Monday, December 2, 2013

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

   My favorite type of cupcakes are Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes! They have a wonderful fall taste with chocolate too! Does it get any better than that?! Plus they are super moist and have a wonderful texture! I changed one thing in this recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.

                                                  Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cupcakes
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/3 cup oil
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup soy milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl mix the first five ingredients together until smooth. Add in the dry ingredients and stir with a fork or spoon until everything is well combined then fold in the chocolate chips. Fill 12 cupcake liners evenly with the batter. Bake for 22-24 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. Let them cool then glaze with cinnamon icing.

Cinnamon Icing
1/2 cup powder sugar sifted
1-2 tablespoons vanilla soy milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cinnamon
In a medium bowl mix all the ingredients until smooth and thick. Add more powder sugar if needed.
Cupcakes before putting them in the oven
After being baked and iced!
I hope you try this recipe and love it as much as I do!!
Much Love,
Amanda

Monday, November 25, 2013

My Favorite Looks from the 2013 AMA Awards

There were many beautiful looks last night at the AMA Awards so I thought I'd share some of my favorites. I like it when the outfit or dress is different and creative but remaining classy.


Zendaya
Zendaya looked so beautiful in a lovely flowy outfit that was very flattering. Her hair and makeup were kept simple yet stunning. Her shoes are awesome!!

  
Christina Aguilera
Christina looked stunning in a white cutout dress. The cutouts on the dress weren't too big, she still looked classy. The jewelry she wore was super sparkly and pretty!
 
 Joan Jett
Joan Jett looked so awesome and cool last night. She mixed the perfect amount of blue in with the black. I also loved that she was wearing purple eye shadow!
 
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga's dress was such a pretty purple dress. Her hair looked like a mermaid and I love her natural makeup.
Kelly Osbourne
Kelly's sliver and grey color scheme seems to bring out her lovely purple hair. The bottom of her dress is so pretty and glittery! 
I found all these pictures at people.com.
Those were the looks that stood out to me as both pretty and creative. Which look from last night was your favorite?
Much Love,
Amanda
 

Monday, November 18, 2013

How To Put Together a Layered Cake

   Layered cakes are fun to make, pretty to look at and delicious to eat. What you are going to need is:
1 Chocolate Cake*
1 Vanilla Cake*
1/2 cup Vanilla Pudding
1/3 cup Chocolate Ganache 
2 Tooth Picks
  Let the cakes cool in the pans for 15 minutes before taking them out. If you flour the pans right the cakes should just slide right out. Let them cool completely before starting the next step.
  Once the cakes are completely cool, put your chocolate cake on a plate and pour the vanilla pudding on the center of the cake. Using a spoon spread the pudding around the middle of the cake making sure not to go all the way to the edge of the cake, leave about 1 inch around the edge. 
  Place the vanilla cake on top of the pudding. Your cake might slide a little so put the 2 tooth picks in the cake to help steady it. 
  Pour your chocolate ganache on top of the whole cake and spread it around so there isn't any vanilla cake peaking through the chocolate ganache. 
*Use your favorite cake recipes but remember to flour or coco powder the cake pans before pouring the batter into them!
Chocolate Cake
Vanilla Cake
Vanilla and Chocolate Cake
The Chocolate Cake with the Vanilla Pudding
Chocolate Cake, Vanilla Pudding and Vanilla Cake
The Finished Cake!
The inside of the cake!!! 

I hope this helped you build a better cake!!! 
Much Love,
Amanda :)





Wednesday, October 23, 2013

My Favorite Hair Product

             

   My favorite hair product is TRESemme Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Leave-In Spray. I've been using this spray for several months. When my hair was longer I used it before I curled my hair to protect it from all that heat but then I started spraying it in my hair before I blow dried my hair everyday. It claims to keep your hair shiny and soft. I think it does that quite well. Before I started using this product I'd burned my hair by using hot rollers and curling irons. Ever since I started using this my hair looks and feels the same even after I've used a ton of heat tools on it. Plus it smells great. Its hard to describe what it smells like but its really good. A bit like hairspray but better! Using this product is quite simple, after I wash my hair I spray around 5 mists of it all around my hair then I brush my hair to make sure the product has gotten everywhere, then blow dry and that's it. I would recommend this product to anyone who uses heat tools daily! 
 
 Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray

http://www.tresemme.com/product/detail/353275/thermal-creations-heat-tamer-spray
                                                                       
                                                                          Much love,
                                                                             Amanda

Monday, October 14, 2013

Gluten Free, Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

   I love chocolate chip cookies! This recipe is my favorite. I'm not vegan anymore but since I'm allergic to eggs and dairy pretty much everything I bake is vegan. My Mom is allergic to gluten so I also try to bake things gluten free for her. This is my gluten free, vegan chocolate chip recipe. This recipe was influenced by Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. 

 
                                                        1/2 cup brown sugar
                                                        1/4 cup white sugar
                                                        2/3 cup canola oil
                                                        1/4 cup rice milk
                                                        1 tablespoon gluten free flour mix
                                                        2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
                                                        1 3/4 cups gluten free all purpose flour*                                   
                                                        1/2 teaspoon baking soda
                                                        1/2 teaspoon salt
                                                         3/4 cup chocolate chips
                                                   (Trader Joe's has a gluten free one)
 
 
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Put the brown sugar, white sugar, canola oil, and rice milk in a medium size bowl. With a fork whisk until it is smooth and silk. Add in the 1 tablespoon gluten free flour mix and vanilla. Whisk again until the mixture is thick and smooth and beautiful. Add in 1 cup of the gluten free flour mix, baking soda, and salt. Stir until smooth, add the remaining 3/4 gluten free flour mix and stir until smooth. Mix in the chocolate chips.
Spay baking sheet with oil. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the cookie dough onto the pan. The cookies will spread so I recommend putting 8 cookies per sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Let cool on the pan for a couple minutes then put them on waxed paper to cool.
* I use a gluten free flour mix from Bob"s Red Mill
The cookie dough
 

Once they've been baked

The cookies!!


                                                                         Enjoy!!! :)
                                                                        Much love,
                                                                        Amanda

Great Lash Maybelline New York Wink of Pink Limted Edition

   My sister needed a new mascara a couple days ago so she went to Target. She was just going to get black mascara but ended up with pink mascara! She hadn't realized it was pink until she opened it. She is really didn't want pink mascara so I took it. :D It is a really pretty bright pink color. Its kind of strange to have pink eyelashes but its really pretty. I have brown eyes and I think that the pink looks pretty with them. The down side to having pink eyelashes is since its a lighter color is they aren't as dramatic looking from far away. Of course having pink eyelashes is dramatic in its own way. I put 3 layers on and it seems pretty build able. Of course it isn't a lengthening or volumizing  mascara so don't expect those things from it. I think its fun to try different color mascaras, I wore blue mascara for a couple months once. I think its fun to try crazy things with makeup. Pink mascara might not be great all the time but every now and then its good to do different things. I think makeup should be looked at as a way of expressing yourself not a way to hide what you don't like about yourself. I think makeup should be fun! You should be able to find Wink of Pink at Target!
                                                              Much love,
                                                                Amanda

Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Compact Powder Foundation Review

   I purchased the Neutrogena Mineral Sheers Compact Powder Foundation a couple weeks ago and I have been loving it ever since. I use this powder foundation on a daily basis. I rarely use liquid foundation anymore. This powder foundation is light to medium coverage. I wear the shade Classic Ivory 10. It is a tad light when I first put it on but after it sinks in the color looks really natural. It has SPF 20 in it which is nice. It comes with a sponge applicator which I never used because it didn't look like it would be a very good way to apply. Instead I just use an E.L.F total face brush which does the job perfectly. It has 0.34 oz. (9.6g) of product in it. I like the packaging, the powder lifts up and underneath is a place for the spongy and a mirror. The mirror is really nice and big. It has the very faint smell of makeup/SPF but I don't notice it unless I'm smelling the powder. (which I don't do very often :D) It's a higher end drugstore product so it costs around $12. But it is a way better product than some of the less expensive powders I've tried. It doesn't get cakey when I touch up my t-zone during the day. It stays matte for a couple hours. I would recommend this powder foundation to anyone looking for a natural coverage foundation.
 
