How to add “spice” to your kitchen design

The lack of bright colors or catchy decorative elements that make the interior truly original and eye-catching is a common problem in modern kitchens.

We suggest in this article to consider successful options for using an active color, which can become a kind of “anchor” and create a special, bold festive atmosphere in a room where the whole family meets every day.

1. Center of gravity

The dining table is an integral and one of the main elements of the kitchen furnishings, and if the dimensions of the room allow, then the dimensions of this piece of furniture can be very impressive. The material can be luxurious wood or light glass, durable metal or polycarbonate. But we especially like the decision of the cardinal coloring of the table in a rich shade, for example, scarlet, herbal, dandelion, ocher. Since these colors are natural, they will organically fit into the main gamut of the kitchen interior, without causing dissonance in it.

Remember that the dining area should be kept in an exceptionally pleasant natural range, which, if it includes rich shades, is perceived by the eyes of a person only favorably.

A bright small table with curly elements (legs – balusters, underframe) is worthy of all praise and the title of the main art object in a neutral minimalist kitchen interior.

2. Heart of the kitchen

A kitchen decorated in a modern style with simple forms of furniture, laconic accessories, and lighting fixtures should still stand out due to a catchy accent element. This may well be colored household appliances, for example, a refrigerator or a gas stove with an electric oven.

This is not only very beautiful but also very symbolic because the stove is a descendant of the old oven, that is, the personification of the hearth in which the fire does not go out, warming the whole house. This is why we recommend installing a bright orange, red or yellow stove.

3. Focus on the work area

You can also highlight with the help of color the area that is used for processing food. The hostess spends a lot of time here, therefore, comfortable conditions are simply necessary. So, not only a clean and functional work surface matters but also adjacent surfaces, such as a protective apron or even an entire wall (if there is no upper tier of cabinets).

If you revet this area with ceramic tiles of a rich shade, you can significantly save on the design of the retaining walls, because a full-fledged active element will appear in the room, which does not require addition.

A bright countertop above the kitchen cabinets of the lower tier or island is not at all trivial, because not many will be able to decide on such an experiment, but it’s worth it. An accent will appear in the kitchen, which carries a useful function.

4. Instead of a sculpture

Today, the current trend is the use of furniture from different styles in the kitchen. That is, along with the main objects of simple geometric shapes with smooth facades, you can install an elegant cupboard for dishes or even a whole sideboard with carved decor and elegant fittings.

But the main thing here is the color of a built-in or free-standing object, it is decisive for the entire interior because it helps to create a sculptural accent. You should not be afraid of bright colors, and here we again recommend turning to wildlife: a coral, cobalt, or azure piece of furniture will refresh the kitchen, and your well-being in it will always be positive.

Do not rush to get rid of the old grandmother’s wooden sideboard, it can still come in handy, and will help you significantly save on purchasing a dish cabinet. Remove the old layers of paint and varnish, use putty to remove chips and bumps, prime the surface, and then cover with two or three coats of fresh paint in a rich shade you like. We are confident that the result will definitely be amazing.

And if you don’t have any vintage furniture piece, you might pay attention to the Nyfurnitureoutlets that has a wide assortment of products in this design style.

5. Bright light around

Often, even during the daytime in autumn and winter, there is not enough light in the room, so you have to use additional light sources. In the kitchen, bright high-quality light is simply necessary, which means that each of the functional areas should be supplemented with sconces, spots, suspensions, diode lamps, or other illumination.

By the way, you have an excellent opportunity to add beautiful colors to the interior without significant investments or purchase of bright furniture. Just choose unusual lighting fixtures made of colored glass, painted metal. You can also order the production of unique illumination on the wall in the form of a wide variety of objects, food, phrases, or letters of your choice.

Colored lampshades of pendant lamps or stylish illumination in the dining area on the wall will add a dosed amount of bright colors to the kitchen interior: just as much as you need.

6. Lively accent

Green plants are natural spots of color that transform into a splash of color in a light monochrome kitchen interior (or dark one). We recommend paying attention to simple clay, ceramic pots with no patterns or with light ethnic motives – this is a real trend today. And don’t forget about terracotta vessels – in them the plants not only look organic but feel great.

Living luscious greenery, young decorative trees with fruits, and flowering plants are an easy way to make your kitchen bright, but cozy, beautiful, but not pretentious.

