The internet is flooded with endless ideas on ‘how to lead a healthy life.’ Apple cider vinegar (ACV), for example, seems to be ruling the internet with a myriad of articles that describe facts and bust myths about this ingredient. It can be overwhelming to go through these articles because we don’t know which one to follow. Hence, here is a comprehensive compilation of the advantages of apple cider vinegar.

• Lowers cholesterol: A Japanese study has found that drinking half an ounce of apple cider vinegar every day can lower cholesterol levels in their experiment group. The acetic acid in the vinegar is known to reduce bad cholesterol.
• Prevents indigestion: A lot of us end up binge eating, be it during weekends or at a party. Ensure to carry the following recipe in a bottle before you indulge in food. Take one teaspoon of honey and apple cider vinegar each and mix it in a glass of warm water. You should drink this apple cider vinegar mixture at least 30 minutes before you dine.
• Aids weight loss: Maybe apple cider vinegar got into the spotlight for this reason. Some people claim that drinking apple cider vinegar can help one lose weight. The acetic acid not only helps in lowering cholesterol but also reduces the appetite and increases one’s metabolism. It also reduces the water retention in your system. Some scientists believe that apple cider vinegar acts on the body’s starch, thereby allowing fewer calories to enter the bloodstream.
• No more acne: This is good news for all of us. Apple cider vinegar acts as a natural toner, and it is a great home remedy to keep your skin healthy. Its antibacterial properties help to keep acne under control, and it also softens and exfoliates the skin, reduces red spots, and maintains your skin’s healthy pH balance.
• Energizer: When we are stressed, lactic acid builds up in our body and causes fatigue. The amino acid in apple cider vinegar acts as the perfect remedy to overcome this. Potassium and other enzymes from apple cider vinegar reduce the feeling of tiredness. Just mix a teaspoon or two of apple cider vinegar into any vegetable drink or add it to a glass of water. Drink this apple cider vinegar mixture to pump up your energy levels.
• Dandruff: Apple cider vinegar’s acidity makes it difficult for yeast to grow. Mix ½ teaspoon of apple cider vinegar with ½ teaspoon of warm water in a bottle and spritz your scalp with this mixture. If you follow this routine twice a week, you will be surprised by the results.

Advertised in the year 1952 as Chex™ Party Mix, an assorted blend of Chex™ cereals, chips, hard breadsticks, pretzels, nuts, and crackers were mixed and packaged attractively as a holiday treat. Millions of Americans enjoy this very popular snack even today. Munching on Chex™ Party Mix is a favorite pastime for children and adults alike. Chex™ makes these commercially in a variety of salty and sweet flavors to suit the masses. You can use online recipes of Chex™ Party Mix to make this at home with a variety of seasonings. A benefit of this is that you can customize your mix according to your preferences.

Here we have shared an oven-baked Chex™ Party Mix snack recipe. Why wait for the holiday season to prepare this? Go on, try making this easy Chex™ Party Mix snack recipe today, and invite some friends over for a movie night to share this special dish. Or better still, go on a long car ride to enjoy this super delicious homemade treat.

Ingredients

• 4 cups crisp Corn Chex™ cereal
• 4 cups crisp Wheat Chex™ cereal
• 4 cups crisp Rice Chex™ cereal
• 2 cups pretzel sticks
• 2 cups roasted peanuts
• 2 cups roasted almonds
• 2 cups roasted cashew nuts
• 1 cup bagel chips
• 1 cup cheese twists
• 4 tablespoons melted butter
• 4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
• In a large bowl, mix the crispy corn, wheat, and rice Chex™ cereals. Also add the pretzel sticks, roasted peanuts, roasted almonds, roasted cashew nuts, bagel chips, and cheese twists to the same bowl.
• In another bowl add the melted butter, Worcestershire sauce, seasoned salt, smoked paprika, chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and stir well to combine.
• Then, toss this blend into the bowl containing the cereal mixture and nuts. Keep stirring continuously and gently until the solids are evenly well coated with the delicious sauce.
• Transfer the contents of the bowl onto a large baking sheet and bake for about 80 minutes, or until it turns nice and crisp. Remember to stir the mixture every 15 minutes to prevent it from sticking together.
• Remove this from the oven, spread it onto paper towels, and allow the Chex™ snack mix to cool down completely.

Store this yummy delight in an airtight container. Or grab a bowlful of this fresh homemade Chex™ snack mix recipe and keep munching!

