Category: Health & Home

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Health & Home Wellness

3 Insanely Easy Weeknight Dinner Recipes

3 Insanely Easy Weeknight Dinner Recipes

Every year when the winter ends, we notice an increase in our craving and that is normal. Even if you are on a weight loss diet, there is no harm in including a weeknight dinner a week. Weeknight dinners will refresh your mood. However, planning a weeknight meal plan can be hard. Here are some simple weeknight meal plans that are delicious, fresh, and quick to make. So without further ado, let’s start with our first weeknight meal:

Saucy Mac & Cheese

You will love curly noodles in the creamy sauce. This corkscrew pasta is cavatappi or cellentani. But, you can use any spiral pasta that you can easily find. You will enjoy making this weeknight recipe as it includes lots of toppings including golden crumbs and cheese. You can also add ground pepper for a spicy taste.

To prepare the recipe cook pasta as directed on the package. Include melted butter and bread crumbs and cook until they turn golden brown. Don’t forget to stir. Melt the remaining butter in a skillet and stir until it turns smooth. Now add milk and let it boil. Cook for two minutes or until thickened and reduce the heat. Drain pasta and cheese mixture. Now cook for 3 to 4 minutes and sprinkle cheddar cheese and bread crumbs.

Teriyaki Beef Roast

This is a Japanese-styled pot roast recipe. Your taste buds will like the blend of flavors. You can make this recipe with leftover meat and gravy.

At first, you need to add green pepper, carrots, potatoes, and onion to a slow cooker. Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat and roast vegetables on both sides.

Transfer roast to slow cooker and add brown sugar and mushrooms. Now add ginger, teriyaki sauce, pepper, and oregano in a small bowl make a sauce. Drizzle sauce over roast and mushroom.

Cook roast for 7 to 8 hours until tender. If you have leftover meat, you can skip this step. Now remove vegetables from the roast and place them on the serving platter. Pour the juicy gravy and serve with a toast.

Smoky Spanish Chicken

If you have tried Smokey Spanish Chicken in a restaurant, you will love this recipe. You can make this easily at home and enjoy a healthy weeknight dinner.

Mix smoked paprika, salt, pepper, and water and rub over chicken. Keep the skillet on medium heat and place the chicken. Cook until it turns brown. This will only take 4 to 5 minutes. Now remove the chicken from the pan. Add mushroom and green onions in the skillet and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until it turns tender.

Add tomatoes and chicken and cook for a few minutes. Now place the chicken in the serving dish topped with green onions.

Conclusion

Did you find these weeknight dinner recipes easy? If yes, then you should try them at home. Refresh your recipe rotation and have fun. Your entire family will love these recipes.

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Health & Home Media Tech & Media Wellness

10 Books To Read If You Want To Improve Yourself

10 Books To Read If You Want To Improve Yourself

Reach for books that ignite passion, educate you, and motivate you to take action. While there are so many books in every corner of the world, we have chosen the 10 best ones for you today. Give them a read and make the impossible possible!

1.   The Only Skill That Matters – Jonathan A. Levi

Jonathan Levi provides you with the tools that you need to face future problems with, whether in your career or private life. The book has a great outline to help you learn better things. It is a game-changer and is a hit among people who have already read it.

2.   Fooled by Randomness – Nassim Nicholas Taleb

This book teaches us something we hear from very few people: you may do everything correctly and yet lose, or you can do everything wrong and still win. It is not about the end result, but the things that led you there. This book will help you create such a viewpoint to live in a world that you don’t completely comprehend.

3.   The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen R. Covey

The book shares seven habits to adopt in order to be genuinely productive in anything you want to do. Covey also discusses the importance of paradigm shift, i.e., a change in how we view ourselves and the world. The book is full of wisdom!

4.   Eat That Frog – Brian Tracy

Procrastination is a huge problem nowadays. We have so many distractions around us that it is hard to concentrate. The author of this book advises methods to save ourselves from procrastinating. It gives you deep insights on how to break the procrastination spell and focus on your priorities.

