Thursday 31 March 2016

Easter Baking - Chocolate Tarts with MaltEaster Bunnies


 Hello Everybody!! Happy Easter!!

I hope you all had a lovely Easter, filled with Chocolate, Family and Fun! I ideally wanted to have this post up by Saturday so that you all could try these little beauties out but unfortunately once again my internet has failed me so now this is more of a ‘look what I made for Easter’ post.  Nevertheless, they are still super cute and you can still attempt to make them now or next Easter for that matter.

LOOK HOW CUTE THEY ARE!!!! 

As for ingredients and utensils, you will need:

Ingredients:
200g Plain Chocolate biscuits
80g Butter, melted
150g Dark Chocolate
60ml Cream
75g Butter, extra, chopped
1 Egg
2 Egg Yolks
2 tbls Caster Sugar
80g Maltesers
6 MaltEaster Bunnies
Utensils:
6 2cm deep, 8cm Tart Pans (I used muffin tins)
Food Processor
Measuring Jug
Saucepan
Electric Mixer
Multiple mixing bowls
Measuring spoons/cups 


For the method you will first need to preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease the tart pans/muffin tray.  Process the biscuits in a food processor to make fine crumbs, add the melted butter and continue processing until just combined.  Press this mixture into the base and sides of the prepared pans and place in the fridge to chill.  Next combine the chocolate, cream and chopped butter in a medium saucepan over low heat and stir for two to three minutes or until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth.  Using you electric mixer, beat the egg, egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until thick and creamy.  Gradually beat in the chocolate mixture until combined.  Pour this mixture into your prepared tart shells.  Bake these for ten to twelve minutes or until filling is just set.  Set aside in pas for 30mins to cool, place in fridge for 2 hours to chill or until firm.  Decorate the tarts with maltesers and your malteaster bunnies and whatever else you want to use such as coconut? or marshmallows?
I promise this is super easy! 


And look how great they turned out! And they tasted amazing! They were so sweet but the chocolate mixture on the inside of the biscuity outside was so delicious and the perfect texture! I had so much fun making these and they were super quick and simple, even the least experienced person in the kitchen can perfect these! I feel like I definitely could have made these cuter, had I put more effort in and had the tart pans instead of muffin trays I feel like they could have been even cuter! Is that even possible though? These would be good for any Easter function you may be attending or even if you just want to pig out on chocolate while baking! I am very sorry this went up after Easter and I hope you all had a wonderful time!! 

Until Next Time

BrittanieDe-Ann xoxo

Tuesday 29 March 2016

‘What’s for dinner?’ - Lentil Bolognese

 Hey guys, 

So as I have mentioned on Instagram my internet has been down since Sunday last week which is super annoying because I haven’t had a chance to post any of my blogs and I had no warning so I couldn’t post them before I lost the internet.  Hopefully it will be back on by Tuesday and if it’s not I’m going to be one angry blogger.  Anyhoo, I am currently borrowing some internet so let’s get on with this post! 


Today I will be sharing with you another meal review in my ‘What’s for Dinner’ segment and I’m super excited for it! Last week I cooked up a delicious Lentil Bolognese from this Vegetarian CookBook and I have to say it has become one of my favourite meals! It was so simple as Bolognese usually is and had minimal ingredients so it wasn’t super expensive! This recipe serves four and only takes maximum an hour to prepare and make so is definitely suitable as an everyday sort of dinner. 


As for the ingredients, you will need
175g green lentils (I used Brown Lentils)

2tbls olive oil 
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 carrots, chopped
2 celery sticks, chopped
800g canned chopped tomatoes
150ml vegetable stock
1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
2tbls tomato puree
2tsp very finely chopped fresh rosemary
1tsp dried oregano
280g dried spaghetti
Handful of basil leaves torn
Salt and pepper
Freshly grated parmesan cheese to serve


To be completely honest this is a meal that you would most definitely have a majority of the ingredients in your fridge and pantry.  I would have to say, I probably bought about 2 items for this meal and they were the tomato puree and the spaghetti, the remaining I had in the cupboard already.  However, if I had to calculate how much it would cost to buy the entirety of the ingredients I would have to estimate at under $40AUD; so definitely a cheap meal considering it makes enough for four.

