Posted on Leave a comment

Ainsley Harriott Winter Warmer Hamper Review

A huge thank you to Ainsley Harriott for the lovely Winter Warmer hamper that arrived at the Scottish Mum Blog household for review.   The pack was just what we need up in the cold in the North East of Scotland.  It gets pretty chilly here and standard winter clobber usually involves multiple layers of anything that keeps us warm.  The hamper organisers must have known just how much a new set of winter cosies was needed in our home.

Who is Ainsley Harriott?

You know the one.  That chef off the TV.  The one who did Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook, and had us all glued to our TV screens.  If you don’t remember him, you really missed out and it might be a good idea to pop over and see some of his product ranges.

He’s also been on Ready Steady Cook, where he spent many years between chef and host.  Most of you will probably remember him from Good Morning with Anne and Nick.

Having moved to being an author and cracking the US, Ainsley has now launched a new product range of Cup Soups.    We’ve been happy to try them out.

Winter Warmer 3

We had the full Ainsley Harriott Cup Soup range to try, with a lovely mug to eat it in, and to add to it, they also sent some goodies to help keep us warm in winter.

Winter Warmer 6

A lovely hat, scarf, pair of gloves and cosy covered waterbottle with some packs of tissues by Emma Bridgewater filled up the hamper nicely, and finished it off with a gorgeous Lily-Flame Silent Night Sweet Dreams candle which has the kind of earthy but sweet smell that I really like.  As a chandler myself, I only like good quality candles and this one fits the bill perfectly.   I’d buy that fragrance oil if I knew what it was…..

The Cup Soups had to be tried before reporting back.  I’d have to say my favourite is the New England Style Vegetable Chowder.

Winter Warmer 5

We tried all of these:

  • New England, Style Vegetable Chowder – 97 calories
  • Italian Style Minestrone Soup – 85 calories
  • Bombay Potato, Pea & Spinach (my mums favourite) – 106 Calories
  • Tuscan Tomato Mozzarella & Chilli – 84 calories
  • Szechuan Hot & Sour (adored by two kids) – 62 calories
  • East Indian Mulligatawny – 110 calories

Cup Soups that I’ve tried before tend to be watery with some dried up croutons in them, so I am happy to report the lovely consistency of good soup which dissolves well into boiling water.

Ainsley has also launched products including cooking sauces, risotto, croutons and unusual rice accompaniments.  I really quite fancy trying the Chilli & Lime Flavoured Quinoa & Basmati Rice.

Winter Warmer 1

Posted on 579 Comments

Win an Unlimited Cinema Card from Cineworld for a year. Ends 9th January 2012

As much hard work as it is to get everything ready for Christmas day, it’s nothing in comparison to the people who have to spend it alone, for whatever reason.  We like to stay together as a family, but I do know people who spend it alone.   Friends and family are very important in the holiday season.

Everyone also has a favourite family Christmas film, and we all like to reminisce about our favourite oldies.  Whether it’s a comedy like Elf or a rom com like Love Actually, it is an undeniable fact that there are still so many films to enjoy this season, both new and old.  I’m told that it’s quite common for families to go altogether to the cinema on Boxing Day which seems like a lovely tradition.  It’s not something we have ever thought of doing as a family, but there is always room for a new tradition or two.

It’s for this reason that I have joined up with dating site eHarmony to offer one lucky reader unlimited cinema trips for a year.  Up for grabs is one Cineworld ‘Unlimited Card’, which also comes with access to exclusive advance screenings and meal discounts.  Think about a whole year of unlimited films at Cineworld, and you could have plenty to talk about to get any conversation started, whether you go film watching with your family, your friends or even with a new date.

I know a lovely couple who met online after a few years Internet courtship, and they lived at the opposite ends of the Country, so it is possibly to find love through a keyboard.

eHarmony have given all the readers of Scottish Mum the opportunity to win the unlimited cinema card for a year, so if you do find love in Scotland on eHarmony.co.uk, you’d have plenty to talk about with all the movies you’ll  be watching.

If you’re not based in Scotland, that’s no problem either.  They have members all over the UK, and they are all looking for that special someone to share their lives with.

To be in with a chance of winning the Cineword Unlimited card, complete as many of the entry methods as possible, then leave a comment to say you have done so. Each method – and comment – counts as a different entry. Good luck!

