Food, Glorious Food!

So truly, after exams I've been such a massive foodie/fattie that it's a tad ridiculous, but it's fine. It just means extra time at the gym and I've got the situation handled, Olivia Pope style! (gosh I miss that show) anyways, moving on to the topic of this post... FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD! Is it weird that I actually sometimes sing that in my head when a plate of indescribable  delicious looking food appears before me? You will see what I mean later on.

Anyways, on the evening of my final exam of life, ever I met up with a couple of girlfriends of mine that were all doing the same undergraduate course as me in Manchester, the perfect plan would have been to go out and get smashed like the 20-somethings that we are but instead we decided to have a nice grown up dinner since most of them are working now and it was a weeknight, boringgg. Haha, I kid. I don't really like getting smashed.

After much hassle, we settled on Smoak Bar & Grill for our catch up, it's the restaurant that's in the Malmaison hotel right by the train station and can I just say that this was the best decision anyone could have ever made? We started off with some Cosmos and Mojitos to get everyone feeling relaxed and chilled out and then had some chicken lollipops for starters. I really didn't expect to actually have my chicken on lollipop sticks.. It was quite an odd experience actually and it makes sharing a little difficult, sadly I don't remember the different types of chicken they had on there but there was definitely some Satay and Teriyaki in that mix.

Doesn't the Cosmo look so angelic? haha

Now that everyone was suitably relaxed, we did what girls do best and had a nice old fashioned gossip sesh about any and everything under the sun, from boyfriends to ex-coursemates to holidays and parties and I heard some pretty juicy details! Wouldn't you want to know? Sure you would! Ha!

Have I mentioned the service at this place yet? It is amazing, quite literally the best I've ever experienced anywhere in Manchester, the staff were formal yet friendly, the meals were very well presented and we were never left wanting for anything. They were slightly slow in bringing the food but that was because a large party of about 10 had come in just before us, boo! Now the moment I'm sure you've all been waiting for... What did I have to eat.. 

Sing it with me now; FOOD! GLORIOUS FOOD! I don't even know where to begin describing this burger! I remember looking at the menu and deciding that I would have some steak or a regular burger when the waitress came by our table to tell us about the specials that they had for the day. She started describing this burger called the Louisiana and she had me at hello! Something something beef, with such and such done to it, cheese and blah blah sauce and a hearty helping of PEANUT BUTTER! Yup, you read that right, and my goodness was it the most divine thing I have ever tasted! I use the word divine a lot right? No, this burger takes the cake, the ice cream and the cherry on top! It also came with sweet potato fries and onion rings. One of my friends had the steak with some peppercorn sauce and she said it was the best steak she had ever had in her entire life and she's as addicted to steak as I am to my burgers!

Sadly I didn't get pictures of anyone else's food, I didn't want to be 'that guy' at the table that wouldn't stop snapping away! But I did get a few shots of the girls afterwards and everyone looked nice and full and satisfied!

It was such a lovely evening with these lot and we were one of the last tables to leave because we just wouldn't stop talking! Sadly, there was no room for dessert this time, after all that food I was feeling tooo stuffed to care about any of their yummy treats! After taking a random stroll through the city centre I ended up at my friends house and spent the rest of the night getting chocolate wasted like you're supposed to after exams! Haha, the bliss!

Till next time guys!
Reni x

Disclaimer: I am not in any way affiliated with Smoak Bar and Grill, I just think they do amazing food! No one is paying me to write this but why keep this little gem all to myself? Sharing is caring after all and I do care about all of you my wonderful blog readers!

