She (Occasionally!) Cooks; Veggy Chilli

I've been a vegetarian my entire life and it's never something that I've considered changing about myself. Like most vegetarians I have struggled to get a sufficient amount of protein in my diet (there's only so many nuts a girl can eat!) but then along came Quorn! I know I don't have a frame of reference but I think it tastes pretty damn good, so I thought I would share one of my favourite meals with you all; chilli. I love anything and everything Mexican and chilli makes for a really hearty winter warmer and it's great on a student budget too! 

So here's what I use for this yummy meal;

Olive Oil, Rice, Ouorn Mince, Pointed red pepper, 1/2 Tin of Mixed Bean Salad, Chopped Tomatoes, 1 green chillie, Crushed Chillies, 1/2 red onion, 1 Clove of garlic and generous handful of coriander.

I will admit that I am the worst at cooking rice. But this Asda white rice came out surprisingly good! I just took a handful (roughly enough for one person) added a tiny bit of oil and salt to the boiling water and let it gently simmer while I cooked the chilli. 

The great thing about Quorn is that you can cook it from frozen, so I threw in a dash of oil to a hot frying pan and cooked the mince on a low heat. I then added the chopped onion, green chilli and garlic (I always crush garlic to get more flavour) and let that cook through. I then chucked in about half a tin of chopped tomatoes and sliced red pepper followed by the beans. Slowly let that simmer and thicken slightly before adding salt and pepper to taste and some crushed chillies for extra heat. Keep tasting it so you don't end up blowing your heads off!

Finish off with a good amount of coriander and let all the flavours combine for about five minutes before serving with rice and lots of cheese!

Et viola! A really filling and satisfying dinner, maybe not one to have just before donning that new body con leather skirt... But hey that's what Spanx are for!

I'm back to living away from home so I'll be experimenting a lot more with food and blogging all of my successes and some of my mishaps (I'm sure they'll be a few!)

:) xoxo

High Street Wish List

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

I've been a very bad blogger this last couple of weeks but I' all settled in my lovely new uni flat now so I shall be posting lots more. Plus I'm back in Nottingham which usually means going shopping all the time! All of that aside, here are my favourite high street pieces for A/W 2013;

1. It was love at first sight, as soon as the student 20% River Island event starts I will be straight in there for these little ankle boots! I find ankle boots can be a bit awkward on me but these sit a little lower which it perfect for me because I hate boots that make my ankles look chunky! And the gold capped toes are just bootiful.

2. I gasped a little when I saw this little skirt. Enough said.

3.Tartan? Check. Fur Collar? Check. Boxy boyfriend fit? Check. I was unaware that such sheer perfection could exist in a coat plus it looks like it'd be so cosy warm for the winter months. Miss Selfridge have done well here!

4.Even more tartan but hey, can't have enough tartan can you? 

5. I am obsessed with leather look anything at the moment and I think these quilted shorts have that added bit of texture, definitely on the 'To Buy!' list. 

6. Its a quilted sweatshirt with a tapestry accent, basically A/W in a jumper.

"The most beautiful makeup of a woman is passion. But cosmetics are easier to buy."

Well said Yves Saint-Laurent, well said. 

I love the routine of putting my make up on in the mornings and I'm also very very nosy and love reading other blog posts about everyday make up so I thought I'd share my make up bag with you all...

So this is what I put on my face to make me just that little bit more presentable to the world;

Mac Face and Body Foundation, Benefit Erase Paste, Benefit Pore-fessional, Rimmel Exaggerate Eye Liner, Bourjois 16h Liner Pinceau, No7 Eyebrow pencil, Mac Magnetic Attraction Mineralize Eye Shadow (used as a blush), Mac Goldmine Frost, HD Brows Brow Beater aaaaaand Benefit They're Real! Mascara. 

The foundation and blusher brushes I use are from Body Shop and the eyeshadow brush is NARS. 

Wow, sounds like a lot when I list it!My make up bag is from Topshop and I love it, fits so much but isn't too bulky. 

The two things I could not and would not live without are the Mac Face and Body foundation and the Mac Magnetic Attraction Mineralize Eye Shadow that I use as a blusher. The foundation is almost like a tinted moisturiser and gives a really nice natural dewy finish. At just £27 for 120ml its the best value Mac foundation, this is my second bottle and my first lasted me almost a year of using it everyday! It's great if you only need a light coverage and works perfectly alongside a good concealer. 

The eyeshadow/blusher hybrid is the love of my make up life. The make up artist at the Mac store in Westfield was amaaazing, so amazing that I ended up spending about £60, but that's another story... He swept it across my cheeks and then that was it! It leaves a really nice shimmer on my cheeks which subtle and natural looking, big thumbs up from me :)

 I sadly dropped it in the bathroom last week which it why its crumbled slightly AND they've discontinued it so I'm on the hunt for a new one. 

What's in your make up bag?

:) xoxo

The Sweetest Thing: White Chocolate and Ginger Cheesecake

As you've all probably gathered by now I am a big big fan of cheesecake. I'm also a big fan of Wagamama's which inspired me to put together this tasty treat :) So here I present to you my white chocolate cheesecake on a ginger biscuit base. 

How did I put this together you ask? I used my recipe that I posted here added 200g of melted white chocolate (I just use the cheap stuff, it all tastes the same!) to the mixture and smoothed over the biscuit base. I had a slight panic when the filling seemed to be much thinner than any other cheesecake I'd made before but this is supposed to happen! I was not prepared to wait the full day that it took to set but it was worth the wait... 

This is definitely an indulgent dessert, it was pretty heavy and really rich! I think I'd use a little less white chocolate if I were to make this again, I have been requested by my sister in law to make a low fat one so we'll see how that goes :)

I also got my hair chopped, so watch this space for a blog on that! 

:) xoxo