Lime Chicken Tacos

http://www.flickr.com/, photo by Florian Maul

If you're looking for easy meal that will also add a little kick to your everyday meal routine, this is it! This recipe only contains a few ingredients that you basically throw into a skillet and heat, and the taste is so freshingly different it was a hit with our entire family--even the picky ones!

You could easily double, triple, or even quadruple this meal and toss the leftovers in the freezer to pull out in the future when you're in a pinch.

Lime Chicken Tacos
Adapted from Taste of Home's Simple and Delicious

Ingredients:
2-4 cups shredded chicken (I love to cook up a chicken in my crock pot, then use the meat for recipes like this)
3 Tbsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup chunky salsa (Note: Although it is easy to find salsa without added sugar, make sure you read the label to see whether the brand you've grabbed puts in any added sweeteners.)
Additional toppings, like cheese, sour cream, lettuce, etc.

Directions:
Spray a skillet with olive oil, then toss in all of the ingredients (excluding the additional toppings). Cook on medium heat until heated through, and serve. You can serve this over lettuce for a salad, on top of chips for nachos (I recommend Target's Archer Farms organic blue corn with flax seed chips), or with whole wheat, sprouted wheat, or sprouted corn tortillas for tacos. I've found the sprouted tortillas in the frozen or refrigerated health food section at the grocery store. You can also make your own whole wheat tortillas, and they blow the socks off the store bought ones.

As an alternative, consider substituting tomato sauce for the salsa to make this recipe more kid-friendly.

Teriyaki Turkey Burgers

http://www.flickr.com/, photo by misocrazy

I used to order teriyaki burgers all the time at the Wood Center Cafe on my college campus. I loved them. I loved the tangy pineapple and the burger cooked in that teriyaki sauce. Before then, I'd never had any kind of burger other than a plain one, perhaps topped with a slice of American cheese. It was like heaven in my mouth.

About 5 years ago, I came across a recipe to make teriyaki burgers at home. I clipped it, stuffed it in my giant stash of must-try meals, and promptly forgot about it. Last week, however, as I was perusing through the giant stash, I found it and decided to give it a try.

It was delicious! I felt like I was right back at the Wood Center, enjoying every morsel of that burger. Well, except for the fact that this burger was made from turkey, I didn't use a bun, and it didn't come with any greasy fries. Even then, however, it was still wonderful! The only things I changed about the recipe were whipping up some homemade teriyaki sauce and making my own bread crumbs.

I made these on our stovetop, but they would be fabulous on the grill. Also, as noted above, we ate them without buns, but you could also use Ezekiel buns, whole wheat bread, or romaine lettuce leaves for a bun if you don't want to eat them plain.

Teriyaki Turkey Burgers
adapted from Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious

Ingredients:
1 egg
1/2 cup homemade bread crumbs (see below)
3 green onions, chopped
4 Tbsp. homemade teriyaki sauce, divided (see below)
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1 pound ground turkey
sliced pineapple (4 slices)

Directions:
In a large bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the pineapple (use only 2 Tbsp. of the teriyaki sauce). Form the mixture into 4 patties and place them on a greased griddle or grill rack sprayed with olive oil. As the burgers cook, brush them with additional teriyaki sauce. Brush the pineapple slices with teriyaki sauce as well, and grill them for just a couple of minutes, then place the pineapple slices on top of the burgers and serve.

You'll notice in the above picture that the photographer has also added sour cream and carmelized onions. You can certainlyadd whatever ingredients you want to add, but personally, I like them just like they are!

Bread Crumbs:
To make your own fine bread crumbs, toast 1-2 slices of Ezekiel bread, then toss the slices in the food processor with the "S" blade and run until the bread becomes fine crumbs.

Teriyaki Sauce:
Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food
(Note: This will make more sauce than you need. Refrigerate the leftovers and use them to add flavor to stir fry vegetables, or for whatever else suits your fancy.)