5.   The attention Revolution – B. Alan Wallace

The advent of technologies has caught our attention in the strongest way possible. This book guides us to empower ourselves with meditational strategies. It gives you a strong outline to take your focus back and focus on training your mind to achieve the important things in life.

6.   Mindsight – Daniel J. Siegel, M.D.

The author has combined neuroscience, psychoanalysis, and meditation to create an effective book. It includes everything that you want to know about reprogramming your brain by combining social and emotional intelligence.

7.   How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie

This is one of the oldest self-improvement books; and a huge success. It talks about the importance of self-worth and guides you to achieve important goals. The book tells us the importance of making the other person feel appreciated in order to do a successful business partnership with them.

8.   The 4-Hour Workweek – Timothy Ferriss

The author has done a good job of getting across the importance of the digital lifestyle. He also emphasizes starting your business and keeping a high level of energy in doing so. A must-read to develop your attitude, productivity, and health.

9.   Let Go! – Pat Flynn

Let Go! Is an inspiring story of the author himself. He shares the challenges he faced, and what led him to succeed in those challenges. This book should be in your collection to get inspired by the author’s entrepreneurial skills.

10. Habit Stacking – S. J. Scott

The author of this book talks about habit stacking in your life. He states that instead of making a dozen changes in your life, make tiny changes. Scott shares interesting strategies to inspire the act.

Go buy a book today!

There are thousands of books penned down by inspirational people. Applying those lessons in our life can also turn it around for the better. It is all about the mindset you adopt after reading the motivating words.

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Health & Home Wellness

How To Improve Your Posture at Work

How To Improve Your Posture at Work

You may already know the fact that the more you move your body throughout the day, the better it is for your overall well-being. However, that can be quite a challenge when you work all day sitting at a desk. After all, your posture can affect your overall health, including your blood flow, mood, and the strength of your muscles and joints. While it is normal for people not to take notice of their posture, you should know that poor posture is the reason for your backache.

We understand if you think that you can’t do much to help yourself, but here’s the good news: you can be mindful of your posture and fix it while going along your usual workday. Here are a few ways you can work smarter at your desk.

Sit All the Way Back

If you are a person who experiences constant back pain due to sitting for long hours, you need to change how you’re sitting. Most adults experience back pain because they’re unaware of the right way to sit in an office chair. Make sure that you are sitting with your butt touching the back of the seat. Then, you will notice a gap between your lower back and the seat, which is the natural sway in your spine. You should use a firm cushion and place it in the hollow space to support your back.

Adjust the Height of Your Chair For Better Posture

If your work involves a lot of typing, this will do wonders for you. Your keyboard or desk should be at a height that your elbows bend at an angle of 90 degrees while you type. If you feel like this is not true for you, you can adjust your chair to the correct height. Or, it is even better if your char has adjustable armrests. Make sure you adjust them to the same height as your desk.

Position Your Screen

You must have experienced cervicogenic headaches or neck pain from working long hours sitting at a computer. The reason for such pains is that you have your screen positioned at the wrong height or level. This can cause bad posture. Such head and neck aches occur when you stare at screens that are either too high or too low. So how can you make sure to position your screen correctly? Your screen should be directly in front of your eyes, at natural eye level. When you do, your chin will stay parallel to the ground when you look at the screen.

Avoid Slouching

This may require a little practice to finally master, and at times, you may even forget to maintain proper posture. Nevertheless, it is totally possible to fix your posture once you build an awareness of how you’re standing or sitting. It is very common for people to slouch to some extent, which can be really hard on their spine. You can open your shoulders by rolling them down and back. While you do this, you will feel your upper back muscles engage. This can be hard in the beginning, but in time, it can effectively relieve all your aches.

Let Your Feet Touch the Ground For Better Posture

We believe that you can’t ensure proper posture if you don’t start from your feet. It seems impossible to fix your posture if your feet are not placed flatly against the floor. This can negatively affect the shape of your spine if you sit down to work for long periods of time. Make sure your feet are pressed on the floor, and your knees are bent at a 90-degree angle. Propping your legs on an object can tighten your hamstring muscles or cause an irritation of the sciatic nerve.

