19 minute read
Living
Fun snacks for those little pickles
with Neha @squashedpickle
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Cheesy Marmite Pinwheels Froyo Apple Donuts
If you like marmite and you like cheese you’re going to love these! You need four ingredients and you have the perfect party snack, lunch box filler or on the go nibble. I’ve tried these on a few people and they were a big hit. You can substitute the egg wash with milk if your little one can’t have an egg.
Ingredients
• One packet puff pastry • 2 tbsp marmite (slightly warmed) • Approx 250g mature cheddar
Method
1. Lay your puff pastry on a floured surface. 2. Place marmite in a bowl and heat for around 15-30seconds. I feel this helps to spread it. You can put as little or as much as you like. 3. Spread it all over the puff pastry . 4. Sprinkle grated cheese on top all over. 5. Roll the puff pastry tight (width ways) like a sausage and seal close with a little water. 6. Slice the roll into 2cm circles. 7. Place on a non-stick baking tray and bake and brush with the egg. 8. Bake for 15 minutes in a hot oven at 180c.
Yummy! These Apple donuts are fun and so refreshing. They make a fun kids activity and can be decorated any way you like. I’ve kept these simple with chocolate stars and vanilla Greek yoghurt but you can flavour your yoghurt and add any toppings you fancy.
Ingredients
• 3 lolly sticks • 1 red apple • 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt • Vanilla extract • Honey (for kids aged over one) • Toppings (sprinkles, cereal etc)
Method
1. Start by mixing the Greek yoghurt with vanilla and honey and set aside. 2. Slice your apples into three slices around 2cm thick (you can remove skin or keep it.) 3. Remove the centre of the apple using a knife or apple corer. 4. Using a sharp knife make a small slit in the side of the apple and slide the lolly stick in. 5. Dip or top the apple lolly with the yoghurt mix. 6. Add sprinkles, cereal, frosting anything else you like! 7. Freeze for two hours.
EatHappyFeelGood
Thai Chicken
Thai chicken meatballs. A delicious, perfect family meal that’s so adaptable, add more or less of any of the flavours, or you can leave something out altogether if you prefer. I serve them with rice and green veggies or a Thai salad.
Ingredients
Makes 10
For meatballs
• 1 kg chicken mince • ½ cup finely chopped fresh coriander • 3 cloves garlic, grated • 3 red chillies, finely chopped • 1½ tbsp toasted sesame oil • 6 spring onions, finely chopped • 2 tsp grated ginger • 1 tbsp coconut oil (if browning)
For the sauce
• ½ cup sweet chilli sauce • 2 tbsp soy sauce • Juice of 1 lime
Method
1. Pre heat the oven to 180C. 2. Put all the meatball ingredients apart from the coconut oil into a large bowl. Mix well, hands work best for this. 3. Form into meatballs; make between 15 and 20. 4. You can either bake for about 35 minutes or till cooked through OR Heat the coconut oil in a large non stick pan.
Brown the chicken balls all over. Be gentle with them as they’re a little fragile when raw. 5. When they’re browned all over, transfer to the oven to cook through. Depending on the size of the meatballs this takes about 25 minutes. Check they’re cooked through before serving. 6. Five minutes before the meatballs are ready, put the sauce ingredients in the same pan and cook for five minutes over low heat just to combine and thicken the sauce a little. 7. When they’re ready, add the meatballs to the sauce, mix through and serve with rice and veggies.
Goodness Hot Chocolate
Because we can have the delicious things we enjoy and still give our body nutrients. I love this recipe, chocolatey, creamy and so satisfying, what more could you want from an afternoon treat. We love it with salty pretzels because salt and chocolate are so good together. It really is delicious but you also get: avocado - healthy fats, potassium, folate, vitamins C, K, B5 & B6. Medjool dates – fibre, antioxidants, iron, potassium, B vitamins, copper and magnesium. Raw cacao – polyphenols, which have powerful antioxidant and anti inflammatory effects.
Ingredients
Serves 2 • 2 cups milk – use oat or almond • 3 medjool dates, pitted • 2 tbsp raw cacao • 1 small avocado or half a regular one • Optional maple syrup to taste • Mini marshmallows to serve
Method
1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend till smooth.
Taste and add maple syrup to the sweetness level you want. 2. Pour into a pan and heat gently. 3. Top with mini-marshmallows and enjoy.
Veggie Packed Cottage Pie
Q: Can you guess how much extra veggie goodness I got into our dinner tonight?
