Foodie Friday - Easy Mushroom Stroganoff

I have to say I've never been bored whilst I've been a vegetarian, yes I've struggled a bit in certain countries but overall I can normally find a wide variety of things to eat. One of the earliest memories of eating out as a veggie was eating a vegetable stroganoff, this used to be a really popular meal on pub menus but it does seem to have disappeared a bit in recent. You can get all different types of stroganoffs, beef, vegetable and my personal favourite mushroom but they are are based on the same theme something in a creamy type sauce. The first mushroom stroganoff I ever made was from an amazing vegetarian recipe book The Classic 1000 Vegetarian Recipes by Carolyn Humphries. I would thoroughly recommend this book if your a new veggie and you love cooking this book contains pretty much everything you can think of without relying on a lot of processed food and a lot of meat alternatives. The original recipe wasn't great on the pocket or the waistline though as it contained a lot of cream!, all be it soured slightly with the addition of lemon juice, so I needed another option. Thankfully I found it in another of Carolyn Humpries books, The New Students Veggie Cook Book. This is another fabulous book for new veggies or even for those cooking on a budget, everything is really simple to make, it uses a lot of store cupboard ingredients, and the majority of recipes are cheap to make. This book also contained a mushroom stroganoff recipe but this time something slightly kinder on the wallet and the waistline. This is the recipe that main is based on and it's so yummy I thought I'd share it with you x

Mushroom Stroganoff

2oz Butter or Margarine

1 Large Onion

3 Cloves Garlic - Finely Chopped Or Crushed

3lbs Mushrooms 

100ml White Wine

1 tbs Cornflour

300ml Natural Yoghurt

Salt and Pepper To Taste

1. Put the butter or margarine into a large cold pan and add the garlic and cook over a low heat. I prefer to use butter it gives a much better flavour.

In the meantime roughly chop your onion

and clean and chop your mushrooms either in to halves or quarters depending on the size. This would also be  fab with mini button mushrooms

2. After a couple of minutes the fat should be melted and the garlic should be starting to soften

Add the onions and cook over a slightly higher heat for about 5-10 minutes

3. When the onion are soft and translucent like this

add your mushrooms, your might struggle to get them all in but they will cook down so don't worry.

I often find it easier to pop a lid on.

4. After about 20 minutes to half an hour the mushrooms should be soft and just about cooked x

At this point measure out your wine, it's always best to use something your would drink, I'm using a Pinot Grigio here but anything will do, I even made this with leftover red wine and it was just as good although the colour was a little bit odd ;) If you don't want to use alcohol then leave it out, it isn't essential but it does add a bit of extra richness.

If your using the wine add it to the mushrooms. Mushrooms contain a lot water so what you want to do now is reduce the amount of liquid in the the pan, it doesn't matter if there is a little bit there tho, you can never get rid of all of it 

5. In the meantime mix the cornflour with a little bit of water (or you can use some liquid from the mushroom mix), you want it to be quite liquidy

Then measure out your yogurt, I'm trying to claw back some calories here so I'm using low fat natural Easi Yo but you can use whatever you like, or even a single or double cream and a dash of lemon juice.

Then add them both to the pan, and mix well.

I will look as if it's curdling but don't panic, just keep stirring over a medium heat 

6. Then leave it for 10 minutes or so until its thickened and darker in colour, season with salt and pepper to taste

and serve with anything you like, from rice, pasta, to a jacket potato or crusty bread and a salad - showing off here with my rice timbales ;) and if you like serve with a nice glass of the wine you used to make your stroganoff :)

This recipe will easily serve 4 people or 2 with leftovers. It keeps really well in the fridge for a few days as long as it's covered up. You might need to add a little bit more liquid when you heat it up though. Here I've mixed it in to some freshly cooked pasta and served it with some salad :)

If your a veggie or even if your not this is a great recipe that looks really impressive but is actually really simple to make x If you have any questions please leave me a comment I love reading what you have to say xx

Ice Cream Sprinkle Nails

One of the biggest trends in nails at the moment seems to be sprinkle, polishes packed full of either sparkly or matte particles. I've accumulated quite a few in my collection so far, but by far the most quirky has to be this one from Etude House.

Strawberry Stars Candy is one of a number of polished they do in ice cream shaped bottles so cute and a must for any nail polish collector. It's a proper baby, strawberry ice cream milky pink filled with different shapes and colours of glitter. It took about 3 coats for full coverage but to be honest I think that ruins the sprinkles effect, so maybe what I'll do next time is to layer it over a plain pale pink polish to see the sparkles in their full glory.

