Blaze Fast-Fire’d Pizza, the recognized world leader in fast artisanal pizza, announces the launch of its newest addition to its menu- the low carb gluten-free Cauliflower Crust. The new crust, along with Blaze’s variety of fresh clean toppings, allows guests to ‘chart their own course’ and reflect Blaze’s position as an inclusive brand. It’s a new way to enjoy the fast-fired customizable pizzas for guests who are on a low carb diet.
“By unveiling a cauliflower crust, Blaze’s innovation is changing the way that guests think about and eat pizza,” said Executive Chef, Bradford Kent.
“We’re making pizza an option, even for those on a low carb diet.”
Bradford Kent, Executive Chef
Along with Blaze Pizza’s new Cauliflower Crust, the pizza brand will continue to offer its original dough, high-rise dough and gluten-free dough, all of which are made from scratch, in-house daily.
Guests can enjoy the brand’s artisanal pizza with a twist at The Galleria Al Maryah Island – Abu Dhabi and in Dubai at the recently opened Dubai Mall store through dine-in, takeaway and delivery.
NutriCal, UAE’s first food data intelligence software launches in the region with a vision to equip food businesses with pertinent information they can use to attract and retain customers. With dynamically changing trends in consumer preferences and increased competition in the food industry, the recipe management software serves as a beneficial and differentiating tool.
Ideal for a wide range of applications, NutriCal can be easily integrated by restaurants, cloud kitchens, food delivery companies, aggregators, food manufacturers, and brands. The web portal provides automatically generated nutritional fact labels as per FDA guidelines in English and Arabic, macros in the menu, and break-up of each of the recipes on the menu.
In addition, with digitization and online being the core focus of the sector currently, F&B companies can also use NutriCal to create new products, conduct recipe costing, and design relevant social media. Another added advantage is that NutriCal perfectly complements the growing demand for healthy eating and immunity bolstering with the calorie count meter that helps customers to make a calculated decision.
The user-friendly system has data and intelligence of over 25,000 ingredients from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other international databases with the capability of being integrated into the business’s existing tech platforms such as websites and POS systems.
Encouraging food businesses to use the latest technology frameworks to curate menus and provide intelligence
Soniya Ashar, founder of NutriCal said, “Our long-term vision at NutriCal is to be able to match the consumer’s preferences to a business’s food products and recipes. NutriCal resonates with the dynamic food and beverage market of the UAE and we are hopeful to contribute to the nation’s vision of being happy, healthy and sustainable. Ultimately, with our solution we want every food business to attract customers and increase revenue as their consumers are able to make a satisfactory and informed decision about the food they consume.
Having received a positive response from the UAE market, we have plans to expand our business line in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We see immense opportunity and potential in the GCC region and would want to be instrumental in bringing about a positive change in the offerings the food industry has to offer.”
“Moreover, with the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an evident shift in consumer behavior. They are now demanding greater transparency into sanitation and food offerings by restaurants. Demand for healthy food has risen to unprecedented levels too. Therefore, food service providers and food delivery companies that display nutritional and caloric information for menu items are allowing customers to take better control of their wellbeing.”
Soniya Ashar, Founder, NutriCal
Aligning itself with the UAE’s National Agenda for 2021, NutriCal is launched with an objective to enable F&B industries to be more conscious about the food they have to offer while ensuring customers are making more well-informed choices to suit their changing lifestyles.
The local restaurant community continues to rally round to support relief efforts in Lebanon.
GoFood, the newly launched home-grown delivery platform run by restaurant owners, announced today that 100 percent of all sales made on August 14 will be donated to Emirates Red Crescent’s Lebanon initiative to help those affected by the crisis.
Customers who want to support the cause can order from more than 2000 restaurants currently on the platform including Nando’s, She Burger, 800 Pizza, Café Bateel, Villa Beirut, Kulcha King, Logma, Calicut Paragon and Hatam.
Or they can try GoFood Grocery, the platform’s next-day fresh grocery delivery service in Dubai.
Offering a wide assortment of everyday essentials, including baked goods, fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy and meat, frozen food, household essentials, pantry items and so much more, GoFood Grocery is currently offering an introductory 30 percent discount on all orders till 19th August.
Again the proceeds from all orders on GoFood Grocery on the 14th will go to supporting relief efforts in Lebanon.
GoFood is now available for download on ioS and Android.
What is GoFood?
GoFood was born during the global Covid-19 Crisis of 2020 where the majority of restaurant delivery aggregators and delivery service providers refused to reduce their unreasonable commissions, putting a massive strain on restaurants already struggling with reduced business. More than 500 restaurant owners representing 4,000 restaurants in the UAE decided to come together to create their own delivery platform and GoFood was born.