Entry methods: Follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Posted on 2 Comments

Guest Recipe: Carol’s Caribbean Christmas Cake

This is a fabulous Guest Recipe, featured and supported by Country Products.

We all want to know how to make fabulous cake when Christmas comes around, and the Caribbean Christmas Cake looks and sounds like  a worth cake to try out for special days.  I hope you enjoy it.

Carol’s Caribbean Christmas Cake

Carolann

Ingredients
  

  • 300 ml Apple Juice
  • 100 ml Rum
  • 225 g Butter
  • 225 g Soft Brown Sugar
  • 1 tbls Treacle
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 225 g Plain Flour
  • 1 tsp Mixed Spice
  • 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
  • 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
  • 170 g Chopped Nuts
  • 900 g Mixed Fruit
  • 1 Orange Zest
  • 1 Lemon Zest
  • Assorted Glace Fruits
  • Brazil Nuts
  • Almonds Blanched
  • Apricot Glaze

Instructions
 

Cake

  • Soak all the fruit in a bowl the day before in the apple juice and rum. This plumps up your fruit and will make your cake wonderfully moist.
  • Grease and line a 20cm tin.
  • Weigh out your dry ingredients into a bowl (Flour, mixed spices) and set aside.
  • Cream butter and sugar and add treacle and mix well.

  • Add the orange and lemon zest.
  • Add the eggs a bit at a time. If you get curdling add some flour between pouring in your eggs.
  • Drain your fruit and add to the mix with the chopped nuts.
  • Pour mixture into your tin. And line the outside with brown paper or newspaper and secure with string. This stops the sides burning.

  • Bake at 150 degrees for about 4 hrs. After 3 hrs check by pricking with a skewer and if it comes out clean then it’s done. Leave to cool in the tin and then turn out, prick the base and drizzle rum over.
  • Wrap in baking paper and foil and store in a tin.

Icing and Decorating

  • Place cake on a cake board.


  • Arrange all of your glace fruits and nuts on top. Be creative!
  • In a pan place your apricot jam (about 4 tbsps) and a tbsp of water.
  • Bring to the boil stirring all the time until it is smooth then take off the heat. Add a tbsp of rum and stir well.
  • Using a pastry brush, brush over the fruit with the glaze. The glaze helps preserve your fruit, nuts and cake.
  • Brush the sides of your cake with your glaze.
  • Now roll out your marzipan in a long roll and make a collar to go around your cake making sure it goes about ¼” above the top of the cake.
  • Roll out your fondant icing and again make a collar to go around the cake to cover the marzipan. Be sure to dampen the marzipan before adding the icing so that it sticks to the marzipan. I always use a measure when doing this procedure so as to get the right size of collar around.
  • With the extra ¼” push down towards the cake. This is the lip where you will add your holly leaves.
  • Make a small amount of royal icing for piping your leaves on.
  • Cut out your holly leaves. Make sure you cut out plenty in large and small size.

Notes

Depending on when you make your cake feed it with rum but if you make it 2 or 3 months before Christmas then just feed it once or twice a month. Too much feeding and your cake will become soggy.

 

Posted on 3 Comments

Gorgeous Red Cranberry and Cherry Sauce Recipe

Cranberry Sauce

How to make cranberry sauce is something I have wondered for a while.

I wanted to try something different, and visiting Cosco saw me pick up a box of fresh cranberries that I fancied using to make a sauce for Christmas Day. I’m pleased to say it was easier than I expected to do, and it’s a recipe that I will probably make every year now. I would however, make it in far less quantities than I’ve ended up with as it is just to go with turkey trimmings.

I intend to freeze some tonight to see how it holds up when it’s defrosted at a later date.

[gmc_recipe 9529]

;

Posted on Leave a comment

Christmas Delivery Dates Calendar

This is a thoughtful and helpful feature from Castle Cover.  They have built a delivery dates calendar for us all to use.

If you’re not sure when the Christmas Delivery Dates are, then just take a look at the interactive pages on their website and it will help you make the right decisions about those last-minute presents you are hoping to buy.

Clicking on the Delivery Calendar image takes you to their website, were you can check the last posting dates of different types of items and some high street stores.  Don’t waste any time as we are reaching the end of the road for buying our late goodies.

Castle Cover

 

 

Posted on Leave a comment

A Homemade Christmas with Crafty Projects and Food Recipes. From Christmas Tree Decorations to Mulled Wine.

A lovely Christmas featured post, brought to you by Simply Be.

