There are many benefits of home cooked meals. Home-cooked meals are the best meals. You can prepare them according to your own taste, you can add things you love and not add things you do not like. These meals, prepared from scratch from fresh vegetables or meat with the delicious aura of spices added perfectly according to taste, are healthier, cheaper and tastier.

They save Time & Money

Eating packaged foods or eating from a restaurant is invariably more expensive than making your own meal. The ingredients of a common meal cost just a fraction of the cooked meals. Making your own meal is also often quicker than going out to eat. Driving to the nearest restaurant, ordering the meal, waiting for it to be prepared and then bringing it back home usually takes more time than fixing up something to eat in your own kitchen.

Healthier to Eat at Home

Food-borne diseases are very common. 1 in 6 Americans contract a food related disease every year. The growing trend of eating most of the meals outside could be responsible for this. Home-cooked meals are generally safer as you are cooking everything yourself. A meal prepared from scratch in front of your own eyes is healthier than the cooked meal bought from a restaurant. Additionally, cooked meals have additional fat content which could be unhealthy too. Restaurants focus just on taste; health is not one of the main preferences for their meals. But when you make something for yourself or your family, you make sure that the meal you are making is as healthy as it is tasty.

Family Time

As a family, preparing and eating home-cooked food gives you an excellent time to bond and spend some quality time with the family. While schedules are often tough, taking out time on weekends and eating together at home is an excellent way to spend a weekend. Collaborating in the kitchen and sharing simple tasks with the kids is a very healthy thing.

If you are a good cook, then making your own meals is so much better than eating out in every single way. However, if you are not so good in the kitchen, even then learning to make some basic things is not only easy, but also beneficial for your health, budget and the family.

Sometimes, you are too busy or tired and want to buy read-to-eat stuff. I recommend you to look at Amazon's Fresh Meal Kits, available for purchase at competitive prices.

There are different Schengen Visa types, available for different category of applicants. The different types of Schengen visas are described below:

1. Uniform Schengen Visas (USV)

This type of Schengen visa is issued for travelling to all of the Schengen countries. This type of visa comes in three categories:

Type A: This is transit visa, issued to those who have an onward flight and will transit at airport of any of the Schengen countries. This type of transit visa does not allow one to exit the airport.

Type B: This is another type of Schengen visa, which also allows the traveler to exit the airport and stay in the country for up to five days. This visa is also suitable for those who are going to pass through one or more Schengen countries by car, bike, or by other means.

Type C: This is a short term visa, issued to those who want to stay in one or more Schengen countries for a specific period of time. The duration of visa depends on date of your return ticket, reason for reason - the Embassy/Consulate of the country will assess these requirements and provide the issue for required duration, accordingly.

The Type C visa comes in three forms:

Single Entry:  This allows the holder of the Schengen visa to enter the Schengen country and then even travel to other Schengen countries only once. Once you have exited from the Schengen region, you can not enter any of the Schengen country again.

Double Entry: This visa allows the holder of Schengen visa to enter a Schengen country, exit and enter again one more time.

Multiple Entry: This allows you to enter and exit Schengen countries as many times as you want, but until the validity of the visa, which is normally 90 days from the day of visa issuance.

2. Limited Territorial Visa (LTV)

This visa allows its holders travel to only one Schengen country, which issues the visa. In some cases, this visa allows you also to enter two or more specific Schengen countries. If someone has to travel to more than Schengen countries, he/she will mention this in his visa application in order to be granted for this visa.

This visa, in some cases also issued to those who don't have a valid travel document, i.e passport, ID card and need to travel to a Schengen country on an exceptional reason e.g emergency of any type.

3. National Visas

Those individuals who want to travel to a Schengen country for study or work purposes are issued with this visa. Sportsmen, artist or any other highly skilled professional are also issued with this visa. Individuals who are granted permanent residence in a Schengen country are also issued with National Visa. National Visas are also offered for single and multiple entry.

You may like find out the list of Non-Schengen countries in Europe that do not require Schengen visa to enter but country's own visa.

You may also be interested to find out list of Non-Schengen countries you can travel without visa if you have Schengen visa,  countries you can visit visa-free if you have US visa.

