My Seafood Pasta

I love seafood pasta so much that every time we are in an Italian restaurant, that is my default order. Whether we are in Carluccio's, Bella Italia or Loch Fyme, you can always guess my order. It has been a while since we visited this restaurants and I have been craving for my seafood pasta. So, I decided to have it in the comforts of my own kitchen.

I have scoured the internet for a recipe and little did I know that I have it in one of my recipe books gathering dust in my kitchen work top. Imagine my surprise and glee as it is from one of my fave celebrity chefs, Gino D' Acampo.

I gathered my ingredients without delay.

The recipe was quite simple and easy though I had to tweak it a bit in the end as it lacked something when I tasted it. I added a knob of butter once everything was cooked and that added more taste and creaminess. It was buttery, garlicky and hot at the same time. It was loveliness in a bowl.

Gino's on the left and mine on the right.

Mine looked a bit bland and bare as I did not have tomatoes available in my kitchen but the taste definitely was not compromised. I really enjoyed it beyond words. And so did the husband.

Here's the recipe:

LINGUINE WITH GARLIC, PRAWNS AND SPINACH

300g linguine

salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 garlic clove,slice

150g spinach leaves

400g uncooked prawns, peeled

4 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsely

grated zest of 1 unwaxed lemon

10 cherry tomatoes quartered

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan in plenty of boiling salted water until al dente.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan, heat the oil over a medium heat and fry the garlic for 1 minute until golden brown. Add the spinach and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the prawns with the parsley and season with salt and pepper. Stir well and continue to cook for 2 minutes.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the frying pan, then lower the heat.

Add the lemon zest and cherry tomatoes and stir everything together for 30 seconds. Serve immediately.

I added a knob of butter on the pan and once melted, I stir and mixed with the finished product. 

Enjoy!

Spring

Below is taken a couple of weeks back and I was already able to see clear blue skies and the trees are actually alive again. The temperature was still not as warm but I can assure you, it is so much warmer now in the double digits.

Now that the most awaited season is here, it is time to prepare as the heat can also take it's toll on our health. 

1.  It is always good to stay hydrated during the warmer months to keep you cool as it will affect your health and skin especially. It is always best to carry around with you a bottle of water.

 2. Eat healthy. I am not saying we only eat healthy during the warmer months but it is the best time to do so as winter time always makes us comfort eat and sometimes, well most of the time, we cannot help it.

 3. Take extra care of your skin. I say extra because during the winter months, we still need to take care of our skin as it can really dry out and even during winter, we still really do need to wear spf and sunblock. But during the summer, we slather on higher spf and a lot of sunblock. Nobody wants premature ageing.

 4. Take longer walks. Exercise more. Invest on new workout wear, jogging shoes and exercise videos when you just want to do your exercises in the comforts of your home.

5. And lastly, always stop and smell the flowers...because before you know it, they would have disappeared and it is winter all over again.

The Bedroom That Ikea Made

Our house and Ikea have a long standing love affair. Ikea is our "go to" place for anything related to house furnishing. Over the weekend, we finally bought all that we needed for the bedroom and it is now more or less finished...looking like an Ikea show room. But I don't mind one single bit. I love it to bits in fact!

Things That Make Me Happy {April}

Small things make me happy. It could be as simple as a  bunch of flowers or a movie at home.

Here are some random things that make this girl happy.

1. A lovely chocolate cake 2. My favorite seafood pasta 3. Brewed coffee on weekends 4. A well made hair 5. Costa 6. A new lipstick 7. Our lovely bedroom

Flower Power

I have been a fan of Drew Barrymore since I was a child. I watched her movies, followed her personal life  and have read an autobiography or two. I knew that there was a cosmetic product that she has been developing but since it was not a collaboration with a big cosmetic company but rather with Walmart, I though it will not be available here in the UK. I got excited only when a friend who lives in America asked me to pick from Drew's cosmetic line website the ones I like and she will send them to me. I would normally read or see on Youtube a review of the product first before I get something. The only thing that jumped out at me in the product reviews that I saw was the lip butter.

When it arrived through the post, I tried it straight away and true enough, it looked as lovely on my lips as it did on the girl who did the review. It glides on my lips and it does not dry them  at all. I would not recommend it to substitute a proper lipstick though as the color fades in a couple of hours or so. I found, I needed to keep on reapplying it. But as the name implies, it is a lip butter and not a lipstick. It is best for lazy days or for a quick nip to the shops.

I forgot to mention, the packaging is lovely and it looks great next to my perfume bottles.

My friend also sent me a mascara but I have yet to try it.

http://flowerbeauty.com/

School Run(way)

For the last six months, school run outfits were limited to non exciting tees layered with cardigan, a winter coat plus a scarf, snow cap and snow boots. Not very yummy mummy.

Now that Spring weather is here or cardigan weather as I call it, I can again pick exciting outfits. Most would just pick a sweat shirt, jeans and trainers or rubber shoes but not me, I do not think I even own a sweat shirt. If I do, it is limited to be only worn at home. Making an effort on how you dress and look is not being vain. For me, it is giving importance to oneself and if I made an effort with my clothes and put on some makeup, I feel I can conquer the world. Ok, probably not the world but a lot of things LOL.

Here is the stage mommy's school run outfit for today.

A basic striped long sleeved tee paired with black skinnies and a pair of silver pumps. It was a bit chilly so I wrapped a beige scarf round my neck to complete the look.

The yellow mac gave the neutral tee and jeans a splash of color and walking down the street made me feel like I was walking down my very own catwalk,haha.

all images on this post taken from the web and not my own

Spring At Last

We have been waiting for Spring for the longest time.

 It seemed like Winter overstayed its welcome.

Today, the sun came out with a vengeance and albeit still a bit chilly, it really made this girl happy.