Funny things that 7 year olds say

Well, I guess it's time for something a little lighter....

You are always guaranteed a laugh when children are around, they do and say the funniest things.

Last week-end I spent some quality time with my niece, we talked, listened to music together and played some online games, she loves games and can find them on any mobile phone. We also did some counting and I was showing her how to count and add up her pocket money. She's clever anyway, so instead of telling and showing her everything, I tend to help her out only if she gets stuck, which works for her. When we are cooking together, she likes to help out by washing the dishes and sweeping up the kitchen, she gets really upset if you don't let her help out. I love that child, however, she is getting a bit too big to sit on her aunty's knee, she's nearly as tall as I am and she's only 7, thankfully.

Anyway, I asked my niece what she thought of a picture of me, she replied "all I can say is that your nose looks shiny." Well, at least she's honest....LOL

We were sitting together after I had given her some Cacao nibs to taste as she was very curious to know what they taste like, on the packet it reads "food of the gods", so, after gazing at the packet for a while she sighed and asked me "do the gods really eat cacao"? To be honest, I really didn't know what to tell her...LOL

My niece was telling me that she was reading a newspaper some days previously and saw an advert for a mobile phone, (she enjoys reading the Evening Standard and Metro and always takes my copies) and it was £4.00 at Carphone Warehouse, she told me she saw another advert and the same phone was 99p at Phones4U. First of all, I was shocked that she even knows about these phone companies. Also, this little lady is trying to convince me to get her a mobile phone, I told her we will talk about it when she gets older. She also told me that she has always wanted a touch screen phone. *sigh*

The children of today!

My ex boyfriend....

Hmmmm, my post has been edited.....Looks as though good old nanny Google has amended it...Oh, well, too bad I can't remember what I wrote.....Hopefully the idiot I was writing about has already seen that part!

Moving on......


I have been having some issues with my ex boyfriend. I am sure many women can relate to these issues. Problem is I really liked, no loved him at one point in time.

This person is one of the most annoying people I have ever known in my life, and I usually get along with most people. Anyway, here are the some of my reasons to back off this guy for good because leopards don't change their spots!

How can a woman settle down and be a good wife and then a mother if you have all this bullshit to contend with? Many of the guys today are just NOT serious, if you ask me. A lot of them spend their time hanging around with these groupies and loose women and can't get their head around the fact that all people are not the same. Read the whole thing to understand what I'm trying to say.

When we were together, I was always the one who was encouraging and pushing, pushing and encouraging, why don't you do this, why don't you try this. *sigh* What I really need is a REAL man who knows how to be a man, not somebody I have to be giving ideas, somebody who is sensible should already know what they want to do and how they want to do it, instead of waiting on a woman to come and shape and mould them. I am supposed to be a girlfriend, well in this case, ex, not your damn mother!

Reasons to stay away from this person

Arrogant - Thinks too much of himself and is extremely egotistical, boastful, narcissistic, big headed, high and mighty and even walks in a swaggering way, like he owns the damn place.

Suffers from small man syndrome or short man syndrome - No offence to short people, besides I'm not exactly a giant myself. Anyway, this guy portrays all the symptoms of this syndrome such as showing off, attention seeking, telling lies and stretching the truth. Also appears to like women to chase him and tell him how great he is *rolls eyes*.....This guy is really annoying and likes to brag a lot and is full of himself. Even when spoken to about his cocky attitude he still likes to justify and argue over this. How can you justify being arrogant all the time? See arrogant.

A liar - Well, tells lies and especially likes to make up things about people. I can't stand people that can't be frank about things or tell the truth for that matter. If you are in the wrong, just admit it and stop telling lies about what really happened. Just be real dammit.

Pretentious - Likes to portray himself as a nice person to people, despite his lies as well as cunning and conniving ways. When I first met him, he was so nice and lovely, didn't realise I was getting myself into a big mess. Also, likes to present himself in a particular way, when he knows good and damn well that he is usually the opposite. For example, likes to dictate to people that they should not drink but he can drink 6 pints of Guinness in less than two minutes, but likes to tell everybody else how to live their life. Sometimes you have to practice what you preach.....Reminds me of one of those fake pastors who want to grab money and have affairs with the whole congregation while preaching the 'word'. 

Another thing, he will say that a girl is skanky etc the next thing you see him hanging around with the same girl and being best friends with her. Likes to portray himself as the moral high ground when in fact he himself has very low morals. Will complain about women wearing hot pants and bikini top, but will then chat up a girl wearing hot pants and a bikini top. Man, make up your mind because you are all over the place!