Skinny Shrimp Curry and Coconut Rice Recipe

So I got one of my favourite compliments of all time recently, the "Oh, I read your blog, I really like it" or other variation. Fellow bloggers out there will understand when I say that finding out that 'actual people' read your blog is one of the best feelings in the world, I feel like my little corner in the big big interweb is actually useful to someone and that gets me all smiley :) :) :)

The person made a comment about really liking the health/foodie posts and since I haven't done one in a little while I decided to do a recipe post, welcome to "Skinny Shrimp Curry" as done by The Londoner. (In case you haven't noticed, I'm slightly obsessed with her blog! She does post the most amazing "skinny" recipes alongside a couple of really yummy looking "not-so-skinny" ones. This particular recipe has calories only 300 calories in a big bowl! Sorry I can't come up with anything more concrete!

So let's get started with the ingredients, I've slightly modified her recipe to suit what I had in my cupboard at the time:

• Olive Oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• Piece of ginger the size of your thumb, grated
• 2-3 tbsps Hot Masala (depending on how hot you like your food)
• 2 tbsps of brown sugar
• 1 tin of plum tomatoes (blitzed quickly in the blender)
• 1 tbsp low fat greek yoghurt
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Aromat seasoning to taste (or you can use about 2 Maggi/Knorr cubes too)
• 250 g of prawns (mine were the kind that are already cooked)

• Chop the onions, grate the ginger and chop the garlic

• Heat the olive oil in a pan and then add in all the chopped ingredients, fry them in the oil until the garlic and ginger become fragrant and the onions soften and become translucent (3-5 minutes). Be careful not to let the garlic burn! Burnt garlic tastes foul!

• Add the plum tomatoes and stir it in, adding the aromat(maggi/knorr), salt, black pepper, hot masala and black pepper. You don't have to add them in all together, i find it easier to do them one at a time, tasting in between to make sure nothing becomes too overpowering.
• You will need to cook the tomatoes for a while so they lose some of their water and have a less distinctive "tomato-y" flavour. Cover your pot and leave it on medium heat for approximately 15 minutes or till you have a thick sauce. Don't forget to check back frequently.

• Because they are already cooked the prawns can be added near the end to heat them up. Then add the tbsp of greek yoghurt. I must admit I was pretty nervous about this step but it turned out to be THE best thing about the recipe! It also gives it a nice orange colour which I really liked!

The Londoner suggested eating this yummy curry on its own or with some na'an bread but being the African I am, some rice seemed necessary to eat the "stew" with! So I opted for some coconut rice which is so simple to make it barely needs a recipe!

You wash your rice to remove some of the starch, put it in a pot, open a can of coconut milk and pour it into the pot, add a sprinkling of salt and cover. Once the coconut milk has dried up you can add some more water if the rice still isn't cooked but I prefer to 'steam' the rice to softness so it doesn't lose the coconut taste. To do this I turn the heat to the lowest to prevent burning add a tiny bit of water, cover the pot firmly and leave it for a few minutes and voila! 

Serve it up and enjoy your yummy skinny shrimp curry and coconut rice whilst it's still hot! 

Voila!

Reni x

Race For Life!

This year, I'm participating in Cancer Research UK's 'Race for Life' in Hyde Park on the 14th of July. For those who don't know, Race for Life is an incentive by Cancer Research to raise money for research for over 200 types of cancer and it started about 19 years ago. The race is a female only event and participants (like myself) raise money by walking/jogging/running a 5 or 10 kilometre course and asking people for support/sponsorship for doing so. Personally after doing the Manchester Bogle a few months ago, the thought of walking/jogging more than 5k was just unappealing to me so I decided to take part in the 5k and try and run/jog it.

Preparation has been going really well! I've managed to knock a whole three minutes off my time and so I can now complete 5k in about 40 minutes, my first goal was to get down to 39 minutes but if I could get even lower to 35 or so that would be awesome! Gym time! Isn't this such great incentive to go to the gym with your girls and get a killer workout? I wouldn't lie, after the first time I ran a full 5k I was shattered and sore! And the 3-4k stretch is always the most difficult for me mentally but thanks to my awesome running playlist, it's getting better!

