Easy Bake Pasta Bake

Hey guys. Hope your weekend's off to a great start? Here's a recipe for one of my favourite, easy to make, great tasting dishes that only takes a few minutes to put together if you're having friends or family over! What's also great about it is that you can store it in the freezer and reheat later and it will still taste just as yummy!

Pasta Bake 

Ingredients

500g dried penne

Tomato based pasta sauce

4 grilled sausages

2 rashers bacon

Sprinkle of cheddar and parmesan cheese

Serves 4

Method

1. Start grilling sausages according to instructions on packet. When they're half brown, start grilling or frying the bacon.

2. When the sausages and bacon are nearly cooked, start boiling the pasta according to the instructions on the packet. Do this in salted boiling water. Salt the pasta lightly because sausages and bacon tend to be salty.

3. Chop sausages and bacon into pieces while the pasta is boiling.

4. When the pasta is cooked to the desired taste, drain.

5. While the pasta is draining, heat up your pasta sauce in a pan and add some pepper (freshly grounded black pepper will do, but if in need of a stronger taste, habanero sauce will work, but go easy on the tastebuds!)

6. Heat the sauce until it simmers, then add your bacon and sausage and stir.

7. Add the drained pasta to the sauce and mix until the pasta is completely covered in the sauce.

8. Spread pasta mixture into a casserole dish and sprinkle with cheese and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes at 180 degrees celsius or until cheese has melted and browned.


Salad

For the salad, I use iceberg lettuce, cabbage and shredded carrots with some juicy, fresh cherry tomatoes.
I prefer my salads without dressing, but le husband prefers his with, so for this salad I recommend any light french dressing.

Enjoy!

Diet Foods To Avoid

I'm sure at some point you have said to yourself, "I need to eat healthier", or you may have just signed up to the gym or decided to start the new year with the resolution to eat better. This in itself is a good thing, as people are becoming more aware of their physical state and have a general desire to gravitate towards a healthier lifestyle. However, damage can be done if you are doing the right thing, the wrong way.

Here are some 'diet' foods that can hurt your goals -

Diet Soda

According to a University of Texas Health Science Centre study, the more diet sodas a person drinks, the greater their risk of becoming overweight. Drinking two or more of these bad boys a day can increase your waistline dramatically. Artificial sweeteners disrupt the body's ability to regulate calorie intake. People who consume 'diet foods' might be more likely to overeat according to another study from Purdue University. So why not skip the whole 'diet' thing and eat proper healthy meals, even if they are not labelled 'diet'?

Microwave Popcorn

Now this isn't a diet food per se, but I have seen some people recommend eating popcorn because it fills you up and if you eat the right portions, it can be part of a balanced diet. As much as I love popcorn, I have to say this, stay away from microwave popcorn! It contains certain additives that are quite unhealthy. According to a recent Huffington Post report, the microwave popcorn industry is in for a nose dive if the ban on trans fat oil is successful. Whether the ban happens or not, stay away from this naughty Mr. You're better off making your own popcorn. Just buy the seeds! And add little to no sugar for a healthier snack. 

Low fat Yoghurt

Low-fat yoghurts can actually be seriously laden with sugar! Again, if you see 'low fat' or 'diet' chances are there are substitutes in there that make them qualify for the 'low fat' and 'diet' labels that you really don't want in your tummy. Again, check the ingredients. For yoghurts, you're better off taking non-sweetened, plain yoghurt or greek yoghurt which has a sourly taste but if you prefer sweet, just add honey.

Granola bars

The store-bought granola bars can be highly concentrated in corn syrup, salt and processed oils. They are often advertised as 'healthy' options for a quick snack, but be careful. Not all of them are. Home-made granola bars are the real deal.

Veggie burger

Being a vegetarian can be great but just because someone offers you a Veggie Burger doesn't mean you are necessarily going to benefit from it. Read the labels. Some are actually quite loaded with oils and butters. Except you're (once again) making your own from scratch.

Flavoured Water

Flavoured water might seem like the path to take to help you drink your daily water intake, but a 500ml bottle can contain as much sugar as eating three Krispy Kreme doughnuts! Yup, you heard me. Three. You might as well eat the doughnuts because they taste better! On a serious note, drop the bottled flavoured water, and make your own if drinking water is a chore. Cut up a slice of lime into water and there you have it, your own flavoured water (without the Krispy Kreme calories!)

Majority of the healthy options can be made at home and I will show you how in future posts. Till then, read your labels and get to know the food you put inside your bodies.

Juicy Greens

I love juicing and blending fresh fruits. It's just a fun alternative to eating them whole! Nutritionists advise that it's best to drink juices and smoothies on an empty stomach. It helps to speed up the absorption of the nutrients.

Try to regulate your intake with your daily caloric need. Certain fruits can be high in sugar so be careful how you consume.

Green juices are known to help balance the body's pH levels and give you a direct shot of vitamins, minerals and enzymes. The recipe below is for a refreshing green juice that's easy on the tastebuds for starters.

Light Greens

Serves 2

3 cucumbers

3 apples

Juice from 1 small lemon, squeezed

Juice from 1 small lime, squeezed

*Alternatively, you may leave out the lemon and lime if you don't want the lemony taste and still get a refreshing drink.

