Good Food for Good Health

My little 4-year-old Mila is learning the “eat your rainbow” song! She is a big fan of fruits and vegetables at every meal. Kids are a big lesson to show us that eating clean starts at early age. It is habits that change our tasting buds and choices. Eat your rainbow focuses on filling half of our plates with colored veggies and fruits, and the rest is left for healthy carb, protein, and fats. Natural food in its least processed shape is the healthy choice for us. Mediterranean cuisine is an amazing choice, and as a Lebanese, I am proud that Lebanese food is an excellent example of this theory.

To keep it simple, look for food in its simplest form, go low on processed and packaged food, stay away from food additives, and try to mix ingredients of different colors for an extra rich dish !

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Good Food for Good Mood

Food is the common denominator that brings all living together; we need food to survive. While it differs between cultures, everyone can agree that a homemade meal is best to uplift the mood and energy. There are two types of good foods:

1. Happy Foods: food rich in vitamins that affect us physiologically by raising our serotonin, the happy chemical they call, for a brief explanation.

2. Comfort Foods: you know it when you smell it and remember old memories or think of it when you’re not feeling ok. These are foods that help us psychologically and boost our mental and emotional state.

As a mom of two, and an expat living away from home for more than a decade now, my kitchen is my comfort place to create memories be it my kids’ bday cakes or a challenge with my mom to pass the traditional recipes quiz !!! After many years of yo-yo dieting and deprivation of labeled food categories, i now know that good food is the key to a good life, and a good relation with food is the key to good health.

Feed yourself good food, and surround yourself with good people, much love ❤

What to color the room ?

Ever wondered what a room color can have effect on your mood and daily life? Do you know that choosing the right color can boost your mood or energy or even appetite!

Well, a room color can influence our mood and our thoughts. while most colors have mostly the same effect on all people, sometimes it depends on one’s age, gender and social environment.
Instead of just following trends of colors and pay a lot just to buy the new shade of a fancy brand, be sure that the people who live at home will be the bet designers.Other than the mood, color can have visual effect on the size of a room. What matters most is to select nice corners at home and make these changes instead of turning a whole room into red or yellow! To chose smartly, keep in mind that a color can have active, passive or neutral effect. Light colors make space brighter and wider.Dark colors are warm and more intimate.

Let’s take basic colors:
1. RED: it’s vital, exciting and energetic. Amazing color for dining rooms and living rooms where you can attract people to interact, eat share conversation and lift the energy higher. The color is a bit too much for a bedroom. Select elegant rich red shades. Red is nice with any light.
2. Yellow: Shiny, happy & bright. Where best to choose other than kitchen and breakfast table area. Small toilet will look funny and nice. But be careful; don’t count on this color for a full scheme, as too much yellow is annoying. Be very wise when selecting the area. Pastel yellow is easy for the eye. Works well with any light.
3. Blue: Calming, relaxing and very recommended for bedrooms and bathrooms. A blue has many shades, the brighter the calmer. If the blue is very dark, it will have the total opposite effect and will let the room be sad. Light blue looks amazing in living rooms. Blue goes best with natural light.
4. Green: a mix of yellow and blue; Happy and Fresh. Green is considered the best for the eye. The perfect color for almost any room, being it bedroom or living room, a kitchen or bathrooms. Green is peaceful and fresh. Natural light or not, green is perfect.
5. Purple: a mix of Red and Blue; sophisticated, classy and eye catcher. Imagine a bunch of lavender in your bedroom, how restful it looks like. On the other hand, imagine purple aubergine corner, how classy and creative it will look like.
6. Orange: a mix of Red and Yellow; excitement and energy. Most recommended in exercise rooms where the energy level need to be at its peak. A bit too much for bedrooms or dining area.

All the above colors will definitely add value and different kind of energy of emotion in each corner at home. But one cannot do this exercise without the basic neutral kit; white, black, grey and even brown. These are important to draw the frame for each scheme. A little of each is important especially the black where the look will be more bold. I personally don’t recommend painting other than walls, as painting the ceiling is very tricky and can damage the proportion of the room.

At the end and most important, make your home the reflection of your personality and lifestyle. Never imitate, make the journey counts!