Oh Sickness!

Hey! Sorry it's been a while (two weeks *cough*) since I posted. I got so sick! I was sick for an entire week, Saturday to Saturday. Bleh!

It wasn't the flu though, thank goodness, just some kind of upper respiratory junk.

Here's a quick sketch I drew that illustrates pretty much the entire week:

My husband got sick too, but his only lasted two days. Have you ever heard that saying about "the fool never catches a cold"? As in, he's sick but won't admit it because he's convinced he's not? Yeah, my husband is one of those. So even though he said it only lasted two days I have my doubts...

While I was busy sitting around doing nothing but feeling sorry for myself I ended up watching a lot of travel channel. I love travel channel! I like the food shows especially. Well, husband and I sat around an entire day watching nothing but travel channel food shows. When it came time to eat neither of us wanted to cook (both being sick) and he said that after watching all those delicious food shows he couldn't bear to order pizza.

So we hauled our sick butts out of the house (much to the dismay of germiphobes) and ambled over to china town for some more authentic food.

We decided to try this new restaurant that had just opened and so we limped on in. The place was more authentic than many and the servers struggled with their English. I had interest in a bean curd dish because I love tofu, but between the waitress' struggled English, my 100% lack of Chinese, and a menu that was half in Chinese, this is what came out:

Some kind of garlicky greens dish, hahaha. My husband's order was correct luckily, so between his stew and my garlicky veggies we had a fairly healthy and lowish calorie meal. It was a pretty successful adventure.

I have to admit that also part of my absence has been because of having to catch up on other stuff after being sick.

What do you do when you're sick to feel better?

Cheating Low Calorie CauliFried Rice

I love food!

The problem with that being, of course, that in recent years it has been sticking around a little too long. I'm starting to wear my pasta, if you know what I mean.

Husband and I have been on a diet for a few months now and we're starting to show progress, but I look at delicious recipes online and have a hard time staying true. Or rather, I have a hard time continuing to cook diet food. So many times I cook something low calorie and think "this is a bit flavorless, a little butter oughta fix it right up!"

Incidentally, whoever said "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels" has never tried French food, hahaha. They love their butter.

Anyway, I've been reading about this trend using cauliflower rice and decided to try it. I figured a good way to mask that cauliflower flavor for my husband would be to douse it in soy sauce, ginger, and garlic.

It really looks convincing though, I gotta say!

(And yes, I used a filter because my phone takes awful photos, and my super nice camera is acting up this week...)


Ingredients I used:

20 oz Cauliflower, lightly steamed (not too mushy, it still needs to hold its shape)
2/3 cup Frozen Peas and Carrots
3 Eggs
10 oz Chicken Breast, sliced (or tofu would be superb too, would have done that had husband not been an involved party)

Soy sauce, ground pepper, minced garlic, and minced ginger to taste.


I was good this time and used an olive oil spray to coat my pan lightly. I cooked my chicken first and while that was browning I riced my cauliflower. I have no experience in this at all, but I just dumped the cauliflower in my blender for a few seconds until it had a "ricey" texture.

(Terrible photo number two, sorry! I also have black counter tops, which didn't cheer up this already sad photo any, ha!)


Then I scrambled my eggs and dumped in the caulirice and veggies. Stirred it around a bit, flavored to taste and called it good. Tada!


I'm no gourmet chef, so this wouldn't win any prizes. But it was pretty good and husband even enjoyed it! The nice thing is you can add whatever you like to it, and the whole process only took about 30 minutes. I bet you can come up with something a bit more complex than mine, I just wanted to share the idea.

How many calories, you ask? I counted it to be 1,010 for the whole pan (it'll vary depending on your seasonings, oils, and meats, of course) which made it barely over 500 for half of the pan. Husband and I each got half of the pan and neither of us finished it, it was a lot of food!

What kind of ingredients do you like in fried rice?

5 Health Reasons to Drink Wine

What? Health reasons to drink wine? Heck yeah, those are studies I can stand behind. To prove that this information is legitimate and I'm not just making it up for my own benefit (*cough* I would never invent information to allow me to drink more *cough*) I will include links to Harvard Health articles. I read several articles to pick my 5 reasons, but I will include just one link on each.

