Tashi Ci

My week in Meals | Cookbook

Posted on April 27, 2016 by tashici

So I’m trying something new this time, please let me know what you think. I am writing a post on my week in meals. I have taken photos of every dinner (Evening meal), I have eaten this past week, it’s a pretty good representation of a typical weeks meals. It may inspire or just make you hungry but everything here is strictly gluten free because I am coeliac and my partner also has to eat gluten free otherwise I get ill too. He actually has a blog where he posts all about our gluten free diet, you can find it here if you’d like.

Wednesday.

We start the week (I’ve started on Wednesday because that’s when I post my blogs), with Tarragon Chicken Pasta. I love this meal. Its maximum flavour with not a lot of cooking or hassle. Bash out the chicken and fry until golden brown. Set to one side so it can rest. Fry some shallots or spring onions, then add single cream. Add lemon juice and season to taste. Delicious!

Thursday.

Asparagus and Walnut Risotto! Cut the tips off the asparagus and set to one side. Make a basic risotto but with the rest of the asparagus chopped up into it. Fry off the asparagus tips and some walnuts. Garnish with balsamic vinegar. Today we had some left over salmon so fried that and had it on top.

Friday.

Friday is usually a treat meal so this week we had PIZZA!! It is one of my favourites and I will literally eat it 5 times a week and be zero bothered and want it again! These are the Goodfellas GF pizzas with ham and mushroom and they are delicious!

Saturday.

Tomato Lentil and Black Bean Salad. I’m not a huge fan of the basic salad so I have to tart it up a bit. This is great and so so tasty. We use precooked lentils and tinned black beans. Chop up tomatoes, peppadew chillies, coriander and garlic and add to the lentils and beans. A splash of olive oil and lemon juice finishes it off. Today we topped it with some cottage cheese.

Sunday.

Unfortunately we haven’t got into the routine of having a roast on Sunday but I do like to have a rich, hearty meal in its place. This week we had a Steak Pie from genius. Ian bought me potato dophinoise as a special treat as I wasn’t feeling well at all. We usually just boil some potatoes and have some veg.

Monday.

Chicken Fajitas. This is one of Ian’s favourite meals and this time I really enjoyed it. Ian’s family had given us some GF breaded chicken chunks from M&S so we cooked them. Fried the peppers, added the chunks of cooked chicken and then added the seasoning from the BeKind Gluten free fajita kit. The kit comes with GF wraps, seasoning and salsa. We also added some cheese and cottage cheese to ours for extra yumminess.

Tuesday.

Avocado Toast. I’m glad we saved this until last. this is probably our favourite meal (joint with Pizza!). We literally have it every week and look forward to it. It’s the most basic meal but we LOVE it! GF sour dough toast with sliced or crushed avocado (based off how soft the avocado is). Topped with smoked salmon and a soft boiled egg. We used to poach but soft boiling is so easy! It’s pure Perfection!

Do you have any meals that you eat week in, week out?

xoxo

Hosting A Brunch | Home Comforts

Posted on April 19, 2016 by tashici

This weekend we hosted our first event at our little house and it was a brunch!! In my opinion brunch and breakfast is one of the very best things in the world! We had Ian’s parents over, his brother and fiancé and the dog too!

We served French toast. Some of our guest we knew like it plain with salt but we prefer it with maple syrup and then also offered bacon, because what is brunch without bacon?!? (Disclaimer: I have been thinking and brunch still pretty darn top without bacon. Some of the best brunches that don’t have bacon I.e. Eggs florentine, kedgery).

We still don’t have quite enough a chairs for everyone to have matching but luckily Michael, Ian’s other brother was working. Only because we only have a maximum of 6 matching plates and glasses, unfortunately we still don’t have 6 sets of matching cutlery!! We are going to get there even if it is very slow.

It was so wonderful to have everyone over and to give back a tiny little to them. We can’t wait to do it again, especially with Michael next time!

Mmmmmm I want this again now!!! Also I am so in love with the light box Gararbeth bought us for our housewarming!!! ❤

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend too!

What’s you’re favourite brunch meal?

xoxo

Favourite Podcasts | Bookshelf-ish

Posted on April 13, 2016 by tashici

I have fallen deeply and completely down the rabbit hole of podcasts and am loving it! With my new job I now spend a lot of time on my own, which is perfect podcast time and this is nothing to complain about in my opinion!

