Monday 25 April 2016

  The One Pot Wonder- Ultimate Prawny Pasta! The One Pot Wonder- Ultimate Prawny Pasta!


When it comes to cooking, there is an innate sense of laziness I resign to. The one dish lesser to wash up or the 5 minute sooner the  cooking is done or even quarter of  an onion lesser I need to chop up, all sounds  delightfully thrilling  especially when time is of essence on a weekday cooking drill.

Being the extremely optimistic (lazy) Chef I have grown to be, I have discovered some super-easy to cook weekday wonder recipes! This one is an all-time favorite of mine –The (Ultimate) Prawny Pasta!

With minimal ingredients, you will be elevated to food heaven with this one. The magic of the recipe is that, it even converted ‘non-prawn lovers’ to ardent ‘prawn lovers’!  


Cooking time 20 mins 
Serves: 4

Ingredients:                                              
Prawns -180 grams
Chilli Paste -1 tbsp.
Tomato Paste: 3 tbsp.
Fish stock: 1 stock pot
Paprika -1 tbsp.
One white Onion
Olive Oil -3 tbsp
Few cloves of garlic
Parsley
Salt to taste
White vine (optional)
Cream -3 tbsp
Water -1 cup


Finely chop the onions and crush the garlic till it’s nice and fine,i used a whole garlic(this can be adjusted based on your preference) alternatively you can also use garlic paste. 

Pour the olive oil onto a pan and once it is hot add the onions and crushed garlic, sauté until the onions are translucent.

Add the tomato puree, chilli puree, paprika, and sauté for a few minutes, until the bright red colour turns to a mild brown colour. At this point, you can add the stockpot, add some water and the prawns, and allow the mix to simmer for a while.

 Once it is reduced and the prawns is tender, you can add a nice glug of white vine and let it cook for another 5-8 mins.

Finally, in goes the cream to the mix, allow it to go warm but make sure it does not boil. Add salt to season and top it with some freshly chopped parsley.



Whilst the pot is bubbling away, you can even toast some garlic bread with parsley. Some tender  greens of spinach and rockets, with a light lemon dressing goes beautifully well with the dish.



As for the pasta, I usually follow the package instructions to the ‘T’, once the pasta is done, Smother it with this amazing ‘prawny’ sauce! If you can get hold of some whole prawns you can pan fry them in some melted butter and paprika and if you are really in the mood for some indulgence a good shave of Parmesan can totally make the dish epic.







 In under 20 mins, your weekday dinner is ready! With as little as one pan to wash up, minimal chopping, and very little faffing around-it is a total winner!






We would love to hear about your cheat’s dinner recipes! Do you enjoy the weekday cooking drill or would you rather cook up over the weekend!





Until Next time!

Take care!




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Friday 22 April 2016

Weekend at Cotswolds Weekend at Cotswolds



With the (almost)summer sun slowly settling into scene it was decided to escape into the countryside! A 2-hour drive and we discovered another side of England with Quaint little towns, tea houses, miles of green pastures-blue skies, bursting farms and taverns, poles apart from the cozy city life and bustling crowds.




Be it beyond beautiful Burford or the ‘mini Venice like’ Burton on Water- I promise you will fall in love with the place!  The promenade by the Montpellier Gardens will bring back memories of French mansions, open cafĂ©’s and lovely freshly baked buttery croissants! With blooms in wildest pink and ochre yellow –the garden at Bibury was almost heaven on earth-One could easily lose track of time in there!

Cotswolds offers you more than just food for soul, With proper pub grub and immaculate patisseries’ everywhere you go, it’s no surprise that it’s hit amongst visiting bunch.


Sporting my recent buy from zara this stripe Knit is growing to be a big favourite of mine!


The courdroy skirt is an oldie from zara, love this jersey skirt from ASOS.





My obsession with loafers is official now!! Got these shiny babies from Zara and I am seriously contemplating these tassel ones



Bag:Tory Burch

We stayed at Tewkesbury,the quaint  little town stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon. Our little room with a view overlooked a sprawling golf course and it was delightful waking up to the sound of chirping Robbins.

It was truly, a splendid break-with lots of sun, boundless blue skies with the calming peace of picturesque outdoors. Cotswolds would be an obvious Yes, if it were for my recommendation!

Would you love an escape into the countryside or would you rather prefer the buzzing city for a break! We would love to hear about your ‘ adventuristic getaway tales’.

Until Next time!

Take care!