As a side note, these statistics only apply to a "moderate" amount. A "moderate" amount is defined as one glass a day. I know the word "moderate" is pretty relative, so I thought I should specify... Drinking more than a moderate amount frequently (i.e. 2-3 glasses a day) can increase your risks for many negative health situations.

1) Drinking red wine can reduce your risk of stroke. Drinking moderate amounts of alcohol can prevent blood from clotting. Red wine is the best choice because of a chemical in it called Resveratrol which is being studied as a possible supplement choice for protecting your brain.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Womens_Health_Watch/2013/June/things-you-can-do-to-prevent-a-stroke

2) Drinking red wine can increase your "good" cholesterol and lower your blood pressure. Red wine is full of antioxidants which have beneficial effects on our body systems. This article I chose does praise red wine briefly for it's aid, but apparently touts the huge benefits of non alcoholic red wine. I've never heard of that, wouldn't it just be grape juice? I might have to look into this red wine substitute further.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/non-alcoholic-red-wine-may-lower-blood-pressure-201209125296

3) Drinking wine can decrease your risk for coronary disease. Between numbers one and two above wine does a pretty good job of reducing heart disease. Recent research has shown that other alcohols may also be beneficial, but many scientists still put red wine at the top followed by white wine.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsweek/Excerpt_from_Healthy_Women_Healthy_Lives_alcohol.htm

4) Wine promotes improved longevity. This is just a fancy way of saying it prevents several types of early deaths. Mostly heart related deaths such as heart attack. In theory by preventing early deaths you should be able to live longer.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Letter/2011/October/more-to-the-story-than-alcohol--heart-protection

5) Drinking wine can help prevent prostate cancer. Okay, this one isn't really for women, but it's hard work keeping our men healthy and happy. This is a good way to keep them both healthy and happy. My husband prefers this one over the cruciferous veggies I force down him, ha!

http://www.health.harvard.edu/press_releases/prostate-benefits-from-red-wine

Well that's that. For the benefit of science and fairness I will also address one fairly big negative for women so you won't have rosé colored wine glasses (haha, you get it?)

Drinking moderately any type of alcohol can raise the risk of breast and colon cancer. This is a pretty important thing to point out. In order for you to determine how much you should drink for health reasons you should probably consider your family history and also consult the articles below.

http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/study-supports-alcohol-breast-cancer-link-201111033747
 http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Heart_Letter/2011/October/more-to-the-story-than-alcohol--heart-protection



Also, I must say this: If you value your longevity at all do not get behind the wheel after drinking. There you go, full disclosure.

I wish wine could be a magical cure for many ails, but I guess it's too good to be true *sigh*. I plan to continue to enjoy moderate amounts of wine! Speaking of which, do you ever cook with wine? I do sometimes, but it turns into a game of "a cup for the pan, a cup for me, a cup for the pan..."

What about you? Do you like the occasional glass of wine? What is your favorite? Do you worry about health risks?

Husbands and Healthy Foods

I don't know if you have the same problem I do with my husband and healthy foods but boy is it hard to work with!

I have to give husband credit though, he's much better than he was.  At least now he'll eat a side of broccoli or green beans if it's well seasoned. Used to be if he saw a veggie in what I was cooking he'd be upset and convinced the veggie flavor ruined the meal. When we ordered sushi rolls he'd take his chopstick and poke out the cucumbers. He would order crunchy tacos, remove the cheese and set it aside, remove every speck of lettuce, and then put the cheese back on.

Ah how I don't miss those fettuccine alfredo, meat lover pizza, and fried chicken days.

Don't get me wrong, I love fried chicken, but when you only eat that with a side of mashed potatoes it goes straight to your hips.

What changed? Well his pant size for one thing, that made a huge difference. When all that cheese started hanging around he became more open for lower calorie foods. At first I had to "hide" the veggies for him but we have worked from there constantly.

The main problem was onions. He was 100% convinced that he HATED onions. If he saw me add onions or saw them in the pot he'd instantly hate whatever it was I was cooking. I started having to chop the onions up really small when he wasn't looking and dump them in. Then I'd increase the ventilation so he couldn't smell them. Many days went like this:

What about you? What foods do your husband or children dislike? How do you work around it?