It’s that time of year again when Christmas is nearly upon us.

Many of us are getting ready to stock up on luxuries, gifts and decorations.   Oranges, nuts and much more sit happily in shop windows, while boxes of cakes, chocolates and figs make their way into shopping trolleys across Britain.

It’s all about making Christmas your own and not necessarily spending enough money to keep the country afloat for the next year.  There’s no better way to keep your money in your pocket than getting a bit crafty in the kitchen and with the decorations.

Lets have a look at some nice and easy craft and food ideas that you can do at home to save some pennies.

 Crafts

 Christmas tree decorations

Homemade Christmas-01

Ideal for both kids and adults, these decorations will give your tree a real old-fashioned Christmas look, and provide hours of festive entertainment for the whole family.

You will need:

–          Some card

–          Coloured felt

–          Chalk

–          Safety scissors

–          Needle and thread

–          Glue stick

–          Glitter, sequins and any other decorations you’d like

–          Ribbon

Step 1: Take two pieces of felt and one piece of card. Place them on top of each other and, using the chalk, draw out your chosen Christmas design on the top piece of felt. You could make lots of different shapes, such as trees, angels or stockings.

Step 2: Once you’ve drawn your design, hold the felt and card together and cut around the outline so that you have three identical shapes, two with felt and one with card.

Step 3: Place the card in between the two pieces of felt, and sew around the edge. You could use gold or silver thread to make it extra sparkly!

Step 4: Use the glue to decorate your design with glitter, sequins, or even other felt shapes to create an applique effect.

Step 5: Take a piece of ribbon, cut to the desired length and sew the ends to your decoration, before hanging on the Christmas tree to shine among the fairy lights!

 “Santa, Stop Here!” sign

Make a colourful decoration for your window or garden to put out with the children on Christmas Eve – you could even get the kids to leave a carrot next to it, to lure the reindeer in!

Homemade Christmas-02

You will need:

–          A panel of thick card

–          Christmas wrapping paper

–          Coloured card

–          Coloured pens or paints

–          Glitter, sequins, felt shapes, or any other decorations you can think of

–          Safety scissors

Step 1: Cut your thick card down to the size and shape you want, and then wrap it up in your wrapping paper.

Step 2: Glue the coloured card to the centre of the wrapped thick card. Using pens or paints in festive colours, write a message to Santa, such as “Santa, stop here!” or “Santa, this way!” You can find some great templates for writing your message here.

Step 3: Decorate your sign with glitter, sequins, or felt Christmas shapes.

Step 4: Leave somewhere Father Christmas can see it – but not until Christmas Eve!

 Christmas Food Recipes

 There’s something incredibly satisfying about making your own Christmas food – the whole family can enjoy making it together, and your finished products are often just the thing for handmade gifts, Secret Santas and last-minute parties – for kids and grown-ups alike! Here are just some of our favourites.

Mince pies

Homemade Christmas-03

The ultimate in Christmas cuisine, there really is nothing that beats the humble mince pie. Who doesn’t note their “first pie of the season”? Making them should be a shared experience; taking turns adding ingredients to your mincemeat mix and arguing over who can make the best pastry is as satisfying as sitting back with a cup of tea and taking that first indulgent bite. Ours is a variation on a Delia classic, made the day before you need them, complete with a foolproof pastry recipe that will softly crumble and melt in the mouth.

Ingredients

Makes around 1.4kg

 Mincemeat:

–          225g Bramley apples, cored and diced into small cubes

–          110g vegetable suet (or even beef, for a slightly richer flavour)

–          110g sultanas

–          110g currants

–          175g raisins

–          110g mixed candied peel

–          175g soft dark brown sugar

–          Grated zest and juice of 1 orange

–          Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

–          25g almonds, sliced into slivers

–           ¼ tsp ground cinnamon

–          Pinch ground nutmeg

–          1tbsp brandy

–          1tbsp Irish whiskey

–          1tbsp dark rum

Step 1: Combine all the ingredients except for the brandy, whiskey and dark rum in a large, ovenproof bowl, and mix thoroughly (if you have little helpers, this is the time to employ them!). Once fully mixed, cover the bowl with a clean cloth and leave somewhere cool for around 12 hours.

Step 2: The next day, pre-heat the oven to 120C (100C for fan ovens). Cover the bowl loosely with tin foil, and bake the mixture for about three hours.

