I'm back baby!

Hello one and all!

First off i'd like to apologies for being away, my study load was very overwhelming, however I'm back now and to make up for it I'll post some pictures of what I've been loving this past week. I'll give details in another blog post as there are a few things I'd like to review! Enjoy!

A little bit of everything. My ultimate fav. would have to be the macarons!

Recipe of the week

OMG! This is a naughty one this week.

Make welcome Banoffee Pie!

I Chose to use a very fast and simple recipe as I've never tasted one of these babies before. I found the recipe at http://www.taste.com.au/. I usually go here for ideas and usually tweak the recipes to make it my own. However on this occasion I followed the recipe to the T.


Ingredients:
1 x 250g pkt granita biscuits (Arnott's brand)
125g butter, melted
2 bananas
1 x 300ml tub double cream
1 x 394g can sweetened condensed milk
70g (1/3 cup, firmly packed) brown sugar
50g butter

Method:

1. Place the biscuits in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely crushed. Add the butter and process until well combined. Divide the biscuit mixture among six round 8cm (base measurement) fluted tart tins with removable bases. Use the back of a metal spoon to firmly press the biscuit mixture over the base and side of each tin. Place in the fridge until required.

2. To make caramel filling, place condensed milk, sugar and butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 10-12 minutes or until caramel thickens (do not boil).

3. Pour the hot caramel evenly among biscuit bases. Cover with glad wrap.

4. Peel and thinly slice bananas, and arrange over the caramel filling. Top pies with a dollop of cream and serve immediately.

This is obviously a sometimes treat. It is much too rich to eat on a regular basis.

Hope you enjoyed reading this weeks recipe of the week!

Rich hugs!

Weekly review

It's that time of the week again!

This week I've got a bit of everything that I wanted to review. I'll kick of with something that disappointed me to tears (a bit over board).

As I mentioned before in a previous blog post that this was terrible. Sara Lee this is not a 'Deliciously Irresistible Ice cram', what it is, is plastic! I know I might sound harsh but this flavour made me sick. The vanilla flavouring was distinctively artificial like some cheap vanilla lolly you'd buy for 80c.
In saying that it was hard to enjoy because of it. It was so overpowering that one mouthful is enough to put you off.
I'm not saying that all their products aren't edible but this one comes under the list of  indigestible.

On a lighter note their new apple crumble is to die for!

Next would be a combination of lip colours I've been wearing everyday this week.

I managed to achieve this very feminine, summery pink colour buy applying an Estee Lauder lipstick in 14 Rose petal- Creme and over the top an Estee Lauder lip gloss in 09-Rock Candy-Shimmer.

**WARNING mangled lipstick in next picture as a result of a toddler licking off the top**

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the consistency of the lip stick. It is very creamy and moisturising. It has more of a pearly finish on its own, but when combined with the lip gloss it gives it a gorgeous glow with just the right amount of shimmer.
The colour doesn't last very long, however you're left with smooth luxurious lips. If you wanted you could just reapply the gloss on its own for a natural shine.

The lip gloss itself is dual ended which I'll post in a separate post in the next coming day as a part of my beauty regime.

Last but not least is my baby...who is always my favourtite!

I am just a tad bit bias...BUT ISN'T HE SO CUTE?!

My little on has been swimming since he was 6 months old and he's now almost 19 months. He has swimming lessons every Tuesday at the Sydney Olympic Aquatic Centre.
Last week we had the lovely people from Puddle pics come and take underwater pictures of the kids swimming.
Although my son is very competent underwater, the photographer was worried that he might swim straight into the lens. So my son's lovely instructor guided him under the water so he was at a good distance for the photo to be taken.

I ordered only 2 pictures because they'll be back next year to take more. They cost $45 for the 2 however the more you buy the cheaper they turn out to be.

That's it for this week's review! I hope you all enjoyed it!
Don't forget to comment and subscribe for the latest updates from tastytantrums! Also I keep forgetting to mention to follow me on instagram @tastytantrums.

Wiggly hugs!

Home invaders and cooking thieves

Heyho!

This week has been uber busy. I'm coming to the end of my study period which means FINALS! I'm not through the woods just yet but I couldn't resist putting up a new post for you all.

This week I went to a new home improvement centre on the Hume Highway called Masters, I'd say this is a more fancy type of Bunnings Warehouse.

I was on the hunt for some home decor and plants for my balcony. At Masters I found that they had a lot more variety when it comes to the garden than Bunnings which was a pleasant surprise. 

They're home decor was absolutely gorgeous and the prices were very affordable. I didn't pick up anything this week as I am still not sure in which direction I want to go in regards to changing up my home decor. But Masters is definitely the place to go when it comes to chic and cheap(ish) home decor.

They have a lot more updated/modern products than that of Bunnings. The coolest thing they have are these:

Aren't they so cool?! There's plenty space and can fit 2 kids in the drivers part of the trolley. But I will admit they are GINORMOUS and hard to steer. But who cares! As long as the littlies are quite and happy nothing else in the word matters, right?!

This week I've also been anti-cooking which meant a lot of charcoal chicken, Thai and Sara Lee.
I was at Franklins the other day and saw that Sara Lee had a new line of frozen desserts. I'm not one to often purchase frozen goods as I'd much rather eat and buy 'fresh'. But seeing as I wasn't going to have a lazy week I thought, why not?

