Homemade Chicken Soup for the Soul and things I've Pinned lately...

My last post outlined, in a nutshell, what I've been up to lately.
Or lack of apart from being excited about my pregnancy.

So as promised from one of the pictures as you've probably guessed it's the recipe for that delish chicken soup!

Ingredients

1 size 18 chicken *preferably free range
1 of each King Soup mix (or what ever you swear by) Hearty Veges and Chicken
1 Campbell's liquid chicken stock
4 measured cups of hot water
3 med sized red potatoes w/skin on, diced
1 leek sliced
1/2 grated turnip
1 med carrot, grated
2 tbsp rock salt and cracked pepper
1 crock pot on high heat

Step 1

Turn crock pot on and add in the water, chicken stock, soup mix and salt and pepper.
Stir then place the chicken in and cover
Allow to cook for 2 hours then combine all the veges and add in some extra salt.

*feel free to add as many veges as you like! My pot was small so I couldn't fit in broccoli, pumpkin and cauliflower.

Step 2

Leave the soup to cook for 2 1/2 hours and serve with sliced baguette and butter, easy as that!

*The soup does tend to thicken more if you feel it is too soupy to begin with. So leave it overnight and you'll notice the change in consistency and flavour!

From left to right.
Yummy wholesome veges! The chicken after cooking for two hours.
Adding in the veges.
The soup after sitting overnight, thicken and totally irresistible!

My mum taught me how to make this soup. It was so much fun making it with her too.
She's great with simple meals that pack a punch and I can't wait to teach my little one one day :-)

Also here's some pics that I pinned on my Pinterest account the last week

Yummy sugar and cinnamon pancakes!

Love the simplicity of the makeup with a standout orange pout

True words

Beautiful soft home decor

can't resist pinning a beautiful statement necklace!

So back on you my lovelies, do you have any great recipes that have been handed down that's you're 'never fail'?
And are any of you on Pinterest? If so, please give me a link to you're account and let's follow each other! :-)

Hope to hear from you!
Much love

XOXOX

Why hello there....

Hey everyone!

I know it's been a while since I've written, trust me there hasn't been anything too exciting to post about unless you wanna hear about my day at work LOL!

But seriously here's what I've been up to the last month besides work via pic's...

An awesome 1920's themed party Andrei and I went to for a friend who left for Australia

Winter has finally hit N.Z so it seemed plausible to make some homemade chicken soup! *recipe to follow

Watched the latest Iron Man movie in 3D! Was worth the money, had great laughs and awesome action plus delivered an a great story line as always :-)

Details on a new top I purchased from this cool hidden store in the city called 'Smoove As Fuck'. I kid you not that's the name!

My lovely new pair of winter boots to wear at work! They're so comfy I feel like there isn't even a heel!

I've lost weight! Around this time last year I was 70kg, so I've lost 10 in total! I'm now as it shows above (132lbs) and couldn't be happier, I trained friggin hard for it!

So yeah, nothing much in the ways of awesomeness besides some cool purchases and my weight loss achievement.

Although...I feel I'm forgetting something.....

Oh that's right!
Just two weeks ago I found out that I'm PREGNANT!

I can hardly believe it, it's still so surreal and definitely explains alot of how I've been feeling lately!
I'm very excited and it totally took Andrei and I by surprise, we both thought we'd never have kids just cause of the fact we were so used to it just being us but we're over the moon!

Here are a few snippets of what's been happening since we found out :-)

My first test I took was positive so I didn't feel the need to freak out and take another one. Whenever I've had 'scares' this has never happened!

First scan which was done last week was amazing! Baby already has a little heart beat :-)

close up of my little jelly bean *that will be his/her name until we know the sex

I was heading out to the gym this morning and thought it'll be good to document the changes with my body.  As you can see there isn't anything yet but obviously there will be!

I've also taken the liberty of grabbing a pregnancy documentation of how I'm feeling etc from one of my fave blogs Veronika's Blushing as she's also expecting (in two weeks apparently!), so here's the scoop!

How far along? 6.5 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I've lost 1kg.
 
Maternity clothes? None at the moment. I will be needing to by some new jeans though as the ones I have are too loose.

Stretch marks? None. I'm making sure after every shower I moisterise my body with body butters that I have from The Body Shop. Once I run out then I'll be using Bio Oil. 
Symptoms: Tiredness, tiredness and more tiredness! I slept for 15hours last night and it still doesn't feel enough! I get light headed and dizzy easily too and I get very light to no morning sickness. It comes and goes every 2days.

Sleep: Like I mentioned above, I don't feel comfy sleeping on my belly anymore.

