Cajun Chicken Pasta

I am a real pasta addict, 

I am always looking for new recipes and ideas for how to cook it.

My brother in law is a wonderful chef and he showed me

 how to make this wonderful creamy cajun pasta.  

He made this for our wedding rehearsal and everyone raved about it, he even converted one of my friends who refuses to eat pasta.  

So I tried making it again at the weekend for my hubby and myself.

I served with Mediterranean bread and dipping sauces of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. 

Ingredients

Chicken Fillets  x 2 

Pasta (I used bow ties but any will do)

Spinach

Onion

Cherry tomatoes

Peppers

Double Cream 

Philadelphia Cheese (1 tbs)

Cajun Spices

Recipe

1. Cut up chicken and cook for a few minutes until lightly browned.  

2. Cook pasta for 10 minutes in a pan of boiling water

3. Add cherry tomatoes, spinach, peppers, and onion, cook for a few minutes until tomatoes are soft

4. Add Cream, and Philadelphia cheese

(The soft cheese will help to thicken the sauce)

5. Add as much spices as required to suit your tastes.  

This is so easy to make and will only take about 20 minutes, perfect for a mid week dinner.

Beauty Favourites Wishlist...Budget Buys Part Two

Hello again! So I'm back with part two of my favourite budget beauty buys for you guys, this time a selection of lovely little things for lips and eyes. 

First up is one of my new favourites, Nyx Butter Gloss. It comes in twelve different shades, the sassy pink below is called Strawberry Parfait. I also love Tutti Frutti, a peachy coral shade and Eclair, a pretty nude pink. These are literally like butter, so smooth, with great pigmentation and not at all sticky. 

Also one of my favorites for lips is Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butter, something that has become somewhat of a cult product. These are really moisturising and deliver a semi-sheer colour with a beautiful shine.  My favourites are the gorgeous Candy Apple which is pictured below, a red-ish coral that really seems to suit me and Raspberry Pie, a sexy vivid fuchsia. 

I found the next product totally by accident, I was ordering some other bits and pieces from E.L.F, spied this and figured I'd give it a whirl...turns out its awesome! It's the Lip Exfoliator from E.L.F. It's packed full of nourishing goodness for your lips and has lots of little scrubby (totally a word...right?) bits in it to make your lips super soft and smooth. I'm crazy about this stuff, it's especially great during the winter months when my lips get dry and flaky.

On to some great products for eyes. This first one also happens to be from E.L.F, its their Essentials Eyelid Primer. I have used the Urban Decay primer in the past and to be completely honest I think this one is almost exactly the same...and at a bargain price of......wait for it......£1.50!!! They come in four shades, each with a different undertone. I have the pearl one and it works with pretty much every shade of eyeshadow. These babies sell out super quick every time they come into stock though so you need to be quick! 

Secondly I have the Wet 'N' Wild Coloricon Eyeshadow Trio in Walking on Eggshells. The only place to get these in the UK is usually Amazon or Ebay and shipped from the US. I found mine on Amazon for £3 plus £3 postage which isn't too pricey. The amazing thing about these eyeshadows though is that they have almost the same buttery smoothness as Urban Decay amd MAC shadows and are really long lasting, especially if you use the Eyelid Primer above. 

The colours of the Walking in Eggshells palette are actually pretty close dupes to some of the most coveted MAC and Urban Decay shadows. The top one is a close match to Urban Decay's Virgin or MAC's Shroom, the middle one is a dead ringer for MAC's Cork and the bottom is a great dupe for MAC's Naked Lunch, Urban Decay's Sin (my holy grail eyeshadow) and actually alot like Stila's Kitten too (which is also one of my favourite ever eyeshadows). I highly recommend this little trio of fabulousness!

So now onto something that is a little easier to find on the high street. Maybelline EyeStudio Color Tattoo 24hr Cream Gel Eyeshadow...wow that's a long title for a product. Anyways...it retails at £4.99 at good old Boots and comes in a bunch of colours. This stuff is amazing, it literally stays on all day. The best thing is you can use it as a base too and layer a similar coloured powder shadow on top and, trust me, it will. not. budge. On and On Bronze is a great classy bronzey brown and Eternal Pink is a pretty shimmering pink. My favourite though is the shade below Everlasting Navy, a beautiful pearly dark blue.

