Tasty Tuesdays : Week One

Hey everyone!

So I posted on twitter that starting this week I am going to be running a series called Tasty Tuesdays, where I will be trying out recipes for meals, desserts and the extra sides & letting you know what they're like REALLY rather than just out of a cookbook :) This is part of my New Year Resolutions - to cook atleast once a week - preparing me for the big wide world out there >.<

The cook book I'm using for this series is "Nosh for students" as I am an AWFUL cook(apart from cakes - I'm awesome at baking cakes >.< ) and this is a very basic book - perfect for new starters

So here goes.. My first dish was Sausages & Pasta (it was more interesting than it sounds). It was supposed to be spicy sausages but I don't like spicy food:P

Ingredients (Serves 2):

- 1 mug of penne pasta

- 6 Sausages
- 1 Small onion
- 1 Clove of garlic
- 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato purée
- 1 teaspoon mixed herbs

The way this is cooked is good for students specifically because it allows you to cook each section in stages before adding it together at the end to ensure its still hot

- Start by cooking the pasta. - Penne Pasta takes 10-12 minutes to cook
- Cook the sausages - the books suggests frying, however I grilled them as that is healthier (for the time on the packet usually 18-20 minutes) then cook them into bite size pieces
- Fry the onions and garlic (make sure you've cut them up into small pieces don't just check an onion in there ;) )
- add the tinned Tomatos and tomato purée to a pan and bring to boil, then allow to simmer for 4-5 minutes
- Add the sausages,herbs and Sauce to the pasta then cook for a few more minutes to ensure everything is heated through.

And here is the final result:

So what was it like?
I was reasonably happy with how it turned out. The tomato purée I think added more flavour to the tinned tomato/sauce as usually it's not as strong as I'd like when I've only had tomatos used.
I was worried there was not enough garlic when I first cut it up, then after I cooked it I worried there was too much - but there was actually an ok amount!
I wasn't too sure what herbs to use - I ended up using Thyme as suggested by my mother dearest however I couldn't really taste it so I think maybe I should've used a bit more!!

I give the meal a 4/5. Difficult wise I'd probably give it a 2 or 3 - the hardest bit in cooking I find is getting the timing right - I was having a few issues with trying to stir stuff whilst preparing the next step.

I also looked like I had killed the tomatos in my kitchen as I got the sauce all up the wall and everywhere... woopsie!!!

According tot this book you can make the meal for just £0.97 per person if using the most basic ingredients! I did spend more than that though as it was my first time cooking properly for my parents so I wanted it to be yummy!! :)

Anyways - hope you like the post! If you want to keep seeing them let me know! if you have any recipes you want me to try drop me a message and I may give it a whirl!:)

Much Love,
Toodles ♥

Twitter > @ell_jaye

Instagram > @elljayeblog

Barry M .... Again!!

Hey guys!!

Apologies again for the lack of posting!:( I really am rubbish - most evenings after work I've been with my mr as he's now gone away for the next month. Also I'm not really too sure what type of things you would like to read? any requests/suggestions just tweet or post a comment below!!:)

So... those of you that have read my blog before know that I'm kindaaaa obsessed with nail varnish - especially Barry M. I purchased my first magnetic nail varnish from Barry M a fair while ago after seeing it was a lot cheaper than the other magnetic varnishes and I knew Barry M was good so thought i'd give it a shot!!

I had actually forgotten how much I loved this product until a couple of weeks ago when I used it again - which then lead to me buying a new one... and then yesterday another one.. woopsie! lol :) here are some pictures of the outcomes....

These are all £4.99 each. - I love how they come out, I feel that because of the pattern/2nd colour drawn out by the magnet it gives your nails a more manicured look - but obviously is a lot cheaper than going to get them done professionally, they also end with quite a glossy finish too which adds to manicured look. I will admit I was a LITTLE bit disappointed with the black one - which is my newest one - because the pattern that was drawn out did not stand out as much as it did in the other colours - but I do still like it :)

Hope you liked the post guys - remember if you have any suggestions for things you'd like me to post about just post below or drop me a tweet!:) Thanks for reading

Toodles ♥

www.Twitter.com/ell_jaye

www.Instagram.com/elljayeblog

Barry M Nail Varnish (Mini Haul)

Hey Hey

So as you've probably seen in a previous post of mine, I am slightly obsessed with nail varnish, especially BarryM. I feel that it lasts reasonably well, has good coverage and the colours are amazing! As a treat and there is a 3 for 2 offer in superdrug at the moment on their nail varnish, I bought 3 new ones. But I thought i'd show you my whole collection aswell as just the new ones :) ♥

