If you’re in one of those moods where the only thing that will do is chocolate then check this out.
Thick, indulgent and VERY chocolatey – without the crap that you find in shop bought milkshakes.
Oh and did I mention its super simple too? It has just 3 ingredients.
– 350ml Unsweetened Almond Milk (coconut milk works REALLY well too)
We all know that bedding can have a big impact on the look of rooms and you’re no doubt keen to find dapper duvets and pretty pillows that have the power to elevate the aesthetics of your boudoir. However, did you realise that as well as enhancing the look of your home, the sheets you sleep in can boost your health?
Helping you get sufficient sleep
First and foremost, comfy bedding can help you to nod off at night. Most adults need between seven and nine hours of good quality slumber a night, but up to a third of Britons fail to get this much shuteye. There are lots of reasons why people can struggle to sink into restful sleep, and bad bedding is one risk factor. When you’re perusing the variety of pillows, duvets, sheets and covers available on specialist websites like juliancharles.co.uk, make sure you choose materials that will help soothe you to sleep. Ideally, the products should offer just enough warmth and they should feel good against your skin.
Bear in mind that as well as helping to give you energy to face the day, sleep plays an important role in fending off potentially serious illnesses. In fact, regular sleeplessness can increase your risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also raise your chances of getting long-term mood disorders like anxiety and depression. A lack of sleep can reduce your immunity too, meaning you’re less able to fight off infections.
Although many people don’t realise this, sleep can also have a big impact on weight. Studies have revealed that people who sleep for less than seven hours a day are 30 per cent more likely to be obese than those who get nine hours of shuteye or more. It’s believed that when people are sleep deprived, they have lower levels of leptin, a hormone that makes them feel full. They also have higher levels of the hunger-stimulating chemical ghrelin.
Controlling allergies
As well as helping people to get enough sleep, good quality bedding can play a part in preventing allergy aggravation. Around one in four people in the UK suffer from an allergy at some point in their lives and there are a range of potential triggers. Dust mites and small flakes of skin and hair are often the causes of sneezing bouts and streaming eyes.
If these allergens affect you, it’s worth looking out for bedding with synthetic fillings such as hollowfibre and microfibre. These products are designed to be non-allergenic and they can be laundered quickly and easily. You might be surprised by how much easier it is to reduce your allergy symptoms if you take simple steps like this to control your environment.
Given how much of an impact bedding can have on your health, it’s vital that you choose the best possible versions.
O.M.G – have you tried black garlic? The fabulous guys at Sainsbury sent me some to try and I have to say, I’m converted.
It may look gross, after all, there’s not many black foods that we are encouraged to eat…but it’s so weird that it’s good – if you know what I mean?
Black garlic is just your regular white garlic that’s been preserved by being exposed to heat and moisture for more than a month.
The garlic then comes out like jelly, it tastes almost like balsamic vinegar. Its fragrance free too so you can enjoy without the dreaded garlic breath.
I thought I’d make Black Garlic Tofu. It’s a REALLY easy dish, you can serve with noodles, courgette noodles, salad, brown rice – whatever you feel like really. I like dishes that can be served with a variety of things, that way if you change your mind about what you fancy you don’t have to write the whole meal off.
The other good thing about this dish is that it’s really quick. If you’re not a big fan of tofu then you could use chicken, beef or prawns but I don’t think you’ll get the same crispy joy. If you want to know how to cook some good tofu then let me know below and I can do a separate post.
You will need:
5/6 cloves of black garlic light soy sauce a good stir fry oil tofu salt/pepper/crushed chilli
To start with make sure you take all the moisture out of your tofu and then cut in to cubes. Once you’ve cubed it, give it another dab to make sure that you really have got all the moisture out. There is nothing good about soggy tofu.
Then you need to make a little sauce. To do that, pop your garlic, oil and soy sauce in to a processor and whizz.
Pop some oil in to your pan and make sure it’s hot before adding the salt, pepper and crushed chilli to the oil. Next throw in your tofu and keep turning for at least 10 minutes to make sure that your tofu is crispy all round.
Next pop your black garlic sauce in and mix it in to your tofu. It will look “burnt” but it’s not, it’s just the way the sauce clings on to the tofu and trust me those black, crispy bits are so good.
And you’re done. A healthy meal in around 20 minutes.
There’s loads of talk about quitting sugar at the moment. It’s becoming more and more apparent just what sugar does to the body. And it’s not the odd slice of cake or chocolate bar that’s really the problem, it’s the fact that the majority of us (even if we don’t think we are) are reliant on sugar.
There’s no question that the majority of us use sugar as a crutch, and not to mention all the hidden sugars that we’re consuming (think low fat goods, tinned soup, white bread etc).
The reason I’m posting this today is I stumbled upon a pretty cool little video from TED lessons about how sugar affects the brain. I’ll pop the video on the end of this post – it’s well worth a watch and only 5 minutes out of your life.
But I also wanted to briefly share what sugar really does to your body. I’m going to admit, I’m just starting out on trying to eliminate sugar from my diet, it’s something that’s been talked about a LOT during my studies with IIN and it’s not easy, but the facts, really do speak for themselves.
The thing is with sugar and this is something that’s been apparent to me for a while is that whilst it’s as dangerous and addictive as hard drugs, it takes a slower approach when it comes to damaging our health. You don’t sit down with a bucket of haribo one night and die straight away from your sugar binge, it’s a slow, destructive process that only really shows itself when the damage is done (i.e obesity and diabetes).