Kind of hypocritical and two-faced wouldn't you say?

Anyway, I'm not saying he can't be nice at all, but he is pretentious majority of the time and finds it hard to be real with people. So, conniving...

Extremely quiet - Very calculating and conniving type of guy, just like a snake. I should nickname him King Cobra. Well, he speaks with a forked tongue as well, so that nickname suits him well....LOL

Cryptic - Likes to talk in riddles and enjoys for people to try to unravel or conquer him. This is not a damn war for goodness sake. See self-centred.

Money motivated - This is probably the only thing that motivates him, oh, as well as fighting, of course. The whole time we were going out, this guy was always broke, broke, broke and yet more lies, always telling lies about everything. The problem is I am not a materialistic person, so I thought we would make it work regardless of how broke he was. Many times you can consider a person, but will they consider you?

Immature - Does not act like an adult, can be very child-like and childish. Always complaining about how he helps out everyone but nobody cares about him, which is yet another lie. Told me he had no family in the country, another lie to get some sympathy votes from me. He really only cares about himself. Reminds me of a spoilt mummy's boy. What an attention seeker.

Disrespectful - See annoying

He tries to justify his wrong-doing by telling lies on people. Seems to enjoy getting on people's nerves, especially mine.

Indecisive - Likes to jump from one woman to the next and doesn't know what he really wants in life, well relationship wise anyway. Likes to be seen around all the nice looking girls of all races and faces, no doubt this gives him a huge ego boost....Idiot! I think there are some low self-esteem issues going on there.

Unfaithful - Does not know how to stick to one woman, this also computes to being greedy, wants to have his cake and eat it too. Likes to mislead people, likes to cheat and has very little integrity. Thinks he is being cheated on and has trust issues, when in actual fact he is the one that likes to cheat and be unfaithful. Again, this has something to do with low self-esteem issues. See pretentious and indecisive.

Irresponsible - See immature. Does not like to face up to his responsibilities and be a man. Where have all the REAL men gone. Oh, and being a real man has nothing to do with being able to fight or obsessing over fighting or sparring by the way. *yawn*. I'm talking about the whole package.

Two-faced - Likes to talk about people behind their back and tell lies, and twist stories to suit him even, no especially, when he is completely at fault.

Self-centred - see arrogant. Likes to feel appreciated but never likes to appreciate. Sometimes, you have to give to be able to receive. Has an insatiable appetite to be famous, obviously so he can boast about it as usual. *yawn, yawn, yawn* See arrogant.

Cowardly - When it's time to face up to his responsibilities he usually hides, especially when he is in the wrong. Will switch off his phone for days or just won't answer it. Likes to ignore people. This type of behaviour is cowardly to me, when there is something to discuss, just get it over and done with instead of hiding like a mouse. What a fool.

Annoying - Ignores people and generally does annoying things to get on people's nerves, e.g. switching his phone off, hiding when there are problems to be solved etc. See cowardly

Mean - Does mean things like ignoring people. He does this often. Tells lies about people, thinking they won't find out. Always wants the girl to pay for everything, a bit of a cheapskate.

Wicked - He knows exactly what this means, so I will not elaborate on it, but when he reads it he will know exactly what I mean by saying this as I am sure he snoops around my blog, although he will deny it to the last breath....LOL

Irresponsible - See immature. Does not like to take care of his responsibilities.

Callous - Has no feelings for other people and doesn't care who he hurts as long as he is fine and OK. This again boils down to self-esteem issues. It's always me, me me. If he talks for 5 minutes, it's usually about himself, and how great he is. Otherwise, if he is quiet for long periods, he is being calculating and conniving. Sometimes, you can know a person too well.

Aggressive - Likes to fight and always wants to fight everybody. When we would get on the tube, he was always wanting to start something with somebody or claimed that people were trying to start trouble with him.  Every time I would have to calm him down. Always talking about martial arts, martial arts, martial arts,  or MMA, MMA, MMA, cage fighting, cage fighting, cage fighting......so bloody boring. Yes, I like martial arts as well, but we don't have to eat, drink and sleep it. Can we talk about something else please? Nothing much has changed since we were together, in terms of his character. See small man syndrome....LOL

Well, I have enjoyed writing this and it has been a massive RELEASE for me, if I can think of anything else, I will surely add it later on.