A: Courgettes, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, cauliflower, peas, carrots.
This is the kind of meal that makes me happy. Family-friendly delicious comfort food that’s packed with flavour and veggies... because you guys know how much I love veg! A cottage pie is the perfect dish to add loads more vegetables and they really do make it even more tasty. My base has lean mince, cooked with onion and garlic. I then add loads of flavour with good quality stock cubes , fresh thyme, tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. Then I add as many veggies as I can get in my pan. Today I added peas, grated courgettes (water squeezed out) carrots, mushrooms and peppers. You can cut these as big or as small as you like. The courgettes almost melt into the sauce, as someone who doesn’t like courgettes trust me when I say... I’d notice.
My topping is half potato and half cauliflower. I promise you it’s just as creamy and delicious as a traditional mashed potato. I then add a few panko breadcrumbs and cherry tomatoes and bake for 45 minutes. Totally delicious way to get loads of nutrients into your family. And for extra bonus points, make more of the base mix and freeze for another day.
Halloween Pumpkins
In our home Halloween means fun and trick or treating! This year we’re celebrating with these super fun M&M rice pop trick or treat pumpkins. ten rice pop treats, eight filled with yummy M&Ms and two filled with liquorice. Happy Halloween!
Ingredients
Makes 10 • 220g (5 cups) white mini-marshmallows • 150g (5½ cups) rice pops • 45g (3 tbsp) unsalted butter • 5-10 drops orange food colouring • M&Ms of your choice – they’re all yummy! You will need to set aside 10 brown ones and 10 green ones for the top • 2 pieces liquorice
Method
1. Put a pan of water on to boil. 2. Place a large heatproof bowl over the pan of boiling water.
Make sure the bottom of the bowl is not touching the water. 3. Put the marshmallows in the bowl and heat till they’re fully melted together. 4. Add the orange food colouring and mix well. Add a little at a time and make sure you’re happy with the colour. 5. When it’s all mixed together, take the bowl off the heat and add the rice pops. Using a spatula, mix the rice pops into the melted marshmallows until completely combined. 6. Dip your hands into the water to prevent the rice pop mixture from sticking to your hands. Take a handful of the mixture and form a flat ball on your palm. Put 3-5 M&Ms on top and form a ball around the M&Ms. Press together firmly. When you’re happy that it’s all sticking together, slightly flatten to resemble a pumpkin. Make a small indentation on the top to insert the brown M&M. The peanut ones work particularly well for this. 7. Repeat the process with the liquorice. These are the trick ones! 8. Put the brown M&M into the indentation to represent the pumpkin stalk. Put a green M&M next to the brown one to represent the leaf. 9. Put them in the fridge to set. 10. Enjoy and have fun!
Home Edit
September is a great time for getting organised for the season ahead, a light declutter and a few home updates are just what we need. Keep it monochromatic and add some caramel tones for a chic look.
Monochrome Print
£3.00
ABSTRACT HOUSE abstracthouse.com
Metal Hat Rack
£49.99
H&M hm.com
Opie Terracota Vase
£185.00
Bloomingville bloomingville.com
Manic Metal Storage Boxes
£13.00
IKEA Ikea.com
Butterscotch Rush Basket
£25.00
Dunelm dunelm.com
Organic Shape Mirror
€79.95
SKLUM sklum.com
Tufted Cushion Cover
£19.99
H&M hm.com
Patterned Cushion Cover
£24.99
H&M hm.com
Parker Coffee Table
£345.00
Loaf loaf.com
Faux Eucalyptus
£45.00
Neptune neptune.com
Solkint Brass and Smoky Glass Lamp
£13.00
IKEA Ikea.com
Why is the UK’s Property Market Heating up?
The good news for investors and landlords is that the UK property market is heating up. However, to better understand why this is happening now and what is the future trend, we have investigated current market trends and future property predictions.
Here’s our summary.
UK Housing prices are growing at the fastest rate in 17 years, with all regions picking up. Although we are in the middle of a global pandemic, property prices remain high.
We have seen that at the start of the pandemic, the property market was put on pause. Now we are seeing sales surging, with the average sale price of a home in England increasing by 10.2% since March 2020.
People have reassessed their lifestyle and work situations while they have been forced to stay home. We see a trend that people want to continue to have the flexibility to work from home in comfort.
What’s more, since people are finding they don’t need to commute to work, this has led to London residents moving out of London to buy properties that suit their new lifestyle. This includes extra green space around the property, a larger property for their kids or properties with a balcony, garden, or courtyard.