 As for the method; if you are working with uncooked lentils you will want to put these into a saucepan and cover them with cold water.  Bring this to the boil and simmer for 20-30mins until they are just tender.  I recommend you use tinned lentils as they are quicker and if you rinse them and soak them before use they are just as good as packaged lentils.  Next you’ll want to heat the oil in a large frypan, add the onion, garlic, carrots and celery. Cover and cook over a low heat for five minutes.  Stir in the tomatoes, stock, capsicum, tomato puree, oregano and rosemary. Cover and let simmer for a further twenty minutes until the sauce has thickened and the vegetables are tender.  Add the lentils and cook, stirring, for approximately five minutes, season with salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, while the sauce is cooking, bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil, add the spaghetti and bring back to the boil and cook for ten minutes or until tender.  Drain well and divide the spaghetti between bowls and spoon the sauce over the top.  Scatter the basil leaves and Parmesan over the top and you are ready to serve you delicious meal. 


As I have said, I absolutely love this meal, for me it’s quick, simple and affordable! It ticks all the right boxes and I have added to my everyday dinner meals.  The great thing about this meal is it can be tweaked in so many ways, I added mushrooms in this particular meal but so many other things can be changed to give different flavours! I love that if you don’t have one vegetable you can replace it with another or add more to the existing recipe for extra goodness! There are just so many things you can do with this that makes it even better! I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a simple, quick meal, if you are on a budget too, this would be great.  I also love the fact that even while eating a vegetarian diet, I can still have my favourite meal!

Anyway guys, I hope you enjoyed this post! If you try this one out be sure to let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear what you think! I’m sorry this is so late, hopefully my internet will be on very soon and my posting will be back to normal! Also I was thinking of filming my first ever YouTube video and I was wondering what type of videos you would like to see? If you have any suggestions, please leave them in the comments below as I don’t know what to start with!!

Until Next Time
BrittanieDe-Ann xoxo


Saturday 19 March 2016

Too Faced - Chocolate Bon Bons Palette Review

 Hello Everybody!!

How are you all?? I hope you all had a fantastic day or are about to have a fantastic day depending in where in the world you are!  It honestly amazes me that I have people from all over the world reading this little blog, its incredible! Thank you all so much! I'd love for any of you who have your own blog to leave a link in the comments so I can check them out? Anyhoo, let's begin shall we.. I have been dying to review the Chocolate Bon Bons Palette, so here it is! 


About a month ago I was browsing through the Mecca Maxima website and found that this little gem had come back into stock and after purchasing the Chocolate Bar palette just a week before I knew I had to get my hands on this one, so on impulse I splurged and bought it.  Oops.. I honestly do not regret it at all, the one thing that will always stop me from spending too much is the cost of shipping and since the shipping was free for this one naturally I jumped at the chance.  I'm not gonna lie, this Palette it $78AUD however for the quality it is absolutely, 100% worth it.  The packaging, as you can see is super cute, not to mention it smells divine! I have to hand it to Too Faced, they certainly know how to make a product look gorgeous.  I haven't found a product of theirs yet that I didn't think was adorable!   As for he pigmentation, I'm slightly disappointed with a few of the shades, mainly the lighter pink shades.  I had higher expectations for them however I haven't tried them with a damp brush or something of the like.  I do find at the moment though, that it is really difficult to get much colour pay off when using a shade like Sprinkles, which is totally understandable, I feel as though it is a really subtle colour and in the right situation would really pull a look together.  However this palette is still amazing, shades like Dark Truffle and Bordeaux give off amazing colour pigmentation and I love to use them to deepen a look and really darken the outer corner! I really do think there is a wonderful mix of light and dark shades which makes for a great palette.

Left to Right
Dark Truffle, Pecan Praline, Totally Fetch, Earl Grey, Divinity

Left to Right
Cashew Chew, Cotton Candy, Cafe Au Lait, Bordeaux, Mocha, Black Currant

Left to Right
Almond Truffle, Satin Sheets, Sprinkles, Molasses Chip, Malted
As for the shades, I love the selection this palette has.  It ranges from real natural browns to gorgeous baby pinks, with a few more bolder shades thrown in such as Cafe Au Lait.  This palette definitely has a lot more shimmer shades than matte however for me that is perfect! I love me some shimmer! However I feel that even though there are only about four fully matte shades in the entire palette, the colours themselves are the perfect and I honestly wouldn't want any more matte shades in the palette.  If I had to choose a favourite three shades, I would have to pick; Satin Sheets, Molasses Chip and Dark Truffle! I honestly use these three shades on my eyes almost everyday! They give such a beautiful dark yet more of a natural look without being to bold and I would wear it non stop if I could!  


