Tag Archives: health

Healthy Me, Healthy You, Healthy Tissuuue!

August 13, 2015 Stephanie Carrington Leave a comment

Ok, so let’s face it! We’re all growing older, there’s no denying the inevitable….but what one would call ‘older’ I’d like to see it as ‘blossomed’, ‘more knowledgeable’ or ‘mature’. 🙂 So naturally, as we ‘mature’ we gain more responsibilities, become more aware of ourselves, our bodies and most importantly, we tend to become more cautious of our health and wellbeing – being what we eat, apply or even down to the things we use on a daily basis.

Now, if you know me or have read some of my previous posts, you’ll know that I’m a HUGE health nut. I won’t say I’m perfect, but I do try my best to be mindful of what I eat and feed my family most of the time (with the occasional cheats of course….we are human after all! hehe!). I’ve also come to realise, more and more, that we not only need to be watchful of what we put IN our bodies. There’s actually a bunch more we need to keep in mind! We also need to pay careful attention to the simple everyday things – like the things we apply on our bodies, breath in, and even touch. Now, this doesn’t mean we need to live in a sanitised bubble or walk around in a biohazard suit and oxygen mask ok? Because as I, you, WE ‘mature’…Guess what?! The world around us is as well! So getting our hands on some body loving goods has become SOOO much easier. Can I get a YAY??!!!! 🙂 Cloversoft Ok, now let me ask you – What do you blow your nose with? Tissue! What do you use to wipe your hands if you’ve got something on them? Tissue! What do you use to dab the sweat off your face? Tissue! What do we all use (I hope) every single day, without a doubt, when we go about doing our ‘business’ in the toilet? TISSUUUUUE! Ya gettin’ my drift? We’re using a whooole lot of tissue!! Now get this…..there’s tissue available now that’s completely toxin-free, biodegradable and 100% au-naturale. DING! DING! DING! Now that’s what I’m talkin’ bout!! Cloversoft tissue **Drum roll** I present to you CloverSoft!! Ta-Dah!! CloverSoft’s organic facial tissues and toilet paper are not only FDA approved, but they’re hypoallergenic as well. So for those out there with allergies and sensitive skin, like myself, we’ve got nothin’ to worry about.

Made completely from 100% sustainable virgin bamboo pulp, these tissues contain none of that yucky gunk like pesticides, bleach, artificial fragrances or other harmful chemicals so they’re totally safe to use on babies and our little furkids. Woohoo!

Wait, wait…there’s more! For all you germaphobes (ME!) – CloverSoft tissues have up to a 90% natural anti-bacteria function AND they’re 3ply so you can wipe down after a sweaty workout, dry your hands or dab your face to freshen up your makeup with no fuss of the tissue tearing, ripping, or leaving pieces and fluff behind. Omg! The amount of times I’ve struggled trying to get all the little ripped pieces that would almost always be stuck to my skin somewhere. Or more so, not realising it’s stuck to my face and later having someone point it out. Ahh…..EMBARRASSING!!! Admit it- We’ve ALLL been there!

CloverSoft, at the moment, offers facial tissue and toilet paper, but they’ll soon be coming out with pocket-tissue as well – I can’t wait! Lab tested and totally non-toxic….sounds awesome to me! Dontcha think?! Cloversoft toilet paper Oh, did I mention that they’re multi-purpose as well?! I made an air diffuser from a recycled medicine bottle and wrapped it with a CloverSoft facial tissue (there’s the 3ply for ya!)! 🙂

Wanna know more? Check out www.cloversoft.com.sg

Easy Healthy Recipes, Health Tips & Raves!, Lovin' for the Fur kids

Have Your Juice and Eat It Too!

October 14, 2014 Stephanie Carrington Leave a comment

From detoxing, cleansing or just to get that extra vitamin boost-juicing is all the rage these days! Almost everyone has some kind of juicing gadget at home or has heard of or tried some sort of juice detox. As I mentioned in my previous post….I tried two! :p

After my awesome cleanse experiences I decided to start juicing at home regularly…..until the day my juicer decided to clonk out on me. So my search in getting the best juicer in the market began! Apparently slow juicers are then best kind to get as it’s said that they provide you with more of the fruits and veggies that are juiced, providing you more flavour and most importantly, more vitamins and nutrients. But this comes with quite a hefty price tag! So I made sure I did ALL my research and trials, which took about a month, before heading out and finally settling on the one I got. I love my new juicer and I now juice almost everyday! 🙂

There’s so many different tasty combinations we can experiment with to ensure we get our daily recommended dose of fruits and veggies. The options are endless! Now, I don’t know about you but after juicing I feel if I had to throw the pulp away. Feels so wasteful! So I did some experimenting, as I do, and found a couple useful options when it comes to the pulp left over from juicing! Below are a couple recipes using leftover juice pulp. You can also freeze whatever pulp you don’t use for another time. Yay! No more wasting!!! 🙂