In addition, due to restrictions on travelling, some households were able to increase their savings during the pandemic. This led them to have more capital available to negotiate for the property they wanted, which pushed up the price as they bid against competitors.
This has led to a surge in property demand over the past several months. Added to this change of lifestyle was the government tax break of the stamp duty holiday of savings on property up to £500,000, which ended in June. Although the savings may not have been the reason for house sales, it was an added incentive for investors.
Finally, the ultra-low interest rates have been a positive impact on the property market. The good news is that it doesn’t appear to be a rush in putting the interest rate up after the long period of lockdown.
All this combined has led to a large demand in buying property. The strong demand is also being driven by not having enough property to sell. The result is an increase in house prices.
Although the house prices outside of London have increased, it is likely that the price of flats in the city will follow this trend. During the pandemic, flats without gardens were not popular to buy, neither were inner city apartments. With the restrictions, people were not travelling to the city for work or going out to enjoy the well-known London nightlife.
However, the demand for this type of property is likely to come back quickly once the ease of restrictions commences and people start to come back into the city.
Due to the hot property market, renting will remain a popular choice for London residents. Our research shows that renting will continue to increase until the end of 2021. This is due to ongoing job uncertainty pushing people to rent instead of buy.
With the COVID restrictions easing, international students will likely return, and workers will be able to return to their offices in some capacity. This is expected to see an increase in demand for rental accommodation.
Another trend is that the number of buy-tolet landlords has significantly increased. In addition, there was a rise in demand from first-time buy-to-let landlords due to the low interest rates and increasing house prices.
Another key factor in the growing property trend is the potential of foreign investors. With the special visa for British National Overseas passport holders in Hong Kong being granted, it is predicted that this will increase the number of new foreign investors buying property, which will have the potential to increase the housing prices further.
Whether the current boom will continue is hard to predict. However, we see that the current demand continues to be strong for the near future. It seems that the demand and higher property prices will continue until at least the end of 2021.
Investing in the Right Property for Your Goals
We recommend that if you are thinking about investing in a property, you start by getting professional advice to make a considered decision.
At REKA Property Management, we give our clients the facts about the property industry.
If you want to know how to achieve solid rental returns and have peace of mind with your property, then call us on 020 3286 6468 or email us at admin@rekaproperty. co.uk
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Rent Your Property to Long-Term Quality Tenants and Receive a Cash Incentive
How Landlords Can Help Ease The London Housing Crisis, Without Impacting Their Rental Returns
If you’ve struggled to find quality tenants, reduce rental vacancies or been frustrated doing the necessary legal compliance, repairs or maintenance, then maybe the REKA Property Home Finder Scheme can help you.
This FREE service helps landlords to immediately let their properties to good tenants while providing quality accommodation for Local Housing.
Benefits to Landlords:
• Property let within 10 days • A solid two-year assured tenancy period • Fast-tracked housing benefit within days of inspecting your property • A cash incentive up to £1000 • Fully vetted quality tenants • Receive the housing benefit payment directly to you, the landlord, not to the tenants.
To find out more information, call us on 020 3286 6468 or email us at lettings@rekaproperty.co.uk and quote “rent my property.”
Struggling to get the little ones down after an exciting six weeks?
As the fun and excitement of the summer holidays draws to a close, the return to school brings with it a change in routine that often means a change in sleep patterns for children. Sleep is important for a child’s wellbeing; sleep is key for waking up energised and in a good mood, allowing you to perform at your best both physically and mentally, whether that’s at school or at home.
Just like adults, tiredness impacts a child’s ability to concentrate and their productivity. Studies have shown that sleep deprivation, even partial, can significantly affect mood and wellbeing. Without getting the adequate amount of sleep, it is much harder for our brain to absorb, process and recall new information. The National Sleep Foundation generally recommends 10 to 13 hours for pre-school aged children, nine to 11 hours for school-aged children, and eight to 10 for teenagers.
As children grow up and hit preadolescence, they begin to experience a delay in their circadian rhythm. With their internal clock shifted back slightly, they will find themselves needing more sleep in the morning and also find themselves awake longer in the evening, potentially impacting cognitive performance.
One study measuring the brain activity of children aged between five and 12 found that those whose sleep was cut short had an increased need for deep sleep in maturing areas of the brain. This affects the regions of the brain involved in vision, spatial perception and processing multi-sensory input. While long-term consequences to cognition and learning still need to be investigated, this highlights the vital role regular sleep plays in helping children to be the best versions of themselves and giving their minds and bodies the time necessary to recharge.
