New spiralizer in the house!

Hey everyone!

Today I've gotten my new Paderno Spiral Vegetable Slicer or some may call it Spiralizer. I bought it from Amazon for about USD35+, which converts to about SGD45. I didn't have to pay for shipping fee as it was above $35. I know that recently they do sell something similar at TOTT but its almost $90. Twice of what I can get online!

This is how it is like when I opened the box. The rotating handle is removable for washing and keeping it back into the box after use.

This comes with 3 different blades. Straight blade, 3mm blade and 6mm blade. These blades are easily interchangeable and there is a compartment to store them so they don't get misplaced.

Here I've placed a zucchini which I halved it because my mum bought a super large zucchini from the market. Secure it and spiralize!

This picture below shows the zucchini being spiralized out using the 3mm blade.

The is the remains of the zucchini after being spiralized. Very little wastage compared to the julienne peeler I used before I have my spiralizer.

This is the one whole plate of zoodles or zucchini noodles for my dinner!

Previously, when I was still using my julienne peeler, other than zucchini, I use cucumbers and carrots as well. There are many more fruits and vegetables you can spiralize like butternut squash, potatoes and apples.

I'm so excited to explore new recipes now that I have my spiralizer!

Love,

Sylvia

Raspberries

Hey everyone!

Today's haul from the supermarket was these fresh raspberries! I chanced upon some fresh raspberries this afternoon. Usually I'll give it a quick check to make sure it is firm and fresh. At times there are some berries that are squashed as they are overripe and sometimes you can spot one or two mouldy ones which I will avoid buying. 

But today's raspberries are almost perfect and I took 2 punnets! Once home, I gave them a little rinse and popped one in my mouth. Surprisingly! It wasn't sour at all. My mum was commenting on how sweet and fresh it was and munched on them continuously. 

I saved about half of it for freezing to be used in my smoothies or nana ice cream. 

Not to mention there are of course the nutritional value of raspberries too! This is definitely a plate of goodness I've got here. Can't wait for my next exciting food haul!

Love,

Sylvia

Ingredients I use

Hi there foodies!

Decided to do a little post (as well as take a break from my books) after my friend asked me how I have so many things at home when I showed her my rainbow banana ice cream. Well... my answer is right below!

Fruits for Smoothies & Banana Ice Cream:

Usually after each grocery trip, I will pack my fruits into smaller portions. If they are not ripe, I will let them ripen before I peel, pit and cut them into cubes. Normally I will divide them into packets of about 50 to 100 grams. If you ask me what type of fruits I use? I'll say any fruits you love! My usuals are strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, dragon fruit, peaches, nectarines, kiwis, bananas, plums.

For instance, I will use roughly about 50 grams of fruits for toppings for my overnight oats. I will bring it down to the fridge from the freezer before I shower and when I'm ready to eat the frozen fruits would have been partially defrosted.

For smoothies, I will use about 75 grams of fruits as I normally will add more liquids into my smoothie. I will tell you more about liquids usage soon. For banana ice cream, I will use around 100 grams of fruits as this will be thicker and add lesser liquids. 

What I will do is I will bring out my frozen fruits from the freezer as I start to prepare to make my smoothie or banana ice cream. When I'm ready to use them, it will not be as hard as a rock. Or else blending will take some time as the fruits will be all stuck together and hard to separate when blending them.

Liquids I Use:

Now to the liquids I prefer to use unsweetened organic nut milks. There are many different kinds of organic or non organic milks that are available in the market, you can use non nut milk are like quinoa, rice or oat milk, nut milks like almond or hazelnut milk, depending on what you really prefer. These few milks I've listed above are easily available at supermarkets like Cold Storage, Fairprice Finest or Extra at the Organic section. There are many more but you'll find them at speciality organic stores. I usually get mine at Fairprice or Cold Storage.

Depending on how thick or milky you like your smoothie or banana ice cream to be, you just have to adjust the amount of liquids used accordingly. The milk also helps blend the frozen fruits better, otherwise it becomes too thick or it will get stuck and it takes a bit of scraping off the sides of the blender when you do your blending. 

Sometimes when available I use coconut water instead of nut milks. It gives a sweet yet refreshing taste to your smoothies. Or I mix them depending on what kind of result I am looking for. If you are adventurous, you can even use fruit juice! I've tried once with orange juice and it didn't turn out well. It was my first time though. I will try again. As it takes a few tries to come up with the right porportion.

Vegetables:

Also not to forget vegetables! Usually the leafy greens are the most common vegetables to add to smoothies. At times, I use spinach in my smoothies as well kale. Although kale is not often readily available in the supermarkets, I noticed that Cold Storage have been bringing them in more often. Happiness for my smoothie!

Juices:

I've mention juices earlier, I have a slow juicer or some may call it cold pressed juicer. I use it to juice anything from fruits to vegetables. At times I juice for a little detox or as a replacement for my breakfast. The common vegetables I juice are: celery, carrots, beets, cucumber, spinach etc. Fruits options are endless, more common ones are: oranges, grapefruit, watermelon, lemon, lime, red and green apples, pineapple etc.

There are many different combination of juices you can come up with. Mix some fruits to your juice if you've just started juicing and still not ready to drink a whole glass of  purely vegetable juice as the taste of the vegetable juice might be too strong for you. If you look up the web I'm pretty sure you are able to find out what are the benefits of certain fruits and vegetables and you can start from there.

I hope this helps those who are trying and experimenting. Like I mention above, I am still in the process of experimenting too! Let me know if you use a different method or improvements so that we can share all the goodness! :)

Love,

Sylvia

Rainbow Banana Ice Cream

Hi there foodies!

I made this jar of banana ice cream for my lunch and as well as fuel for me to study for my test tomorrow. Honestly speaking, it was a huge amount for me so I portioned half for tea when I get hungry again.

