| Bakes, Books And My Boys

Learning Resources Beaker Creatures

Thursday, December 13, 2018

We are a family who absolutely adore science and when you have science and you combine it with fun and collectables well you’re on to a sure-fire winner! Learning Resources have a new toy out for Christmas… Beaker Creatures – Extract! Identify! Explore!

A great set- which in hind sight is perfect for bath time, this toy uses the power of water pumped with hydro plungers & the help of special reactor pod to create a bubbling fizzy reaction as you’re collectable creature appears.

The set up did require a little bit of adult help to put together but once everything was clicked into place it was easy for both the boys to take over and explore their reactor pod and find their own creature. While the actual fun didn’t last much more than 5 minutes the boys really enjoyed the experiment and the investigation carried on throughout the evening. And included in the kit is an experiment guide feature five different experiments to make using house hold products including slime! No borax needed!

Once set up the Beaker Creatures Lab set can be used again when you buy reactor pods to build up your collection. They are a little cheaper than most collectables around at the moment with 2 pods costing £8. The actual kit cost £25 but is on special on Amazon at moment at £21.99.

The lab has 15 components which are made up of 2 Beaker Creature Reactor Pods, 2 Classification Cards, 2 double sided Mini-posters, 2 hydroplungers, 2 beakers, liquid reactor super lab base, Set of tongs, Stir rod, Experiment guide, full size poster.

This was a great evening building and playing with the reactor pod and we will definitely be getting more pods to build our collection – a fabulous stocking idea! We also covered a huge amount of science in playing and I just loved how much play value there is in this set and how much you can do with it, especially with the extra experiments! As ever Learning Resources have got this spot on and it’s the perfect STEM toy for all age groups! My son at 8 adored this even when my 11year decided he wanted to be in on the fun and join in!

lifestyle

Winter Essentials

Friday, November 30, 2018

gluten free

Battle Of The Healthiest Cooking Oil: CBD Oil And More…

Thursday, November 29, 2018

CBD Oil

A cooking oil which you may not be familiar with due to its popularity increasing only recently is CBD oil, otherwise known as cannabidiol. This oil is being used far more in cooking for it’s medicinal benefits, both physical and mental. It is more commonly included when baking sweet foods, as the sweet flavour covers up the oils naturally bitter taste. But it is not restricted to baking - if you infuse it with a fat or oil-based ingredient it can be included in any savoury cooking too.

The benefits of this oil range from reducing muscle inflammation and chemotherapy side effects to helping with acne - it is a great remedy for a wide range of issues. As well as helping with physical pain relief, if you struggle with anxiety or depression this may be a good oil to try out in your cooking. Natural Hemp Co provide a range of CBD oil products, such as drops, pastes and crystals. Crystals, in particular, are useful to begin to use CBD oil as part of your diet, for example, in smoothies and baking.

An important thing to keep in mind when cooking with CBD oil is temperature. If you heat the oil too high it will become overly-bitter or ineffective.

Olive oil

Olive oil is a popular cooking oil choice that we are likely all familiar with. Made from ripe olives, this oil does have a number of health benefits, hence why it is so commonly used and a strong contender in this battle of the healthiest cooking oil. There are two commonly used types of olive oil, extra virgin olive oil and pure olive oil. Extra virgin olive oil has more health benefits for the heart due to it’s high number of monounsaturated fats but pure olive oil can be used for cooking at higher temperatures.

Coconut oil

Coconut oil could be deemed the healthiest cooking oil for high-heat cooking, due to it mostly being made up of saturated fatty acids. At room temperature it is in solid form so is easy to store and can last for years without going out of date. Lauric acid makes up most of this oils fatty acids, and is highly beneficial for improving cholesterol and killing bacteria. If you are on a diet, coconut oil is also recommended as it has been found to increase metabolism and result in a fuller feeling when used for cooking.

Avocado oil

Avocado oil is similar to olive oil with it’s high number of monounsaturated fats, however, unlike the healthy version of olive oil, avocado oil can be used in cooking at high temperatures. Similar to CBD oil, avocado oil is relatively new to the limelight and is celebrated by the growing clean-eating community, so it could be deemed the healthiest cooking oil.

The fatty-acids in avocado oil have also been found to help with the body’s absorption of antioxidants from healthy plant-based foods. So if you have a salad or healthy option, drizzling avocado oil on top or mixing it throughout is a great way to make sure your body reaps all the possible benefits from your healthy choice!

Canola oil

Canola oil is a more controversial oil due to the way it is made. It is a product of rapeseeds but goes through a very intensive processing method before it is safe to use in cooking. Aside from this, the fatty acids are mostly monounsaturated containing Omega-6 and Omega-3. Among the rankings of healthiest cooking oil, this oils position could be debated, as despite it being highly-processed, it is low in saturated fats.

If you would like to try out CBD oil in your cooking or baking, visit Natural Hemp Co at https://cbdoil-uk.com/ or give them a call on 0800 830 3663 to find out more.

lifestyle

Look before you flush!

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

Bowel Cancer, not a nice topic of conversation but one that we all should be having. It is one of the most common cancers that we have in the UK. Because it’s not a nice topic and quite frankly how do you start a chat with a friend about issue around your bottom, many people are too embarrassed to go to the doctors at the very start of symptoms. I’m lucky that in my family we do talk about these problems to our friends and loved ones and these in term have frog marched members down to the doctor or specialist. 3 people from my family have all suffered from colon cancer but do you know something amazing? All three of them have come out the side! Why? Because they took note of the symptoms and went to see someone.

But what are the symptoms? Well one of the ones that most don’t want to discuss is bleeding. Either from your bottom or finding blood in the stools. Blood in the stools take to look a little like coffee grounds. It can be that you find your bottoms bleeding and it’s something very easy like not enough fluid, but goodness wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry? So, though its considered slightly “off” and something more likely you’ll find young boys doing (or is this just my house?) Look before you flush!!!!!

Change in bowel habits that last more than a few days. We all have stomach bugs that can cause constipation or diarrhoea but if its lasting more than a few days then again get it checked!

Pain or abdominal cramps. If in doubt – get it checked!

Now we happen to live in a small village where you quite often find yourself at the shop next to your doctor or walking your dog alongside theirs and would rather speak to a stranger about this which is fine and where specialist like The Loc come in. They will carry out a couple initial texts needed to diagnose whether you are have bowel cancer or not. I hope at this point they send you on your merry way but if not they you have immediate access to world class specialists and the state of the art facilities to get the help you need immediately and that is amazing!

One in 20 people over the age of 50 will get bowel cancer over their lifetime but if detected early the majority of cases CAN be successfully treated! So if you have any of the symptoms mentioned, or unexplained weight loss, tiredness for no reason or you just don’t feel right then pick up that phone and make the call! It can make the difference!