Ingredients:
1/4 cup tamari
3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger, or 1-2 tsp. ginger powder
2 Tbsp. honey

Directions:
Combine the ingredients and simmer for a few minutes in a saucepan.

Watch the Bloom

http://www.flickr.com/, photo by iiMull

Spring weather has definitely come to middle Tennessee. The trees have been absolutely gorgeous! My kids have been eagerly pointing out all of the vibrant yellows, whites, pinks, lavenders, and more...as we speed by them in the van.

I haven't really been stopping to enjoy these moments with my kids. I've been doing more glancing than gazing, and because I've been so busy, I haven't taken much time to enjoy the rapidly passing beauty of spring.

I started thinking about this a few days ago as the kids--in the van, of course--started asking about our Easter plans for this year. This question got us thinking about last year's Easter festivities. As we talked, we realized we had no memory of our church's Easter service, our Easter dinner, hunting for eggs, or anything else.

We couldn't remember any of those details because we didn't experience them. Last Easter, we got up before the sun to drive up to Minnesota to say our goodbyes to Jenny, sister-in-law and aunt, who would lose her battle with cancer the next day.

Jenny had a beautiful tree in her front yard, which she enjoyed watching blossom every spring. The last couple of years of her life, she commented that every spring when she saw that tree blossom, she wondered if it was the last time she would get to experience it. Jenny enjoyed watching the bloom. She took time to be in the moment, because she didn't know how many moments she had left.

Jenny isn't here this year to watch the trees blossom. My kids, however, are here. They are fully experiencing the blossoming trees all around them, and to be frank, I've been missing out. I've been so busy that I haven't taken time to enjoy the healthy life I now have the energy to live.

Living healthy isn't easy. It takes time to fix breakfast every morning, rather than plop a box of cereal on the table. It takes time to make foods from scratch, when I used to buy them ready-made. It takes time to drive around to several stores, because each one carries some of the items I need for the best price. It takes time (although, not too much!) to surge train. All of this on top of an already full life, and it can sometimes feel overwhelming.

I certainly don't advocate abandoning a healthier lifestyle in order to have more time. The energy, vitality and health you would lose would far outweigh the benefits. However, it is important to keep life balanced, to schedule out the necessities properly so you have more time for the vital things, like experiencing the spring blossoms with your kids.

Each one of us can take a few moments to stop and think about what we're doing and how we're spending our time. What tasks can we combine? What can we eliminate? How can we be "in the moment" and not consumed by work?

The following are just a few suggestions. I'd love to hear your thoughts and ideas as well! I bet you have some great ones! Please include them in the comments below.

1. Separate your "To-Do" list between must-do's and want-to-do's. Then, force yourself to be okay with it if the want-to-do's don't all get done.

2. Talk with your spouse about expectations. Spend some time communicating what each of you feels are "must-do's" to keep your household running, and then decide who will do them. This can clear up a lot of tension and frustration.

3. Delegate. Beth Moore, in one of her videos, tells a story about a time when she was running around like crazy in the kitchen and her husband was just sitting on the couch. Feeling more and more exasperated, she finally exclaimed, "Would you please get up and help me?" He looked at her, surprised, and then said, "You need help? What do you need? Anything for you, Babe." I'm pretty sure that not every husband would be quite that helpful, but it is true that women often notice everything that needs to be done and assume their families are just being lazy by not pitching in. Sometimes, this may be the case, but a lot of the time, they just need to be asked. This is another great conversation to have with your spouse. Which jobs do they not mind helping out with? Which ones do they despise? They're going to be a lot more helpful if you delegate to them jobs they don't mind doing.

4. Cook in bulk. It takes almost no more time at all to triple the recipe you're already cooking anyway, then throw the extra portions in the freezer.

5. Utilize the crock pot. I love days when I can just throw in the ingredients, turn it on, and let it simmer all day. It doesn't heat up your house in the summer, it makes mealtime so much less harried, and the meals it cooks are so tender and delicious!

