Tuesday 26 February 2013

What I ate Wednesday #1

Breakfast 07.00
I was in a rush today so I went for an easy breakfast, of granola and soyamilk. The reason why I eat Dorset Cerieals is because their ingrediants are rich in fibre and food that gives you the energy you need in the morning. It keep me full for a good two hours if I'm busy and all the way until lunch if I'm having a lazy day! My favourite at the moment is the Honey Granola, the mix of honey and different nuts and seeds is abserlutely delicious! For a month now I have gone of dairy milk and swapped to soya milk because it contains less fat and nutritions like calcium and vitimins that are very healthy.

Snack 10.00
As a mid-morning snack I drank a little bottle of Kiwi, apple and Lime Innocent smoothie. I love these smoothies because they are healthy and tasty at the same time, and it contains two of my five a day. We usually don't buy the little bottles like these because they are very pricey as they are almost the same price as the large carton box! Some were on offer so we decided we could get some as they are easy to take to school.

Lunch 12.00
This is a typical lunch of mine to take to school because it's easy too make, tasty and quite healthy. I take two slices of brown bread, and if possible I go for a bagel or any whole grain product, and spread a generous amount of low fat cream cheese on. I go for low fat cream cheese because to me it taste exactly the same as the normal one and it contains less fat. For nutrition I put a layer of salmon. I love the taste of salmon and it contains healthy oils and fats your body needs. Usually I would add another layer of some salad leaves however we were out so I went without!

 
Snack 14.10
I've started to create my own flavour of yoghurt so I know exactly what i'm putting eating! At the moment for the yogurt I am using Bulgarian style yoghurt. In this particular yoghurt I made, I added a small handful of dried cranberries and some left over juice from a glass of forest fruits. This glass originally had lots of different forest berries, but the berries were finished and I didn't want to waste the fruity juice. Since I take it too school I put it in a little lunch box. 


Dinner 19.00
Hope alone I wanted to make something that was easy and yummy! You can never go wrong with pasta so I cooked some spaghetti. For topping I heated up some ready made cheese sauce and cooked some tofu. I find tofu quite tasty and it's a lot healthier than meat so I thought it was a good option.

This was my very first What I ate Wednesday and want to do them every week! I think it's interesting seeing what other bloggers are eating so I wanted to give it a go! Hope you enjoyed it xoxo

Friday 15 February 2013

Outfit Of The Day • On The Go





Hey everyone! Just another Outfit Of The Day! At the moment I am loving my Docs so there's no surprise that I'm wearing them! I wore them with my dark blue silky leggings from Motel Rocks, and my pink ombre jumper from Topshop. I thought the bright pink made sure the look wasn't too dark. As I was going to school, I took my fairly new old school leather rucksack from Accesorize, which I thought worked well with the look! I hope you like it and please don't forget too hype the look and follow my blog, it will mean a lot! xoxo

Tuesday 12 February 2013

Cooking Blog • Valentine's Day Cupcakes


Ingredients
  • 325g butter (125g for batter, 200g for icing)
  • 125g granulated suger
  • 125g self raising flour
  • 2 tabelspoons milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 200g Icing sugar
  • Mini marshmallows (or normal marshmallows cut into halves)

Preparation Instructions 
Before you start making your cupcakes, preheat your oven to 170 degrees. Also, take a baking tin and fill each socket with a cupcake case, ready for when you need it. Make sure your butter is melted, so it's easier to stir into the batter and icing, by heating it in the microwave for 30 seconds. To make the process faster, measure all your ingredients correctly before hand so you bake with ease!

Instructions 
To begin we are going to start with the batter, so add 125g of the pre-melted butter to a large bowl. Next add the sugar a little at time. Make sure the butter and sugar and mixed together well so they look fluffy, before moving on. To follow, add the eggs one by one mixing each one in well before adding the next one. After that, add the flour little by little mixing it well using a whisk or if possible an electric mixer. Lastly, add the milk a bit at a time beating it into the batter. Once all the ingredients are together mix the batter until it's smooth and fluffy!