I listen to a variety of podcasts, from interviews, my favourite youtubers and fiction and here I’m going to list my favourites for you in no particular order, and a few I have raved about before!

The Rooster Teeth Podcast

This is the first podcast I ever listened to. I have loved all things Rooster Teeth for a long time now, my uni life was literally just immersed in them. It is a more or less weekly podcast where a group of Rooster Teeth employees discuss, pretty much whatever they like; although it does centre a lot around gaming and other projects they are working on. It’s a lot of fun and has a relaxed vibe, as it comes across as people hanging out and having conversations which are interesting – at least to me and I reckon everyone else that listens!

Off topic Podcast

Off Topic is a podcast run by Acheivement Hunter, a branch of Rooster Teeth. These guys are just cool, they get paid to play video games everyday!! It is again a very relaxed podcast as the achievement hunters gather around a bar each week to discuss whatever they feel like! It’s as if you are grabbing a couple of bevs with your mates and recording their conversations!

The Weekly Planet

This is a weekly podcast, unless they state otherwise, run by to Aussie guys James and Nick Mason and is the official podcast of the fansite, ComicBookMovie.com where they discuss the latest comics, books and movie news. Ian also listens and I know this is weird and I probably shouldn’t admit to it but I feel we would all be friends if we ever met and hung out! They did tweet us once! (when we had a photo of us wearing their shirts so they were just being nice).

Not Too Deep with Grace Helbig

This is an interview podcast with host Youtuber, Grave Helbig. She interviews people in her ‘quirky’ style and this allows for a funny, light hearted hour or so. I like Grace because she doesn’t take anything too seriously and yet wants to keep trying at the same time. This mix of a person makes me happy as I want to try but I think I’m just too lazy so I can pretend I’m like Grace, effortlessly not trying too hard but still pulling it off. This podcast allows me to acheive that balance and thoughts on life whilst laughing!

Filler

Filler podcast is another interview style, co-hosted by Harry Hitchens and Matt Shore. They interview people in the creative industry over coffee and ask very good questions and somehow allow me to believe that I can make it in the creative industry?! Very inspiring and informative.

NoSleep

This is a horror fiction podcast where actors read stories from Reddit NoSleep subreddit. I cannot listen to this in the dark or on my walk home and sometimes when I’m alone in my lab I have to stop because it scares me! Sometimes they are shorter stories and sometiems they are longer and every now and again they have a series of stories that link together. You can subscribe to hear a longer episode but we haven’t yet but are discussing it for the new series!

Black Tapes

The black tapes is a serialized docudrama, where the host, Alex Reagan questions everything. As Alex states at the beginning of the episodes “The Black Tapes is an exploration of life, belief, faith and occasionally the paranormal.” She first meets Dr Stein, a ghost hunter who doesn’t believe in ghosts. He proves all paranormal activities are just hoaxes until Alex comes across the black tapes, his projects which have not yet been solved. I began listening because NoSleep was creepying me out too much, whereas the Black Tapes is the perfect mix of creepy but fantastic story telling.

Tanis

Tanis podcast is from the same creators as the Black Tapes, Pacific Northwest Stories. It is a bi-weekly docudrama podcast hosted by Nic Silver, where he investigates the myth that is Tanis. I caught up with the Black Tapes so started on Tanis and have been completely obsessed with the two! 100% worth a listen!!

Please let me know of any other podcasts I should check out!

xoxo

Tips for Moving | Home Comforts

Posted on April 6, 2016 by tashici

We are in! It was an incredibly long day but here are some tips that I’ve learnt if anyone else is moving, whether it be to your new house, first house so perhaps university.

Many Hans Make Light Work

Honestly it goes so quicker and easier if you have people to help. You can always hire professional mover but we didn’t have the budget for that. Do whatever you can to get help from friends or family. We didn’t hire a van or anything so we used our car and two others the family bought with them. It made such a difference. They should do it for free, if you keep the tea and coffee coming and perhaps throw in a dinner. You will feel in debt to them but it’s totally worth it.

Tea

Pack the kettle, tea bags, coffee, sugar, mugs all into an easy to access bag so you can get a cuppa when you’re running low of steam too keep you going!

Know where its going

If you know where everything is going before you take it in, it makes things easier to unpack and organise – put things in the room they are meant to be in.

