Sleep better Look better

Sleep is a major factor influencing your over-all health and skin. If you do not get adequate amount of sleep, you will quickly notice feeling low, tired, irritable and have difficulties with concentrating or just staying awake.

Similarly, but less obviously, your reaction time and coordination will be reduced, and your memory and mathematical abilities will be affected.

You can improve the quality of your sleep by establishing regular sleeping patterns, always going to bed and getting up around the same time everyday.

If you continually suffer from lack of sleep, the results can be severe. It could result into:

• weakened immune system
• obesity
• diabetes
• Stress
• More chances of Heart Attack and Cancer
• signs of premature aging of the skin
• cognitive problems (short-term memory)
  

Tips for Better Sleep:

Rest Is Great For Your Skin, if you take your full sleep there are less chances of having Dark Circles under your eyes and you look fresh.

Take full 6-8 hours sleep, when you take full sleep your mind works better and is fresh to start your daily works.

Don’t go to bed hungry or full.

Don’t nap. But if you have to, do it before 3 pm and for less than an hour.

Create the right environment. Make sure your room is dark and quiet, and the right temperature which suits you.

Reduce stress. If you’re worried about getting your work done, make a to-do list for the next day to assure yourself you have enough time to accomplish what needs to get done. Once the chores that cause you stress are down on paper, your mind is free to relax and think more pleasant thoughts.

Read a book, or some other calm activity that relaxes you.

Avoid caffeine in the hours before sleep.

Benefits of Sleep:

Important hormone production is regulated during sleep. In children, human growth hormone (HGH) is released during deep sleep. Insufficient sleep can affect hormonal balance in adults as well.

During your sleep skin damage is repaired which is caused by exposure to pollution, harmful cosmetics, chemicals and radiation from the sun.

Another benefit of sleep is that it can slow down the aging process. So if you want to look beautiful and radiant, you have a clear message. Hit the bed right away.

Recipe: Sausages with Roasted Tomatoes and Mushrooms

This is a very simple dish, only a few ingredients- but a lot of flavour! It's good if you don't want to make too much washing up as well- cause you only need to use one dish to cook it all in! I like to serve this with hunks of french baguette to mop up the juices, and steamed green veg. I also generally like to use nice plump "taste the difference" pork sausages. Cause theres nothing worse really than bad quality sausages- cheap sausages are just not worth it! Although to be fair although I would never eat them, I love the latest Wall's sausages advert- with the singing dog. "But he can't really tell you cos he's just a bloke really"- hahaha (:

Sausages with roasted tomatoes and mushrooms (serves 1-2)

4 pork sausages
100g mushrooms, diced
80g Cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp dried rosemary
¼ tsp dried garlic
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. Place four sausages into a heatproof dish, prick them, and cook them in the oven for 15 minutes.
2. Remove the dish from the oven, remove the sausages and set aside. Into the heatproof bowl, add all the other ingredients, and mix up a little. Place the reserved sausages on top of the vegetables, and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
3. Remove from the oven and serve!

Recipe: Elderflower and Lemon Cordial

This is the first cordial I have ever tried to make, and it's turned out really well! Really tasty, and I reckon it will make a really nice gift. It is a recipe from Good Food magazine- the only change i made was to use 1 lemon instead of 2. It's good for me too, cause at the moment i'm not drinking- and elderflower cordial or sparkling elderflower works as a nice non-alchoholic drink. I havent been drinking for a month actually- cause my exams are coming up and I think I drank too much too close to my exams last year. My first exam is tommorow- quite nervous I suppose, but then again it's film studies, and i've found out that i've done so well in my coursework/As levels, that even before I step into the exam i've already got a C. Cool ey?

Elderflower and Lemon Cordial (makes 2 litres)

1.8kg white caster sugar
1.2 litre water
20 heads of elderflower
1 lemon, chopped (skin and all!)
75g citric acid

1. Heat up the sugar and water gently in a large pan, stirring continually, until the sugar has fully dissolved (this takes about 10 minutes).
2. Add all the other ingredients, stir, and pour into a large kilner jar. Seal, and keep in a cool place for 24 hours to allow the flavours to increase.
3. Strain the mixture through a jelly bag/muslin cloth. Pour into bottles and seal.

PS: This cordial only lasts a maximum of two weeks, so use it or give it out to people as soon as possible!

Competition: We Grow Our Own's "Cultivate, Cook and Click" Competition

Yes people- i've won another one- haha! There is this website, (http://www.wegrowourown.co.uk/) which follows the trials and tribulations of growing fruit and veg on an allotment, and also has features on seasonal recipes and how to make the best out of your home-grown grub! Over the last couple of months they have ran a competition, that they call the "Cultivate, Cook and Click" Competition. Basically they select a few seasonal fruit and veg, and then ask for people's recipes including these ingredients. They judge the recipes (giving extra marks if you have home-grown your ingredients) and then the best recipes go to a public vote for a week- and the one with the most votes win!

