June 29, 2013

Clash Of The Patterns


Hello lovely people of the world, I hope June is ending on a positive note. I would be clashing patterns today and of course doing it in classic 'me style', simple and subtle. In this post, I paired my polka dot shirt with striped shorts and striped shoes. check out how I styled this short previously HERE



Mixing dots and stripes is quite easy to pull off because they are both simple and graphic prints that look similar to the eyes. I have kept it pretty much within the same colour family, no matter how different your patterns are, as long as the colours match, you are safe. It also helps to combine patterns of different scales or intensity and break your look up with some neutral colours perhaps in the accessories.


What I'm wearing - ShirtSavile Row  (similar available @ Dressed)  || Shorts:  Jones Ny  Similar ||
  Shoes: Dune  Similar  ||
  Necklace and Ring  : available @ Dressed  ||  Watch: Micheal  Kors







Check out these ladies for some style inspiration.



Olivia Palermo looking chic as always

Go ahead let your imagination run wild! 

I love this
I came across a blog where there was some arguments about who was more fashionable between two bloggers, this picture is a reminder for everyone to just chillax and enjoy, love and be inspired or not  :) by the fashion we see.
Its called "personal"  style for a reason, we all have different styles, from super classy to sassy and each style is an expression of ones identity, we don't all have to look the same way or like the same thing.


Have a fab weekend!

Photo credit
Vogue.com
carolinesmode.com


June 26, 2013

Food I Love - Scrumptious Chocolate Peanut Bars

This recipe right here is what you want to have in your refrigerator for snacking in between meals or late night trips to the fridge :).  Trust me you really want to watch your portion with this one because it is so dang good you be going for seconds and thirds. I made a full tray of these, popped it in a jar and kept in the fridge and before I could say B-a-r-s,  it was all gone!.

I found this recipe on the pack of my land o lake butter and it is surprisingly easy to make for something so delish!

Ingredients For the Crust
2 Cups Flour
1 Cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Butter 
I cup Trail mix ( optional, this is my twist, I wanted it healthier. I had to pick out the M&Ms from the mix )
Peanuts (Original recipe called for Pecan nuts, I used peanuts because it is more readily available in Nig)

Ingredient for the Caramel Layer
1/3 cup butter (Original recipe called for 2/3 cup)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup semi or sweet  chocolate chips


Method
1. Heat oven to 175C. Combine all the crust ingredients except peanuts and trail mix in a large bowl.Mix until it resembles fine crumbs. Press onto the bottom of an ungreased baking pan. Place peanuts and trail mix evenly over unbaked crust.







I popped my peanuts in a blender a bit, BUT I would recommend leaving them whole




2. Combine butter for caramel and brown sugar in a saucepan and heat over meduim heat, stirring constantly until entire surface of mixture begins to boil. continue cooking, stirring constantly for 1min. Pour mixture over peanuts and crust.





3. Bake for 18-22mins or until entire caramel layer bubbly, (DO NOT OVER BAKE :) ). Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle with chocolate chip so chocolate can melt. cool completely and cut into bars.







Voila!!! A happy snack your family, friends and tummy would thank you for!

Tried it?  let me know what you did differently and how it came out.


Bon Appetit!

 VERDICT : Great snack, very easy to make, very tasty too!. To make it healthier next time I would attempt to use more assortment of  nuts and dried fruits  , whole wheat flour and low fat butter or even margarine, and would I let you know how that tastes compared to this.

The recipe called for 2/3 cup butter for the caramel,  I used 1/3 cup I was too scared of the calories, mine turned out with very little caramel topping which is perfectly  fine for me :). If you want more topping, then by all means use 2/3 cup butter. I baked for a full 30mins to achieve the bubbly caramel top in my oven, baking time would vary depending on your oven, just look out for the bubbly caramel top.

June 23, 2013

Top 40!!!....Yay

Hello world! How is your weekend going?. I got another nomination this week, woohoo!!!. This time its for the top 40 female style bloggers by Brenda of Canneverbeaskinnybish,Top 40 style blogs! how cool is that?.

