A Healthy Choice

Here's a great resource to creating a healthier home environment as well as offering great products for the whole family that are safe! I finally made the choice to ensure a healthier future for my family and home and encourage you to consider doing the same! Visit www.HealthyMomAndFamily.com and look around a bit.

The site doesn't show you our products, but you can get a lot of basic information there, watch a quick video about the company and standards for our products. Sign up to get more information and you'll be glad you did. As soon as you are signed up as a member you too will have access to all of our great products at great prices!

Not only do we offer a great buyer's program for our members, but for those who are interested we also offer a great home business opportunity!

Battle Spring Fever with these Outdoor Exercises

Every year we spend the winter cooped up where it’s warm. When spring rolls around, we can’t wait to get outside. Getting outdoors can not only battle spring fever, it can also get you up and moving. Exercising outdoors can give you a better workout and burn more calories than the machines at the gym. As spring approaches, if you want to get outdoors and get in shape, here are some great activities you can do.

* Walking. Not only is walking a great way to get some fresh air and sunshine after being cooped up all winter, it’s also great exercise if you do it right. For an optimal workout, walk for an hour a day at least three days a week. You should also alter your pace during the walk, i.e. go as fast as you can for a minute, then a slower pace for a minute, etc. This will get your heart pumping without having to do a hard workout. If you’re bored of walking around your neighborhood, why not visit a nature park or zoo.
* Yoga. Sure, nowadays yoga is done in your living room or in a gym, but this art was made to be done in the great outdoors. So tote your yoga mat to the park or just to the backyard. This can give you a workout and calm your nerves at the same time.
* Swimming. Want to get a fantastic full body workout while your kids are playing? Then take them down to the community pool. Many pools have an area for kids to splash and play while the adults swim laps. Just make sure not to leave any child that doesn’t know how to swim without adult supervision. And when you’re done with your laps, maybe you can splash and play with your kids too.
* Volleyball. This sport doesn’t have to be played inside with a ref; you can play at a sand volleyball court, or just set up a net in your back yard. Volleyball is a great way to socialize with your friends, or to meet new people by joining a league.
* Biking. More and more cities and towns are putting in bike paths. These are a great way to get a work out without risking serious injury by biking on rough terrain. However, if you’re up for a challenge, there are probably paths through woods, hills, mountains, or some other difficult, but rewarding terrain. Just be sure to wear proper safety equipment no matter where you’re biking.
* Hiking. If you want to get out and go, and you’re up for an adventure, why don’t you take the family and go for a hike. You can experience nature, get a great workout, get some fresh air, and spend some quality bonding time with your family.

So what are you waiting for? Get out of your artificial lighting and into the great outdoors for a workout and a fun time too.

Plant Your Garden with Healthy Foods

You try to feed your family healthy foods, but often it’s cheaper and more convenient just to reach for the closest sugary snack. While it requires a little bit of work, growing your garden is a great way to have healthy food available right at your fingertips. Plus you get the satisfaction of knowing that you grew them all by yourself and that you’re providing for your family.

The most common healthy foods grown in gardens are fruits and vegetables. When planting these foods, choose carefully, especially if you have limited space. You want to be able to choose crops that will grow well in your area, but you should also consider what you have time and space to grow, and what your family will eat. You may have perfect soil and space for tomatoes, but it your family won’t eat them, there’s not much point in growing them. A garden is a great way to get inexpensive fruits and veggies that you know are fresh and healthy.

You can grow fruits and vegetables in your garden as a way to eat healthier, but don’t forget about herbs as well. You’re probably not eating just stuff you can grow on your own, but you can make the other food more flavorful without a lot of fat and calories by adding different herbs and seasonings. This way you can have great tasting food that isn’t so bad for you either.

Foods you buy at the grocery store have been grown using tons of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers. These chemicals may make fruits and veggies look more appealing and will increase farmer yields, but they can also be dangerous to your health. You can buy from an organic food store, but you’ll end up paying a whole lot more. Growing your own garden is a great way to know your food is safe without having to pay a pretty penny. Start a compost pile to fertilize naturally and research other methods of safe fertilization and pest control, like companion planting.