6. Increase the space between household jobs. I don't know if it's because I helped put myself through school cleaning houses, but for a long time, I had this inner expectation that the entire house must be cleaned, top to bottom, every week. I was honestly really surprised when I went to a good friend's house, and she told me she only dusted once a month. How could she? Didn't she know the rules? Then I realized that those were just rules I had given to myself. The roof is not going to fall in if I clean the bathrooms every other week instead of every week! If you just can't stand for the house to get a little dirty, refer back to suggestion number 3.

7. Include some low-maintenance meals in your menu. Well, first of all, have a menu, period. Instead of trying to figure out what to have for dinner each night, it's a lot less stressful to simply look at your pre-planned menu. Once you have a menu, take note of which days you've got extra things going on and make that meal low-stress for you. Perhaps that's the night you pull out the extra helpings from the bulk cooking you did earlier, or the family eats grilled cheese. One of my favorite low-maintenance meals is to throw a whole chicken in the crock pot and let it cook on low all day. In the evening, I steam some veggies, and our meal is complete!

What about you? What tasks can you cut back on, do less often, or let go altogether? Take some time today--only if you feel overwhelmed and busy, of course--to consider how you can streamline your time so that you have more of it to spend enjoying those fleeting blossoms. I know I'm going to!

Spring Allergy Remedies

http://www.flickr.com/, photo by Sylvia McFadden

Although our entire family has gone off allergy medications, this spring, when everything started blooming, we started sneezing and sniffling. So, I thought, It won't hurt to take some allergy medicine, just for the season. I mean, there comes a point where you have to decide--do I hold fast to the principle that I only put natural things in my family's bodies, as much as possible, or do I make an exception so we can function?

I decided to make an exception, so I drove over to the grocery store and started perusing the plentiful allergy medication selection. I'll get one that's the most natural, I thought, so I turned over the packages and started reading the list of ingredients.

I started with the children's options. I guess I wasn't sure what I would find, but I didn't expect to see ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, propylene glycol, red dye, and more. I quickly changed my mind. There was no way I was giving that stuff to my kids twice a day, every day.

We walked out of the store emptyhanded.

So, did I just hand out boxes of tissue and leave everyone to suffer? Of course not! We went natural, and I'm happy to say it's working. Taking supplements has reduced our allergies, and as a bonus, they're actually cheaper than the options we found at the grocery store.

If you're looking for an alternative to allergy medications, check out these natural remedies to reduce seasonal allergies. However, be aware. Just like it takes allergy medication several days to really get in your body and have an effect, some of these take time to start working as well. For several days, I didn't see much of a difference, but then the allergies did clear up.

1. Nettles and Eyebright
2. Quercetin (take with vitamin C)
3. Homeopathic saltwater nasal mists
4. Butterbur

What if you don't want to mess with individual herbs? We didn't, either. We found a couple of herbal supplements that had already combined the proper doses for us, and they work great.

For the kids:
REDD Children's Sinus Support. This comes in chewable tablets that taste great, but aren't filled with sugar and artificial dyes. The active ingredients? Vitamin C, Quercetin, Bromelain, Marshmallow Root Extract, Stinging Nettle, Barberry, Eyebright, and Ivy Leaf Extract. The price is about $15-$20 for 60 tablets, as opposed to Children's Allegra, which runs about $1.00 per tablet. We found this at Whole Foods, but it can also be purchased online.

For the adults:
A & I Formula. This comes in natural vegetable capsules, and contains Vitamin C, Quercetin, Stinging Nettles, and Bromelain. We actually buy this from our doctor, but you can also find it online. The price is $34 for 120 capsules. I take 2 capsules a day. Again, a great price.

In addition to herbal supplements, check out TLC's list of 10 Home Remedies for Allergies.

Do you already use a natural supplement or home remedy for seasonal allergies that you love? We'd love to hear about it! Please tell us about it in the comments below.

