Books in the contemporary fiction genre are created with stories that could happen to real people in real settings. The contemporary genre also hones in on informal and conversational dialogue, and sometimes even regional dialects which will set a tone for the book as well giving the reader a deeper insight to certain characters or scenarios. Reading in general is a great tool for the mind. Over the years, science has shown that reading has some amazing health benefits. Some of these include helping with depression, alleviating stress, and reducing the chances of developing Alzheimer's. 

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The importance of adding it into your life

Empathy. Reading helps us to empathise in many different ways. Fiction has a power to allow you to fully insert yourself into another person’s mind and see how they think and feel as well as follow their story, whether that’s good, bad or ugly. You can also pick up some factual information along the way. Watching a character interact with the world around them is powerful and you will be able to get insights into history as well as a series of facts and anecdotes. You can emotionally connect and interact with scenarios as well as problem solve. You can learn to understand the period and the setting of the book as you never could in any other way. Comtemporary literature focuses on this a little more. Author Dahlia Karlin has written numerous contemporary novels. The stories are explained and written to allow you to feel the lives of the characters in a raw way, often with dialogue that is easy to digest. This makes it a winner for a good read that will keep you engaged and entertained. 

When we watch the characters on the page evolve, it helps us understand individual human evolution and that can translate into our own lives, helping us to see the bigger picture as well as help us appreciate the way in which we live life and others that may be in similar situations to us. It can help us feel a little less alone and give us stories from other perspectives that we may never have found in real life. You can see an overall of a scenario, whether that is something as heavy as murder or loss of life or whether it’s something a little more seductive such as romance or a fobirdden robamce. Nearly all of us can relate on some level of the themes that run throughout contemporary fiction because it is set in an era we can fully relate to. It doesn’t have to be anything particularly deep but may even be relating to your body image or your teenage issues with parents, or even high school problems. So, once you start adding more literature into your life, you will be sure to see some changes in the way you think and the way in which you see things as well as collecting important information along the way also. Pick up your next book today! 

If you want to expand your culinary horizons and start cooking more varied dishes at home, one of the very best places to start is with Chinese food. It’s a cuisine we all know and love from takeaways and restaurants, but many people who love other people’s Chinese food never stop to make their own dishes at home, but why not? There are so many really easy to cook dishes that should be a part of your regular mealtime rotation, and you can learn about them below.

Vegetable Chow Mein

The great thing about chow mein is that you do many different things with it and make all kinds of adaptations. If you’re looking to create a dish that’s healthy and that offers everything you want it to in terms of nutrients, a vegetable chow mein is for you. Using onions, mushrooms, bell peppers and zucchinis, you can achieve so much. You can make your own sauce with soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice vinegar and sesame oil.

Orange Pork Chop Stir Fry

You’ll find that a lot of Chinese dishes do creative things with pork; and I’d argue no cuisine uses the meat better. Orange pork chop stir fry is the perfect example of that fact. It uses an incredible orange sauce to compliment the meat alongside soy sauce with stir fry vegetables. It’s simple but it doesn’t taste it, and that’s why you should make it at home and try it for yourself.

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Chilli Paneer

Chilli Paneer is a great dish to cook for anyone who loves Chinese and Indian cuisine. This dish is a combination of the two and it’s one that your whole family will enjoy. You can cook this chilli paneer recipe very easily and it doesn’t take too long at all. You can also choose between the dry and gravy versions of the dish depending on your preferences and the preferences of the people you’re cooking for.

Oyster Sauce Chicken

You’ll find that many Chinese dishes contain oyster sauce, and that’s because it brings a very distinct flavour, and provides a little sweetness and saltiness at the same time. Oyster sauce chicken is one of the dishes that utilizes it best. You can cook up some chicken thighs in the sauce, alongside wine, stock and soy sauce. It’s pretty simple and can be made in one pan.

Kung Pao Chicken

This is a real classive of Chinese cooking and shouldn’t be overlooked when it comes to cooking Chinese food at home. If you’re looking for something delicious with a bit of a kick, this is the dish for you. It all comes down to the szechuan peppercorn and deep-fried chicken. The combination is beautiful.

As you can see, there are so many great Chinese dishes that you can make at home. When you’ve tried each of these recipe ideas, you’ll almost certainly want to add them to your regular rotation of meals. Each offers something different but they’re all absolutely delicious and not too difficult to cook.

In this age of 'awareness,' a lot of parents are beginning to place more emphasis on healthy eating when it comes to putting food on the table. Besides nutritional content, the source of the food, as well as its production process, is very important if you are concerned about what goes into the mouths of your loved ones.

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Organic food is simply foods that have been grown or produced on farms without the use of any chemicals. And strong cases have been made for going green when it comes to the benefits of such foods. For example, organic foods come with much lower risk of contamination from pesticides. Experts have also proven that organic foods lower children's level of metabolites. The only disadvantage of going green when it comes to food is the cost. However, if you can find ways around the cost issue, then the benefits will be more than worth every penny. So, without much ado, let's take a look at three foods worth buying organic.