 I feel truly humbled by the nomination, the ladies on this list are really the *ish when it comes to style, I feel honoured to be counted as one of them. I already follow and draw inspiration from a number of them and they are super fabulous.  I have however gone to look at the remaining that I do not know and they do bring their A game too.

I have been following Brenda for a couple of months now, and she’s a true fashionista, with her, it’s not just about the fashion, you can tell that she is one smart lady. She is also quite fearless with her fashion choices and would not let anyone or societal labels put her down, I admire that greatly about her….Thank you babe!

You can check out all the amazing bloggers that made the list HERE.







What I'm wearing - Suit:  Bebe  Similar  (similar here, mine is out of stock) ||  Shoes:  Anne Klein Similar ||  Necklace : available @ Dressed || Purse: kohls  (Old)

In this post I felt like doing something tonal so I went for just neutral colours. I wore this 'bebe' pant suit for a friend’s wedding, though with red shoes. I didn't want to wear a dress for a change so I dug out this oldie and it worked just fine. Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to take photos at that the event.


Xoxo



June 21, 2013

Food I Love - Ooh! So Good Homemade Pizza





Hello World!,  how is June going so far? Great I hope J.  I am beginning to find some kind of rhythm with the food posts, I have decided to make it a regular feature on a weekly basis as much as I can.  So I would do one food post every week, hopefully before Friday to give our 9 to 5 audience some time to get their ingredients together so they can try it over the weekend, how is that for some inspiration? J.


Today’s recipe is one of my favourite pizza recipe because it is so easy it's almost impossible to not get a decent pizza using this recipe, as well as being super tasty. The original recipe for the pizza base I got off allrecipes.com

The recipe for the topping and tomato sauce I have adapted and perfected over time. It’s a great recipe to make and share with family and friends over the weekend. I usually make my base and tomato sauce during the week and freeze it, ( It keeps very well, just get it  down to room temp at least 2hrs before you intend to use it),  and then on Friday evening,  all I do is chop up  and saute  my veggies  and voila! Pizza is ready in no time.

Ingredients For the Base  (Crust)
3 1/2 Cups Flour
2 tsp yeast
1 cup warm water
½ tsp salt
1 tbs Brown Sugar
Cornmeal or semolina
tbs Olive oil



Method
1.    Add the yeast to your warm water  and leave for about 5 mins,  stir together if yeast still remains undissolved after time elapse.

2.   Add olive oil, salt, sugar and flour to yeast mixture and stir. At first the dough might be a bit sticky, knead for about 10min to get a firm but elastic dough. If after kneading it’s still sticky sprinkle a little more flour, if too dry or hard add a little more water.  Using my measurement I didn't need to add any more water or flour. If using a mixer use a low to medium setting to achieve this texture.

3.   Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil and turn the dough around in the bowl so that it is coated with the oil. Cover bowl and let it rest in a warm place for about 1 ½ hour ( If you can afford to leave for longer please do because the flavor improves the longer you leave it). After this stage you can store in the freezer for later use.

At this point you can make your tomato sauce and topping


Ingredients for Tomato sauce

Chopped fresh tomatoes

Chopped onion

Chopped garlic

Vegetable oil 

1tsp red wine vinegar (optional)

Italian seasoning or any herbs you like in your tomato sauce.  I use Spice supreme's Italian seasoning because it has the kind of herby (Is this even a word? ) flavor I like in my tomato sauce.


Chilli sauce or black pepper if you like a little heat in your pizza (optional)

Tomato puree

BBQ Sauce or tomato ketchup, I prefer to use BBQ sauce because I like its smoky flavor.





Method

1.  Heat oil and add garlic, onion and chopped tomatoes, allow to sauté  for about 5 mins then add tomato paste allow to simmer or reduce until most of the liquid evaporates, (the Italians do this for as much as two  hours to intensify the flavors, I do not have the luxury of time).

2. While tomato is reducing occasionally stir and mash or press down with a ladle to turn the tomato sauce into a chunky pulp.

