Rimmel's Vinyl Lipgloss & A Much Overdue Thank You

Rimmel Vinyl Gloss 190 Pin Up

Rimmel Vinyl Gloss 130 Take A Chance

These were kindly modelled for me by my sister over the holidays. As you guys have probably noticed, she's responsible for the majority of the photography for this blog (if it's good, it's safe to assume she's taken the picture!). She's my little sister of two years and my best friend, so I thought she finally deserved some recognition for all her help that she's given me over the last six months with this blog.

Anyway, on to the product. Rimmel's Vinyl Glosses are now in my firm favourites. They're not too sticky, and keep on for a reasonable amount of time. Take A Chance is definitely y favourite out of the two - a lot subtler and it still gives a nice sheen to your lips.

Any comments/questions always welcome!

Love and Light

Steph 

Favourite Recipe: Homemade Chicken and Chorizo Paella

I know that officially paella is meant to be a seafood dish, but (ashamedly) I'm not the greatest fan of the fruits of the sea. I am however, a massive fan of both chicken and chorizo. The latter isn't a strictly clean meat, but is not used in great quantities in this dish. I really believe that the way forward in adopting a clean eating lifestyle is to obey the 8020 rule - 80% clean and 20% not so clean. It really means you don't go completely off the rails and splurge on a week of KFCs and pizzas. I tend to make a fairly big batch and freeze portions - great way to have a whole week's worth of dinners in one hit!

Ingredients (makes 6 servings):

1 chicken breast

80g chorizo

1 onion

1 red pepper

3 cloves garlic

300g paella rice 

2 chicken stock cubes

100g frozen peas

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 tablespoons paprika

a dash of cider vinegar

Parsley

Ground black pepper

Sea salt

Lemon juice

Coconut/extra virgin olive oil 

1.) Chop the chicken breast up into chunks. Slice the chorizo. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Deseed the pepper and cut into long thing strips - if you cut them too thick they will take longer to cook and may end up being hard at the end!

2.) Place the onion, garlic, chicken and chorizo in a large frying pan or wok along with a generous amount of coconut oil. Add the paprika and cook for five minutes, stirring regularly. 

3.) Add the red pepper. Cook for another five minutes, again stirring regularly.

4.) Whilst this is cooking, boil the kettle to make two pints of water - one for each stock cube. 

5.) Add the rice into the pan (don't put any water in first!). This allows it to soak up the flavours already in the dish. Stir for a minute or so.

6.) In one jug, place one stock cube, a pint of boiling water, some ground black pepper, salt and parsley. Stir and pour into the pan. Add the turmeric (this is what will give the rice its yellow hue)

7.) Leave to simmer, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the water has been absorbed/boiled away. Then add the second jug of water with the second stock cube. Repeat the first part of this step.

8.) Boil the peas for five minutes and add.

Enjoy!

Love and Light

Steph 

**All photos are property of Sophie Hartley**

Any comments/questions are very welcome

REN Clarimatte Invisible Pores Detox Mask

With another 5 000 words of essay hell out of the way, I'm ready to get back to blogging and creating new recipes for you guys. This is probably the most expensive facemask I've ever used (costing around £18), but it is absolutely fantastic for your T-zone. It was recommended to my sister as something to use on that part of your face to really get into your pores, making your skin much softer, cleaner and largely blackhead free. 

It is far kinder to your skin that the majority of cheap drugstore facemasks which use masses of chemicals, so it's fab if like me you've got sensitive skin. I learnt this the hard way with a disaster of a facemask in December which made my face look and feel like I'd been sunburnt. Safe to say, a lot of foundation was used prior to the event I was supposed to be talking at a mere two hours after this incident!

Plus it got my little bunny Ted's seal of approval - what more could you ask for?!

Love and Light 

Steph

**All photos are property of Sophie Hartley**

Comments/questions are very welcome 

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are such a great alternative to white potatoes. I try to avoid white potatoes as much as possible, and the nutritional benefits that sweet ones offer means that they're a pretty good option. They're a fab source of potassium, magnesium, iron and a multitude of vitamins. So, why not make the switch? This stuffed potato has a whole variety of flavours which make it much more interesting!

Ingredients (makes 1 serving):

1 sweet potato

1 turkey breast

4 baby plum tomatoes

30g chorizo

50g spinach

Ground black pepper

Basil

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees (fan 160). Wash the potato in warm water and prick a couple of times with a fork. Pop in the microwave for 3 and a 1/2 minutes. Place in the oven to cook for 45 minutes. Tip: I used a white flesh sweet potato because they aren't quite as sweet.

2.) After 25 minutes of cooking, season the turkey breast with olive oil, black pepper and basil. Place under the grill and cook for 15 minutes.

3.)  Slice the chorizo and cut the tomatoes in half. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

3.) When there are only ten minutes to go, boil the kettle and put the spinach on. Cook for six minutes and drain.

4.) Chop up the turkey breast and chorizo.

(these really aren't the prettiest photos in the world, sorry!)

5.) Take the potato out of the oven, and slice it in half. Scoop out the innards and mix with the chorizo, turkey breast, spinach and tomatoes. Place (or 'stuff') back in the potato and enjoy!

Love and Light

Steph

Holland and Barratt Haul

Cacao Powder

Dr Stuart's Liver Detox Tea

Dr Stuart's Detox Tea

Sweet Freedom Syrup

Holland and Barratt is one of my favourite places to go for supplements and healthy cooking ingredients that are hard to find in your everyday store. Today I popped in for some syrup and caco powder for a little baking experiment, but ended up with a little bit extra!

They've always got sales on, and right now Dr Stuart's tea is 20% off - I've heard a lot of good reviews, so I've been looking to try it out for ages. I'm trying to detox at the moment as I'm going alcohol free for the next few months, so I chose these. Having tried the detox tea whilst catching up on some reading (Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston - it's brilliant!), I can say it's actually really nice for a detox tea. Hopefully I'll do a proper review soon.

Where do you go for your supplements?

Love and Light

Steph

Blueberry Breakfast Smoothie (Dairy Free)

This is my favourite breakfast at the moment. It's simple to make, and really filling (something I need during this period of intense essay procrastination). I usually sip this as I do some gentle uni work in the morning, hence the coloured pens. I like to keep my work, and diary, organised. The oats in this really make it into a meal rather than a snack, so it's great for days when you're going to the gym, or simply want to ensure that you don't cave before lunch time!

Ingredients (makes 1 smoothie):

1 banana

2 large or 3 medium/small apples

100ml rice/almond/soya milk

handful of oats

handful of blueberries 

small handful of flaxseeds

honey to top

1.) Peel and roughly chop the banana and apples.

2.) Place in blender. Add blueberries. To cut down on cost (student living and all) I  buy my blueberries when they're reduced and freeze them - one pack lasts me about four smoothies.

3.) Add rice milk, flaxseeds and oats

4.) Blend for 2-3 minutes.

5.) Top with honey if you wish, and enjoy!

Love and Light 

Steph

P.S. Check out my giveaway here