5-a-day week 2014 day 3

Hey!
Sorry for the late post, and today's post will be rather quick, but here's today's fruity and vegetably menu that meets your 5-a-day! ^0^

BREAKFAST
Toast with a generous layer of fruit jam
And
Water with a dash of lemon juice

MORNING SNACK
Dried apricots blended together and shaped into cute little balls.

LUNCH
Broccoli covered in a vegetable sauce
And
Fresh fruit juice

AFTERNOON SNACK
Diced carrot in a ziplock bag

DINNER
Smoked salmon drizzled with vegetable source and served with a sliced cucmber

DESSERT
A delicious mix of grapes, raspberries and strawberries served with cream and some honey/sugar/sweetener.

Deep apologies for the rather shabby post, how's your week going? Have you been making an effort with your fruit and vegetables?

5-A-DAY WEEK 2014 DAY 2

Hey!
Remember, you do NOT have to follow those ideas precisely. After all, they are just suggestions!

BREAKFAST
Help yourself to your favourite breakfast cereal and give it a fruity twist!

• Slice up strawberries, berries or any fruit and toss them in for interesting flavour and texture. Cornflakes? Now, every spoonful won't be the same- you will have grapes or blueberries to look forward to!

If you can't manage that, try eating some fruit or vegetables as a side. For example, if you normally just eat cereal for breakfast, how about you eat a banana afterwards? Fruit juice isn't too bad, it's rather convenient so give it a shot ^-^

MORNING SNACK
Hunger- it's coming for you. Fight it off with this awesome fruity snack!

Fruit and nut snack balls
You will need;

• Your favourite fruits,nuts and perhaps some oats. Ensure they are peeled and in small pieces.
• A blender or food processor.

All you need to do is prepare your fruit and nuts, blend them and mould them into balls! Then, pack them into little bags and enjoy! Hopefully, you won't be hungry until lunch.

LUNCH
Yes, it's vegetable time. All you really need to do is prepare your favourite combination of vegetables,mix them together and lay them out attractively. Serve with dressing if you must, and enjoy! Good combinations include cherry tomatoes and lettuce-an easy classic. If you need a quick dressing, try olive oil or a store-bought dressing you like. Enjoy! :)

AFTERNOON SNACK
Hunger is coming back, so fight it right off with this delicious snack idea.

Take your favourite fruit/s and/or vegetable/s and if they are not soft already, boil them in water until they soften. Then, toss them all into a blender or food processor until they are at your desired texture. Scoop it up into individual muffin cases,cups etc. Eat with a spoon and enjoy!
Make sure your combination tastes good together, and don't forget you can add things to the mix such as cocoa powder :)

DINNER
This is one of my favourite dinner ideas during the summer, and it's YUMMY.
Its a type of rice, I'm not sure which kind it is exactly though. It is served with strawberries with cream, and I love it! It's a great way of putting fruit into your dinner.

How are your 5-a-day aims going? Good? I hope so ^-^

5-A-DAY WEEK 2014 DAY 1

Hey!
So, today is Monday,7 July, meaning only one thing- 5-a-day week starts today! For now, the layout will be all of the day's meals planned out in one post during the day, I hope it works well enough ^-^
Of course, those are all just suggestions- I never said you have to follow the plan precisely!
Without further ado,here is my plan for today.

Breakfast
Try some oatmeal/porridge- yes, it is boring, I know. On its own,anyway. Did you know, that by sneaking in some fruit, you are improving the taste and also getting one of your 5-a-day aim? Here are some creative ways of slipping fruit into your oatmeal/porridge;-

• Mix it in with some fruit juice- if you are picky go for 100% fruit juice, it's a rather nice way of boosting the amount of fruit in your breakfast. However, you might need to add a bit more other fruit to your breakfast too ^-^ The juice makes the porridge sweeter and gives it an interesting flavour- I always had my porridge with strawberry or raspberry juice.
• Mix it with some of your favourite fruit- grab your favourite combination of fruit, slice some of them up with needed, mix them together and scatter them on your porridge to give it a rather interesting texture and flavour. Berries are very good for this if you are in a hurry, just toss some raspberries and blueberries on top and you're good to go. However, you can add banana, sliced apple, and even sprinkle a spice like cinnamon or ginger!
• Oatmeal dip- you might want to flavour your oatmeal a bit if you are doing this, but them main idea is to slice up some fruits, put them in a bowl and dip them in the porridge as you eat them. It can work quite well,especially if you have a funky apple flavoured porridge ^-^

What cool ways do you have of putting fruit into your oatmeal? If you cannot put fruit in your oatmeal, try at least for a glass of refreshing fruit juice or perhaps a whole fruit on its own, such as a banana as you are heading out of the door.

