Chiddingly Hot Pot, Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce, and Peanut Butter Cupcakes

 Figured I should also knock out a food post since I have three things I most recently made.

Starting with something I had never heard of- Chiddingly Hot Pot. I guess it's a dish hailing from Sussex, England. I've heard of a lot of food from the UK. I changed a few things...I couldn't find red potatoes so I just made mashed potatoes as the topping. Kinda like you would do with a Shepherds pie. I also cooked down the onions in a little beer. It's interesting. Not bad. Just interesting. The additional of vinegar and olive oil gives it a really tangy flavor. It definitely tastes better as leftovers once the flavors get to know each other. Not sure I would make it again- but it was nice to try. 

Next up...a creamy tomato basil pesto sauce. Another sauce made from tomatoes. I didn't make too many changes to this- except using tomato paste instead of sun dried tomatoes. Sun dried tomatoes go off to quickly. This was very easy and mainly hands off. I also simmered the sauce for awhile because that's just something I always do. I love that addition of the mascarpone cheese- which is something I have never added to my sauce. It makes everything very creamy. I also really liked the kick from the chipotle. It wasn't too spicy- just perfect really.  I would make it again. I ate it plain the first day and then the next couple of time I made it with some chicken.

And last up- Peanut Butter cupcakes. I don't think I have had Peanut Butter cupcakes before. The batter for this was great- the actual baked cupcake was meh. But maybe it needs to sit a day. I also made chocolate ganache for the first time. I used the cheapest chocolate bar I could find- not sure if that affected it. But the ganache was just OK. If they taste better tomorrow, I will come back and update. But today they were just- meh. 

I could have done a better job of icing it but my piping bag broke. 

PF Candle Co. No. 04 Teakwood and Tobacco Candle Review

I started and finished Bridgerton Season 04 Part 2 yesterday.  It was good. I wasn't too sure about this season because I'm not a fan of Francesca's story- wasn't a fan of the book and not a big fan of the changes. But as a side story- I didn't mind it. I love any adaptation of Cinderella so I did really enjoy Sophie/Benedicts story although it is definitely not my favorite adaptation of Cinderella.

Anyway...time to review a candle. I have a few I need to just burn the last little bit up so I can move it out of the collection and make room for more. I really liked the first candle I tried from the brand- so I was more than ready some new scents. 

PF Candle claims:

The one that started it all. Some call it the boyfriend scent, we call it the O.G. Leather, teak, orange.

TOP

orange, leather

MID

black tea, pepper, tobacco leaf

BASE

sandalwood, teak, patchouli, musk, amber

• 100% SOY WAX: Our best-selling 7.2 oz Standard Size. Also available in a stronger 12.5 oz size.
• 40–50 HOUR BURNTIME: Atmospheric scent that never overpowers.
• SIGNATURE PACKAGING: Amber glass jar, kraft paper label, and a brass lid.
• MADE IN CA: Poured in Los Angeles by our team.

The most popular teakwood scent is probably the Bath and Body Works scent. There are better teakwood scents. That one is overwhelming. I've never owned it but I have smelled it before. This candle is not overwhelming. PF makes candles for those sensitive to scent. So you get a very light scent. Nothing that will induce a headache or haunt you in your dreams. .

But I do wish it was stronger.

I really enjoyed this scent though. It just smells like a cozy, slightly more masculine living room. Maybe with brown leather couches and an earthy/moody green paint. I guess there is tobacco. I don't know exactly what teakwood smells like.  

One thing I don't love about the brand is that the candles are pretty much unscented until you burn at least 1/3 of it. It's like the scent is hidden underneath or something.

It takes a while to get going. Some candles you can smell as soon as you get a wax pool, this really needs the time to build up in the room. 

It's a soy candle. 100% Soy Wax. I like soy wax better than blends as I think they are healthier and they definitely burn cleaner. No sooting or smoking.

I like the packaging. It comes in brown glass packaging. I think it's pretty unique. You don't have many packaged quite the same. 

I do really like it and have enjoyed it for the most part. I do wish the entire candle came across as scented. And I also wish it was stronger. I would only recommend it to those that like an extremely light throw. I might buy it again- but only on sale.

Kosasport Serene Clean Chemistry AHA Serum Deoderant Review

 A very sleepy girl reporting for blogging. I caught up on sleep yesterday- kinda. So I have a little more energy than I've had most of the week. So I'm cooking, blogging, and watching TV. All at the same time.  Trying to get everything I need to get done so tomorrow I don't have to waste any time and can tune right in to the newest drop of Bridgerton.

I've really slowed down on the purchasing of the more expensive deoderents. They mostly just don't work for the price so most of the time I used Secret Clinical now. It's expensive. But still cheaper than these. I think. They give you the tiniest amount so maybe when I break it down, it really isn't much less. I should figure it out.