I am writing this post as a reminder to myself the many reasons why the relationship ended as well as the fact that I find him extremely annoying. Also, writing this stuff down helps me to move on to a better relationship. I meet so many nice people and I haven't given anyone a chance because I still had feelings for this loser. I need to get my head right, so this helps. Besides, what is the point of feeling low about somebody who does not care about you? Well, there isn't any is there?

This is my way of getting over it because goodness knows that I need to get over this FOOL!

Strawberry, nectarine and banana milkshake or smoothie

Strawberry, nectarine and banana milkshake

This is a delicious milkshake or smoothie I made some time last week. The flavour is strawberry, nectarine and banana.

I added some cacao nibs, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds to bulk it out and infuse some fibre, vitamins and minerals for added goodness.

I'll be back to add some more text when I have time, but watch the video and it gives you all the info you need to make it in the meanwhile...

Rainbow trout with rice, potatoes and salad

I have been cooking again, and this time I have cooked some rainbow trout with boiled rice, boiled potatoes which was served with an American style salad.

I got this idea to cook the trout, which I haven't eaten for years, from a commenter on my blog while responding to a comment left on the blog. I decided that I was going to buy some fish from the fish monger and cook some trout, so here it is.

 

Rainbow trout with boiled potatoes, boiled rice and salad

Rainbow trout is one of those easy fishes to cook, like mackerel because they both do not have any scales, so you don't need to spend too much time cleaning the fish before you prepare it, you just need to cut off the fins, gut the fish and wash it. Rainbow trout is quite slippery and slimy feeling, so you have to wash it with some lemon juice or lime juice in order to get rid of the slipperiness. Once you have done this, give it a wash and then you are ready to season the fish.

The rainbow trout dish is one of several fish dishes that I have prepared from scratch and posted on youtube, be sure to watch my other videos.

In addition to the rainbow trout, I have also cooked some rice on the hob and this video shows you briefly how to cook rice from scratch in a pot, instead of using a rice cooker. In addition to the rice, we were going to have the fish with some boiled potatoes, but when I looked in the rack, there were only three large potatoes left for the meal and this was not enough for two people, so I decided to cook some rice alongside the potatoes. The video clip shows you how to  boil potatoes and gives you food ideas for your own delicious and wholesome dinner or lunch.

For the rice and potatoes, we had some stew which had been cooked the day before and this was all accompanied with some mixed American style salad which was lightly sprinkled with lemon juice and some sunflower oil.

We had some white wine and water with the food and some lychees and apples for dessert.

I have the video up on youtube so watch it and tell me what you think.

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Cooking mushroom omelette with toast and spinach salad

Mushroom omelette with toast and spinach salad

Just a quick lunch/dinner idea. I like eggs a lot and normally eat free-range eggs or at least what we are told are free range eggs. Eggs can help to make a nice nutritious and wholesome meal.

In this short video clip, I am cooking myself a nice mushroom omelette with toast and some spinach salad with red grapes and beetroot. I was feeling anaemic at this time, I get really tired so I give myself a bvoost with fresh spinach leaves, a bit like popeye, it actually works.

I have been trying to eat really healthy and my complexion improves when I eat well.

If you are worried about the recent Salmonella scare in the news, my suggestion would be to thoroughly fry, boil or cook your eggs at high temperatures, particularly when cooking for the elderly and very young children who tend to have less immunity against bacteria in general. Also maintaining good food hygiene and handling standards such as using good handwashing techniques, storing food in the refrigerator and cooking raw foods at high enough temperatures to kill any bacteria present in the food will help to lessen the chances of food poisoning and health concerns.

Anyway, this is a nice and nutritious omelette, which I think would be great to try out.

Tell me what you think of it if you do manage to make it, and don't forget to leave your comments on my youtube page.


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Strawberry smoothie or milkshake for breakfast

Strawberry milkshake or smoothie for breakfast

Above is a video of a strawberry smoothie milkshake I made for breakfast. It's quick, easy, light and healthy.

If you want to make your strawberry smoothie taste more interesting you can add things like yogurt, ice cream, crushed ice, seeds like pumpkin, sunflower, flax seed, raw oats and similar for added fibre and goodness. However, I wanted to keep it light and simple so I just have the simple recipe above, which consists of strawberries, milk, actimel (for the probiotic benefits) and a little sugar, you can always use honey if you like, at the moment I have acacia honey, which has the added benefit of resisting that frosty look that honey can sometimes get.

I always buy the actimel containing sugar, I am allergic to all those artificial sweeteners and I do not consume them ever.