Morning Snack
A simple solution to keep you going until lunch- all you have to do is reach out and grab a delicious piece of fruit. Fruit is rather good at giving you energy and fighting your hunger, so eat some fruit! It can be a simple thing like a banana, orange or apple. Or, if you prefer smaller fruit, how about a few grapes or berries in a bag or box?  If you like to make your own, perhaps toss some of the fruit in a bag before you dash out of the door and you're good to go.

Lunch
Finally, lunch! Eat whatever you want for lunch, be it a bagel or a piece of toast. If possible, why not try incorporating some fruit into it? For example, spread some jam on your toast. That's a rather good way! However, try to get fruit into your lunch in any way- here are some ideas.

• Jam- rather fruity ^-^
• Sneak some fruit into your yogurt!
• Chop it up and eat it as a side.
• Eat it whole!
• Drink some juice!

Or, dont forget the vegetables! Putting more cucumber in your sandwich is a rather good step to take,so try to get some fruit or vegetables in there any way you can!


Afternoon snack 
The energy from lunch is wearing off, and you don't like it. So, time for a snack! Here are some ideas you could try, they are rather fast ^-^
FRUIT

1. Try a trail mix- your favourite dried fruits plus some nuts and it's very quick, convenient and stops hunger. For example, I like dried apricots and hazelnuts, so those coming together make a rather nice afternoon snack. Yum!
2. Of course, here's the classic- just enjoy fruit on its own! Bananas, apples and oranges are probably the easiest- just grab, peel and munch. 
3. If you have time, toast some bread, spread it with your favourite nut butter and add some banana slices on top. Delicious!
4. Yet again, if you have time, get some greek yogurt and toss in some of your favourite fruit. It's fast and quite yummy!

VEGETABLES

1. Who says you can't peel and eat some cucumber on your own? And who on earth dares suggest you cannot eat some peas or kale alone? Go ahead and eat your favourite vegetable alone!
2. Try corn on the cob, if you have time! It's a rather nice way of getting your vegetables.
3. Whip up a quick salad! If you don't have the time, many stores sell small salads in pots, so give those a try ^0^
4. Sneak it in a sandwich! You will feel grateful you added those tomatoes or cucumbers into your cheddar sandwich, you will.

DINNER
Finally, your opportunity! To catch up on any missed fruits or vegetables, perhaps.
Eat what you want, but here are some ways of increasing your fruits/vegetables;

• Add some salads or vegetables to the rest of your meal
• Drink fruit juice
• Incorporate fruit into dessert, i.e fruit salad
• Eat any missed servings of fruit or vegetables as you like them!

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it was good enough, good luck getting your 5-a-day! ^0^

Stay hydrated this summer!

Hey!
Summer is a time when it is easier than ever to get dehydrated- the weather's right for vigorous physical activity and because of the heat, you lose more water by sweating. Therefore, I feel the need to share some tips so you do not become dehydrated this summer, which can really be problematic!
Dehydration can make you tired,sluggish and confused, so here are my top tips for avoiding that trap. Dehydration of doom.

