Outfit of the day + link

I did an face of the day makeup look on youtube today, and then decided to do an outfit of the day as well. The weather has warmed up a bit so I can wear my new thrifted raincoat! Even with it raining, I am glad to not have to run the heater all night long in our bedroom! I hope everyone is having a good day! :)
(Click here for youtube link)

Outfit: Costa Blanca raincoat (thrift), H&M sweater turtleneck, H&M long sleeved t-shirt, Flying Monkey Skinny jeans from Winners, Diesel Boots from Winners, Scarf from Sears, Purse from H&M. :)

Nail Polish Collection in Pictures

I have a bit of an obsession with nail polishes. Even though I have only started doing manicures for the last two years, I have collected quite a few nail polishes. So, without further ado, here are the pictures of my collection. :)
To see the video that accompanies this blog, Click Here.

Long Time Since I've Seen You and I Made a Delicious Stew!

This blog is full of cobwebs! lol I have neglected my blog while I started getting into youtube, but I am back! I have been cooking lots of stews and soups since the weather is getting colder. I thought I would share with you how I make a stew. I adopted this method from a beef stew recipe from one of my older cookbooks. You can use any meat you like in this recipe, and if you don't eat meat, you might want to make a roux to get a nice thick rich stew.

Step one is to fry chopped onion, carrots, and potatoes in oil for 5-6 minutes. While the vegetables are sauteing, coat the stew meat in the flour spice mixture (see recipe below for details).
Take the vegetables out of the pan and fry the stew meat until brown on both sides.

After the meat has browned, take it out of the pan. There should be some brown bits at the bottom of the pan. You want to deglaze the pan with either wine, beer, or some stock and stir to pick up all of the bits on the pan. If using wine or beer to deglaze, make sure to let it bubble a bit to burn off any alcohol.

Then put in a can of either crushed, diced, or whole tomatoes. If using whole tomatoes, you can just mash them down a bit to 'cut' them up.

Then add stock and/or water to the pan. Add back the vegetables and meat to the pan as well.



Bring to the boil and place bay leaf and any other seasonings to the stew. Turn down heat to simmer stew for at least 30 - 45 minutes. You can serve this with some warm crusty garlic bread. Enjoy! :)

Lamb Stew
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped (optional)
1/2 Tbsp oil
1/2 to 1 lb stew meat
Flour spice mixture: 2-4 Tbsp flour, 2-4 Tbsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp salt, 2 tsp ground black pepper
1 Tbsp tomato paste (optional)
2 Tbsp to 1/4 cup wine, beer or stock (to deglaze pan)
1/2 to full can of tomatoes (crushed, diced, or whole)
2 to 4 cups of stock ( veggie, chicken, beef, or lamb) or water
1 to 3 bay leaves