Makeover Your Cleaning Cabinet       

It is time to come clean!  Keep yourself and your family well by avoiding toxic chemicals in cleaning products.  Toxic chemicals can affect your thyroid and cause headaches and inflammation.      

Try these natural products:

1. Essential oils kill bacteria, germs, fungi, and mold. For antibacterial protection use cypress, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, lime, marjoram, melaleuca, peppermint, and rosemary. For antiviral protection try oils of cinnamon, clove, eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, melaleuca, oregano, sandalwood, and thyme.

2. Baking soda can be used for scrubbing, whitening, deodorizing, and cutting grease.

3. White vinegar works great by killing germs, cutting grease, deodorizing, and dissolving mineral deposits.

4. Liquid castile soap is gentle on the hands and is vegetable-based.  It can be found in health food stores and at Walgreens.  Dr Bronners is a good product to try. 

Natural cleaners are better for you and the environment!   Happy cleaning!

                                        

Kale Salad Recipe

1 bunch kale
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup red onion chopped
1 tsp toasted sesame seeds
1/2 avocado cubed

Dressing
2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp olive oil
juice of 2 limes sweetened with honey

Combine salad ingredients. Drizzle oils over the salad and mix well. Add sweetened lime juice and mix. Enjoy!

Five Tips to Quiet Your Mind

Is stress leaving you drained and zapping the joy in your life?  Two-thirds of visits to family doctors are for stress-related symptoms.  Challenging situations will always be a part of our lives, but we can learn to manage stress better to avoid physical and emotional pain. Here are five tips to help you conquer stress and quiet your mind.

1.      Slow down. Yes, you can do it!  Breathe deeply. Eat slowly. Savor the experience of dining with loved ones. If you are feeling overwhelmed with all you need to do, make a not-to-do list.  Focus on what is most important and leave the rest for another time. Be present to the joys of the moment.

2.      Lighten up. Laugh more, worry less.  Grab your kids or your husband and dance around the house. Watch a funny movie, recall moments of fun, tell a joke, or read the comics. Laughter releases tension and lifts our mood.

3.      Keep moving.  Yoga is a gentle exercise combined with healthy breathing that brings a relaxed state of mind. Find exercise that you enjoy and do it regularly to release stress and boost endorphins.

4.       Prepare your body and mind for restful sleep.  Try a warm bath with drops of lavender oil or put two drops of lavender oil on your pillow for relaxation. About an hour before bed, dim the lights, turn off the computer or TV, and play soft music or read. This lets your body know that it is time to slow down and get ready for sleep.  End your day by writing five things you are grateful for in a gratitude journal. This will keep you focused on the positive and create peace.

5.      The food-mood connection. Food matters. The food we eat can either increase our stress or decrease it. A diet high in sugar, processed food, and soda can make us feel anxious, moody, or irritable because of the blood sugar swings.  Magnesium is the relaxation mineral so by choosing foods that are high in magnesium you will be able to handle stress better,  Some magnesium rich foods are beans, avocados, dates, brown rice, almonds, cashews, shrimp, and greens.  Foods with Omega 3’s like walnuts, fish, flax seeds and chia seeds help to balance mood as well.

As we slow down, focus on the positive, create peace, and nurture our body with whole foods, we will find balance in our lives.  Joy comes from a life in balance.

Close-to-Nature Snacks for Kids and Busy Moms

Here we are back in the school routine with early mornings and the rush to get kids dressed, fed, brushed, combed, and ready with school supplies. Bravo, moms!  You do an amazing job with all you juggle in a day.

Another challenging part of the day happens when the kids charge through the door after school and are ready to devour everything in the house!  Many kids eat lunch as early as 10:30 or 11 in the morning so by the time school is out, they are starved.  In order to give your child the best nutrients choose food as close to nature as possible.  When reading food labels remember that the first ingredient is the most abundant. Avoid packaged or processed foods that are high in sugar, fat, or trans fats, high fructose corn syrup, preservatives, dyes, and artificial sweeteners. Junk food leads to junk mood and difficulty focusing in school.  Fresh fruit, veggies, and whole grains, and nuts and nut butters are good choices.

