Mushroom and Red Pepper Rice Pilaf

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Fresh mushrooms, bell peppers, and sweet onions are sprinkled throughout this buttery, garlicky, Vegetable Rice Pilaf.

I served this with Honey Spice Chicken Bites and Roasted Green Beans. The kids loved this meal so much that they begged for the leftovers and asked the very next day if we could make it again.

Mushroom Bell Pepper Rice Pilaf

Vegetable Rice Pilaf

Rice pilaf can be made with rice alone or with a mixture of rice and pasta. We make and enjoy both versions. This rice pilaf is fluffy and flavorful, and it is made with rice alone.

I’m not a big fan of rice most of the time, but this was one of my favorite recipes things I ate over the weekend. The rice stayed nice and separate while the vegetables were tender and perfectly seasoned.

Mushroom Rice Pilaf

You don’t need fancy ingredients to make this mushroom rice pilaf and yet the results are loaded with flavor.

Mushrooms and peppers are sauteed in butter before the rice is simmered with garlic and onions until tender. With just a few extra minutes of effort, you’ll have a side dish that everyone is sure to love.

You can turn this into a full meal with some leftover chicken or some sliced kielbasa. My guys love it with some bacon or spicy sausage in the mix too.

vegetable rice pilaf with bell peppers and mushrooms in skillet

Vegetable Rice Pilaf Recipe

  1. Melt ½ tablespoon butter in a large skillet (I love this one!) over medium-high heat. Add the bell pepper and the mushrooms and saute for 2-3 minutes, until tender. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and then remove the vegetables to a bowl and s

10 new things to try in September to benefit your wellbeing

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From an honest and inspiring documentary to lessons in sustainability, and a podcast that will help you find your mindful moment, try something new with our enriching suggestions

1. Page-turners

10 new things to try in September to benefit your wellbeing

Waste Not Everyday: 365 ways to reduce, reuse and reconnect by Erin Rhoads

For those of you who want to live more sustainably, and take your first steps towards a zero-waste lifestyle, this beginner’s guide covers all the basics. Author and advocate Erin Rhoads is on a mission to help us pursue healthier lives with her daily tips on how to reduce and reuse.

(Hardie Grant Books, £10.00)

2. Out and about

Go trig bagging

If you’ve ever been on a hike in the countryside, you would have noticed concrete pillars that mark the highest point of the area. What was once used as a device to map Great Britain, now paves the way for an outdoor adventure. Explore the countryside, challenge yourself to find as many as you can, and make sure to capture a photo of each one that you spot.

(Visit trigbagging.co.uk for more information)

10 new things to try in September to benefit your wellbeing

3. Act of kindness

Cadbury x Prince’s Trust #GiveADoubt campaign

Cadbury chocolate has collaborated with The Prince’s Trust in a campaign to encourage open conversations around self-doubt. By sharing your doubts, this simple act of kindness can give a young person the hope and confidence to overcome their own and begin believing in themselves again. Everyone has doubts, what are yours?

(Visit giveadoubt.cadbury.co.uk for more information)

4. Lend us your ears

‘The Mindful Minute’ by Meryl Arnett

If you’re a beginner when it comes to meditation, you’re in good hands. Meditation teacher Meryl Arnett knows exactly what she’s talking about when it comes to the practice, and she’s here to help you find stillness in your busy routine with her guided meditation sessions and expert advice.

(Available on all platforms)

5. Plugged-In

Dustin Poynter

Calling all introverts who are in need of a good chuckle! Dustin Poynter sheds light on what it’s like being a male introvert through his entertaining and completely relatable video content. Schedule some alone time (we know you want to), and give it a watch!

(Follow @dustinpoynter on TikTok)

@dustinpoynter

Which one have you expeirenced the most? #introvert

Young people's mental health referrals hit a record high

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New data collected by the NHS reveals the number of young people referred to emergency mental health services rose by 37% in May this year. With NHS waiting times still climbing, Young Minds are asking the government to step up

Young people's mental health referrals hit a record high

This week, it was reported by the Independent that 982 under-19's had been referred to crisis care teams in May 2022. This reflects a 37% increase in referrals from the previous month and is the highest figure since pre-Covid.

At the same time, open referrals to young people’s mental health services reached 457,387, which greatly exceeds the record-breaking numbers seen in March of this year.

This information comes as the result of a recent report from Young Minds, which revealed that 26% of young people have tried to take their own lives due to the long waiting times for mental health support.