Staying with Miss Maybelline I also can not get enough of this next product. It's the Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Liner and it costs £7.99 at Boots. I had never used gel liner before this one and I was worried I'd just make a total mess of it but lo and behold it was actually easier than applying liquid or kohl. Before this I used Lancome's Artliner which is really goo but honestly I think this is better, I can get a much sharper line with this and a little angled brush than I ever could with the Artliner. 

                  

It comes in black and brown and sometimes you can find it in dark purple and grey too. I've only used the black but I think I might have a look for the brown next time I'm in Boots or Superdrug as I think it will work well for Autumn. It has a lot of great reviews so if you are considering a gel liner then I would definitely have a look at this one as it really surprised me with its smooth formula, ease of use and long lasting colour. 

Well I think that's it. My pick of the best budget beauty buys for lips and eyes. If you missed part one of Budget Beauty Buys for the face and cheeks you can check it out here.

All this chatting about beauty shopping has made me want to buy something new! 

Hope you enjoyed the post! Any questions leave a comment below and I'll get back to you :)

Beauty Favourites Wishlist...Budget Buys Part One

Hello lovelies...Have you read Cheryl's fantastic post Thirty, Flirty and Fabulous ? 
(If you haven't you totally should, some great advice there!) 
I thought I would write a little beauty post since we seem to be on a beauty and fashion kick
 on Magpie and Hen lately. 

Autumn is approaching and it is my favourite season. I just love it. Plus, with every new season comes the chance for new clothes and a new look! 

I'm totally a beauty junkie. Utterly and completely addicted.  Now, while this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it does sometimes (often) leave me in a bit of a quandary as to how to spend my pennies. Do I spend £30 on one awesome thing or do I spend £30 on three sorta kinda awesome things. 

Thankfully there are a ton of amazing beauty buys out there for us gals on a budget. £30 on three amazing things....heck yeah! 

 I've rounded up a few of my personal favourite budget beauty buys that also have got great reviews around the web (that's how I found out about most of these in the first place!) so I know they will suit a variety of skin tones and types, not just mine.

First things first...foundation.

This is L'Oreal Lumi Magique Foundation, it's £10.99 from Boots. This is a gorgeous foundation for the price which lasts pretty well and gives an ever so slightly dewy finish. I like it because my skin gets drier in the winter and I need something like this to help me get my glow on.

If however you don't like a dewy finish then good old Revlon Colorstay is for you...it comes in two variations, one for normal/ dry skin and one for combi/oily skin. At 12.99, again from Boots, the price is pretty reasonable too. This is one of my favourite ever foundations! It's great for special occasions when you don't want your make up to move at all. 

To put on my foundation I use one of these...

It is a flat top kabuki brush from Sigma,  it's called an F80. I love love love  this thing. It makes every foundation look better and smoother than anything else I've tried. Its not cheap though, at around £20 its doesn't really count as a budget buy but compared to the cost of MAC and other big brand make-up brushes its brilliant. Actually, I think a lot of the Sigma brushes are better than their MAC counterparts!

Next up is blush. One of the greatest blushes I have ever tried is Nars Orgasm. I love it but I've had mine since our wedding and its pretty much gone now. I just can't justify spending the money again but there are two (not one but two) really great dupes out there that are affordable and are available in the UK. Hurrah!

Firstly there is Milani's Baked Powder Blush in Luinoso. This. Is. Beautiful. Its Orgasm minus the glitter which I actually like better. Priced at around £5-6 on Amazon its a steal!

The second is NYX Powder Blush in Pinched. Again this is so similar to Orgasm and gives a really pretty colour to the cheeks. At just £6.00 it's a great price.This is the blush I have been using everyday recently and I've even had a few people compliment my pretty glow! 

Lastly, something I can't live without. Concealer. I have a blue tinge under my eyes no matter how much sleep I get so concealer is something I use everyday. I need mine to be hard working, not settle into my fine lines and last all day. I've tried dozens, everything from Rimmel Match Perfection Illuminating Concealer to Benefit's Erase Paste (I like this for concealing imperfections but it's a little to thick for under my eyes) and of course the beloved YSL Touche Eclat ( good but rather pricey!)

This is what I use every single day.