Once your batter is complete, it's time to get your ready organised cupcake cases. Using two spoons, fill each case a third of the way, leaving space for a marshmallow and another layer of batter. Once you have finished, place the marshmallow to the middle batter in the cupcake case. Now all the cases have marshmallows, grab your two spoons and place batter over the top of the marshmallow, so they are hidden.

Put your tray with the cupcakes into the preheated oven for twenty minutes at 170 degrees. After twenty minutes have passed, pierce a cupcake with a toothpick to see if the cupcake is fully cooked. If your toothpick comes out wet, your cupcakes still need a little time, if the toothpick comes out dry, your cupcakes are ready! Note: while your cupcakes are cooking, the marshmallows might rise so they are visible. This is normal, so there is no need to worry!
While your cupcakes are in the oven, you can make your decorative icing! To do so, first place the rest of your pre-melted butter in a bowl. Gradually, while stirring, add your powder sugar to the butter. Mixed these together until you are left with a smooth and delicious smelling icing butter!
When your cupcakes are ready, take them out of the oven with a pair off oven gloves because they will be very hot! Leave them to cool in the baking tin for a minute as they will be to hot to handle. Once they are cool enough to touch take each cupcake case and place them on a cooling rack to cool further.

Once the cupcakes are cool, you can decorate your cupcakes with the icing! You can do this in a number of different ways, one of which is taking a generous amount of icing and smoothing it onto the top of the cupcake using a spoon. If you have an icing tube however, you can make your cupcakes look very professional. When I decorated the cupcakes I made them Valentine's Day styled and added little pink and purple hearts to top of the icing for even more decoration. Decorating is personal so do whatever you think will look great!

Monday 11 February 2013

Outfit Of The Day • Docs and Skulls

Hey everyone! Here's another Outfit of the Day for you all. When I woke up this morning, I felt like wearing an outfit that was easy going, but I also really wanted to wear my Docs. I looked in my wardrobe and saw my skull top I bought in Topshop the last time I was in their and thought it was time I wore it. The reason I hesitate to wear it to school is because the underarm part goes very low. As this is in inappropriate for school I wore a plain black spaghetti top underneath! As I was already wearing a black and white top and planning on wearing very black shoes I decided to go for some grey leggings that I got from Zara a few years ago. These are very comfy and easy going during the day! I hope you all have a lovely day! xoxo


Thursday 7 February 2013

January Favourites


Pro-Prime by Nars
My first favourite of this month is the Pro Prime from Nars. I bought this when I was shopping in the summer at Selfridges even though I was not intending to buy any type of primer. I went in for foundation but also came out with this. The great part about this primer is that it is oil free, yet still moisturizes your face ready for foundation. I blend it in with my foundation brush and let the air get to it so it isn't too moist when I apply my foundation. I think it’s important your face has a healthy moisture to it during the day, so this product is perfect as it is keeping my face feeling fresh as well as keeping my foundation in place. 


Studio Sculpt Foundation by MAC
This next product is an old one that has made its way back into my life. When in New York last winter I bought my self a tube of the Studio Sculpt foundation by MAC because I had heard many good things about it. When it came to summer I stopped using it though, because it’s quite an oily foundation, so if your skin is already very moist it’s a bad idea. I moved on to the amazing Nars Sheer Matte Foundation, however my face started to feel quite dry when the months got colder so I gave this a go again just last month and it’s been great! I think it’s definitely a winter foundation because it’s got moisture which your face needs during dry and cold months.  



Mineralize Skinfinsh by MAC
The first MAC product that has been working with me this month is the (name of product). I received it as a Christmas present from my mum and I have not stopped using it since! When I apply the product I use a little at a time lightly and carefully because it is highly pigmented. It has an ever so slight natural shimmer look to it, which gives a healthy glow look to your face. There is a lot of product so I’m sure it’ll last me a long time! To apply it I use the product below!


Angle Brush 168 by MAC
With the MAC ------- my mum also gave me this MAC angle brush in the number 168. Before I didn’t have a good enough brush to contour my face, so this was a much appreciated Christmas gift! It works very well, and the quality of the brush is wonderful.  When applying powder to your face, hairs never fall out of the brush, which can be very annoying. I find a brush does effect the application of your make up and the results it gives, so a good quality brush is always great. The way it angles allows you too apply your powder easily, placing more powder in one area and less in another.