I hope you found this review helpful!
Much love,
Amanda :)

Monday, September 23, 2013

Yummy Shepherd's Pie

   Shepherd's Pie is one of my favorite things to make for dinner. My family has many allergies so it can be a challenge to make a dinner everyone can enjoy. This recipe I made up is dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, and corn-free.  This is just about the most comforting, yummy, and it's pretty healthy too!


                                                       Yummy Shepherd's Pie
 
                                                      Serves 6 to 8
  
                                                      Meat Layer
 
                                                      1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
                                                      1 medium yellow onion diced
                                                      2 tablespoons minced garlic
                                                      8 medium white mushrooms diced
                                                      1 15oz can organic tomato sauce
                                                      olive oil
                                                      salt and pepper to taste
                                                       
 
                                                      Mashed Potatoes Layer
 
                                                      18 small red potatoes
                                                      1 cup carrots
                                                      1 cup rice milk warm
                                                      1/4 cup olive oil warm
 
Scrub the red potatoes and put them in a large pot, add the carrots. Fill the pot with water until all the potatoes and carrots are covered. Put the pot over high heat. Once the water starts boiling check the potatoes to see if they are done every 10 minutes. To check the potatoes simply poke them with a fork, when the potatoes are done the fork will go in the potato without using to much force. While waiting for the potatoes to cook start on the meat mixture. Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Place the garlic in the pan, let the garlic cook for a minute then add the onion and the ground turkey. With a spatula break up the turkey into little pieces and cook until the turkey is no longer pink and the onion is soft. Stir in the diced mushrooms and cook for a couple minutes. Once the mushrooms have been lightly cooked, add in the tomato sauce. Sprinkle in the salt and pepper. Cook until it is nice and bubble stirring often. If needed add more olive oil.
 
The meat and mushroom filling
 

 
When the potatoes and carrots are done cooking drain them and start mashing them. Using a hand masher works well. Mash in the warm rice milk and olive oil. Mash until its as smooth or chunky as you like. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Drizzle a 9 by 13 inch pan with olive oil and spread it around with a cooking brush until the sides and bottom are coated evenly.
Pour the meat mixture into the pan, spread it around so its evenly distributed. Spoon the mash potatoes on top of the meat mushroom mixture and spread it out. Use a fork to make little swirls in the mash potatoes. The swirls will get browned and delicious. Put the 9 by 13 inch pan on a baking sheet so if any juice bubbles over it won't make the oven dirty. Put the whole thing in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until it is bubbly. Once it comes out of the oven let it cool down for 5 minutes before you serve. After 5 minutes its ready to be served! Yummy!
 
 
 
                                                                   The finished product! Enjoy!
Let me know if you try this recipe! I hope you enjoy it :)
Much love,
Amanda

 

Monday, September 16, 2013

NYX Lipstick Review

    A couple weeks ago I was shopping for a new lipstick at Target and discovered that Target is now selling NYX products. I was really excited because I have heard so much about NYX products but I'd never tried them. It just so happened that they had exactly the color lipstick I had been looking for. I was extremely excited about the price. The lipstick I bought was around $4 which seemed like a great price for a 0.14 oz tube! I purchased the color Narcissus 509. The lipstick has a flowery scent to it. It doesn't bother me but it might annoy some people. The lipstick has great color pigmentation but it does extenuate the fine lines on my lips. I would recommend exfoliating and moisturizing your lips before putting it on but make sure your lips are clean before applying it so it goes on smoothly. I think its a great bright pink color. It is very Barbie pink which works great with many skin tones. I'm fair skinned and it is a little on the light side but I still think it's the perfect pink for me. I think that this picture makes it look a little more blue pink than it really is. In person the lipstick appears to have a little more coral undertones.
ROUND LIPSTICK
http://www.nyxcosmetics.com/p-15-extra-creamy-round-lipstick.aspx

   I got this picture from the NYX website and the link is underneath. I think for the price and the color payoff this product is great! I would recommend this product to a friend! Thank you for reading my review!
                                                     Much Love,
                                                       Amanda