I took these pics a few weeks ago when my nails and cuticles were not at their best, so please try not to let that cloud your judgement. This is a really pretty polish that probably needs a bit more work than I initially though but it's still a cute addition to my extensive nail polish collection. I picked up this polish from ebay for a pretty bargainous £3.29 including postage, if your interested in picking one up though I'd get moving pretty fast as there doesn't seem to be that many on the site any more x Do you like sprinkle polishes? and do you have any recommendations? let me know in the comments x

Birthday Haul

Hi Guys - As you know it was my birthday last week :) I mentioned on twitter and instagram so of the things that I got and a few people requested a birthday haul - I've had some negative feedback on posts like this before so I wasn't sure so instead I've recorded a video for my You Tube channel xx If you can't see the embedded video you can also see it here x



I promise I'm not bragging I'm just really grateful and thankful that I have such amazing family and friends and I really want to say a public thank you to them xx I'll probably feature most of the beauty items on my you tube channel or on my blog but if there is anything specific that you'd like to see please let me know xxx

A Fresh Start - Losing Weight With Thinking Slimmer, Slim Pod And Debenhams

Well after 2 weeks of excess, 2 birthdays, 2 birthday teas, 5 meals out, lots of gluten free cakes, and several boxes of birthday chocolates,  it's hardly a surprise that the diet has pretty much gone out of the window and I'm pretty much back where I started and just 1lb down from my original starting weight.

Today though is the first day of a new beginning, I'm starting with a clean slate and I'm going to tackle those excess pounds and lose some weight for summer. I've done it in the past and I KNOW that I can do it again.

What makes you think you not going to fail this time? I hear you cry, well I've got a little bit of help this time round. Whilst my computer was in laptop hospital I received an email on behalf of Debenhams and Thinking Slimmer regarding their Beach Body promotion. We all know who Debenhams are but what about Thinking Slimmer?

Well Thinking Slimmer are the creators of the SlimPod, a unique and ground breaking weight loss method that doesn't rely on diet and exercise. Instead it's all about helping you to change your mindset so that you eat less and achieve the goals that you've set yourself.

All you do is chose the Slim Pod to suit your goals, or lifestyle and either download it or buy the cd. This isn't hypnosis instead its all about unconcious persuasion. The idea that listening to the download for just 10 minutes a day can play a major role in changing our thoughts and behaviours. I know some of you are probably thinking that this sounds a bit like mumbo jumbo, but things like this have been used successfully in the past to aid all sorts of behavioural changes such as stopping smoking so it can work. The Slim Pod system has been used and endorsed by an NHS consultant psychiatrist who declared the effects as profound and possibly life changing which sounds good to me :)

I was given a voucher to download the Slim Pod "Create That Summer Beach Body" worth £29.99 which is now on my laptop and on my ipod for night time listening. The download aims to help you change your attitude towards food and think more positively about achieving the beach body of your dreams. I listened to it for the first time last night and I have to say that it made me feel utterly calm and relaxed - there is no putting you down and making you feel bad about yourself, this is all about making you calm and feel more positive about achieving the body and appearance that you want. You also get free online support from the Thinking Slimmer forums, facebook and on twitter and a personal handbook you can download to help you set goals and complete your weight loss targets.

Since the aim of this Slim Pod is all about achieving the beach body of your dreams, I was given the opportunity to chose a swimsuit of my choice from the newly launched Reger By Janet Reger swimwear line at Debenhams.

The are a few block colours in the line but for me it was all about the florals so in the end I went for a one piece - the Designer Grey Floral Twist Halter Neck Swimsuit.

It is absolutely gorgeous in the flesh, the quality is superb and the colours are so vibrant. I haven't got the guts to model it myself at the moment so my beloved dress makers dummy has come into play again x I've also gone for a size below what I would wear at the moment to hopefully account for any weight loss. If I achieve my initial weight loss goal I may be brave enough to model it for you :) hopefully on a sun lounger somewhere warm and sunny or if not before an aqua therapy session.

I know things like this aren't for everyone and if your happy with your figure I hold my hands up to you and say good on you, but I'm not, I've gone from a size 12 to a size 18-20 in less than 7 years due to illness and medication and to be honest it's starting to bring me down, and for that reason I'm willing to give anything a go. You don't need to calorie count or diet with the Slim Pod but to be honest I'm going to, I have a lot of weight to lose and I'm hoping that with a bit of gentle persuasion and conditioning that I will be able to lose some weight and feel better about myself.