If you have lactose intolerance like my friend's cousin has, you can use alternatives to milk like rice milk,  almond milk and so on, the milk alternatives have the benefits of being dairy free for those people who cannot consume dairy products for whatever reason, you can buy these milk alternatives from health food shops.

Anyway, watch the video and leave a comment!


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Baked snapper fish and potatoes served with salad

Baked snapper fish and potatoes served with mixed salad

If you are looking for a delicious and healthy dinner for tonight, look no further. I have added another food video of me cooking some baked snapper with roast potatoes and mixed salad.

Last week, I cooked some snapper fish with baked potatoes and mixed salad. You can always have it with mixed vegetables instead, but it was a hot sunny day, so I opted for a mixed salad instead.

The video also has a quick clip of me cleaning the fish and taking off the scales, just in case you are wondering how to do it.

The fish was seasoned with Fullaflava Jamaican fish and meat sauce (my friend brought this back from Jamaica for me), some Dunn's River Jamaican jerk seasoning, Dunn's River fish seasoning and Dunn's River Caribbean hot curry powder. I rarely or never add salt to the cooking when seasoning is used, mainly because most seasoning already contains salt, so there really is no need to add more to the food that you are cooking if you have used herbs and spices for seasoning.

Line a baking tin with foil and add about two tablespoons of oil and spread all over the area where you are going to place the fish, this is mainly to stop the fish sticking to the foil. 

The onions were peeled and sliced up quite finely, scotch bonnet pepper and sweet yellow pepper, was also sliced up, you can always add green and red peppers as well for the garnish, if you like. 

Place the seasoned fish into the baking tray or tin and then add the onions and peppers on top of it.

Sprinkle lemon juice over the fish, peppers and onions. Cover with foil.

Bake the fish in a medium heat oven in a baking tray for about 25-40 minutes.

Once the fish is cooking, it fills the whole place with a lovely aroma. I love fish. Snapper has a lot of bones in it, so be careful when eating it.

Potatoes

For the potatoes, I cheated, unfortunately, I used Aunt Bessie's only because I didn't have any fresh potatoes. You can have the fish with boiled potatoes, roasted potatoes or mashed potato (I love mashed potatoes).

Salad

I made it with a mixed salad with some green leafed vegetables such as escarole, radicchio, frisee, shredded carrots, sprinkled with  lemon juice and about 1-2 tablespoons of salad cream mixed in. I then sprinkled some pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds over the salad for added nutrition such as fibre, vitamins and minerals.

If you have any questions, leave a comment and I'll get back to you.

There are lots more food and drink ideas on the blog and also on my youtube channel at Beautyhealthzoneblog Youtube video channel

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Cooking Egg, Prawn and Vegetable Fried Rice with Fish

Cooking Egg, Prawn and Vegetable Fried Rice with Fish

This is a video of me making some egg, prawn and vegetable fried rice. I'm cooking with one hand and filming with the other one at the same time, so the video may look a bit funny at times.

Liven up boring white rice with some eggs, vegetables and prawns. Sometimes, I get tired of eating just plain rice. If you eat brown rice, which is actually the healthier option as it contains more fibre, you can use that too.

If you are bored of eating white rice all the time you can use some eggs, vegetables and prawns to liven it up in a wok or frying pan.

You will need a small amount of oil, maybe a teaspoonful, about two eggs, left over rice from the day before or freshly cooked boiled white rice, a wok or fryng pan.

Add a small pinch of salt to your egg, beat vigourously and then fry in the frying pan with a few drops of oil. Once ready, scoop out the egg and use a knife or fork to chop it up in the bowl.

Next, add a little bit more oil to the pan, heat slightly and then add your mixed vegetables and fry lightly for a few minutes, add scoops of rice with a big spoon, sprinkle your favourite herabs over it, eg some curry, mixed herbs, thyme, a bit of pepper (optional), season all and then stir it vigorously until your vegetables are thouroughly cooked, sprinkle the chopped and cooked egg over the top and stir it in and cook lightly. Serve once ready.

The fried bream fish was cooked earlier by seasoning it, dipping it in a bit of raw egg coating with flour, frying it lightly and then cooking it in a stewed tomato and pepper sauce.

This type of dish is ideal for work the next day. Put in a plastic takeaway container and put in the fridge once cool. Heat it up in a microwave at work, make sure it's hot before eating.

I have some other food videos on my youtube, so don't forget to check them out!