Enjoy mobile remittances to the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait
Dubai-based Denarii Cash, a mobile money transfer app for expatriates in the UAE, has announced that the company signed strategic partnership agreements and expanded its network to eleven countries. Expatriates in the UAE are now able to remit cash via their smartphones to the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait.
The company has experienced a rapid spike in the number of users downloading the mobile application since March 2020. With this sudden surge in downloads, Denarii Cash has 1.1 million waitlisted users to be activated when compared to the 57,000 active users prior to the pandemic. In today’s world, mobile cash remittances have become a necessity and are affordable, secure and easily accessible to customers.
Commenting on the announcement, Jon Santillan, founder and techpreneur said: “As key players in the remittance field, since the beginning of the pandemic our team has worked tirelessly to hasten the process of signing partnership agreements to offer our services to several expatriate communities in the UAE. Our strategy is to offer our remittance services to as many expatriates as possible. Today, we are proud to have paved the way for our customers to digitally remit cash to 11 major countries and this was no easy task.”
“We, at Denarii Cash, provide the highest exchange rate and charge the lowest transaction fees in the market. We look forward to further expanding our services to several other countries in the near future.”
Jon Santillan
How to create an account in Denarii Cash?
With Denarii Cash, users can set up a free account in minutes, pay bills by debit or credit cards, recharge accounts all at the comfort and safety of their homes. Its robust network provides free flow of money with ease from one country to the other with same-day delivery at low-cost transaction fees.
Denarii Cash can be downloaded from App Store or Play Store.
What is Denarii Cash?
Established by Jon Santillan in 2018, Denarii Cash is a leading money transfer app in the UAE, providing secure and affordable money transfer options for individuals. The startup company offers services that significantly simplify the remittance process by allowing expatriate workers in UAE to send money via smartphone and enjoy a full range of pay-out options including cash pickup or a bank deposit of cash to support their families back home. Currently, it has footprints in the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Bahrain with further expansion underway across key business markets.
Denarii Cash is backed and supported by leading venture capital firms 500 Falcons, MISK Innovation, 500 Fintech, and leading GCC angel investors.
I Quit Plastic Powered by Sprudel is on a mission to Eliminate Single-Use Plastic
The planet-friendly water company has launched the “I Quit Plastic” movement on instagram to raise awareness about plastic pollution
The world consumes a million plastic bottles a minute, according to the Guardian. @I_QuitPastic is a digital movement powered by Sprudel to spread awareness about the hazards of plastic pollution on our planet and to eliminate single-use plastic.
The digital movement aims to create a community by channeling people’s inner-changemaker to take #TheSprudelPledge to go plastic-free. Once signed up on the website, pledge takers are encouraged to share pictures and videos taking small steps to live sustainably and tag @I_QuitPastic.
To help raise further awareness on the ease of living sustainably and get started on this journey, Sprudel has decided to not only repost user-generated content on @I_QuitPastic, but also give-away plastic-free starter kits.
“I believe this is an ever-green movement since plastic can be found all over our planet, from the peak mountains to the depths of the ocean, and every small step taken towards eliminating plastic matters”
Shawn Green, Founder of Sprudel
In the future, Shawn plans to collaborate with other eco-friendly local vendors, NGO’s, and non-profit organizations to help provide a variety of sustainable products. The @I_QuitPastic movement hopes to serve as an extension to Plastic Free July, which is a global movement that has helped millions of people be part of a greater solution by helping eliminate plastic pollution so that we as a community can have a cleaner planet.
Raqz and Aya visited Josie’s Kitchen recently to share one of her most in-demand cake recipes – the Ube-Cheese cupcake.
Speaking on behalf of my wife, this recipe can be done in less than one hour – that’s 10-15 minutes to prepare the ingredients and mix into a batter, and 25-30 minutes to bake.
Watch the video to see how they do it, and don’t forget to subscribe to Love Josie on Youtube for more recipes:
The ingredients of ube-cheese cupcake recipe
1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup condensed milk
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup grated cheese
2 tsp ube essence
fresh milk (optional)
Thank you so much mommy Josie for inviting us to your kitchen, and for making Raqz ‘say yes’ to be in a video 🙂 We had fun in the set.
We couldn’t see each other physically – no pick-up and drop-offs, no dates, none of these. I was in Dubai, she was in Manila. Everything happened online. No Facebook, WhatsApp, or Zoom yet; Mobile internet wasn’t a thing then. Those were the glory days of Friendster and Yahoo Messenger.
It was a ‘Love on Lockdown’ on a long distance.
A dozen years (and kilos) later, through highs and lows, here we are together stronger than ever. A marriage that’s full of S.W.A.G. – Saved With Amazing Grace.
Happy 12th anniversary babe! In case you wonder how we seem to grow year after year, let me share you twelve reasons why…
How to grow your marriage through the years?