When we consider how healthy our foods are for us, we usually just consider the calorie content, but what about taking into account what it takes to get them. We all know it takes more work to grow your own veggies than to buy them at the store, but we usually don’t take into account all the calories that work is burning. Gardening is a great workout. Growing your own fruits, veggies, and herbs can actually help you stay in shape. That’s a lot healthier than picking something up off a shelf.

Gardening isn’t just for pretty flowers anymore. You can grow a great garden to feed your family tasty, nutritious foods.

How Second Hand Smoke Can Harm You

It’s becoming more and more popular for restaurants, stores, and even entire cities to ban smoking in public buildings. That’s because we now know that you can not only die from smoking cigarettes, but also from breathing in smoke in the air around us. Second hand smoke, whether from the burning end of the cigarette, or from the smokers mouth, can be a serious hazard to your health. Here are just a few of the many problems caused by second hand smoke.

* Second hand smoke contains over 60 chemicals that cause or may cause cancer. Thousands of non-smokers die of lung cancer from second hand smoke every year.
* Some of the toxic chemicals in cigarette smoke are: formaldehyde, benzene, vinyl chlorine, arsenic ammonia, and hydrogen cyanide.
* Second hand smoke causes heart disease in non-smokers. These heart disease cases account for tens of thousands of deaths every year.
* Many non-smokers visit the doctor every year for lung related problems caused by second hand smoke. These problems range from coughing to a drop in lung functioning.
* The incidence of breast cancer may be increased by exposure to second hand smoke.

While adults generally have the option or ability to leave an area where someone is smoking, children don’t usually have that luxury. They are also more susceptible to the damage caused by cigarette smoke. In addition to the above problems here are some of the issues caused by second hand smoke that specifically affect children.

* Second hand smoke causes over 150,000 lower respiratory infections every year, such as bronchitis and pneumonia, in children under the age of 18 months.
* Second hand smoke has been indicated as a cause of many SIDS deaths.
* Second hand smoke significantly increases the severity of asthma attacks in children.
* Second hand smoke causes many children to develop ear infections.
* Pregnant women exposed to second hand smoke are more likely to have babies with below average birth weights.

Smoking near your children can not only cause health problems and death now, it can impair them all the way through to adulthood. While you should attempt to quit for the sake of your children; if you don’t quit, please smoke outside away from them.

These are just some of the known problems associated with second hand smoke. Cigarette companies have known that second hand smoke is dangerous for many years, but hid this information. It’s disturbing to think what other consequences second hand smoke causes that we haven’t found yet. Even the shortest amount of exposure to cigarette smoke can have dangerous consequences.

If you are a smoker, please quit or smoke outside in a private area. If you know someone who smokes near you, convince them to quit or at least not smoking when they’re with you.

Why High Fiber Foods?

Why High Fiber Foods should be Included in Your Diet

In our diets full of fast food and sugary snacks, it’s hard to find foods that are actually good for you. If you want to be healthier and feel better, then you should try adding fiber to your diet.

Fiber is a material produced by plants that we can’t digest. So why would we want to eat something we can’t digest? Insoluble fiber dissolves in water and gives your food a thicker consistency. This makes you absorb sugar into your blood stream more slowly. Soluble fiber absorbs water, but doesn’t dissolve it. This makes your stool moist and helps clean out your digestive tract.

The most notable benefit from eating high fiber foods is that it can help calm or even prevent certain diseases. People diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome, or IBS, suffer from chronic abdominal pain, along with other symptoms such as constipation or diarrhea. High fiber foods may easy these symptoms without the use of prescription drugs. Because fiber clears unwanted material out of your colon, it helps reduce the risk of colon cancer. If this isn’t enough of a benefit, a high fiber diet has also been advocated for people with high cholesterol because it has been shown to lower overall cholesterol levels.

Nowadays, people get a lot more processed and refined sugars in their diet than the body was meant to handle. When we eat simple sugars, our insulin response is triggered causing our blood sugar levels to drop. This can lead to weight gain because our body stores these sugars as fats. Fiber slows the absorption of sugar into the body and reduces the insulin response, keeping our blood sugar at reasonable levels instead of bouncing it up and down throughout the day. High fiber foods are recommended for people with hypoglycemia and diabetes to help steady blood sugar levels. If it can help treat their conditions, imagine what it can do for you.