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Quick Lunch Ideas: Tuna Salad on a Toasted Bagel

Tuna salad crunch on a toasted bagel for lunch.

If you are looking for a quick and easy idea for lunch with a healthy twist, why not try my tuna salad crunch bagel for lunch. It is pretty quick and easy to make and a nice alternative to sandwiches. Of course, if you don't have a bagel, then you can just use fresh bread instead or even a crusty roll.

I was telling someone about it yesterday and showing them the video on Youtube and they suggested that I call it a tuna crunch bagel, sounds cute.

I have a number of other food videos on my Youtube channel, so you can get some breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas there too.

Sometimes I tend to eat a light lunch because if I eat something too heavy, it makes me feel tired and sleepy. So, a nice light lunch with a good beverage such as orange juice, pineapple juice or even tea is a great idea for a light but satisfying lunch. 

Ingredients - For the recipe you will need:

1 bagel (or two if you are hungry)

Crunchy mixed salad (you can buy a bag or make your own)

1 can of tuna in sunflower oil or brine

Salad cream (1 to 2 tablespoons)

White or black pepper (for the tuna mix)

A knob of butter (for the bagel)

A squeeze of lemon juice

1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds

1 tablespoon of pumpkin seeds

Method:

Take some salad out of the bag and out into a small bowl or container and squeeze some lemon juice all over the salad. Add the salad cream to the salad leaves, and then sprinkle the sunflower and pumpkin seed over it.

Open your can of tuna with a tin opener and drain out the brine by holding the lid over the tuna and pouring the water out. If you have a can of tuna with sunflower oil you can save a little bit of the oil to use to mix the tuna and skip the butter on your bagel later on, if you like.

Put half the can of tuna into a small cereal bowl and sprinkle a small amount of white or black pepper over it. Now add the salad cream to the tuna and mix together. You can use mayonnaise instead if you like, but I like using salad cream.

Lightly toast the bagel in a toaster or under the grill for a few minutes until golden, then lightly butter the bagel.

(While your bagel is toasting, you can prepare your tuna and salad mix).

Add the salad mix to the bagel and pile it on, then follow with the tuna mix and pile that onto the salad.

Cover with the other half of your bagel.

Enjoy your delicious lunch.


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Take care in the sun - Tips to stay fit and well through the hot weather

Surviving the heatwave this summer 2009I have been meaning to write a quick article about the hot weather, but I have been busy as usual. I have witnessed a few incidents over the past two weeks that have prompted me to write about the heat and hot weather.

Last week, while on an information session and workshop and walking through Brixton with an acquaintance in order to grab some food, we saw a man lying on the pavement. Thankfully a few people had stopped to help this man and after asking the people around us if someone had called an ambulance, we were relieved to find that someone had dashed into the HSBC bank to make the call for the emergency services. The man was lying on the pavement at the very entrance to the bank and he kept shouting out the words bike, bike. At first it took us a while to realise what he was saying as the man seemed to be quite delirious, confused and tired. Some other people had stopped at this point to see what was going on while some people were walking past and saying "leave him, leave him, he is drunk". No, he was not drunk, and this kind of thing makes me quite cross because the man may have collapsed probably due to the heat, he could have been suffering from diabetes, anything could have been wrong with this man, yet some people walking past were spreading the false rumour that he was drunk. As we stood there, a woman walking past told us, "he may be diabetic, because I get like that when my blood sugar is low". Thank goodness for sensible people.

A few weeks ago, I read about another man in a similar situation dying in the road because people refused to help him, assuming, quite wrongly, that he was drunk. even if we suspect that a person may be drunk, it only takes a few minutes to check that our fellow human beings are safe and well before we continue on about our business. Also, the least we can do is call for an ambulance and then let them take over.

Anyway,  as we were watching and trying to speak to the man who was now just lying on the pavement peacefully like a little baby, his bike, which he had been worried about was safely propped up against the wall at the entrance to the bank. Thankfully, a paramedic arrived on the scene pretty quickly and we told him what we knew about the man and how we came to find him lying on the pavement in the manner that he was, as well as his state of confusion and fatigue. The paramedic immediately started to do some tests, checking his blood sugar. In the end, the man was carried away once a bigger ambulance arrived on the scene, along with his bicycle. So, it may have been something serious that was wrong with the man.