Comprehensive Guide to Start a Food Delivering Business From Home

As people’s schedules are getting busier and their jobs more demanding, food delivery businesses are gaining widespread popularity around the globe. Due to the effects of the current COVID-19 pandemic and the fact that people carry many of their activities from home, the industry is continuously growing and slowly shaping a new norm for food consumption.

Another thing the pandemic has taught us is that working or starting a business can well enough be done from the comfort of our house. Digital businesses require digital solutions, and assembling or growing your customer base is no exception. When it comes to the food delivery sector, your options are endless; from fast food to home-cooked meals, to groceries, you can certainly find – and feed – the demand for it.

Running a food business is undoubtedly a potentially profitable venture but still involves a delicate set of rules and challenges to look out for if you don’t want to drain your wallet or close your services too early. If you’re looking to start a food delivery business from home, here’s a comprehensive guide to help you navigate the process.

Licenses and Legal Coverage

When it comes to food, safety is always a concern. That is why national and regional government organizations closely monitor and regulate the industry. The type of license you may or may not need will depend on the place of business, but you should check your local regulations to explore the legal requirements and procedures.

Other legal coverages include food delivery insurance to protect your business from accidents, taxes, and other online service regulations. These may cover location data security, information exchange, and even food regulations that apply exclusively to online businesses. There are even laws that limit the amount sold for specific items and food groups, so be sure to cover all legal grounds before ordering your supplies or creating your menu.

A Business (and Meal) Plan

Even when starting a small business, your success relies on a carefully crafted business plan. Within the food delivery industry, this also means coming up with a meal plan. Primarily, you should evaluate if your business can generate a high-enough return on investment, which you should be able to arrive at by considering the following things:

• The cost of each meal, including ingredients, packaging, and travel;
• Necessary costs like electricity and gas;
• Total labor expenses, including part-time and full-time workers and all forms of compensation.

If you have a defined meal plan, you will be able to make close-enough estimates for all these areas and compare your returns. You should also be realistic about your revenue potential and adjust it often to level your expectations. If the numbers aren’t adding up, you can make adjustments to your meal plan or your overall model.

Preparing Your Materials

A great thing about starting a food delivery business is that you can do it without securing a large amount of capital. If you’re preparing home-cooked dishes, chances are you already have most of the utensils you need for the preparation or can buy new ones at relatively low prices. You will typically need the following materials:

• Plastic or cardboard meal containers and bags and single-use utensils for deliveries;
• Pots and pans – preferably large so you can cook multiple meals at a time;
• Food containers to store the cooked food.

When buying the supplies – including the ingredients – look for good local deals and preferably suppliers that sell in bulk. While you should, of course, make sure not to run out of supplies, you should also make calculations about your needs, especially since fresh food can expire quickly and your budget can be exhausted by overestimations.

Marketing Strategy

If you’ve landed on a business idea, you’ve probably researched the local market and identified your target audience. To get your business off the ground, you will need a good marketing strategy for reaching that audience and raising interest in your product.

If you’re starting small, some great cost-effective marketing options are word-of-mouth marketing, local digital campaigns, and distributing flyers in nearby residential areas, schools, or other facilities. You will also need some preliminary branding, like a logo, flyer design, or campaign slogans, for which you can either hire a freelancer, acquaintances or even try to do it yourself.

Final Words

Food delivery is a great business option to explore – specifically because of the current opportunities in the industry and especially if you want to work from home. When starting your business, be sure to acquire any licenses and legal coverage, create a business and meal plan, prepare your materials, and craft an effective marketing strategy.

In a time when people are increasingly leaving their kitchen stoves for precooked meals, there are plenty of opportunities for success.

Dinner Recipes for Ultimate Athlete Performance – What’s Good for You, What Isn’t

We all need that pump to get through the day, right? Well, if you have never thought for a moment…athletes need even more to get them through rigorous activities. 

Yes, they need to compensate for the energy spent in sporting activities by pumping in some more. 

However, eating more doesn’t necessarily mean stocking up on the right stuff. More often than not, it’s what is in each serving that counts. 

Getting the right nutrients gives athletes (and you fitness fanatics too) the much-needed endurance while bolstering the body’s immune system for overall health. It also helps enhance bone health and keeps oxidative stress at a minimum. 