In addition to making us store fat, our insulin response leaves us feeling drained, tired, ad wanting another sugar pick me up. The more sugar we have, the lower our blood sugar drops, and the faster we get hungry again. Fiber is a great way to stop this cycle in its tracks. It keeps us feeling fuller longer, so we end up eating less. Plus, what we eat is just a little healthier.

So why not add a little extra fiber to your diet? It’s not as hard as it sounds. You can find high fiber fruits (pears apples, blueberries strawberries, oranges, raisins, and dried peaches, figs, and apricots), grains (whole grain pasta and bread, bran cereal, and oatmeal), legumes (black, lima, and baked beans, lentils, and assorted nuts), and vegetables (carrots, baked potatoes, artichokes, peas, turnip greens, and Brussels sprouts) that taste great and are good for you. Just add a few of these foods to your diet and you’ll be healthier and feeling great in no time. Happy eating!

Get and Stay Motivated to Exercise!

Find Your Motivation to Exercise & Keep It!

We’ve all started an exercise program, gotten all excited about it, but then gave up on it a week or two later. While we start out super motivated, that excitement fades quickly. They key to sticking to an exercise program is finding a way to keep that original motivation. Here are a few tips for getting for getting and staying motivated.

Find a role model. Many women get motivated to diet and work out by taping up pictures of models or actresses. This is actually a great way to remind yourself what your goals are and keep a visual of them fresh in your mind. Just be sure to pick an appropriate role model and not someone with unhealthy eating and exercise habits or an unachievable image.

Set small goals. If you start out setting tough goals, you probably won’t achieve them and will then become discouraged. The key is to set smaller, easy to achieve goals and work your way up. Start with “I will work out three days this week”. Once you get yourself into a routine, get yourself to work out harder and do more during each session.

Reward yourself. Setting goals is good way to get yourself into a workout program. If you have trouble keeping yourself going, try rewarding yourself when you reach a goal. Don’t go with big rewards, just small rewards for reaching small goals. For example, I can go to that movie if I work out three times this week. If you’re working out to lose weight, don’t reward yourself with food.

Get a buddy. Having someone to workout with can help keep your mind off the work and keep you entertained. That means you’re more likely to want to go work out. Having a buddy also makes it harder for you to skip your workout because you’ll be letting someone else down and they’ll be there to talk you into going even if you don’t feel like it. If you can’t find a buddy to go with you, you can always hire a personal trainer to keep you going.

Make it fun. Exercise doesn’t have to be boring a repetitive. If you don’t like your exercise routine, change it. Keep looking until you find something you enjoy doing. This way, you’ll end up looking forward to exercise instead of dreading it.

Mix it up. Even the most exciting workout can get boring if you do it over and over every day. Find several exercises you like to do and alternate. Try swimming Mondays, dance class Wednesdays, and a Pilates tape on Saturday. Any time you find yourself getting bored with a workout, replace it in your rotation for a while and start it again in a few months.

Don’t take it too seriously. If you start acting like exercise is hard work, it will become hard work. Make your exercise a light, fun, activity rather than a chore you have to do. This will keep you from getting a bad attitude and make you less likely to give up.

Hidden Allergens in Your Home

Do you get sick often? Do you feel tired and sluggish during the day? Do you often itch or sneeze? The problem may not be your sleep patterns or your immune system; you may have an allergy problem. Even if you clean and clean, they linger; rubbing up against you, polluting your air supply, and doing anything they can to get you sick. If your problems are severe, you should consider going to a doctor and getting treated, but if they’re just bothersome, you should try ridding your house of these hidden allergens before you take more drastic steps. Here are just some of the common allergy culprits.

Dust
This is one of the worst offenders for household allergies. It hides in your bed, your carpets, and floats around in your air. Here are some simple steps to help get the dust out from hiding and out of the house.
* Get rid of carpets. If you can’t, vacuum (they make hypoallergenic vacuums) and wash your carpets often. If you opt for rugs on the hard flooring, be sure to wash or steam clean them regularly.
* Get allergy covers for mattresses and pillows.
* Wash or steam clean your sheets and drapes frequently.
* Get a HEPA filter for your furnace and change it often.