The above look I created using the shades, Satin Sheets, Almond Truffle, Molasses Chip and Bordeaux, I feel like I could have gone a little heavier with Bordeaux and really darkened up the outer corner! If you would like to see how I achieved the above look, let me know in the comments and I'll post a 'tutorial' or, if you'd like to see me attempt to use any other shades in a look let me know! I really can't wait to experiment further with this palette! 
Anyway guys, I'm going to leave it there, if you have any questions about the palette itself or any recommendation for me to try out I'd love to hear them! 

Until Next Time
BrittanieDe-Ann xoxo

Monday 14 March 2016

Skin Yoga - First Impression

Hey guys,

How are you all doing today? Today, I have a few first impressions for you, I was going to review these products but I figured that because I only had enough of each product two use maybe twice I didn't have enough to give you a good review so I opted for a first impressions instead.  
About a month ago now I received two sample products from SkinYoga in my Lust Have It Box and have been dying to try them ever since.  So today I finally got to sit down and try them out! I posted an Unboxing for that box here if you'd like to find out more about it! SkinYoga is a 100% natural skin care brand from India, which made me even more excited to try it! 


The two products that I received samples for were the Orange and Almond face scrub and the Sandalwood and Saffron Face Mask.  As usual, today after work I came home, had a shower and cleansed my face making sure that all my make up was removed before I applied either of these products.


I'll start with the Almond and Orange Face scrub, because naturally that's what I used first in the routine.  The instructions say to place a spoon full of the face scrub in your palm and activate the ingredients with water, for the purpose of the photo I placed it in a bowl.  I added enough water to make it to the same consistency that I would assume and face scrub should be, making sure not to add too much water.  I didn't want the product running off my face, obviously.  At first glance the packaging for this product is super cute and even looks natural.  Once mixed with water the consistency reminds me of a sort of nutty porridge, however it weirdly smelt like herbs to me, that could have been the almonds though.  To my surprise, it didn't smell of orange at all.  When its all mixed together the instructions then say to place on the face and scrub in circular motions for 2-3 minutes then rinse.  I found this face scrub to be very exfoliating as I assume it should be. When I was finished scrubbing, I left it sit for probably another minute and found that it hardens of your face into some sort of a face mask which is nice I guess it then gives you two options.  This product costs $25.13AUD for a full size bottle, it's recommended for all skin types which is another bonus and if you are all for natural products this could be the one for you! 


Moving onto the Sandalwood and Saffron Face Mask, once again the first few instructions were the same as the face scrub.  Place a spoonful in your palm and add water to activate the ingredients.  I probably added a little less water to this then the face scrub purely because I wanted it to hold a little better to my face as it is a mask. This products definitely smells of Sandalwood, it has a very woody smell.  Once applied to the face it gives a very fresh feel to the skin and as with most face masks it irritated one of my sore pimples for a split second.  I left this on my skin for a good 5 minutes as directed by the instructions. Once I removed the mask I realised that it had left my skin feeling really oily which I later found out is because this products is actually for dry skin and I have combination to oily skin, so it probably isn't a very good choice for me but for anyone with dry skin I feel like it would be super hydrating and most likely leave the skin feeling smooth and soft.  A bottle of this full size comes to $29.83AUD which is quite pricey and I'm really annoyed that I can't give you a better indication of whether it would be a good buy or not.

All in all, I probably wouldn't purchase them, when I first saw them, I honestly thought I would buy them in a heart beat but after using them I don't think they would be convenient for me.  I like to have quite a fast paced routine and these are quite fiddly, I mean they aren't awful at all and if you really wanted something that was 100% natural I would highly recommend these but for the price and lack of convenience personally I would not purchase them.  They are super cute though and I do wish I could have given you a better review on how they made my skin feel after a few days but I just don't have enough to do that sort of review.  