Yep! Good ol' apple crumble. My husband would kill for apple crumble so I knew that I had to bring this one home. The crumble on the top is always the best bit. Although I'd say the apples and the apple sauce on the inside were more on the sweet side but it was still delish!

I served the apple crumble with some Sara Lee french Vanilla ice-cream.

I'm sorry Sara Lee but this ice cream is terrible. The vanilla flavouring is very artificial and overpowering. I would not recommend anyone to buy this. Which makes me a bit hesitant to try the other flavours they have.

I hope this post was informative, stay tuned for my favourite products of the week and recipe of the week...

Big hugs!

"Home is the place where, when you go there, they have to take you in"- Robert Frost

The sweetest of teeth

I don't usually do anything exciting on Wednesdays. But Yesterday was a special Wednesday! I met up with my awesome BFFs and got ourselves macaroon-ed out!

I'm going to go ahead and confess that I devoured 4 of these babies.
This box of 6 cost $15 or if you wanted to give these as a gift or take some treats over to a friend's place they provide larger quantities. The big mama is 24 macaroons for $55.

On that note, my sweet tooth this week has been troubling me. I just can't help but think about all the delicious goodies I can whip up! So this week I made the famous Banoffee Pie.



This was my first time EVER to try a banoffee pie. So I'm not sure as to how it's meant to taste but BOY DOES THIS TASTE GOOD! I'm not saying this because I made it but WHOA! Is this a rich treat!

I used a very simple recipe to make this, however I'm on the hunt for something a bit more complex to see the taste difference.

Hope this post was as enjoyable to read as it was for me to write! I hope you're all drooling over these bad boy!

Sweet hugs!


"Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first"- Ernestine Ulmer

Recipe of the week

This weeks recipe was a hard one to choose from, I figured that I'd go with the traditional Filipino dish 'Pancit'.

Noodles were introduced into the Philippines by the Chinese and have since been adopted into local cuisine.

Ingredients:
1  packet vermicelli noodles
1 packet egg noodles (optional)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups cooked chicken breasts, diced
1 small cabbage, thinly sliced (optional)
1 cup sweet peas
4 carrots, thinly sliced
2 sprigs greet onions, sliced (optional)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 lemons, cut into wedges, for garnish


Method:
1. Place the rice noodles in a large bowl, and cover with warm water. When soft, drain, and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft.
3. Stir in chicken, cabbage, carrots and soy sauce. Cook until cabbage begins to soften. Toss in noodles, and cook until heated through, stirring constantly. Transfer pancit to a serving dish and garnish with quartered lemons.

Note: To add extra flavour you could purchase a sachet of Pancit flavouring from a Filipino grocer. This will give it a slight orange colour along with added Pancit taste.

Let me know if you try this out, I love you hear from you all!

Hanggang sa susunod na oras!

Weekly review!

Heyho!

It's that time of the week again where I review my most loved products from this past week. 

First off I'd like to give a shout out to my best buddies for surprising me with a beautiful ring from Pandora. I was absolutely elated when they handed me the bag with this gorgeous ring inside as it was my very first Pandora.

I have been wanted something from Pandora since forever and I was hinting to my hubby to get me something from there, but looks like my friends beat him to it!

If any one is interested in buying this little beauty, the ring is called 'Black spine, grey crystal. It has a little jewel in the middle of the flower!

The band of the ring is quite thin which makes it very comfortable to wear. The beautiful black spinel isn't too big which means it won't catch on anything and it isn't heavy to wear!


Next is definitely naughty... 

No words in any language that can describe this treat. Firstly Adriano Zumbo since making an appearance on Master Chef Australia has become the talk of the town. His treats are the Louis Vuitton of the food industry.  His mind blowing sweets are too good to pass up when you see them sold on your supermarket shelf.

This box of goodness retails for $8.47 at Woolies, they also carry his tantalizing macaroons in salted caramel and passion fruit and they also sell a very very very naughty mud cake all of which are $8.47 each. 

I love food!

This is the ultimate sandwich spread. Have it with some cold meat and salad leaves on beautiful multi-grain bread...Drool!
This is a mix of traditional labni and kalamata olives. It's smooth and the flavours just come together and tickle your taste buds. Enough said!

Lastly something not food related!

I'm always on the hunt for a good foundation. I believe that once you've found the foundation that works for you, stick with it and stock up on it. I also believe that if a beauty product says 'anti-aging' it doesn't mean you can't use it you don't have wiser skin.

This is my first time to buy foundation from Face of Australia. Since having a baby my skin has changed and all my usual foundations stopped looking good on my skin. So I have been on a year long hunt for a great foundation with full coverage.
I prefer buying full coverage foundations because you can also thin them out with a damp sponge or a damp foundation brush.
This foundation is full coverage and very easy to work with. It thins out into nothing if you want sheer cover. It has SPF which is great and it doesn't leave your face shiny or greasy like other foundations with SPF.
As for colour matching, they only have three colours : porcelain, beige and tan. I found that if you're in between shades, if worked in well it will match your skin perfectly.

So there we have it! I hope you found this useful. If there are any products out there you would like me to try out, don't be shy, let me know!

Big hugs!

'Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined'. - Henry David Thoreau