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Health & Home Media Recreation & Leisure Tech & Media

Read These Books If You Love The Royal Family

Read These Books If You Love The Royal Family

Do you love to read about the British Royal Family and their secretive lives? To satisfy your curiosity about the most famous monarchs in the world, here’s a list of 15 books that you must read if you’re a fan of the Royal Family.

1. The Other Side of the Coin: The Queen, the Dresser, and the Wardrobe

The book is all about life inside Buckingham Palace. Coming from the perspective of Queen Elizabeth’s dresser of 25 years, this book covers royal fashion.

2. HRH

While discussing one outfit after another, the author takes the reader through a journey from post-WWII to Megxit. The book talks about four of the most iconic Royal Family women.

3. Before the Crown

If you love reading romance novels, this book should be on the top of your list. It highlights and imagines a setting in which Princess Elizabeth meets Philip for marriage.

4. Buckingham Palace

From an interior designer who is also an artist, this book is a vivid description and guide to Buckingham Palace. This book plans the perfect illustrations for Royal Family fans.

5. Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret

Encompassing the possible aspects and imaginable outcomes of Queen’s sister’s life, this book is one of the most popular Royal biographies on the internet.

6. Elizabeth and Philip: A Royal Love Story

If you’re interested in the background of the Royal Family, try out this book that covers the love story of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth with some rare Royal Family photos.

7. Lady in Waiting

This book dramatically showcases the life of those in the inner circle of the Royal Family. It outlines the life of Anne Glenconner, befriending Princess Margaret and the Queen.

8. Matriarch

If you have spent enough time learning about what’s happening in the Royal Family these days, you’re probably curious about the family’s history. Here’s a book about Queen Elizabeth’s dear biological mother.

9. The Royals

Do you wonder if certain events actually took place? Read this amazing book that tells shocking details about some of the most memorable events involving the royal family.

10. Finding Freedom

Swift through this attention-grabbing book’s pages to learn about the events leading up to Meghan and Harry’s departure from the Royal Palace.

11. Elizabeth the Queen

Find out more about the life of Queen Elizabeth as a modern-day monarch in this book.

12. Meghan: A Hollywood Princess

What do you know about Meghan, Duchess of Sussex? Read this book to learn how Meghan met Harry in the author’s words.

13. Snowdon

Dive into the details of Princess Margaret’s husband’s life and how he tackled issues during his time with the Royal Family.

14. The Windsor Knot

This novel series involves Queen Elizabeth and tracks the journey of her solving a murder mystery that took place surprisingly at a supper event.

15. The Duke

Right before the passing of Prince Philip, this book gained popularity as it outlined and covered the eccentricities of his life.

Conclusion

These 15 books can surely add to your fandom for the Royal Family. Consider reading them according to your interests and preferences to learn things about the Royal Family that you didn’t know before. Some of the books are also part of a series, so they have sequels as well!

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Health & Home Wellness

Personal Trainers’ Go-To Exercises

Personal Trainers' Go-To Exercises

If you are looking for the best go-to exercises that personal trainers believe in, you should use the ones that they do at home.

Here are just a few of the easiest, most reliable exercises that you can do daily to achieve the body and stamina, and energy of a personal trainer.

Squats

You have time to do some squats while waiting for your coffee to complete brewing, brushing your teeth, or waiting for your shower to heat.

The squat is a basic compound activity that is used by personal trainers all around the world. That’s not just because it’s a terrific way to increase lower-body strength, but it also allows you to move about more freely in daily life.

Consider this: you’re ready to sit or stand up and you’re performing a squat. Inside and beyond the gym, the squat is essential for functional mobility.

The nicest thing about squats is how simple of an exercise they are to do. Simply stretch your feet shoulder width apart, engage your core, and drop your mid-section as if sitting in a chair. Stay in that posture for a certain length of time before rising up and repeating the process.