So, what do athletes eat to keep them going? Whether you are an athlete looking for that extra drive, or just a curious novice trying to figure out what keeps athletes going, this post got the answers you are looking for. 

Ahead, you will find everything about healthy eating for athletes, from the nutrients to go for, the best kind of dinner for an active lifestyle, some must-have snacks, and much more. 

Let’s get right into it!

What is the Most Important Meal for an Athlete?

Besides the benefits I have already mentioned, athletes need a high amount of micronutrients, along with vitamins and the rest of the bunch. Why? Because it is crucial for muscle growth; that’s why you see most athletes have those bulked-up bodies. 

Another factor that makes nutrient intake so important is the high metabolic rates triggered by exercise. That’s right, being full doesn’t mean you are fired up enough for a strenuous activity, you need the right kind of fuel.

We don’t have to dig into every meal that an athlete can or should take. Instead, let us cut right to the chase and look at what should be in the meal.

Iron

For the best endurance, immunity, and cognitive functioning, you need sufficient iron intake. While this is kind of a mixed bag of both short and long-term benefits, iron does more to help with your athletic performance. 

It comes in handy in aiding the metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates, as well as fats. 

Looking for iron-rich foods? Try these;

Add fortified cereals to your dinner, along with some fruits or veggies for a touch of vitamin C, and then, of course, red meat. The good thing about Vitamin C is that it helps with the absorption of iron for optimal benefits. 

Calcium 

You will need calcium for nerve impulses and muscle contraction, and of course, bone strength and growth for mass – very essential for athletes as it helps prevent bone stress or fractures during sport.

For calcium intake, you need to consume such foods as spinach, milk, cheese, almonds, collard greens, fortified cereals, and sardines – eaten with the bones (that’s right, the bones count, too.) 

Vitamin D

If you live in an area with plenty of sunlight, this might not be as crucial for you as it would be for someone who spends most of the time indoors or lives in an area with less sunlight. 

Vitamin D is very helpful in enhancing the functioning of your nervous and skeletal system. Speaking of the skeletal system, it’s worth mentioning that this vitamin is important for optimal calcium absorption and controlling serum calcium along with phosphorus for stronger bones. 

To get sufficient amounts of Vitamin D; eat plenty of eggs, fortified milk, supplements, or fatty fish; you know, the likes of salmon, mackerel, and tuna. 

Other nutrients

These are just some of the most essential nutrients to add to your meal, the list is quite long. But besides those, here are a few more must-have nutrients that you should never pass on.

• Zinc — Found in poultry, oysters, dairy products, whole grains, and legumes. You need this one for protein utilization, metabolic efficiency, thyroid function, and overall immunity.
• Magnesium — It’s abundant in nuts, seeds, whole grains, meat, and dairy, as well as green vegetables (the leafy ones). Magnesium helps with calcium absorption, protein synthesis, which is good for muscles, it also relaxes muscles and nerves among other benefits. 
• B Vitamins — B vitamins are essential for repairing muscle tissue after a punishing activity, blood health, metabolism, enhancing cognitive function, and keeping you going. you can get a dose of this from enriched grains, poultry, fish, and meat.

Healthy Dinner for Athletes; What do Athletes eat for Dinner?

When it comes to it, what should be on the table for dinner for athletes who are looking to perform at their best?  

What do athletes eat for dinner? That’s hard to say. You see, everyone is different, and thus we all have different tastes, but on the bottom line, here are some healthy meals to add to your diet. 

These are my favorite, tasty and healthy treats that leave my taste buds smiling, my tummy full, and my body rejuvenated.

 Omelet

If there’s one thing I love the most about omelets, it has to be the high-quality proteins that I can get out of them. This is more of an all-rounder really, so you can also take it for breakfast as well. 

And the best part is that your creativity is the limit here since you can throw in a wide variety of add-ins. Whether it’s some cheese, veggies, fresh herbs, ham, you name it. 

But to get the best out of your omelet dinner, make sure to toss in some whole-grain toast (for those high-fiber carbohydrates,) and a bit of nut butter. 

Shrimp Stir Fry

Whenever I feel like pumping some omega 3 into my body, I get some shrimp (and you should too) for that and then some. Thankfully, shrimp doesn’t give you only these fats, it also packs in proteins. You need those for bulking up, and B12, which is essential for energy.

What’s more, this meal is easy and fast to cook, even for the lazy folks out there, and yeah, there’s a bucket list of recipes out there. You just can’t go wrong with this one.

