Butternut squash soup with chilli & crème fraîche

Hey guys! April here, and I'm making soup!

(This is what its ment to look like!)

Soups are the only way I will eat any sort of vegetables, so I try and make lots of different types of soups to keep up my 5 a day veg!

Here I’m going to tell you how to make my favourite soup-

Butternut squash soup with chilli & crème fraîche

Serves 4

Calories Protein Carbs Fat  Saturates Fibre Sugar  Salt

  264           5g          28g    15g     7g           6g      17g   0.61g

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, about 1kg, peeled and deseeded

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

2 onions, diced

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

2 mild red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped

850ml hot vegetable stock

4 tbsp crème fraîche, plus more to serve

Method

~Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.

~Peal the skin off the squash, I didn't and you could tastes the chunks! yuk

~Cut the squash into large cubes, about 4 cm/1½in across, and then toss in a large roasting tin with olive oil.

(Roast for 30 mins, turning once during cooking, until golden and soft.)

~While the squash cooks, melt the butter with the oil in a large saucepan, then add the onions, garlic and ¾ of the chilli.

(Cover and cook on a very low heat for 15-20 mins until the onions are completely soft.)

~Tip the squash into the pan, add the stock and the crème fraîche, and then whizz with a stick blender until smooth. for a really silky soup, put the soup into a liquidiser and blitz it in batches.

(Be careful with a stick blender! I'm still finding soup all over the kitchen because I lifted it out the pan too early) 

~ season to taste.

~Serve the soup in bowls with swirls of crème fraîche and a scattering of the remaining chopped chilli.

finito! 

 And here is my finished dish! 

I didn't sprinkle more chilli on top of the soup because, for me, it was spicy enough.

So have a go and create this beautiful healthy soup!

Toodlepip xx

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British Summer

As the weather is so hot here in the UK, I thought  would create a British Summer inspired mood board. I love mood boards! Not only are they quick and simple to make, but they are a visual representation of a certain theme or subject mater. I use Pinterest to collect most of my images and then put them together in Photoshop or an online photo collage maker.     

All the images in this mood board can be found by clicking the link below.

http://www.pinterest.com/amreetasagoo/british-summer/

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Jam jar no more!

I recently was looking on Pinterest and found a lot of DIY's of jam jars/ mason jars being turned into tea lights and candles. Some really didn't show how to do it, so I thought I would give it a try.

What you will need!

- Newspaper/ some old matt/ cloth or I used a bin bag to protect the floor/work surface.

- Might be worth having a mask to protect yourself from the fumes from the spray paint.

- Protective clothing

- Fabric- lace or mesh will do.

- Sellotape

- Scissors

- Mason Jar/ bottle

- Spray Paint

The first thing to do!

Firstly I washed the labels off the jar and bottle, also made extra sure there was no jam left in there. :)

Once dry, I wrapped the bottle in the fabric mesh and used Sellotape to fasten it- this may have been a mistake afterwards. I think it may have been easier to place the fabric over the bottle and slowly rotate the mesh around the bottle when spray painting. The only issue it could get a little messy.

I placed this outside but a well ventilated area would have worked to. I put a bin bag on the floor as I didn't want to spray paint the floor. This was then left to stand to dry over night.

Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the mason jar but I used the same method. But instead of the mesh I wrapped the tape around it in a pattern I imagined it to be something like this…

This morning I pealed gently off the Sellotape and mesh and got something like this…

  It didn't work the way I planned, I do like the effect the mesh made and the Sellotape was actually water tight, as I thought it may let the paint bleed in. I think a thinner tape may have been better so there was a pattern left in a neater form. Or use maybe string to get more zebra, line effect.

It wasn't an epic fail and the best thing about spray paint with a big scrub it does peel off and so you can start again. 

So please try my method and take my advice and hopefully you will have a better result than this :)

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P.S. I totally forgot to say pop in a tea light once completed to get the final look and effect, or use it to keep you paint brushes in like I will be doing. 

April's Beauty Favs!

Hey guys! this week i decided to show a list of my must haves in any beauty product collection!this post features products like; Moroccan oil, Tee Tree oil, The porefessional, Bb cream, Tanya burr Lip gloss, Toning cream. i've linked all the products, so if you like my recommendation give the product ago!

