Category: LIFESTYLE

Price of lettuce too crazy? Here are 4 ways to cut down your supermarket shop

Lettuce supermarket shopping

Three words: price of lettuce. If ever there’s been anything unseen before, it’s this. It’s understandable given droughts, flood, climate change and war in Europe, but it does beg the question, how can I save on my weekly shop? I’ve got you sorted. Speaking with pal Nick Drew, founder at WeThrift, there are some tips they helped reveal ways Australian supermarket shoppers can reduce your costs and avoid your balance being excruciatingly high at the checkout. Avoid purchasing pricier brands and switch to supermarket own brands instead “Many of us will stick to the brands we know and love including supermarkets such as Woolworths, Aldi and Metcash. These stores are constantly producing brand-inspired products which look and taste pretty much the same as the real thing, but at a fraction of the cost. “For those who are set in their ways, and only willing to eat their favourite branded goods (e.g. Vegemite and Anzac Biscuits), it’s worth remembering  that cheaper, own-brand groceries are shown to be better for you as they have less fat, sugar, salt and calories than pricier alternatives!” Time your supermarket trips wisely “Try to time your supermarket trips for when your local stores are likely to have just added yellow ‘reduced’ stickers to stock that needs to be sold that day. Making the most of these heavily discounted deals will help you to fill your freezer up with discounted meat, fish, and freezer meals for cheaper food options in the coming days and weeks. “Normally supermarket workers will start discounting products that are… Read More

Unlabelled skincare ideal for everyone this June Pride Month

Black woman skincare happy smile

Encouraging young Australians to just be themselves, without the need for any labels, Unlabelled is a social enterprise developed by award-winning skincare professionals for everyone regardless of how you identify this Pride Month of June. From the men who gave us Lqd skincare many years ago, Unlabelled is the new venture by Anthony McDonough and Chris Glebatsas, passionate about the combination of science and skin, all inspired by their 18-year-old daughter. The two are developing Unlabelled to celebrate diversity and help tackle youth suicide, donating 100% of its profits to charities that share Unlabelled’s mission to improve the mental health of Australian youth. Why? Well, every year more than 70,000 young Australians attempt to take their own lives, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made things even worse. Unlabelled’s focus is on dealing with identity, body image, anti-bullying, depression and LGBTQIA+ issues that can lead to youth suicide, joining leading skincare brands that have engaged openly and firstly with social enterprise. What’s in the range? Unlabelled’s range is for everyone and focuses entirely on cleanliness, targeting the daily dirty: body and hands. With a range of body bars, hand wash and body wash, the brand’s focus on preparing your body and skin to be your real, best self put-forward is high on the agenda. See the whole spread and buy some at the Unlabelled website

Great reasons to cook with more pepper

Peppercorns

When seasoning food, common salt and pepper are perhaps the least controversial seasoning options that we have. They seem good to go on everything, lifting the flavour and making every meal a bit more enjoyable. Pepper is arguably the more interesting of the two. While just about everyone uses salt, the use of pepper is more restrained, and that’s a great shame. Pepper is truly one of the great cooking ingredients, and has just as many, if not more, types and styles than salt does, from common white and black cooking peppers to special kampot black pepper, and many more. While professionals easily get the most out of pepper, ordinary home cooks are typically far too timid. Here are some of the best reasons we should cook with more pepper. 1. Helps Digestion and Blood Pressure First of all, pepper has more health benefits than you know. Black pepper in particular has a marked effect on stimulating the body’s digestion process, making it more able to digest food by boosting the enzymes in your pancreas. Its assistance with the digestion process is also a key way that we can relieve ourselves of trapped gas, if we’re prone to it. On top of digestion, the piperine in pepper has been reported to show similar effects on blood pressure as common blood pressure-lowering medications. One Dr Guy Mintz from Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital in Manhasset, New York, points to trials done in animals where the substance was effective in reopening blood vessels. 2. Can Contribute to… Read More