Plank Exercises

Planks are just maintaining the posture at the top of a pushup, and they are a consistently great shoulder, core, and willpower exercises. They’re also versatile since you can use them to do burpees, mountain climbers, side planks, plank jacks, and more.

The plank stance is also beneficial to the back. It activates the core stabilizing muscles, which helps to maintain the spine. Its simplicity is also important since it can be done anywhere and requires no special equipment. That’s why so many personal trainers return to the plank on a regular basis, at least once a day.

Lunges

Movement is essential, but it’s also critical to concentrate on techniques that combat physical stagnation. Personal trainers are fully aware of this and remind their customers about it on a regular basis.

Sitting causes muscles around the hips and lower back to shorten, while also causing other muscles to overwork and become irritated. This is why the lunge matrix, sometimes known as “around-the-world lunges,” is recommended by so many personal trainers.

These multidirectional lunges enhance range of motion by lengthening the hip, lower back, and leg muscles that are latent when sitting.

How do you go about doing them? To begin, stand with your feet shoulder-width wide. Then, using your left foot, take a big stride forward. Make sure both knees are bent to around 90 degrees, distributing your weight equally between both legs. The front knee of your front leg should be precisely above your ankle. Return your left foot to the middle.

Then Step out to the left side with your left foot and bend your left knee. Maintain a straight right leg extension. This is how you do a side lunge. Return your left foot to the middle.

Step your left foot behind you, bringing your right leg in front of you. This is your back lunge. Return to the starting position with the left leg.

Rep the process with the right leg in the opposite direction: right foot steps back into a rear lunge, then out to a right side lunge, and finally forward to a right front lunge.

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Health & Home Wellness

10 Ways to Feel Healthier by Tomorrow

10 Ways to Feel Healthier by Tomorrow

Getting healthy has become much more important nowadays. With so many of us indulged in an overload of work, our health takes the backseat. It is about time we all make space for a healthy lifestyle in our schedule. Here are 10 things you can do to feel healthier by tomorrow:

1.   Exercise – Even if it is for 15 minutes

Ensure that you move your body, even if it is for 15 minutes. Sitting all day and working for eight or nine hours will stiffen up your bones. A light run, walk, and even some yoga moves will help ease you into exercising daily. This is also good for your mental well-being.

2.   Avoid Munching Late Night

Your body needs to go through its digestion process after you finish dinner. You should eat at least 3 hours before you sleep. This will help your body to maintain its process, otherwise, it all keeps adding up as fat in your body.

3.   Drink Lots of Water

This needs to be a full-on habit, especially during winters. We often forget to drink water as soon as the temperature drops. Water keeps us hydrated, resulting in glowing skin and better blood circulation. Coffee and tea are not considered liquids that keep you hydrated. So keep a bottle of water everywhere you go.

4.   Prepare a Nutritious Meal

Everyone loves burgers, pizzas, and pasta; but these are not healthy meals. Avoid having them frequently. If you are not a salad fan, go for healthy food like salmon, vegetables and chicken, soups, chickpea noodles. You will not find them boring, and they taste fine, too!

5.   Adopt Portioning Snacks

Portion out your snacks, so you have something to reach out to when you are hungry. Pack snacks that have protein and fiber. This will prevent you from overeating and keep your energy level intact.

6.   Stretch. And Stretch. Stretch.

We often underestimate stretching, but you will feel so good after doing so. Always stretch when you wake up in the morning and before going to bed. It helps your muscles to relax and give you a good night’s sleep. Perform each stretch for about 30 seconds.

7.   Drink a Cup or Two of Coffee

If you are a fan of coffee, this is for you. Coffee has beneficial antioxidants. One or two cups of coffee is an appropriate addition to your healthy routine.

8.   Eat Dark Chocolate for Sweet Cravings

You don’t have to cancel all your sweet cravings but find an alternative instead. Dark chocolate is the best alternative if you cannot give up on sweets. The cocoa in it also includes beneficial antioxidants and flavonols that help prevent heart diseases.

