Getting enough fiber?

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Is it really that hard to get enough fiber in your diet? It may be if you eat junk food rather than what God intended you to eat.

Carrots, apples, beans, even some bread products you can buy right off the grocery shelf have considerable fiber. Don't like real food? Then don't read this.

The human body was designed to have a certain amount of fiber. You will notice that cereal products now brag that the ingredients include fiber. Usually the cereal fiber is accompanied by tons of sugar, artificial color that you should not eat, and additives you can't spell. Don't eat this junk-eat real food! There is plenty of it to go around.

One of the easiest ways to get enough fiber is to add two pieces of fruit or vegetables to your menu daily. Many whine about not wanting to do this, but it is so simple. An apple, a few grapes, some cucumber with your salad-these all add up to give you the fiber you need to live a healthy life!

Some adults will actually complain that if they eat correctly they will have to go to the bathroom, and they don't have time for all that. What? Would you stop changing the oil in your car and let it run inefficiently because it is not worth your time? You are as important as your car! Just do it....and quit your whining.


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Adding Protein To Your Diet

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Adding protein to your diet is a simple thing to do. For those of us who do not eat animal products the addition of a few nuts several times a day will do the trick.

When adding protein to our diet many of us enjoy beans as a compliment to a meal. This will surely take care of most protein needs, however-what if you do not want to eat beans with each meal?

Wheat and other grains can contain protein. Read packages so that you know what you are eating. It is true that the human body will make a certain amount of protein when fed correctly. The problem here is that most of us do not eat what we should and will pay the price at some point.

If you are a meat eater or use dairy products getting enough protein should not be an issue.

How much protein do you typically need? A person who weighs 150 pounds should get around 55 grams of proteins daily. Someone who weighs 200 pounds needs about 74 grams of protein.

One way to add protein to your day if you are not a meat eater is by using a soy based protein powder. If you can tolerate soy (and not everyone can) this can be added to beverages or recipes to increase you protein intake.

Why should you care about adding protein to your diet? If you do not get enough protein your body will begin to use YOU as the source protein. Get the picture?



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Healthy Lifestyle Changes to Avoid Allergies

Can you avoid allergies by living a healthy lifestyle? There is much research to prove having a healthy immune system may help you avoid allergies. So what are you to do to help your immune system, and does this mean all allergies will disappear?

You may be able to avoid some allergies by improving your lifestyle. Smoking, drinking alcohol and other habits that stress your immune system may cause you to have more allergies than others do. Are you willing to make the changes needed to feel better. What about the allergies you can't avoid?

If you are currently allergic to grass, pollen, ants-you may need extra help. Don't throw away the epi-pen. If you have allergies you will be exposed to beautiful green things that make you sneeze, itch, or swell as long as you live on this planet.

Think about this for a few minutes: Are you willing to add a few healthy foods to your menu to possibly improve your immune system? Will you take a few minutes each day and exercise enough to give your immune system a lift? These things are simple but can help you have less reaction to some things that bother you now.

Improving your immune system will probably not help you outgrow your allergy to chocolate or wool. However, a stronger immune system could help you have less reaction to seasonal changes. This would be a big help to most of us.

Need help understanding how a healthy lifestyle will help you live a better life? Read our other posts on health issues.


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Eggs on the menu?

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If you purchase eggs on a regular basis you no doubt realize they can expire at some point. Eggs cartons must have a use by date stamped clearly on the carton.

What you may not know is there is also a code that states what date the eggs were packed. You should see this information along with a USDA seal, which tells you the plant where the eggs were gathered has been inspected.

The code you are looking for contains three numbers. If the eggs were collected on the 12th day of the year-January 12th-the code will read 012.  A carton of eggs the is stamped 365 was packed on the last day of the year-December 31st.

The code is based on the Julian calendar, so 30 days would equal a month.

Another tip about eggs and freshness I was told about 100 hundred-If you are not sure an egg is fresh-Fill a medium size bowl with water, and place the raw whole egg in the water. If it sinks to the bottom, the egg is fresh. If it floats-toss it! Don't ever think you can eat eggs that are not fresh and not get sick. It is too big a risk to take to save one egg.

Children and fruit!