Pollen
We usually associate pollen with the great outdoors, but it can get tracked inside on clothes, hair and pets. During peak pollen season, take a few steps to keep it out of the house.
* Wash pets regularly.
* Install a HEPA filter in your house and change it regularly.
* Dry clothes and bedding indoors.
* Keep windows and doors closed.
* Keep grass around your house short. Tale extra care to remove weeds as soon as possible.

Mold
While you may be able to see and get rid of mold growing in your house, chances are there’s probably a lot where you can’t see it.
* Use a HEPA filter in your furnace and vacuum.
* Keep the humidity in your house low. If it gets above 55%, you should use a dehumidifier.
* Keep your bathroom clean and dry. Open a window or turn on a fan after a shower or bath. Clean tile and shower curtains often.
* Use mold-inhibiting paint in your basement.

Pet Dander
We love our pets, but it you’re allergic to them, you’ll enjoy having them around a lot less. Since there are very few hypo-allergenic pet breeds, if you want animals in your house, you have to take extra steps to stay healthy.
* Use a HEPA filter in your furnace and your vacuum.
* Don’t allow pets in your bedroom. This will keep you from breathing in dander while you’re sleeping, which is where you spend most of your time when your at home. If you can’t keep your door closed all the time, most pets can be kept out using baby safety gates.
* Buy a lint roller and a large stock of refills. You can roll your clothes if you hug or cuddle your pet. You can also use it to remove fur from furniture and blankets.
* Neuter male pets, this will reduce the amount of dander.
* Get rid of carpets if possible or vacuum them often.

While it might take a bit of work to get rid of the allergens in your home, you’ll feel so much better it will be well worth the effort.


Resources for Allergy Relief:

• Native Remedies - Get More Info on AllergiClear for Natural Allergy Relief.


• The Herb Barn LLC

Getting Help for PMS

Many women accept PMS as a fact of life. They think that the have to deal with the crabbiness, moodiness, cramps, bloating, and other painful and annoying symptoms over and over with no relief. Many women never even mention their PMS symptoms to the doctor for this reason. But there is help and you don’t have to live with these symptoms month after month until you reach menopause. In fact, it’s important that you talk to your doctor and get treatment as soon as possible.

The most obvious reason you should get your PMS symptoms treated is if you’re experiencing depression as one of your symptoms. Women who experience depression normally may have an increase in symptoms shortly before their period. If you are being successfully treated for depression, you also may have breakthrough symptoms with your PMS. It is vitally important not to let depression go untreated even if it is only periodic. Untreated depression symptoms can escalate to suicide and destructive behavior.

We used to think that women either got PMS or they didn’t. Now we are aware of a more serious form of PMS called Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder, or PMDD. While the symptoms of PMS are painful, annoying, and bothersome, the symptoms of PMDD are so severe that they cause you to alter how you live your life. It is important that PMDD be recognized and treated immediately before it causes serious damage to your psychological health. That’s another reason why it’s important to see your doctor about your symptoms. He or she will be able to help you tell the difference between the two disorders and offer you treatment options.

Another reason to get treatment for your PMS is that it might not be PMS at all. There are a lot of other disorders that have similar symptoms. It is important to have these symptoms diagnosed and treated in case there is a serious problem.

If your symptoms are not serious and you are not having suicidal or dangerous thoughts, you might want to start keeping a journal of your symptoms for a few months before you see your doctor. This way, she can pinpoint if your symptoms are caused by PMS, PMDD, or some other problem. This will help you get treated properly and have you feeling better in no time.

Once you go to the doctor and find out you do have PMS or PMDD, there are treatment options that can help, including; dietary changes, herbal remedies, and hormonal birth control. Just remember, you do not have to live with these symptoms.

Resources for products to help with PMS:

• Nature's Remedies - Get more info on Femalite for PMS.
  
• The Herb Barn LLC


• As We Change - the preferred destination for women searching for solutions for thier changing lives.

Vitamins and the Vegan Diet

You may be considering switching to a vegan or vegetarian diet, but are concerned about getting everything you need to stay healthy. While there are a lot of essential vitamins and minerals in animal products, these vital nutrients are available in vegan diets as well. There’s no need to take extra supplements everyday; simply eat the right foods to provide you will a healthy, well rounded diet. Here are some of the major nutrients a vegan diet might be missing and non-animal sources for them.