Food

At the end of the day everyone was absolutely exhausted and starving! We had organised a casserole style meal which could be put into the oven on a low heat for a long time so it could be cooking away whilst we were all busy and was warm and delicious when everyone was ready! (Also know where your crockery and cutlery that you will need is).

Pack an overnight bag

Pack an overnight bag as if you were going away for the weekend so everything you urgently need will be at hand when required and you don’t have to run around rummaging through all your boxes!

Use socks and tights for packaging for breakables

This is great for so many reasons! It is very secure, free and environmental! We also used our duvet to wrap around our TV to keep it save in the car. We only had our cars and our new house in on a cobbled street!

Wardrobe bag.

I ran out very quickly on bags and boxes and couldn’t afford proper packaging. One tip we did try out was just throwing a dustbin bag around your clothes while they still hang in the wardrobe. It was simply and was easier to unpack when we were in!

So now we all know what is most important to me, a cup of tea and food!! Now just to unpack completely! Please wish me luck!!

Good luck with all your moves!

xoxo

Welcome to… | April

Posted on April 3, 2016 by tashici

Welcome to April!

April showers bring May flowers. This is my new favourite saying. I love the fact that you need the rain to grow the flowers. It is almost like saying that when you are upset, the tears will grow new happy moments. And that makes me smile!

There is not actually much planned for April for me at the moment. Not that it’s going to be dull I’m sure! There is plenty to sort out in the house and things I have been putting on hold because of this move which can now step forward.

For my frame this month…

Here are the Pins:

And here are the photographs:

This is Easter weekend when we visited friends and the castle at Orford.

This is also last month when we went to a party.

This is a throw back to the morning I flew to America for Camp, the beginning of lots of good things for me. It’s also my Dad’s birthday this month so I’m spreading my love for him!

Here is the final composition:

I hope everyone has an amazing April!

xoxo

Calendar | March ’16

Posted on March 31, 2016 by tashici

Wow that was busy! It’s been a very busy and very exciting month!

We met up with some friends and had lots of laughs and almost took a very friendly dog home with us! We played a new game – Exploding Kittens. It was the most backed kickstarter project ever and we straight away ordered our own. We did order the not for work version which has some non PG comments on the cards but the game definitely doesn’t require them!

I got super into some new podcasts, horror themed ones. NoSleep Podcast which is based off the reddit thread with the same name. It is produced very well and is just voice actors acting the stories from the thread. I get super spooked and some of the stories are just so so good! There are a few stories that continue from one another so it’s a little beneficial to start from the beginning but not essential. I have also started listening to The Black Tapes podcast, which I just can’t stop. This is a week by week podcast so you do have to start with episode 1. This one for me is not as creepy as NoSleep but just fascinating! It is in a mocku-mentary style and it really works.

I have also read the first trade issue of SpiderGwen which I really enjoyed. I even bought the Edge of the Spider-verse where she made her debut! However, this just had the first issue from her trade, which was a little disappointing but I did enjoy reading about the other Spidermen.

We also moved!! We are now in our little house together, not that anything is unpacked yet. We literally were in for 24.5hrs and we left to spend Easter weekend with my family down in Suffolk. It was so so lovely to go home! We had a wonderful weekend! But now we are unpacking as we go. Ian is working this weekend so I reckon I will do quite a bit then!

Here is March;

I hope you all had a great March too!

xoxo

Where to buy Homeware | Home Comforts

Posted on March 23, 2016 by tashici

Big Excitement!!!! I’m moving this week! Ian and I are moving in with each other and have found a perfect little end of terrace house to start this new adventure. It is only ad from where each of us are living at the moment, which is perfect because we love the area. It is down a little cobbled road in a conservation area, its super pretty, especially for a city.

It’s by no means big, its very cosy, with the lounge, dining room and kitchen downstairs and 2 bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. There is also a cute little yard at the back with a little brick wall around it, which is just awesomes! – Think of BBQs and summer gatherings in the garden. There are even French doors to the garden from the dining room and the kitchen has a barn door to the back as well.

As this is first house either of us have lived in apart from my furnished flat I’m in at the moment and Ian’s shared furnished house we don’t really have any furniture apart from a book shelf, corner cupboard and a table my parents have given me. The house is part furnished, two beds, one mattress, dining table and chairs and one of those Kallax, square shelving units from Ikea.

