Late Chooseday: So Serious

I haven't posted a real Chooseday piece as every time it's just too real. Stuff about victim blaming and rape culture and how I bought a knife. (Come at me bro') I want my reader to feel inspired and motivated. So I decided to tell you what I'm doing in my real life and where I want to take the blog in a few months.

So story wise you'll see a post of my sweet sweet dog that passed and dealing with that and the little dog that came into her place

Now I am probably moving in the next month and a half so you'll probably see some posts about that and I'll have a real office. Not one with a ironing board and a bunch of sh*t standing around because it doesn't have a place

The new place also has an awesome untouched garden so you'll probably see a few (a lot of) DIY's.

Photo credit~ the Estate Agent

Now there is a new series of posts I want to do every month before pay day: The R200 Challenge. I want to do a room makeover or a face of make up, a hair do over or a cool project for R200. I'll look for good deals or a cheap but expensive looking projects.

Now more regularly I post my favourites. I'm posting in a six topic format of:

Beauty ~ It includes make up products, lotions, nail polish or make up or nail polish techniques

Hair ~ Either style or products

Fashion ~ Clothes or shoes I liked to wear

Food ~ A place or specific food item

Recipe ~ This is usually an easy, quick recipe that I made a lot during the month

App ~ Usually a free download I used a lot

Free ~ A free is something you probably already have, an exercise or activity the will cost you R0.00

Next month Winter is upon the Southern Hemisphere, the house is coming, probably a new pet coming, new types of posts and new ways to beat the 'blains.

I will think of a better subjects to post about . . . then trying to not to get raped

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Post for a friend ~ Bunny chow for Zelda

I recently started Instagraming my dinner for family and friends in the evenings. I know there are people who get annoyed with it (It's called hide posts, okay) BUT most of my friends and family enjoyed my post. Recent weeks my meals were replays so I didn't really post but due to my private public demand #michellesdinner is going to make a come back.

Now this was a request from a friend who saw my bunny chow dinner and asked for a post. Here it is Zellie!

I use an awesome pre-packaged spice mix from Raaniep Spices. This works differently from a curry

spice mix from Rajah from Roberson Spice or Cartwrights as you build the flavour of the curry with the spices. As a child, I hated “Kerrie en rys” (curry and rice). Every church bazaar, school carnival and fund-raising festival has this and 'boere worsrolle' as a staple. Neither are that great as the tannies are heavy handed with the premix curry.

My mom made this curry and I sighed. But as you grow older you realise curry isn't about a burning mouth but about building flavour with spices. So delicious I decided to use the mix as a guide to an awesome bunny chow.

(I see according to my stats, I have few readers who would not know what a bunny chow is. This South African eat comes from Durban in KwaZulu Natal. We have a huge Indian population there. It's a half to quarter loaf of bread, inside scooped out, with a filling of usually beef. You do get chicken, mutton, even beans.)

Here is my chicken and prawn bunny:

Do exactly what the recipe on the back says except adding the prawns/shrimp. (I used 800g chicken breast as I had 200g prawns)

I feel though like there is a lot of leeway with some ingredients to make it your own like adding some frozen mixed vegetables or adding a carrot, broccoli or cauliflower.

Hollow out the bread. I serve it with the inside to soak up and eat with the filling. Think of it as a bread bowl. Don't hollow it out too much as you need the loaf to keep it's structure and keep the saucy meat mix.

When the potatoes are cooked add the prawns until cooked then thicken the sauce because prawns/ shrimp sometimes have a lot of residual moisture from defrosting. (I'm not Ina Garten. I buy the frozen stuff)

Fill the bread. Enjoy.