* Iron. It is especially important to get iron in your diet if you are a menstruating woman, because it is often lost during your period. There are many options for getting iron including sea vegetables, legumes, soy, raisins, figs, and broccoli. You may also consider eating a fortified breakfast cereal; these have extra iron added. You should also be sure to get adequate vitamin C so the iron is absorbed.
* Calcium. Contrary to what the dairy industry wants you to believe, you do not have to drink milk to get enough calcium in your diet. Many green leafy vegetables are great sources of calcium. Soy products, such as fortified soy milk and tofu, are good calcium sources as well. You can also find orange juice on the market that has added calcium.
* Protein. While meat and eggs are the best way to get protein, you can still build strong muscles by finding protein in other foods. Soy products, nuts and nut butter, seeds, beans, grains, and vegetables all contain protein. You should eat a variety of these foods for optimum health.
* Vitamin D. This nutrient is essential for proper absorption of calcium. The best way to get it without drinking milk is from good old sunshine. You don’t need to go tanning, just take a daily walk or do some reading outdoors. If you don’t want to go to a tanning salon during the winter, you can try some fortified soy milk or breakfast cereals.
* Vitamin B12. This is one of the harder nutrients to get in a vegan diet because there are no non-animal natural sources. Fortified soy milk and cereals have added B12, but you may still need a daily supplement.
* Zinc. This nutrient is usually found in milk products, but is also available from soy products, dried beans, and nuts. You can also find zinc in fortified breakfast cereals.

Remember, while you can get nutrients from supplements, fortified cereals, and other unnatural sources; the best way to get nutrients is naturally. Try to incorporate as many natural nutrient sources as you can into your diet for a healthy animal product free life.

Reduce Back Pain with Pilates

Do you suffer from chronic back pain? Are you afraid to see s specialist because you don’t want to just pop a few pills every time there’s a problem? Have you tried other exercises, but the pain just keeps coming back? Well, Pilates might just be the answer to your problems.

Pilates is an exercise program based on improving the core muscles; however it stresses movements instead of holding positions. By staying in poses and moving your arms around requires you to work your stabilizing muscles. This gives you a full body workout while paying particular attention to your abs and lower back. Pilates is not only a fantastic was to get in shape; it can help stretch and strengthen key muscles which will allow you to function with less back pain.

A majority of back pain is caused by improper posture. Sitting incorrectly at a desk all day can put undue stress on our backs, causing pain. Pilates is a great way to promote proper posture. Not only do all the exercises require correct posture and align the spine when done correctly, but the also help you maintain that posture even when you’re not working out. Pilates strengthens the “core” muscles of the abdomen and back that support your body and keep it in a proper position. When these muscles are toned, you’re more likely to maintain a good posture and reduce the amount of back pain you experience.

Along with promoting good posture, Pilates also helps work the muscles and improve flexibility. If your back pain is due to a muscle injury, improved flexibility can relieve some pain you may experience. Even more so, it can prevent you from injuring the area in the future. Simply by working the muscle, you will improve blood flow to the muscle and relieve even more pain.

If you are looking for relief from minor back pain, you can find appropriate exercises from a book or video tape to help. If you are suffering from more severe pain, you should consider taking a class, getting a private lesson from a personal trainer, or using Pilates machines. By having help, you will be sure you’re performing the exercises correctly and getting maximum benefit from them. If you have a personal trainer, you will know that the exercises you’re performing are designed to help with your specific problems.

While Pilates can be helpful for relieving back pain for many people, you should talk to your doctor before starting any exercise program.

Healthy Meals at School

We all want our children to be safe and healthy, even when we can’t watch them 24/7. One way to keep them healthy is to make sure they eat right, but if we don’t prepare all their meals ourselves, that’s hard to do. Schools are taking steps towards making school lunches healthier, but you still may need to step in to make sure your child is being given healthy options.

There are programs in place that require certain nutritional standards to be met. Within these standards, there are a lot of menu options schools can choose so that children can be given a variety of foods while staying nutritious and within the school’s means. There are a few problems with this plan. First, the dietary guidelines set out for school may not comply with what you think it healthy for your child. Second, schools receive funding for following guidelines, but they are still not required to abide by them.

To allow for variations in what you and your child think is healthy, some schools are allowing students not to take one or more menu options. While this generally only happens in high schools, more middle and elementary schools are allowing it. For this to work, you must teach your child to make healthy choices.

