Life Hacks

lifestyle Life Hacks

How to batch cook safely

Rising food prices and being strapped for time have meant many of us are no longer prioritising our nutrition. In fact, yfood found that the nation is too busy to eat with 16% of Brits saying they don't have enough time during the week to do a full food shop. A good way to tackle the problem is resorting to methods such as batch-cooking which allows us to make larger amounts of food for cheaper, to store and use later. However, this process involves freezing and re-heating food, meaning there are rules to be aware of to ensure it's safe to consume. So, with the help of yfood, here’s how to avoid common meal-prepping mistakes…

1. Pack it small

When you're freezing cooked ingredients in freezer bags, flatten the bags out as much as possible before freezing to reduce the space they take up in the freezer – and reduce the thawing time.

2. Get rid of air

You don't want all of your hard batch-cooking work to be put to waste by freezer “burn” – the term used for when air damages frozen food. Take time to get as much air as possible out of packaging before you freeze food.

3. Cool before you freeze

Once your recipes are ready, it’s important to cool them completely before freezing portions. Experts recommend to leave the food at room temperature for no more than two hours before storing it in the freezer. Leaving the food out for longer could be dangerous.

4. Change containers

You should also transfer the food to a new dish once it has been cooked, as leaving it in a hot dish means it takes longer to cool down, allowing time for any bacteria present to grow.

5. Keep your freezer organised and label

Another key mistake that people make is to store things in the freezer for too long, with experts recommending to not leave meals for longer than a month. The labels will help you keep track of what needs using up next. To avoid food getting forgotten at the back of the freezer, it can be useful to put your newest portions at the back and in turn bring your older items to the front.

WEDDINGS: BRIGHT IDEAS FOR SAVING MONEY How much does it cost…to run an electric

blanket?

Couple’s Cashback: Put your wedding costs on a card that earns you rewards and cashback for spending. This way you will be able to save up for a special treat when you celebrate your first year of wedded bliss.

Bring your own band: Although music is

essential to any wedding reception, create your own playlist instead of hiring an expensive band. You can even ask your guests for their music contributions to keep the party going all evening long.

Keep guest numbers low: Guest numbers

soon add up and it can be hard to keep everyone happy. Keeping numbers low may involve some awkward conversations with distant relatives; however most will understand the costs involved in weddings. According to the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), in October last year, the cost per pence/kWh of electricity was approximately 52p after the energy price increase. Each electric blanket will have a different power rating and the overall cost will depend on the rating on your blanket’s label. For the sake of this example, we’ll use an approximate power of 100W as this is most common for an electric blanket. First, you need to convert to kW. 100W is 0.1kW (or 100 divided by 1000). Then you multiply this by the pence/kWh unit, which is 0.1*0.52 = £0.052. This means that running an electric blanket for one hour would cost just over 5p – or 42p a night based on eight hours of use.

How singing can slow

the signs of ageing

The benefits of singing have long been documented – we know it feels good to sing, but did you know that singing can be used as an effective treatment for achieving younger looking and more glowing skin? Swedish skincare powerhouse FOREO joined forces with The British Academy of Sound Therapy to study the effects of singing out loud to your favourite songs on your skin. The good news is that singing along to your favourite tracks is not only the perfect mood booster but it's also great for your skin, in fact just five minutes of singing a day could combat signs of ageing and here’s why:

A natural glow: An increase in Dopamine can elevate our mood and when we’re happier we glow. Every time we experience chills or goose-bumps when listening to our favourite track we are giving ourselves a shot of this ‘feel-good’ neurotransmitter. When we are happier, not only are the muscles in the face lifted but the skin glows and we glow from the inside out.

Tone the face: Research showed that 30 days of singing each day (which mimics the exercises in a recent study) resulted in an improvement in the facial muscle tone and helped to counterbalance ageing effects. Singing will help to increase blood flow to the skin and exercise the mouth, tongue and throat.

It's anti-ageing: Increased levels of stress hormones affect the quality of collagen, reducing elasticity and therefore increasing the appearance of fine lines and the skin’s ability to ‘bounce back’. Increase in hormones like adrenaline has been linked to excessive ageing. There have been numerous studies that these hormones reduce when singing for fun (as opposed to performing, which can be stressful). Goodbye acne: Stress has also been thought to be one of the primary causes of acne but those suffering with acne can get into a feedback loop – stress causes acne and acne causes stress. In these cases, it is really important to break the cycle as quickly as possible by singing along to your favourite tracks regularly.

Duration is key: It is important that you sing for a certain length of time for optimum effect. Make sure you sing for at least five minutes to feel the uplifting benefits of singing.

The perfect sing along playlist

1. Pharrell Williams – Happy (lyrics) 2. Queen – Don’t Stop Me Now (lyrics) 3. Kylie Minogue - Spinning Around (lyrics) 4. Rag and Bone Man – Giant (lyrics) 5. Blinding Lights - The Weekend (rhythm) 6. Mark Ronson Ft. Bruno Mars – Uptown Funk (rhythm) 7. Wham! - Wake me up before you go go (rhythm) 8. Whitney Houston – I Wanna Dance with Somebody (breathing) 9. Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive (breathing) 10. Robbie Williams – Angels (breathing)

Household hacks that could save up to £1,000 a year

Dr. Beckmann has partnered with renowned television presenter and household hack enthusiast, Anthea Turner, to produce four top tips to help Brits protect and prolong the lifespan of their appliances and furniture, to avoid having to splash the cash in getting them replaced. 1. Banish stubborn stains: Old school remedies

such as baking soda and white vinegar work great on stains, simply mix with water and blot the blemish with a damp cloth. 2. Clean out the hoover: Cleaning out the hoover

every few weeks is a good way to avoid any unwanted breakages.

3. Deep clean appliances: The fridge and freezer

need a thorough deep clean, along with the washing machine, dishwasher and oven.

4. Battle limescale: Descale your kettle by filling your pot with a mixture of half water and half vinegar and leave to soak overnight. Rinse thoroughly in the morning to remove any lingering odours (or tastes!), then boil up some fresh water. Aim to do this monthly.