Step 3: Take out of the oven and stir well. Stir occasionally for the next hour, as it cools. The shredded suet will have coagulated – don’t worry about how it looks, it will encase all of your other ingredients and lock in all the flavour!

Step 4: Once fully cooled, add the three spirits as generously as you like (our measurements are a rough guide!) and stir well. Your mincemeat is now ready to use, and can be cooked with immediately or will last for another year or so if packed into sterilised jars.

Pastry

Homemade Christmas-04

Enough for 18-24 pies

 Ingredients

–          225g cold butter

–          350g plain flour

–          100g golden caster sugar

Instructions

Step 1: Rub butter into flour with your hands, working quickly with your fingertips.

Step 2: Mix in caster sugar and a pinch of salt.

Step 3: Combine into a ball with your hands, and knead briefly. It should be fairly firm. You can use this straight away or leave in the fridge for later.

Making your mince pies

Homemade Christmas-05

 You will need:

–          Your mincemeat

–          Your pastry

–          1 egg, beaten

–          Icing sugar, to dust

 Step 1: Preheat oven to 200C (180C for fan ovens). Line two muffin trays by pressing a walnut-sized ball of pastry into the bottom of each hole, ensuring the surface is fully covered.

Step 2: Spoon about a tablespoon of mincemeat into each pastry case.

Step 3: Take slightly smaller balls of pastry and pat them down into a large circle with your hands, then place as a lid onto each pie. Apply a little pressure around the edge to seal the lid to the base.

Step 4: Brush beaten egg over the top of each pie, then bake for 20 minutes, or until golden. Leave to cool, then remove to a wire rack. Using a sieve, dust icing sugar over them just before serving. Don’t forget to try one while they’re still warm!

Peppermint Creams

Homemade Christmas-06

Makes 3-4 dozen

Excellent bite-sized treats, just right for satisfying those Christmas sugar cravings and easy enough to whip up in a hurry!

Ingredients

–          450 icing sugar

–          1tbsp milk

–          ½ tsp peppermint extract

–          1 egg white

Instructions:

    1. Sieve icing sugar into mixing bowl and mix in peppermint and egg white. If the mixture seems too thin, add some more icing sugar.
    2. When the mixture is thick enough, knead it and sprinkle with a little more icing sugar. Roll out and cut into small, 1-2 inch thick squares.
    3. Leave for 10 minutes, then turn sweets over.
    4. Leave for another 15 minutes before serving or gift-wrapping.

Mulled wine

A toasty treat on a cold Christmas Eve, mulled wine is the ultimate comforter. This recipe will also fill your home with delicious Christmas aromas, and is ideal if you have friends coming over!

Ingredients

–          1 bottle red wine

–          60g Demerara sugar

–          1 cinnamon stick

–          Pinch grated nutmeg

–          1 orange, cut in half

–          1 dried bay leaf

–          60ml sloe or damson gin

Instructions:

    1. Slowly heat the wine in a saucepan with the orange, sugar, bay leaf, cinnamon and nutmeg. Keep simmering until sugar has completely dissolved.
    2. Taste-test and add more sugar if desired.
    3. Take off the heat and stir in the sloe or damson gin before serving in heatproof glasses. The warmer the better!
Posted on 8 Comments

God versus Santa

Now there’s a question.

It did come up in conversation.  You know the type.  You’re standing at the sink peeling spuds, and out comes a voice from behind you demanding to know the difference between God and Santa.

Turning round, with three pairs of eyes looking at you, you instantly become conscious that the voice is no longer of the age that platitudes can keep it happy for the next year, so, it went like this:

“Can you wait until I’ve finished the spuds, I really need to concentrate when I use a sharp knife.”

Any hope I had that the conversation would be forgotten amidst Minecraft and X-box challenges was useless.

At the supper table, out came the question again.

“So, Santa and God.”

“Yes,” says I, dreading how this is going.

“They’re the same.”

“How’s that then?”

“Well, nobody living has ever seen God, but plenty people living have seen Santa.”

“How does that make them the same?”

A serious pout comes over an exasperated face as he thinks how to answer.

“They both have white hair and white beards, and I think God turns into Santa for Christmas and he looks happier as Santa so I think he should stay Santa all the time.”

I have to say I was speechless….

Thankfully the phone rang and the conversation was diverted, but I know it’s going to come up again very soon…………..