9.   Sleep for Seven to Nine Hours To Be Healthier

Going to sleep at a decent hour is highly important for a healthier lifestyle. Your body needs rest, and you need to stick to a consistent schedule for that.

10. Connect with Your Surroundings

We all get so indulged in the work that we forget to connect with everyone around us. Volunteering, doing community work, and communicating with loved ones also positively affect your physical and mental health.

Adopt the above-mentioned steps in your life and pave the way for a healthier tomorrow!

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Health & Home Recreation & Leisure

15 Edible Gifts to Send to Your Friends This Holiday

15 Edible Gifts to Send to Your Friends This Holiday

Who doesn’t love to indulge in sweet treats during the holidays? Of course, everyone does! And who doesn’t love to receive gifts on Christmas? Everyone loves it! Be it a chewy chocolate cookie, or Santa-shaped candies, Christmas is not Christmas without all the delicious edibles. Let’s have a look at 15 edible gifts to send to your friends this holiday season:

1.   Madeleine Cookies Dipped in Chocolate

The sweet, airy treats covered in chocolates can be the perfect edible gift for your friend. Add some edible red sprinkles on top, and you are good to go!

2.   Christmas-Shaped Cookies

Cookies shaped like Santa, stars, Christmas trees, or gingerbread men can never grow old. They are a favorite of both children and adults and even pets!

3.   Cream and Ginger Sandwich Cookies

Combine cookies and cream to form a delicious sandwich! This will be a hit among your friends.

4.   Chocolate Granola Bark

In most cases, granola is a high-fiber protein bar, but add in some chocolate, and it becomes much more exciting. The pistachios in the bark add a fine flavor, too!

5.   Jam-Filled Cookies

Jam and cookies are the perfect Christmas combo! Bake different shapes of cookies, add the delicious strawberry jam, and combine them together to make a sandwich. Delicious written all over it!

6.   Santa Spoons

Create Santa spoons with cocoa and marshmallows. These frosty spoons look adorable in a gift package and taste delicious with hot chocolate!

7.   Pretzels

This salty-sweet treat becomes tastier when dipped in chocolate. Add multi-color sprinkles on top to give them a Christmassy feel.

8.   Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Nobody has ever said no to Chocolate Chunk Cookies! Your friends will never stop munching, especially with the gooey chocolatey goodness inside. Wrap them beautifully and put a red bow on top to complete the Christmassy feel.

9.   Milk Mug Mixers

Make use of those beautiful vintage spoons this Christmas. Put frosted chocolate on the spoons and wrap them in cellophane. The chocolate will melt when you mix it in hot milk. A delicious warm drink by the fireplace!

10.  Homemade Jams

Homemade jams never go wrong. Make seasonal flavored jams, and package the jar. Add in a baguette or two to complete the gift for your friends.

11.  Eggnog Mix

The ultimate Christmas drink pancake mix. Pack eggnog mix in jars and add a cute little note around them. Your friends will love it and who knows they invite you over for breakfast to enjoy!

12. Crunchy Popcorns

Make caramel-covered crunchy popcorn, and send it over to your friends. The simple, yet yummy snack makes up for the Christmas movie night. Pack them up in tins for a beautiful presentation.

13. Nut Biscotti

This almond chocolatey biscuit is the perfect snack for the holidays. It is not very sweet and a good munching partner. Put them in jar containers and add a bow to make it a beautiful gift.

14. Chocolate Hazelnut Clusters

 Clusters are one of the easiest holiday gifts you can give to your friends. You can make them with two to three ingredients only, depending on what you want to add. Your friend can also keep them in the fridge for up to a month.

15. Mini Cheesecakes

A cookie-based cheesecake will light up your friends for sure! This tiny wonderful treat has its own pleasantness. Don’t forget to top it up with a yummy blueberry sauce.

You can come up with lots of edible gifts to send to your friends during the holidays. Make sure to present them beautifully and make their holidays even better!

