Category Archives: Relationships & Love

HEARTNUTS FOR VALENTINE’S DAY

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‘Why not treat your loved one to Heartnuts this year?’

NutsandSeeds.co.uk, a London based company, are introducing a brand new nut or seed to the UK every month. Last month they welcomed Black Walnuts. This month they’re introducing Heartnuts!

Heartnuts are a beautiful variety of the Japanese Walnut. They are a rare and delicious nut that are shaped like a heart and open like a locket – with two heart shaped halves.

Once inside, the small pieces of nut meat will delight your taste buds.

The heartnut has a pleasing taste of a mild, sweet Walnut but without the bitterness. Like walnuts they have the same heart healthy properties of omega 3 and 6 and are packed full of healthy antioxidants, protein and fiber which are proven to be good for cardiovascular health and brain function.

A wonderful nut raw, in cooking or baking, it is especially flavourful toasted. They can be used in any recipe that uses walnuts. Heartnuts make a wonderful pesto and are delicious in cookies and baked goods. The mild, sweet flavour is excellent with cheeses such as feta. 

The Heartnut’s beautiful shells are also great for crafting. The heart shape, sturdy structure, and texture work very well in wreaths and decorations.

If you’re a grower, Heartnut trees are fast growing, hardier and more vigorous than walnut trees, less prone to disease and more tolerant of wet climates. They have the potential to grow very well in the UK and Ireland and NutsandSeeds.co.uk are highly supportive of English growers. Nuts and Seeds already sell English grown cobnuts, chestnuts and walnuts from UK organic farms.

For more information, recipes and to purchase Heartnuts fresh this season, raw and in shell, visit NutsandSeeds.co.uk

THE ERA OF iPARENTING

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New mums turn to the internet for parenting advice

 

New mums are more likely to log on than go to their own mums for parenting advice, according to a new report released today.

 

A resounding eight in 10 mums (80%) turn to Google, parenting forums or Facebook before asking their own mums for advice (44%), according to the research commissioned by Growingupmilkinfo.com, a new website for parents providing information about toddler growth and development.

 

Psychologist Doctor Richard Woolfson comments: “The internet continues to be a growing influence with popular forums likes Mumsnet and Netmums being a key advice resource for new mums, whilst a third of mums (33%) head to Google for parenting advice. This is good because it means parents have immediate access to valuable advice, exactly when they need it.

 

“Unfortunately, that also means the traditional source of parenting support – from grandma and grandpa – is less popular. This is partly due to the younger generations moving further away from where they grew up so parents and grandparents are less likely to live around the corner than they used to.”

 

The Online Generation

Mothers over the age of 35 were most likely (71%) to rely on the internet for support and advice. However, the social network savvy under 25s were the biggest Facebook users for parenting queries (15% versus 9% national average).

 

Dr Woolfson continues: “Thirty years ago your family probably would have lived in the next street but now they might live on the other side of the country or even the other side of the world. Yet I still tell new parents to ask granny and grandpa for their advice. You don’t have to take it but there’s no harm in listening.”

 

Our Regional Differences

  • Southampton mums are the most reliant on friends and family for advice with three in four (75%) relying on their expertise, compared to less than half in Newcastle (44%)
  • Welsh mums are the least dependent on forums, with less than a third (29% versus 38% national average) relying on this source, compared to almost half (47%) the mums in Plymouth
  • Mums in the capital are twice as likely to tap video sharing site YouTube for tips and advice (10% versus 5% national average) while the opposite could be said of mums in the Scottish capital with one in five Edinburgh mums going it alone, asking advice from no one
  • Facebook is heavily used by mums in Brighton with more than a fifth (21%) seeking advice from Facebook friends, higher than any other city in the UK

 

Nutritionist Amanda Ursell comments: “With nearly eight out of 10 parents unaware that toddlers have different nutritional needs to adults, it is clear more needs to be done to help parents understand what nutrition they need to fuel their toddlers’ amazing growth and development. The toddler years are often overlooked but, thanks to the internet, a greater level of information is more widely available from a variety of sources including other mums, a wider network of friends, experts, brands, Governments and researchers.”

 

‘New’ Wives Tales

But new mums shouldn’t be too hasty to dismiss the wise adages of past generations, as experts confirm some of the ‘old wives’ tales’ are grounded in real facts. Nutritionist Amanda Ursell explains the truth behind some popular old sayings:

 

  • An apple a day keeps the doctor away. According to Amanda Ursell, “apples are great because they give us both soluble and insoluble fibre, as well as some vitamin C and a host of super nutrients. Obviously though, toddlers need to get a balanced diet that combines all major food groups. Between the ages of one to three, toddlers undergo an extraordinary period of growth and development and their nutrition needs are at least double an adult’s, relative to their size.”

