MyLife News

This June, join thousands of people taking part in the Wildlife Trust’s annual nature challenge, 30 Days Wild!

They want you to do one wild thing a day throughout the whole month: for your health, wellbeing and for the planet. That’s 30 simple, fun and exciting Random Acts of Wildness that you can do from your own home.

You’ll get a free, downloadable pack of goodies to help you plan your wild month, plus lots of ideas to inspire you to stay wild all throughout June (and beyond!)

For extra ‘bonus’ items, keep an eye on your emails for additional, fun activities, from instructions for baking hedgehog cupcakes to a beginner’s guide to wildlife photography.

To get involved, sign up here.

We made the local press with our recreation of Peter Kay’s ‘Show me the way to Amarillo’ and now, for our next video, we’ve remade that classic Queen video, ‘I Want to Break Free!’

Thank you to all those who took part, social distancing here at My Life or in your own homes, this really was a team effort and we’re very proud of it, with a special mention to our producer / director Nyle.

So, sit back, relax and enjoy this rock classic as My Life Presents – ‘I Want to Break Free.’ Click here to see us on YouTube.

If lockdown is making you feel a bit down, why not try these tips to help improve your wellbeing? You can use them daily, or just when you feel a bit low.

It’s completely understandable that lockdown, a change of routine and not seeing the people that we know and love, can make us feel a bit rubbish.

There are things that you can do to feel better.

The NHS have put together this ‘Beating the Isolation Blues’ wellbeing pack to help, if lockdown is having a negative effect on you.

It’s easy to use and full of tips and advice to blow those blues away – why not try it? Simply click here for your copy.

It might not be possible to get a KFC at the moment, but worry not, The Stable Door Café’s Paul Plumbley has rustled up this recipe to make your very own, at home.

Why not try making some rainbow slaw and authentic wedges too? Paul has it all here for you!

Paul says: “If you’re missing the Colonel’s chicken because of lockdown, why not try our ‘My Life Fried Chicken?’ It’s fantastic with Teresa from Day Opportunities’ freshly picked salad and some purple cabbage slaw – why not cook some of our potato wedges for with it, for you very own ‘fakeaway?’”

My Life Fried Chicken

Please note that the allergens for this recipe are milk and flour.

Ingredients:

• 8 chicken thighs
• 500ml buttermilk
• 1tsp salt
• 2tsp paprika
• 1tsp chilli powder

For the coating:

• 250g plain flour
• 2tsp thyme
• 2tsp oregano
• 1tsp celery salt
• 1tsp black pepper
• 3tsp sweet paprika
• 1tsp dried mustard
• 2 tsp garlic salt
• 1tsp ground ginger
• 1tsp dried basil
• 1tsp white pepper
• 1tsp chilli powder

Method:

1. Mix the buttermilk with the paprika, salt and chilli (from the first section of ingredients).
2. Place the chicken thighs into the buttermilk mix, making sure they are completely covered and marinate over night.
3. Mix the plain flour with all the other herbs and spices.
4. One at a time, coat the chicken in the spiced flour, making sure it is completely covered with lots of the spicy mix.
5. If you have a deep fryer, heat to 150c, if not, use a heavy frying pan 1/3rd filled with oil and heat on a medium high heat.
6. Cooking two at a time, place in the hot oil and cook for three minutes each side, then place on a wire tray or oven rack or cooling rack, so the oil can drain.
7. Pre heat the oven to 170c.
8. Cook the chicken on the wire rack with a baking tray underneath to catch any oil that drips and cook for 10 minutes. Check that this is cooked all the way through.
9. Leave to stand for five minutes then eat.

Rainbow slaw

Please note that the allergens for this recipe are eggs and mustard.

Ingredients:

• 1 quarter red cabbage
• 2 carrots, peeled
• 3 spring onions
• 1 large gherkin
• 2 dsp mayonnaise
• 1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)
• A pinch of black pepper
• A pinch of salt

1. Thinly slice the red cabbage and spring onion.
2. Grate the carrot and gherkin and mix all of these together.
3. If you’re using the fennel seed, toast in a dry pan, then add.
4. Mix two large spoons of mayonnaise and the salt and pepper into the mix and stir well.

Wedges

Ingredients:

• 4 jacket potatoes
• 2dsp vegetable oil
• 3tsp paprika
• 1tsp curry powder
• 1tsp salt

Method:

1. Mix the oil and spices together in a large bowl.
2. Cut each potato in half, then each half into three or four wedges.
3. Put the wedges into the bowl with the oil and mix well.
4. Heat the oven to 170c.
5. Place the wedges skin side down, evenly spread out on a baking tray, and cook for 45 minutes.

Day Opportunities Standish remains open for members that are still attending, following the social distancing guidance. To give people in the community that extra bit of cheer, our teams and volunteers have been picking and making home grown veg bags to deliver as freebies to people receiving our hanging baskets.

We have also been helping our member Richard rekindle his youth. Here he is below, aged around two, helping his grandad to plant potatoes.

We thought it might be a nice idea to drop some potatoes off to him, so that he can have a go again, all these years later – we’re looking forward to seeing if you’ve still got those green fingers, Richard!

Last week, whilst getting some fresh air and having a walk, My Life’s Liz and Anais were stopped by a lady who thanked Liz for being a keyworker, told her that she was doing a wonderful job and gave her some flowers from the bunch that she was carrying.

Our spirits were all buoyed by this lovely story, which made us remember the importance of small, genuine acts of kindness. It made us realise that when we’re under pressure it can be easy to forget how important it is to be kind – especially to ourselves.

We know that many people are doing the difficult job of juggling work whilst caring for others at the moment, so we thought we’d share this excellent blog from the Social Care Institute for Excellence, which gives tips on how to be kind to others AND our very own selves, whilst at work during the lockdown.