Here are some healthy snack ideas that boost kids’ nutrition:

1.      Frozen bananas. Cut a banana in half and put each half on a popsicle stick. Roll the halves in yogurt and then coat with granola and freeze.

2.      Quick pizza. Drizzle tomato sauce and sprinkle low-fat mozzarella cheese on a whole-grain English muffin half. Sprinkle with seasoning like oregano and garlic. Heat in a toaster oven until cheese melts.

3.      Yogurt parfaits. Layer fruit like strawberries and blueberries and low-fat yogurt in a parfait glass. Top with granola..

4.      Snack mix. Make a mix of ready-to-eat organic cereal, dried fruit, and nuts or seeds. Place in a bag and you have a ready-to-go snack.

5.      Snack kabob. Cut up cubes of low-fat cheese and place them with grapes on mini pretzel sticks.

6.      Ants on a log. Kids enjoy making this with celery sticks spread with nut butter and topped with raisins.

7.      Hummus Delight. Arrange pita chips, baby carrots, and apple slices on a plate. Serve with hummus.

8.      Smoothies. Blend organic milk, coconut milk, or almond milk with bananas or strawberries. For extra nutrition add a handful of spinach or kale to the smoothie.  You will not taste the greens with the sweet fruit.

9.      Popcorn. Popcorn is always a favorite and air popped is  a healthy way to prepare it.

10.  Tortilla treat. Take a corn tortilla and sprinkle with low-fat, grated Monterey Jack cheese. Fold it in half and then put it in the toaster oven or quesadilla maker for two minutes. Top with salsa.

Involve your kids as much as possible in preparing the snacks or helping out with meals. With lots of fresh fruit and veggies, kids as well as adults, soon lose the craving for high sugar, high fat foods. A healthy child is a happy child who will perform better in school and be more focused.

Linda Poynter

Health and Nutrition Counselor

Need help with your health goals? Contact me for a free, initial health consultation.  lindapoynter422@gmail.com

Celebrate Your Joy With a Gratitude Journal

 It was while my daughter and I were on a weekend get-away trip at a mountain resort that we decided to make gratitude journals. We found a scrapbook store and set to work (ok, play) covering our notebooks with vibrant scrapbook paper and embellishments. We decided that each day we would write five things that we were grateful for in our journals. If you begin your day doing this, you will be more focused on the positive things that are happening in your life. Ending your day by writing what you are grateful for brings such a feeling of peace and the tensions of the day seem to melt away. You will drift peacefully off to sleep.

I am sharing this because taking time for self-care and gratitude opens your heart to more joy and abundance in your life. I hope you will take this challenge and create a gratitude journal. I would love to hear from you about your experience with the journaling!

Recipe for Lemon Kale Chips

Looking for healthy snacks for the family? You can't go wrong with kale chips! Crispy, tangy, and so delish! Kale is loaded with minerals and vitamins and is great for boosting energy, purifying the blood, and immune strengthening.


Try this recipe that even picky eaters will like.


Lemon Kale Chips

1 bunch kale (washed and prepared)
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp celtic sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Chop kale into 1/2 inch pieces
3. Place kale in a large bowl
4. With hands massage oil,lemon juice, and salt into kale
5. Place kale on parchment lined baking sheet
6. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes until kale is dark green and crispy
7. Cool and serve

This recipe comes from elanaspantry.com Elana offers fantastic gluten-free recipes on her site.

Enjoy!

Mary's All-Purpose Gluten -Free Flour Blend

I found this recipe for a gluten-free flour blend in the magazine Living Without. This is a fantastic magazine for people with allergies or food sensitivities. I like this recipe because it has brown rice flour which has more flavor and nutrients than just white rice flour. Gluten-Free Flour Blend 2 cups brown rice flour 2 cups white rice flour 1 1/3 cups potato starch (not potato flour) 2/3 cup tapioca starch/flour Mix ingredients together. Store in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator until used. Each cup contains 4g fiber and 7g protein Happy Baking!