Last Minute Mother's Day Gifts on a Budget

Do gas prices, rising unemployment and the slow economy have you stumped about what to do for Mother's Day?  We love our Moms but often her work goes unnoticed and unappreciated, so it's time to treat her special. Problem is there just aren't many numbers before the decimal point in our bank balance.

GOOD NEWS!! You don't need a huge budget to give a meaningful lasting Mother's Day gift.  Invest in your Mom's quality of life, health and wellness and your gift will keep giving.  Your lean wallet can actually be the key to help Mom and the rest of the family get healthier.  Here are three (3) ideas for Healthy Mother's Day Gifts on a low or no budget:

1. Give "Time Coupons": Mom's wear multiple hats, multi-task and often have to adjust their schedules for their families so giving some time to your Mom is a great stress reduction gift.  What does time look like to a Mom?  You can start with these:
• 1 Week of Cooking Dinner 
• Doing the Weekend Laundry
• Helping with a project around the house
• Quality time with you in an activity of her choice
• A "Personal Sabbath Day" so she can have a complete day of rest
• An Evening Walk (down the street, in a park or at the mall)
• A picnic prepared by you
• A Mom's Night Out (without you)
• A weekend sleep in pass
• Thorough cleaning of a room or vehicle
2. Present a Healthy Meal: If taking Mom out for nice dinner means burgers and fries from the dollar menu, why not use that same money and prepare a healthy meal that will leave you with left overs (that is when eating proper portions, which we will of course be doing :-)). Here's how for about $20:
• Bake a Whole Chicken (Hormone, Steroid & Antibiotic Free $5 or Organic $10 and marinade $3)
• Steam some broccoli (2lb bag frozen $1.75)
• Steam some carrots (organic $1.27)  and sprinkle with cinnamon, drizzle with honey and coat with a 1/2 tsp melted butter
• Prepare some brown rice (32 oz bag $1.25) with lentils (1 lb bag $0.75)
• Bake some corn muffins (Bob's Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Mix $3.00)
• Skinny Cow Ice Cream Desserts ($3.98)
3. Fit Gift Certificate:  All Moms need to move and whether your Mom needs to get started or to spice up her routine an exercise gift certificate is an ideal affordable fit gift. Get her one or a series:
• Personal Training ($35-$75 depending on gym and trainer)
• Zumba Class ($10 - $35 per class or go for a series)
• YMCA or Gym Membership ($30 -  $55 per month)
• Boot Camp ($90 - $150 for 6 weeks)

Help your Mom have a Happy Healthy Mother's Day and take note yourself!

Earth Day Deficit Plan Addresses Overspending Nature’s Budget

The American Budget is not the only one overspent and in need of a deficit plan.  We are using far many more resources than the Earth can provide.  For starters, we are eating too much, wasting too much, using too much water and energy, overusing chemicals, polluting the air, land and water and as a result we are in a global ecological overshoot.  To slow down this ecological deficit and help accelerate the environmental movement, this year’s Earth Day theme is A Billion Acts of Green®.  This campaign calls for people of all nationalities around the world to commit to an act of environmental service to support sustainability and create a healthier one-planet future. Have you made your pledge?

Earth Day is Friday so make plans now to generate as many acts as possible in your community and submit them to be added in the Billion Acts of Green®. Collectively, these acts will not only have an impact on global carbon emissions, but will also demonstrate the power of small every-day individual acts of green. As an added bonus, many of these acts promote a healthier lifestyle - they can get you moving, eating better, breathing cleaner air and lessen your exposure to cancer promoting chemicals.The act can range from a simple gesture to an immense project.  Whatever the act, it all counts.  Here are a few ideas:

o   Eat a plantarian, vegetarian or vegan diet ~or~ simply eat less meat
o   Walk, bike or take public transportation to work or other destinations
o   Shop with reusable bags (grocery, clothing, household, etc.)
o   Support farmer’s markets and get fresh, local, seasonal food
o   Do laundry in cold water
o   Change out light bulbs to energy efficient florescent bulbs
o   Eliminate the use of pesticides (shop organic when possible)
o   Eliminate the use of toxic cleaning products (use eco-friendly products)
o   Get a home energy audit
o   Plant a garden or a tree at home or school
o   Recycle paper, plastic, aluminum, steel, glass, etc.
o   Eat more local food
o   Repurpose or give-a-way things rather than throwing them in the trash
o   Carpool more and use the car less
o   Trade in your gas guzzler for a fuel efficient vehicle

Millions around the world have already pledged to help save our planet.  What will you do to cut your nature spending and take another step towards your healthier lifestyle?  Choose your act and visit http://act.earthday.org/ to make your pledge today.  

Each year, Earth Day -- April 22 -- marks the anniversary of the birth of the

modern environmental movement in 1970. The idea came to Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the ravages of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. The passage of the landmark Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act and the establishment of the Earth Day Network (EDN) followed that first Earth Day.  Now more than 1 billion people in 192 countries participate in Earth Day activities each year, making it the largest civic observance in the world.

To find Earth Day events around town visit http://www.earthdayhouston.org/. 

