Lean, mean, and green!

So I know I haven't posted the recipes I promised (I'm sorry!)but I've had a very busy week.  So to make up for it, here are two recipes!

Soo, confession...I've been getting...CHUNKY! And I'll admit, it's because of all the soda I've been drinking! So I'm going back on the healthy! 

The pressure of school and work really got to me the past few weeks. I became very stressed out, and when I'm stressed out I eat! And my go to comfort food is usually cheesy, or sugary, or creamy, or cake! So soda was my go to while studying on campus. But now, I'm cutting out the soda and going for the healthier alternative, water! and cutting out the junk food for some delicious homemade healthy meals.

So the first recipe for y'all is my avocado pesto pasta, and green and bean salad.

Well first things first, boil a big pot of pasta water (don't forget to salt the water) 

I used thin spaghetti for my dinner, but y'all can use whatever kind if pasta you prefer.

To make the pesto:

2 big ripe avocados

Handful of fresh basil

A couple stalks of the green of green onions

3-4 cloves of garlic

Half a lime

A handful of pine nuts

And a handful of feta cheese

And of course, olive oil. I use garlic infused olive oil, because I'm a garlic fanatic!

Salt

Black pepper

Oregano

Blend all that in your blender

Mix it in with your hot pasta

Toss in some parmesan cheese shred and red chili flakes

And Wah-La!

Pair that with a quick spinach, lettuce black bean, and corn salad. I added feta cheese, and Santa Fe wonton strips on top for an extra crunch, and there ya have it! A quick, yummy, and pretty healthy dinner.

And for those of y'all who are going carb free, we have ZOODLES!! aka Zucchini noodles

I used my handy dandy vagetti/vagoodler to noodlize half a zucchini.  (I got my vagetti from CVS, aka work, in the as seen on TV aisle) 

I tossed my beautiful green noodles into a pan with a little bit of that garlic infused oil. Added come chopped spinach.

Salt

Coarse black pepper

White pepper

A little bit of paprika

Added some chunks of Roma tomato on top

Finished off with some feta and Parmesan cheese

Serves with some grilled shrimp

Rubbed the shrimp with sea salt, balk pepper, paprika, and Italian seasoning before grilling till they're nice and pink

And there you have it! Two quick simple, healthy, and delicious meals! 

Meri yaar ki shaadi hai! (my friends wedding!)

So last week, spring break weekend, was one of my oldest and dearest friend's wedding! So I've known this girl since I was in diapers, so it was so surreal watching her walk down the aisle to her HUSBAND!  So believe me when I say it was an emotional week (and not just week, I almost cried when she sent me pictures of her trying on her wedding dresses). And you all are probably thinking "week?!"...yes, our weddings are about a week long, comprised of different events and ceremonies, in her case, 4 events that I got to get all dressed up for!
When you practically live in slacks, leggings, and lab coats, with the only makeup being lip balm, being able to dress up is exciting! I love putting on fancy Pakistani clothes, doing up my hair (hijab for 3 out of the 4 events) and makeup and looking and feeling good!

So day 1! We call it the mayoon, which is a girls only ceremony where we get to shower attention on the bride. So, since this was a girls only event, I got to leave my hair down! (which is also the reason I don't have any pictures with the bride, since she also wears hijab).
So my day 1 look was simple and light with an emphasis on the lips.
products used:
Smash box photo finish and NARS radiance enhancing primers, applied with my Elf stifle brush (which I got from work, with my employee discount for $2.60)
Clinique stay-matte foundation, also applied with the same brush
Benefits Watts up highlighter
NYX matte cream cream lippie in the shade Amsterdam
Light lined and water lined sephora liner
And LOTS of benefits They're real mascara

Day 3! The mehndi! (the henna ceremony) 

I opted for a dewey, shimmery, very pinky look. 

For the products used for this look check out my "Day off glow" post.

I went with a floral Agha Noor kurthi. Baby pink Hijab from House of Haya. And head piece was a necklace from The Loft.

Didn't the bride look absolutely stunning?! Her veil was the same veil her mom wore at her own wedding.  

