What I wore... wedding edition

One of my favourite things on Instagram, YouTube and blogs are what I wore posts. I love to see how other people style outfits and draw inspiration from them so I decided to try it myself. We went to a the evening of a wedding last night and I loved wearing my outfit. Obviously my amazing posing and my other half's incredible photography skills just make this blog but bare with us, we are learning!

Outfit:

I found this dress for an absolute steal on My Kind of Dress, a company based in Ireland that sells utterly gorgeous dresses and seperates perfect for weddings and other events. I found the plunge neckline flattering on my more generous chest while the stretchy fabric helped with actually fitting both my backside and waist in, a daily struggle. This dress also has a cut out detailing on the back, perfectly positioned so I was able to wear my normal bra, a real win in my books.

I paired the dress with my gorgeous red Ivy heels from Ruby Shoo and the matching Brighton bag. The shoes I had purchased from my work and the bag I found on amazon when we were invited to the wedding as I was determined to wear these heels. Surprisingly comfortable, I wore these heels for around 5 hours having worked a full day beforehand, I am very tempted to get these in more colours!


Makeup and Hair:

For my hair and makeup I kept it relatively simple to let my accessories do the talking, My hair is an unruly mop and tends to do as it wishes so I have learnt to just give it a good brush and let it do its thing. I wore my usual base which I am planning a post about soon. For my eyes I used my Naked basics palette from Urban Decay to create a soft smoky eye and packed Space Cowboy glitter by them over the top. I always wear a winged liner, current favourite being Soap and Glory and my lipstick is Red Carpet by Charlotte Tilbury. 

I really loved this look and trying to embrace my figure a bit more, I have struggled with the way I look over the years as most of us  have but my other half thinks I'm 'comfortaboobles' and to me that's all that matters, 

Cookies Galore

I recently made the mistake of providing cake for my better half to take to work with him and now a weekly cake run is required. Ideal for testing out new recipes, this weeks donation was highly requested... Chocolate Chip Cookies. That staple love of everyone, big or small.  I decided to try three different variations and see how they went...

Chocolate Chip

Oh-so simple and utterly delicious, the chocolate chip cookie is a lunch box staple. This recipe take about 30 minutes start to finish and makes gorgeous cookies.I used milk and dark chocolate chips in this for added interest but you could easily use white chocolate or all of one type.

Ingredients
200g brown sugar
250g unsalted butter
2 eggs
3 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp salt
450g self raising flour
200g milk chocolate chips
200g dark chocolate chips

Method
Preheat your oven to 200 fan. Cream together the butter and sugar until the mix is light and fluffy. Add the eggs and vanilla and beat again. Mix in the flour and salt to create a thick dough before folding in the chocolate chips.

Using your hands, create evenly sized balls of dough and press them out to around 1cm thick, placing on a greased baking sheet, Make sure to leave a couple of cm between each cookie to stop them sticking together, Bake for 10 -12 minutes until golden on top. Leave on the try to cool and harden then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling when firm.


Double Chocolate Chip

More decadent than a simple chocolate chip cookie, the addition of a chocolaty dough makes  these something special as well as being easy to make.

Ingredients
200g brown sugar
250g unsalted butter
2 eggs
3 tsp vailla essence
1 tsp salt
350g self raising flour
150g cocoa powder
200g milk chocolate chips
200g dark chocolate chips

Method
preheat your oven to 200 fan, Mix together the butter and sugar until creamy then add the eggs and vanilla. Carefully add the cocoa powder, flour and salt to for a smooth dough, i found this one slightly less pliable than the chocolate chip cookies, Fold in the chocolate chips, using your hands to encourage them into the dough,

Form balls of the dough between your hands and press out to around 1cm thick. \Place the cookies on a greased baking sheet leaving approximately 2cm between each to prevent them bleeding into eachother. Bake for 10-12 minutes and leave to cool and firm up on the trays to prevent them breaking. Once firm, transfer to a wire rack to cool.

White Chocolate and Raspberry

A sophisticated take on a chocolate chip cookie, I like to pretend the addition of raspberries make these healthy and one of my five a day, if only!

Ingredients 
150g butter
150g caster sugar
2 eggs
250g self raising flour
100g white chocolate chips
150g raspberries

Method
Preheat the oven to 180 fan. Cream together the butter and sugar before adding the eggs, Slowly add the flour to create a dough. Chop the raspberries to similar sized pieced to the chocolate chips and fold both through the dough. this dough is much wetter than the others with the addition of the raspberries.