I'll keep you posted as to how I'm getting on both with my weight loss and with the Slim Pod on my main blog page and of course on my weight tracker page. To find out more about Thinking Slimmer and the Slim Pods please check out their website here x you can also listen to a sample of a Slim Pod x If you have any questions please leave me a comment and thanks again for your support xx

(Both The Thinking Slimmer Slim Pod "Create That Summer Beach Body" And The Reger By Janet Reger At Debenhams Swimsuit Were Provided For Review / Promotional Purposes)

Cleanse And Rebalance Fine And Fragile Hair With Celebrity Hairdresser Guy Kremer

If you've read my blog for a while you'll know that I am a bit of a hair care junkie. I love trying new products and new tools, and over the next few months I've got loads of exciting new things to show you and to share with you.

Probably my most popular haircare post is the humble shampoo and conditioner review, I love trying new shampoos, and experiencing new textures and smells so they're a never a chore to do. Recently I received a couple of shampoos, conditioners and styling products to try out from a haircare brand that was completely new to me Guy Kremer.

Guy Kremer is a multi award winning celebrity hairdresser with a renowned international reputation, who has styled the hair of everyone from Bollywood stars, to Little Mix, Alexandra Burke and Claudia Winkleman. As well as tending the hair of the rich and famous, and training and teaching his art French born Guy runs a successful salon based in Winchester. Drawing on his day to day work, and years of professional experience in 2011 Guy Kremer developed his own line of professional haircare products, designed to appeal to women of all ages and leave their hair looking and feeling the very best it can. All of the products in the Guy Kremer Professional Salon Style are designed to feel and smell gorgeous and above all to perform.

The range comprises of 3 shampoos (Guy calls them Cleansers) and 3 conditioners (he calls these rebalancers) and 6 styling / finishing products. As I say I was sent quite a few products from the range to try out but the first one that I managed to try are the Add The Bounce Cleanser and the Add The Bounce Rebalancer both designed for fine /fragile hair

Guy Kremer Add The Bounce Cleanser - Professional Salon Shampoo For Fine /Fragile Hair

I know what your going to say "your hair isn't fine", well let me tell you it is, I have super fine hair but I have an awful lot of it. It's prone to frizz and it can look quite flyaway and quite flat. It's also quite fragile and I lose about a zillion hairs on a daily basis so at the moment this product is right up my street. The Add The Bounce range has been formulated specifically to give fullness body and bounce to the hair.

Like all the shampoos and conditioners in Guy Kremer's range, Add The Bounce Cleanser contains 18-MEA which is a natural lipid which is found in the hair cuticle which helps to balance the hair and maintain condition and strength ahead of styling.

The first thing you notice about this product is the bottle, to me it doesn't scream celebrity hairdresser it screams more budget supermarket brand, it's quite basic and for the Add The Bounce range its made of a pink plastic, it doesn't really say luxury to me to be honest. It is clear though that in this case the money has been spent on the actual product rather than the packaging - it smells gorgeous! It has a herbal, floral, aromatherapy type smell, I once has a massage with something that smelled very similar, you smell maybe lavender, and rosemary sprinkled with something a bit more floral - heavenly.

The product itself has quite a runny texture and a clear appearance. It foams up really well to give a super gentle foam that cleanses the hair really well and washes it really easily.

Given the light texture I was a bit worried that this maybe wouldn't be able to deal with really dirty hair but it managed it with ease even after a day in the kitchen and some major products build up. It seemed to be a really light, gentle shampoo that you could easily use everyday with no problems. I really liked this shampoo so much so that I've actually used it continuously since I opened it and I actually finished it last week - to actually finish a bottle of shampoo before starting another one is pretty rare for me! The downsides, well if you have coarser, drier hair this probably won't be for you, it will probably be just a bit too light and not nourishing enough. It also contains Sodium Laureth Sulfate which I know a few of you guys don't like to use or allergic too so that's probably a pretty big negative as far as your concerned. If SLS doesn't bother you though, and you have fine hair, or your after a frequent use shampoo this could be the one for you. Guy Kremer Add The Bounce Cleanser retails at £6.25 for 250ml.