I am so so so excited, it has been a very long month waiting to move in. We took photos of lots of the house so I have already decided where everything we’ve got is going to go and allocated all the kitchen cupboards. I have also clearly been doing plenty of window shopping and actual shopping on the internet! I have been searching for value for money items which I can afford or save up for over the next couple of months. And I thought I would share with you my top finds with you. Just click the name of the store to take you to their website.

IKEA

I think everyone knows about Ikea but still.. I want a chance to sing it’s praises for a moment. There is great value for money to be found at Ikea. Their products are cheap and almost aren’t expected to last for ever and ever but they do last for almost forever sometimes. They are also great for getting home inspiration and I love the minimal, small space Swedish design coming through.

ZARA HOME

zara home.png

Zara home is full of beautiful pieces that can make the difference in any room. I think the bits I’ve got from them add a glimpse of luxury to my home. They are pieces that are made well with good materials that still keep your bank balance intact, so long as you don’t buy absolutely everything you love on first sight.

H&M HOME

h and m home.png

H&M home is almost like a slightly cheaper version of Zara home, kinda just like the clothes. Both minimalist yet exciting and classic yet on trend. It is fantastic for bed linen, table linen and small pieces to dot around the place.

WEST ELM

west elm

West Elm are doing some fantastic pieces, exactly my style, its like everything I’ve ever wanted can be found here. Its very clean and modern on trend furniture with ‘spot on’ little touches. I am definitely going to invest in some key pieces which will follow me around in life, that I can love forever.

SWOON EDITIONS

swoon editions

For me, swoon editions is the slightly more on budget version of West Elm. They do great furniture pieces which will definitely last a lifetime. They have a modern style using rustic and natural materials which will fit into any home.

ANTHROPOLOGIE

anthropologie

Everything here is so beautiful. They own most of my Pinterest, and probably everyone else’s. It is so bohemian and pretty. They have fantastic bedding sets, rugs and kitchen ware. I could spend a fortune here, which you kind of need to, to get anything. But the quality is worth it.

URBAN OUTFITTERS

urban outfitters.png

On a similar vein, Urban outfitters is the little funkier sister to Anthropologie. Some of the items can seem a little too teenager/student bedroom for me but at the same time I also love these in small amounts. I keep finding magazine racks and record racks that I falling in love with that are now out of stock, so I’m keeping a close eye on preceding’s.

DUNELM

dunelm

Dunelm is there for me when nothing else is. It has some great key pieces at good value for money. I got my tea and coffee caddies from here, (super cute white and wood ones with little chalk boards on them!) and they are great for cushions and bedding!

DECORUM

I first found this place from Samantha Marie’s YouTube channel, linked here. She got one of the wood and glass candle frames for Christmas and I instantly loved it and needed it. I went on the website and found so much more that I love! It all has a modern yet rustic vibe which I love.

NKUKU

NKuku is a fair trade homeware and gift store that I have spoken about before a plenty. This is where I got my frame from for my welcome to feature, first talked about here. They do lovely pieces to place around your home for the rustic, comfort, bohemian vibe which I adore. I need more of those frames around for sure.

PEA STYLE

pea style

I first found this brand on Instagram, their page is here, and now I follow them and love them. They have wonderful, minimal, everyday style. I love how white everything is, its classic and timeless.

I am also a HUGE advocate for antique shopping and second hand shopping as you can find some more unique pieces that are often wayy cheaper than new bought. It also give you a great excuse to upcycle and get creative!! It is also very friendly – environmentally friendly! 🙂 yay!

Please let me know of any other places you’ve found.

xoxo

Comic Con Liverpool ’16 | Photo Trip

Posted on March 17, 2016 by tashici

I went to my second Comic Con, my first of the year and the first one in Liverpool. It was at the exhibition centre next to the echo arena, along the water front. I went with Ian, his brother Mike and a friend and we had a blast! We had priority tickets and Mike and his friend had weekend tickets.

power

I went to Manchester Comic Con last year which was my first and I loved it! (- I wrote a post on it here) so I was super excited to go again in Liverpool. it was a quite a bit smaller than the Manchester one last year. There was just one room with stalls, the comic village and a stage in a kind of blow up igloo.

There were some of the same stalls as Manchester last year, which is to be expected. In love walking around all the stalls as there is so much going on its just a feast for the eyes. There were many great art stalls, a few T-shirt stalls and very few comic stalls which was a bit surprising. One of my favourite stall is this art/illustration stall.