Yesterday, while walking in Kennington, I came across an accident, there was a man riding along on his moped, or was it a scooter, when, according to an eye witness, he apparently just suddenly skidded and fell sideways off the bike, crashing to the ground along with the moped/scooter right on top of him. As I approached the scene, there were already two men standing with him and I thought that maybe it was a collision between the small white van and the scooter. I saw a man standing along the pavement and I asked him what he had seen, he told me that he had seen everything. The man on the bike skidded and fell off his bike as I described above. Again, some people were walking past and making comments that the man must have been drunk or drinking. Where do people get these assumptions from?

In light of these two scenarios, I want to point out that just because a person is slumped in the road or on the side of the pavement, it doesn't mean that this person has been drinking or is drunk. This may be a person in danger who is in need of help. Sometimes, the only person that may be able to save the day and prevent a tragedy of someone dying in the road are the passers-by who happen upon the scene. I was talking to another gentleman at the scene and he says that he also thought the man was drunk, this seems to be a common misconception among the general public.

In light of the hot weather, and my scenarios above,  I want to give some quick tips for staying fit and healthy in the sun, or at least, trying to....

Take a bottle of water with you - Many people are not used to the hot weather and once the weather starts to get hot, take a bottle of water with you and drink as needed. If you are running out of water, you can always request some tap water in a nearby shop or request to use a water fountain in a nearby building. You can always carry a refillable bottle of water or a flask with you in order to rehydrate your body.

You can also use some of the water to splash your face and body in order to cool down and refresh yourself.

Don't forget to grab a bite to eat - When the weather is hot, or even when it's hot, you may forget to eat something. Don't forget that during the hot weather you are more likely to get tired, hungry and dehydrated, so don't forget to grab some food on your travels, or take a small packed lunch with you, which you can sit quietly and eat somewhere when you get peckish. This will also help to regulate your blood sugar and it also makes it less likely for you to feel tired and faint if you have some food in your stomach.

Use your sunblock or tanning lotion - We are all different and some people can withstand the heat and hot weather a lot more readily than others. If you are going out into the sun, wear some protective clothing and take your sunblock, spray or lotion with you and apply to your skin as needed to protect your skin from burning in the hot sun.

Wear a hat - Once the sun starts blazing down, you never know where you will be, so protect your face, scalp and head by wearing a sun visor, baseball cap, or floppy hat.

Don't forget your sunglasses - Once you are out and about, on some hot days you not only have the sun to contend with, you also have small green flies and on some really hot and humid days larger flies and creatures flying around, so protect your face and your eyes by wearing some cool shades. This is also very handy for those who summer from hay fever as it will help to keep the pollen out of your eyes.

Wear loose clothing - When it's hot, there is nothing worse than having the wrong attire on, make sure that you are aware of the weather changes and carry the necessary clothing with you. Many times I see some men walking around with no top or clothing on their upper body and torso, while they are showing off their lovely tan, this can be very dangerous in terms of harmful rays from the sun burning your skin, so take care in the sun. Also wearing loose clothing helps to keep you cool and allows the breeze to blow through your clothing and keep you cool and refreshed.

Once you are safely back at home, don't forget to hydrate your body and refresh, a cool shower can help to take the pollen off your body, if you suffer from hay fever and it will also help to keep you cool.

Open the windows and doors to let cool air circulate all around the house and again don't forget to drink water as you need it as it helps you to replenish lost moisture. I personally find that there is nothing like water to refresh you when you are tired and dehydrated.

It would be interesting to know how other people keep cool and healthy through the heat and hot weather. so, leave your comments below.


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How do you combat stress?

I was reading on another blog about a woman who wanted to combat stress, this gave me an idea for a quick article, so here it is....

Listen to music - Music can improve your mood or decrease your mood, just depends on what you are listening to, I find. It can make you laugh, dance and generally have a good time, or it can make you sad, angry and moody, so choose carefully. 

Another good thing about listening to music is that you can sing along or hum to it, don't worry if you feel that you can't sing, singing along always makes me feel good.

Gardening - Recently, I was talking to a friend of mine, he is male and he was saying that I am really stressed (of course I know this) and that I needed to take it easy and so on. During the course of us talking, I told him I had to do some gardening, he told me that he would come outside with me. A few hours after talking and pulling out weeds and clearing the whole place, I felt more mellowed out and he told me that I was a lot calmer. So, yeah, gardening is definitely recommended. If you don't have a garden, then the next thing is tidying up or cleaning. You can dust everything, wipe down and hoover.

