To thank the key workers who are working tirelessly during the ongoing pandemic, the Misguided has launched a limited-edition ‘Heroes’ t-shirt, which is available now.
The unisex Tee features applauding hands, inspired by the UK’s unified clapping for the NHS every Thursday at 8pm.
It comes in three sizes, from small to large, and the striking design is also accented with the NHS’s signature blue colour. It is priced at £15 and be purchased online at missguided.co.uk
All profits from the sales of the t-shirt will be donated to NHS charities in aid of the battle against Covid-19.
But this isn’t the only way Missguided is showing support. The popular online fashion retailer is also giving an exclusive 25% discount on top of its current “70% off” sale to the NHS, emergency services, carers and teachers.
If you want to get your hands on an NHS Heroes charity t-shirt and show your support for key workers, order one now before they sell out.
Okay, I know, it may as well be March or April – what’s the difference? But we’re officially entering Summer 2020 and although we’re sick to death of lockdown, perhaps there is light at the end of the tunnel.
During my usual research this week, I came across a feature about drinking Sperm Smoothies to ward off the Coronavirus.
It’s may sound hard to swallow, but a particular mum of two blends spinach (good), broccoli (good) and then some of her boyfriend’s sperm (very very bad) which she stores in the fridge (even worse). A quick whizz in the nutribullet and voila! A sperm smoothie.
She’s also a personal trainer – so, in theory ,knows her stuff. She drinks her daily smoothie plus uses the left-over sperm on her face as a moisturising facial treatment. She claims the sperm not only keeps her looking young but keeps her immunity in tip top condition, therefore (apparently) leaving here with zero chance of her picking up any virus.
According to my research, sperm contains 200 different vitamins and minerals including Vitamin C, Zinc, Potassium and B12.
The question is – which guy genuinely has time to produce this much sperm for these daily smoothies? Maybe that’s a silly question.
I’ll leave you to ponder on that. In this week’s instalment we have another weight-loss recipe from Chanelle, we meet new up and coming female DJ Ashby and dicover Le Beanock – the most comfortable hammock for summer.
Shannon Ashby, AKA DJ ASHBY, is a young, fresh and fashionable new female DJ talent, emerging bang in the middle of the ‘Great Pandemic of 2020’. Straight out of the prestigious POINTBLANK music university based in London, Ibiza and Los Angeles, I grabbed five minutes with this new millennial superstar in the making, who is literally going to be on all our radars in the years to come.
As a DJ – who have you grown up listening to, as inspiration? Growing up I was always surrounded by music, my mum and dad would actually leave me by the speaker in my pram to fall asleep. I grew up listening to all of the old school house tunes, ones I still listen to to this day: Hard Drive – Deep Inside, Robin S. – Show Me Love, and a favourite that was actually my mum and dad’s first dance at their wedding, CeCe Peniston – “Finally”. My love for dance music definitely started from a young age.
What is your personal musical genre? This is such a hard question – I really enjoy so many different genres and love to bring them all in to my sets when I can. Old school house (80s, 90s), Garage, Techno, Tech House, Deep House (basically all things house), Disco, Minimal, the list could go on.
How important are festivals, Ibiza and the club-circuit to you? Very important. From the second I turned 18 I started promoting for nightclubs, festivals and events. In 2014, I did a season in Aiya Napa. Realising that the music scene there wasn’t for me, in 2015 I went and worked in Ibiza for the Summer 2 years running. I worked for the very well-known Sankey’s, ticket selling and promoting. It was on my return that I decided to take up DJ’ing. I’m proud to say that over the last 3-4 years I’ve played on line-ups next to DJs like Sidney Charles, Josh Butler, Artwork and Franky Rizardo.
Will you use fashion as a major part of your image and what are your plans for the future? Alongside music, fashion and beauty is a big thing for me, also for my group of friends. We always like to stand out from the crowd and express ourselves through bright colours and unique styles of clothing. I always love having bright coloured hair and I’m blessed to know some incredible makeup artists who always make me look UNREAL when playing sets.
Are you venturing into Radio and where would you like to take this? Since these very unusual times; livestreams and Radio have taken over by a storm. I have been very grateful to have been asked to hold my very own Show called ‘Go Get It’ every Friday afternoon at 13:00 (BST) / 14:00(CEST) on Ibiza Lockdown Radio, currently streaming on all social platforms and undergoing licensing to eventually go live on the airwaves. I have also been asked to play for Sun of a Beach who I previously DJ’d for which will be streaming through radionovalujon.com.