 

  • Grow big and strong, like Popeye, by eating your spinach. “Spinach is a rich source of iron but it also includes a substance which makes it hard for the body to absorb this essential nutrient. Toddlers need a lot of iron – four times the amount of an adult for their size – but this can be from a range of sources. Good sources of iron include red meat, dark green leafy vegetables, eggs and hummus. One easy way to give toddlers some of the key nutrients they need is to use fortified foods and drinks, such as Growing Up Milk.”

 

  • Carrots help you see in the dark. “This was really a piece of World War II propaganda and it isn’t actually true but it’s certainly true that carrots can be part of a healthy balanced diet. They provide one of your 5-a-day and are a good source of beta-carotene, which is converted in your body to vitamin A – an essential vitamin.”

 

  • Take cod liver oil for your joints. “Cod liver oil is rich in vitamin D, which is needed for the growth and development of bones. However, it isn’t recommended for children these days. Other sources of vitamin D that children can eat include fortified foods like breakfast cereals or Growing Up Milk, as well as foods like egg yolks or oily fish.”

 

Growing Up Milk is made from cows’ milk enriched with key nutrients that toddlers need like vitamins A, C and D, iron and calcium. Giving your Little One-der two 150ml beakers of Growing Up Milk each day is an easy way to help provide them with the extra nutrients they need, as part of a healthy balanced diet.

Let’s Toddle! Free App For Parents

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Cow & Gate launches free app for parents

 

Did you know that by the time your toddler is three they will have reached around half of their adult size and could be using up to 900 words? Now, parents never need to miss a moment of their toddler’s extraordinary growth and development with Cow & Gate’s handy new ‘Let’s Toddle!’ app.

 

Available on iPhone, passionate parents can keep track of all of the exciting milestones their toddlers reach, from finger painting to taking those first few steps, as it happens with this handy tool.

 

The Let’s Toddle! app is easy to use with four simple steps:

 

  1. Download it for free from the iTunes App Store.

 

  1. Capture it by taking photos and building an album to celebrate each special moment, making each one totally unique with different frames and captions.

 

  1. Enjoy it as you share with friends and loved ones online, uploading their most amazing moments to Facebook and Twitter, or sending via email.

 

  1. Ask it any questions you may have about toddler development. Contact Cow & Gate’s expert Careline advisors directly who are on hand, day and night, with tips and advice from how to cope with a fussy eater to ensuring your little ones are getting all of the nutrients they need.

 

The app is jam-packed with a whole host of astonishing facts about toddler development. Did you know that a toddler’s nutritional needs can be more than double those of an adult? With so much growth and development between one and three years it’s not surprising, which is why Cow & Gate Growing Up Milk is specially formulated to help provide your toddler with the extra goodness they need throughout this period of extraordinary development. Growing Up Milk is made from cows’ milk, enriched with the key nutrients toddlers need, such as iron, calcium and vitamins A, C and D.

 

 

The Ultimate Valentines Gift…

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The Ultimate Valentines Gift…
And a good investment in your relationship!

 
Why not treat your loved one to the ULTIMATE Valentines gift this year – a new luxurious bed and mattress. It’s the obvious place to get ‘lovey dovey’ but a new bed will ensure couples get a good night’s sleep – a vital ingredient in any happy relationship!
A favourite with customers, the Siesta has a super large sloped headboard perfect for lazy Sunday mornings, and its extra height clearance facilitates extra deep fitted drawers neatly hiding items away underneath. A double is only £395 throughout February.
The Cuba, with its hot spice fabric, adds a glorious splash of electric colour to any bedroom and is part of the Warren Evans Space Saving range where the mattress sits on top of the frame, taking up no more of your valuable room space than necessary. Price is only £395 for a double.
Warren Evans, the award winning bed specialist, handcraft all of their beds and bedroom furniture with love from sustainable solid wood in their environmentally friendly workshop in London, and also supply top quality mattresses.

 

 

How Much Does Valentine's Really Cost?

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Who says romance is dead?

Standard Life’s ‘Your Commitments, Your Future’ report reveals the nation’s true spending on their other half – a clue to what we might expect this Valentine’s Day.

Spend on your partner:
– Each month couples splash out an average of £34 treating each other, with men leading the way, spending £42 compared to women spending just £26
– However, 18-24 year old males spend only £20 a month on their partners on average.  To put this in perspective, 18-24 year old males spend an average of £27 a month on paid for TV subscriptions
– But there is good news; as men get older their generosity increases, with men aged 45-54 spending nearly £50 (£49) on average each month on their partners
– Women are at their most generous when aged 25-34, where they spend an average of £32 a month on their partners

Thinking about your partner
– Men and women devote nearly an hour each day (50 minutes) to thinking about their other half

– 18-24 year old men are the least romantic, thinking about their partners for only 36 minutes a day on average, whereas 18-24 year females spend over 59 minutes on average every day thinking about their partner (this is more than one whole day a month)
– Men over 55 are spending almost an hour (55 minutes) a day thinking about their partners, the highest of any male age group, while women spend the most time thinking of their partners when they are 18-24
– Nearly a quarter of people think that if they spent as much time thinking about their finances as they do on their emotional relationships then their finances would be in far better shape.