If you question the nutritional value of your child’s lunch, you can either request menus be sent to you, or if possible, go have lunch with them a few times and see what they’re eating. If you don’t feel the menu meets high enough standards, make that known. Talk to the principal, the PTA, the school board, or the person in charge of menu planning. Find other parents who agree with you and take a stand.

It seems the most logical option to ensure your child is eating right at school is just to give them a sack lunch. The problem is, there’s no guarantee your child is eating their lunch and not someone else’s. There are only so many teachers that can monitor lunch time, and unless your child has strict dietary restrictions, they really can’t ensure there isn’t lunch trading going on. Again, it is your responsibility to teach your child healthy eating habits.

While you may feel that schools should be required to serve healthy lunches, that doesn’t mean they do. Many steps are being taken in the right direction, but you may need to help give those nutritional programs a nudge. Just remember that not all people view healthy food the same and you may need to make concessions depending on how strict your think your child’s diet should be.

Healthy Recipes This Week

We have four for you this week: Apple Squash Soup, Bran Muffin Trifle, Asparagus In Lemon Garlic Dressing and Chicken Tomato Pasta. Try them out and let me know what you think!


Apple Squash Soup

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 inch piece of ginger
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. coriander
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
6 medium summer squash
1 medium steamed potato
1 large apple
4 cups leftover water from steaming vegetables or plain water
1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Instructions:

Chop onion and garlic. Combine oil, cumin, coriander, mustard, cinnamon, salt, and cayenne in soup pot. Sauté onion and garlic until soft, stirring often. Peel ginger. Place in blender with 1 Tbsp. water and blend. Add blended ginger to soup. Cut summer squash into 1" pieces. Quarter potato and apple, removing core and seeds from the apple. Chop squash in food processor or blender. Add potato and apple to blender. Use small amounts of liquid to keep blade moving. Add remaining liquid, a little at a time, working the machine until a soup-like consistency is achieved. Transfer soup to pot. Warm to just simmering. Stir occasionally. Add lemon juice. Adjust seasoning to taste by using salt and cayenne. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

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Bran Muffin Trifle

Ingredients:

3 cups coarsely crumbled low-fat bran muffins (about 3 medium muffins)
4 cups assorted fresh fruit chunks
2 cups nonfat or low-fat vanilla or fruit-flavored yogurt

Instructions:

Place half the muffin crumbs in a 2 1/2-quart glass bowl or airtight container. Arrange fruit in 3 1/2 cup amounts in on top. Cover with remaining muffin crumbs. Spoon yogurt evenly over the top. Top with remaining fruit, cover and refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

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Asparagus in Lemon Garlic Dressing

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons nonfat or low-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon low-fat buttermilk or skim milk
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
24 fresh asparagus spears, woody bases snapped off and discarded
Poppy seeds (optional)

In a small bowl, combine garlic, buttermilk, sour cream and lemon peel. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Cook asparagus in boiling water for 5 minutes, or until crisp-tender. Drain. Rinse with cold water and drain again. Cover and chill until serving time. Toss asparagus with garlic mixture. Sprinkle lightly with poppy seeds, if desired.

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Chicken Tomato Pasta

Note: This recipe is great for those who are lactose intolerance or who want to limit their dairy intake for any reason.

Ingredients:

18 oz. chicken breast, cut into small pieces (1/2" square)
1/2 c. onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans (14.5 oz.) of diced tomato
1 1/2 c. sliced mushrooms
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. basil
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/4 c. tomato paste
cooking spray
3 1/3 c. cooked pasta

Instructions:

Spray skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Sauté onion, garlic and mushrooms for approximately 5 minutes over low heat. Add raw chicken pieces. Cook chicken over medium high heat until no longer pink. Once chicken is cooked, add tomatoes, paste, balsamic vinegar, and spices to the mixture. Mix together and simmer over medium low heat for 20 minutes.

Serve with a side of garlic bread and your favorite vegetable.

Mineral Makeup as a Healthy Alternative!

Why Mineral Make up is a Healthy Alternative

The food we eat is usually pretty safe; there are standards used to keep harmful chemicals from making it onto our plates. However, there are no similar standard for body care products. Shampoos, soaps, lotions, and make ups all contain chemicals that can harm your skin or even cause cancer. Mineral make-ups shouldn’t contain these harmful chemicals and are much safer for daily use. Plus, they look great, feel light on your skin, last forever, and can be used on all skin types. Natural make-ups have been used in other cultures for centuries, why not try some for your skin?