Note: I do always strive for honesty on here, so I want to honestly say that although natural supplements will help most allergy sufferers most of the time, some people with extreme allergies might need something stronger. My husband is one of those people. Before we went unrefined, he took Allegra all year long. Without it, he couldn't function. After changing our lifestyle, he was able to completely stop taking Allegra and now uses A & I, which works fine for him most of the year. However, he does have to "supplement his supplements" just for a couple of months in the spring when his allergies are more extreme than most. He hates that he has to take it, but he does have to be able to function. For the rest of us, though, with regular seasonal allergies, the natural supplements work great!

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Muffin Monday!



http://www.flickr.com/, photo by Lizard 10979

In my opinion, Monday usually lives up to its reputation. I try not to schedule any extra chores for Mondays because just getting through the day and getting everything back up and running after the weekend is enough!

However, to make Mondays more fun, we've started a weekly tradition: Muffin Mondays. Every Monday, we have muffins for breakfast. Sometimes, I make several dozen muffins ahead of time and freeze them. On Monday morning, we just pull them out, reheat them, and enjoy. Other times, I simply run out of time to make them ahead. The kids really enjoy helping to make the muffins, and then we eat them warm right out of the oven.

Today, I want to share some of our favorite Muffin Monday recipes with you. Perhaps you will want to start your own Muffin Monday!

Note about the flour: Please feel free to substitute gluten free flour in any of these recipes. You can also substitute 1/3 to 1/2 of the flour with almond flour in any of them for a rich, nutty taste and added protein. (Don't have almond flour? Just throw some almonds in your food processor and grind them into a meal.) We also bend the rules a little by adding in chocolate chips whenever we can. We buy the darkest we can find with the most natural ingredients (Ghirardelli seems to be the best bet). If you really don't want to do this, buy a chocolate bar that's 85% or more pure and chop it up into chocolate chunks, or simply leave out the chocolate chips. 

Pumpkin Muffins
from 100 Days of Real Food

Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder (aluminum free)
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup grapeseed or olive oil
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a hole in the middle by pushing the dry ingredients to the edges of the bowl, then toss the wet ingredients in the middle. Stir just until combined. Do not overstir. Add in the pumpkin and stir again, then sprinkle in the chocolate chips and briefly stir them in.

Spray a muffin tin with olive oil, then fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean and the muffins spring back to the touch.

Banana Muffins
from 180 Chiropractic and Wellness

Ingredients:
1 and 3/4 cup flour (I use whole wheat, but they recommend gluten free)
2/3 cup maple syrup or honey
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 egg
1/2 cup grapeseed oil (can also substitute olive oil)
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)
3/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Mix together all of the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients (excluding the bananas). Add the wet and dry ingredients together and mix just until moistened. Do not overmix. Stir in the bananas, then add the chocolate chips and nuts.

Spray a muffin tin with olive oil, then fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 22-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean and the muffins spring back to the touch.

Almond Butter Muffins
adapted from the Simply Sugar and Gluten Free Cookbook

Technically, these are cupcakes, not muffins, but we eat them as muffins anyway.

Ingredients:
1 stick butter, softened
3/4 cup palm sugar
1/2 cup almond butter
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour (I use whole wheat, but they recommend gluten free)
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. xantham gum (only if using gluten free flour)
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk

Directions: Preheat oven to 325. Spray muffin tins with olive oil spray (you'll need about 1 and 1/2 tins).
Beat the butter on medium speed until light and fluffy, then slowly add the palm sugar, making sure it mixes in before continuing to add. (It will not completely dissolve like white sugar does. You will be able to see the granules.) Microwave the almond butter for about 20 seconds, then add it to the mixture and beat until smooth. Mix in the eggs, one at a time, then add the vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine all of the dry ingredients, then add them into the batter a little at a time, alternating with the almond milk. Mix until smooth. Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean and the muffins spring back to the touch.