John Lawson, Personal Finance Expert at Standard Life said: “Despite the tough economic climate, it’s good to know we are still able to spoil the most important people in our lives. We devote a lot more to time thinking about our loved ones than we do to our finances, but it’s worth remembering that planning our future finances plays a key role in our relationships.  Whether it’s starting a family, a home in the sun, a romantic break or a financially secure retirement, budgeting and planning ahead is essential to a happy life. And with the end of the tax year looming, it’s a great time to sit down with your partner and think about how your finances can help you enjoy your life together.”  

To help people better understand their financial and emotional commitments, Standard Life has published knowyourcommitments.co.uk with an interactive tool and thoughts on financially preparing for the future. Further help with financial planning is also available at yourfuturemoney.co.uk

 

 

Love and Facebook

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Heartbroken men take four weeks to change their Facebook status following a break-up – while women do so almost straight away, it has emerged.

The majority of fellas (63 per cent) “prolong the misery” of updating their profile from ‘In a Relationship’ to ‘Single’ for a month or more, while some (eight per cent) fail to do so at all.

If and when they do, only a third admits if they were dumped – and even fewer (15 per cent) reveal the reasons why.

Women, on the other hand, tend to ‘go public’ within a few days, often with a new description and photograph to reflect their “happy single” status.

The study by new dating site ALovingSpace.com was based on a survey of 1,000 unmarried 18-65 year-old male and female members across the UK.

It found that male respondents generally coped with splits far worse than women, and were more likely to bottle-up their emotions and “present a tougher front” to pals.

Almost 20 per cent of female respondents, on the other hand, admitted they had or would change their social media profiles immediately – often in order to hurt or humiliate their ex-partners.

A spokesman for ALovingSpace.com said he was “not surprised” about the results, which appear to overturn the widespread assumption that women are more vulnerable after a break-up.

“On the face of it, men are the tough talkers and the ones who present a tougher front but that is just societal conditioning. Behind the façade they hurt just like women, but because they suppress their emotions it ends up hurting even more,” he said.

“Our research appears to suggest that men are hit the hardest by relationship break-ups and, as a result, prolong the misery of telling the world about it on social media platforms such as Facebook.

“Women, on the other hand, seem to see things in a more positive light, viewing a break-up as an opportunity to move on and find someone who they are more compatible with.”

Earlier this year, disagreements about money was named as one of the biggest causes of relationship breakdowns in the UK.

Figures showed that just under 60 per cent of single people blamed money for the split, compared to 21 per cent for infidelity.

Some 17 per cent said they had fallen out of love, and 15 per cent said work had got in the way of their relationship.

A spokesman for AlovingSpace.com – which adapts ancient and modern wisdom, including psychological astrology, to help members find a partner and become more self-aware – said a “significant proportion” of relationships break down because couples enter into “shallow” partnerships based purely on looks and “compatibility”.

He added: “Don’t get me wrong, compatibility is nice because it provides a measure of comfort. It’s a component we consider carefully when matching our members. However, it really has very little to do with self-awareness and good relating. Lots of people are completely compatible on paper but when it comes to being in a partnership it doesn’t actually help them at all.

“There is no question that relationship breakdowns cause an immense amount of heartache for all involved. The purpose of ALovingSpace.com is to minimise this heartache by making it incredibly simple for people to meet a new partner and giving them the tools to help them better understand themselves and each other.”

Dating Detox For 2012.

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As we bid hello to 2012, we look forward with a sense of optimism and hope,. January is the month of choice to cleanse ourselves of any harmful toxins we carried over from the previous year. As we carefully select which diets and detox to choose, eHarmony.co.uk offer a revolutionary detox plan for 2012. Welcome the ‘dating detox’, a fool proof, four step detox plan for even the biggest skeptics to get you right back on track in your dating life.

Cleanse your outlook and get a fresh start for 2012 with four tips from Dr Gian Gonzaga, relationship expert for online match-maker eHarmony.co.uk,

Dr Gonzaga begins with a question: ‘If you were to conduct a self-diagnostic checkup on the condition of your dating life, which of the following would apply?’

a. Strong and robust, with optimal functioning.

b. Generally healthy, though periodically sluggish and listless.

c. Anaemic and frail.

d. Comatose.