Many children simply don't eat correctly, and are not interested in fruit. As adults it is our responsibility to see kids get the fruit they need. While schools and day care centers can include a toaster tart as a fruit, I have a problem with this.

A tablespoon or two of some fruit product surrounded by worthless bleached flour and tons of sugar are not what any precious child should be given instead of real fruit. If you forgot to get it right during you child's younger years, then begin now-even if the kid is 15!

Add fruit to items you prepare. You can easily put pureed berries and bananas in pancake or waffle mix. Fruits can be added to drinks you serve on a regular basis. Consider adding some sliced fruit to the table with dinner. Eventually you could achieve the goal of just 2-3 servings daily. This still is not enough, but it is a start.

When baking cakes or making muffins replace a portion of the liquid required with some applesauce, or other fruits you have pureed. We do this with cookies as well, and no one has noticed.

Try some dried fruit pieces if your kids don't seem to like fresh fruit. Offer kids the opportunity of helping you make cookies or other foods that will include some fruit. Handling the foods may eventually give the kids a sense of ownership, and a desire to try other pieces of fruit. Letting younger ones pick fruit items while in the grocery store is often a step in the right direction. Kids usually want to try what they have purchased.

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Which water is better?

You've heard all the water commercials you can stand. It does not matter what the commercials tell us, we all have our favorites, and nothing will convince us we are wrong.

If you are buying water in plastic bottles, what does it say on the label? I have to laugh when people are buying purified water from a community source. Does that mean tap water a company filtered before putting in a plastic bottle is the same as you have coming through your faucet? Okay, get a water filter for your kitchen faucet and do it yourself!

Water that is from a spring, or a mountain stream may seem more appealing. Is it better for you? If you have a well at your home, your water already comes from a spring. What about the mountain stream? If the water heads down the mountain, won't it eventually be in the aquifer, and therefore in other streams, wells and springs?

If water truly seeks its own level, does it eventually mingle so that it is all the same? Do you understand water filtered at your home, which saves you major money-could be the same quality as what you are shelling out your hard earned dollars to purchase.

Healthy Food For a Healthy Life

What exactly is healthy food? Can food be healthy? A person can be healthy, and healthy people often use the expression healthy food, but it is incorrect. And what foods will help you maintain good health? Why do some eat terrible foods and appear to be healthy?

It seems some just have the genes that will allow them to abuse their body in any way they want, and they survive with clear skin and great biceps! For the rest of us, foods need to be consumed that are fresh, clean, and grown in good soil. How do we know if the food we purchase is any of these things? We don't.

Maybe we should grow our own food. It is getting a little late in the year, so it may be the time to think about winter crops. What grows well in your area in the cool weather? Something to think about. With the economy the way it is, maybe we should all do it to help our budgets!

It seems we can't possibly eat all the foods we need to get the nutrients required to be healthy. Many people like to juice, or use supplements. For me, both work. I don't take the supplements I like daily, but I do take these often.

Some feel we should puree extra vegetables and add these to soups or casseroles so that we would be getting more nutrients. Maybe I'm a bit lazy, but that is not something I am willing to do very often. I prefer to eat vegetables raw, or steamed a little.

Be sure to eat what fresh produce you can. There really is no replacement for food. And eating food is more enjoyable than swallowing pills.

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What's In My Food?

Do you know what is in your food? Read labels! Okay, you already read the food labels, but still you are not so sure.

Here is something to make it easier. If you buy anything in a box-perhaps a cereal product-buy one that has as few ingredients as possible. Oatmeal. What should be in oatmeal besides oatmeal? Nothing. This is a cereal you are supposed to cook yourself, and then ad foods you feel belong. Raisins. Apples. Whatever you want.

Cereal that includes other ingredients should not have more than 3-4 items listed. If you are buying cereal with artificial colors, flavors, and so on, yes, there will be 30 or more ingredients. You are not doing yourself or you kids any favors buying these cereal items.

When buying fresh foods you may also get more than you bargained for. Some fruits and vegetables have wax or oil applied to product the produce from something, and keep it shiny. Wash it thoroughly before eating. Aside from the additives, and possible pesticides here, think about how many hands touched what you are getting ready to consume.

Research this yourself to see what you find: I was told to put a cup of salt into a large container, about the size of a spaghetti pot, and place fresh produce in for a soak. The doctor who told me about this insisted the salt water would change the balance of any bacteria or virus and make the food okay to eat. Let me know what you find out!