This is actually enough for 4 to 6 people depending on your loaf size. Here are some tips:

1. Curry too hot? Add some plain yoghurt or sour cream. That should mellow out the flavour.
2. Like it spicy? Serve immediately. The longer you cook the spices the milder it becomes.
3. Want it hotter? Chop a chilli and add it towards the end of the cooking time.
4. With this recipe you don't need to precook or boil and of the meat. All that flavour stays inside the sauce. (Pre-boiled chicken always tastes less appetizing ass all the flavour is in the water)
5. Instead of adding just water to your filling if it's cooking to dry, add some chicken stock. (I wanted to put a wine but no article I read was decisive. Most want beer. Another common one was pinot grigio. But I'm not going to a bottle store for that shit)
6. Eating some of the hollowed out bread also stops the filling from burning too much
7. Change the filling up as you wish. Try ostrich mince, cubed beef, or even veg out with some beans.

Raaniep Spices also have spice mixes for bobotie, pork and breyani. They can be found in most Spars and I once saw at Pick n Pay. Hope this assists you Zellie!

Ever had a bunny chow in KZN?

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Favourites: April 2015

I wanted to post more earlier but my dearest dog, Dory, passed away on the 30^th of April. I am still trying to deal with the loss. As soon as I can deal I will probably spam you with a bunch of pictures on a Chooseday post. Here goes my Faves:

Essence Lash Princess Volume Mascara

I saw this item on a display at my local Clicks for a while. But you know how it works. Michelle Phan used it in her video and I had to have it (Brainwashed by media much?) It's a similar formula to the Catrice All Round mascara and the cobra brush design help with a better application.

Johnson's Baby Powder

I have a formulation to write my 'favourite' blogs and this one is for hair. Yes baby powder for dry shampoo. Several times (I assume it's to do with hormones) my hair would get oily with in a day of washing, where I could always stretch washes to 3 days. I don't want to necessarily wash my hair every day. I would poof some powder on my hair and work it through.

Magic Art

I love creative apps. This app moves particles into different patterns and allows you to change background colours and the colours of the particles. I like the bright colours as well as the pastel. I would play around with this app before bed then I see particles when I close my eyes

Oyster Mushrooms

My husband and I usually go monthly grocery shopping together. We both like food. As we shopped by the fresh veg fridge (Say that three times fast!) he pointed out these alien mushrooms. The package claimed that it's the most harvested mushroom. IDK that's what the package said!?

This being something I never cooked I decided to take the simple approach. Melted a good chunk of butter with a bit of olive oil to prevent it from burning. As soon as it started bubbling I added my trusted Robertsons Mixed herbs (Can't remember with Food Network chef had that tip recently to drop in dry herbs to release the oils). Then I added the mushrooms, while boiling the fettuccine. When everything was cooked I combined and it was delicious!

Converse Classic Black and White

Now I didn't really fashion this month. Or for the home'd. But we are looking for a home, went to do things with my mother-in-law, bought clothes for my husband . . . a truly difficult customer. Meaning long hours through busy malls, walking through homes and complexes. I used my 'verse a lot. They are super comfortable and fit with most things in my closet.

Single serving pancakes

I have no images of me making this. I really felt like flap jacks or a pancakey something but I was one person on a week day afternoon. This was the first recipe that poppedup. So easy and delicious!

Something Free:

Taking photos.

With cellphones having cameras, photography has opened up to everyone. My phone's camera is so awesome I shot some of my blog pics with it and they edited very easy with Photoshop. Just go out there and take pictures. Flowers, animals, buildings, yourself. You don't have to share them on social media. Open a file just for images you took and like. This is my 'free' favourite.

Hope you try some of my favourites

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Flower arranging

When I started this blog I want to teach you cheap, easy life tricks some make impossible or make it seem like you need a life time of knowledge to perfect. Decor, style, cooking, make up and other nitty gritty things people are afraid of because there are professionals in the field. I'm not saying you should learn how to rewire your house or bend and weld your car a new exhaust. Some stuff needs a pro.