Priced at just £4.19 in boots this Lasting Perfection Concealer from Collection 2000 is an answer to my prayers. It does a brilliant job of lightening and brightening my under eye area and it does it all. day. long. Its pretty great at evening out redness and imperfections too. What more could you ask for?!

So there you go, a few of my favourite inexpensive beauty products that have made their way into my make up bag and my daily routine. I have a few more budget beauty buys for lips and eyes which I cant wait to share with you in part two so check back on Monday for that.  

Does anyone else have any great beauty buys they want to shout about? Budget or otherwise haha.

Let us know in the comments!

 Or do you have any beauty questions you would like us to answer in a post? 

Just give us a shout and we will get back to you asap.

Holiday clothes

I am going on holiday in October to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. I'll be visiting my sister and brother in law.  It's a great excuse to treat myself to some Autumn clothes.  Something I haven't mentioned yet is that I am a plus size woman, a UK size 20-22.  Since I had to put a lot of effort into finding clothes that make me feel fabulous, I thought I should share with you guys where I was able to find really nice things in case anyone else out there is having the same problem.

1.  Obviously need boots - I love shoes, so much easier to find!

www.very.co.uk

2. New Look - they do some fabulous clothing for plus sizes, it's on trend.
                           Some of my favourites for this season are

 

3. Peacocks - have some really cute basics

4. Simply Be - I love this website, you can return items if they don't suit you but so far I've never had to return anything

5. Debenhams

They had a great selection especially of dresses, I've got quite a few dresses for weddings here recently.

There are a lot more places now available for plus sizes.  It just takes some effort to search for them.  Now the problem is stopping myself from spending all my money before I go on holiday.

Photography Tips From A Beginner...Camera Modes.

I've been thinking a bit about my photography journey and how much I have learned over the last couple of years, particularly thanks to the internet and all the free tips and tutorials there are. I decided I wanted to write a little series of my own photography tips in my own words to try and make it easier for other beginners out there. Little bitesize nuggets of info that are simple to understand and remember. Hopefully this will be the start of a monthly series here on Magpie and Hen.

So I've been spending alot of time lately with my new favourite toy, my Canon 700d. Someday I would love to own something like a full frame Canon 5d Mark III but the chances are pretty darn slim. As a photography enthusiast (read...junkie) I simply can't justify dropping a couple of grand or more on a camera. So until I win the lottery I figure I will just keep snapping away with what I've got and learn how to use it to its fullest potential. 

Since buying the 700d in June I've taken over 3000 photos. I literally pick up my camera almost every single day. I think my photography is getting better, I'm starting to understand what aperture, ISO and shutter speed are and how they all relate to each other. I've read a ton of books and online tutorials and I'm really enjoying the learning process.

Source

One of the things I keep reading over and over again is how important it is to shoot in manual mode...and honestly...I don't agree.

Now, please don't get me wrong, I absolutely think learning how to shoot in manual mode is truly one of the best things you can do for your photography.

That being said, I don't think that manual mode is the be all and end all of photography. When you are starting out it can be very hard to figure out which settings to use and so very disheartening when your pictures don't turn out the way you want them to.

I decided that it would be better for me to learn what the different modes on my camera were for and learn how to use them to their fullest before moving to manual.

Here's a little rundown on what I figured out so far and what a few of the letters on the mode dial stand for:

P  (both Canon and Nikon) - Program Mode - this mode is alot like automatic mode, its sets all the settings for you but allows you to change certain settings like exposure compensation and whether to use the flash.

Av (A in Nikon) - Aperture Value Priority - Gives the user control over the aperture and the camera assigns the right shutter speed to achieve a correct exposure.

TV (S in Nikon) - Time Value Priority - This mode enables the user to choose a shutter speed to match the situation and the camera sets the aperture for you.

So which mode do you use for which situation?

Well here is what I do....when I know I'm going to be taking pictures of kids or our dog running around or maybe even a sports game, then I know I'm going to want freeze the action in a split second. This is when you want to use TV (S in Nikon), the shutter priority mode. Choosing a nice quick shutter speed of 1/250th or faster will keep your pictures sharp.