 

 

Posted on 2 Comments

Review – Ask Her Friends… A Novel Way to Shop

Jimmy Choo1

Ask her friends is run by Ben.

He has this to say:

“Buying a gift for someone special should be one of the most natural things in the world, right?  So why when we try to get something for our wife, girlfriend, sister, friend or mum is it such a struggle – with countless hours of searching, browsing and agonising?”

I can certainly empathise with that problem situation.

He explains:

“The way I see it there are 3 KEY problems:

  1. A lack of ideas of what to get. Where do I actually start?
  2. Lots of ideas but no clue as to what to go for! The agony of choice!
  3. Will she like it? Will she hate it? Fear!”

With a novel method of crowd sourcing ideas from women, Ask Her Friends has chosen to feature items that those of us who have pretty normal lives would actually like to receive.

Having things that women would want, rather than some design board decide what they will give us to choose from, gives us a better choice, and more confidence that any gift we spend our hard earned money and time on getting and sending will be well received with a smile, rather than a tolerating grimace while the receiver mentally plans who to give that to next year.

There’s a lovely ideas map that asks you questions to get to the best choices for a gift and tailored to the person you are buying for.

With a limited range, the quality of goods on offer is higher than I expected.  As part of my trial of the service, I chose to try out the Jimmy Choo perfume.

It’s definitely the only Jimmy Choo product that I am likely to wear.  As much as I love shoes, I am way past the ability to wear skyscrapers and not break my legs on the way down and it was really good to get something that I really really wanted.

Jimmy Choo3

The fact that my kids have said that the smell is beautiful just made my day even more.  My scent came with a gorgeous Jimmy Choo Make-Up bag and I think the perfume is now going to be used in preference to any I have on my bathroom shelf.

If you’re struggling to choose, even with all the advice you can get, there is an online live chat facility which is always a good customer service selling point.

Give them a whirl, you might just find what you’ve been looking for.

 

Posted on 2 Comments

A Kindle Fire HD up for grabs with SSE – Closes 18th December at 4pm. Get your skates on.

A featured competition, brought to you from SSE.

As a festive thank you to customers and social media followers, SSE is offering everyone the chance to win a brand new Kindle Fire HD tablet!  All you need to do to enter is like the SSE Facebook page and help the Christmas Elves charge their Kindle in the competition App.

The competition will end Tuesday 18 December at 4pm, with winner being informed the next day.  This gives you the chance to win a great gift just in time for Christmas.

To play the game all you have to do is :

  • Head over to the SSE Facebook Page and like it before you play the game.
  • Click on the actual game to start it off.  There is also a like button to hit on this page.
  • The object is to use your right and left arrow keys to make the Elf run fast……
  • Then you use your up and down arrow keys to help the Elf charge up the Kindle Fire HD.
  • Then we have to follow a couple more instructions to fully charge the animated battery, then we can leave our name, address and e-mail to enter the competition.
ps, it’s a little harder than you realise at first.
Good luck.

 

Posted on Leave a comment

Review: Notcutts Indoor and Outdoor Christmas Lights

Notcutts sent me a lovely box of 200 indoor and outdoor lights to use for our tree.

We have some lights, but the boys were determined to put them on the tree as they have several flashing functions on them.  We put the tree up last night, and the kids are highly delighted with it, but tonight our lights for outside blew, so tomorrow is likely to be a day where we take the lights off the tree and put them outside so that we have some bling on the house this year.

The lights we had have 200 multifunction, cool white led chaser lights.  They have a memory controller and with a length of 13.93m + a 5 metre lead cable, they are long enough to do most houses.

My lights are £19.99 from the Notcutts Online Store, and they have lots of other variations.  Considering the RRP of these is £13.99, they are a good bargain to stock up on for next year too.  Notcutts has Christmas Trees, free  delivery over £30, and have a larger product range for a Garden Centre with indoor furniture, some pet items, and lots of Christmas goodies.

Important:  Please read the instruction leaflets when you are putting Christmas lights onto your house.

Posted on Leave a comment

Our Christmas Package from Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. came up with a couple of grown up DVD’s that 2 of my boys will watch.

In the little pack, I have:

  • The Dark Knight Rises
  • New Year’s Eve
  • Christmas Stocking
  • Three Candy Canes
  • Three Chocolate Figures.

It’s always nice that Warner Bros. remembers I have three boys.

The Dark Knight Rises also comes with Ultraviolet that allows me to take the film with me, and not leave me tied to a DVD player.