Anyway guys, I'm gonna leave it there.  Let me know if you have ever used any SkinYoga products before and your thoughts on them! I'd love to hear them! I'd once again like to thank you all for 6000views!! I can't believe there are so many of you reading! I'd love for you to say hi next time you stop by, maybe tell me where you are from? 

Until Next Time
BrittanieDe-Ann xoxo 


Saturday 12 March 2016

'Lust Have It' Unboxing - February

Hello Everybody!!

About a week ago I received my February Lust Have It subscription box in the mail and I'm so excited to share with you what I got and my thoughts on each item! Firstly I want to say that in this box I got seven products, four of which were sample size, but guys... Seven new products to try for only $20AUD... It's amazing! I am so happy with Lust Have It so far! Also I just want you to know that I also signed up for Bella Box so there will be an Unboxing for that after I receive my March box, how exciting!! 


Once again, in this box there were a few brands I hadn't heard of but also there were a few that I had which I was super excited about!  Firstly we'll cover the products. I received the Be a Bombshell mascara (full size), a Lanolips Everyday Hand Balm (full size), a Mellow Cosmetics Blush in the shade pink (full size), The Body Shop Oils of Life Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil (sample), The Body Shop Vitamin E Moisture Cream (sample), The Body Shop Italian Summer Fig Eau De Toilette and A Garnier Fructis Full and Lucious Shampoo and Conditioner (sample). 


Okay, so first I'm going to talk about the most exciting thing for me in this box and that was the three Body Shop products I received! When I received the email to say that February's box was going to have a BodyShop product in it I never even thought it would have three.  Even though they are all sample sizes I was super happy to find them in the box.  I have been wanting to try the Oils of Life for a good few weeks but I didn't want to go out and spend a fortune for something that I had never tried before and I hadn't had a chance to get a sample yet.  So when I opened the bag and saw the little sample bottle I was over the moon.  If you didn't know the full size 30ml bottle retails for $54.95 and I was lucky enough to receive a 7ml sample bottle and I have been testing that over the past few nights so I'll definitely let you know how that goes! Next is the little sample of Vitamin E Cream which again I was super stoked about.  I've been wanting a new moisturizer from BodyShop for a while now and this couldn't have come at a better time.  I haven't yet tried and but as soon as I do I'll let you know how it makes my skin feel.  I might even do a review for these few products.  The Vitamin E cream full size retails at $24.95 which is an average price for a great moisturiser and I honestly would not have a problem with paying that price.  Lastly from BodyShop I received a sample size of their Italian Fig Eau De Toilette and it smells so super fresh! I love it and am thinking of buying the full bottle once I visit The BodyShop next.  This perfume retails at $36.95 for a full size 50ml bottle which is actually really good value and I wouldn't hesitate to buy it at all! As you can tell I am highly impressed with these products and can't wait to see results!


Next we have the two makeup products that arrived in the box and they were the Mellow blush in the shade Pink and the Be a Bombshell mascara. Now these are both full size and I couldn't be happier with these items, I love myself a good blush and mascara. 
I hadn't heard of Mellow Cosmetics before so I did a little research and found out that they are actually a New Zealand company who are Cruelty free, Vegan and Paraben free and that couldn't make me happier.  I love it when brands promote that they are against animal cruelty like we all should be!  Anyhoo, the blush is a powder blush and is absolutely gorgeous, the colour is so subtle and I just can't get over how pretty it is on the skin.  This blush retails at $14 and I think that is a great buy!  As for the mascara, I haven't yet tried this but I have high standards for my mascaras so it has a lot to measure up to.  However the packaging is absolutely gorgeous, I did a little digging and found that this brand is actually from the USA and I would love to try out more of their products. The full size mascara retails for $21 which isn't to bad if it is a good quality mascara! 


Last but definitely not least we have the full size Lanolips Hand Balm and the Garnier Sample shampoo and conditioner.  Now I have never actually tried Garnier hair products but I'd love to try these ones purely because my hair is awfully thin and these promise to create beautifully thicker hair that you can see, feel and touch and I would love to give my hair a bit of body!  Also, these only retail at $5.95 each so they are super cheap and if they worked would definitely be worth it! As for the Hand cream I just had to try this out the day it arrived.  I love myself a good hand cream and I've always loved the smell of lanolin for some reason. Is that strange? Anyways this hand balm did not disappoint, it is so moisturising and left my hands feeling super hydrated and soft and I never want to run out of the product.  This products, surprisingly is made in Australia with no artificial fragrances, parabens, petroleum, PEG'S, mineral oil or sulfates and is not tested on animals at all which again is a huge plus! This hand balm retails for a mere $22.95 which isn't a lot to pay to look after your skin! 