Exercise - Physical activity in general can de-stress and de-clutter your mind and make you feel calm afterwards. People who get a lot of physical exercise in my experience are the most calm and mellow people I know. Doing some physical work also helps to keep your body toned and healthy. One thing I find myself doing alot these days is hand washing clothes, as I think handwashing clothes de-stresses me too. I have been doing this now for about three weeks since the washing machine broke down, but I have been handwashing clothes since I was 7 (well just socks and underwear) but it is very therapeutic, you should try it.

Talking to my friends and spending time together - Everybody needs some. It is always nice to have a good network of friends who genuinely care about you and your welfare and are willing to listen to you even when you seem to be ranting and raving. They can give you good advice and can see things from a perspective that you can't because you are stressed. These are true friends and they are invaluable.

Write or draw - Well, I hardly watch TV, actually I don't watch TV at all anymore owing to the fact that I don't really enjoy it as there is just nothing stimulating on the box anymore, I am not a fan of these reallity TV programmes and in fact I try to do my best to make sure my niece doesn't sit in front of the box too much by doing big aunty stuff, we cook together, she likes to draw and read newspapers and helps out in the kitchen also keeps her out of mischief as she would normally go around wearing everyone's shoes and so on...LOL. Instead of TV, I write quite a lot. I enjoy writing. Yes, I know I haven't been updating my blogs lately, but that's because I've been busy trying to sort out 1001 other things. I am no good at poetry or anything like that and I can't draw to save my life or even sew, but I do enjoy writing. I also find it makes me very calm. Well, this works for me, personally, but sometimes I do suffer from writer's block.

Go for a walk - Going for a brisk walk in the park is not only great to keep you fit and trim, but it is very calming as well. It's also a good way to get out and about. Sometimes being stuck indoors can make you feel stressed. Taking a long walk or stroll in the park is great because it gives you time to think and time to let your mind wander and de-stress.

Cooking Fried Mackerel in white wine sauce

Cooking Fried Mackerel in white wine sauce

I thought I would post the video first, I'll post the exact recipe and method I used shortly. It's pretty easy.

The best thing about mackerel is that it has no scales, so you don't have to spend too much time cleaning it or peeling off the scales.

This is a short video I made while I was cooking some fried mackerel.

The mackerel was cleaned and gutted and seasoned with a variety of herbs and spices including Aggy's sauces marinade using the jar with the blend of hot chilli and spices. I love Mackerel because it tastes good, it is an oily fish and is rich in omega fish oils, it is also a fish that has no scales on it, so it is relatively easy to clean and prepare quickly without much ceremony.

Using about two tablespoons of oil, the fish was fried, sliced onions were added half way though the cooking, about half a cup of white wine (I used a South African white wine called Obikwa, which has a fresh crisp taste) was added to the pan and the fish was covered so that it could steam and cook in the juices until the fish was ready.

You can also steam the fish in a food steamer or bake it in the oven.

As you can see from the video, I was so hungry, I ate half of one of the fish at the front. Fish is great because it doesn' really take too long to cook or steam and you can eat it with pretty much everything, you can have it with salad, vegetables, rice, potatoes or yams.

Watch the video and tell me what you think!


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Baked snapper fish and potatoes served with salad

How to make a healthy fruit smoothie - A very quick recipe ideal for breakfast

Make your own banana smoothie/milkshake

Kiwi, apricot, grape and tomato smoothie

Quick lunch ideas - Croissants with cheese and mushroom

Quick lunch ideas: Tuna salad on a toasted bagel

Healthy eating - Living salads


Related External Links

Oily fish can 'halt eye disease'

Skincare and fragrance samples increase sales

Many years ago (about 9) while working as a Beauty consultant I learned a lot about skincare. I came across many potential customers who would approach the counter for advice on skincare and the products that they needed to use to get that flawless complexion and smooth skin. Depending on the company I was working for, I would sit them down and we would go through a number of factors and determine their skin type and determine whether it was dry, oily, combination, normal or prone to sensitivity and so on. Sometimes, I would get a customer who had sensitive skin and they would be quite scared to try out a new line of products because they feared that they would break out in a rash or other skin problem.

