Category Archives: Lifestyle

Breakfast Ideas: How To Get A Jump On The Most Important Meal Of The Day For The Whole Family

06/25/2019 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

There is no denying that breakfast can be one of the most important meals of the day for a family, and because of that, as a parent, you want to ensure that everyone gets as much out of it as possible. But the issue you might find is that you the mornings are rushed. With school runs to do, commutes to work to be getting underway, and perhaps not leaving yourself enough time to indulge on breakfast can all be hurdles that you face. Sometimes you need a little inspiration, so here are some of the breakfast ideas that the whole family could get on board with.

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Smoothies can be great for kids

A smoothie is a great way to get extra veg and fruit into your diet and it can be so easy to make. Put all of the ingredients into your smoothie machine and whizz it all up and there you have it. A smoothie includes things like milk or yogurt as an added element, and this is where is can be great for kids. Using strawberries or other strong flavored fruit will help them to enjoy the taste of it as well as knowing yourself that you and your children are getting a great source of nutrients and vitamins. This can also be the perfect breakfast on the go option if you don’t have much time.

Juicing to get all of your vitamins

Juicing is another way to ensure that you get all of the vitamins that you need, especially if you decide to use citrus fruits. This can give you a healthy dose of vitamin C without any added preservatives that will be included in shop bought juice. Websites like Juicer Cruiser have a great selection of reviews online to help you find the right juicer for you. There are also a great selection of juices and combinations that you can use to help you get all of the good stuff out of the juice you create. Again this is another great way to get children involved.

Breakfast on the go for the adults on a commute to work

Not all of us have a lot of time when it comes to the mornings, and with school runs to think about and the general morning rush, it can often mean you focus more on ensuring that your children get a healthy breakfast and less about what you have. So it may be time to look into some breakfast on the go ideas for your commute to work. You could look at breakfast bars that you create, filled with oats and fruit. You can take a smoothie out with you or even look at breakfast bars that you can buy in store. All of which can be a great way to eat on the go and ensure you get something in your stomach before your working day begins.

Indulging in pancakes on the weekend

Who doesn’t love a pancake, and having them as a weekend treat can be the ultimate indulgence in breakfast that the whole family can embrace. Making them from scratch, going for American style ones, and having them serviced up with fruit or bacon and syrup could be the ideal breakfast the whole family will enjoy. There are some great suggestions online if you are looking for pancake inspiration.

The slow cooker trend

There has been a recent trend on the internet that involves your slow cooker or crock pot and making breakfast overnight. The slow cooker breakfast could be the idea way to wake up to a full English breakfast without the hassle of all of the pans and cooking first thing. Load up your slow cook with things like sausages wrapped in bacon, a tub of beans, mushrooms and whatever else you like to use. There are some great suggestions online that you can try. This could be perfect for the weekend when you don’t want the hassle but know you and the family will enjoy a full on breakfast.

Breakfast bakes

We have already mentioned that breakfast bakes can be an excellent breakfast on the go, but there are so many to consider that we thought it was worth dedicating a bit of time to the suggestions that we found. Breakfast muffins filled with fruit, egg cups with bacon which can be like mini omelettes or quiches. You can also use tray bakes and fill them with oats and dried fruits. You can also buy these in the shop, but they can be quite easy to make from scratch if you like to be in the kitchen.

School breakfast club for kids

If you are always short on time, but are conscious that your children don’t get a nutritious breakfast then it may be worth looking into your school and seeing if they offer a breakfast club. For a small charge, you can get your children to school a little earlier, which could take pressure off you for your commute to work, and then they can enjoy cereals, toast and juice with their friends. It can be a great way to encourage them to eat more in the morning.

Take requests and suggestions from the family

There is no point trying to be a mind reader, so if you find breakfast is a battle in the morning then it may be the time to start taking requests. Ask your family what cereals they want, fruit or the style of breakfast they would like in the morning. This could enable you to buy in the things they want to eat and subsequently have less arguments about it first thing.

Picnic style breakfast or going continental

Finally, a picnic style breakfast or a continental approach could be the answer to breakfast drama in your house. A selection of pastries, fruit that has been prepped and duty up, and allowing your kids to choose with an accompaniment of yogurt, for example, helps you to cover all bases with breakfast and ensure that the family are eating as much as they can.

Let’s hope this has given you some breakfast ideas that the whole family will enjoy.

Lifestyle

Where To Visit In The UK If You’re A Sports Enthusiast

06/21/2019 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

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The island nation that is the United Kingdom is one of the most bucket listed destinations among globetrotters, and it’s not surprising why. There’s a lot you can see and do in this country in the northwestern Europe. You get to pick among England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and each of them are treasure troves of adventures just waiting for you to open. It is not only the natural as well as architectural wonders, it’s also the sort of experiences the nation can give you, and if you are a lover of sports, for example, the UK does not fall short in that area as well.

When it comes to watching, participating and following sports, there is plenty to be seen and done in the UK. From Wimbledon to cricket at Lords, there is always some place to visit if you are looking for a sporty excursion.

If you’re a resident of the UK, maybe you simply want to know the best locations for sports events where you can take your kid, or maybe you want invest in some sports equipment or even quad bikes for your little ones as you have a large piece of land local to you. If that’s the case, then QuadBikes R Us sells kids quad bikes that they can easily drive and can be a great place to buy legal and safe quads.

Having said that, here are the top spots in the UK for sports enthusiasts.

Cricket At Lords

If you’re a fan of cricket, it’s time to take a trip to where it all began and visit Lords. The best time to see it is when a live match is taking place so it’s a good idea to plan well in advance. You can see the long room and the committee room and get a glimpse of how the Queen views the matches. Otherwise, take a peek in the museum for a bigger glimpse of the history of English cricket.