Here is the recipe:

Top yellow layer:

100g frozen mangoes

100g frozen nectarines

100g frozen bananas

A splash of Almond Milk 

Middle pink layer:

100g frozen pink dragon fruit

100g frozen nectarines

100g frozen bananas

A splash of Almond Milk

Bottom green layer:

1 ripe avocado

1 frozen green kiwi

100g frozen banana

A splash of Almond Milk

Actually this reminds me of a traffic light. Just that i would need to interchange the pink and yellow.

Let me know what would you like to see in this space as well. :) 

Love,

Sylvia

August Bellabox!

Hi there beautiful!

I've received my August Bellabox! I'm so excited to try out the items! I feel like I'm an excited little girl opening her christmas gifts once again.

This month's bellabox came in a Tealy bag. Instead of the usual box by itself, there were a few more stuff to try apart from those in the box! There were tea samples, my Skin Bar sunblock, free consultation at my Skin Bar (black pamphlet), Brands Inner Shine Mini Meal and of course my August Bellabox. The theme this month is Summer Fresh!

The 2 flavour of Tealy samples I got were 'Wonder Berry Chocolate Truffle' and 'Anjou Paradise Ceylon Tea'.

This is the bottle of mySkin Bar Sunproof Aqua Nano Zinc Sunblock I received. It oil free and contains nano zinc spheres which helps to deflect the harmful UV rays off your skin. So excited to try this out! :)

Also included is a sachet of Brands Inner Shine Apple Flavour Mini Meal Dietary Fiber Mix. Loaded with B vitamins too! This treat keeps you feeling full for a longer period of time and maintains a healthy digestive system.

Now to the main box with a cute little watermelon sticker which spells Summer is here!

This month's Bellabox I have:

1) Petal Fresh Organics Shampoo and Conditioner

2) Sleek Makeup Kajal Eye Liner

3) Kinohimitsu Diamond Nite beverage

4) Kneipp Body Care Body Wash and Lotion.

The Petal Fresh Aloe and Citrus Shampoo and Conditioner contains Babassu Oil as well. It smells citrusy like spring. It's a great size for travelling. :)

Sleek Makeup Kajal Eyeliner! It is the shade in Nocturnal and it looks chic here.

The tube looks pretty with the ribbon at the end! On the down side, I find that it is not that slim to be able to carry it around.

Here is a bottle of Kinohimitsu Dimond Nite drink. It contains 1) Collagen for good complexion, 2) GABA which help calm the body and mind and 3) Manuka honey with anti-inflammatory properties. It helps with regeneration of our cells and promotes a better sleep.

Also in the August Bellabox, there is a sachet of Lemongrass and Olive Body Wash and Body Lotion. These are without preservative especially Parabens.

There we go.. an update of unboxing August's Bellabox. I'm definitely looking forward to my September Bellabox!




Love,
Sylvia

July Bellabox

Hello everyone!

This is my first time unboxing beauty boxes on my blog. I'm sure many of you are familiar with this beauty box - Bellabox. This is the July subscription that I'm going to tell you ladies about today. I just had to use my polka dot fabric as a backdrop to match the polka dots on the box. XD

This month's theme is La Petite Parisienne.. 

Those cute little Macaron stickers screams sweetness! I suppose some people confuse Macarons and Macaroons. They are actually 2 different little sweet treats.

I've googled a picture online for easier references....

So back to my Bellabox.

This month's Bellabox consists of:
1) Asience Leave on Treatment Milk
2) Loreal Paris EverSleek Shampoo
3) Loreal Paris EverSleek Conditioner
4) Loreal Paris UV Perfect
5) Benzac AC
6) Lollipops Goodbye Moon Eye Pencil
7) Givenchy ange ou démon `le secret EDP

Asience Leave-On Treatment Milk for smooth and manageable hair. My goodness!!! This smells so heavenly! I've applied some on my hair and it does not feel sticky or oily neither does it weigh my hair down. It is $14.90 for 100ml. Reasonably priced too. I am considering getting a bottle to add on to my daily hair routine. I'll probably use it on days when my hair is lacking in moisture.

Loreal Paris Hair Expertise EverSleek Shampoo & Conditioner. This is not exactly a very new product but it is gaining more attention as this range of hair products are Sulfate-free and does not contains parabens or silicone. Say helloooo to healthier hair! This particular shampoo and conditioner are for frizzy hair.

Loreal Paris UV Perfect Anti-Dullness UV Protector SPF 50 is a silky smooth sunscreen to apply on. The first thing I like about this is that it smells good! I know sunblock has a very distinct smell to it but this one does not have it that bad and the sunblock smell fades away after a while. It is also not heavy like other sunblocks. This one feels really lightweight on your skin. 

This Benzac AC 5% is a spot treatment gel which contains Benzoyl Peroxide which kills acne causing bacteria within 48 hours. It also contains Acrylates Copolymer (AC) Beads to absorb excess oil without drying out your skin. One thing I like is that it is gel based. Unlike cream, it does not turn oily. This comes in 3 different strengths 2.5%, 5% or 10%. The one I have is 5% which is medium and great for me as I have occasional out breaks every now and then. 

Lollipops Goodbye Moon Eye Pencil looks very kawai! I like the design. Have yet to try it out on my eyes but it glides smoothly on my hand when I tested its texture. Quite pigmented as well. I'll update once I have tried it out.

Givenchy Ange ou Démon le Secret EDP. So far I have not purchased any Givenchy perfumes but this smells refreshing and has a floral and slightly fruity smell to it. It is not sweet at all. I'm not sure about you ladies but sweet perfumes are a huge no-no to me. It's going right into my bag this moment!

This marks the end of me unboxin the July Bellabox, till next time!




Love,
Sylvia