But all this good will and training will be for nothing without the help of all you lovely people, I would like to ask you all to donate to this very worthy cause. Think about your daughter, sister, mother, girlfriend or best friend and how finding a long term solution to cancer will help all women and men in the fight against cancer. No amount is ever too small and every single donation is valued, I do hope that you will all give generously after all it has been proven that giving more leads to longer healthier and more prosperous lives! (Okay I made that bit up but as long as you believe, anything is possible!) Please click the link below to get to my donation page and thank you very much in advance!

Race for Life Donation Page

Hope the week has been going well!

Reni x

Manicure Madness: Fails of the Month!

With my last exam merely days away one would think I would be a whole lot more focused and spending every spare moment at the books, getting ready to shoot the exam out of the water! And while I am indeed getting ready to go HAM in the exam, I get so frustrated/bored studying the same thing over and over again! Plus it's the weekend and I really just want summer to be here already! 

So I was busy listening to an audio-capture of one of my previous lectures when I realised that I could listen and paint my nails at the same time without being told off by anyone! Not that I've ever tried to do this in an actual lecture, but I can imagine the looks of utter disdain everyone else in the room will be casting me, after all, engineers dont care about those things... Ha, such lies! Or maybe I'm not a proper engineer. The long and short is that I care about my nails and decided to paint them a nice bright colour to get me out of the laziness funk I've been in.

I've been spending some time on pinterest and seeing all sorts of crazy nail art so I decided to give it a go myself. Before you scroll down can I just say that this was kind of an epic fail and I can't wait to have a proper manicure after exams are over!

So this was the beginning of my first attempt. It's called 'Fairy Cake' by 17. I love the colour because it's so pink and girly! Clearly I have a problem with holding the brush still but that's another story! 

This is how it turned out after I tried to add a different colour to it. This was initially meant to be pink and green but the green nail polish was too faint to go over the bold pink properly and since I had already started I decided to go all punk like and rock some black. The black in this picture is called 'Night Shade' also by 17.

This is the green nail polish I was talking about earlier 'Juicy' yet again by 17. Actually pretty much all of my nail polish is by 17! They are a nice budget brand seeing as most times I can't be bothered to do my nails I figured there's no point investing in OPI and the likes... yet. I also really like this colour! This is after two coats though and it's still a bit see through but never mind, its still a winner.

Look how crooked those lines are! Lol. Apparently I was meant to leave the tape on until the polish dried not hastily take it off and hope for magic to happen!

It is nice and straight on my thumb though. Unfortunately I dont remember what this red nail polish was called and I can't seem to find the bottle anywhere! I will update when I do though.

Unfortunately I was very disappointed with my 'watermelon' nails and I decided to just go over the green bits in red instead! I think I should just stick to one colour for a little while but I will definitely be giving these manicures a shot again soon!

P.S. This post has been edited so many times because when I first started writing it I hadn't even had my first exam yet! So I'm sorry if there are some mixed up tenses but I have proof-read it though. I cannot believe I am finally done with exams! All I can think is yipeeeeee! :) So much has happened since I finished on Tuesday, my poor blog can barely keep up with my now fast paced life!

Hope everyone is enjoying the sunshine this weekend!

Ciao, Reni x

Hair and Fitness Catch-Up Session and June Goals

So at the end of March, I wrote a post called April Goals and Bloglovin Love where I wrote a list of things I would like to have achieved by the end of April, then in typical me fashion, I completely forgot to come back with an update as to how things went, I just realised I never even gave a final Insanity update! Shocking behaviour really, thanks for not calling me out guys!

So let's start with the goals from April which carried all the way through till right now because honestly, life was a bit too hectic in May to think about setting any new goals! Begin with the successes shall we?

Drink at least one litre of water a day.

Yay to this one! It's weird, i now find myself actually wanting to drink water over many other things. You might not understand the severity of this because I didn't document the time i actively tried to convince one of my best friends that I was allergic to drinking water, oh dear, the silly things I've said! Overall though I find it so much easier to think of drinking 500ml two bottles of rather than half a 2 litre bottle. Weird huh?