As always, the DVD’s are available reasonably from Amazon.

A little bit about them.

The Dark Knight Rises

It has been eight years since Batman vanished into the night, turning, in that instant, from hero to fugitive. Assuming the blame for the death of D.A. Harvey Dent, the Dark Knight sacrificed everything for what he and Commissioner Gordon both hoped was the greater good. For a time the lie worked, as criminal activity in Gotham City was crushed under the weight of the anti-crime Dent Act.

 But everything will change with the arrival of a cunning cat burglar with a mysterious agenda. Far more dangerous, however, is the emergence of Bane, a masked terrorist whose ruthless plans for Gotham drive Bruce out of his self-imposed exile. But even if he dons the cape and cowl again, Batman may be no match for Bane.

New Years Eve

“New Year’s Eve” celebrates love, hope, forgiveness, second chances and fresh starts, with intertwining stories told amidst the pulse and promise of New York City on the most dazzling night of the year.  With Ashton Kutcher, Zac Efron, Robert De Niro, Jon Bon Jovi, Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Katherine Heigl, Sarah Jessica Parker, Michelle Pfeiffer, Hillari Swank – and even more, it certainly is full of big names.

 

 

Posted on Leave a comment

Guest Post from Cancer Research Uk: Tips for Surviving the Flu Season

Autumn is officially upon us now – we’ve dug our winter coats out, turned up the heating and said goodbye to our sunnies for a while. And with the new season, it is inevitable that soon enough we shall all be under threat from colds and flu. But how can we prepare for this and start battling off the symptoms of runny noses, sneezing and sore throats? Take a look at our top tips for surviving the flu season and then sit smugly as you watch everyone else succumb to illness.

Image CC via Flickr

1. Stay Indoors

Okay, so obviously we don’t mean that you have lock yourself away from the outside world, but why not consider switching your mad Friday night drinking session for a cosy night in front of the TV? We all know that alcohol isn’t great for us, but cutting down around this time of year can significantly improve our chances of avoiding the flu as it weakens your immune system, giving nasty viruses the opportunity to take advantage. Plus, clubs and bars are an absolute haven for viruses. Anyway, with weather like this, a nice hot chocolate and a bad film sounds somewhat more appealing that a chilled glass of Pinot!

2. Stay Hygienic

Again, let’s not get over the top with this one. There is no need to freak out everytime somebody with a slightly red looking nose comes near you, but at the same time, it doesn’t hurt to take a few extra precautions around this time of year. Try keeping a small travel sized bottle of antibacterial gel in your bag, and make sure you’re using it at times when you come potentially pick up a bug, for example after you’ve been on a train with lots of people, or if you have been eating in a communal area. Just try to find the right balance between squalor and germophobia!

3. Know Your Vitamins

Understanding the correct vitamins to take can significantly boost your immune system and improve your chances of resisting illness as long as you remember to keep taking them. To avoid colds and flu, try vitamin C or the lesser known Echinacea, which helps strengthen your immune system. You can get it in both drops and tablets, depending on your preference, from all good health stores.

CC via Flickr

4. Sleep, sleep, sleep

This may sound like simple advice, but it is amazing how many people fail to get enough sleep on a regular basis. Of course a lack of sleep can make you feel run down as it is, but recent studies have also shown a link between sleep and the production of disease-fighting white blood cells. So, next time you feel bad about having too much of a lie in, just remember that it’s for the sake of your health!

5. Avoid the Gym

Okay, so most of us don’t need an excuse to skip a visit to the gym, but the fact is that, if you’re not feeling great, it’s a place to avoid. To start with, it’s a pretty close environment and there’s a real risk of either picking up a bug from someone else. If you’re already feeling rough, there might be a temptation to exercise through it, in the hope that it’ll speed up the healing process. Truth is, you’ll just risk infecting other people and making yourself feel worse. Listen to what your body is telling you: if you’re ill, rest is the fastest way to recovery.

6. Wrap up Warm

There’s a persistent myth that colds and flu can actually be caused by being too cold. In reality, both are caused by a virus that you can only pick up from someone who already has it, or from coming into contact with something they’ve been using. If you’re already ill, though, nothing will make you feel worse like being cold, and you’ll soon see your symptoms exacerbated.

This was a post from the health bloggers at Cancer Research UK, providing information and support to those suffering with breast cancer and those who know someone who is.