Choosing a corporate lunch venue in Melbourne

CHef restaurant food

So, you want to find an exceptional corporate venue to hire in Melbourne for a lunch event that you have coming up. You might not have a great deal of time to organise it, so choosing the right kind of place to work with is very important. You start a search but suddenly feel overwhelmed with the sea of restaurant, bar, and other venue names that seem to launch themselves off the page at you. How can you sort through the options to find the ideal venue? Below are some helpful tips in choose the best-possible place for a corporate lunch: Tip 1: Easy-to-Find Location A corporate lunch event might be somewhat limited on time for attendees who have to get back to their respective offices in the afternoon. Therefore, choosing a place that is easy to find, and has convenient parking should be one of the top priorities. Somewhere in a good CBD location is really ideal, since it means that many of your likely attendees will actually be within walking distance of the restaurant. Keeping it prominent also means fewer people get lost, which means less chance of a delayed start. Tip 2: Fast and Reliable Service In addition to a convenient location, you should choose somewhere with reliably fast and high-quality service as their standard. Once again, your attendees likely won’t be able to hang around all afternoon waiting for food to come. It’s important to pick a venue where they’re used to catering for this kind of event and where they… Read More

How to better secure your home computer systems

Woman work laptop computer

Contrary to popular belief, major cyber attacks are not confined exclusively to large corporations, government departments and NGOs. As it happens, everyone in Australia is at risk when it comes to Internet security, which is why everyone needs to do what they can to beef up their own Internet security at home. You might not be able to afford to book a cybersecurity consultation with a professional security provider, but that’s okay. There’s still lots you can do yourself. 1. Rename Your Home Network and Update the Password One problem people have, especially those living in close-knit apartment communities where they have different neighbours living just on the other side of a single wall, is people outside the home begin able to login to your home Wi-Fi, at best simply leeching off your bandwidth, but at worst up to no good and trying to do bad, even criminal things. A simple solution to this problem is just to create a new name for the network, and change the password. Most of the time that this happens, it’s because the user family hasn’t bothered to change the default network name and password. 2. Keep All Antivirus and Firewall Software Up to Date Antivirus and firewall software may operate in the background of your home computer system, but it’s always at work identifying and eliminating viruses, trojans, bots, and more. In order for these things to do their job properly, they have to have all the most up to date information on the latest threats — kind… Read More

Ways to get healthier as a family

Rafting family

For many families, there is a growing health crisis, and it applies to the adults just as much as the children. In the past, it could have been one member of the family who was struggling with weight and health issues and the rest of the family would try to be supportive. In 2022, however, the problem seems to be more that everyone in the family is experiencing health challenges. Both kids and adults are living more sedentary lives than ever. The food they’re eating is more packed with sugar and other additives than ever. The family is less active and suffering from more mental health challenges than ever. There has never been a better time to take active steps to improve health as whole, united family units. Here are some ways you can get started: 1. Change the Family’s Relationship with Food To start, many health issues in kids and parents are rooted in an increasingly toxic relationship that they have with food in general. That’s the first and frequently most beneficial thing you can change as a family. Start by taking time to find a weekend farmers market near your place, and plan regular visits. Teaching your kids about produce, where it comes from, how to choose good produce, and then how to convert that into delicious, nutritious food is one of the most valuable educational experiences you can give them. Cook as a family, or take it in turns to make different dishes or meals at home. Nurturing an appreciation for this… Read More

Ways to maximise natural light in your new home

View living room Eames chair

If you’re building a new Melbourne home from scratch, or doing major renovations on an existing home, then one of your goals should be to maximise the amount of natural light you’ll create in that new space? Why? Well, as a leading, award winning luxury residential architect firm in Melbourne would tell you, natural light is key to creating a happy, more comfortable space, not to mention saving on energy bills and working to kill harmful bacteria and other organisms that might otherwise grow in your home. Therefore, if you’re worried about the amount of natural light that your current plans are going to allow in, and want to increase it, here are some ways that you can achieve that as you finish your build or renovations: 1. Use of Glass Flooring This one isn’t for the faint of heart, but it can work very well if you want to get more light from upper floors into lower floors. Glass floors or ceilings will allow more light to filter into rooms below. We’re not talking about clear panes of sheet glass, necessarily, and while it is a bold design choice, the effect of sharing more light between floors is undeniable. If you don’t like the idea of an all-glass floor, then you could lay a concrete floor with glass blocks intermittently to allow light to filter through, too. It depends on what kind of overall aesthetic would make you happiest. 2. Internal Glass Another common problem that people have is that their home design will… Read More