I would suggest a few solutions to these customers, one of which were small samples, many companies make skincare samples and these are excellent at driving sales. On one occasion I was able to grab a loyal customer from a rival company through some skincare samples, after we had sat down and gone through a skincare consultation. This lady had concerns about her skin and she was worried about wrinkles and had extremely dry skin. After going through her consultation and matching her up with the best product recommendations for her skin along with prices, I gave her a copy of the skincare prescription and a few samples to try out. The next Sunday (I was a student and I used to work four days a week including some Sundays) she arrived at the counter having been using the skincare products for a week (creams for day and night and a facial oil for dry skin) and she was so excited, I could see a visible improvement in her skin, which was very dry from her previous companies' products, and she had come back not only to show me, how her skin looked, but she also wanted to buy everything...LOL. She spent about £230 in total on all the products she had been recommended as well as a number of body products as well.

So, samples really do make a difference not only for sales of skincare products, but also for perfumes and fine fragrances as well.

I just wanted to write this article as this is a topic that came up on another blog I frequent, well, actually the discussion was about something quite unrelated, we were talking about weaves and false advertising of hair products, but I guess personally I am more likely to buy a skincare or haircare product if I have first had a chance to test it out to see if it is any good, before wasting my money.

Also, a note for the skincare specialists, I have never understood the logic behind some of these skincare sales people who like to hoard the samples. If you give the samples to customers, these are more likely to compute/convert into sales. Also, judging the customer by the way they are dressed, or the way they look is another thing, never underestimate your customer, the ones that are dressed the scruffiest may be the ones who have the most money to spend. So, what's the point in being snobbish about samples?

Genetically Modified (GM) Potatoes Linked to Cancer

When I was at college (UK), I studied Biochemistry as well as a number of science subjects. Although I am no longer in the field of science, it is a topic I find very interesting and read up on often. Therefore, I found this interesting article on the link between Genetically Modified foods (otherwise known as Frankenstein foods), in this case potatoes and it's link to cancer, which I thought would be great to share.

Personally, I think it is extremely important to know what you are eating and putting into your body.

If you want to read the full story, the link at the foot of the post will take you to an external website.

Here's the story...

"Campaigners against genetically modified crops in Britain last are calling for trials of GM potatoes this spring to be halted after releasing more evidence of links with cancers in laboratory rats. 

UK Greenpeace activists said the findings, obtained from Russian trials after an eight-year court battle with the biotech industry, vindicated research by Dr Arpad Pusztai, whose work was criticised by the Royal Society and the Netherlands State Institute for Quality Control."

Quoted from The Independent, Story by Colin Brown, Deputy Political Editor

Dated 17 February 2007

Read More

Related External Links

Genetically Engineered Foods

Potential Health Hazards of Genetically Engineered Foods

GMO Alert: U.S. attempting global censorship of GMO food labeling

European Union votes for labels on  Nano, Cloned and GM food

Advisers walk out in fury over £500,000 GM food PR exercise

Is your canned food killing you?

U.S. judge bans planting of genetically engineered beets

Haiti: The gifts of death burned

Study Confirms Genetically Modified Crops Threaten Human Fertility and Health Safety

'Frankensalmon' ruled safe to eat: Fast-growing GM fish approved by scientists

For Sale: Boots Chlamydia Test Kit

I have three Boots Chlamydia test kits for sale. 

These were sold by Boots for £25, I am offering them up at £19.99 each. Postage and packing is free. These will be sent first class recorded delivery.

The kits come as pictured with step by step instructions on how to carry out the test at the back of the box. The postage paid bag comes inside the white box with a safety seal.

Boots Chlamydia test kit - £19.99 each.
Free postage and packaging.

Literature on the box is as follows:

1 in 10 sexually active young people have chlamydia.

Results within 7 days*

Suitable for both males and females

Laboratory accuracy

Contains 1 urine test: Urine sample bottle, test request form, sample bag and pre-paid (free postage) postal box.

Follow the instructions on this pack. You'll need to provide a fresh urine sample.

You should get your result within 7 days* of posting your sample to the laboratory. The test is confidential and no details will be passed to your doctor (GP).

If you have any questions or need help completing the form, speak to a member of our pharmacy team.

This kit tests for chlamydia infectiononly and does not test for other Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs).

For information on how you can access testing for all STIs speak to your Boots pharmacist.

Use condoms every time you have sex to reduce the risk of getting or passing on chlamydia and other STIs including HIV.

My previous article on the Boot Chlamydia test kit can be found below.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION - CONFIDENTIALITY.

This Chlamydia test kit will be sent under discreet packaging. Your personal details will be used only for delivering your test kit. Your details will not be passed on to any third parties. Confidentiality is kept at all times.

Related Blog Links

Sexually Transmitted Diseases: Chlamydia - Boots Chlamydia Test Kit

Related External Links

Chlamydia test after every new partner call