Vegetarian Lentil Chilli Soup

1 cup of juice pulp (mine was beetroot, celery, carrot, apple)
1 cup dried red lentil (thoroughly cleaned)
2.5-3 cups vegetable stock
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 chopped green chilli pepper
2 tablespoons chilli powder
1 chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic-minced
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon of coconut oil
pepper & salt to taste

Heat oil in a sauce pan and sauté onion until translucent
Add remainder of ingredients except salt and pepper and simmer for around 15 min or until lentils have softened
Add salt and pepper to taste
Dish up and serve with a dollop of greek yogurt

Lentil and Veggie Patties

1 cup of juice pulp
1 cup of cooked lentils
2 eggs
1 Tbs flaxseed meal
1 Tbs soy sauce
1 Tbs sesame oil
pepper to taste
chopped fresh coriander (optional)
1 Tbs of coconut oil

Mix all ingredients except coconut oil together in a large bowl and set aside for a few minutes
Heat coconut oil in pan and place a large spoonful of the patty mix onto the pan
Heat thoroughly on both sides (about 2 minutes on each side or until golden brown)
Repeat this with remainder of patty mix (makes around 5-6 patties depending on how big you make them)
Dish up and serve with a nice green salad or with a slice of cheese and have it as a burger! Yummy!!

You can even use the juice pulp as a treat for your fur kids. Cobey loves his with a bit of chlorella and a drizzle of flax oil! Yummy! 🙂

Easy Healthy Recipes

Gluten-Free Prawn and Veggie Noodles

August 20, 2014 Stephanie Carrington Leave a comment

If we’ve met, worked together, bumped into each other and especially if you know me personally you know I almost always carry a big bag. Why? It’s because I, without a doubt will have some sort of snack and water with me at all times wherever I go. So when I know I’ll be having a super long work day coming up I pretty much ALWAYS will pre-pack my lunch…..just in case we’re short on time, lunch isn’t provided on set or if my tummy doesn’t agree with what they’re serving. So I’ll whip up something simple, healthy and wholesome either the night before or, if I have time, that morning. I try to do the same for my super busy hubs, who, in most cases, will grab whatever is convenient and easy (usually on the not-so-healthy side) or will forget to have lunch altogether.

I made this SUPER EASY prawn and veggie noodle dish the other day for the hubs to take for lunch and he gave it a two thumbs up and totally loved it. Sorry the picture isn’t the best – I just did a quick snap so I could share it with you guys. 😛 It was soooo easy to make and the best thing is, it tastes just as good eaten hot or cold. So it makes it that much more of a great dish to take along with you for lunch, especially if you aren’t able to heat it up later. Here it is…..

What you need:

10 prawns
1/3 packet of brown rice pasta noodles
1/2 cup stock (I used garlic and herb but any stock will do)
1/2 bunch of spinach
5 mushrooms
1 garlic clove
1 onion
1 red chilli
1 TB sesame oil
salt/pepper to taste

What to do:

Prepare noodles following the instructions on the packet.
While noodles are boiling, chop up your veggies.
Heat half of the stock in a skillet and sauté onions until semi translucent.
Add in garlic, chilli, mushrooms and continue to sauté.
Gradually add more stock as needed while cooking (not too much to prevent from everything getting soggy).
Add prawns to the veggies and continue to sauté until prawns turn pink and curl.
Once the veggies and prawns are just cooked, add in chopped spinach at the end and turn off heat. **spinach will cook immediately even with the littlest amount of heat. It’s important not to overcook them so you don’t kill away all of its nutrients 😉
The noodles should be done at this point. We want noodles thoroughly cooked through but not too soft and mushy. (We’re going for “al dente”)
Drain noodles and rinse slightly with filtered water. (I find rice pasta can become quite starchy so I like to rinse it a little before using it in a dish)
Mix noodles with the veggies and prawns with a drizzle of sesame oil and toss together.
Add salt/ pepper to taste if necessary

That’s about it! You can use any other vegetables or even chicken pieces if you’d like. It’s just a very simple dish that takes less than 30 mins to prepare – its a tasty, gluten and guilt free meal thats wholesome and hits the spot! 🙂

Health Tips & Raves!

Cleansing……The Juicy Way!

May 10, 2014 Stephanie Carrington Leave a comment

I was always into making smoothies as a quick on-the-go meal and felt they were more filling compared to juices. I would juice occasionally and really only on weekends or on days I wasn’t working as my previous juicer was such a pain to clean. So you can say I wasn’t soooo into it as everyone else was and I didn’t see fit to only consume pure liquids for consecutive days. I’m well aware that a glass of freshly squeezed juice is packed with loads of vitamins and nutrients and I’ll have one in between meals or with my meal…..it’s just that I felt there were other ways you can keep the body healthy, without having to deprive it from solids. Well, I was wrong!

