Carrot and Coriander Soup | #cookwithmegsy

Hi guys!

This is the first in the series of #cookwithmegsy (which, before you judge me, is an inside joke - however, by all means tag your versions of the recipes with #cookwithmegsy so I can see them). Every week, I will be posting up a new recipe for you all to try. I'm a vegetarian by choice, but I do cook with meat every so often so for all you meat eaters out there, keep a look out for my meat dishes! 

Today's dish is a very quick, and simple to make Carrot and Coriander soup. 

Suitable for Vegetarians, it can be Dairy-free and is Gluten-free too. 

What you will need;

• 1 bag of carrots from the supermarket (or about 5 good sized carrots
• 1 potato (this is optional)
• 1 onion
• fresh coriander (I use half a bag from the supermarket)
• 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
• half a tablespoon of nutmeg - but this can be altered to your own taste
• 2 pints of vegetable stock
• Vegetable oil (/butter)
• Either a stick blender or a food processor - anything to whizz the soup up.

Method; 

Step 1: Prep your veg! Give them all a quick wash. Then, dice your onion, and chop the potato and carrots into chunks. Don't worry about the neatness of your chopping - they just need to be cut down enough for them to cook well, but try to make them evenly sized for cooking purposes. Also, at this point I'd cut the fresh coriander up and put it to one side.

Step 2: Use a reasonable size (about a tablespoon) of vegetable oil in the bottom of your pan (I personally prefer to use the equivalent amount of butter, its down to personal preference) and allow to heat up for about 30 seconds to a minute. Throw in all the diced onions and leave these to 'sweat' or sauté on a low heat. I normally chose heat 3 for this. 

Step 3: After about 4 minutes, add in your carrots, potato and the ground coriander. Again, leave these to sauté for about 3 minutes, or, as long as it takes you to make 2 pints of vegetable stock, if you haven't already prepped these.

Step 4: Add your 2 pints of vegetable stock to the pan, and bring up to the boil. Leave for 1 minute, then bring down to a simmer. Cover the pot, and leave it for 20 minutes or until your carrots are tender. 

Step 5: Now, add your fresh coriander and nutmeg. Take off the heat and add the soup to your food processor or use your hand blender, which is what I personally use - just for ease, and, I find it more fun to use the hand wand. 

Step 6: Grab a bowl and enjoy! You can always add a dash of fresh cream at this point if you fancy it.

Hope you enjoyed this simple little recipe. I absolutely love this, and it is one of my all time favourites! Let me know how you got on making it, or, any other recipes that you'd like to see.

#cookwithmegsy

My Evening Skincare Routine (for normal-dry skin) | Beauty Post

Hey beauties. 

Recently, I've been quite successful with my skincare routine - I do have two different routines for the evening and the morning, so this post only focuses on what I do in the evening.

Step 1: Cleanser - 

This product has been an absolute gem! I saw quite a few reviews about this before I caved in and bought it (which, lets face it - once you see what brand it is, you'll know it didn't take much convincing). 

It's the Camomile Silky Cleansing Oil from The Body Shop (£11). After only using this product a couple of times I began receiving so many compliments about how healthy my skin looked, and, at the time this was the only item that had changed in my routine.

If I'm honest, I did have my doubts; first up, would it actually remove all my make-up (including waterproof mascara?!) and, secondly - eek! It's an oil?! Wouldn't it make my skin mega oily?! 

There was only one way to find out, and, that was to put my faith in the product and give it a try. You simply just squirt however much you fancy onto a cotton bud and apply it to your face to clear away any make up or dirt that has accumulated in the daytime. First up, it smells absolutely amazing, and secondly, it feels so smooth and gentle on your skin. The make up literally glides off your face, and I can quite confidently say, for me this is the best cleanser I've used in a while. After applying, just simply wash off with warm water.

One thing would say, is take caution when using it to remove your eye make - it's amazing, but will make your eyes go blurry if it gets in there! 

Step 2: Toner - 

I'll be honest with you, this is the first toner I have ever used. Bad, I know! But, up until recently, I've always seen toners as an 'old lady' product - did/does anyone else think that...? Not entirely sure where I got that concept from..anyway! I braved, or rather, embraced the old lady product, and treated myself to the Vitamin E Facial Toner, by (if you read my blog often, you'll have already guess..) The Body Shop!