Some Tips for Sleep
Make a plan (and stick to it!)
Keeping a regular bedtime all week – Monday to Sunday – is essential to avoid difficulties sleeping. It helps to have a regular sleep schedule that involves some time for slowing down and avoiding excitement. Reading with your child or giving them a bath can be a great way to help them wind down before bed.
Avoid screens
While a bit of bedtime TV may feel like a good idea as part of winding down, the blue light emitted by screens such as mobiles, TVs and tablets can inhibit the production of melatonin; a sleep-inducing hormone that usually signals when it’s night-time and instructs our bodies to go to sleep. Keep the bedroom free from these electronic devices and ensure children avoid blue light at least a couple of hours before bed.
Cuddle time
A cuddle before bed is more than just a nice way for your little one to drift off to sleep. Not only does it help them feel safe and secure in their bedroom, it also helps to reduce their core body temperature, as the blood vessels in their hands and feet dilate. This helps their bodies dissipate excessive body heat, which is crucial for sleep as the body needs to cool down in order to enter a good night’s rest.
Dr Verena Senn, Neurobiologist and Head of Sleep Research at Emma - The Sleep Company emma-sleep.co.uk
Playdate: the new dating app for single parents
Playdate is the UK’s first dating app catering solely to single parents. The app is founded by single mum and marketing entrepreneur, Nevine Coutry, who knows how tough dating as a single parent can be. Frustrated at the lack of opportunities to meet like-minded single parents, she decided to launch her own app. Her vision with Playdate is to allow single parents to find meaningful relationships, which work alongside their lifestyle and commitments.
Developing an app for single parents seemed to be a logical step as most people are familiar with dating apps. One in five relationships begin online in the UK and approximately 68% of the UK population has used or is currently using a dating app.
The purpose of the app is for single parents to find love and to also find a partner who can support them and their children. Nevine recognises the importance of re-establishing a family unit and how beneficial this can be for children of all ages. With Playdate her goal is to make this possible for single parents across the country.
Nevine comments: “I came up with the idea for Playdate because the idea of online dating has always been quite daunting for me, as current mainstream apps seem to cater for the more adventurous, wild types, but what makes it increasingly daunting is the fact that I am a single parent.
“As a single parent, there is more at stake, you can’t be as spontaneous or adventurous as you were before having children. You have responsibilities and are juggling a million things at once. Your time is precious. You can however seek to meet and hopefully develop meaningful relationships with like-minded people.
“As most single parents looking for a meaningful relationship or a long-term partner, I would much rather date someone who is in the same boat, a fellow single parent who understands what it means to be a parent and also would automatically have a sense of added responsibility about them. They are not intimidated by the fact you are a single parent, in fact, they are attracted to you because of it!”
The app’s main features are based on your location, so will only show you other single parents in your area and school districts. You may find that you have like-minded single parents in the same school(s) your children go to! Users can also filter their search based on age, whether or not they are open to having more children, and their single status, so for example users who are single parent widows can match up with other widowed single parents. There is a shared experience there that could lead to connection and potentially love.
Because of the lifestyle and usually extremely busy schedule of single-parent life, the app alsol provides both childcare options and date ideas to make the dating experience stress-free. One of the special features on the app is Date Ideas, which will include suggestions for lunch dates or coffee meet-ups instead of only dinners or nights out when babysitting can be challenging. This feature is updated regularly with mentions of local ‘childfriendly’ restaurants, cafes, and bars should you feel comfortable enough to bring the children along after a few successful dates.
The app has partnered up with Bubble, the UK’s number one sitter and nanny app, which offers on-demand childcare, to provide its users with instant childcare solutions, so they can finalise arrangements for their date while enjoying a special discount for all bookings generated through Playdate.
One of the things Nevine wanted to avoid was the fear of rejection, often found with other apps, so with Playdate, there will be no swiping left or right, users simply send a ‘chat request’ and users can choose to accept or not. The app will, of course, have a standard chat feature option for you to speak online with your potential date before you agree to meet in person. A premium membership is available which includes audio and video messaging and allows users to see who has viewed their profile. Perhaps the most interesting feature in the premium membership is a ‘make invisible’ feature which allows users to make themselves invisible to certain users, even if they are not on the app yet. Most single parents for example would not want their ex-partners to see their profile.
For more information about the app, please visit gotoplaydate.com. Playdate is available from the App Store and Google Play now.