I got offered to try out a couple of different juice cleanses earlier this year and I thought why not give them a try to see what the whole rage was about. Both of the cleanses were for three days with six bottles of juice for each day (so thats 18 in total!!). Three days worth of fresh, organic juices were delivered to my doorstep the night before I was to start my cleanse with thorough instructions to ensure the process went smoothly. As I have quite a healthy eating habit, during the cleanse I didn’t have much of a problem with cravings and to my surprise I didn’t suffer too badly with hunger either. It was the act of chewing and the different textures of solid foods that I missed the most. Believe it or not, the three days went by quite smoothly, although I have to admit I did slip in a salad or two. Shh….dont tell! :p However, at the end of each cleanse I felt great! Refreshed, rejuvenated with an extra bit of energy!

The two different juice cleanses I tried were equally great and each had their perks! The first one I tried was Hic’ Juice. The juices came in 6 large glass bottles, each numbered from 1-6 so you just had to follow the order of the juices as they were numbered each day. You are encouraged to drink plenty of water and herbal tea in between and ‘chew’ your juice which I thought was a bit weird but apparently this helps in digesting the juices. The bottles were HUGE so there wasn’t an issue of getting hungry…..actually sometimes I felt so filled with liquid I would have to wait awhile to finish the juice. Overall the juices were quite tasty. My favourites were the popeye smoothie and nut milk.

The second one I tried was from Beauty Cleanse. The 6 juices for each day came in plastic bottles that were slightly smaller than those from Hic but the juices were still quite filling and I especially loved the creamy nut milk! These juices weren’t numbered and you are to pick and choose which you wanted to have. Again, you are encouraged to drink plenty of H2O and herbal teas. My 3 day program came with a couple of organic herbal tea sachets and supplements to aid in the cleansing process. They offer a ‘cheat sheet’ in case you suffer from a major case of the munchies which suggest nibbling on celery sticks.

Juice cleansing isn’t just for the unfit or for those trying to lose weight…..even if you live a healthy lifestyle and have healthy eating habits, we sometimes just need to give our digestive systems a time out from having to constantly break down the food we eat. Whether it be juicing at home or signing up for a program, just like how we need a vacation to get away from our busy work schedule…..our bellies need some chill time once in awhile as well. It could be for five days, three days or even just for a day….give it a try-your insides will thank you and you will be able to see that from the outside! 😉

Healthy Travel Tips

Healthy Flying

March 3, 2014 Stephanie Carrington Leave a comment

When I’m at home I try my best to live a healthy lifestyle, with of course some indulging here and there (which tends to be chocolate! A girls gotta have her chocolate! :P). I’ve been doing quite a bit of traveling recently, for both work and holiday, and its not always easy to keep up with my healthy habits whilst away from home. Especially when I’m off on a vacation, as soon as I step foot on that plane my mind is automatically set on holiday mode, which means letting loose and indulging. Oopsies! But hey, thats what holidays are all about right? So its totally ok to enjoy yourself on vacation but I have noticed even if its a trip that isn’t too far, the flying part can sometimes take a toll on you.

So whether its for work or vacation, I thought I’d share just a few tips on how to kickstart your trip on a good note . 🙂

Stay hydrated: Just as it is important to stay hydrated when we are on land, it goes the same or more so, for when we are in the air. The air is extremely dry so hydration is key! I like to have a big gulp of water before boarding and I make sure to ask the flight attendant for water with my meal(s). With the strict security these days we’re usually not allowed to take bottled water onboard, so for longer flights I take an empty flask and ask the flight attendant to fill it up for me. This way it’s easier to remember to drink up and I don’t have to bother the flight attendant constantly.
Catch some zzz’s: I know it can be hard to get some sleep on the plane, but I try to rest up up as much as I can. I try to prep myself before the flight by not consuming any caffeine, drinking some camomile tea and carrying onboard some lavender oil which can help ease into slumberland, if not at least keep you relaxed. The main thing is you want to make sure you have energy to explore when you land. I’m never quite sure how my body will adjust to the time difference so I travel with some melatonin, which is a natural supplement that helps regulate sleep.
Go easy on the booze: Although tempting, I try to limit my alcohol intake to 1 maybe 2 glasses. Alcohol is super dehydrating and its even worse when you’re flying because its already soooo dry on the plane as is. Also, who wants to suffer from a hangover the first thing you get to your destination right?! Not fun!
Get movin’: During long haul flights I like to walk up and down the aisles and even go to the pantry area and do some stretches. A little is better than nothing I say!
Plan your meal: If you are really concerned about breaking your diet or want to save on the indulging for when you get to your holiday destination prebook your meal! For long-haul flights, most airlines allow you to book your meal preference 24hrs in advance online. If they don’t and you don’t mind putting in that extra effort, you can always pre-pack your own meal or take on board some healthy snacks. Honestly speaking, you have to admit, airplane food isn’t quite Michelin Star quality and can be a hit and miss……so if you really don’t want to risk having to eat nastified food and would rather save that appetite for whatever awesome food there is when you land……just do a little planning ahead. Thats all it takes! Otherwise, one bad meal won’t kill ya….so nothing to stress about either. 😉

If you have any suggestions or tips please do share as I would love to hear them! I’m always up for learning something new.