Day 3! The baraath! (wedding reception #1)

Just take a minute...take a minute and look at the bride! Just look at her! As I was walking into the hall, they were making the announcement that it was time for her Nikkah (our equivalent to "I do" except this isn't necessarily done in front of the groom, the groom gets to see her after). As I was running upstairs I kept remembering the days where I'd run to her apartment with a towel over my head in the rain to play light bride. Or when we'd sit in the back of her closet telling scary stories. walking into the room, seeing her dressed like a bride definitely brought on the water works! Thank God for setting spray and waterproof mascara! 

I went for a heavier matte foundation, with cat eyes, red lips, and HIGHLIGHT!

Products used:

Smash box photo finish primer

Tarte clay foundation in the shade Tan Sand

Anastasia Beverly Hill cream and powder contour kit

All blended out with my Elf stifle brush and beauty blender

Anastasia Beverly Hill Highlighter is So Hollywood

Tarte Amazonian clay blush in Embellish

Eyes:

Used my Naked 1 eyeshadow palette 

Naked swept into the crease

Virgin on the brow bone 

Darkened the crease and the outer corner of the eye with buck

Half baked across the lid

A maroon tone from an eyeshadow palette I have that I don't even know the name of lol

And then dark horse to blend and smoke out the outer corner and crease.

Winged eyeliner with the MAC eyeliner pen

NYX glitter roller in nude

and MAC's 32 lash, which I'll admit, I had to go to the Mac counter at the mall (fully dressed in my wedding clothes) to get put on!

Lips:

NYX Monte Carlo

Mac D for Danger

Outfit was custom designed by me from Pakistan

Hijab- House of Haya's sparkle raspberry maxi scarf

Day 4 and final! The Valima (reception #2)
So as the wedding festivities came to a close, I took my final selfie with the bride.
As per brides request, I wore my blue gown thats like 5 feet long, trails behind me, and gets stepped on, but makes me look soooo good!
I opted for a sparkly turban hijab this time, with a headband I got from Charming Charlie's.
As for makeup, I went with a heavy eye, and muted lip.
Face:
Anastasia Beverly Hill cream and powder contour kits
Blended the cream contour out with NARS radiant foundation and my Elf stifle brush.
NARS Copacabana highlighter
Tarte clay foundation in the shade epic
Eyes:
Naked 3 eyeshadow, the shade Strange in the crease
MAC cream shadows in silver across the lid
Sephora shadow in silver to blend out the cream shadow
Naked 1 shade gunmetal in the outer corner, blended out with the shade creep
Black winged liner and water line
Followed the outer wing with Sephora liner in silver, and the silver in the inner corner
Lips:
NYX soft matte lip cream in the shade Tokyo

So that wraps up the looks for the wedding festivities. 4 days 4 looks. 

And now back into my lab coats and whatever I have the energy to put on in the morning (usually consisting of a long shirt and leggings, and of course, my House of Haya viscose hijab). 

But this was a great break from a hectic and busy lifestyle. Seeing one of my dearest friends walk down the aisle to her future. Couldn't ask for a better way to spend my spring break.

That day-off glow!

Yesterday was my day off from work! Thank God! So I got to spend some quality time with the girls!And you know what that means, coffee shop and shopping! 

Well the day started off a bit rough. My car battery died while in the parking garage at school. Ans while I'm always someone who keeps her jumper cables in her car, that day they just happened to not be there! Some luck, huh? But after making a few phone calls, we decided on calling school security to come give us a jump. After the very helpful security men of the University of Houston left, we got our fun day started. 

We started off at this cute little coffee shop, Common Bond, in downtown Houston. I had already got my coffee fix for the day, from my usual Minuti, so I opted for the iced pearl jasmine tea with a touch of honey. Paired that with a fresh butter croissant, and that irresistible looking chocolate pudding. Hey, the tea was healthy, so I was allowed to indulge a bit. And Indulge I did.

My friend got a caramel latte, and cauliflower soup, and the other a chicken torta and a fresh lemonade. And we split a warm, ooey-gooey chocolate walnut cookie at the end. 

After we got done taking all our pictures, we dug in! And boy, was the food delicious! 

The warm, fresh, buttery croissant (that I kept dipping into my friend's cauliflower soup) was delicious! The tea was a perfect, refreshing pairing to the butter and cream. The coffee shop itself was very cute, though seating was limited. The staff was very sweet and helpful. It was overall a great experience!