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Tuesday 19 April 2016

Hedonista Face Souffle Review Hedonista Face Souffle Review



Hello,


Hope you are doing well! It’s been crazy manic this side- in a nice way of course :)

With a weekend visit to one of the island resorts in Qatar, it was the much-needed break from the weekday mundane routine!

The big news this week is my little soldier Ian, joined school! In the blink of an eye, it feels like he is all grown up. He was truly brave and beyond excited about school! With beaming smile and shiny shoes and not a single tear shed, we were indeed super proud of our boy! I must say, the early morning 4.45 alarm drill has been a bit brutal- not really the morning person! Nevertheless, hey, you need some challenge to jazz up life don’t you ;)


In today’s post, I am featuring this amazing Face SoufflĂ© from Hedonista.



It was part of my June Envy Box package and had saved it for later only to end up forgetting about it!

I have always loved products with chocolate- Be it pedicures,manicures or even facials, it’s an absolute delight!The face soufflĂ© is one of the best products I have used and as you can guess, it smells absolutely divine!


With a lovely smooth mousse texture, it makes it easy to apply onto your skin. With no tingling sensation, it leaves your skin feeling fresh and revitalised. True to their claim –It did feel like my skin was deep cleansed.

Make sure to apply the product on clean skin and for best results leave the product on for a good 15mins, followed by a proper rinse off.

It’s perfect to brighten up dull skin-giving you the all-important glow! It did help to reduce my sun tan as well. Chocolate mask is said to be effective for skin brightening and anti-ageing! With promising results, I will surely be buying this again! It is priced at Rs1650 for 115 gms.



You can buy directly from their site here .


or you can get it as part of your envy box over here


We would love to hear about your skin care routine! Would you like a bit of a chocolaty indulgence!

Until Next time!
Take care










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Tuesday 12 April 2016

Say Hello to myUS.com Say Hello to myUS.com



Hope all is well that side of the world! As promised in my previous post, I am bringing you my 'hacky' way to getting things delivered all the way from US to your post box. As the saying goes, dire necessity and desperation paved way to me discovering this amazing site! It was one of those ritualistic buys from Urban Decay when I was re-directed to their website and Ladies, I have never looked back since then!




At the other side of the hassle free sign up process, awaits your custom mailbox and bespoke address that gives you the license to shop away! Even some of the popular brands do not ship outside of US and having lived in India and now in Qatar, shipping arrangements has always been a pain!


They have partnered with a lot of retailers and on setting up your account you can get hold of the full list that includes the likes of MAC , Amazon,UrbanDecay, ColourPop, GAP et al.




As for  the membership, they offer three different packages to suit
 your requirements- Basic, Premium and Premium+Mail. All three includes a onetime registration fee.

The Basic plan has an annual fee, with 5 days of storage offered as part of the plan. This will be ideal for the occasional once in while buys.

For all the regular ardent shoppers out there, with 30days of storage -Premium and Premium+Mail Plans might be the more financially viable option. These schemes have monthly-based subscription charges.



They also offer Personal Shopper service, with a slim processing fee, under this service on sharing  details of your product or the product number with myUS.com they will do the purchase on your behalf and  handle the pickup and manage the payment transaction in the mandated way as requested by the retailer.





With notifications to your mailbox at every stage of the shipment, you can have your peace of mind! Once your shipment reaches myUS.com ,they will upload a picture of the order  and at that point  you can either enter the approx. value of goods either manually or send across screenshots of your products and they will do the calculations for you. Once this is reviewed another notification will be sent out confirming dispatch of your package from their hub.

For the cross-country delivery, you have five couriers to choose from or alternatively you can choose the least expensive method and US.com will do the math for you and get you the cheapest option. My package was delivered in less than 10 days and I did incur a tiny duty fee of 10QAR.





Considering the drama and anxiety involved in a cross Atlantic parcel delivery, myUS.com totally makes it an easy and much joyful experience! Having my fair share of bad correspondence and crappy  customer service with several popular courier services, myUS.com is a breath of fresh air. Its reliable, consistent and most importantly its great service that is reasonably priced!

Sign up for US.com over here

With more hauls and finds coming on this space- Until Next time!


Take care and Happy Shopping!
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Thursday 7 April 2016

 ColourPop Haul ColourPop Haul




Excitement is probably an understatement, when this little delivery made its way home! I have been eagerly looking forward to trying the ColourPop range and I must say, they surpassed my expectation!

With tempting beautiful shades of lippies and eye shadow colours to match the mauvest of your makeup fantasies and Brow goals, its literally a makeup lovers haven!