“If you answered “C” or “D,” chances are you’ve been single for awhile now and you’re suffering from overexposure to potent dating toxins. There are remedies you can use for yourself when you feel depleted and discouraged in your search for lasting love.”

Here is a four-step therapy from eHarmony.co.uk, that guarantees to flush the dating fatigue from your system and put you back on track:

1. Purge.

Unsuccessful dating attempts often leave behind a debris field of unfulfilled desires, unresolved grievances, and unyielding regrets. These are toxic to your emotional wellbeing, not to mention your chances for future success in matters of the heart. A critical step in the process of dating detox is learning to let go! Forget the past, and choose to move on.

2. Consume carefully.

A regimen of dating detox must include monitoring your intake of words, thoughts, advice, and images related to romance. Stay away from “downer” friends who whine about how hard it is to find a decent man/woman. Tune out family members who complain about their lousy relationships. When you feel your mood beginning to sink toward self-pity, do something about it. Even small shifts in your “diet” can lead to dramatic positive changes.

3. Rebuild.

Detox is not just about getting rid of unhealthy habits and emotions—but replacing them with ones more likely to get what you want. In this phase, begin by identifying the kind of partner you aspire to be. Are there qualities on the list you don’t yet possess? Make a plan to get there. Next, describe the person you are looking for in detail. This will help you recognise those people who don’t quite measure up—and save you another round of detox down the road.

4. De-stress.

Relationship experts point out the negative impact of placing too much stress on the dating process. Lots of people put tremendous pressure on themselves and their dates, continually analyzing what was said or not said, what they did or did not do. Having a relaxed, low-pressure approach to life and love makes for happy individuals—and happy individuals make happy, healthy romantic couples.

Everyone needs a round of dating detox now and then and what better time than the breaking of a new year.

 

BELLE CROWNED BEST CELEBRITY BABY NAME OF 2011

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BELLE CROWNED BEST CELEBRITY BABY NAME OF 2011

 

Belle, daughter of Bounty’s ‘Celebrity Mum of the Year 2010’ winner Holly Willoughby, has won her first crown at nine months old, as she is awarded the accolade of having the ‘best celebrity baby name of the year’.

 

The moniker topped the poll to find mum’s favourite celebrity baby name, beating off strong competition from other celeb tots, including Harper-Seven (Victoria Beckham), Madison (Mel B) and Delilah (Kimberley Stewart).

 

The name Belle, which means ‘beautiful’ in French, is also one of Disney’s best-loved characters from the story ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and mums love the name because it is ‘pretty, girly and elegant.’

 

Second favourite is Sophia, which was the 28th most popular baby name of 2010 and is the name given to the daughter of footballer Peter Crouch and model Abbey Clancy.  In third place is pop/rock singer Pink’s tot Willow Sage.

 

The Beckham’s Harper-Seven narrowly missed the top three, coming in fourth place.

 

For the boys, Flynn, son of ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ star Orlando Bloom and Miranda Kerr, came top of the poll.  Already a super-cute baby, he is sure to follow in his father’s footsteps and ‘bloom’ into a handsome young man. Mums commented that the name is both ‘cute for a baby, as well as romantic and dashing for when he grows up.’

 

Former-Baby Spice Emma Bunton’s son Tate, is the second most popular boys’ celebrity baby name and completing the top three is Harry – son of model Danielle Lloyd.

 

In total, over 101,000 votes were cast on the online poll, which was compiled by parenting club Bounty and sponsored by www.HomeAway.co.uk, the UK’s largest holiday rentals website.

 

Lisa Penney, spokesmum for bounty.com said: “We all love to know what celebrities call their babies (even if we don’t like to admit it!) and our records show that what celebrity parents call their children can help to increase the popularity of the name.

 

“The top ranking names like Belle, Sophia, Madison and Flynn are the names which our mums can more easily identify with. The less popular, more unusual names such as Kahekili (Evangeline Lily) or Bear Blu (Alicia Silverstone) may not seem out of place in the celebrity kindergarten next to the likes of Suri, Apple, Zuma Nesta and Princess Tiaamii, but these names are certainly not the norm in the average school playground.”

 

Other celebrity named babies that proved popular this year include Hero (Myleene Class) and Lyra (Sophie Dahl).

 

Towards the bottom of the top 20 and demonstrating mum’s least favourite celebrity boys and girls names of 2011 are Mariah Carey’s Moroccan and Jessica Alba’s daughter Haven.

 

  1. Belle
  2. Sophia
  3. Willow
  4. Harper-Seven
  5. Madison
  6. Delilah
  7. Flynn
  8. Hero
  9. Lyra
  10. Tate
  11. Monroe
  12. Harry
  13. Polly
  14. Bear Blu
  15. Indio
  16. Kahekili
  17. Bingham
  18. Arthur
  19. Haven
  20. Moroccan