Kosas claims: 

Your pits need an AHA moment 
A clean stain-free serum deodorant with a unique blend of AHAs for the ultimate BO-fighting treatment. Bonus points: soothes skin, visibly brightens, and helps with ingrown hairs. No aluminum. No baking soda. Only pit-nourishing ingredients allowed.

I don't know much about the brand except it looks very trendy and they have quite a bit of makeup and the shade range is extensive. I saw this deodorant on Nordstrom and figured I would give it a go. It has three options for scent and this one seemed most interesting. 

It's supposed to be a soothing, spa like scent. To me it seems unscented. Maybe they forgot to add the fragrance. Because I get nothing.

As far as it working- sometimes. Sometimes it seems to work really well and then there will be an occasional day where it does not work. So it isn't completely reliable and I'm not sure if it will work once it gets warmer.

It's a rollerball in interesting packaging. I like it. All green..and easy to use/roll-on. And it seems to dry quickly or it doesn't feel as wet and sticky as some other roller ball deodorants. 

Ingredients: 

Aqua, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Glycerin, Mandelic Acid, Polyglyceryl-4 Cocoate, Sodium Hydroxide, Shikimic Acid, Lactic Acid, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Hyaluronic Acid, Citric Acid, Tartaric Acid, Xanthan Gum, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Cananga Odorata Flower (Ylang Ylang) Oil, Citrus Aurantium Amara (Bitter Orange) Flower Oil, Citrus Paradisi Peel Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis Seed (Jojoba) Oil, Benzyl Benzoate, Limonene, Linalool 
Size: 70 ml/ 2.4 fl oz 

It's not bad. In fact, I think it's one of the better more natural clean ingredient deodorants I have used. It's not perfect though. I might buy it again except I would pick up a different scent next time. 

Technotronics

 Last post of the day for me...a music post.

Definitely a one hit wonder but this was a monster hit for good reason. Who doesn't want to get on the floor when this plays? 

It makes me think of the Dance Central dance- I don't think I've played on hard. The medium was enough for me...

ORS Curls Unleashed Color Blast in Golden Bars Review

 I think they have discontinued these which makes me so sad. I love them so much, they are so fun and I get the best twist outs I have ever gotten from any product with them.  I don't have to retwist my hair each night, I can just throw it in a scrunchie and then bonnet. I take it out and fluff it a little the next morning and then good to go. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

I reviewed it here in the shade Dragon Fruit- which I adore.  Much of what I said about that wax applies to this one.

I get the best definition with these. The only thing is I was pretty unsure of the color. Of the four colors I had bought...this was the most intimidating. And I think it might have been a little odd on me if I had applied it full strength but it gets diluted in my twists and just gives me the perfect shade of golden brown. I think this might be my favorite- also because the gold sparkles is not as noticeable on most of my clothes when it rubs off because these do transfer and rub off. But it comes out easily in the wash.

It can feel a bit drying- even with putting a proper leave in conditioner underneath. I feel like I get 3-4 days of great hair before it gets a bit more frizzy than I would like. 

I probably have a few more uses before my jar is gone and I will be truly sad when it is. I will be forced to try other similar products and if I find anything half as good- I'll definitely update here. For now, I am going to make it a goal to use what I have so I can try more (more twist outs!) . I'm most sad I won't get a chance to try out the blue one..that was my next order.

If you can still find them somewhere...I highly recommend! 

 

Pot Roast and Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce

 Got a quick post today...of two dishes that really did not look great photographed. 

Also two dishes I probably wouldn't make again but was great to try once. 

Starting with Pot Roast. This past year I feel like I have made so many beef dishes- I don't think I've ever cooked it so much in my life. This wasn't my favorite roast- I think because I meant to grab chuck roast but I ended up grabbing round roast or something which is never as good. The weight was better and I forgot to read the package. I also didn't really follow the recipe. I roasted everything separately. It was a filling and hearty meal but I wouldn't make it again- except the sauce. It made the best sauce/broth which I ended up using along with the leftover butternut squash (I had a huge one!) to make a butternut squash soup. It was probably one of the best I have ever made. 

Then I made a spicy tomato sauce. It uses real tomatoes that you blend up with a few other things. It has a more "fresh" taste to it. Would probably be best with homegrown tomatoes. But it was pretty good. And very easy. I made some chicken and pasta to go with. I'm in the tomato sauce section of the Vitamix so you will probably see a few more pasta recipes in the next few food posts. I wouldn't make this exactly as the recipe is written but would freestyle something similar.

And that's all for the week! 

Random: I have been drinking this Caribe tea from Harney. It's a tropical tea and the best one I have found so far! I try a lot of very average tea but this is a stand out! I always drink it iced and slightly sweetened