What I Ate Today #01 - Quick Chilli Chicken Stir Fry

As an avid cook I love to think of fresh but quick meals. I hate ready made meals and would rather spend an extra 10 minutes prepping in the kitchen to make something I know is good for me. So I've decided to start a new series on this blog called "What I Ate Today". A place to share what I whip up at the kitchen and hopefully inspire myself to come up with new and fun dishes to try out.

Last night I got home from the gym and wanted a meal that had lots of protein and some carbs with a fresh taste. So I whipped up what I call my chilli chicken stir fry.

Ingredients

1 large chicken breast

1 red chilli 

Small handful of spring onions

1 small clove of garlic

A few slices of ginger

75g grams of rice (white or brown)

1 Egg

Soy Sauce

Place the rice in cold water and set to boil. It should take about 15 minutes.

Chop up your chicken breast.

Chop up your chilli, spring onion, garlic and ginger.

Heat up your wok with a small bit oil then add the chicken, garlic & oil.

Then add your chilli and spring onions.

Once the rice has cooked, drain and add to the wok to fry for a couple of minutes.

Beat an egg and add it to a well in the wok. Once it starts to set mix in with the rest of the food to get it to cook through.

After another minute it's ready to serve. Pop into a bowl and add as much soy sauce as you like.

Get your chopsticks out and enjoy a healthy quick dinner. If you want to make this even healthier here's a few tips for you:

- Use brown rice instead of white

- Add lots of other veggies such as bean sprouts, mange tout or pak choi.

- Instead of rice pop all the ingredients into a chicken stock to make a spicy chicken soup

Let me know if you like the idea of this new series and if there's any recipes you think I should try out!

Tanice

San Francisco Collection by OPI

Left to Right: First Date at the Golden Gate, Muir Muir on the Wall, In the Cable Car-Pool Lane, Peace & Love & OPI 

My Mum always puts mini OPI sets in my stocking which I love because I get to try lots of different colours from a brand which is a little expensive to buy one larger bottle. This year I was treated to the San Francisco Collection; four mini bottles in colours that slightly differ to what I would have chosen myself. Mum knows I have a lot of nudes, blues and pinks so these wintery colours were a welcome addition to my collection.

First Date at the Golden Gate 

A ruby red with a slight shimmer. I don't actually have a decent quality red in my collection and this applies beautifully. 

Muir Muir on the Wall 

A metallic grey with hints of plum shimmer throughout. It's also slightly brown in some lights and I haven't seen a colour this before. This would make a lovely accent nail to go with purple tones.

In the Cable Car-Pool Lane 

 OPI describes this as a burgundy but I think it's a

beautiful plum/berry colour. I find non shimmery shades apply a lot thicker and the shine in OPI never fails me. This is my favourite shade even though I probably have about 5 others like this in my stash. 

Peace & Love & OPI

A holographic colour which is grey in some lights with hints of green and purple running through it. I think this will be the stand out colour for most people but I'm not a huge shimmer fan. Saying that I can't deny it's a rare colour that applies beautifully (but a little thin so three layers needed).

I really think this set is quite eclectic in the sense they are all different colours but all compliment each other at the same time. I think this is a perfect little set for the colder seasons and would make a really nice gift. 

If you like this collection the set is available on ASOS here.

Spending Ban Week #1

I just thought I would throw in some pictures of my grandparent's cats. Meet Fluffy, Maisie and Katy. Anyways let's look at how I did this week.

Monday
£0 spent.

Tuesday
£0 spent.

Wednesday
£0 spent.

Thursday
£0

Friday
£11 - Dinner at Harvester. The healthy eating is going well. Nawwwt.  

Saturday
£8.96 - Supermarket - Baby shampoo and healthy snacks for lunches next week at work. 

Sunday
£30 Car Tax.
£29.10 Prescription Pre-Payment Certificate

Total
£79.06


I've got the start of a cold coming so literally stayed in all weeknights to sleep to be honest. I spent Friday night catching up with friends over dinner and Saturday redesigning my blog with Mia so I haven't really needed to spend money on things I don't need. I got my affairs in order by paying my car tax and a 3 month prescription payment as I have been quite poorly lately and trying to different to help me out! So all grown up & necessary things purchased really. I'm pretty proud of week one!

Friends with Benefits.

I love my friends. I especially love it when they spoil me with a huge sack of presents from America. Mia over at Pretty Eclectic is one of most best friends and went to Colorado over the festive season and came back with all this GOODNESS!  

Being the beauty junkie I am (and she knows this) she treated me to some products which we can't get over here! A Peppermint Kiss Kringle candle which smells so different than any candles I own but really refreshing; I'm going to save this one for next Xmas. A Bath and Body Works Cranberry Pear Bellini which I actually asked or as I love this scent so much! She also got us some anti-bac gel, a beautiful blue nail polish and 2 lip balms; a dos EOS apple balm which smells incredible and a Maybelline Baby Lips in a colour you get get in the UK just yet! Finally she got me a Victoria's Secret Coconut Passion Spray - she knows my love for beaches and holidays and this smells like the caribbean in a bottle!