Product One- 

This product is my lifesaver! Wherever I go, this product is safely packed with me! After a hair-dyeing incident last year, this here bottle became my best friend! And yes, this 100ml bottle has lasted me a year! The oil has nursed my hair back to health after being totally obliterated by bleach (it’s a long distressing story) lets just say I was an absolute Muppet.  Anyhoo, I use one squirt of the oil, rub it in my hands, and gently tease through my freshly washed hair, it protects my hair from heat, helps prevent split ends and for me personally, has made my hair grow faster, whether its been down to making my hair stronger and less inclined to snap off or just plain magic- IT WORKS WONDERS! Although the price is a bit on the high side, for what it does, it’s worth every penny, also, it’s lasted a year! So it’s totally worth it!

Product Two-

This product is new to me this month! My mum brought it me and my brother “just to give it a try” AND ITS FLIPPIN MARVELOUS!

It’s an antiseptic and non-drying skin wash with the beautiful incense of Tee Tree. Although I have no problems with my skin, my brother on the other hand gets bad bouts of acne but since he has started using this, his skin is so much better. His face looks fresher with his spots almost totally cleared up!

For me I use it as an evening wash/ cleanse, its amazing at getting off my makeup, it's also moisturises, and freshens up my face. I've been using this wash for a month now and not once have I broke out! It’s also the one wash that doesn't give me an allergic reaction. The Tee Tree smell for me is the cherry on top of the metaphorical cake! It’s glorious!

Product Three-

This Product too is new to me this month,

(I was fed up of using the Maybelline ‘baby skin-instant pore eraser’ it was too thick, made my face feel wet constantly and made me break out on a few occasions) so I splurged on the Benefit Porefessional after reading a mountain of reviews saying how fantastic it was, and yes, I needed to join the bandwagon of positive reviews, it is literally magic in a tube! I have no words to describe its superiority, it’s a brill primer that stops creasing under the eye and helps keep eye shadow put for the whole day! And with its slight tint it’s also good to use as a concealer if you want to wear very basic make up. If I was to rate this product out of 10 I would give it 11 because there is no scale that can contain its ‘amazingness’ 

Product Four-

I was given this product as a gift for Christmas from my Nan, I, quite snobbishly put in the bottom of my make up cupboard where I totally forgot about it. It wasn't till 2 months ago I dug it out and gave it a try; lets just say I totally regret not using this sooner!  It’s a light, smooth cream that suits my skin tone flawlessly, it also has an spf of 15 in there so its been a godsend with all this sun England has been having recently!

Product Five-

I'm a big fan of Tanya Burr’s YouTube channel, so when she started her lips and nails collection I was too excited and had to jump on the hype train! I have to say this gloss is the best gloss I have ever brought, the colour for one is natural looking, beautiful, and tastes good too! (And no, I don't opt for eating lip gloss, its just if you happen to lick your lips) it lasts super long too! I’m going to have to go out and buy some more in different shades, as it looks super cute on! Whether you're going for a natural make up day or you are using it as part of a going out look. My gloss is in the shade “chic” as I wanted a very natural colour to complement my ‘natural’ make up look.

THIS IS A MUST HAVE IN EVERY MAKEUP BAG!

The only flaw i have noticed is, that it can be quite a sticky gloss, anyone with long 'down' hair, in the wind, wearing this gloss is going to have a nightmare

Product Six-

This cream is a bit different to my normal ‘moisturiser’ purchases; it was reduced in Waitrose when I picked it up,. i was totally intrigued/confused by its name, TONING cream!!??  I figured I would give it a go and bloody hell! I popped a splodge on my tummy on the evening after having a bath being totally sceptical tbh and within half an hour my tummy did feel different, it did feel more ‘toned’ now I'm not saying this is a miracle worker it's not a weight loss cream or anything like that but it did make a difference, I can't really explain it but it works. I will use it for a full month and report back results via twitter!

And that’s it guys! My beauty favourites of the month! 

Hope you enjoyed this post and let me know any of your current beauty favourites in the comments or tweet me with @misskimber21

Toodlepip xx

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