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Health & Home Recreation & Leisure

Why Christmas Will Cost 17% More Than Before

Why Christmas Will Cost 17% More Than Before

According to economic specialists evaluating numerous sectors and current pricing patterns, Christmas activities will cost 17% more in 2019 than they did before the epidemic. The cause of this? The dreaded inflation that is impacting nearly every industry and every aspect of our everyday lives.

What Is Inflation?

And what exactly is inflation? Simply put, inflation is the gradual loss of a currency’s buying value over time. The rise in the average price level of a selection of chosen goods and services in an economy over time may be used to calculate a quantitative estimate of the pace at which buying power declines. An increase in the overall level of prices, which is frequently stated as a percentage, signifies that a unit of money now buys less than it did before. Right now, America is facing what could be a very serious period of inflation, following the devastating COVID-19 pandemic.

How Does This Affect Christmas?

According to estimates, gifts, a normal Christmas lunch for ten people, and a tree will cost an average of $1,700, up from about $1,500 only a few years ago in 2019.

Experts have calculated how extreme the price hikes will be across the board. They do this by evaluating the pricing of prominent goods on many holiday wish lists. As well as the prices of components for a holiday feast and other Christmas mainstays. For example, the cost of a gallon of milk has increased by more than 27% since last year.

Christmas trees are considerably more costly, especially if you buy a new artificial one. The typical fake tree is 26% more expensive than last year. The average natural tree is around 5% more expensive.

It’s vital to remember that the news isn’t always negative! Not everything on your Christmas wish lists has been affected by inflation. Numerous popular gift items have remained unchanged in price since last year, including smartphones, footwear, and a Nintendo Switch or Sony PlayStation.

Despite the fact that inflation is skyrocketing—at its highest rate in over 30 years, according to government officials—shopping seems to be unaffected so far. Many big stores have already claimed record sales, both online and in person.

Conclusion

According to the National Retail Federation, this year’s Christmas retail sales will be the largest on record.

The consumer price index, a key indicator of inflation, has grown 5.4 percent in the last year, the highest level in more than a decade. While President Biden and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell have stated that the price rises are only temporary, indicating pent-up demand as a result of the epidemic, many economists anticipate the scenario will endure far beyond 2023 and 2024.

An overabundance of money is the primary cause of the current inflation in the United States. The money supply in the United States increased by $5.5 trillion between December 2019 and August 2021, an astounding 35.7 percent growth in just a year and a half, owing mostly to the Federal Reserve’s purchases of Treasurys and mortgage-backed securities. Of course, this has benefited the economy at a time when it was most needed. However, it has also resulted in the present Christmas price issue.

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Health & Home Recreation & Leisure

8 Indoor Hobbies To Get You Through The Winter

8 Indoor Hobbies To Get You Through The Winter

You probably don’t like to leave the house other than for household essentials and work routines during winter, right? Well, that’s the case with most of those living in chilly regions around the world. However, life can easily become boring inside the house, and old habits can get uninteresting. Whether you’re on holiday or taking a break from work, here are 8 of the best indoor winter hobbies.

1.    Listening To TED Talks

If you’re a lover of information in the sense that you seek knowledge about anything at any given time, TED talks are the perfect indoor hobby for you. You can check out the most famous talks and discussions to enhance your perspective.

2.    Sewing and Tailoring Hobbies

This idea doesn’t need an introduction since, at some point in your life, you must have seen someone knit or sew a clothing item. Being as versatile as indoor hobbies get, you can sew your own scarves, socks, or even sweaters to try on.

3.    Scrapbooking Hobbies

If you’re really stuck inside the house due to extreme winter conditions, don’t let yourself down. Try to make a scrapbook and track your journey through family photos. Remembering nostalgic and enjoyable times can surely regulate the production of “stress” hormones in the body.

4.    Painting Hobbies

Why let your thoughts and words go to waste? Try out the best oil and watercolor paints at your disposal to express your thoughts onto a bright and ready canvas. Instead of thinking in terms of words, emotions, and facial expressions, try to focus on the flamboyant color combinations present on your color palette.