Stippling Brush by Real Techniques
The next brush that has made it to the hit list this month is the Stippling Brush by Real Techniques. Over the past few months I have been hearing positive reviews both by beauty YouTuber's and blogger's so I thought I would give it a go for myself. My previous foundation brush made my face look like a painting so I thought it was time to try something new. I bought it for £11 in boots December just gone, and I have not stopped using it ever since! I have to say it is one of the best beauty products I have ever bought. The mixture of long white and short black hair, it spreads your foundation evenly leaving a very blended and natural outcome. I recommend this brush to anyone who is not happy with the application of their make up!


Beauty Blender by Cosmopolitan
The last make up applier I have been loving this month is the Beauty Blender by Cosmopolitan. It’s a cheaper version of the real Beauty Blender which is about three times as much money, so I thought £6 was more than enough to spend! I use this to blend my concealer under my eyes and any red areas on my face. By dabbing lightly it blends unlike any other make up sponge, because it's a lot harder. After I've applied my foundation and still feel it isn't completely blended to my satisfaction, I use the fatter end of the Blender to sort it out. I have been using this since I bought it in the summer of 2012 and am still loving it!



Smokey Eye Palette by Benefit
The first eye beauty product that I have been using a lot this month is the Smokey Eye Palette by Benefit. I got this over a year ago and since then I have been using it, but not for the purpose it was made for! I don’t use it create smokey eyes but use the eye brow filler instead to fill my eyebrows. The creamy and pigmented texture works well because it defines my eyebrows as well as keeping them a shape a like. I haven't really used any other method to fill my eyebrows so if any off you have any good product I should try just comment below!


Eye Liner Pen by Catrice
This is my most recent product that I have purchased. I bought it just a week ago so it might be wrong to call it a favourite of a month but I thought it deserved a place. I have been looking for an eye liner for what feels like forever that creates a winged effect without smudging. My liquid eye liner from Body Shop has let me down as it takes mere hours before it decides to smudge away and all kohl pencils I use do the same. I saw this eye liner pen and tried it on my hand in the shop and loved the application. After a minute I rubbed it quite hard to see if it would smudge and it didn't! It cost me €4 (around £3.50) so I gave it ago and have been loving it ever since!


Matte Finish Nail Varnish by Rimmel London
My last favourite product of the month is the Matte Finish Nail Varnish by Rimmel London. A few months ago I tried a pot my friend bought and was blown away by the fact nail varnish could be matte, so when I came across it in Boots in December for £4 I couldn’t say no! It’s terrible as a top coat and chips within a day, so instead of giving up on it I first apply a top coat on the my colour nail varnish and then apply the Matte Finish. I am wearing a pastel purple colour with the Matte effect on as I type this blog post and it has stayed on for three days. The bottle days up to ten days, but I suspect it’ll come of within the next few days. 

Thank you for reading this blog post on this January’s favourites! I hope you enjoyed it and if you prefer to listen me than read, there is a video on my YouTube channel, monicaaliceeShow, so be sure to check it out! See you all soon xoxo

 

Sunday 3 February 2013

Outfit Of The Day • After the snow has melted



Hello everyone, I hope you are all doing well! Here's an outfit I wore just two days ago. We have had terrible snow for the past week, so I was happy when the weather warmed up a little. I wore a baggy and lose jumper I bought at Cheap Monday in the Christmas sales and some grey leggings I bought a long time ago in Zara. I love the jumper because it is almost like you are wearing a cape due to the back being longer than the front. Since I was already wearing a baggy top part I wanted the bottom part of the outfit to be tighter so that is why I went for leggings. That day it was around 5 degrees, so I need some nice chunky boots to keep my feet warm so i went for my Docs! 



Don't forget to check out my Look Book, at lookbook.nu/monicaalicee, and hype the look above before you leave, it would mean a lot to me and let me know you like what I'm doing! I hope you all have a great day xoxo