fillets (This serves 2 people if you dice your chicken, 3 if you keep the fillets whole)
Natural Yogurt
1 Lemon
Tandoori Powder
Parsley

Preparation

- Put half of your pot of natural yogurt into a mixing bowl, along with half the lemon squeezed, chopped parsley - which I forgot to buy when I was making this! So I didn't use it this time. Also if you don't like parsley its just as nice without it! Add as much Tandoori powder as you like. I do this by eye, adding a little powder at a time until the colour of the mixture is a medium orange colour it usually takes about 3 generously heaped dessert spoons to get it to where I like it to be, but you can put in as much or as little as you like! Mix everything together and make sure that there is no powder left in the marinade.

- This time around I diced my chicken breasts into large chunks, but you can leave your fillets whole if you prefer it works the same way. Once you have your chicken ready throw it into the marinade that you just made and mix it well, making sure that it is thoroughly coated in the marinade. 

- Cover with clingfilm and place in the fridge to marinate, preferably overnight or for at least 1-2 hours before you cook it.

- Put the chicken and any remaining marinade into a baking dish lined with tin foil (you don't have to do this but I find it stops anything sticking) bake in a pre-heated oven at 180 - 200 degrees depending on your oven type for 30 mins. After 15 mins check the chicken and pour off any liquid in the dish. after 30 minsn your chicken should be cooked, but if you need to give it more time keep a close eye on it.

I serve Tandoori Chicken a few different ways. It's great with rice or with potato wedges and salad/veg. It's also lovely stuffed into Pitta Bread with lettuce and tomatoes - which is also a great way to use up any leftovers!

I'd love to hear what you think if you try this! Also if you make this yourself is there anything you do differently? 

If you'd like to see more recipe posts let me know, I love food and like sharing recipes so if it's something you would like me to keep posting let me know!






Friday 14 February 2014

Secret Valentine Beauty Box Swap





You might have seen me mention a few times that a while back I signed up to take part in a Secret Valentine swap that was set up by Victoria from Vickie Blogs and Laura from Tease Flutter Pout, if you're not familiar with their blogs check them out, they're two lovely girls and they both have really great blogs that are well worth a read!


For the swap, we were all assigned someone to buy for. We were each given all of our person's links to find out more about them and put together a box for them based on what we thought they would like and the swap is also Valentine's themed which I thought was lovely as it gave us a chance to throw in a few nice extra bits for our person! The idea of the swap is also to keep our identity a secret from the person we were buying for - which makes things even more fun! I loved putting a box together for the blogger I was assigned and I really can't wait to see what she thinks about it!

It was also great to receive my Secret Valentine's box! It arrived nearly 3 weeks ago and I decided that I wasn't going to open it until Valentine's day - which is today! It's been so difficult to not tear into the package and it has been teasing me so much!

My Secret Valentine wrapped the whole box in wrapping paper with hearts on it which was such a nice touch! It did however make it even harder to not tear into it! 


So this morning when I woke up I immediately grabbed the package and ripped it open! I have to say that I am so happy with everything in the box! My Secret Valentine has done a fantastic job and I'm so happy with everything, also the card is just so cute and perfect, even down to the message on the inside where they mentioned knowing that I have springer spaniels! Which made me think the sender did their homework, or that I may have had a conversation with them about my dogs because I remember talking to a few people on twitter about my dogs - either way that's some really good detective work! I also really liked the little heart shaped chocolates that were in the box too - they were really good! :) 

Let's have a look at what my lovely Secret Valentine sent me!



I couldn't be happier with what I was sent! In my box I received 2 Skin Wisdom face masks one is a peel off smoothing and brightening mask and the other a thermal mask. This is a brand that I'm not familiar with and also this couldn't be better timing to be given face masks as my skin has gone crazy, so I'm excited to try those!

I also got two soaps in my box and they're both lovely there's a heart shaped one from the body shop it doesn't say what the scent is but to me it smells of honey - I could be wrong! The other is A Dr.Bronner Hemp Rose Soap. It's fair trade and has organic oils, it smells fantastic and I'm looking forward to trying it out!

I also got a mini soap and glory Clean On Me Shower gel which I've been wanting to try forever but never wanted to purchase the full size in case I didn't like it so this is so great that its included!

There was a Vivo Colourwash Lipgloss in the shade Raring to go which is a lovely sheer watermelon shade of gloss. There were also 2 lip balms in my box one is a Honey balm which has really cute floral packaging with a bunny embossed on the lid. The other is an amazing smelling chocolate lip butter from The Bubbles & Butters company - it smells exactly like chocolate and I cant stop smelling it!

There was a mini L'Occitane foot cream and a really cute pair of socks with hearts on them, they're really soft and I cant wait to put them on - I love socks! ha ha

My final 2 items that I received are a Hello Kitty Magic flannel. I'm guessing that when you put it into water that it expands into a face cloth! I love little things like that and it was a really nice thing to include!