She also knows that I have a very big sweet tooth and a certain fondness for American candy! My favourite flavours are anything grape or watermelon as it's so hard to get in the UK. I got the usual Wonka Nerds and Mike & Ike's but also got saltwater taffy which I haven't had in about 6 years! This stash will certainly keep me going (and destroy any thoughts of dieting in January). 

This is not a bragging post (ok maybe it is because I have all this super new awesome stuff) but I'm so excited by it all. And I love my friend for treating me to it all so wanted so her how much I love it! Thank you Mia! Oh go over to her blog and look at all the over stuff she got in the States Disclaimer: She went a little crazy.  Here's the link. 

The People's Choice Awards 2014

I wanted to share a few of my favourite (and not so favourite) outfits from The People's Choice Awards  in LA last night.

I loved Anna Faris' trouser suit. It's a fun outfit choice but looks really classy. Although the legs a bit too long!

I think Lucy looks amazing here but I do think if the dress was shorter it would suit her age more! None the less I think the print is really fun!

White is a bold choice but Jennifer Hudson pulls it off; her skin looks amazing and I like how she kept it simple with her accessories.

Kat's focused on her but uh hum assets. The dress is a bit too ball gowny for my liking but there's no denying how beautiful she looks. 

Naya looks stunning here. Very Kim Kardashian / Jennifer Lopez hybrid. I don't really get the train at the back but I love the strappy nude shoes and the figure hugging structure of the dress.

I really don't like this look, I think Jessica looks a little cheap and I think she just draws attention to her chest area (or lack of). Not that there's anything wrong with being graced with small boobs but I would have drawn attention to the arms or legs instead. Oh and I hate white shoes!

Greer has my favourite look of the night! This dress is beautiful, it suits her pale skin tone and I like that her hair is swept back to keep the focus on the intricate neckline. I wish I had this dress so much!

Who wore your favourite look?

*Pictures taken from Heatworld and Daily Mail Online*

Christmas Sale Clothing Haul.

Primark £10

I know this dress wasn't in the sale but at £10 it's most definitely a steal. I wore this New Years Eve with a big chunky necklace. I do love a bit a tartan.

New Look £19.99 £6.00

New Look £19.99 £9.00

New Look £60.00 £30.00

I call this my Grandma coat with an edge. My parents got me a New Look voucher for Christmas and I spotted this in the mess that was the store. It's nice to have a bit of colour as most of my coats are dark blues and blacks.

Hollister £49 £29.40

Hollister £39.00 £23.40

Hollister £49.00 £32.00

I used to buy a few bits from Hollister when I was younger but their prices are pretty steep but the Boxing Day sale was pretty amazing and I like to have comfy lounging around clothes for after work. I have pretty much been living in these since they arrived in the post.

I also got a few beauty bits which I will do a full review one when I've tested them out. I may have caved and bought something from Alpha H…oops. 

2014 New Year Resolutions

Before we look at this year let's see how I did with last year's resolutions? 

Be Happy. 

Of course not everyday went swimmingly but overall it was a good year. It wasn't super exciting all year but I worked my butt off & I feel I have started to really build a career; something that's very important in making me happy at the moment! 

Travel More. 

I went to Barcelona and Rome last year, two cities I've always wanted to visit so I would definitely say I accomplished this.

Volunteer. 

Unfortunately life got in the way, I got my first proper full time job and time just slips by. I would still love to try and get the time to do this.

Sleep More.

Having to get up early every week day I have definitely achieved this. I am in bed by 11pm with the lights off every week night to get a decent 8 hours a night. 

Get Dressed Up More.

I've definitely become more comfortable in myself throughout the last year and have loved experimenting with my make up and style. 

Save Money.

Can we skip this one? I have to commute an hour to work, I got a new car and decided to get a Macbook which all cost me money. I have finally paid off my student overdrafts and my finance plan for the laptop which is a big plus though. I put a big chunk of my December away so technically I have saved a little.

This year's resolutions are as follows:

Improve my mental wellbeing.

I've recently suffering from a severe bout of anxiety and panic attacks which is really scary for me. It's difficult because I'm trying to understand what my body is going through as I have no idea why I'm so worried. I'm getting the help I need but definitely want to start focusing on ways to relieve the stress and anxiety, yoga perhaps?

Read more books. 

I was a total book worm when I was a child & I can read about 5 books in a week on holiday. Why? Because I had free time. I want to read more classic books, the kind of books people have talked about for generations. I think reading really helps to get you to unwind before bed so I want to make the time to do this before bed a few nights a week.

Spend more time with my Sister.

We live together but we barely see each other due to work and our busy lives. We are both planning on doing things this year that may mean we move out (or in her case take her to Asia) so it would be nice to have nights out and dinners to spend quality time before we go our separate ways for a while.

Save Money.

This time I freakin' mean it. 

Blog at least three times a week. 

I go through phases of writing lots and writing nothing. I love my blog and having a hobby where I look back and look at the things I've done. I plan on doing a lot more lifestyle posts this year.

Go Running at Least Twice a Week.

Over the summer I was running nearly everyday. It's so therapeutic for me and I think exercise leads to a healthy mind as well as body so again will help with my mental wellbeing. I didn't want to put a weight loss resolution because I try to eat healthily as much as possible anyway, it's sticking to exercising in the colder months which is the struggle. I'm lucky to have a free gym at work so am planning on making the most of it with my work buddy.