Tags: Types of Schengen Visas, Schengen Visas Types

Nowadays, many people have been forced to part from their loved ones due to professional duties and many other reasons. But now, thanks to technology, the myth that Long-Distance relationships are bound to fail, has been broken. Its might be a bit difficult but simple adaptions in your life can help you maintain the warmth of your relationship. Thanks to technology, now its easier then ever, to stay connected with your special ones.

Honesty:

This is the most integral part in maintaining a relationship. Doesn't matter how far you are from each other, if either of the partner deceives each other, the relationship is bound to fail. Openly share every detail of your life with your partner, after all he/she is the special one. This action will strengthen your trust in each other.

Stay Connected:

Talk to each other very often. It does not matter what you talk about, its the very fact that you are there for him/her that matters. Send random selfies and screenshots, ask for advice, share the highs and lows you suffer in your daily life, a little bit of gossip maybe, for spicing up the fun! If possible, prefer video call over audio or texting. There are several tools in out there in the market which allow you to freely chat with your friends without straining your budget.

Same activity at the Same Time:

Do something collectively, at the same time. For example, you should make a plan of watching a movie on the weekend at the same time. Then message each other throughout the movie, criticizing the lame acting of the hero or how the devious villain could have easily escaped from the police. Your friend trying to ask you stupid questions, in spite of the fact that you are watching the movie for the first time yourself. It will be annoying but after all that's what best friends do

Have your fair share of secrets:

As is normal, you most likely have not one, yet a couple of individuals with whom you can literally share anything. But still, make it a point to keep a few things strictly in the middle of you and your bestie. Realizing that you believe one another enough to uncover something that nobody else on the planet is mindful of, will fortify the bond you have with each other.

TRAVEL!

No matter how close you might still be despite the distance between you, nothing substitutes seeing him/her in reality. So save up a little and every once in a while, when you can afford it, travel over to see your special one. If either of you can't afford coming over, then plan on meeting somewhere halfway. This will save you the expense but it will still allow you to see you NUMBER ONE!

Tag: Long distance relationship

If you hold a US Visa, you can enter many other countries without requiring Visa for that country. Here is the list of countries you can go visa-free with your USA visa.

 Antigua and Barbuda: Stay allowed up to 30 days. US$ 100 visa exemption fee will be payable upon arrival.

 Albania:  Stay allowed up to 90 days.

 Belize: Stay allowed up to 30 days. US$ 50 visa exemption fee will be payable upon arrival.

 Colombia: Stay allowed up to 90 days but only for holders of Chinese, Indian, Thai and Vietnamese passport holders.

 Costa Rica: Stay allowed up to 30 days and must have multiple entry US visa.

 Chile: Stay allowed up to 90 days but for Chinese passport holders only.

 Dominican Republic: Stay allowed up to 90 days.

 El Salvador: Stay allowed up to 90 days for certain nationalities only. Please check with El Salvador Embassy in your country to see if you are exempted from their visa.

 Guatemala: Stay allowed up to 90 days for certain nationalities only. Check with Gutemala Embassy in your  country to see if you're exempted from their visa.  

 Georgia: Stay allowed up to 90 days.

 Honduras: Stay allowed up to 90 days for certain nationalities only. Check with Honduras Embassy in your  country to see if you're exempted from their visa.  

 Jamaica: Stay allowed up to 30 days for certain nationalities only. Check with Jamaican Embassy in your  country to see if you are exempted for visa.

 Montenegro: Stay allowed up to 30 days.

 Mexico: Stay allowed up to 180 days.

 Nicaragua: Stay allowed up to 90 days but for certain nationalities only. Check with Nicaragua Embassy in your country  to see if you are exempted.

 Philippines: Stay allowed up to 7 days but for Chinese and Indian nationals only.

 Panama: Stay allowed for up to 180 days if your US visa is still valid for at least two more entries.

 Serbia: Stay allowed up to 90 days.

 Sao Tome and Principe: Stay allowed up to 15 days.

 Taiwan: Passport holders of come countries can apply for online visa.

 Turkey: Passport holders of certain countries can apply for online visa.

You may also like to view list of countries you can travel to without requiring visa, if you hold Schengen Visa.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_policy_of_the_United_States

Tags: Visa free countries with US visa, visa free countries for US visa holders