I mean just look at how gigantic that bottle is! The 500ml is so miniature and cute in comparison!

I know I'm nowhere near the recommended daily intake but this is a massive achievement for me :)

Try a Tea Rinse/ Apple Cider Vinegar Rinse

Ouuu this was such fun, I must admit it felt extremely weird to pour tea over my hair and I was having one of those "You know you don't have to try everything you read" moments, but I'm glad I tried it because after dousing my hair in Twinnings Green Tea and doing my regular deep condition with ORS Replenishing Conditioner, my hair felt so nice and soft, yet strong and I hardly had any shedding at all! I was amazed actually, seeing as I was at least 7 weeks post by then!

Do Two Protein Treatments

This one I did and overdid and found myself face to face with the monster that is protein overload! Lord I could have cried, I'm even a bit too embarrassed to share what I did but I would anyways. So.. here goes... don't laugh! Basically, the long and short is that after I took my weave out, I washed my hair as normal then thought to go heavy on the protein because of breakage/shedding. So I mixed two types of protein treatments. Motions Protein Reconstructor and ORS Hair Mayonnaise and then deep condition. I then spray my usual leave-in by Motions as well which contains silk amino acids, read protein. By the time my hair was dry I was almost in tears from how hard/dry/crunchy it felt. After a couple of deep conditions later that week it was back to normal-ish but I'm never doing that again! Lesson learnt.

And now the not-so-fun parts, trust me I have an excuse for each one of them but I will just take them as fails for now and try harder next time!

Apply JCBO to my edges nightly and scalp every other day

I was clearly feeling extremely optimistic when I wrote this! But the real reason it didn't happen was because I got a weave.

Have a side of veggies with lunch every day

Even more optimism! Ha!

Finish Insanity by the 7th of April

Not completing this one really hurt me but my knee was starting to act up again! I got to day 57 and could never be bothered to do the last three days after I felt better :( Here's my update on how I was doing before the setback though Insanity Month 2: It's Not a Diet, It's a Lifestyle.

Start a new workout regime including Hip Hop Abs and Swimming

This only counts as a fail because I dont actually have a regime but I have been working out loads and training for Race for Life! (more on that soon). I started the Hip Hop abs and can I just say that as an avid Shaun T fan, it sucks! Ugh, it's so boring and you do the same video everyday for 6 days or something crazy! As soon as I saw the schedule I was bored, I think I made it to day 5 or so. Some very good information about engaging your core on there though with the "Tilt, Tuck, Tighten" method, if you like relatively low impact exercise (because everything after insanity is low impact!) and want to work your abs definitely look into it though!

Random view of the pool at my gym, taken from my favourite stretch spot. There's just something so calming about water.

Whoosh! That was a pretty long review, but I guess a lot has happened since I last posted any thing mainly hair/fitness related.

Now that all this catching up is done and there's only a teeny bit left to do, I thought it'd be a good idea to make some new goals for June.

Hair

Nothing fancy here really as I'm currently 11 weeks post but my hair has been in braids for about 2 weeks now.

• Complete 16 week stretch.
• Wash hair at least once every 2 weeks.
• Moisturise every other day.

Food/Fitness

• Run 5k at least twice a week in preparation for Race for Life on the 14th of July.
• Complete the 30 Day Squat Challenge (Day 12 today, whoop!)
• Be able to plank for 90 seconds (I'm currently on a measly average of about 45).
• Pole!
• Try a new recipe or two.
• Drink at least 1.5 litres of water a day

Others

It's summer time and bar my dissertation I intend to have as much fun as possible!

• Become a 'yes' girl! Life is nothing but the experiences we make out of it!
• Use my proper camera more, it's so much better than the iPhone 5.
• Write a story or two to go on THAHW.
• Blog more after exams are over

What are some of your goals for the next 30 days?

P.S. My donation link for Race for Life is here, I'd do a separate post to give the details properly but just incase anyone already knows what is and all that and wants to donate :)

Reni x