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Fruits And Vegetables

According to the Environmental Working Group, fruits, alongside vegetables, contain the highest levels of pesticides. High on the list are fruits like apples, berries, cucumbers, peaches, grapes, spinach, kale greens, celery, hot peppers, and cherry tomatoes. So, if you have the healthy habit of eating an apple a day, then it will be more than worth it choosing organic. Plus, you can make some delicious fruity oatmeal muffins for a healthy family breakfast.

Meat

According to organizations such as the American Heart Association, consuming saturated fat from any source may put you at risk of heart diseases. However, many experts in nutrition have maintained that consuming meat produced sourced from grass-fed farm animals does not come with risks of heart diseases. According to these experts, the problem does not lie in the saturated fat per se, but in the unnatural way the animals are raised - this includes hormones, corn, and medication.

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Dairy And Eggs

There has been recent admonishing to farmers to put out cows that are organically-raised to pasture for as long periods of the year as possible. This is to allow them to be able to feed on grass. Just like organic meat, dairy produced sourced from organically-raised pasture are safer to consume. The same rule applies to eggs; chickens that are raised outside on a farm without added chemicals or drugs.Happy Egg Co sheds some humorous insight concerning the difference between free-range and caged egg sources. 

How Do You Keep The Cost Of Organic Foods Within Budget?

As mentioned earlier, the one downside that comes with going organic has to do with cost. So, in what ways can you ensure that your healthy eating does not cost you too much, financially? Here are a few options to try.

• Farmers' markets: Take advantage of farmers' market events to purchase your food straight from the local farmers.

• Buy in season: Vegetables and fruits are usually very cheap when they're in season. 

• Compare prices: Compare the prices at your local market to other prices. 

If you feel as though you are having problems with your body confidence, then you’ll be glad to know that this is easier than ever to do. This is especially the case if you make the right changes.

Change your Focus

Those who exercise on a regular basis certainly feel better about their bodies. It doesn’t matter whether you want to lose weight or not because it can certainly help you to feel great. If you don’t feel as though you can just walk into the gym and start working out, then you have nothing to worry about because you are certainly not alone. Challenge yourself to go somewhere new each weekend or even try a brand-new form of exercise. This will help you to focus on how the activity makes you feel so you can make better decisions overall.

Give Yourself a Break

Believe it or not, most of the time, it’ll be your internal voice that drags you down most of the time. If you wouldn’t say something to your sister or your best friend, then you shouldn’t say it to yourself. It’s that easy. If you want to help yourself here, then give your inner voice a name. When you do, you will then be able to deal with your thoughts much more efficiently.

Think Positively

Think of three different things that you like about your body or your face, and then write them down. When you do, you can then stick them to the mirror and repeat them out loud to yourself. When anxiety threatens you, you can then just forget about it and this will really help you to regain your focus. If you feel bad about your body then look into Botox.

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Meditate

Meditation can help you to accept that the negative thoughts you have are just that- thoughts. They are not facts. Meditation can also enhance your overall awareness of what is going on with your body. This has been linked with more realistic and external perceptions, so it’s worth keeping that in mind.

Pamper Yourself

You might not like your body and this is understandable, but if you show yourself some love then this will really help you to reap the rewards. Something as simple as putting some perfume on in the morning can have a huge impact on your body image. It can also help you to gain the confidence you need as well. Never skip out on the basics, and make sure that you give yourself time to pamper yourself. If you find that you rush around a lot in the morning then get up a little earlier so you can take better care of yourself and live a happier life.

Change your Wardrobe

Another thing that you can do is try and change your wardrobe around a little bit. When you do, you will be able to feel much better about yourself and you can also feel as though you can dress for your mood. You should never feel guilty about buying new clothes either. In fact, buying new clothes should be a treat that you do for yourself from time to time.

The fact is that living with pain - whether it’s as a result of an accident or illness or is chronic and long-term - can be totally and completely debilitating. It can have a hugely significant impact on both your physical health and your mental health and wellbeing. Pain can destroy your life. 

The funny thing about pain is that it is a subjective experience; it is unique to each person who suffers with it. Because pain is such a uniquely personal experience, living with pain - whether for a short period of time while an injury heals or in the long-term due to a chronic condition - can be utterly debilitating. It can also be extremely lonely and isolating, and can make raising a family far harder. 

Although raising a family can seem almost impossible when you’re dealing with pain, it is important to realise that life doesn’t have to be a struggle. There are strategies that you can put in place to help to make living with pain and raising a family easier to cope with. The most important thing is to remember that you’re not alone - a lot of parents are living with pain and there is support out there. 

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While it may not be easy coping with pain and raising a family, there are a number of steps that you can take to help to make life that little bit easier for yourself. 

Manage your pain effectively 

The most important thing that you can do to make life easier for yourself is to learn how to manage your pain in an effective way. If you’re on painkillers, make sure to keep up with your doses, because if you forget to take a dose that’s when you will end up in a lot of pain - potentially unmanageable pain. That is why it’s so important that you make sure to keep up with any medication that you have been given, to ensure that your pain never becomes unmanageable. 