First off my new 'summer colours'

 (Left to Right -  Dragon, Neon Pink, Greenberry)

Limited Edition Neon Pink
I saw this and just had to get it!!! The colour is gorgeous and bright I love it. The only negative thing I found with this nail varnish is I did need 3 coats of it and it still isn't as opaque as the majority of Barry M varnish

Greenberry (Gelly) 324
I have posted before about the Barry M mint, and although I love it I do feel it is a bit wishy washy (not a very technical term but hey ho:P ), so when I saw this it really stood out to me! I don't have a picture but I tried it on one nail and it was very bright and came out very well, would only need 2 coats at a maximum, you could possibly get away with just one if you needed to leave the house quickly.

Dragon 324 (Gelly)
A gorgeous bright baby pink colour, again like the greenberry one it would only need 2 coats and is also a very summery girly colour!! EDIT: I have just tried this out on one of my nails and it has also got a very slight shimmery/sparkle in it! :)




And the rest of my collection.....

If you want to see images of their special effect nail varnishes (I have the crack one and magentic) then comment or tweet to me and I'll get that done and up on here ASAP!:) 

Toodles ♥

Follow me on instagram ---> www.instagram.com/elljayeblog

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Useless 30 Day Snapper!

HeyHey!

I apologise to anyone that actually follows my blog for completely failing at the past few days of the 30 day snap challenge. Basically my internet has been horrific, plus I haven't been at home or particularly even anywhere with signal ! so I apologise greatly for my slacking :(

Here's the picture from the otherday that I couldnt upload! lol

This is the Barry M Gelly Hi-Shine in Blood Orange, this is the first time i've used any of the Gelly nail varnish by Barry M, I found it was shinier than the usual nail varnish and it has good coverage just like the other varnishes by them. It did chip pretty quickly, however I didn't put a top coat on so that could be why! If you want a more manicured look I would recommend the Gelly collection as I found that it did give more shine and a more professional looking finish :) 

Toodles ♥

Follow me on twitter  https://twitter.com/ell_jaye

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 :)

30 Day Snap Challenge - Day 20

HeyHey!

So my internet is being stupidly slow and wont even load any images or anything for some reason, so I cannot actually add the snap here right now, but it is on my instagram at elljayeblog . I will add the picture once my internet is deciding to show more than just blogger :P I wanted to show you all a video too but that will have to wait until tomorrow! :(

Speak tomorrow

Toodles ♥

30 Day Snap Challenge - Day 3

Hey Hey!!

Today I spent 4 hours from 9 until 1 working in the recording suite at college, firstly setting up the equipment, and then recording all of the tracks for a band in my class as a part of the course I'm doing. I have to say it was INCREDIBLY stressful!!! Trying to set up 14 microphones and check that each one is working (and if its not - trying to work out what the problem is) and communicate with everyone, whilst people are missing around and not paying attention... very hard work! But eventually we did it and got the song laid down! Now  the next step is to mix it! Although next week it's my turn to do the performing so I might mix our track instead of another band's :)

I'm now sitting at home on my own, procrastinating... I have lots of assignments to be in, some that i didn't even know about until today! Woopsie! But I really don't know where to start, or have the will power to do anything after a 9-4 day at college, but it needs to be done! So anyway, must be off now! Feel free to drop me a message on here or twitter, would love to talk to some other bloggers :)

Here's my snap for today...

Toodles ♥

Hi Hi!

Hey! Not really sure where to start with this whole blogging dealio or what I should even say really... but here goes!!

First off, my name isn't actually Ell unfortunately *sad face* - but basically people call me LJ so that's how I got the name EllJaye :) I am 18 years old & I'm a music student in Norfolk, UK. Some of my hobbies are, singing, photography, gaming and I quite like experimenting with makeup too - so I might even put a bit of that up on here if I'm ever feeling 'wild'!

The reason for why I'm starting this blog is because I was initially going to try vlogging on youtube, however I haven't got the guts to do that just yet, so I thought blogging would be the best place to start! I've not got a specific topic that this blog is based around, I'm just going to talk about pretty much whatever is in my head at the time the keyboard is under my fingers! Whether it be about life, love, makeup, music - whatever chatter is needed! One thing I am hoping to get out of this blog is that I am the type of person that always gives advice to my friends, so I hope that if people ever actually end up reading this, I'll be able to help them out too!!

Anyways! I know this wasn't a very long post but it is ... 2am now (wasn't expecting that time to pop up when I looked at the clock!). So I think sleep is probably needed :)

Shall write again soon :)

Toodles!:) ♥