My current plans for the future are to focus on my production and get as many mixes out on to music platforms as possible. I will do everything that is thrown my way and gradually work my way up to the top. My time is coming, I know it.
Our regular contributing Ed Chanelle Clark has another weight-loss recipe for us this week and it’s a beautiful Insalata di Arance.
I adore this traditional salad, and fortuitously for me, it is on the menu at most Sicilian restaurants. At only 66 Calories a portion, packing a huge nutritional punch, it is a shrewd choice. I add Beetroot to it as there are so many health benefits to this standard and oft overlooked, root vegetable.
Ingredients
½ Beetroot
2 Carrots
1 Large Orange
½ an Onion
1 Tbsp grated Ginger
Generous glug of either Balsamic Vinegar or Red wine vinegar, as you prefer.
Preparation
1) Firstly chop the Onion, Slice Carrots and Beetroot Julienne Style.
2) Grate the rind of the Orange and the Ginger on a side plate.
3) Peel the Orange and cut into segments, add any excess juice to the side plate too, in order to add to the dressing.
4) Toss it all together, adding the chosen dressing.
Easy Peasy!
Vegan Potato Salad
I truly don’t know anyone that doesn’t like Potato Salad so I have made one with a healthy spin. I have swapped the Mayonnaise for Fat Free Vegan Yogurt. Ideally I would have used Sweet Potatoes too but alas there were none available.
Personally I adhere to the Liz Hurley rule of thumb (or rule of fist in this case) and never have a portion of carbs larger than your fist size. Now we all know how amazing she looks in a bikini at 54; so if it’s good enough for Liz…..
Ingredients
750 kg of New Potatoes/ Sweet Potatoes
3 stalks and the bulbs of Spring Onions
1 stalk of Celery
250ml of Fat Free Yogurt
Few sprigs of Chives
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Cooking
1) Thoroughly wash the potatoes and half or quarter depending on the size, put these on to cook medium heat for 20-30 mins. You can tell they are ready when you can pierce skin easily and they slide off fork. DON’T OVERCOOK – That is a sure fire way of ruining your salad, it will be too watery.
2) Whilst they are cooking chop the onions, celery and chives.
3) When potatoes are ready, drain then mix it all together; a fait accompli. N.B. Tastes even better the day after.
Hummus
To balance it out and give my body some protein I make hummus, which is literally the easiest thing ever to make. It astounds me that anyone would buy prepared hummus. This way you know exactly what is going in it and can tailor to your tastes. I add my ubiquitous chillies of course!
Ingredients
1 tin of Chick Peas 400g – (Everyone has these in their cupboards I am quite sure).
2 cloves of Garlic
Half a lemon squeezed
Pinch of Salt & Pepper
½ Green Chilli
Put this all in a blender or use a handheld blender, whizz it up and job done.
On an unrelated yet very relevant note, my dear friend, Laura is running a Rainbow Reboot in order to support the NHS. She has waived her normal fee and is asking for voluntary contributions to help these heroes. Laura is a qualified Nutritionist & Trainer; having completed a number of her reboots I can testify as to how great you will feel and look afterwards.
Please join her and spread the word! Let’s raise as much money as we can for the NHS heroes and key workers.
Laura has put together a collection of the very best meals taken from the 5 years of reboots she has ran. As always it’s a 9-day healthy eating plan designed to regain the balance and reset.
Expect however a more relaxed plan with a focus on us coming together, enjoying good food, having fun and feeling a little lighter and brighter in lockdown. If you can’t make the group dates then there’s always the option to follow the plan independently through the month of May.
It’s fair to say that there has definitely been a silver lining to this cloud – the beautiful weather.
We have turned our gardens and balconies into mini holiday resorts.
We all dream of lazing on a hammock next to the sea underneath two palm trees.
We might not be able to recreate the sea and palms, but we can sort the hammock.
LE BEANOCK is a fab and groovy mix of the classic beanbag and the hammock. It’s a serendipity creation of designer Tracie Herrtage.
From fashion model to expert sail maker to qualified welder, Tracie’s career in design has embraced style, fun and functionality.
A lifelong interest in interior design and furniture has given birth to many innovative ideas culminating in her unique achievement – LE BEANOCK
In 2005 LE BEANOCK was one of the stylish stars of the BBC business show pilot series, Dragons’ Den.