3. When sauce is reduced add chili sauce and BBQ sauce, cook for another 5 mins then add Italian seasoning  and a pinch of salt. Finally add your red wine Vinegar and a little water to loosen up the sauce, the right consistency should be able to coat the back of a wooden spoon lightly, that’s all! J






Ingredient for topping

Smoked Russian sausages ( You can use any sausage  of your choice).

Smoked Bacon

Smoked chicken

Green bell peppers (chopped)

Large red peppers  (chopped)

Onion (chopped)

Black pepper

Cheddar cheese  (grated)

Mozzarella cheese (grated)

For this you can you use any two cheeses of your choice, I like to use a mix of Parmesan  mozzarella , cheddar or Ricotta  but for this recipe I used a mild German cheddar and some mozzarella

1.   Add very little oil to a hot pan, had onion and then  bacon and sauté  together.

2.  Then add sausages, chicken and finally the peppers and sauté all together for a minute.

3.      Add a little salt and black pepper to season

Finally to Finish off your Pizza, Pheew!

Preheat oven to 250C for minimum of 30mins before baking,  ideally 1hr would be best.

4.  Sprinkle baking tray with semolina or cornmeal, this would prevent your   pizza from sticking to the tray.

5.  Punch down dough to deflate it, and allow to rest for another 10mins.

6.  Place dough on a lightly floured surface  and flatten with your hands starting at the center and working outwards until your dough is about 1/2in thick or you get to your desired diameter. ( If dough stops stretching at any point, stop and allow to rest for 5mins before continuing stretching).

7.  Transfer  flattened  dough on to baking tray with the corn meal  and brush with some olive oil to prevent it getting soggy from the toppings,  also use finger tips to press down and make dents on dough surface to prevent bubbling.  (If dough looses shape during transfer, lightly reshape back).












8.   Spoon and spread tomato sauce generously  on dough leaving a little off the edges, then add your sauteed veggie and sausages mixture and finally top with grated cheese ( You can go crazy with your cheese here but I’m doing  sanity at the moment so I was a bit mindful of the quantity of cheese I added.  
Do not load your pizza with too much topping or your crust would not be crisp.

9.  Finally place pizza in the lowest layer of your preheated oven and bake for  10-15mins.













Voila! Pizza done!

See you at the gym  :)

Tried it?  let me know what you did differently and how it came out.

Have a fab weekend!


June 17, 2013

Cheers to Being Perfectly Marinated!!!

Today is my birthday and you know how birthdays somehow seem to put one in a reflective mood, especially if you are past your partying 20's. Well, I got my share of reflective juices flowing and these were some of my thoughts on this particular birthday.





God - He has been the most dominant part of my life, I'm awed by his love which I feel around me constantly. He's held my hands and walked with me all my life and I'm eternally thankful for his love and patience with me.







Family - My family is the backbone on which I stand, without them life would be meaningless.

Marriage -  I am thankful to God for someone who truly love and cares for me and works hard to build our lives together.

Friends - I am grateful for my friends who listen and partake in whatever life throws at me.

 On Ageing -  the whole ageing process is quite fascinating, as time pass by, I get not just older but wiser with every experience whether good or bad. What I lose in youthfulness I gain in wisdom  and the ability to own my God given beauty and grace that is unique to me. its almost like when marinating, the longer you leave a piece of meat in its juices the tastier and more flavorful it gets.  






I am loving the confidence that comes with ageing,  the genuine love and acceptance for the woman I am becoming. I know I'm never going to look 21, and I have accepted that ship has sailed, but guess what, I love the fact that I am in full possession of my life, not saddled with the insecurities that crippled most of us when we were a lot younger. Nothing beats the confidence in knowing who I am, and the total acceptance without feeling the need to be apologetic about what I stand for and believe in, surely, this has to be one of the many great gifts of ageing.






What I'm wearing - Dress worn as Top  :  Alex Marie   || Skirt :  JcPenny  ||
  Shoes: Bakers  ||
  Bracelets  : Kohls 

So as I cruise comfortably and confidently into another year in my God given journey of life, I say cheers to being perfectly marinated!!! 


Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Categories

Readers Favourites