While the some of the artificial chemicals in traditional make-up products may be considered safe, it’s still possible that you’ll react poorly to them. If may be that you have an allergy to traditional make-ups and don’t even know it. What you think is just unpreventable acne may actually be a reaction to the make-up or other products you put on your skin. Mineral make-up are hypo allergenic so they won’t contribute to your breakouts and other skin conditions.

In addition to the fact that mineral make-ups don’t harm your skin, the natural ingredients actually nourish your skin making it more healthy and radiant. They allow your skin to breathe without zapping out all their moisture, and they even protect you from the damaging rays of the sun. Imagine, your skin looking and feeling better because you’re wearing make-up.

To cover up imperfections with a normal make-up, you need concealer, foundation, and a powder. And most of the time, your skin imperfections still show right through. Mineral make-up provides great coverage for skin imperfections, acne, and even Rosacea. With these make ups, anyone can look like they have beautiful skin. And isn’t that what makeup is for?

If you’ve seen the T.V. advertisements, you already know that mineral make-up is a whole lot easier to use. You don’t have to worry about rubbing, smoothing, and blending. You just brush it on as you buff it in. It’s quick and easy. Plus, it lasts all day so you don’t have to keep reapplying to keep your skin looking fantastic.

Currently, there are little to no restrictions as to what can go into “natural makeup”. Many times the company will put a few natural ingredients in along with a slew of harmful chemicals and claim the product is natural. You can verify a product is natural by looking for guaranteed seals, like from the USDA. Just be sure you know what the seal your trusting means (what do they check, what percent must be natural, etc). You can also simply read through the ingredients list. If you can’t pronounce an ingredient name, don’t buy the product.

So if you’re looking for a make-up that looks great, feels great, and can even improve the condition of your skin, why not go buy some mineral make-up today.

Mineral Girlz is your place to get great Mineral Makeup that is natural and good for your skin! Great for girlz too!

Battle Spring Fever

Battle Spring Fever with these Outdoor Exercises

Every year we spend the winter cooped up where it’s warm. When spring rolls around, we can’t wait to get outside. Getting outdoors can not only battle spring fever, it can also get you up and moving. Exercising outdoors can give you a better workout and burn more calories than the machines at the gym. As spring approaches, if you want to get outdoors and get in shape, here are some great activities you can do.

* Walking. Not only is walking a great way to get some fresh air and sunshine after being cooped up all winter, it’s also great exercise if you do it right. For an optimal workout, walk for an hour a day at least three days a week. You should also alter your pace during the walk, i.e. go as fast as you can for a minute, then a slower pace for a minute, etc. This will get your heart pumping without having to do a hard workout. If you’re bored of walking around your neighborhood, why not visit a nature park or zoo.

* Yoga. Sure, nowadays yoga is done in your living room or in a gym, but this art was made to be done in the great outdoors. So tote your yoga mat to the park or just to the backyard. This can give you a workout and calm your nerves at the same time.

* Swimming. Want to get a fantastic full body workout while your kids are playing? Then take them down to the community pool. Many pools have an area for kids to splash and play while the adults swim laps. Just make sure not to leave any child that doesn’t know how to swim without adult supervision. And when you’re done with your laps, maybe you can splash and play with your kids too.

* Volleyball. This sport doesn’t have to be played inside with a ref; you can play at a sand volleyball court, or just set up a net in your back yard. Volleyball is a great way to socialize with your friends, or to meet new people by joining a league.

* Biking. More and more cities and towns are putting in bike paths. These are a great way to get a work out without risking serious injury by biking on rough terrain. However, if you’re up for a challenge, there are probably paths through woods, hills, mountains, or some other difficult, but rewarding terrain. Just be sure to wear proper safety equipment no matter where you’re biking.

* Hiking. If you want to get out and go, and you’re up for an adventure, why don’t you take the family and go for a hike. You can experience nature, get a great workout, get some fresh air, and spend some quality bonding time with your family.

So what are you waiting for? Get out of your artificial lighting and into the great outdoors for a workout and a fun time too.