The last thing I got is my favourite out of everything I received! It's the Barry M Smokin' Hot Shadow & Blush Palette! I had my eye on these when they came out first but unfortunately my local boots doesn't stock them they only stock Barry M Nail polishes, so I was super happy to see this palette in my package! There's 6 shadows and a blush in the palette and it looks so lovely, cant wait to play around with it over the next few days!

I'm delighted with everything that I received and my Secret Valentine did such a good job putting it all together! I have lots of new stuff to try and not to mention most of what I received is from brands that I'm not familiar with so it's great to get to try new things! Thanks so much to my Secret Valentine! You did a fantastic job and your card and gifts put a big smile on my face today! :)

I'm so happy that I took part in this swap and I'm looking forward to reading everyone else's posts! If I get the chance to take part in something like this again I will, it has been so much fun!

Before I go I want to wish you all a Happy Valentines Day! Hope you're all being spoilt and having a great day! 


  













Wednesday 12 February 2014

Seventeen Super Lash Liner

Seventeen Super Lash Liner

On a recent trip to Boots to buy a new mascara I saw a deal on Seventeen's new Super Lash Mascara where you get the Super Lash Liner for free when you buy it! So I picked up both the mascara and the liner for €5! 

I haven't used the mascara yet as i'm waiting for my current one to run out before I open it, but I have to say that i've been really enjoying the liner!

The Super Lash liner is a liquid liner in felt tip form - but with a difference! Instead of being a regular pointed felt tip, it's angled, which for me has made it easier to get closer to my lashes and also makes it easier to do flicks and cat eyes especially if like me you don't have the steadiest hand!

The shape may make application easier, but the liner itself is lovely. It's a nice deep black shade and the lasting power is impressive, it dosent budge but also removes easily enough when you want it to. It dosent fade or transfer throughout the day which is great if you have oily lids like I do! 

Overall I think this is a great liner, but I think you can only buy it with the mascara at the moment and not on its own. If you dont need to pick up a new mascara and just want the liner I have noticed that Rinmel and Bourjois have the same kind of liners out with the angled felt tip so there is plenty of choice out there until you can buy this without the offer!

Have you tried this or a similar liner? I'd love to hear your thoughts on it!

Sunday 9 February 2014

Loves Of Late #1


Hello and happy Sunday!

I find Sundays are the best days for me to write posts, it's the one day of the week where I don't leave the house as a rule so its perfect for catching up on writing posts, reading my favourite blogs, eating lots of food and spending too much time on twitter! 

I've never done a favourites post before. I know the usual thing to do is a monthly favourites post, but sometimes my favourite things don't change that often in terms of beauty products so instead of writing a post at the end of each month that would most likely have several repeats of things in the previous month's post, I've decided to do it my own way - like I do with everything else!

So this is my first Loves Of Late post! A sort of non-committal favourites post that I'm going to post whenever I feel like posting it. It'll have not only beauty related favourites, but also whatever else I'm liking at the time, be that food, clothes, a TV show or a blog I've been liking lately - it could have anything in it! 

Beauty 


Ive fallen in love with my Real Techniques Duo Fiber Collection (review here) over the past month. There just isn't a better set of duo fiber brushes out there than these at a reasonable price! They are just the softest, loveliest brushes ever and I can't say enough good things about them and it seems that Real Techniques can do no wrong!

I bought Sigma's Dry 'n' Shape last summer and I used it and really liked it, but in all the madness of the 3 moves I've done over the last year it got lost. I recently found it and realised how awesome it really is! It reshapes and dries your brushes so much faster and I'm making sure it never gets misplaced again!



I own 3 Inglot Shadows that have never gotten much love because I have other palettes that always took preference over them, but I've pulled them out a ton the last week and have to say I love them so much! They're buttery soft and blend like a dream, I'm planning on filling up my Z palette with more Inglot shadows so when I do expect a post on them!



I went into Boots recently to pick up a new mascara because my favourite L'ancome Hypnose Doll Eyes is close to running out - I will cry when it does! I wanted to try something new and not hugely expensive, so I was drawn to the Seventeen stand and picked up their new Superlash mascara which I haven't even opened yet, but I got a free Superlash liner with it and I have been loving the liner so much! I'll be doing a post this week hopefully, but to give you  quick run down it's a felt tip pen liquid liner but the nib is angled instead of the regular tip and it makes doing flicks so much easier! Lasting time is pretty good too!

Food

I've been eating so badly lately! I have been trying so hard to stop drinking Coke, and drink more water and basically just anything but Coke, but I've been so bad and am now hooked on the stuff again all my hard work is ruined!

I've also been eating anything that has the slightest bit of garlic in it. I've made the Garlic Potato Bake Recipe I posted about earlier this week (see it here here) twice this week. Also I've been obsessed with making my Cheesy Garlic Bread too this week, its so nice for lunch or as a side to pretty much anything, so I might do a recipe post on that soon seeing as my other one was so well received!