Happy healthy travels all!! Woohoo! 🙂

Easy Healthy Recipes

Oh So Gooooood Chickpea Muffins! (Gluten-free)

May 4, 2013 Stephanie Carrington Leave a comment

Ok, so these muffins are so amazingly yumms that they have been a real hit in my house! I’ve made them 3 times in the last 2 weeks and every time I make them they’re gone as soon as they come out of the oven! They’re SUPER easy to make and are packed with protein, fiber, and a whole lot of Goodness. They’re great to have as breaky on the go, a quick snack between meals or even for lunch…..pretty much any time of day and guess what- every single ingredient is totally good for you!! PLUS, its so moist, savoury and absolutely delish! Here’s how to make it…..

What you’ll need:

1 can of chickpeas (1.5cups)
1 cup of chopped fresh spinach
2 carrots – shredded
4 egg whites
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp greek yogurt or cottage cheese (optional)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cumin (optional)
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt

What you have to do:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees
Blend chickpeas with olive oil and yoghurt til smooth
Add egg whites to chickpea mixture and continue to blend
Add baking powder, cumin, salt and pepper to the mixture and blend
Finally add in chopped spinach and shredded carrots to the mixture
Spoon mixture into a muffin tray
Place in oven and bake for around 20-25min depending on your oven

That’s it!!! Super easy right? You can also make it with just shredded carrots or just chopped spinach- totally up to you. You must MUST give this a try! It’s great for the whole family. So ENJOY!!!! 🙂

Healthy Travel Tips

Healthy Vacationing

April 25, 2013 Stephanie Carrington 2 Comments

Relaxing, wining and dining, feasting on local delicacies, or sipping on piña coladas by the pool…..that pretty much sums up what we look forward to when we go on vacation. This is the time to forget about those calories and totally chill! Sure….Why not? We’ll just deal with the consequences later. Right? Uhhh….Then after returning home it’s OMG!!!!! Bam! starts those ridiculous crash diets and killing ourselves at the gym to try and burn it all off. You have to admit…..We’ve all been there!

Indulging and chillaxing is what a vacation is for. So yah….totally go for it! We definitely deserve it after all that hard work! Here’s just a few things I like to do when I’m on vacation, whether it be at a tropical island getaway or exploring busy city streets, to prevent those OMG moments afterwards.

Kick start on a good note-Yes, it’s true even when we’re on holiday ….breakfast is the most important meal of the day! When planning my trip I like ensure that breakfast is included in my room rate so I know I’ll be sure eat breakfast every morning on my trip. Whether it be a buffet spread or ordering ala carte, I try to stick to wholesome and nutritious choices like oatmeal, fruits, eggs with whole meal toast, yogurt, etc. This way, the first thing my body gets is healthy goodness before I dig into whatever foodpornographic indulgences the day may bring! Also, revving our engines (bodies) with wholesome goodness will get our metabolism on the right track so we’ll have some assistants in burning those calories! 😉

Venture out and explore-Whether it be in a city or by the beach – get out there and explore! If I’m doing a cultural holiday, I make sure to pack a pair of comfy shoes and try to venture out by foot as much as possible or by bike. This way you shed those cals whilst still exploring and sapping up the culture and beautiful scenery. You’ll be surprised how much more you see and experience! If I’m going on a beach or resort holiday, I check out what activities the resort offers and venture out and explore the sea by snorkelling or canoeing or cruise around the resort or the neighbourhood by cycling.

Wherever it is, there’s always something to be seen and explore so I try to add some adventurous element to it by adding in some fun activities.

Pack those trainers-I know I know, vacations are about relaxing and taking it easy, but trust me just 30min of raising your heart rate feels sooo good AND you’ll feel a little less guilty when biting into that juicy burger by the pool. It doesn’t matter where I’m vacationing I always make sure to pack my trainers and at least one pair of gym gear. This is way, its in my bag, so there’s no excuse but to try and spare some time to do some exercise whether at the hotel/resort gym or jogging around the complex. Even a little is better than nothing! 😉

I find adding even just a bit of a healthy element to my holiday elevates the experience and I don’t feel as guilty for indulging. So next time you plan your holiday, try upping experience by adding some healthy goodness!

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