Anyway my dears, I hope you all have enjoyed this post, let me know in the comments, if you receive a subscription box and which one? I'd love to here about what you guys have received! Also let me know if you want any reviews done on the products I received, I'd love to try them out and let you know how they went! I want to thank each one of you who comes onto my blog and reads it, leaves comments or just has a scroll through it! You are all wonderful and I can't thank you enough for reading my blog! It's something I really enjoy doing and I hope to continue for a while longer! Lastly, let me know in the comments if there is anything you would like to see me post about and I'll try my best to make it happen! I hope you all had a wonderful week and I'll speak to you again on Monday! 

Until Next Time 
BrittanieDe-Ann xoxo 



Monday 7 March 2016

How To Make A Candle!

Hey Guys!
Welcome back to my little slice of the internet! 
So about a month ago I bought a bunch of supplies from Aussie Candle Supplies so that I could make my own candles and last week I finally got the time to try it out! I did do a haul of everything I bought and how much it cost me, you can find that here, so go check that out if you are curious! I also promised you a tutorial/review on how to make a candle and how my attempt went so that's what I'm going to be sharing with you today!   


Firstly, we'll start of with ingredients and utensils that will need to by or sourced from somewhere.  To make a candle you will simply need - most importantly - wax, wicks, a candle jar a saucepan, a glass measuring jug, a vegetable peeler, a spoon/stirring stick (I used a chopstick), oven mits and you can also use dyes and scents if you please.  I chose to use my two scents, Autumn Harvest and Angel wings and my pink and black dye blocks.  



 To be completely honest, while making these I didn't have any measurements to go by so it was purely trial and error.  I started by filling my saucepan approximately two inches with water and waited for it to boil. Meanwhile I added about one cup of the wax flakes into the glass measuring jug and when the water was hot I placed the jug into the water and waited for the wax to melt.  As the wax was melting I continued to add wax flakes until the melted product was sitting at the one cup mark. Once the wax was completely melted I started to shave off a bit of the colouring block with a vegetable peeler and let the flakes fall into the wax, stirring with the stirring stick until I had the colour I desired.  After I was happy with the colour pigmentation I then moved onto the scent.  I was completely unsure and to be honest, I don't have an exact measurement for you with the scent.  Basically I added a few drops, then a few more until I could really smell the scent through the smell of the wax. I think for each scent it could be different, depending on the intensity of the smell.  With the Angel wings I added approximately 10-15 drops whereas with the Autumn Harvest I would have added maximum 10 drops.   




Once I had the wax to the desired smell and colour I then moved my attention to the candle jar.  I placed the wick in the bottom and stabilised it with a pen so it wouldn't fall over.  Next I took the measuring jug and poured the wax into the candle jar, making sure the wick was still upright and then let it sit until the wax was set.  I found that with the black, I didn't use enough of the colour block to give a real black colour.  Although it looked black when the wax was liquefied, once it had hardened the colour kind of diluted to a light grey as you can see in the picture below.  Therefore when I was making the pink candle, I added half a block instead of a quarter and got a really beautiful rich pink colour as you can see below also.  I do think that it completely depends on the colours themselves, as black is obviously the darkest shade I think it would take a lot more of the block to make it a real black colour whereas the pink only took half a block as its a lighter shade.  The scent, after it had cooled down didn't really change, however I will say that when they are being burnt they don't seem to really give a strong smell.  As with candles I have bought, if you leave them in a room they will soon fill that room with the scent however these candles haven't yet done that.  Although they do have a smell, if you want a very strong smell you would need to use more of the scent. It's really just preference and I think that's why I love the fact that I can now make my own candles.  I really want to go to body shop now and invest in some of there little scents in there.