T – TOGETHER MATTERS
To be in the company of each other is a privilege, not a burden. We enjoy every opportunity we could be together.
W – WACKINESS
Humor is an important part of our everyday lives. Laughter is not just the best medicine, laughter is a vaccine.
E – LEVATE
We strive to become a better version of ourselves a a husband and a wife, day in and day out.
L – LOVE LANGUAGE
We respond to each others love language religiously.
V – VISION
This relationship is motivated by dreams and aspirations. Having a vision allows us to filter out unnecessary things and activities that are not aligned with the vision.
E – EDIFY
We encourage one another and build each other up. We commit to edify and become accountable to each other.
This year’s Philippine Independence Day celebration in Dubai will go down the history books not only as the first-ever virtual celebration of Independence Day but also as an enormous gathering of brilliant minds in front and behind the cameras.
Philippine Consul General to Dubai and the Northern Emirates, Paul Raymund Cortes, shares his thoughts and excitement as we are bringing the fiesta from the usual parks to the screens.
Here’s his full statement:
The 2020 edition of Anniversary of the Proclamation of Philippine Independence presents to us a more somber nuance of what a celebration of our freedoms would be. In the past, our commemorations consisted of lively cultural presentations, dances and songs, and a fiesta atmosphere that would reflect the joy of the overseas Filipino community in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. For us, June 12 offers the opportunity to manifest who we are as a people, our history, and how we surpass the challenges presented to us as we try to highlight our culture in a very competitive and globalized world.
The COVID-19 pandemic forces us to think more strategically on how our people could move on in the midst of an economically-challenged global community facing the uncertainties that this crisis brings. It makes us rethink about how the realities of migration and health affect our current diaspora.
This is not to say that this year’s celebration and beyond must be devoid of pride in our culture but more so the need for it to be juxtaposed with a reality that our diaspora has never faced since hundreds of thousands of our people began exploring economic opportunities outside our country some 50 years before.
Perhaps this is a time for us to strategize how the overseas Filipino communities around the world could not only make a difference in the economic set up of the places that they have chosen to relocate themselves but now also ensuring that they likewise become positive agents of hope and change, much needed in a world where health has now become society’s top priority.
Now we must rethink how economics, culture, the arts, and our heritage can be pursued while understanding that above them all is the health and the greater good of the majority. For the people who prides itself in communal gatherings and a very active artistic sense, this becomes a challenge. But with digital and technological information at our disposal, we look forward to an even more enticing, savvy, and perhaps more virtually challenging celebration of who we are as a people and what we can contribute to a world that is looking forward to a new normal.
Now, perhaps more than ever is our chance to show the rest of the world that what a united, resolute, strategic, and more determined Filipino community we are in this part of the world.
Let us keep showing everyone what we can do and what we can share with the rest of the expatriate communities in the UAE keeping in mind our newfound priorities. Mabuhay to all Filipinos and may we always rise up to the expectations of an even more hopeful future.
Every couple probably has been asked, “How are you as a couple during the lockdown?“
At an average, a working spouse is at home only twice a week – that’s 8 times every month and 48 days every 365 days – that is if they stay home and not spend the days off outside for leisure, sidelines, or community work.
Only forty-eight days in one year (plus the vacation leaves) – that’s very little. It’s even worse for those who work six days a week. That’s why I thought married couples would welcome the idea of a work-from-home.
Apparently, many married couples are not enjoying the extended time together. I’ve read blogs about couples fighting and divorce rates increasing. It’s a sad surprise for me.
Lockdown marriage
The last 3 months gave us a preview of what retirement looks like sans the work. As my wife and I are pondering why we seem to enjoy the extended stay at home, we thought maybe because our relationship has already been on a ‘lockdown’ setup for years now.
I mean, spending a long time with each other is not really new. About 4 years ago, I gave up 90% of my activities that consume my time after work, including weekends.
Our marriage is not spared from conflicts, but to be honest, I can’t remember when was the last time we had a fight, and what was that about.
Let me share some of the reasons why I think our relationship clicks during the lockdown:
We give each other space
She knows the type of work I do. I allowed her to understand the highs and lows at work – what causes stress and pressure, and what would enable me to deliver on or beyond expectations. Though it is challenging in a home setup, she gives me space to allow me to focus properly at work. She avoids things that would distract me.
I also give her the space she needs to do what she loves doing – baking is one of them. And while she’s at it, I’ll be in-charge with the kids.
Knowing the importance of momentum is essential to give your partner the needed space and time.
We recognize outlets
She knows that blogging is close to my heart. It is my outlet to unwind from work stress. It is one of many ways I can sustain a good mental approach to everything I do. So she recognizes the need for time to do that – even if it’s ‘just’ a hobby.
For her, it’s the time with her friends online.
We plan and schedule everything
Planning is always essential. If we plan things at work or in the community, why not plan things at home too?