I picked up a few products across their range and as always, a review I Promise!







After much research – I went for ColourPop X Karrueche Super Shock Shadow Range- an epic collaboration effort by the brand with  Karrueche Tran. The duo  have produced some great pieces at affordable price. Sunsetblvd and Beverly  are lovely shades thats part of this.





Sunsetbvld is all about beautiful glow, baby! With warm golden hues,bronze tones and pearly shimmer sheen its perfect to glam up your look! It has super nice pigmentation and was hassle free to apply with fingertips rather than a brush, the brand recommends the same if you are aiming for an opaque finish!







beverly,sunset blvd





Beverly is a deep blackberry .It has a semi matte finish and the colour has semi opaque coverage and a smooth creamy texture that makes it easy to apply!!



beverly,sunset blvd swatch





Hustle –is a burgundy lover’s dream come true! With Feather like texture, it applies with much ease. I would recommend a double coating for a super dramatic look!



bandit,hustle,central perk



CentralPerk  -well it’s not just the name that’s a total winner –this shade is described as dirty maroon matte by the brand. A medium to dark burgundy with lovely warm undertones and a semi opaque colour payoff. With the smooth and velvety texture, it is a total winner.

Bandit –is the perfect rusty shade I have ever come acrossit has a medium dark brown hue with, red orange undertones. Applies amazingly and blends in beautifully onto your skin! 

bandit,hustle,central perk swatch
Mittens , a warm brown with red violet undertone and  matte finish. it’s a dark burgundy brown with warm red undertones with a satin effect! Like central Perk it has an opaque colour payoff and super easy to blend, making it a perfect crease colour.



mittens,cornelious,kathleenlights


Cornelious is said to be a mid tone warm caramel with a matte finsih. A lovely medium brown shade with warm undertones and again has a Matte finish. Great pigmentation and with velvety texture the possibilities are endless with this shade!


mittens,cornelious,kathleenlights

Kathleenlights a golden Copper, Yes you read that right, its Copper!  Bright copper and warm red undertones coupled with gold metallic and shimmer finish!

It’s nicely pigmented and has a creamy texture and blends like a dream! It can totally brighten up your eyes and you can achieve the Greek Goddess worthy eyes everyday ;) 




With around 10- 12 hours, it lasted really well and there wasn’t any ugly smudge or smear! I got mine from their site.



They deliver only to US alone, but don’t you worry ;) there is a way around that, so stay tuned for more;) 

So you might have concluded this already, without a shadow of a doubt (;) literally) these babies have won me over! Simply put, it is an amazing product at a super affordable price!

Are you a bronzy brown or a burgundy hues person!

Have you tried the ColourPop range before? We would love to  hear all about your shadowy tales!

Thank you for stopping by !Until next time

Take care!





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Monday 4 April 2016

It’s a Black and White affair! It’s a Black and White affair!








Bonjour! 

March has been an epic month-with sleep all caught up, a lot of eating(!),  serious ‘series binge watching’, a lot of eating(!!),some outdoor drizzly rain walks, a lot more eating(!!!!) and  there was some dramatic Easter cooking action in my kitchen and of course there was a lot of hogging(!!!!!!!)


Aye aye! Stay tuned to this space, I promise to share the ‘block buster’ worthy recipes!

Celebrating the rocker month March was, we bring you some great finds.

The Top Shop Saddle Bag
 There is no denying that I am hooked onto this one!
                                                                  Saddle Bag


Choker Necklaces from Forever 21

This buy is a part of the summer conspiration I have been scheming.It can totally had some punk and jazz to your outfit and I definitely think it is a must have for the summer wardrobe!
                                                  Similar one from forever 21


Loafer Love

Well, these Zara babies-was almost love at first sight! Shining bright (literally) –it melted my inner resolve and Hey, you can never have too many shoes can you ;)

                                                             Tassle Loafers from Zara


Shiny sparkle
Shimmer and shine and all things bright-for all the Gothic,dark nail  lovers out there-this nail paint is surely a winner!
                                                                      Nails Inc

Western 'Buckly' Belt
Yonder, the awesome Western buckled belt from Topshop, I love a good belt with a bit of detailing.  Buckled belts is trending at the moment and who knows it might even unleash the cowboy spirit in you and get you Yarn the hours away ;)

                                                                    Double Buckled Belt from Asos



We would love to hear all about your Easter holidays!
Loafers or strappy heels-which one would you go for!

Until Next time

Take care!


PS: clickable links to similar products under each image-Thank me later ;) 


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