Anyway guys, I really hope you have enjoyed this post! I certainly enjoyed creating the candles and can't wait to make some more! Make sure you follow me on Instagram if you would like to see any more candles that I make! I am seriously looking forward to my next crafty adventure! If you have ever made any candle, or try out this method make sure to let me know in the comments below.  If you are from Australia and want to try it out, I highly recommend you buy from Aussie Candle Supplies as they have so many products super cheap.  I think I'll leave this one here and I'll speak to you all again on Friday!

Until Next Time
BrittanieDe-Ann xoxo

Saturday 5 March 2016

February Favourites!

Hey guys!
I hope you are all having a fantastic week! Unfortunately I work every weekend so I'm not so excited that it's Friday. But I hope you guys are looking forward to the weekend!


I'm back again today with a run down of my favourite products through the month of February! I hope you're intrigued because I'm super excited to share them with you! I once again have a mixture of beauty, body and pleasure items in my favourites and although I haven't put in everything I have been loving in February I have chosen my most favourite.  I have to leave some products for the coming months right?  So lets jump straight into it!


I'll start off with my favourite beauty products of February.  All but one of these items I bought when I had my trip to Brisbane.  I did post a haul of the products I bought and you can fine that here.  However I feel like they definitely needed a mention in this post because I haven't stopped using them since I bought them. Firstly we have the Smashbox Studio Skin Foundation in the shade 1:1, this formular is just so light and blendable. I'm pretty sure its medium to full coverage, very buildable and for me definitely covers any spots I might have.  It applies super nicely to the skin and doesn't separate on my skin even though I work in a hot kitchen (I find most of my foundations do separate after two or three hours).   Next is the Two Faced Chocolate Bar Palette... Oh My Goodness, I was in heaven as soon as I opened this palette! It is so gorgeous, the shades are so perfect, there are just the right amount of shimmer to matte shades and the pigmentation is to die for.  I really love creating a real natural eye with this palette and this has been the palette I have been reaching for most lately.  The Mac Mineralised Skin Finish in the shade Soft and Gentle was also a top favourite of mine during February, I used it probably nine times out of ten when reaching for a highlighter, it's such a gorgeous shimmer with such a rich pigment that you can never go wrong with, whether you want a subtle or bold highlight.  Lastly for the makeup products I chose to add in the Lash Sensational Mascara by Maybelline which has always been a favourite of mine but I thought I would add it in because even after buying the Better than Sex mascara and the They're Real mascara I still found myself reaching for the Lash Sensational purely because I find it just works so perfectly for my lashes, lengthening them a great deal.


Next are my body/skincare products.  I say skincare because I add the 'They're Real' Remover into my skincare routine as I remove my eye makeup ans I can honestly say I have never had a makeup remover that can remove my waterproof mascara quite like this can! It is absolutely amazing, a definite must buy! And you only have to use the smallest amount so it will last you forever! Next is my Body Butter from The BodyShop, this smells absolutely amazing and when put on body after exfoliating or shaving it makes my skin feel so hydrated and soft! I don't want to run out of it.  Lastly we have the razor, and I know you might be asking 'Brittanie, why have you added a razor into your favourites?' and I know, it's a bit different but trust me.  I know most girls my age absolutely hate shaving their legs.. I know I do. So when I found this razor I was intrigued, I'd never used a different razor before, always the generic disposable ones and since I first used this one I haven't wanted to ever go back.  The razor has four blades and actually has a moisturising soap around the outsides which cuts the time of shaving my legs to less than 5mins which I absolutely love!! Definitely recommend this razor for any of you lazy ladies like me! Also I bought it from Woolworths for around $10 and it came with one extra razor head.


Last but not least we have my pleasure/relaxation items and once again we have another of the Fallen book series - Torment. I've been loving this book however I haven't been able to read as much as I would have liked to so I'm only about half way though the book. The story has only gotten better and I can't wait to get through this book and onto the next.  And as always I have to add in a TV Show that I have been loving through February and that my friends has been Agent Carter.  If you have not seen this TV Show and are into comics or the Marvel Universe or just like a good Crime/Drama/Sci-Fi you have to check this show out.  I absolutely loved the second season and I really hope they renew for a third as its just one of my all time favourite shows and watching this latest season has made me want to cosplay Peggy Carter even more.  I found myself really analysing each outfit she wore trying to figure out which one I liked best!

Anyway guys, I really do hope you enjoyed reading this post! I really enjoy putting together a group of things that I have liked over the last month and sharing them with you! If you have anything that you have really been loving and think I might like it feel free to post it in the comments below! I'd love to hear of any!