Be Stress-Free Forever! 5 Simple Steps

By now you have probably heard that stress affects your health.  Stress can give you an upset stomach, headache, weakened immune system,  insomnia, even high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.  It causes our bodies to release Cortisol which lands right around our guts.  What’s more, when we are stressed we tend to over eat high calorie foods for comfort when we are not really hungry. And you know where that ends up…a moment on the lips...

So stress reduction is on the checklist of things to do for the healthier lifestyle.  But adults are not the only ones that may battle stress.

Our two year old son, who we adopted about six months ago experienced a great deal of stress and trauma pre-birth and as an infant.  Our therapist explained that he easily goes into a state of fight and flight because his world was always changing.  When he is stressed he screams, cries and wants food.  So we have to help him learn that we will take care of him forever, there is no more change and he does not have to fend for himself nor does he need food for comfort.  He just has to trust us.

Funny how this  has given us a new perspective of what God must go through trying to help us realize that His intent is for us to be stress free.  He is the affordable health care solution to our stress reduction.  So here are five simple steps you can take to be stress free forever:

1.    Cast – Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

2.    Trust –  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

3.    Take  – Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 1:28-30

4.    Choose - “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42

5.    Be Thankful – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

The control freak in me finds this so hard to do - to let go and let God.   But I am going after it as one of my lifetime lifestyle goals. No need to go to God if I am going to stress out right?! Join me and see how minimizing stress will promote your goals for a healthier you.

Making Healthy Affordable

My Dad taught his grandchildren a lot about Affordable Health Care and it wasn't from an act of legislation.  It was right in his backyard in a thing called a GARDEN!  Plant, grow, harvest, cook and eat health fresh food and the cost: seeds, soil, water and time.

From an apartment patio planter to a backyard plot, it is all good and highly beneficial.

Here's what we get with the garden health care plan:

• Vitamin D from the sun when we are outside planting or tending to it and after a long winter many of us are Vitamin D deficient
• Physical activity- you work your legs, buttocks, arms, shoulders, neck, back and abdomen as you work in the garden digging, planting, weeding.  Plus you will be stretching (as you reach) and lifting (soil,  watering can, mulch, etc.).
• Stress reduction - gardening is so different from the rushed pace of life so it gives your mind a break. Researchers are finding that the mental break is therapeutic and practically equivalent to prayer and meditation. And we all know how expensive stress is to our health.
• Children Avoid Nature Deficit Disorder - A term coined by author Richard Louv who maintains that children are disengaged from nature because they are indoors all the time using technology.  Young people need this slow down therapy as much as adults. Then who knows, we'll have a generation of college kids who have fresh herbs and tomato plants in their dorm windows to spike up their ramen noodles and won't need you to hire a therapist for them.
• Fresh Healthy Food at a Low Cost - the largest investment is time because seeds or plants and dirt are super cheap.  Just go armed with coupons and talk to the experts at your favorite garden center about what will be easiest for you to plant and in time you can cross it off your grocery list and eat it fresh.

Okay, I hear you...now days who has time for gardening? Well we have time for whatever we think in important and when you look at the benefits you may find it is time well spent.  Plus the initial planting is probably the largest time slot so do it during Spring break or Easter break then it's all about maintenance which doesn't take that long.

Check this out...A friend of mine was thinning out her collards and gave me some plants in 2008 that we put in our little garden.  They didn't do so well 2009 but last year we enjoyed them and believe it or not we are eating some for dinner TODAY from that same batch!  Cha-ching!!

Pre-Teen Cooks Delicious Healthy Breakfast...And It Wasn't Cereal!

It was all for a science class assignment but having my son pre-plan and prepare a healthy well balanced breakfast for the family is something I could definitely get used to.

His assignment was to plan a meal including all the USDA Pyramid food groups (fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, dairy and oils), shop for it, prepare it then determine if there was a difference in cost with eating the meal at home compared to eating it at a restaurant. 

Now that's the kind of homework I like - it covered fractions, chemistry, economics, reading, writing and nutrition.  Got to slap the teacher a high-five for this one. 

Not only was it a treat to get a break from cooking as and an added bonus we saw our little man, who generously opens up his parent's wallets while keeping his under lock and key in the vault, gain a new appreciation for why we try to eat most of our meals at home.  The size of the eyes when the computation showed a $30 savings presuming that baby brother would get to eat free was priceless.

He made up his own French Toast recipe.  It was so good we had to share it:


Lil C's French Toast


8 slices of Sprouted Whole Wheat Bread
1 large egg
1 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (or milk of choice)
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ginger
1/8 tsp Cloves
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Cooking Spray
Powdered Vanilla (optional)
Melted Ghee (optional)

Syrup:  1/8 cup Brown Rice Syrup, 1/8 cup Maple Syrup, 1/4  cup hot water

• Combine egg, milk, spices and extract in a bowl and blend well
• Spray a griddle/skillet with cooking oil and warm on low heat 
• Dip bread in egg mixture and immediately put in pan. Cook for 2-3 minutes then flip over to cook opposite side until crispy
• Drizzle with 1/4 tsp of melted ghee and Garnish with powdered vanilla
• Dip in the special syrup mix

Our French Toast came with Baked Cinnamon Apples, Scrambled Egg whites and a Sweet Potato Smoothie.