Ginger Vegetable Chicken Noodle Bowl

Ginger, Flickr.com, photo by floeschie

Apparently, I've been thinking about ginger a lot recently. This is the second post this week about a meal flavored with ginger. I hope you don't mind, because ginger has numerous health benefits. It can help relieve nausea and increase your energy, as well as reduce headaches, menstrual cramps, and arthritis pain. Dr. Mercola listed it in his Top Ten spices to combat aging and prevent disease because it helps keep your heart healthy, boosts the immune system, and lowers cholesterol. Ginger is also an anti-inflammatory agent and is thought to help prevent cancer.

So, let's eat some ginger this week! Today's recipe is a combination of chicken noodle soup and an asian stir fry. It's deliciously different. We used to always eat it over white rice, but these days, we just eat it as-is. It makes a delicious lunch. Add in the spaghetti noodles if you want a little heartier dish, or leave them out if you want it to be more like a soup. The measurements aren't terribly exact. The original recipe calls for a lot of eyeballing it, so add everything in, then feel free to adjust the spices a little more to suit your tastes.

Ginger Vegetable Chicken Noodle Bowl
(adapted from Rachael Ray's 365: No Repeats)

Ingredients:
1 pound cooked, shredded chicken
1-2 tsp. garlic powder
1-2 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup shredded carrots
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. Chinese five-spice powder (I've found this at Publix)
6 cups chicken broth
1/2 whole wheat or gluten free spaghetti noodles (optional)
2 cups bean sprouts

Directions:
Add chicken, garlic, ginger, and carrots to a large pot and stir. Add in the salt, pepper, cumin, Chinese five-spice powder, and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add the spaghetti noodles, if using, then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 3-5 minutes, then add the bean sprouts and turn off the heat. Let it stand for about 5 minutes, then adjust the spices as needed and serve.

Nutrition Information

http://www.flickr.com/, photo by Dirk Haun

Hopefully, if you're reading this, you've already discovered that I'm a real mom with a real budget and a real schedule, just like everyone else. I do understand that eating healthier is a challenge. It does take more time to prepare your own food. Sometimes the ingredients do cost more. I'm on a mission to continue to find ways to streamline this process, finding the best deals on healthier foods and faster, easier ways of prepping that food so that I can still have time for the other, more  important things in my life.

One of the best ways of doing this is getting tips from others. How do you know what's ok to buy? How do you know when you really need the product to be organic, and when it doesn't matter as much? How do you know which ingredients are most toxic? I've gotten some of my best tips from our sponsor, 180 Chiropractic and Wellness. They've given me helpful suggestions I couldn't find anywhere else on how to realistically eat better, and how to realistically get my kids to do the same.

Next Monday, March 19, at 6:00, if you live in the Nashville area, you can attend a free informative talk on nutrition given by 180 Chiro. They'll answer your questions, give you great ideas, and help you make more informed purchases when shopping for food. Their talk on nutrition was one of the things that finally convinced me to give this whole healthy living thing a try. I hope you'll find time to attend.

Advanced Talk: Nutrition

Shopping smart for nutrition can seem like a daunting task. How can I ensure healthy purchases for my family? What foods do I avoid?  Maximized Living will teach you how to perfect the shopping process so that nutrition is second nature, and health is first priority.

Learn:

    - Tips on how to become a good shopper
    - How to read labels the smart way
    - How to avoid the top 10 toxic foods
    - 10 healthy alternatives
    - Information on hot health topics, such as organic foods, buying local and food budgeting

Date: Monday, March 19

Time: 6:00 p.m.

Location: 180 Chiro
                     4091 Mallory Lane
                     Suite 114
                     Franklin, TN 37067

For more information or to sign up for this free event, contact 180 Chiro:

615-595-9063
info@180chiro.com

Honey Ginger Chicken Stir Fry

I love easy, skillet dishes. They don't heat up your house too much or take up very much time. There's just one big pan to clean up afterwards, and the vegetables don't seem to get noticed as much by picky eaters.