Until Next Time
BrittanieDe-Ann xoxo

Thursday 3 March 2016

'What's For Dinner?' - Vegetable Curry

Hey guys, 

I'm back again today with another meal review for you! Exciting, I know! 
Last week my good friend introduced me to a vegetarian curry recipe that you can find here and I decided to try it out on Friday and let you know how it went.  Now I figured I would cook it exactly how the recipe said just so I could give you an accurate review but keep in mind that this meal is for a crowd and is estimated to feed eight people.  This meal is said to be a good meal if you are on a budget and need to feed quite a few people or just need to get a few meals out of it.


Okay, so lets get to the ingredients.  To start off with I'm going to clarify a few things for you, An Aubergine is an Eggplant, A Courgette is a Zucchini and a Butternut Squash in Australia and New Zealand are actually called a Butternut Pumpkins.  I made the mistake of buying a few smaller yellow squashes thinking that the supermarket didn't have any butternut squashes later to find out that the butternut pumpkins I had been looking at buying as an alternative were actually the squashes I needed.. I was furious.

Anyhoo, onto the ingredients,
You will need:
1 large potato, diced
1 small butternut squash (pumpkin), peeled, deseeded and diced
aubergine (eggplant), diced
6 tbsp tikka masala paste
3 tbsp vegetable oil
onions, sliced
680g-700g jar tomato passata (crushed tomatoes)
400g can coconut milk
2 red peppers (Capsicums), sliced
courgettes (Zucchini), diced
few coriander sprigs, to serve
rice or naan bread, to serve

I want to start off buy saying this is really the perfect meal if you want to feed a lot of people or want to eat this for a few meals while on a budget. It had cheap easy to find ingredients and if you are using the above recipe would definitely make enough for eight people.  To be 100% honest, I would assume that anyone with a well stocked pantry would have atleast 50% of the ingredients.  I have to buy about half and I would say the meal cost me roughly $35AUD and fed my partner and I for two meals and we still have some in the freezer for a rainy day.    
As for the method as advised buy BBC GoodFood, firstly you want to take the diced Potato, Butternut Squash (Pumpkin) and Eggplant and place them in a suitable baking dish, with two tbls Tikka Masala and to tbls of vegetable oil, mix and roast for 30mins. Meanwhile, make the sauce and boil the rice. Fry the onions in the remaining oil in a large pan until softened and golden – add a splash of water if they start to dry out. Stir in the remaining curry paste, cook for 3 mins, then add the passata, coconut milk and 100ml water. Simmer for a few mins.  When the vegetables are roasted, tip them into the sauce with the peppers and Zucchini. Simmer for 10-15 mins until tender. Scatter with coriander and serve.



This meal in total took about 45mins to cook, a little longer for preparation though. You can leave the veggies in the oven for a little longer than 30mins if you want them fully soft but my preference is to have them slightly more firm.  Even though this was a 'Curry' I feel like it was just the right amount of hot for me, I can't handle hot food too well however this meal didn't have me reaching for my glass of milk every five seconds but you could definitely feel the heat which I think makes the perfect curry.  If you love hot foods you could definitely make it hotter by using chillies instead of capsicums and using a hot Tikka Masala sauce instead of medium.  I love this recipe so much for the pure reason that you can change it to so many thing, instead of the butternut pumpkin and eggplant you could just use whatever vegetables you have in your fridge at the time and that is extremely convenient.  All in all I will definitely be making this meal again but I will definitely be cutting the ingredients in half so I don't get enough to feed eight when there is only the two of us.  There isn't really anymore that I would change about the recipe, I love the flavours so much and can't wait to make it again.

Anyway guy, I hope you have enjoyed this post, I'm sorry it's late again.. I'm rubbish at uploading on time.. However I have started the Blogilates PIIT28 Program which is a 28 day Pilates Intense Interval Training and today was my second day and I'm absolutely dying, but loving it! If I keep going with it which I really hope I do I will be reviewing it for you guys at the end of this month so keep an eye out for that! My next post to go up will be a February Favourites which I'm so excited to share with you guys! I hope you guys are having a fantastic week! Happy Hump Day!

Until Next Time

BrittanieDe-Ann xoxo