You see, when your pain gets bad, that’s when parenting can become a serious struggle. Don’t blame yourself if you find parenting when you’re in pain difficult - it’s completely normal to struggle to focus on anything but the pain you’re in. That’s why it’s a good idea to make sure that you always have a pain management strategy in place, so that when a bad bout of pain hits you are able to cope and still parent your children effectively. This is particularly important if you’re on your own a lot with your little ones. 

Seek professional help 

If you’re struggling to manage constant pain and raising a family, then it’s important that you take the time to seek professional help. There’s no point living with pain and not taking steps to try and combat that pain. If you’re struggling to manage your daily life and manage your pain, then it’s important that you take the time to seek some professional help from a specialist in the type of pain that you’re experiencing. 

For instance, say you’re struggling with foot and leg pain, then seeking some custom orthotics from specialist pedorthists could help you to better manage that pain. Or, if you’re suffering from back or neck pain, you may find that seeing a chiropractor could help. Whether it’s a new problem caused by an accident or injury or a long-term pain problem, there are places that you can turn for help. Say, for instance, you’re living with fibromyalgia which causes constant pain, you may find that acupuncture helps. 

Source adequate support 

There’s no shame in asking for help if you are struggling. As a parent, you may be hesitant to ask for help for fear of people thinking that you cannot cope. However, it’s far better to ask for help sooner rather than later if you are finding things a little tricky right now. If your pain is making parenting - or certain tasks - difficult, then getting a helping hand from a family member, such as a grandparent or aunt or uncle, or from a friend, could help to make life a little easier for you. 

Alternatively, if you don’t have anyone who you can turn to for support, there are also a number of charities that can offer support if you’re struggling. While you may not like the idea of accepting help from a stranger, if you really need support - even if it’s just in the short-term - it’s worth looking into the options available to you. If getting some extra help will make family life more enjoyable, then surely it’s worth it? 

Be creative 

Spending quality time as a family can sometimes be a struggle when you are suffering from pain. You may feel extremely tired or you may not want to move too much in case it makes the pain worse. The good news is that even if you are living with pain, that doesn’t have to mean that you can’t spend lots of quality time with your children, it’s just a case of getting creative about the approach you take, that’s all. 

Find fun ways to spend time together at home as a family. Perhaps you could create two ideas jars of things to do as a family - one jar could have ideas for when you feel like going out and the other jar could have ideas for when you feel like staying at home? You could sit down as a family and spend an afternoon coming up with lots of fun ideas, writing them down on pieces of paper and adding them to the jars. Fun at home activities include things like having a family movie day, building a fort in the living room, camping in the back garden, making homemade pizza, playing board games together, and doing arts and crafts. 

Living with pain and raising a family at the same time is no easy task, however the tips above should help to make coping a little easier and less stressful. Don’t be afraid to ask to help - every so often we all need a helping hand, and that’s fine. 

The mirror can be a harsh part of life - we have to look in it at least once a day, to ensure we look presentable for work or other activities, and a lot of the time, we don’t like what we see. And this can be for a variety of reasons - self esteem issues can affect us all, and we all may have features we’re insecure about. 

But when it comes to being able to do something about how you perceive yourself, there’s a lot of little changes you can make, even right now! So let’s go through some of the most beneficial below, to help you feel a little brighter when looking in the mirror. 

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Home Remedies For Your Eyes

Your eyes are going to be a big draw, whenever anyone looks at you. And because of that, they’re usually the first thing we see when looking in a mirror - and that’s why it might be a good idea to find a home remedy that’ll help your eyes to look brighter, and a little more rested, even if you’ve had some terrible sleep the night before. 

Cucumber always works, and so do wet tea bags you’ve had freeze overnight; it’s not as weird as it sounds! 

Use a Serum on Your Skin

When it comes to perfecting your skin routine, there’s nothing quite like a good bottle of serum to really finish it off. You’ve washed and dried your face, and you’ve rubbed some moisturizer in, and you’re already feeling better than you did! But you don’t have to stop there, especially if you want to feel like you’re looking better than ever in the mirror. 

Serum is there to help your skin glow, and to look healthy all throughout the day. Make sure you drink enough at the same time, to ensure you’ve got a proper hydrating effect to back this up behind the skin too. 

And Nothing Can Really Ruin a Smile!

Of course, we can be very insecure about our oral health, and how that appears in our teeth, gums, and lips. Indeed, you might even find yourself wanting to go to clearretain.com at some point. But in truth, a proper and true smile can light up our faces, no matter how much you may hate how your smile looks. Learning to appreciate this little (and attractive) form of joy can do a lot for how you perceive yourself in the mirror. 

You can pop bright lipsticks on, to really sharpen up your lips and make them stand out. You can use teeth whitening strips for big photo days, to ensure you’re really looking your best. And above all, make sure there’s joy behind it - even smiling with a closed mouth can look natural, and help you to beat any dental blues away. 

The mirror doesn’t have to be an enemy; when properly used as the tool it is, you can feel great when looking in it. Remember the tips above!