Pretty much the entire rest of the time I use aperture value priority (AV in Canon, A in Nikon) and set it to the widest aperture I can. I have Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens, which has a fast maximum aperture of f/1.8, this works great indoors for parties as it sucks in tons of light so you get nice clear photos. Using a wide aperture gives you a blurry background behind your point of focus, this is called a narrow depth of field. If you are shooting lots of people then a slightly narrower aperture will give you a larger depth of field and allow you to keep more of the scene in focus, f/8 or f/11 would work well but the keep in mind the the higher the f number the narrower the aperture, which means your camera won't be letting in as much light resulting in darker photos.

All that being said, there are times that I use manual mode. One of the things about manual mode is that you have to continually change your settings as the environment you are shooting in changes and as a novice this is pretty tricky. However, when shooting something that it is completely within your control, where you can choose the lighting and it is a still subject that isn't going to run away from you, then this is the time to bust out manual and get playing with those settings. You can learn an awful lot just by snapping, changing a setting, snapping again and figuring out what changed.

So there you have it, my first post on photography. I know that shooting in manual will get the best out of my camera but learning which mode to use at the right time has really made a huge difference to my pictures and for now that is enough. 

Does anyone have any questions they would like answered? Or any of their own tips and tricks to help me shoot smarter? Drop me a line in the comments below and I'll get right back to you :)

Thirty, flirty and fabulous

ThI'm not sure how anyone else feels about being in their 30's but sometimes I find it difficult to balance how I dress.  I worry something makes me look too young or worse too old.

I wanted to share some tips with you all that I found helpful.  Don't worry I'm not saying you have to lose the sense of style you developed in your twenties, but it's nice for your style to mature along with you.

1. Start with a wardrobe clearout
     It's time to get rid of the items in your wardrobe that make you look childish, immature or    
     cheap.

2.  Be confident
     You still look fabulous! You didn't stop being a confident,gorgeous women because you     had another birthday.

3.  Take care of yourself
      Get regular haircuts, give yourself a manicure, keep your skin exfoliate and moisturiser.

4.  Buy some classics
     Invest in some classic pieces of clothing, bootleg jeans, a blazer, a beautiful pair of boots.  Then dress them up with amazing accessories, some patterns and gorgeous jewellery.

5. Think about fit
     It's important not to wear poorly fitting clothing, no matter how much you spend on something if it doesn't fit well then it's going to look cheap.

I look to celebrities of my own age for inspirations,  just think of Catherine Duchess of Cambridge, Anna Paquin, or Sophia Bush,  they look elegant and stylish and completely individual.

Lovely Links - Autumn Essentials

I know it's only mid-august but lets face it, here in the UK summer is pretty much over. The nights are getting darker and each day is a tiny bit chillier than the last. Not that I'm complaining, I love autumn. Leaves falling, cosy jumpers, toasty evenings in front of the fire...totally my idea of a good time. 

The other reason I love autumn is the excuse for some new season shopping and this year I have more reasons than usual. Is it just me or do all the things that you need to survive the autumn and winter all seem to fall apart at once? My boots have holes in them, my coat is worn out, my umbrella has bent spokes and I am in dire need of a couple of new jumpers. 

With that in mind I have been doing some window shopping and found some gorgeous new finds perfect for the new season. 

• First up I found these gorgeous boots from Next. The last few years I have had black boots and chocolate brown boots so I think it's time to go back to tan for a little change. Plus, tan goes with everything

• In the interest of change I've decided I need a parka this year since I've had a wool duffel coat for that last few years. This one from ASOS looks comfy, cosy and exactly what I'm looking for.

• This Zig Zag umbrella from Topshop is awesome, such a great pattern and I love the colours. 

• Aztec prints are my jam these days so this dark red snood from New Look is definitely going to be coming to live with me pretty soon. I'm predicting that dark red is going to be the colour this autumn. Last year it was mustard and spicy orange, this year will be all about burgundy. 

• Last but not least I adore this cosy jumper from H&M, all three colours are great but the mole/light brown colour would go with pretty much everything in my wardrobe. The perfect cosy autumn jumper for layering. 

So that's what I've got my eye on right now. A few little things to keep me a wee bit warmer (and hopefully drier) once September rolls around.

Anyone else already scouting out their autumn wardrobe? 

Find anything great you'd like to share?

Or anyone have any other predictions on what this seasons big colour will be?

I'm telling ya, it will be burgundy/ox-blood/dark red all over the shops in a few weeks...mark my words!