Enjoy!

FABstar: Lupita Nyong'o

If you haven't heard of the movie 12 Years A Slave, well, be glad you're reading this now! It's already being described as one of the best movies of the year, even though it's barely made its entrance into theatres.

The lead actress in the movie, Lupita Nyong'o, has been garnering rave reviews for her gut-wrenching and emotional performance as Patsey. Nyong'o, a Kenyan born in Mexico but raised in Kenya and educated in the USA, is not only making headlines as a possible Oscar-nominee for her role but also as a style star! And I totally agree! Which is why she is being featured as our very first FABstar; People making a great impact and/or at the breakthrough point of their career!

Check her out:

© Getty Images

Kinkyapothecary Presents: Felicia Leatherwood Workshop

So the wonderful Nibi Lawson at Kinkyapothecary facilitated a workshop featuring the oh-so-gorgeous Felicia Leatherwood in Lagos recently. Felicia Leatherwood is the awesome stylist to gorgeous-haired people like Jill Scott, Sanaa Lathan, Olivia Davis, Will Smith to name a few. Google is your friend ;) Find her and stalk her!

It was a fantastic workshop and although I couldn't stay until the end due to another engagement I had, I enjoyed every moment of it. She asked me to be one of her demonstrators during the curl check section and it was surprising to learn that my curl pattern is a 3B rather than the 3C I had assumed all this while! Plus I got a goody bag at the end :)

Favourites from NY Fashion Week!

Here are some of my favourite looks from the recently concluded New York Fashion Week. Click through to enlarge the pictures.

Jason Wu

Herve Leger

J Crew

Diane von Fürstenberg

Oscar de la Renta

Monique Lhullier

Michael Kors

Zac Posen

Tommy Hilfiger

Rachel Zoe

Pictures © 2013 New York Times

Growth

Wow! Thanks so much for the love on my first post. I really appreciate it. I'm glad to know the post encouraged people in one way or another.

I shuttle between my beloved London and new darling Lagos and so far, it's been an experience and a half! One of the major things I found hard (maybe still do) is the lack of boundaries that exists in this part of the world. I can't count the number of times total strangers have walked up to me and put their hands in my hair in an attempt to feel out my "weave". This isn't a huge problem because I know that Nigerians are warm and loving people.

I get asked a lot what I do to my hair and end up having full blown conversations about hair care and maintenance. This usually leads to email addresses being exchanged to carry on the conversation. So I figured I'd blog every now and then about hair care and point future enquirers to this site instead.

First and foremost, I'm a natural head; but I'm not an activist for everyone going natural. I believe healthy hair can be achieved with both natural and relaxed hair. I chose to become natural because I missed the curls I had as a little girl. I chose the big chop route which means I barely transitioned. I did for a couple of months, but still ended up cutting it all off.

To some degree, it was both a difficult and an easy decision for me to make. It was difficult because I had no guarantee what my hair would look like and how long it would take to grow back, if it ever did. But it was also easy because I was sincerely tired of watching my hair sizzle in the hands of hairdressers and their beloved straighteners and tongs, only to have undergrowth within a couple of weeks.

If you do want to go the natural route, here are a few thoughts:

* Once you cut it off you can't go back; so be sure you know what you're in for and mentally prepare yourself for it.

* If you transition, you still have the two options available to you.

* Arm yourself with research. You've got a whole world of knowledge at your fingertips on the web. Make use of it.

* It's ok to admire another person's hair but you have to get to know your own curl patterns and love them. Otherwise you'll be in for a really miserable journey desiring curl patterns that can't be attained.

One thing you can rest your mind on is this; your hair will grow! Be patient and give yourself time. Just like everything else in life, given time and the right attention, growth is sure.

Here are some pictures of my hair progress. Do share yours with me on Instagram and Twitter (Tag @moadegboye).

Taking the Plunge!

Today marks one of the most important days in my life. The day I got married. No big deal, people get married everyday. But you see today, for me, is the day I get to celebrate an ongoing adventure in my life. We've been together just shy of 6 years and been married for 2 of those. I sometimes look at him and wonder "how did this all happen?" :) To think I just upped and left my wonderful family that I'd known all those years, to live permanently with this man from a totally different bloodline from mine is sometimes mind-boggling.

And yes, we claim it is done in the name of the wonderful, exhilarating drug known worldwide as LOVE! But I think besides that, there's an innate spark in us as humans to dare things that we know almost nothing about.

How many times in life have you wanted to do something so badly but then decided to push it off due to the many "valid" reasons screaming not to? These little nags sometimes prevent us from committing atrociously stupid acts. But other times, they just tend to hold us back from the great discoveries of our lives.

To my greatest discovery :) Thank you for asking me to take the plunge with you. To be honest, I never saw it coming. It's been an incredible journey so far and we are yet to even scratch the surface of all the wonderful opportunities and moments there are to create together. But so far... I'm a happy lass!

Thank you for our song. It means more to me than a wonderful and romantic gesture; you wrote our first "I love you's" into the sands of time through your art and that means more than words can describe. Every time I listen to it, those moments play out all over again, just like it was yesterday. Even though I can't croon like you :) I'll just say it, I love you.