Darts At Lakeside

If you are one of the many who enjoys a tense game of darts, you can take a journey down to the BDO World Darts Championships in Surrey. There you will be able to soak up the atmosphere with drinks, cheers and arrows darting towards boards as you watch your favorite game. It’s a friendly vibe where everyone socializes with each other so you’ll enjoy it either way.

Boxing At York Hall

Near to Bethnal Green tube station, York Hall is famous for some of boxing’s biggest matches. You can do paid screenings or try and get as close to the action as possible if you are willing to pay for a higher ticket price. Even though several venues in the UK have been discontinued, York Hall continues to thrive for boxing fans and enthusiasts.

Medieval Football

At Hemore Brooke, you can observe both football and rugby at its finest. You can find games that last up to eight hours long and are played by teams of up to a hundred members. For sights and games you will never forget, these games leave delicacies at the door and bring a new wave of fire and fight to the game so many love.

Grand National Horse Racing

If you are a fan of horse races, the Grand National is a must-see. As you suit up for the renowned world-famous event, you can get involved with the prize money and hedge your bets. The high energy atmosphere has been running since 1839 so it has built up quite the reputation and from hosting the royals to affordable enclosures, you can choose whichever way you want to go.

Tennis At Wimbledon

Renowned for hosting some of the best games and tennis stars in history, Wimbledon welcomes tons of locals and travellers for every tournament. It’s developed a high amount of anticipation and being in the heat of summertime, brings campers and even hermits out of their shells.

These are just some of the top locations around the UK for a sports enthusiast such as you.

Life, Lifestyle

Quick & Cool Mac Customization

05/26/2019 R.C. Liley Leave a comment

When it comes to your computer, they tend to become personalized pretty quickly. They cost a heap of cash, we save everything from banking details to photos of us as babies on there. And, while many people would love to have the Mac Vs. Windows conversation repeatedly, it really does boil down to personal choice. For example, using Airdrop to quickly share files or screen mirroring if you have a capable telly. You might even want to use Chromecast (more information on that here https://setapp.com/how-to/set-up-and-optimize-chromecast-for-mac). The point is, if you can think it up, you can probably do it.

Typically though, if you have an iPhone, getting an iPad of Mac is just smart – the Apple Ecosystem is super smooth to use on the go and even more so if you are a freelancer.

But, what cool stuff can your Mac do? How can you customize it?

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Wallpaper

You know that saying – keep it simple, stupid? Well, of course, wallpaper was going to one of the most natural things to change. But to keep it fresh, set up a range of your favorite images and have it set to change automatically. To do this, you just go System Preferences > Desktop & Screensaver. From there, you have a range of options that will help you set up something you are happy with. You can click then random order box if you like to be surprised or set it up to only display what you want and when. Simple and effective.

Hot Corners

Many people don’t even know this is a thing. When you are in the Desktop & Screen Saver menu, you will see the Screen Saver tab. The bottom corner will have a button that says Hot Corners.

This little button will open up a quick world for you. You can set each corner to invoke specific actions. For example, if you edit a lot of photos, perhaps one will bring up Lightroom or Photoshop, the other might be Photos or your photography website. You can set up pretty much anything you can imagine that works well for you.

Color

Some people love dark screens, others love pink. If you are pretty much sick of seeing any links in blue and want sky blue instead then this is for you. System Preference > General then hit Highlight color & choose a color. There are 8 choices given, but you can select Other and play with the color picker until you find what you want.

Time

The menu bar has a lot of potential – if you are willing to spend the time to set it up. Did you know, for example, you can have so much more than just the time on the bar. In fact, you can have the time with second, flash the time separators, the 24-hour clock, am/pm indicators, the day of the week, the date and even an announce the time function. To access all these goodies, click the time in the menu bar and go to Open Date & Time Preferences to get started.

App Icons

If you really want to give you Mac the personal touch, then you can change your app icons. The process for changing isn’t too tricky, and if you have a specific aesthetic, you enjoy, then this will be one for you. First, you’ll need to find and download all of the icons you want to use. If they are in a .icns format, then you won’t need this next step.

Select the .png or .jpeg and click Preview, then Edit, Select All and then copy the selection. Locate the app that you want to changes, select it, and click Get Info or Command-I. Click the small icon in the top left of the app and then Paste (Command-V) the new image in place.

It is worth noting that it works for almost all apps, but might not work on Apple’s own apps.

Dock

If you have a lot of programs on your dock, it can feel cluttered and clunky. But, you can add space between each one to ease that overfilled look. If you don’t love the spacers when you add them in, you can simply drag them away.

To add spaces, open up Terminal and then enter this code:

defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add ‘{“tile-type”=”spacer-tile”;}’; killall Dock

Don’t panic when your whole dock disappears for a moment – it will be back. You’ll notice that there is now an invisible tile while can be dragged to anywhere you’d like to add a space on the bar.

Spotlight Searches

If you often work in coworking space, but you have files that you don’t want to be listed during a search, then there is a simple way for you to exclude them from the searches. Go to System Preferences and click Spotlight, then click Privacy, then go to the + and add the folders that you don’t want to pop up in future searches.

Finder

Finder is a fantastic tool – most of the time, but you can make the organization a little bit better. Finder has plenty of settings that simply make it look neater. You can arrange things in Kine, Size or Date Added. If you are very good at remembering to label your folders with the correct names, then the excellent look of alphabetic order might be the one for you.
There are of course many more things you can do with your Mac to personalize it, some are more technical than others. Of course, if you are really intent on making it your own, you might like to grab some stickers and make something super cool. Or, design your own screensavers and desktop backgrounds. Another great option is using the iTunes Artwork screensaver (but for this one, if you work in shared space you need to really stand by your music choices!) Macs are a lot of fun, once you get into it, you might find you just love the simple monochrome look.