Next, we headed to the Houston Galleria! We needed to shop for some outfits for the upcoming birthday party. We headed into the Nordstroms and got distracted by the Joe Malone perfume specialist. (Ugh! So in love with those scents!) I ended up buying my mommy a set of hermes perfumes, because why not?(plus the guy at the counter was super helpful and convincing)  I couldn't decide on a single scent, so I went with the small set of 4 different perfumes (so whichever ones she doesn't like, I'll keep ;))

I stopped at the makeup counter to ask for some suggestions for dewey products (since my usual is pretty matte). The beauty specialist there decided on showing me some of the NARS products. And I was lucky enough to have the NARS specialist ask to do my makeup! He gave me the exact look I wanted! A beautiful dewy glow, and no heavy, cakey look. Best makeup experience ever!

Products used (all NARS btw):

Prepped the face with Multi-Action Hydrating Toner and Aqua Gel Luminous Oil-free Moisturizer

Sheer glow foundation 

Radiant creamy concealer under the eyes

Highlighted the cheekbones and T-zone with Copacabana highlighter, and Albatross Blush

Touched the apples of the cheeks with Blush in color Orgasm.

A little bit of brown wing liner using a gel pot.

Lips in Tom Ford's Pussycat lipstick

So besides the minor set back in the beginning, and the terrible 6pm Houston traffic heading home, it was a pretty great day! Got to spend a day with some great food, fun, and beautiful people. Back to school and work today, but I look forward to these days, where I just get to close the books and take off the lab coat, and just enjoy my day.

Late night Lo Mein!

                                

So I came home from work at 9:30pm Wednesday night with an arm full of grocery and an empty stomach. I fired up my wok and made some quick late night lo mein! A quick, simple, but super flavorful meal, and easy to pack for lunch the next day!

You'll need:
Chicken
Veggies of your choice. I used broccoli, green beans, corn, and water chestnuts
Egg noodles
And for the sauce, Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, chill garlic paste, oyster sauce, and Sriracha.
Chicken broth and corn starch to thicken the sauce.
And sesame oil to cook it all in.

Now you're ready to get cooking!
Coat the chicken in the mixture of the sauces. Let it sit while you chop up your veggies.
In your wok add about a teaspoon of sesame oil, be cautious because sesame oil heats up quickly.
Add your chicken to the wok, but save your sauce.
While the chicken is cooking, mix about half a table spoon of corn starch with chicken broth and add it to the left over sauce that the chicken was marinading in. You can add a bit more of which ever sauce you want. This mixture will go over the noodles at the end.
Once your chicken is done (takes 5-7 mins) add your veggies. The veggies only need a quick sauté so they stay fresh and crispy.
Take this opportunity to put your noodles in your boiling water.
Dont do what I did! I forgot to boil the water before I started on my chicken and veggies, and had to turn the stove off and wait while that came to a boil. Caused my veggies to soften a bit more than I wanted, and also added like 20 mins to my cooking time! Start boiling your water right from the start.
The noodles only take about 4 mins to cook.
Add the noodles to your chicken and veggies.
Mix in the sauce with corn starch.
Toss together
and Wa-Lah!
A quick and simple lo mien!
Enjoy!

Worst week ever!

I'm really sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks! I've honestly had the worst week ever! My laptop got stolen at the gas station! Took them less than 2 seconds to open my door and grab my bag with my laptop, textbooks, and my sketchbooks! My sketchbook with years of my drawings in it!

And then on top of that I shattered my phone screen!

so it's just been a bad week.

But I'm back on the line with a new phone and new laptop (with a awesome decal, might I add).

So hopefully I'll be back on the blog soon!

Have a great day! Enjoy every second you get!    

More FOOD!

To celebrate the end of finals (wohoo! freedom!) I give ya'll a new recipe! Honey teriyaki glazed Turbot!

So, I planned this recipe to be made with Halibut, but unfortunately my local grocery store was out of Halibut that day. So I went with Turbot, a fish similar in texture, flakey but still meaty, and with similar mild taste. But for those of you who don't like a fishy smell, this fish is not for you. I'd go with a Tilapia or Sol, for a similar texture minus the fishy smell.

So on with the recipe!

I like to brine my fish in salt water with a couple tablespoons of vinegar. Especially a meaty fish like this, that won't break apart in the brine. So I let my 4 fillets sit in the brine as I prepared the glaze.