As with the other cookies, create balls of dough between your hands and gently flatten them to around 1cm thick, Place the cookies on a greased baking sheet and bake for around 15 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool on the sheets until the cookies have firmed up and then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Perfect for special occasions or just to keep the biscuit tin topped up, cookies will always be a firm favourite, If you try any of the recipes please tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife, I can't wait to see your creations.

My Subscription Boxes

When subscription boxes became popular a a few years ago, i have to admit i thought it was going to be a passing fad and didnt really pay it any attention. I can't remember how I found these but I sure am glad I did. My allergies both inside and out make me what my other half calls 'defective' and a vegan inspired diet covers me pretty well so finding a boxes of goodies that come and I can happily use most things has been an absolute delight. The company is also based in Glasgow and aims to promote and support British business catering for alternative diets, They also have an online shop with more options that you can even comprehend for vegans and omnis alike. 

The Vegan Kind Beauty Box

Coming in at £18.15 and arriving once every three months,this box of goodies is one I always looks forward to, As a skincare and makeup junkie its great fun to try new products and these tend to suit my skin perfectly. The selection is fantastic with masks and moisturisers and hair care galore. This months haul included a sachet of brace. Organically shampoo, a rollerball bottle of tossed and happy aromatherapy oils which smells amazing and a zenreaau waterless towel off body wash. Along with that came a bottle of Eden perfume, a chirp oil based hair mask and a huge tub of HA hydra active cream for fave and body. All for less that £20, mental! Some of my new skincare and body favourites have been from these boxes and they certainly don't scrimp on the contents. The box also comes with a breakdown of all the products and the companies that supply them, along with the costs which often adds up to well over £50 plus information about the charity of the month. 

The Vegan Kind Food Box 

 

I get so excited every month when I know this should be arriving it's actually sad. The amount of goodies included is always incredible and there has been very little that I haven't demolished pretty much as soon as I open the box. While the products are vegan it should be noted that a lot of them do contain nuts but some are branded gluten and nut free as well. Often the foodie box contains a little beauty treat as well as the food, this months being an activated charcoal deodorant balm from Native Unearthed. This months. Of included a bag of sweet peach Candy Kittens which are firm favourites with e and my omni SO so a great treat. Also in the box was a strawberry blonde bar which lasted all of 30 seconds out the box (I had barely taken the pictures before it disappeared), a tub of Sweet Freedom chocolate spread which gives Nutella a a serious run for its money, a We Are Tea sample tea bah of their Super Berry tea which went into my handbag to replace my emergency teabag I already used. Along with all this there was an bah of beg crisps from Emily and a PhD Protien Superfood smoothie in a pouch perfect for on the go. This box comes with a recipe card which is always for something beyond delicious and a breakdown of the goodies in the box. Coming in at £13.15 including postage this is crazy good. 

These boxes have been brilliant for me. When I developed my ltwsf allergies around ten years ago I kind of gave up on food, if it hated me then why should I love it but between a family of avid cooks and goodies and these boxes of goodies I have got my love for food back. To sign up for the boxes or just have a nosey at the online shop go to  https://www.thevegankind.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwzrrMBRByEiwArXcw2zp5-hJ_ObmB9pdq47D5zwukaoAlkV4TrO4fXASyDxgVGWbxWGdGoBoCCqIQAvD_BwE 

Lime and Ginger Drizzle Cake

This is my twist on the first cake I ever made by myself, a classic victoria sponge. I have taken the basic recipe and jazzed it up with the addition of ginger and lime for a fresh and zingy cake that is so light its perfection. Easy to make and even easier to enjoy, this is one to bake time and time again...

Ingredients:

6oz self raising flour
6 oz caster sugar
6oz butter
3 eggs
1tsp baking powder
5 balls of stem ginger in syrup and half the jar of syrup
3 limes, zest and juice

The cake before and after drizzling

Method:
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees fan, Place the ginger balls in a food processor and blitz down to fine shards. Zest the limes and place the zest and ginger in a bowl. In the food processor, place the sugar, flour, butter and baking powder and blend on low, adding the eggs slowly. add in the ginger and lime and mix thoroughly on high to create a batter-like mix.

Place the batter in a large cake tin and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cake is golden brown and when pierced with a skewer it comes away clean. When baked, the cake should be gently pulling away from the sides of the tin. Let the cake cool for ten minutes while you prepare the drizzle. Add the jiuce of the three limes to the ginger syrup and stir thoroughly. take a fork and prick the cake all over right to the base. Gently spoon over the drizzle making sure to cover the whole cake.

Leave the cake to cool completely and using a spatula tease the edges away from the tin. Holding the sides of the tin gently shake the tin up and down, turning every few shakes to release the cake. Slide out onto a cooling rack to settle.

Cut into generous chunks and enjoy...