I tend to use this in the same way as I use my cleanser, but, this time I don't wash it off. Again, the product smells nice - which, is always a bonus! I must say, I haven't seen any drastic differences whilst using this product, other than my skin doesn't seem to be getting many break outs or getting that dry.


Step 3 - Moisturiser - 

Now, I don't actually use a proper "face" moisturiser, mainly because I'm lazy, and if I can use one moisturiser for the whole of my body, I will! Recently, I've been loving the Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula. 

If you haven't picked up on it yet, I'm a sucker for things that smell nice, and, oh my gosh does this product smell amazing, or what?! I won't go into much detail about this, other than if you like the smell of cocoa, this is for you.

For when my skin is having a 'crisis' -

Us females will know, that at.... 'certain' times of the month, for some of us, our skin can decide to play up! I am one of those people. Every month, I will have a break out of spots that I just don't need when I'm feeling crappy already. Currently, the first item I grab is one of the Lush face masks - the Mask of Magnaminty, which  I've already reviewed here; Lush Mask of Magnaminty facemask   but, honestly, this is a serious life saver! Sad thing is, I'm starting to run out rapidly, so if any of you reading this know a similar product, please, please share with me!! 

Finally, after all of that, I'll use some sudocrem on any of the spots I feel need a bit of extra help to leave my face. 

If you've written a similar post, or have any tips for how you look after your skin when there's a bit of an unwanted break out, I would love to hear about it, so pop links/tips in the comments below! :)

Lots of love,

Megsy...xo

Designing my Blog Page | Blog

Hey guys!

Here's the thing...for the last week or so, I've been sat, everyday debating over how to design, and, ultimately 'brand' my blog. I'm naturally quite a creative person, so I never thought I'd have this much of an issue over it.

I know a few of you will be sat there, thinking that it doesn't really matter - it's a changeable design that can be altered in due course. The drama wraps itself around the fact that I'm a lazy perfectionist. I don't really want to create a half-hearted design, because, reality is, that will stay with me for probably what would be until I decide to hang up my blogging hat and wave goodbye. 

How did you come to a conclusion over the design for your blogs? Some of you have absolutely stunning designs, which is definitely something to be proud of! 

I guess I just have to face the fact, that, for the foreseeable future my days will consist of writing blog posts, and the great debate whether I want pink or purple, flowers or animals and, don't even get me started on the font type! 

Please tell me that this is completely normal, and that I'm not alone in my struggle over designs?! 

Have a lovely weekend,

Megsy...xo

All-in-One BB Cream - The Body Shop | Review

For anyone who hasn't yet had the opportunity to get their hands on one of these, if you like light-medium coverage, this will be right up your street!

I picked this up on a whim last month, mainly because I was in The Body Shop, and, well once it's in the basket, it's coming home with me! Plus, I spend a lot of my free time travelling, either by train or by plane (I have my reasons..) and its always nice to have a little miracle tube that can make you look less dead, without needing an entire make up bag!

The cream itself is white and blends in to your skin tone - not entirely sure how it works, but, I'd recommend trying out the shades in store, just to make sure you don't end up looking like a wotsit. It applies beautifully, and I'd definitely say that "less is more" with this product. ( excuse the strange application process in the picture below, its mainly for the benefit of you guys to see what it looks like before being applied properly)

The one downside of this product would be that it doesn't smell very nice - I know that BB creams aren't famous for their scents, but this one has a strange smell about it that I'm not fond of, but its not so bad that I refuse to wear it.

As you can see from the before and after photos below, this product makes you look more alive! 

Before: 

After:

Retailing at £12, it's quite reasonable, and overall, I'd highly recommend this product. Its rapidly become one of my essential travelling items, 'quick skin fix' go-to for days when I'm not feeling full make up, and even as a foundation stand-in for those hot summer days (although, it hasn't got spf coverage, so be careful!)

It's genuinely my current favourite BB cream on the market! Let me know how you've got on with it, would love to hear from you guys! :)

Megsy...xo

DISCLAIMER: This blog post has not been sponsored, and all opinions and photographs are my own.