Pizzas are the star of any game night. Could there be anything better than a cheesy, spicy pizza and all your friends with you for a game night? Special days call for special pizzas. As far as games go, Super Bowl and NBA finals are the times when fans go crazy. The demand for Domino’s Pizza spikes up to 350% during these days. Most pizzerias offer pizza specials to encourage friends to assemble at one place, enjoy the game, and feast on pizza. Cheering on your favorite team, and singing team anthems with a pizza slice in hand have become traditions and part of our country’s culture. The craze starts several days before the finals, and it peaks a few hours before the last game. Pizza outlets make the most of this time as they expect the demand to hit the roof. To get a lead over their competitors, they provide special deals, BOGO offers, as well as discounts on large orders, add-ons, and gift coupons. There were more than 50 pizza specials lapped up by fans during the Super Bowl 2018. 48 million people ordered takeouts. Pizza Hut offered a free pizza to the members of their loyalty program if any team scored a touchdown in the first 14 seconds of the game. Some fast food restaurants offered discounts for the entire Super Bowl weekend. Pizzas, sodas, and chicken wings build the game’s atmosphere for fans who are watching from home. The screaming, yelling, and singing to express excitement during these games are complete only when accompanied by a slice of pizza.

Not only game nights, recently, weddings have also begun to feature pizza specials. A lot of people have pizzas at their weddings, either to save costs or to add a quirky element to the food menu. To add some elegance and style, people serve trendy gourmet pizzas with a healthy base and toppings. Some pizzerias bake the pie in a wood oven right in front of the guests. Along with traditional catering, pizzas are also getting a makeover and are gradually gaining acceptance as a part of fine dining. Remove the regular cheese and replace it with ricotta. Do away with the tomato sauce and use hummus instead. Serve a sweet pizza with fruit toppings. You can make a pizza with locally grown produce and bake it in a wood oven. All of these changes have transformed the avatar of pizzas completely. You only need your imagination to make your pizza special.

Pizza cravings are real, and some of us give in to these cravings because pizza outlets have one of the best food delivery systems around the world. In this country, it’s easier to order given that we have at least one pizza place around every corner. While we are so comfortable with pizza delivery, how well do we know our pizza delivery system?

Here are a few tips to remember while you order a pizza delivery:

• When you pick up the phone to order pizza, you must know the place or at least have an idea of their menu. You can always find the menu of most pizza delivery outlets online. So, do a simple search in advance and know what they serve. You can take time to ask a few questions when you are unsure about the toppings or have other concerns. However, deciding what you want before calling is better than calling up and staying on the phone for too long. You must follow these calling etiquettes while ordering food on the phone.
• Learn to be patient. When you call for pizza delivery, you set a long process in motion. Once your order is taken, a ticket raised. Then, your pizza is prepared before it is sent out for delivery. A pizza typically takes about 20 minutes to go from the raw dough mode to a baked and packed pizza. And only then, a delivery agent can bring your pizza home.
• There are chances that an accident could take place on the way. We often get furious when our pizza delivery is delayed even by a minute. But we need to consider that some grave reasons could be behind this delay. Try to avoid yelling at the pizza delivery agent at such occasions.
• Every pizza delivery agent has to run several rounds during a shift. While they may choose this job, that does not mean that we’re entitled to be harsh with them, and make them feel bad for late deliveries or mixing up an order. At busy pizza joints, delivery mix-ups happen quite often. Instead of screaming at the person, try to resolve the situation by asking for a change or some discounts.

Apart from being kind to the pizza delivery agent, we can show some appreciation by giving them a good tip. It doesn’t have to be much, but 10% or close to 10% of your bill is a decent amount.

Everyone knows smoothies as a recipe that helps people lose weight. Across the country, nearly 40% of households prefer to have smoothies for breakfast. Besides the fact it is effortless to make one, a good, green smoothie recipe can help people with their weight loss regime. Smoothies are rich in protein and fiber. Unlike traditional breakfasts that we are so accustomed to, drinking a healthy smoothie for breakfast does not make us feel bloated. Besides, starting the day with a healthy meal gives us great motivation to be mindful of how we eat for the rest of the day. It also helps us maintain our fitness levels. Here are some smoothie recipes that one can make to aid them with weight loss:

Peach and cream oatmeal smoothie
Each serving of this smoothie has only 331 calories. This peach and cream oatmeal smoothie recipe will satiate your hunger and aid in weight loss. Here are the ingredients you will need:

• 1-1.5 cups peach slices
• 1 cup Greek yogurt, preferably unsweetened
• ¼ cup oatmeal
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1.25 cups almond milk

Method
Add of the ingredients in a blender and blend it until it’s smooth. You can add some ice chips if you wish.

Merry-berry banana breakfast smoothie
Bananas are rich in antioxidants, and this weight loss smoothie recipe is great as it boosts one’s metabolism. For this, you will need:

• 1 banana
• ½ cup strawberries
• ½ cup raspberries
• ½ cup blueberries
• 1 cored and sliced apple
• 1-1.25 cups almond milk

Method
Freeze the bananas, strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries for five hours or overnight. The next morning, slice the frozen bananas and add them to the blender along with all the other ingredients. Blend it and serve fresh.

Dream of orange smoothie
This smoothie’s calorie count is just 129. You would be hard pressed to find a better weight loss smoothie recipe. Additionally, this recipe is quite easy to make.