The programme offers entrepreneurs like Tracie Herrtage the chance to bid for investment cash.
After a gruelling audition, Tracie was picked from 1000’s of company heads to pitch her idea to 5 of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs including Rachel Elnaugh of Red Letter Days, Peter Jones and Simon Woodroffe, founder of the Yo! Sushi restaurants, when no one knew who the Dragons were and how the programme worked.
Tracie was backed by Rachel Elnaugh of Red Letter Days.
In Tracie’s own words, “The beauty of LE BEANOCK is its simplicity. It’s a real WOW FACTOR piece of kit. It’s cool and extremely comfortable.
LE BEANOCK is ideal for all the family and is of particular comfort for those with SPECIAL NEEDS.
LE BEANOCK is almost womb-like as it is soft, secure and safe and has no hard edges.
LE BEANOCK is wonderful for well-being and stress relief., the worries of the world melt away as you are cradled in its ease and comfort.
It’s week ‘whatever’ during Lockdown 2020. Sometime in April.
I’m not wholly complaining though, because the weather has surely been the most glorious that we have ever experienced in the UK at this time of the year. Perhaps it’s the lack of pollution, the almost-daily clear blue skies, trees and flowers in full bloom, butterflies everywhere and continuous sunshine that makes this whole experience just that little bit more tolerable. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m almost ‘enjoying’ this time. If that makes any sense?
Whilst I’m probably eating too much, I’m also sleeping too much, exercising and not spending any money, so it’s all positive in our household.
My other half has been streaming his live DJ sets from our lounge every Saturday night. We’re now a month in, with hundreds of thousands of viewers every weekend. He has raised a large amount of money for the NHS too, which is basically what this is all about.
Tune in this Saturday from 9pm on my Facebook page, the official JUDGE JULES page and YouTube. We’ll see you all on our virtual dancefloor – from our house to yours.
So far, I have realised that the moral of this whole life-changing experience is that we don’t need as much consumerism as we had pre-lockdown. Plus of course, the importance of human connection.
Onto this week’s Amanda Zips It Up, we have another amazing soup recipe from Chanelle Clarke, which are proving to be very popular during lockdown, the new ‘Spring Collection’ from NEWCHIC.COM and Is This The End Of The FROW?
This a staple of mine, which I often make. Unusually, we all like it, saving the effort of making two different meals, as is often the case! It is a comforting classic with a Thai twist, which takes me back to my time living, as well as subsequently holidaying, in the Land of Smiles.
The Coconut Milk adds a velvety, richness to the soup, and being a “healthy fat” it aids weight loss. Crucially at the moment, it also strengthens your immune system. It is Vegan and only about 190 Kcal per serving too, so let me introduce you to an all-round winner.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon of Olive Oil
1 Onion
2 cloves of Garlic
1 kg Pumpkin
1 tablespoon of fresh grated Ginger
500ml Veg Stock
400ml can of Coconut Milk
1 teaspoon of Paprika
1 teaspoon of powdered Coriander (alas I can’t get fresh Coriander but use that if you can)
Half a red chilli (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste
To Cook
I always like to do my prep first, in lieu of having a Sous-Chef I like to get this out of the way so I can really enjoy the experience of cooking. So let’s chop our onion and chilli, press the garlic and grate the ginger to start.
Now to the more laborious task of cutting the pumpkin. I buy fresh in a large slice but cubed frozen would be fine too and is of course easier. Remove the stringy pulp, put the seeds aside( * I will expand on this later) and cut as much pumpkin out as you can from the rind.
We are now good to go; heat a large pot on a medium heat adding the oil, onions and garlic. Keep stirring and when they start to yellow( 3 – 5 mins), add the Pumpkin, Ginger and Chillies (if you intend to include them).
Stir the Pumpkin into the ingredients in the pot for 5 minutes.
Next let’s add the Veg Stock and the Coconut Milk and cook for twenty minutes until the Pumpkin is soft.
At this point remove from heat, use a hand blender to blend until smooth.
Put it back on the heat, turning it up a little for another ten minutes.
Your delicious Thai Pumpkin Soup is ready to be enjoyed. I like to garnish with a little left over Coconut Milk ( I leave a dribble in the can) and I add my Chillies. Ideally I would add them at stage 3 but no one else in house likes spicy foods so no can do. Lemongrass & Coriander leaves work well too.