This is one of my favorite one-pan wonders, and you can customize it to include the vegetables you like, and leave out the ones you don't. You can serve it over brown rice or salad greens, if you like, but we just eat it as-is for a delicious, grainless supper.

Honey Ginger Chicken Stir Fry
(adapted from Taste of Home's Simple & Delicious)
Ingredients:
1/4 cup honey
3-4 tsp. tamari
1 and 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. ground ginger
1 and 1/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into short strips
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1-3 Tbsp. coconut oil
24 ounces frozen vegetables

Directions:
Combine the honey, tamari, lemon juice, and ginger in a small bowl and set aside. Slice the chicken and sprinkle it with salt and pepper. Melt the coconut oil in a large skillet, then stir fry the chicken until slightly browned. Add the vegetables and continue to stir fry until the vegetables are crisp tender. Stir the honey mixture, then pour it over the chicken and vegetables, and continue to stir fry until vegetables reach the desired tenderness and everything is heated through.

Surge Your Way to Better Abs!

Do you ever get tired of repeating all those crunches over and over for very little results? I've got good news! Not only can you surge in order to build lean muscle mass by getting oxygen deep into your muscles through an elevated heart rate, you can also target specific muscle groups, like your abs, and give them a great workout in just a few minutes using the same principles.

Check out this video by Dr. Ben Lerner, where he specifically targets his abs by working them quickly to the point of fatigue. This won't take much time at all, and will really work those abs:

Here's another video from Dr. Fred Roberto, which uses cross crunches to work your abs quickly.

Using high intensity surging to work those abs will give you better results in less time. Let's go work our abs!

Sleep Well for Weight Loss

http://www.flickt.com/, photo by Heather Kaweck

We all know that sleep is essential to our survival. Without it, we experience a variety of unpleasant symptoms, from memory loss to fatigue to mood swings. If a person goes long enough without sleep, he or she will experience a growing range of symptoms, including weight gain or loss, blurred vision, slurred speech, hallucinations, and more.

Of course, most of us aren't going to go for days or weeks without any sleep. Instead, we harm ourselves in a much more subtle way by getting less sleep than we need, which is about 8 hours a night. Perhaps it doesn't seem like much if we miss just an hour or two a night, but if you add all of those hours up over the course of a year, it turns into hundreds of hours of lost sleep.

You probably already know that getting enough sleep is essential for mental clarity, stable and positive moods, organ function, and your body's ability to heal, but did you know that it is also a great way to lose weight?

I've always been told that the average adult burns about 70 calories an hour sleeping, so I honestly didn't mind much if I lost an hour or two of sleep. I figured I might actually lose more weight by sleeping less, since my body burned more calories while I was awake and in motion, right?

Wrong!

Some scientists believe that getting enough sleep is directly tied to the hormones that suppress your appetite, and that when you get enough sleep, you're much less likely to overeat. However, there's more involved than that. Studies show that people who sleep less tend to weigh more, even when they don't eat more. How can this be?

It's been suggested that your body actually steps into an increased fat burning mode during those last couple of very important hours of sleep. If you miss out on those final hours, you've missed out on some super easy, comfortable, fat burning time!

Sounds great, right? But if you have a hard time falling asleep at night, this can be easier said than done. You may lay awake, tossing and turning, your stress continuing to climb as you watch the minutes tick by, realizing just how few hours you have left to sleep before the alarm goes off.

If you're having a hard time sleeping at night, try the following tips for a better night's sleep:

1. Exercise. Getting up and moving during the day can do wonders to help you fall asleep at night. Take a walk around the block, lift weights at the gym, or try surge training. I love how tired my body gets (and how well I sleep!) after just a few minutes of surging.