We live with the most important people in our lives at home, so it is just right to ensure that we are responding to their needs accordingly.
My kind of schedule while on Work From Home setup
Above is my schedule this week. By writing my activities in a table, it gives me the consciousness of where I put my time the most. It allows me to manage my energy better because it avoids surprises. It also takes care of my momentum to do more in less time.
WORK easily takes the biggest part of the day and it is what it is. So I make sure that the next big part in my schedule is time spent with the family (yellow colors). The time for myself is the least. MANY, many people always assume that I am busy with a lot of stuff. Yes, I am. I am busy with the most precious people in my life.
Do not underestimate the value of scheduling. It does wonders. Kids, after all, are the biggest work to attend to – they are the real work.
We talk A LOT
We talk a lot even when I’m at the office, so it’s not an issue now that we’re together longer in a day. If you look at the schedule again, we have reserved a date night every Tuesday. Since we’re in lockdown, we don’t go out. We just find that time to sit and talk about how we were as a partner in the last week. The accountability to each other and to God makes it easier to commit to being corrected in times we drift away from our roles.
We delegate tasks between the two of us
In addition to understanding our roles as husband and wife, we also make sure that tasks are delegated between the two of us. We divide tasks by interest, knowledge, and weight, not by gender. At the end of the day, every decision has to be talked about.
We respond to our love languages
Whenever love language is fulfilled, the relationship blossoms even more. Knowing your spouse’s love language ensures that you are expressing, giving, and receiving love in a genuine and thoughtful way.
There are 5 love languages – quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, affection or physical touch, and gifts. You can learn more about these through the book by Gary Chapman. You can buy one from Amazon for only AED51.
Ever since we introduced our 7-year old into discipleship, we committed to do it 4 times a week – that’s her preference by the way. Discipleship (EFAD – Every Family A Discipleship group), is a time where we discuss stories from the bible. Sometimes we use other books or online materials too. At the end of each session, we ensure that she has a takeaway that would be valuable to her character and role in the family.
Her interest spills to her own time that she writes those points that gave her an impact in a journal.
We also have our own bible reading time every night. We keep seeking God’s word because we believe it is the only guide that matters when it comes to steering the marriage. We ensure that we look at things from a spiritual and practical perspective at all times. In the end, it is always a question of, “what would God say?” about our actions and decisions.
We enjoy home
As the play nature of the kids got restricted to indoors, we have to improvise ways to keep the boredom away. The home is a big playground. We try to respond to their recreational needs by just being there to play, dance, and really just jump in the bed with them.
If you can, try buying low-cost toys to ‘bring the playground to home,’ like this slide that cost only 95 dirhams in Amazon. We bought one for the 1-year old, as recommended by a friend.
One of the conversation starters in our relationship is critique. I’ll ask her what she thinks about my work or my blog. And she does the same about her recipes and cakes. We critique each other’s parenting approach too, and when we do, it’s always about highlighting what’s good, or if there are ways to make it better next time.
It’s all about communication
Before we get married, didn’t we say we want to spend the rest of our lives together? I think this lockdown is the reality of that desire.
It will never be perfect, but if there’s really good communication in place – vertical and horizontal – everything can just be a matter of planning, talking, and walking the talk.
This post is not intended to glorify the lockdown but more of an encouragement to look at one of the bright spots during the pandemic. Looking at the savings always brings positive effects to our brain, so why don’t we?
Working from home for 3 months (and counting) gave me an opportunity to save money. If you are like me, driving to work, we might have the same savings pattern, especially in transportation. Here are some of the work-related expenses I was able to save:
Expenses
Savings (per month)
Petrol
400
Salik (Toll gate)
400
Parking
0
Car Wash
55
Dry cleaning & ironing
45
Dining Out
400
Mobile Data Add-on
30
Haircut
45
TOTAL
1,375
Plus the expenses for packed lunch, electricity for ironing school uniform and office clothes, water for laundry, and the few weekend getaways.
That’s over 4,000 dirhams in 3 months.
But, on the other hand, we saw a significant increase in spending on the following items and utilities, that almost offset a big part of the savings:
Thanks to an improvised family expense tracker app, we were still able to control the unexpected expenses.
You, for sure, may find more areas to save money during the quarantine, like commuting costs, gym memberships, movies, coffee at work, salon, spa, and more.
What to do with those extra savings?
If there’s one key financial lesson this pandemic has largely made us realize, it is the value of savings and emergency funds. If you are blessed to be able to save some, you might consider investing some of it to make it grow – or just not spend money unnecessarily.
A recent article in Gulfnews suggests to not send the money home, not make big purchases, and instead, keep the money intact to sustain yourself as difficult times are expected to continue.
Prepare for the inevitable.
Now is the best time to take lessons from the ants. Learn from their ways and become wise!