• 1 peeled orange
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon honey
• ¼ cup almond milk
• ¼ cup Greek yogurt
• ½ cup ice

Method
Toss all the ingredients into a blender and churn them until smooth. The ice helps to reduce the thickness of this smoothie.

Choc-work smoothie
This one tastes wonderful. If you are looking to treat yourself on your cheat day, then you can certainly enjoy this chocolate based smoothie. Surprisingly, the calorie count isn’t too alarming. One serving has only 151 calories.

• 1 banana
• 1 tablespoon chocolate syrup
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tablespoon almond butter
• ½ cup ice

Method
Freeze the banana until it is firm. Toss all the ingredients into a blender. Make sure that you don’t add more than one tablespoon of chocolate syrup as it will increase the calorie count drastically. Serve your smoothie while it is cold.

Here are two healthy, easy and mouthwatering appetizer recipes to drool over. These appetizers are wonderful because they are delicious, and at the same time, you can prepare them quickly!

Crunchy red bell peppers with feta cheese
Fresh red bell peppers with some herbs and a feta cheese filling make for an easy appetizer that you can prepare with limited ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 6 red bell peppers
• 6 teaspoons cream cheese
• 6 teaspoons feta cheese
• 3 teaspoons fresh dill/parsley/coriander leaves, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon lime juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salt to taste

Directions:

• Slice the red bell peppers into halves, or make 3-4 small slices. Discard the seeds and place the bell peppers neatly on a clean plate.
• Combine all of the ingredients for this recipe in a bowl. Mix it well.
• Place a spoonful of this mixture in each crunchy red bell pepper slice and serve this yummy appetizer while it is fresh.
• The combination of the tangy feta cheese, sweet red bell peppers, and the zest of lime juice are delectable.

Creamy corn on toast with tender spinach
Sweet corn kernels, any bread of your choice (whole grain sandwich slices, baguettes, garlic bread, or sourdough), and tender spinach lend a crunchy and luscious flavor to this yummy and easy appetizer recipe that will tingle everyone’s taste buds.

Ingredients:

• 10 slices bread, cut into bite-size pieces
• 4 cups sweet corn kernels
• 3 cups any cheese of your choice, shredded
• 1 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 1 cup tender spinach leaves, finely chopped
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salt to taste

For the sauce:

• 4 tablespoons wheat or corn flour
• 4 tablespoons garlic butter
• 2 cups milk
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salt to taste

Directions:

• Heat a thick-bottomed pan on a medium flame.
• Melt the garlic butter, add the flour, and roast it until it turns light brown.
• Slowly, add the milk and keep stirring to ensure that there are no lumps. Ensure that the mixture is smooth.
• Add the cheese and blend it well until the mixture thickens.
• Add corn, onion, green bell peppers, and spinach along with salt and black pepper to this sauce.
• Stir everything together for two minutes to keep the vegetables crunchy.
• Coat the bread slices with butter and toast them lightly.
• Add the cheesy vegetable sauce on the bread slices. Serve this easy appetizer recipe while it is warm with fresh tomato ketchup.
• Alternately, coat the bread slices with this creamy vegetable mixture and bake for 6-8 minutes.

From time to time we go back to our grandmother’s recipe book to make some classic dishes that we enjoyed as children. Today, modern food trends and the adaptation of fusion foods are on the rise. However, cooking old-fashioned recipes bring back a wave of nostalgia for those good old mornings where we could dig into a heavy breakfast without worrying about the hustle and bustle of our lives. Two such recipes that always strike a chord in our hearts are biscuits and gravy, and buttermilk waffles. Here are the old-fashioned recipes for these two dishes.

Biscuits and gravy
This is an old-fashioned recipe from down South. You will need to following ingredients to make this dish:

• 2 cups pancake and baking mix
• ⅔ cup buttermilk
• ½ stick or ¼ cup melted butter
• 2 tablespoons of regular butter
• 1 packet (16-ounce) of hot pork sausage
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1½ cups milk
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

To start, preheat the oven to 425ºF. Add the pancake mix, buttermilk, and the melted butter to form a dough. Spoon it on to the baking sheet. Bake for about 14-16 minutes or till it turns golden brown. Your biscuits are ready. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt remaining butter; cook it for 1-2 minutes, or until it is brown. Add the sausage and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until no pink portions remain. Stir it frequently to crumble the sausage. Next, add in the flour and mix well. Then, mix in the milk, Worcestershire sauce, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 to 4 minutes, or until gravy thickens, stirring constantly. Cut the biscuits in half and spoon the sausage mixture evenly on bottom halves before serving.

Buttermilk Waffles
This good old-fashioned recipe needs the following ingredients to work:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 4 tablespoons melted butter

Start by preheating the electric waffle iron and coat it with a layer of cooking spray. Mix in all the ingredients to prepare the batter. Pour this batter onto the prepared waffle iron. Close the lid and cook it for 60 to 90 seconds, or until it turns golden brown. Use a fork to remove the waffle on to a plate carefully. Repeat these steps with remaining batter, and serve it while the dish is hot.