• ALWAYS carry a bottle of water with you to top up your water intake. Every time I go out for a short walk or shopping trip, I take a 33cl bottle of water with me. Many popular water brands sell bottles in small 33cl versions, medium 50cl versions, bigger 75cl versions, 1l versions and so forth... you need to know what you will need! If you are going to the beach, take more than one bottle of water with you.
• DRINK FIRST THING  when you wake up, reach for a bottle of water and take a few sips. Since it has most likely been a while since you last had something to drink, make sure you drink some water to top your water supply up. It doesn't have to be an entire bottle- it can just be a few sips.
• MAKE SURE  there is at least one water bottle at your bedside in case you need to drink at night. Also, it is much easier to drink as soon as you wake up that way.
• DRINK WITH EVERY MEAL as a general rule, I drink at least 1 glass of fluid with every meal. The most obvious and healthiest choice is water, but don't forget you can also drink fruit juice, milk and flavoured water. Drinking with every meal keeps you very well hydrated!
• EAT TO HYDRATE it's not just fluids, some foods can be very high in water content, too! When you are feeling hungry, perhaps consider incorporating a hydrating food. Foods such as watermelon and cucumber are high in water, but so are blueberries, strawberries, raspberries,peaches,pineapples,pears,carrots,broccoli,grapes,celery and many more! So, next time you eat a bag of crisps as a snack, try pairing it with a slice of watermelon and you're ready to go. You might find it helpful to have a handy box of blueberries of grapes too the next time you go out this summer!

BUT WATER IS BORING. 
Yes, water can get boring indeed. However, there is also milk and fruit juice, and you can flavour your water too! Try spicing up your water, and I will give you some ideas soon this summer.

Remember, 5-a-day week 2014 starts on Monday!

Commenting just got easier!

Hey!
First of all, to all Americans- Happy 4th of July! How are you celebrating, if you do? It must be rather exciting for you ^-^

Credit to Google Images

In an effort to make commenting much easier, I have made some changes so it is more efficient to share your views on my posts. The two changes are:-

• Anyone can comment! Now, you do not need to have a blogger,google etc. account to comment- you can now comment without signing in! This is quite a good change since now you don't have to sign in, and those not allowed accounts can comment. You can also protect your identity if you need to!
• No more word verification! Nobody likes word verification, and it can get rather annoying. Now you can comment without having to go through the word verification process- good, right?

Of course, if there is lots of spam or undesirable comments, I will need to take appropriate action -sigh-... temporarily, I assume.

Bye bye!

-Queen Pickle

Smoking in public :(

Hello!
Today's post is basically going to be a rant- prepare yourself for this.
Oh yes, I hate smoking in public. I hate it so much. It's SELFISH,IGNORANT AND JUST IMPOLITE.

Credit to Google Images.

Now, let me tell you why I hate smoking in public that much. Enough to make an entire post about it. 

If it wasn't for 5-a-day week next week, I would have been posting about my love of fruit, really.

Why I hate smoking in public places

It's bad for the environment- Oh yes. It is. You see, when a smoker lights up that sinister combination of tobacco and paper, the fumes emitted are the real hazard. Not only to humans, but  to the environment. Do you really want to leave the earth as a horrible,polluted place to future generations? If yes, quit reading my blog- I beg you. Now, you may be wondering HOW exactly  smoking is bad for the environment. The fumes emitted by the cigarette escape into the air, and there's nothing good in that smoke. Nope, definitely not. If smoking wasn't bad for you, cigarette packets would have no warning labels on them. It's about time I show you a picture of what is IN cigarette smoke... 

Scientists have identified a LONG list of thousands of chemicals found in cigarette smoke. Amongst those, there are over 70 carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals)

Credit to Google Images

If you would like to learn more about chemicals found in cigarette smoke, click here,here,here,here and here. Please note that ALL LINKS in this post are not owned by me and credit goes to the original creators respectively. Now, back to the point...

A lot of those chemicals can potentially damage the environment. The environment is not only damaged by the smoke- think of how economically unfriendly it is to manufacture so many cigarettes. The government puts warning labels on, sure, but they cannot stop the production of cigarettes. Why? Cigarette companies- they make money out of this. If they can no longer produce cigarettes, what happens?THEY GO BANKRUPT. Just like that.

The governments of the world may have the POWER to stop it, but if they do, they may just as well be spammed with all sorts of complaints, rants and petitions.

