The end of a chubba chub

Hello all!

I hope everyone is having a good start to the week. Speaking of starting the week, why do diets always start on a Monday?! I realise that it is just easier to keep track of whatever it is you're doing but someone should break the rules and start on...no, Monday seems to be the best fit for starting diets. Which brings me to my post.

My husband and I will be embarking on a challenge to loose 10kg in 30 days. I know many will think this is unhealthy and unsafe, however my husband has found a book that wasn't written by a weight-loss specialist but a very smart man who has worked with many people in the field of nutrition and weightloss. The book is called 'The 4 hour Body'.

Basically this book shows you fast and easy ways to loose weight without having to sweat it out at the gym. Upon reading the book I was very eager to start as I have been sporting my baby weight much too long and would like to get my body ready for another. My aim is to loose approx. 30kg. This way I will be at my lowest weight possible (healthy range of course).

Throughout my pregnancy I didn't gain a whole heap of weight. The weight started piling after I gave birth. Although I breastfed for 18 months my weight would gradually increase. So at this very moment in time I have made a promise to myself that I will finally lose the weight, and some. I want to be healthy for my son and hopefully for other children to come.

So that being said welcome to day 1!

Day 1:

Breakfast: Sauteed Chicken breast with onion and garlic with lentil soup (Very filling)

Lunch: Chicken enchiladas with mixed beans (no bread)

Dinner: Tuna salad.

This may seem very little but believe me I had big portions (as requested in the book) I found myself so full from breakfast I had a late lunch simply for the fact that I wasn't hungry at all.

I will be taking pictures of what I eat starting from tomorrow since it is also a requirement of the diet to do so. So i'll be sharing my food diary with you all! I'll be sharing some information about the book as I go along that way if anyone out there would like to try it, you can!

There we have it for today. Join me on my weight-loss journey!

Big chubby hugs!

Stuffed Phoenix

Hi everyone!

As this week I have not done any shopping (shock, horror, gasp!) and I did do much cooking (nothing worth  posting about) I thought I'd put up a post of one of my favourite restaurants of all time. 

Welcome to PHOENIX!

I was first introduced to Phoenix by my sister who used to go with her close colleagues for special occasion lunches or just because they 'felt like' it lunches. Phoenix is serves both Yum Cha and A la Carte, usually yum cha is served from morning until lunch then for dinner service they turn into A la Carte and the seating arrangements are changed to a more traditional restaurant setting. 

I wasn't sure what to expect as I had never eaten at a Chinese restaurant let alone yum cha before.
I'm always up to try something new so I was very excited!

Seeing as this is not my first time I was very familiar as to what I wanted. I go all out on prawns when I go yum cha. I particularly love the steamed prawn dumplings and the fried calamari YUM! I ate so much I couldn't open my eyes...

Mango pancakes, oh how I love you! I would marry you if I could. These babies are the most delicious deserts you could ever eat, that is if you're a lover of mangoes, cream and...pancakes.
The moment you bite into one of these beauties sends electricity through your body. The mix of soft pancake, rich cream and cold mango just melts in your mouth and suddenly you're in a place that only dreams are made of.
I won't be shy, I will admit that I ate one plate (i.e two pancakes) of these tantalizing creations. I could however do more but thought my heart would hate me if I did.

So if any of you guys are in Sydney go look up your closest Phoenix and stuff yourself with Chinese goodness!

Until next time my lovelies! 

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