Best moment this week: Getting to sleep in!

Have you told family and friends: Yes!

Miss Anything? Having energy and being less tired. I've read it subsides after the first trimester. I pray to god it does!

Movement: No movement yet but I do feel the little one tense up when I stress or do little flips when I'm happy which is cute!

Food cravings: Nothing out of the norm. I'm not eating like I used to I.E. junk food as it makes me feel quite sick now so I'm eating incredibly healthy and watching and reading about what is and what isn't good to eat while I'm pregnant.

Have you started to show yet: Nothing yet as per the photo above. I tend to have a little bump later in the day/evening though.

Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! And I have a lovely glow already which has attracted A LOT of attention which is nice :-) I do however get grumpy when I'm hungry and it was never an issue before.
Exercising? Yes. I'm making sure I go at least 3days a week, 45mins to an hour each time. I've cut back on a lot of things I used to do and I've stopped working on my tummy focusing more on my chest, arms, legs, bum and posture.

Baby is a: Have no idea yet! But I feel like it's a boy...

Belly Button in or out? In.

Looking forward to: Looking for a midwife, birthing hospital, my 12week scan and organising my baby shower and maternity shots!

So that's me for now, I feel so blessed and lucky in this moment.
All our friends and family have given nothing but great feedback and Andrei's going to make a fantastic daddy :-)

I'll keep you posted on more later, hope you enjoyed my latest!

XOXOX

Rotorua Road Trip!



A crisp beautiful foggy morning drive in rural Auckland

 {WARNING! Heaps of awesome photo's}

Kia Ora everyone!

Last month, my partner  Andrei and I decided to do a little something different for a date day and head on a 2.5hour drive down to Rotorua instead of sitting for 2.5hours in a movie theatre as it seems to be what we would normally do.

So without further adieu, here's the story :-)

Half way there! We left at 6am and made it there by 9am.

Starting the day off on the luge! It was so much fun, all you could hear was us screaming down the hill with laughter :-)
It was a little pricey but it was so worth it!

Gorge view of Rotorua on the gondolas

Up really high on the lift taking us back up the hill from the luge.

I just remembered what the trip was for!
Once a year, like how the American's have the 4th of July, Kiwi's have Waitangi Day which celebrates the British (NZ Euro) and Maori people coming together as one and sharing the land and what the country has to offer with eachother.
In other words, a peace treaty was signed.
So everyone in the country is entitled to a day off and the night before Andrei and I thought of what we could do to spend the day.
Like I said above, seeing a movie was out of the question and after being together for nearly 6years you need to change it up a wee bit; and we've been wanting to go to Rotorua for a long time so we booked in a sulphur spa at Hells Gate Geothermal Park, got our things together so we could head off early and kind of went from there!

Here's our experience of the famous Hells Gate :-)


Entry to Hells Gate :-)



Cute pic of Andrei as we start the one hour walk around the thermal park

Wouldn't mind having a soak in that if only it wasn't 70degrees!
Devil's Bath, very appropriate name.

boiling mud pools

Beautiful thermal waterfall

Story of the waterfall.

Not a cloud in the sky!

Beautiful walk ways made for a nice walk around the park

The steaming cliffs were impressive!

close up of a mud pool

dipping our feet in the mud pool after the walk, it was absolute heaven!

Had a good 40min soak in the 40degree Sulphur Spa. Came out feeling so amazing and refreshed, will definitely have to make another visit and try the Mud Bath!

Almost time to leave, had lunch on the boardwalk.

Beautiful view of Lake Rotorua. They also had little pedal boats which you could ride on in the lake.
That'll be for another time.

So the whole visit was worth the while.
We both had so much fun doing the touristy kind of things and plus just having quality time together :-)

There is still so much to do in Rotorua such as the zorb, Paradise Valley Springs, the River Jet etc which you can check out on the tourist website here.
So if you haven't been to Rotorua or even to New Zealand it is definitely worth the trip!

The drive from Auckland to get there is exquisite and it's a friendly community. Just make sure you have enough to do the activities you want!

That's all from me for today peep's. You'll hear from me soon!

XOXOX

You sweet little....er...tart

So last month I blogged about an amazing local strawberry and fresh produce farm and how delish there ice creams were!

I also promised to blog about a strawberry tart with the berries that they sold.

Unfortunately for me I left it a little late and they no longer were in season :-(
BUT! I fished around and managed to get two punnets from a supermarket to make my delish Nectarine, Vanilla Strawberry Tart.