TV

I have been catching up on the TV shows that I've missed due to moving and being busy. Mainly The Vampire Diaries and The Originals, I have to say that I think I'm starting to prefer The Originals over The Vampire Diaries. I think it's because there's more action in The Originals and there's no ridiculous Elena/Stefan/Damon love triangle. It's just getting annoying now! Apart from that I do still love The Vampire Diaries though!

I started watching Awkward this week, and I'm now nearly caught up with all of it. I love it so much and I'm well and truly hooked! I thought I was in favour of Jenna and Matty but then Collin came into it - he's amazing! I don't know who I like more! ha ha!

Music 

I've recently only been able to really listen to music again because honestly it was just pissing me off, I don't know if that's normal - I'm guessing not! ha ha! But I've been back on my One Direction kick and can't stop listening to them again, I'm pretty sure I have my housemate driven mad at this stage. If I'm not playing them I'm going around singing the songs!

 Apart from 1D, I'm so in love with Stay The Night by Zedd & Hayley Williams. I'm a MASSIVE Paramore and Hayley Williams fan, but it took a while for this song to grow on me, but now that it has I absolutely love it and can't get it out of my head or stop playing it! If you haven't heard it yet - you need to! But I'm sure you all have heard it and haven't been living under a rock like I have for months! ha ha!



And that's pretty much it! I think I prefer this way of posting favourites. For me, it's overwhelming when there's a ton of monthly favourites posts all at the one time and you can only read so many of them at once before you don't want to read them anymore! Plus I also like seeing more in favourites posts than just products! 

Don't get me wrong I like seeing beauty favourites but seeing what other things a blogger is into at the moment gives you a sense of who they are, and I always like to know a bit more about the people who write the blogs I'm reading!

What are your Loves Of Late? Be it a favourite beauty product or anything else I'd love to know what it is, leave a comment and let me know! You can also find me on twitter here, I do love a chat on Twitter, so don't be afraid to come and say hi! 



Monday 3 February 2014

Cook With Me #1 : Garlic Potato Bake


Garlic Potato Bake with Herby Bacon Wrapped Chicken Breast & Corn on the cob


So I thought I'd do a bit of a different post than usual. I've been meaning to post some recipes on here for a while now, and now that I'm back in my own place and have free reign of the kitchen again I thought that there was no time like the present!

So yesterday (which is today really but this won't be going up until tomorrow ha ha!) I decided to make my Garlic Potato Bake. There's a bit of a story behind this recipe actually which is a bit too funny not to share!

So basically when I was 15, I did Home-economics in school for my Junior Cert and part of the course for Home-Ec was a cooking practical. This is the recipe I came up with for the exam. We practised it for weeks getting it the way we wanted so that it would be a breeze on exam day and we wouldn't have to even think about what we had to do. So that's what I did, I practised it in school and at home for months and it was perfect every time and everyone who ate it loved it so I was pretty confident and not worried at all for my exam.

Exam day came around and I was doing really well, everything was going great - until my pan caught on fire!! I'm talking massive flames here, not just little ones. It was the most embarrassing moment of my life! Thankfully no one was hurt and the only thing damaged was the pan and I had to start over again but thankfully - no more fires! And I still came out of the exam with an A! ha ha! 

Ingredients

5-6 medium potatoes
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
3-4 slices of bacon (I use smoked but normal is fine too)
250ml Double Cream
Grated cheese (any is fine but a mix or red cheddar and mozzarella is what I use)

Preparation

- Wash, peel and par boil your potatoes for 5- 10 mins depending on size.

- Chop your onion and crush/grate the garlic and fry together in a pan for 2 mins. 

- Add bacon into the onion and garlic and fry until cooked.

- Once your potatoes are done drain and leave too cool so you don't burn your fingers when slicing them!

- Once you have sliced your potatoes and your onion, garlic and bacon is ready, you can start layering them in a baking dish. I do a layer of potatoes on the bottom, then place half of the onion and bacon mixture on top. Then I add another layer of sliced potatoes followed by the rest of the mix on top.

- Next pour your double cream over the entire tray. Then Sprinkle some cheese over the top (or if like me you love cheese drown it in it!) 

- Bake in an oven at 180 degrees for 30 mins. Check it after 30 mins by poking a knife into the potatoes to see if they're cooked through, if not cook for another 15 mins, you may need extra time depending on how thick you sliced them etc.

This Potato Bake is great just as a meal on it's own, with a nice salad on the side. Also it goes well with pretty much everything especially chicken! It also reheats well and is one of those things that tastes better the next day! It can be put together the night before or a few hours before you want to cook it too so it's great if you're going to be short of time!

My family have always loved this recipe and they always ask for it especially my sisters when they come over to visit and my dad always gets me to make it for family parties and I've never had anything but compliments from people who've tried it! 

If you make this I hope you enjoy it, and let me know if you tweaked it in some way to make it better! Also let me know if you'd like to see more recipes on my blog! Always love to hear what you all think about what I'm posting!

Hope you've had a great Monday!




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