The Carb Queen: Baga Chipz is McCain’s new creative director

Baga Chipz drag queen McCain 2

If ever there was an on-brand move for a drag queen to make; it’s this one. The UK’s beloved drag superstar, Baga Chipz is officially McCain’s new creative director. Bringing her flava to the frozen food brand, this queen is planning to shake things up with her bold and daring direction. Labelling her first campaign as ‘Anything Goes’ to liven up Britain’s mealtimes, she’ll be releasing her classy, and dazzling tips and recipes via her Instagram page on the 2nd June through a series of videos! Follow her on Instagram Baga’s mantra is simple – anything goes with McCain and she’ll be putting that to work as the self-proclaimed “Queen of Chips”. The Rupaul’s DRag Race alum will share her own fabulous take on British classics from the iconic chip butty to the beloved potato smiles and beans all over social media. Watch the bags of McCain everything just fly off the shelves… For more, head to Baga’s Instagram or the McCain website

How to drink Highland Park whisky in the Sydney Botanical Gardens

Food festival Sydney tents harbour

Whisky fans get ready for this premium pop-up dining event, bringing the unique experience of one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland to Sydney, for a limited time only: A Wild Harmony. Described as the most “complex and balanced whisky on the planet”, Highland Park is a wildly harmonious single malt whisky characterised by a uniquely complex balance of flavours shaped by the extraordinary contrasts of its Orkney Island home. From such a distinct and seemingly harsh place comes the most balanced and harmonious single malt whisky, that balances heather honey, spicy fruitcake and peat smoke. At the event that runs from 3-4 June 2022, expect: An entree of house poached king prawns with smoked fennel puree, sorrel and nasturtium leaf paired with 12 Year Old Highland Park whisky.  A main of red braised wagyu beef daube, porcini cream, onion petals, radish, linaria served with charcoal bread rolls and whipped chive butter and paired with 15 Year Old Highland Park whisky. A dessert of honey poached pear, brown butter crumble and brown sugar ice cream parfait paired with 18 Year Old Highland Park whisky. For more info and tickets go to the Wild Harmony website

8 places in Melbourne to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee

Melbourne rooftop view city

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is celebrating 70 years on the throne. If that’s not cause to celebrate – even for the strongest non-monarchist amongst us – then what is? But where? I hear you ask. Well, here you go. Eight of Melbourne’s finest establishments to celebrate the milestone none of us will ever reach, but we’re so happy someone else did. Fargo & Co – bottomless brunch, DJs until late and exclusive cocktail list 216 Swan St, Richmond Friday 10th June – DJs on the decks until late. Sat 11th and Sunday 12th June – O.G. Bottomless Brunch from 12-2 pm and 3-5 pm ($69pp), with the option to upgrade to be seated in a lush après ski lodge cabin and enjoy a chocolate fondue fountain for an extra $10pp, at $79pp. Bookings essential. DJs on the decks until late plus an exclusive cocktail list. Harlow – open all long weekend for live music, bottomless brunch and drag trivia 447 Church St, Richmond Friday 10th June – Live music in the beer garden, then DJs until late. Saturday 11th (11.30 am and 2 pm) and Sunday 12th June (12 pm) – Disco Drag Bottomless Brunch, which includes 2 hours of bottomless beverages (Bacardi cocktails, Moon Dog seltzers, house wine, sparkling and beer), plus a choice of dish from the new lunch menu, hosted by a fabulous Drag Queen. $69pp, bookings essential. DJs on the decks until late. Monday 13th June- Open for normal trade, Drag Queen trivia in the main bar from 7:30pm. Free… Read More