Since I am getting off-topic, let's just get to how cigarettes damage our environment. Approximately 600 million trees are cut down annually to provide trees to dry tobacco! (Source)Trees play a HUGE role in our environment, which covers things such as helping reduce global warming, providing us with oxygen and resources. Plus, trees are important to maintain many forms of life. Wait, there's more. What do you do with a cigarette once you finish with it? Yes, you discard it. How many times did you see a pavement full of cigarette butts? There are plenty of bins to discard them, but no- people still do not dispose of them properly. Personally, I believe action could be taken. There are already fines in my area for dropping cigarette butts- but people still ignore it. Disposing of cigarette butts properly should be strongly encouraged and it should be much easier to spot offenders. This is important, because dropped cigarette butts account for a lot of damage. Who would know that such small pieces of rubbish could do so much? First of all, bush and forest fires CAN be started by cigarette butts being discarded while they are still alight. This is damaging to the environment and the habitat of many animals.Bush fires can also KILL. Not only that, but it looks extremely unpleasant. What else can those butts do? They can be swallowed by innocent animals- and since cigarette butts STILL have chemicals and tobacco in them, it damages their health too. In fact, they have been found in stomachs of numerous animals including birds. How could a bird know the difference between edible food and carcinogenic litter? Finally, cigarette butts can even progress to the ocean and rivers. How? By falling and being washed down gutters. They make their way into the oceans, polluting them, which in turn affects marine life AND our water supply. How selfish can that be? I could say more, but I do not want to make a post too long. However, learn more about environmental damage from cigarettes by clicking one or more of the following 5 helpful links, and do some more research if you are very curious.

Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4, Source 5

Note I only used Source 1 for this article.ALL links in this post open up in a new window.

I trust all sources and believe they are of good quality.

Also, did you know that smoking could contribute to global warming? This may be because of chemicals such as carbon monoxide and methane, and the impact cigarettes have on trees. Learn more here! However, the effect smoking has on global warming is small, compared to other causes. If you wish to read more, there are many sources on the internet available.

On to health. Smoking doesn't just harm the smoker's health- it also harms whoever inhales the smoke.

Credit to Google Images.

While there are so many sources online , I will outline the main offenders as this post is starting to get very long, and it's Summer.

Anyway, here are the main health risks posed by inhaling cigarette smoke;-

-Increased risk of many cancers due to the carcinogens found in the smoke.

-Possible brain damage if exposure is severe due to chemicals such as lead and toluene.

-Smoke includes nicotine which can reach the brain in 30 seconds, is harmful, and also addictive.

Cigarette smoke can wreck your health, especially if you smoke yourself or are around smokers VERY often. If you would like to learn more, here are 5 sources; here, here , here, here and here.

Pregnant women should not smoke because it can seriously damage the developing foetus. I find that smoking in public is very selfish, as it harms other people who did absolutely nothing. There are COUNTLESS of harmful effects of smoking, to both the smoker and anyone breathing in the smoke.

There is a lot more I could say, and you can let me know if you need me to expand on anything because I'm quite sure I can. I avoid cigarette smoke as much as I can, which is really difficult and irritating. I need to watch for smokers and hold my breath- if I have any more to say, that will be another post.

Again, thank you so much for reading this post. Please click here :)

-Queen Pickle

5-a-day week 2014

We have all seen it- dieticians, doctors, schools and governments show strong support for increased consumption of fruit and vegetables. We are constantly exposed to this encouragement- eat at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Why? Statistics revealed that obesity, heart disease,diabetes and many more degenerative diseases are on the rise, and they are at an extremely high level. Many scientists blame our food for this-they claim that the chemicals in our food and our lack of nutrients are causing us to live shorter, more miserable lives. Fruit juices and fruit products here in the UK have a label to show they are one of your 5-a-day, further showing the strong encouragement for us to eat more. However, this rise in such diseases could be caused by the fact many foods we now consume regularly are not very nutrient-dense, such as candy. This means we lack those nutrients, and therefore, we are more likely to catch such diseases. This is why 5-a-day week has been started- next week, you can look forward to meal ideas daily that sneak in fruit and vegetables- then you can see the positive difference.
Remember to enjoy your favourite foods, though, as you only have this opportunity to enjoy it. Nothing lasts forever, does it now?

Coming on Monday,7 July 2014 you can check back daily for the whole week to find ways to consume more fruit and vegetables.