2. Don't work in bed. I know, it's comfortable to slip on those cozy pj's, prop up a pillow, and get some work done in bed before falling asleep, but this can make it harder to fall asleep. Do your work in another room, then snuggle up in those sheets when you're actually ready to go to sleep.

3. Turn off the screens. Researchers think that when we look at a screen, our sleepy brains sort of wake back up in response to the light from the screen, making it harder for us to fall asleep. Give yourself about an hour without screens before you try to fall asleep.

4. Stay on a schedule. This is hard, I know, especially on the weekends, but if you go to sleep and wake up at about the same time every day, your body will expect to sleep at a certain time, therefore making falling asleep easier.

5. Set a routine. I used to read about this in parenting books when my kids were babies, and I think it's also true for adults.  Before bedtime, engage in a familiar routine, which will help wind your body down in preparation for bed. Whether it's stretching for a few minutes, reading a book, turning off all the lights in the same order every night, or listening to relaxing music, keep it the same, as much as possible, to help you wind down and prepare for sleep.

Let's get some great sleep tonight to burn fat and keep our bodies healthy!

Food Matters

The movie, Food Matters,  is a hard hitting, fast paced look at our current state of health. Despite the billions of dollars of funding and research into new so-called cures we continue to suffer from a raft of chronic ills and every day maladies.

Food Matters features interviews with leading medical experts from around the world who discuss natural approaches to preventing and reversing Cancer, Obesity, Heart Disease, Depression, Mental Illness and many other chronic conditions.

Find out what works, what doesn't and what's killing you. Becoming informed about the choices you have for you and your family's health could save your life.

If you're interested in seeing Food Matters, our sponsor, 180 Chiropractic and Wellness, is hosting a movie night on Monday, March 12, at 6:00 p.m. They will also be offering free healthy snacks.

For more information or to sign up to attend, contact 180 Chiro:

615-595-9063
info@180chiro.com

4091 Mallory Lane
Suite 114
Franklin, TN 37067

Do I Have to Buy Organic?

http://www.flickr.com/, photo by santiago nicalau

Most of us don't want to eat food covered with harmful pesticides, but when we look at the prices of organic produce, we cringe. It's hard to pay so much more for the same foods. We often reach for the non-organic simply because we know we can't afford to buy everything organic. Instead of making informed choices, we just give up and don't buy anything organic. 

The good news is that buying organic doesn't have be all or nothing. Some types of food are much more heavily covered in pesticide residue than others, so although there are definitely some items that are better to buy organic, it's really not necessary to buy everything organic.

But how can you know which foods to buy organic? The Environmental Working Group has made this much easier for all of us by creating a list they call the Dirty Dozen. These are the top 12 pesticide laden produce items. If you buy nothing else organic on your shopping list, try to find these items in the organic section. If price is an issue, like it is for us, then just watch for when these items are on sale and buy them then. There are several produce items we only buy when they're on sale. When they're not, we just get something else.

The Dirty Dozen

1. Apples

2. Celery

3. Strawberries

4. Peaches

5. Spinach

6. Nectarines--imported

7. Grapes--imported

8. Sweet bell peppers

9. Potatoes

10. Blueberries-domestic

11. Lettuce

12. Kale/collard greens

The Environmental Working Group also has another list--the Clean Fifteen. These are the produce items least covered in pesticides. Our family doesn't bother buying these items organic--ever, because they contain the lowest pesticide load. In this case, we believe it's a better choice to save our money!

The Clean Fifteen

1. Onions

2. Sweet corn

3. Pineapples

4. Avocado

5. Asparagus

6. Sweet peas

7. Mangoes

8. Eggplant

9. Cantaloupe--domestic

10. Kiwi

11. Cabbage

12. Watermelon

13. Sweet potatoes

14. Grapefruit

15. Mushrooms

Everything else falls somewhere in between the Dirty Dozen and the Clean Fifteen. Use your judgment (and balance your budget!) to determine whether or not to buy organic.