Oatmeal

Oatmeal recipes come in a wide array of foams. But here I mean the savory oatmeal. What do I like about it? Well, this one gives me the chunk of carbs that I need to make through the day, even on one of those dreaded days when you have to hit the gym or compete. 

That’s not all; throw in some herbs, fruit, cheese, and well, spice it up nicely, and you have a warm, mouthwatering yet helpful treat for dinner. 

Another way to make it even more delicious is to throw some caramelized onions and a sprinkle of curry powder into the mix; seriously, there are different ways to make your savory oatmeal super delicious. 

 And when I need to get some proteins while at it, I throw in some soft-boiled eggs too. It’s up to you to decide how you want it!

Snacks for Athletes; Is this even a Good Idea?

Snacks have had their fair share of bad repute, but does that mean athletes can’t get a quick bite sometime during the day or late in the evening? 

Of course not! After all, you still need a refill on your calories and nutrients. 

However, you need to make sure it’s a healthy one, especially if you are taking one before or after exercise. 

What snacks should I ditch?

Anything that floods your body with fats and sugars is an absolute no-no. They don’t offer you the needed energy and nutrients. 

If you have been into fitness or sports long enough, then you already know those fried goodies like potato chips, doughnuts and cookies are bad news. 

Also, steer clear of candy bars and sodas, and the list just keeps going. These are not considered to be of any nutritional value for athletes.

What snacks are good for me?

To get the best of both worlds, try the following snacks. They will keep you fuelled, but without pumping unwanted sugars and fats into your system.

Some of those in-the-bag bites that are good for your body and sports performance include;

• Canned fruits
• Cheese and whole-grain crackers
• Energy bars or granola bars
• Slices of banana (or apple) taken with peanut butter
• Meal replacement shakes
• Bagel sandwich, whole-grain bread, crackers, hummus…etc

High Calorie, Protein-Rich Shakes for Athletes

In this case, I would recommend going for meal replacement shakes. These allow you to kill 2 birds with one stone, in that you can have that pack in the bag for a sip when you need one. 

And no, you don’t have to worry about any unwanted, harmful stuff; if you get the right one. 

What’s more, even if you don’t trust that ingredients label on most shakes on the market, you can still blend one yourself. That way you will be sure of what goes into the blender. 

Besides, shakes are easy and a snap to beat, so yeah, if you are short on time, this one’s for you. However, don’t make the mistake of entirely replacing shakes with your meals. 

What are some of the best protein shake recipes for athletes?

you can decide to be a bit flexible and creative with these, but I will give you a rundown of the basics so you can base on those. 

• Nut butter and fruits or veggies — For homemade shakes 
• Protein powder — The market has a myriad of these, be keen to get a good one
• Seeds — you can decide whether to use these with your homemade shake or mix them in with your protein powders to flavor things up and add more of the good stuff. Your call!

Vegetarian Athlete Recipes

So, you are a vegetarian? That shouldn’t stop you from getting in the right nutrients. And whether you go for whole meals, or opt for shakes, (actually, you should balance both) you will still get all that you need. 

Again, when it comes to hitting the kitchen and cooking up some delicious, nutrient-packed meal, you are in charge. It’s the shakes you should be more careful with. 

My favorite is the Kachava meal replacement shake. 

This plant-based shake has just about everything you need and is super easy and fast to mix and sip. And yes, you can go wild with it and beat up a variety of recipes. 

Even without going out of your way to spice things up, this shake is awesomely tasty and comes in both chocolate and vanilla flavor. 

Now, the fact that this is plant-based isn’t to say you can’t get protein and other nutrients with it. Here are the different Kachava blends that you can enjoy for a fulfilling gulp. 

• Super-Greens blend
• Protein blend
• Omega EFA or Fiber blend
• Adaptogens blend
• Antioxidant blend
• Digestive Enzyme blend
• Prebiotic and probiotics blend

The Athletes Takeaway

If you are an athlete or just a weightless nerd looking to eat healthily, you are in control of what to eat and what not to. The choices highlighted here-in are going to help you stay healthy, energetic, and even boost your immunity for long-term benefits. 

Now, these might not work the same for everyone, try them out and stick with what works the best for you. The choice is all yours — only the goal is the same; eating healthy and stocking up on energy reserves.