For the glaze you'll need:

1 cup honey

1/2 cup Soy sauce

1/2 Sriracha 

Juice of 1 lime (2 if your lime isn't very juicy)

1/4 cup vinegar

3-4 cloves of garlic; grated

About an inch of ginger; grated

1 stalk of green onion thinly sliced

Salt, pepper, and chilli flakes to tastes 

 Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. The mixture should be thick so it can stick to the fish. Massage the glaze into your fish and let sit for a couple hours to marinade. 

I took this time to make my garlic rice to go with my fish. I used regular long grain basmati rice and boiled it (1 cup rice to 2 cups water). After the rice softens, drain the water, and put the rice back in the pot on the heat to dry up the left over moisture. When your rice is dry, add grated garlic and thinly sliced green onion and mix. This makes a perfect, light side dish to go with your asian inspired fish.

I prepped my veggies (broccoli, asparagus, peppers, and pearl onion) with salt and pepper. I laid out a sheet on tin foil and put the veggies at the bottom, and my fish on top. This is where the thick glaze comes in handy. It sticks to the fish instead of puddling at the bottom with the veggies, which would make them soggy. 

Oh! don't forget to pre-heat your oven to 350F!

Close up the foil and bake the fish for about 10 minutes.

After the 10 minutes is up, unwrap the foil, set your oven to a medium broil and let the fish sit for 5 more minutes. When your fish is fork tender, it is ready. 

Plate the rice, with the fish and veggies on top, and enjoy!

A pretty simple, healthy, and delicious meal!

Feeling 22...

So, last Saturday, the 5th, was my birthday! Woohoo! The big 2 2! And I planned a sort of "last minute" dinner with a few of my close friends and family (since, surprisingly, I got off work at 2pm instead of my usual 9:30pm). I chose SongKran Thai Kitchen in Uptown Galleria Houston as the venue. Having never been there, I trusted its "10 must try restaurants" rating in Culture map Houston. And it did not disappoint! After losing my reservation (my friends were all very late) we waited about an hour to get seated. But, the manager was more than accommodating! Constantly asking us if he can bring us something during the wait.  The restaurant is a bit small on the inside (seats about 50-60 people at most, I think) but the outside patio seating was lovely. He set up 2 heaters to help us combat the cold. And then brought out free virgin mojitos for the whole table (which he colored pink "for the pictures")

And the food! OMG the food! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! I started with the "son-in-law egg" which was a hard boiled, deep fried egg served with crispy fried onion and green onion on top, and a sweet and spicy sauce. The mix of flavors made me experience egg like I've never experienced before! For my main dish I got the Pad Phong Karii, which was a lobster and shrimp dish with dried yellow curry served with white rice. The mix of the sweet seafood with spicy curry was amazing! I'm glad I tried something a bit different, rather than the usual pad thai. I certainly was not disappointed. The food was totally worth the wait! Chef and owner Junnajet "Jett" Hurapan totally deserves the title of top restaurants in Houston!

Now lets talk about the outfit! I wanted to keep it simple and classy. I ordered the skirt off of "The Jay Sisters" page on depop, and boy did it make me feel like a princess! The soft cotton material made it light and wearable with just enough poof to make it glamorous. I paired it with a simple black cotton jersey top (well it was was actually a short skater dress) from Francesca's, Some Jessica Simpson suede pointed toe pumps (which I got on sale at Macy's!), turquoise and black and statement necklace (birthday present from my best friend who could not make it to the dinner *sadf face*), silver "Parker" watch by Micheal Kors, and "vintage" Micheal Kors side bag. I say vintage because my mom gifted me this bag back in 8th grade. 8 years ago! At a time when I didn't even know who Micheal Kors was!
I completed the look with a turban style hijab (medium grey viscous hijab from HouseofHaya.com), a simple wing liner, and a pop of color with my MAC "Ruby Woo" lips.
But the highlight of the night was just getting to spend some time with the ones I love. Getting to catch up and find out whats going on in each other's lives. We get so busy with our own lives that we forget to ask about each other's. So I cherish these moments where we can get together, share a meal and a laugh and just unwind. Forget about the finals coming up this week (eek!), put the phones away (except for the million pictures of course), and just focus on the people around you. I'm blessed to have such amazing people in my life!