So here are 3 things that sugar is doing to our bodies…
Sugar increases fat storing. Insulin is one of the most important hormones in the body for when it comes to weight loss. When we eat sugar this causes a spike in blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia). Of course if we’re exercising we can burn that off but if we’re sat at our desk or watching tv then it will turn to fat. Continue reading “How Sugar Affects Your Body (and your brain)”
I just wanted to tell you that I’m starting a podcast. Just six to begin with to see if anyone listens, but they’re going to centre around living, working and eating better. Fingers crossed I can get the first one recorded next week – if my site redesign is completed that is.
ANYWAY…
I’m a HUGE fan of podcasts. I find them way more interesting than videos, after all, who has time to sit and watch stuff on youtube? Where as with a podcast you can play it in the car, at the gym or whilst you work. Ideal.
So I have to tell you about one of my FAVOURITE podcasts at the moment – Serial…have you heard of it? I am HOOKED!
Here’s what the podcast is about:
In 1999 a high school senior went missing. Hae Min Lee was found six weeks later in a shallow grave. Her classmate and ex-boyfriend Adnan Syed was arrested for her murder. Sounds a simple enough case right? However, he claims he’s innocent, he has no alibi as he can’t remember what he was doing on the day she went missing – but then again, who does remember what they got up to 6 weeks ago? A classmate at Woodlawn High School says she knows where Adnan was, the trouble is, she’s nowhere to be found. Adnan was found guilty and he’s currently serving a 30 year sentence for first degree murder. Host Sarah Koenig isn’t so sure that he is guilty so the podcast is all about uncovering the truth. Week by week it goes deeper in to the story. It’s truly addictive. If you love true crime stories (like I do) then I can guarantee that you’re going to love this.
Winter is here. It’s raining, it’s cold and it’s miserable. So if you’re looking for a quick way to get rid of the winter blues (without packing your bags and jetting off somewhere sunny) then all you need to do is this…
Take a quick sniff of citrus!
Yep, it’s that simple. Smelling a lemon, lime or orange fragrance will boost your feelings of well-being and alleviate stress because it ups the levels of norepinephrine which is a hormone that affects our mood.
And if you don’t want to waste the fruit by just sniffing it, why not try this Avocado lime cheesecake.
Well, I still have no kitchen! It’s not so bad actually, we have an electric wok, a microwave, a toaster and a george foreman grill so whilst coming up with healthy recipes is a challenge but totally do-able. In fact, after 4 weeks we’ve yet to resort to a micro ready meal {#impressed}.
Since it was a bank holiday on Monday, I fancied a bit of a simple, yet comforting breakfast that was QUICK (bank holiday’s are for tea, toast and magazines in bed if you ask me!) – only one thing could match that description – poached egg on toast!
But since we don’t have a hob, I had to turn to my humble microwave to sort it out – I know there are a lot of people who think the microwave is the devil (and before moving, I barely used one) but I’ve been doing my own research and found some interesting results – but that’s for another post.
Anyway, this is a very simple, 1 minute poached egg recipe – perfect if you’re in a rush or if you don’t fancy the fuss that poached egg usually brings (or if you’re like me and can never seem to make it work!).
What you need:
1 egg
Vinegar
Salt
A microwavable mug (< seriously, you don’t want one that will crack!)
A slotted spoon
The you simply fill a mug half way up, add salt and vinegar, crack your egg, gently pierce the yolk and pop in the microwave for a minute! Remove the egg with a slotted spoon, making sure the water is drained off and serve on warm, buttery toast.
Thanks to Slim Paley for alerting me that it is indeed National Watermelon Day today!
Which is good news for me as watermelon has been on of my staples this week. Since I don’t have a kitchen yet (luckily, I have a toaster, microwave and grill so I’m not having to live on takeways) salads have been top of the menu for dinner almost every night.
So, in the spirt of National Watermelon Day I thought I’d share one of my favourite salads…
Watermelon & Feta Salad
All you need is:
• 180g feta, crumbled
• A bunch of mint, leaves only, any larger leaves torn
• 500g watermelon flesh, cut into chunks
• 1 small red onion, finely sliced
• Extra-virgin olive oil
Just combine all the ingredients in a bowl and serve with some freshly ground black pepper!
Kombucha: is a raw, fermented, probiotic, and naturally carbonated tea.
Yesterday I had the best day at the BBC Good Food show. It was so good to see an increase in stalls promoting healthy, natural living. However my day got even better when I stumbled across @lovekombucha.
If you’ve not tried or heard of Kombucha yet then you need to give it a go. It’s a naturally fizzy, fermented tea based drink. It’s uses a SCOBY (AKA symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast) to eat away at the sugar which results in a healthy, gut healing drink.
So why drink Kombucha? Well, as I mentioned above, it’s a great probiotic, increases energy, treats candida and improves pancreas function. It’s also stuffed with antioxidants and is a home remedy for acne, fatigue, hypertension, headaches, and constipation. Continue reading “Love Kombucha”
I saw this via BrainPickings.org and had to share. Achieving perfection is something that we all strive for but as Dali says we’ll not reach it. Not because we’re not good enough but because what we see as perfection constantly changes.