Guy Kremer Add The Bounce Rebalancer Professional Salon Conditioner For Fine / Fragile Hair

As well as the Cleanser (shampoo) I was also given the opportunity to try out the matching Rebalancer. Yes it's a conditioner under a fancier name but I can kind of understand why it's called what it it. The whole point of Guy's range appears to be to transform your hair to its natural glory - if the hair isn't looking its best I guess something is wrong or unbalanced so surely the idea is to rebalance it out and get it back to the  way it should be? that's how I interpret it anyway lol

Packaged in the same basic pink packaging as the shampoo, the conditioner also contains the 18-MEA lipids, and ingredients such as sweet almond oil and argan oil for moisture and condition. It smell exactly the same as the shampoo, if anything the smell is a little bit stronger and the lavender is more prominent. It has a creamy texture but it actually feels quite light.

I guess one of the biggest issues people with fine hair, is product weighing it down. They certainly won't have that problem with this conditioner. Although it feels quite creamy to the touch, it doesn't feel thick or heavy, and in fact it feels quite lightweight when you massage it into the hair.

Unsurprisingly it rinses out really easily and it doesn't seem to weigh the hair down or leave any residue or stickiness. My hair was left feeling quite soft but if your hair is really dry this product probably won't be moisturising enough for you, but again if you have fine hair or if you wash and condition your hair every day this product could be perfect for you x Guy Kremer Add The Bounce Rebalancer retails at £6.95 for 250ml.

I have to say these products really surprised me, the packaging is a total red herring, as I said it doesn't scream celebrity hairdresser, but in this case the contents really do speak for themselves and the money has clearly been spent on the formulations and textures themselves. I shouldn't have been so surprised though when you read about the pedigree of Guy Kremer himself, I'm sure he wouldn't have put his name to something that didn't do what it claimed. I also think the prices are amazing, your paying for product not glitzy packaging, and at just £6.95 a bottle these products are great value. This is a pretty exclusive range at the moment which is just available from the Guy Kremer salon in Winchester and from his website here, but it's a range I would definitely recommend trying. If these two products aren't for you though keep checking back as I have some more products from this range to review x If you have any questions please leave me a comment xx

(Both Products Were Provided By PR For Review / Promtional Purposes)

A Foodie Friday Special - Walkers Baked Hoops And Crosses - A Mini Review And A Special Guest

I'm not a morning person at all so I generally wake up feeling, well a bit crappy. About a fortnight ago though when I was on my blogging hiatus I received a surprise parcel that really helped put a huge smile on my face.

I removed the outer box and found a was a rectangular shaped box decorated in a jungle type design from top crisp and snack manufacturer Walkers.

I opened the box only to be met with the cutest press release I've ever seen, a board book with holes in it very similar in appearance to The Hungry Caterpillar telling my all about their new snack Baked Hoops And Crosses.

The fun didn't end there though underneath the book was this little guy....

How cute is he? a little furry, beanie monkey :) He really made me smile and cheered up my morning no end :)

Better still he came with a packet of the new Walkers Baked Hoops And Crosses in Roast Beef.

Walkers Baked Hoops And Crossed are a wholegrain snack that a very much marketed as a healthy snack and seem to be aimed towards children as a healthier lunchbox option.

Wholegrains are a key component of a healthy balanced diet and recent research published in the British Journal Of Nutrition suggests that young people aged 4-18 just don't eat enough, and in fact 27% don't eat any at all on a daily basis.Walkers Baked Hoops And Crossed contain a massive 56% wholegrain, in this case wholegrain corn meal, and because they are baked and not fried they come in at between 84 and 85 calories for an 18g bag.

They come in 3 flavours Prawn Cocktail, Salt N Vinegar, and the one that I received Roast Beef. All the flavours are suitable for vegetarians, and contain no gluten, although if you are super sensitive there is the potential for cross contamination during the manufacturing process.

As the name suggest these corn snacks are shaped like hoops and crosses, or as your probably more familiar with noughts and crosses :)

As tempted as I was to have a quick game, these were just too yummy to play with. They have a crunchy texture, and a lovely savoury flavour. They reminded me of something that I used to eat in my own lunch box when I was little, so I can really see these appealing to children.