Flower arranging is one of those things I feel that, if using your logical human brain, is easy. Here is my way of arranging a bunch of flowers:

My supplies are

Flowers

A Vase

Scissors

Bleach

Sugar

You can use any flowers in this arrangement I used roses. In the other picture I used a mixture of flowers in a standard bouquet. Now I know a lot of things like doing a minor service on my car and how to work my complicated tumble drier (I physically had to read how to use it. And friends who also bought one also told me how they battled) but I don't in general know flower names. I know like roses and lilies and stuff but I go for colours I like or what fits the room. Mostly the colour I like. You also don't necessarily have to use flowers. Some stems with leaves or even herbs can look fresh and chic.

Now vase sounds fancy. Like you should spend R200 on a container to arrange your flowers. I don't have money or time for that. Really? Like for real? I use a simple washed mayonnaise bottle. Ina Garten doesn't have time for that. She uses drinking glasses (See easy tips #50). Put that R200 or more back into your pocket.

To stretch the life of the flowers you can add one teaspoon bleach and 2 teaspoons of sugar to about 1 litre (4 cups) water. I mix it in with a chop stick.

Measure your flowers to your container. Remove all leaves from the stem that would be under the water line

Cut the stem to an angle for more surface area to absorb water. 

To arrange just use your natural mind of symmetry. We all have that. It works on the concept of 'If it looks right, it is right'. Use what looks right to your eye. With the height and colour. If the colour and size of the bloom does not look right, like if there is too much yellow or what, just move it until it looks right. Use what your eye tells you because it's a thing your mind does naturally everyday. Probably without you even noticing.

Place and Instagram that shit.

É tips:

• Check water regularly. The purple roses lasted a good week and a half so I had to refill the water a bit
• Buy yourself flowers. Fo' real. On a budget? There are some bunches for R35. You don't have to buy every week/ day or even month. But just do it.
• Don't stress too much about the arrangement or knowing the names. We use lipstick for blush. Blankets for throws. Linens for table cloths. Martini glasses for pudding bowls and bananas for eggs baking a cake.
• If you have extra leaves from a standard bouquet, layer it around the edge of the flowers.
• Remember to remove all leaves that would be under the water line. They could rot and become all weird and slimy in the water

Hope this let's you start having more flowers in your living areas. What's your favorite flowers?

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MacGyver Manicure

Now I know some readers may not know who Macgyver is (My spell check want it to be Maguire tsk tsk tsk). He is in the league of Chuck Norris and David Hasselhoff's Michael Knight. He would be hand cuffed to a rail, locked up in a steel cupboard falling from a plane plummeting into the ocean. He escapes and stops the bad guy with a bobby pin, toilet roll, an empty egg carton and a battery. All kinds of bad assery.

Here is my way of making my nails last:

Clean off previous polish push back your cuticles and file your nails. I choose to use nail polish remover for acrylic or gel nails as it doesn't dry out your nails. Wipe down the nail instead of trying to make fire wiping up and down and left and right. I also recently started using a glass nail file. It's much gentler than normal nail boards. I choose also NOT to buff my nails. They are already so thin I don't want to thin them out even more. Most base coats act as ridge fillers.

Start with a nail primer. This removes the oils from the nail for better polish adherence. Now we don't have Sephora with their Formula X here in South Africa. (Why? Is it because we are African?) So I tested a few DIYs like lemon juice and apple cider vinegar but the best so far is vodka. I bought a few nail polish bottles from Westpack, filled one with vodka and it just works. Paint it on and let it dry.

Next paint your base coat. Not clear polish. A base coat. I know some brands sell clear polish as base and that's just not good enough for me. I know Essence has the type I wanted. It's milky and when you paint it on the texture is a bit rough. But due to the stores I go to, don't really like to restock. WTF. So I resorted to make my own plan. I used Pink Armour “Nail Gel”(Yes I will put that in inverted commas as it's just normal clear nail polish tinted pink) and added some Maizena (Corn Starch) until it became milky. (Storing is tricky as the corn starch settles at the bottom over time. Before using I mix it up a little with a toothpick)

Paint your colour then base again. Then colour again. It's best to set aside at least an hour for nail painting. Make sure to leave proper time to dry. The more layers you add the longer it takes to dry. The best I can explain is that as you paint the next layer it 'fuses' with the previous layer it wets the layer making it fragile for squishing and smudging. 