Young Minds are determined to change this and are asking the government to tackle this crisis in their ten-year mental health plan. Olly Parker, Young Minds’ Head of External Affairs commented on the issue, stating; “We urgently need to see a reversal in climbing waiting lists. The government must urgently equip the NHS to deal with the immediate pressures services face”.  

Accessing support for young people

Crisis support

If you or someone you know is struggling to cope, you can contact Young Mind’s messaging service, Shout, for free 24/7 support. ​​Text YM to 85258.

🚨
If you are in immediate crisis and are concerned for your safety, contact 999 or go to A&E.

If you want to talk to someone anonymously, the Samaritans are available 24/7 to listen to you and your concerns. You can contact them on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org.

Mental health help and advice

There are various services available to young people that offer free advice and support for a range of issues.

Mind offers advice Monday to Friday from 9am to 6pm (except on bank holidays). You can call 0300 123 3393 or email info@mind.org.uk

Childline offer

Sweet Orange Sauce

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Sweet Orange Sauce has been a favorite part of our weekend breakfasts for as long as I can remember. My grandmother always served this sauce over her German Pancakes and over crepes.

Small white pitcher with orange sauce

Sweet Orange Sauce

Every time I make it, I remember times spent with my grandparents. We pour this sauce over pancakes, waffles, miniature German pancakes and just about any other sweet breakfast food.

This sauce is so delicious, that you’ll find yourself licking the spoon. Just try not to drink the sauce before you have the rest of breakfast ready.

These Cranberry Almond German Pancakes pair spectacularly with this sauce. They are loaded with seasonal flavors, making them one of my favorite holiday breakfasts.

Orange Sauce Ingredients

  • water
  • orange juice concentrate
  • sugar
  • cornstarch
  • kosher salt
  • butter
orange sauce poured over german pancakes

Orange Sauce Recipe

  1. Whisk together the dry ingredients and set them aside. Combine the water and the orange juice concentrate in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk them together and then add the dry ingredients.
  2. Cook the mixture, stirring frequently until the sauce is clear and thickened. This should take about 8-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Serve warm.
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How to shelter from the storm and create your own sanctuary

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Whether it's a physical or mental space, discover your own personal sanctuary and take a moment to retreat

How to shelter from the storm and create your own sanctuary

In 2021, researchers from the University of Oxford had a breakthrough. The culmination of 15 years of research and clinical practice, they trialed a new way of treating patients with psychosis: The Feeling Safe Programme. Working on the basis that fear can exacerbate persecutory delusions and lead to behaviour that isolates and ostracises people, the programme helps people develop new memories of safety – and it works. The trial found that the Feeling Safe Programme was the most effective treatment for persecutory delusions, rising above other treatments, such as befriending and CBT.

And it makes sense. The desire to feel safe and sheltered has been around since the first caveman headed into the rocks, and today that right to shelter is set in stone under Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

For many, ‘shelter’ is more than just four walls, and the places that give us that sense of safety don’t just protect us from the elements, they take us away from everyday stresses, pressures to perform, angst, noise, and daily demands. More than just a shelter, spaces become a ‘sanctuary’.

Our own personal sanctuaries will look and feel completely different, they might be within four walls, or they might have none at all. But for all their many shapes and sizes, they each have one thing in common, and that’s the way they make us feel.

Higher ground

“I am a big fan of treehouses, from the most basic attempts by the youngest of hands to the full-on, flashy, luxury kind,” Chloe Barry, an art psychotherapist and nature-inspired therapist, shares as she reflects on the sanctuary she had as a child. “Even though the treehouse of my youth was very basic, it was my refuge, a little place accommodated by nature that held me protectively within its branches.”

Chloe’s treehouse was essentially a few planks of woods nestled between two conifer trees in the back garden of her family home, yet it still felt incredibly significant – crucially, she says, because the climb up the tree was a little too awkward for ‘big people’.

“The treehouse offered me the ultimate sanctuary, which was an opportunity to be alone without feeling alone,” Chloe says. “I feel like a treehouse is perfectly poised to hold this ambiguous need of mine in balance, as it feels like you enter another world where the human humdrum is quietened, yet the sounds of nature are there for you.”

These days, Chloe has taken what she learnt about environments that feel safe and welcoming, and created the Treehouse Art Studio – a beautiful treehouse, built by her husband, designed to host art therapy sessions. As she sees it, the space is a vital part of what makes those sessions so impactful.

“In some ways, simply moving from ground level to treetop level has a subtle psychological impact, in that it implies a shift toward new ways of understanding ourselves,” she says. “It also helps that the treehouse art studio is nestled between a lovely sweet chestnut tree on one side and an oak tree on the other, while other trees nearby all add to that sense of retreating into nature.”

Chloe

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