Yes I know we should be encourage children, and maybe larger children to eat more fruit and vegetables, but the fact is we all love crisps and savoury snacks, so surely it's better to eat something that it designed to be a little bit healthier and  lower in calories. Walkers Baked Hoops And Crosses come in multipacks of 6, 18g bags and they come in 3 flavours, and retail at around £1.89. I'm a huge salt and vinegar fan so I can definitely see myself picking up some more of these when I get back on the diet bandwagon, and of course a huge thank you and thumbs up to Walkers for one of the best PR samples and concepts that I've seen in a while x Have you tried Walkers Baked Hoops And Crosses yet? What's you favourite "healthy" snack? let me know in the comments x

(The Press Pack Shown In This Post Was Provided By Walkers For Review / Promotional Purposes)

I'm Back And Raring To Go

Well my absence was a little bit longer than I hoped but hopefully you didn't notice too much :) I got my completely transformed, working laptop back yesterday which just so happened to be my birthday x Thanks for all the birthday wishes both on facebook and on twitter by the way I really do appreciate it x I've been a busy bee while I've been away taking lots of photos, and trying out lots of new products for you so I'm on a mission to make my blog bigger and better than before.

 I've got loads of posts planned over the next week or so including a review of a fab new snack launch, a hair product review, a nails of the day post, a review and a giveaway post and a series of posts on the North East Lush Event which was a blogger event that I was lucky enough to attend last weekend. I also have a few You Tube videos planned including a much requested birthday haul, and a demonstration of one of my favourite Lush products x

I really appreciate your feedback so please let me know what you'd like to see more of on LouLouLand x

Don't forget you can follow my ramblings in several ways all of which you can see in the sidebars - At the moment you can follow me via GFC, Bloglovin, via email and of course on twitter, and on You Tube and now on Instagram - I am also considering several other ways of keeping in touch with me so I'll keep you posted x

Thanks for sticking with me and I'll see you tomorrow with a Foodie Friday post x

Budget Beauty Series - MUA Power Pout Colour Intense Stain And Balm - Irreplaceable And Broken Hearted

A few weeks ago the lovely Mummy Lou was kind enough to buy me a couple of things from Superdrug. I pursued the shelves for a little while before settling on two items from one of my favourite budget beauty brands MUA.

 I've become a bit obsessed with these chubby style lip colours lately - I love the Chit Chat ones from Poundland, the Revlon ones and the Ted Bakers ones that I have, so it was pretty obvious that somewhere along the line I would try the new version from MUA.

The MUA Power Pout Colour Intense Tint And Balms, are basically chubby pen style, twist up moisturising lip tints. They come in 5 shades for a nude, to red tones, and of course pinks. The shades I got were Irreplaceable and Broken Hearted.

Irreplaceable is a proper pink colour. It looks very bright and is almost fuchsia tones but it is in fact very, very wearable.

Both of these lip colours feel very creamy and moisturising which makes them very easy to apply and they have a really glossy finish.They have also have a pleasant minty smell and flavour.

and of course here is a full face shot, so you can get another idea of what it looks like on.

The next shade that I picked up something way out my comfort zone - I really am trying to get out of my pink and nude rut so instead of the most obvious shade Rendezvous, which is a nude colour I went for Broken Hearted.

Broken Hearted if I'm honest does look pretty scary in the tube - it looks like a bright red but it swatches down to be an all be it very bright raspberry toned red.

It's still a bit of a departure for me, as it does look really bright against my almost ghostly skin, but in the summer or with a tan or for an evening out this is actually really wearable - you need to be a bit careful with application of this one because of the colour, but the extra effort is so worth it.

and of course my much requested duck face to give a full face view :)

To be honest the lip shot don't look too different here but there is a definite difference between the two shades. As you can hopefully see from these side by side swatches Broken Hearted on the left has a lot more red tomes, where as Irreplaceable is a lot pinker.

I have to say I am so, so impressed with these. The pigmentation is amazing, the texture is super, creamy and   moisturising, and they actually seem to last on the lips. What shoots these way ahead of the Revlon alternatives is the taste and smell, these actually smell and taste of proper peppermint, as opposed to the hideous synthetic mint ish flavour of the Revlon. A lot of people think that MUA have taken the copying / duping thing too far, but personally if they can continue to produce products as good as this for me they keep doing it till the cows come home. These come in 5 shades and retail at a pretty amazing £3 each! that's £13 less than a Clinique Chubby Stick. Do they compare? I really can't say as I've never had the pleasure of owning one but for £3 they are definitely worth a try and I can definitely see myself buying at least one more x Have you tried lip pens like this? which ones would you recommend? and are Clinique Chubby Sticks really worth the money? please let me know in the comments xx