Cool tip: Use Prestik to hold the polish bottle. 

Do your nail art. I enjoy Regular Show. As ain't nobody has time for intricate character designs I did the title screen background with sponging.

Even if you did not do a design, paint on a top coat. It gives it that extra shine and make the polish last that bit longer and seals in the design. With sponging it's like the blends better.

Clean up the edges with nail polish remover and either a q tip or a brush. Last step is the difference between a salon manicure and a DIY. Oil. You could go all fancy and buy a cuticle oil. I'm too cheap for that. I bought lip gloss roller bottles from wespack and filled it with extra virgin olive oil. You can also use coconut oil, sweet almond oil or a mixture. You can buy small bottles of each at clicks and dischem that are for medicinal use (Usually by the calamine lotion and caster oil.)

Smear it on each nail and rub it in to your skin. We've spent all this time removing oil and that dries the nail bed and cuticle out. The real trick is to cuticle oil every time you wash your hands. Just because I write it here doesn't mean I do it. I ain't gonna lie. I try to every night before bed.

You also have to top coat every night but by the time my nails chip or flake off (depending on the quality of the polish) I'm bored of my nail design anyway.

That is my Magyver way of doing my nails. What is you unusual trick to make polish last longer?

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Chooseday: Redmylips.org

I wanted to write about people who get annoyed by viral content and how they should avoid the internet #loosellamas #thedress #grumpycat 

But something much more important grabbed my attention that is something that should be viral and I'm willing to put my voice to. Everyone should. Men and women.

Sexual assault is not really something to make fun of tho' there are memes and comedians who thing rape is funny. For some reason it's easier for women to get discriminated against and be abused and apparently in some cultures it's okay. Recently I had to get on my feminist soap box to a Zulu friend. (Another Zulu male friend showed that he understood my stance.) Just because you have boobs doesn't mean you can't do shit.

I will be wearing red lipstick in various degrees this April. The campaign is “It's not about vanity, it's about visibility”. Girls who rape has happened to don't tend to want to talk about it. They feel embarrassed & humiliated. Ironic since that is the want their attacker should feel. The times we live in there is always “But you could have done this” You know what, the $#@@>€$ who raped shouldn't have done that. Think about that when you feel embarrassed to wear simple red lipstick. These women were physically and mentally hurt and you don't want to wear just a bright gloss to say “girls we feel you. Here is some awareness”

 

This is something we need to talk about. It's difficult to be strong in your sexuality if there are people out there who think it's a sign for them to mistreat you.

She didn't stand at a party/ walked home/ laid in her bed & asked I want to be raped. Okay then people are all why was she drunk? So being drunk is an invitation to be molested. Or why did she wear that dress? There are women who wear burqa who get raped. Sometimes it's even someone the victims know who raped them. Not even an uncle but a father or brother. Disgusting but true. These abominations are criminals.

Read up. . .

Now here is your chance to show support and solidarity with victims and raise awareness. Here are some things I'm doing for #redmylips April:

1. First I moisturising my lips. I like Zam-Buk. For more truer pigmentation, sponge some concealer over your lips. If you have not tried LA Girl cosmetics' Pro.conceal, You are truly missing out. I feels like such a high end product. On top most concealers are in stick form. This is one of the few liquid concealers that will fit in you budget.
2. Line and fill your lips with a red lip liner. This is what is going to make your lipstick last. Again I'm going to GUSH over LA Girl. Endless Auto Lip liner in True Red is awesome. (Get it here at Dis-Chem)
3. This lip liner is super vibrant on it's own
4. Put on the lipstick . . .
5. . . . and blot it. I usually do 3 layers.
6. Do that finger trick for lipstick free teeth.
7. BOOM. Finished product. This method last 'til after lunch. I just reapply lipstick then and blot it.
8. If you don't feel this super bright red, go for a softer red.
9. Ombre it. This is a cool South Korean lip trend you can follow.