Let the young people in your life take over your kitchen for brunch with this easy healthier french toast recipe!!

Time To Spring Back from the Spring Forward

Who knew that just a single hour could make such a huge impact on your week.  If you have felt a little more sluggish than usual this past week, it is most likely due to losing an hour from Daylight Savings Time (DST) this past Sunday.

Research shows that the effects of losing an hour may have a range of effects on health from feeling tired for a day or two to an increased risk of heart attack, traffic accidents and suicide during the first few weeks of DST.

So how do we deal with the time change? And when will be fully adjusted? It can reportedly take up to two weeks for school aged children to adjust.   


So here are a few ideas to help us all Spring back from the :

o   Go to Bed On Time. Resist the urge to stay up late or let your children to stay up later than usual.  Use the weekend to get to a regular bedtime.

o   Darken the Kids' Room. Kids’ biological clocks are closely synchronized with light and since it doesn’t get dark until later, darken the room with curtains, shades, blinds, dark sheets, temporary blinds or whatever you have to block out the light. 

o   Rise and Shine.  Wake up a little earlier over the weekend, even if you don’t have to be anywhere.  Start the day off with exercise or some form of physical activity to get the serotonin flowing and release some endorphins (feel good hormones).  Then have a healthy breakfast to reset your eating patterns. This will help you and the young people in your life get those body clocks back in rhythm.

o   Enjoy the Sun. Science doesn't have to tell us that after we have been hibernating all winter the sun feels good and give us extra energy.  Something about getting outside makes you feel good so get out there and enjoy it! 

o   Zap the Nap. Adults may want to limit naps to a 20 minute power nap so that you are not up too late.  For the kiddos, if naptime goes to late into the after then bedtime is sure to be a struggle so end it for them if they don’t wake up early enough.

o   Tune Out. Stay away from any form of technology during the hour before going to bed and opt for a warm bath, a gentle massage and reading a good bedtime story.

    

We hope these tips help you get your rest and Spring into action!

You Need A Quick Laugh Break Today + Greens with Caramelized Onions

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22 ESV

There was a man who had been trying to lose weight, although he had been doing more 'hardly working' than 'working hard.'  He went in to weigh himself on the scale and his wife peered in to check on him.  As he stepped on the scale he took a deep breathe and sucked his belly in as far as he could. His wife asked "Why are you doing that?  It's not going to help." He replied "Sure it will, now I will be able to see the numbers!"

Thanks to my oldest son who is a prankster and jokester for this joke.

What does it take to make you laugh?  Are you so serious that you get offended and defensive by a tease or find it hard to get the punch line of a joke?  Do you complain a lot?  Do you find it hard to see the humor is everyday life and take yourself seriously?

If so you may want to lighten up for your health.  So far research is showing that laughter is good for your health. Here's what can happen when you laugh:

• Stress Management: Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are reduced and health boosting hormones like endorphines and anti-body producing cells are increased promoting immunity and lessening the physical effects of stress.
• Perspective Shift: When you lighten the mood it is easier to see things in a positive light.  The glass becomes half full rather than half empty, the sky is partly sunny rather than partly cloudy.
• Ab Work: If you laugh hard enough those abs get engaged and start contracting. This is good news since physical activity is cumulative even this little bit will count!
• Socially Contagious: When you smile or laugh, it lifts the mood of those around you.  Think about it, who would you rather be around the before or after grinch? We are drawn to the happy people in our lives so let's be one of them.

At times I know I can get into lemon mode and when I hear the kids or my husband calling me the grinch I know I am being a sour puss.  The grinch is our cue to each other to lighten up.  

My Dad taught me that life is too short to not enjoy it and make the most of it.  I was blessed to grow up in a big extended family where smiles and laughter came in generous portions and we didn't always take ourselves too seriously. We have a few comedians and practical jokers that kept us going and still do.  Who knew that studies would start showing that it's good for our health too!

Collard Greens and Caramelized Onions

¾ Pound Collard Greens (6 or 7 cups, chopped)

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 onions, sliced into thin crescents

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2-3 cups low sodium vegetable broth

Sea Salt and fresh cracked Pepper to Taste

Apple Cider Vinegar (optional)

1. Wash collards, remove stalks and stack 4 to 5 leaves.  Roll them up and slice into strips, approximately ¼ inch wide.   
2. Bring 2 to 3 cups of broth to a boil in a sauce pan with a lid.  Add collards, cover, and cook over high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
3. While greens are cooking, in a large skillet or cast-iron pan, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onions and sauté for 5-7      minutes, until golden and sweet.  Take care not to burn.  Add garlic and sauté for another 2 to 3 minutes, until golden
4. Check on the greens while onions are cooking.  The greens are cooked when they are tender but still Bright green.  Drain in colander and set aside.
5. Add cooked greens to onions and garlic.  Cook for another 1 to 2 minutes to heat through.  Serve hot, drizzled with additional olive oil or apple cider vinegar if you dare and seasoned with a little sea salt and pepper to taste.