There was also a super cool stall selling street fighter T-shirts and hoodys. They were super top quality and were really great designs. There were so detailed and even had shading all in stitching, I was majorly impressed with the craftsmanship. The hoodys had one large design on the front and the shirts had a power design on the top corner on the front and a victory pose on the bottom corner of the back. The colour of the hoody and T-shirts even match the original colour of the character in the game! The website is here, if you want to check it out.

Ian and I are extremely short on funds this month due to the move next week so we were on a very tight budget for the event. So we went around all the stalls and saw everything before even making a decision on what we may get. We then went with Mike to get a sword from one of the stalls, it was his birthday that week so he had some birthday money burning a hole in his pocket.

Ian and me then went to explore the comic village, where all the artists and indie comics are. We saw the Western Noir who we bought a series off last July, unfortunately neither of us got round to reading it yet so we promised to read it before July so we could go give them feedback then. We then had a walk amongst the artist and end was there again, we bought an Antman sketch off him in July.

Lee Townsend Original: AntMan

We had a chat with him and looked through some of his work. At the back was a wonderful sketch of Spiderman, half in pencil and half in colour, it was fantastic, just what I think comic art should be. We asked how much it was but it was a commission and wasn’t for sale. As he was talking he set down what he was working on and we both saw it and instantly asked how much that was, he said it was another commission. This one was a captain America sketch, my brothers top super hero is Cap and its his birthday in July. We had to leave because I was about to give him money for a commission that I don’t have but we did have a chat and are going to commission a piece to pick up at the Manchester Comic Con. This is his website, because you should check it out!

We then decided what we actually wanted to come away with, to dull the sting of not being able to buy the art. We both wanted a comic, Ian wanted an indie series again because the rest we could just pick up at any point, which is true. He chose a series called about what would happen if the computer world merged with ours. The writer and artist were there and were cool guys. Their website is here, the writer is Mark Garley and the artist is Josh Sherwell and Garley’s twitter is here.

I decided to buy one of the edge of the Spiderverse comics where Gwen Stacey makes her debut as Spider-woman. I started reading the new SpiderGwen series a couple of days before and fell in love with it. She is just as back chatty and fun as Spiderman and I’ve been really wanting to read more Spiderman and figured this is a great way of getting my spidey fix!

We did go to one of the talks. We all went to see Jessica DiCicco, her IMDB is here. She is a busy bee! I know her, mostly from Adventure Time where she voices Flame Princess but she also voices Ash in X-Ray and Vav, the RoosterTeeth production. I am a huge fan of Adventure time and just everything Roosterteeth do!

DiCicco was very bubbly and personable. She had some great advice for people who want to work in the industry; the key points being if you want to do it, love it and just keep working towards it. She said that she as a working actress got rejected a lot but she keeps going and gets some fantastic roles and opportunities. Which I think is just great life advice! Her twitter feed is here if you wish to check her out a little more!

tasha ian mike patrick

We all had a top time at MCM Comic Con Liverpool and now I’m just even more excited for the Manchester one in July!! – tickets out in May.

xoxo

Welcome to… | March ’16

Posted on March 2, 2016 by tashici

I’m back on it! Welcome to March!!

March is going to be an incredibly busy month for me! It’s Mothers day (-Sunday 6th! get on it!) it’s Easter and it’s my mums birthday! it’s Ian’s brothers birthday too so lots of family stuff which is lovely and I’m looking forward to so so much! Not only that but it’s Charlotte’s birthday too, we have several more friends coming stay and I’m thinking there are only 4 weekends in March so this is going to get busy!!

What’s more, with every weekend being busy and most of the weeks are too, I’m moving! Ian and I are moving in!!! It’s SUPER exciting!! but I really really don’t want to pack, but there will probably be updates on that!

Here are the Pins I’m putting in my frame this month:

Here are the photos I’m putting in my frame this month:

This is my birthday a couple of years ago when Ian, my brother and Emma went to the seaside because I love the seaside and we had such a great day!!

This is actually my birthday the same year, at my graduation (Because I graduated on my birthday!!) This is Charlotte!

This was new years day about 3 years ago. My parents and my brother at the seaside!!! 😀

Here’s the finished frame:

Creme Eggs have to be there because they are just one of my favourites!!! ❤

I hope everyone has a fantastic March!!!

xoxo

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