Foods as close to the planet as possible are best on any day. So, instead of pulverizing that gorgeous carrot or purple potato, just eat it. Like Weird Al Yankovich (spelling) said-just eat it.

Does anyone know if he is still around?

If you are still eating animal products, find out what the animal was fed. Some still don't know that most chickens are still fed other chickens. A company telling the public they only us animal feed that is approved that the US government is a joke. The government allows dead chickens to be used as feed. I do not know if cows are still added to animal feed, and fed to cows. Do you?

Leave us a comment, or a suggestion for any recipe you would like. We still have Grandma's recipes, many over a 100 years old!


Bread fresh from the oven shown in photo above
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Best foods to help us avoid strokes and heart attacks?

Strokes can happen at any time after birth. Actually, strokes can occur before birth. Those of us who have not had to deal with heart disease or other serious health problems are blessed. Why would someone say that?

With the foods we typically eat on a routine basis, it's a wonder we survive. Humans were not meant to eat the plastic we have come to call food. If you are one of the many who relies on less than fresh foods to survive, here is a very small thing you can do that may help you.

Tomatoes in the form of a juice, or as a base for any meal is thought to be a life saver. Once processed with heat, tomatoes release lycopene. If you do not use tomato sauce on a regular basis, you might think about just adding a bit of tomato based juice to your menu.

What if you had one serving of tomato juice in some form each day before you did anything else? This would keep you from forgetting, and in just a short time it will become a habit.

But-the information could be wrong. And here you will be adding vitamin C and other wonder-
ful nutrients that come from the tomato. That would be a shame. Your new habit could actually help you avoid the common cold, and a host of other things you would rather skip. This might work out well for you!

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Basic bread for your healthy lifestyle.

Help yourself to better health by eating better bread! Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?

Also, saving money by making your own bread just makes sense. It is not only simple to do, you will learn ways to alter a recipe or two that may satisfy even the picky eaters.

Making bread at home is not a new idea, is it? Since the beginning of time, people have made their own food items, such as bread. You don't need a bread maker, and it will take just a few minutes.

Grandmothers all over the world would shake their heads in agreement with this statement: You should make your own bread so you know what you are eating. And, you will know what you are feeding your children!

We use a whole wheat flour that is produced from red wheat. To this we add some white flour that is not bleached. Any flour will work. We just prefer things as close to natural as we can get.

Yeast can be purchased in jars, rather than in packages. This is the type used in bread machines, and what we prefer, but you can alter the following as you see fit.

Basic recipe:
1 1/2 cups of warm water (we test it to 109 degrees, as the yeast packages suggests)
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of yeast

Item you also need: A bowl for mixing. A spatula. A baking pan or loaf pan. A pan of water placed on the bottom of your oven that may help your bread have a better crust.

Put the warm water in a bowl that you will be leaving the dough in once it is made.

We use stoneware, but you can use any bowl you have.

Add the yeast and salt, stirring so that it looks mixed.

Add one cup of flour at a time, and mix quickly with a spatula.

Once all flour has been added, continue to stir until you notice the dough is leaving the side of the bowl.

Cover the bowl with a piece of plastic wrap, or a wet towel. Let it rise for an hour or more. Once it looks to be double in size, place the dough on a floured surface.

No reason to knead. Just shape to the pans you are using, and allow to sit until it appears to be close to the size of the pan or oven crock.

We bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. As all ovens vary, you will have to understand how your oven works.

This recipe is great with a few teaspoons of your favorite herbs and seasonings added to the flour before baking. We have also used this recipe for making pumpkin bread by substituting canned pumpkin for 1/3 of the water, and including 1 teaspoon of allspice with the salt.

Another family favorite is made by substituting applesauce added to the basic recipe, along with 1/4 cup of brown sugar.

You will think of a dozen ways to use this basic idea to save money, and get a quality bread for your table.

No time to wait for all of this to work? My grandmother prepared the basic recipe, put it in an oiled pan, and once it doubled in size, she baked it. I really don't see the big difference in a bread that takes longer to make. It's all good when you use quality ingredients.

Saving money by making your own bread is something you can pass along. Children love these easy projects that show off some basic skills.



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