5.    Household Restorations

It might be time to take care of that broken chair or loose sink in your house. This way, you can avoid the morning frustration of stubbing your toe on the broken furniture.

6.    Plan and Workout

Did you previously have trouble starting and sticking to a fitness plan? Winter’s the perfect opportunity to work on your stamina and explosive power. Use a well-ventilated space to create a home gym and start working out by taking tips and guidance from professional trainers.

7.    Practicing Fighting Techniques

If you want to let go of your emotions and calm your frustrated mind, try practicing martial arts or jiu-jitsu. Meditation techniques can help you become more focused and concentrated, provided there’s a given task at hand.

8.    Start a Healthy Diet

Being indoors gives you an ample amount of time to take care of yourself, whether emotionally, mentally, or physically. Surprisingly, taking up a healthy and planning your foods in advance can offer physical as well as mental issue relief.

Conclusion

The abovementioned hobbies aren’t the only ones you can pick up during your time indoors this winter. You can start cooking, working on your fashion, house improvement, learning new languages, and making new online friends. There’s a wide variety of hobbies and difficult tasks that you can perform.

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Health & Home Wellness

Diabetes-Friendly Swaps For Holiday Cooking

Diabetes-Friendly Swaps For Holiday Cooking

The holidays are here! That means it’s time for wonderful festivities with family and friends – and wonderful holiday meals as well.

As yummy as your holiday snacks will be, many of them can load you up with calories and carbs and sugars that can make maintaining a slim tummy and healthy sugar level awfully hard. But keeping track of your sugar levels is important, especially if you’re diabetic. Therefore, there are vital steps and things to remember when you are enjoying the holidays with those closest to you. You don’t have to be a Grinch, you can still enjoy Christmas! You just need to be extra careful and keep these food facts in mind as the holidays approach. 

Shortbread Over Frosted Sugar Cookies

A buttery shortbread square has just 9 grams of carbs, which is 75% less than a frosted sugar cookie. Better still, go for the shortbread with almonds for a boost of protein and fiber.

Salsa Over Creamy Spinach Dip

Choose naturally low-carb salsa (just 4g per 14 cup) over mayo and sour cream-filled dip to add zip to your chip. In addition, each 14 cup, you’ll save 120 calories and 14 grams of fat.

Healthy Fresh Veggies Over Crackers

A pound of wheat crackers has the same amount of carbs as 212 cups of raw vegetables. You’ll also cut down on salt and fat, as well as get a vitamin and mineral boost.

Healthy Mixed Nuts Over Snack Mix

Instead of a snack mix containing cereal, dried fruit, and candy–which may have more than 24g carb every 12 cup–go for simple mixed nuts. Nuts are high in protein, fiber, and heart-healthy fats, with just 7 grams of carbohydrates per ounce.

Lemon Sparkler Over Soda

A 12-ounce can of soda has 40 grams of carbohydrates, all of which come from sugar. That’s almost three tablespoons! Instead, combine 4 ounces fresh lemonade with 8 ounces sparkling water to make a drink that is two-thirds lower in carbohydrates and sugar. Serve with a lemon slice as a garnish.

Holiday Pumpkin Pie Over Pecan

Corn syrup and brown sugar raise the sugar content of pecan pie. Instead, save 10 grams of carbs by eating a piece of pumpkin pie. Slowly chew it and relish just a few nibbles.

Dark Chocolate Over Brownies

A single ounce of dark chocolate has half the carbs of a sugary brownie. Dark chocolate contains flavonoids, which may have heart-healthy properties.

Turkey Over Glazed Ham

In comparison to a glazed ham, which may typically have more than 7g carbohydrates and more than 800mg sodium, a well cooked turkey may include just 2g carbs and roughly 300mg sodium. Turkey is a bit more adaptable than ham, and it gives you a lot of leftover possibilities.

Wild Rice Stuffing Over Bread Stuffing

Depending on the recipe, substituting rice for bread may save you more than 20 grams of carbohydrates and more than 100 milligrams of salt. Hot cooked wild rice is nutty and aromatic, making it an excellent complement to fresh spices.