Cleaning of this lipstick is also super easy. Just apply some Vaseline and wipe it off. It cleans a moisturises your lips.

Before next month, make sure to get a lipstick and liner to suit you skin tone. I'm relatively neutral but have more of a blue undertone. Everyone can pull off a red lip. I once hear someone said “Not all people can do it.” Yes, all people of ALL SKIN TONES can pull off a red lip. It is all bout getting the right colour.

For April I will post my lips in support everyday on Instagram. Join and follow me @ewithacuteaccent

Follow RedMyLips.Org on Insta, FB and the Twitter. Join the convo with #redmylips

What is your fave red lipstick?

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7 Eastern beauty tips you can start doing right now.

The Asian skincare industry is one of the largest in the world. Everyone is buzzing about South Korean beauty product and the western market wants these products as well. Though most women of the east have at least 10 products on there face from the morning and before bed.

Another big thing is the whitening chemicals that rule their products in India and China. I'm not about that. My one friend loves to bleach her skin and at the end of the day her dark spots looked even more prominent. Yet when she put on a simple BB Cream it just lit on her face. So flawless.

Here are my favourite Eastern beauty tricks:

1.Wash your face for longer.

Easy as that. Sounds dumb but it is that simple. Wet your face and wash yo' face for at least two minutes. Clarisonic is launching in SA but I don't have the R3000 for that. Just concentrate to really washing your face. Rinse it really well too. You will feel the difference.

2.Warm the product before applying them to your face.

Take your face cream and rub it between your hands/ finger tips and apply. Heating it helps absorption into the skin.

3.Pat skin product into your skin

Don't smear or rub it. Lightly tap it on to your skin. This stimulates blood flow and also assists the skin with soaking up the product. Recently I went away for a weekend break and had to move away from the ablution block to apply my cream. I didn't want to scare the small children.

4. Use an eye cream

I see many people my age who neglect their eyes. Don't get the most expensive one. Clicks & Dis-chem both have for under R50 and it lasts for up to 5 months as you really only do need a few specks. I like using African Extracts' Rooibos anti-ageing eye cream. I can really feel it work. Good burn.

5.Face massage

This helps circulation and puffiness. Follow my dodgy eyeliner arrows. Start at your neck and push up lightly. I usually do this with my face cream. Do it for as long as you have time.

6. Face masks

Here are a few options. Let's talk sheet masks. I first saw Bubzbeauty using them and then Michelle Phan as well. Living in ZAR I can't quickly pop in by Etude House and load a basket. I had to look for them. There are some awesome cheap ones but I don't want any whitening agents in them. There are ones that will tug on your pocket but this one from Dis-Chem at R14.95 (In the picture) was easy throw my money at them. It came with a serum enriched cream. Or make your own with tissue and rice. They are less messy than the muds and pastes in those tomato puree pouches. Though you could look alien:

I liked how this mask covers the neck as well. That's hawt

Another cool trick form India is a turmeric mask. Turmeric is the stuff that colours curries. In ZAR we use it in bobotie and yellow rice with raisins. The yellow brightens up skin.

I saw Promise Phan do a mask but Pinterest suggested this (also inspired by Promise):

http://www.healthbeckon.com/turmeric-face-mask-recipe-glowing-skin-acne-rosacea-eczema-dark-circles/

7.Do that sunscreen thing

Yup. Best anti-ageing thing you can do for your face. Driving in your car to work, sitting by a window, even jogging exposes you to the sun. One popular Chinese actresseven uses it while work in her laptop. I dunno if I'd be that fanatic. Choose products with SPF. BB Cream or foundations, even some day creams. When you are going out for a walk or a picnic apply day cream, sunscreen then foundation or BB. Sandwich the sunscreen between the two so your face isn't sunscreen shiny.

These are my favourite Eastern skincare rituals that I use. And they all are free to R15. Okay turmeric is R17 if you don't have in your cupboard already.

Ever tried a sheet mask?

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