So what brought the idea on was my fave cake makers (City Cake Co.) had this exquisite strawberry tart that wanted, but again I was too late to order it.
So using what initiative I had I decided to make one and here's my little outcome which I'm sure will activate some cravings :-)

The colours really POP!

Added some cachous in the middle to make the tart look almost like a flower :-)

This is extremely easy to make as well.
All you need is:

Shortcrust pastry
1 egg for smoothing over the pastry
baking paper

Vanilla Creme:
4 egg yolks
100g Caster Sugar
25g plain sifted flour
1tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup of butter milk
x2 cups of dry rice or cooking beans

Method:

Preheat oven to 180degrees, line the tin with butter and then lay the shortcrust pastry in line with the tin but not so the pastry is sticking out over the edge.

Brush the egg over the pastry and then lay the baking paper down and pour the two cups of rice or beans as so it bakes evenly.

Bake for 6-10mins then allow to cool.

While that is taking place to make the vanilla creme, beat egg yolks, sugar and flour until smooth in a bowl.

Then place vanilla and milk in a pan, heat gently until almost boiling then pour  into the egg yolk mix whisking as you go.

Return the mix back into the pan and stir over medium heat until it starts to simmer then beat mix well to remove lumps then simmer for a further 2mins.

If you can, remove the shortcrust form the tin and place on a plate.

Remove from heat and cover with cooking paper so it doesn't form a film and allow creme to fully cool.

Once cooled, fold in 2tablespoons of buttermilk then spoon mix onto the pastry.

Arrange berries or other fruits on top and serve with a side of ice cream/cream and devour!

Piece of cake!

Well in this case, tart :P

I had to stop myself from eating it, it was so delicious!

It's even nice just eating it on it's lonesome :-)

So do you have any new treats that you've baked up lately that you absolutely swear by?

I'd love to hear it!

Cheers for reading :-)

XOXOX

A touch of Gold

Via my last post I promised some good things were coming.

 If you happened to see some gold booties in there, you weren't dreaming :P


I got these beauties with my staff discount as I work in a fabulous shoe store!
They weren't my first choice but I couldn't resist the gold sparkles and rustic look to them!
They go pretty much with anything and will keep my feet quite warm in winter as they are leather upper and lined - quality over quantity I always say!



For Valentines Day, Andrei (knowing me too well) got me a M.A.C voucher, and I knew exactly what I wanted :-)
I'm loving gold e/s at the mo and this shade is perfect!
It has a kind of green undertone which works well with my hazel eyes.
As you can see the pic I mixed with density's with and without water.
I ended up dong a FOTN with it plus a mix with my other e/s, here is the outcome...

My full makeup application is pretty much applied the same as it was in my last makeup post, with the exemption of adding my M.A.C Black Track e/l to this application obviously to line my upper and smudging into my lower lashline; plus using my other new M.A.C e/s 3/4 of the upper lid and using The Body Shops Starlight e/s in crease and 1/2 of the lid.

This pic shows the technique used quite nicely :-) Please excuse my unplucked eyebrows, I'm trying to grow them thicker I.E. Lily Collins, Anne Hathaway etc.

This photo, as nice as it is, does the graduating shades no justice!

My next little splurge was for Andrei's Birthday, and I knew exactly what to get him :-)

These gorgeous men's shoes are also from the store I work in. They are definitely Andrei's style, quite casual but quite dressy as well and can be worn all year round! They also have unique patch working detail with a nubuck toe puff and leather based around the rest of the shoe and a nice little detail to the sole :-)
So if you're stuck looking for a great gift for you're man, shoe's never go amiss as they're always needing a new pair!
My company, Overland Footwear, ships free around NZ and I think they do a bit of shipping overseas too :-)



And last but not least :)
I wanted this oversized shirt ever since it came out! But it way to expensive at the time, I'm so glad I waited for to go on sale!
NZD$29 from NZD$150 is quite a sale price, I snapped it up straight away. Added bonus, it's 100% pure silk and goes with anything - wardrobe staple for sure!
And Pinterest has been no help with flashing all these gorge statement necklaces. While shopping around yesterday I wasn't really looking for anything in particular; I walked into the Portmans store and saw plenty I wanted (as you do) but couldn't afford. And just as I was leaving empty handed I glanced over and saw they had 'Nothing Over $20 necklaces" and snapped up this gorge Mint Statement Necklace which was reduced from NZD$45!
I couldn't believe my luck that day, I've always been a great bargain hunter and this was no exception - def pays to look around :-)

So that is me for the day everyone, I hope you enjoyed reading and my lastest gave you some inspiration for the next time you go shopping :-)

I'll definately be following up with some outfits and faces of the day and night soon.

Until next time!

XOXOX