* The seeds stabilise blood sugar levels so are ideal as a snack for those aiming to slim down. Roast them and then you can flavour if you wish with curry powder, chilli powder and the likes, once roasted. Firstly they need to be cleaned and rid of any excess pulp.
Toss a couple of cups of them with two teaspoons Olive Oil, pinch of Salt and bake for about 30 mins at 150 degrees C, stirring occasionally. They are ready when Golden brown. Season to taste or leave plain.
There’s no getting away from it. Life has may have changed forever. Once we embark upon the much-debated “exit strategy” and resume some kind of normal life, it won’t be “life” as we knew it.
Whether it’s new seating arrangements on planes or individual “Perspex boxes” on beaches perhaps becoming the new holiday reality, inevitably fashion will experience changes too.
And I mean sooner rather than later, as discovered this week.
Introducing online fashion emporium NEWCHIC.COM and their ‘Spring Healthcare Collection’. I kid you not.
This could be the new norm. If masks, visors and gloves become mandatory on public transport and in public, why not look as stylish as possible? All of this has been born in Asia, paving the way for us Europeans.
Hats and visors
Gloves
Masks
All you need to do next is wait for designer boiler suits and aprons. Let’s hope it doesn’t go that far though.
This June, London Fashion Week is going digital and gender neutral for the first time ever, due to lockdown restrictions and general pandemic craziness.
Usually, the British Fashion Council’s quarterly event is divided according to season and gender – ie. Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2020 and LFW A/W 2020 etc.
But in June, when the London Fashion Week Men’s SS21 show is usually held, a digital event will be held instead, hosted on londonfashionweek.co.uk, meaning fashion fans won’t require a ticket or a coveted invite. Plus, it won’t be a “who’s who” of celebs on the front row.
It will be open to a global public and trade audience, and will work as a meet-up point, offering interviews, podcasts, designer diaries, webinars and digital showrooms. It’ll give designers the opportunity to generate sales for both the public (through existing collections) and the retailers, through orders for next season’s products.
London Fashion Week has always been a platform, not just for fashion but for its influence on society, identity and culture. The pandemic is leading us to reflect more on the ‘new’ society we inhabit and how we want to live our lives (plus how to restructure our businesses when we get through this).
As we know, fashion in 2020 craves sustainability and creativity. And now we can add “digital, non-gender defining and equal”.
LFW in September (traditionally for women) – which I always cover – will now also be gender-neutral.
London’s upcoming fashion week will not be the first to be held digitally – Shanghai hosted an online show earlier this month, while Tokyo livestreamed its fashion week shows in March.
However, London will be the first city on a major fashion circuit to adopt an online-only model. The industry has taken a battering as a result of the pandemic, with fashion weeks in Paris and Milan cancelled or postponed in March.
Key events such as the Met Gala, the Council of Fashion Designers of America awards and the LVMH Prize for Young Fashion Designers have also been shelved.
Yesterday it emerged that designer Stella McCartney has furloughed hundreds of her staff and asked those who remain working to take a pay cut during the coronavirus crisis.
Stella will use taxpayers’ money offered as part of the Government’s job retention scheme to pay salaries, similar to Victoria Beckham, who has been slammed for furloughing people despite her £335million fortune, which I discussed on my socials this week.
Welcome to mid-April and mid lockdown (says she, hopefully).
Last week, it was all about the dress up to take your bins out challenge. On Wednesday, I published the brilliant pictures I received. I want to thank all of you for rising to the challenge and creating a real buzz. It made many people very happy on Facebook.
This week, it’s all about Instagram and The Quarantine Pillow Challenge.
It seems as if some people have more time on their hands than others during their lockdown. Fashionistas have been stripping naked except for teeny bits of bedding in the #QuarantinePillowChallenge And this challenge is slightly trickier than donning a gown or tuxedo.
The most stylish participants have been belting their pillows around their waist so that it resembles a minidress. Make that a Gucci belt too.
Many have chosen to style-up their looks with designer accessories – including sunglasses, heels and handbags, as well as full make-up and a blow-dry. Others, however, have finished off their DIY outfits with cosy isolation-appropriate head towels, eye masks and slippers.
It has been an opportunity for many social media fans to show off their bedding – which as well as classic white, also include some very colourful, fluffy designs.
Again, it’s all a bit of fun during lockdown and let’s hope we only have a few weeks left of this.
This week, we have another recipe from my contributing Ed Chanelle Clark, how to deal with brows and nails during lockdown and some incredible sunglasses by Hathor.