Well, the fruit and veg for May's competition were Cauliflowers, Radishes, Spinach, Turnips and Spring Cabbages. I went for spinach, and sent in my Sweet Potato and Spinach Dahl recipe (the recipe is on the site) and it won! I won a collection of chilli sauces and jams from The Wiltshire Chilli Farm, and a couple of bottles of rapeseed oil from Oleifera.

Recipe: Tenderstem Broccoli and Broad Beans, with Mint and Bacon

This is a tasty little side dish, made with tender green vegetables, smoky bacon, and fresh mint. I get the "Tenderstem" Broccoli from Waitrose- I have heard it called other things before, such as Broccolini and longstemmed broccoli, so you might find it in another supermarket under a different name. Oh and also, you don't have to pod the broad beans if you don't want to- I do it because a) it makes the colour of the dish look more green and b) I find podding broad beans very relaxing. It's because i used to have to pod kilograms and kilograms of the things at my first commis chef job at Strada, and I really really loved that job. My first job, even after working at all these different places, is still my favourite.

Tenderstem Broccoli and Broad beans with mint and bacon (serves 2 as a side dish)

125g tenderstem broccoli, spears halved
125g frozen broad beans, defrosted then “podded”
1 thick slice smoked back bacon, diced
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Squeeze of lemon
Handful fresh mint, finely chopped
Pinch of sugar, and salt and pepper to taste

1. Steam the tenderstem broccoli for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, in a non-stick frying pan, fry the bacon until beginning to brown.
2. Add the steamed tenderstem and all the other ingredients to the bacon, stir fry around until everything is well coated for a couple of minutes, season to taste, and serve!

Recipe: Beef In Oyster Sauce with Mushrooms and Peppers

I've been meaning to write up this recipe for ages- its gawwwjus. I love chinese food so much, and a delivery from my local takeaway (The "Yummy House" in Bath- luuuush) is enough to cure anything really- from hangovers to anxiety over those ever-looming exams! I would easily say this dish is nicer than any of the beef dishes i've got from asian restaurants or takeaways- it's really tasty, tender, quick- and makes quite a healthy dinner. I use "Blue Dragon" oyster sauce- but of course you can use whichever brand you prefer the flavour of.

Beef in oyster sauce with mushrooms and green pepper (serves 2)

300g beef escalopes, sliced into strips
3 tbsp black rice vinegar
2 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 rounded tsp honey
1 tsp crushed ginger (From “Gourmet Garden Herb Blends”)
Salt and Plenty of cracked black pepper
3 tbsp rapeseed or vegetable oil
125g whole oyster mushrooms, bigger ones halved
1 green pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped
1 x 120g pouch Blue Dragon Oyster and Spring Onion sauce
2 spring onions, sliced
Basmati or sticky rice, or noodles, to serve.

1. In a bowl mix together the vinegar, soy sauce, honey, salt pepper, and ginger. Add the strips of beef, mix well, cover the bowl with Clingfilm, and marinade in the fridge for at least 15 minutes.
2. Remove the beef from the fridge and pour away as much of the marinade as possible. Heat the oil in a wok on a high. Stir fry the beef for about 4 minutes, or until the beef strips are beginning to brown.
3. Reduce the temperature a little, add the mushrooms, green pepper, garlic and spring onion and stir fry for 4 minutes.
4. Add oyster sauce and cook for about 2 minutes, until the sauce is thick, the peppers are fully cooked, and everything is piping hot. Serve, on top of steamed rice or noodles.

Recipe: Savoury Peanut Pie

This is one of my mum's classic recipes. It's almost like a nut roast, but it's lovely and moist and surrounded in pastry! Very "vegetarian" I suppose, but this is very much a comfort food for me- served with roasted carrots, peas, mash, and plenty of vegetarian gravy! You can of course make your own shortcrust pastry, and my mum usually does, but if you're stuck for time just use the ready-made rolled stuff.

Savoury Peanut Pie (serves 4)

2 tbsp olive oil
1 red onion, diced
220g dry roasted peanuts, finely chopped (in a food processor if you have one!)
½ tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
Salt and black pepper
Ready rolled Shortcrust pastry
Beaten egg (for egg wash)

1. Fry the onions in the olive oil, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the nuts, tinned tomatoes, Worchester sauce, herbs and a little salt and pepper, and cook for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 180C. Line an 8 inch pie dish with Shortcrust pastry. Fill the pastry with the peanut mixture, then top with more of the Shortcrust pastry, trimming to form a lid. Cut a couple of little holes in the top, brush with egg, and bake for 35 minutes.
3. Serve, with a nice veggie gravy, potatoes and veg!