Even the Worst Days

"If you don't think every day is a good day, just try missing one." - Cavett Robert

Sometimes when I have a "bad day" I remember how lucky I am to be alive. I also think about women who had worse times than me and still became great. Women like Helen Keller and Oprah had very difficult lives and yet they have been written onto the pages of history. I think my worst day is not even close to days that frequently happened to them.

Any of us can achieve our dreams, we just have to keep believing. What is we all had half the drive and direction as Oprah? We would probably have very great and fulfilled lives with a mere half.

John Johnson once said "Men and women are not limited by the place of their birth, not by the color of their skin, but by the size of their hope."

What dreams do you have? What hopes?

Speaking of good days, Buddy also has good and bad days. It's funny, but his attitude changes from day to day like people depending on his situation. Here's Buddy enjoying a nice roll!

He's so fat these days!

Angular Cheilitis and How to Treat It

I decided to write about Angular Cheilitis today because it is something I suffer from periodically and it flared up today, ugh.

What is Angular Cheilitis?

In short, Angular Cheilitis is a type of inflammation in one or both corners of the mouth.
 
What are the Symptoms?

• Initial Symptoms mimic dry lips. You may feel like you need to put extra lip balm in the corners of your mouth.
• Early inflammation may cause a feeling of tightness of the skin in the corners of the mouth.
• As the inflammation increases the tightness will transform into mild pain. When you open your mouth you may feel pain in the corners. It often feels like the skin is splitting.
• Dry skin or flakiness in the corners of the mouth.
• Swelling and redness around the inflamed area.
• Serious Angular Cheilitis can cause blisters or skin that splits in the corners of the mouth.

Luckily, Angular Cheilitis is not contagious, so don't worry about that!

 What Causes It?

There are many things that can instigate it. The main ones are:

• Drooling (i.e. while sleeping)
• Stress or weakened immune system
• Longer or deeper folds of skin at the corners of the mouth
• Allergic reactions
• Nutritional deficiencies, most notably B2 (Riboflavin) and Iron

Almost all cases are afflicted with candida yeast. Candida are naturally occurring in saliva and on the surface of your skin. In fact, your skin is covered in millions of microorganisms that maintain a tiny ecosystem. Occasionally something can cause this ecosystem to be thrown out of whack (the instigators listed above) and the candida yeast can overtake the corners of your mouth. There are also a few bacteria that can overtake your mouth as well.

How can I treat it?

I have had lots of luck clearing mine up in a manner or days by following the procedure below. Please note that I am not a doctor or expert of any kind, I am merely using my personal experience.

Start by taking some vitamin sand minerals that will boost your immune system such as Vitamin C and Zinc. Take some iron and vitamin B complex as well in case you are suffering from a nutritional deficiency. It helps fight the candida yeast you can find a supplement called "oregano oil" in a capsule. Take it once a day until the infection clears up.

That's what I do to fight my Angular Cheilitis. Mine is cause by the vitamin B2 (riboflavin) deficiency and candida yeast, so this is tailored toward that situation. You should probably determine your reason for Angular Cheilitis so you can treat it appropriately.

Always consult your doctor before beginning any sort of treatment program.

What do you do for your Angular Cheilitis? Let me know!

7 Health Reasons to get Pedicures

Just in case you need a good argument prepared for your husband here are some health reasons that you should get a pedicure!

1) It relieves stress. Nothing like a nice hot foot soak and foot massage to take away the stress. You will get a nice hour to yourself or with a friend to do nothing but just relax. You know what they say "happy wife, happy life" right?

2) It improves the health of your skin. We frequently don't spend as long caring for our foot skin as we do for our face or hands. We abuse our feet and then aside from putting on a little lotion before bed or making use of a pumice stone once in a while we do little to keep our skin healthy.

3) It helps prevent corns and callouses. It's not fun to think about but corns and callouses are very common and are not fun as all. They are collections of hardened dead skin and can quickly become painful. A pedicure will soak and thoroughly scrub away the dead skin, preventing the buildup.

4) It improves circulation. The warm foot soak is a good way to start getting the blood flowing in your feet, but the massage will really improve the circulation. Sometimes our hearts have a heard time pumping blood to and from our feet and as a result circulation tends to be poor. If you suffer from a medical condition that exacerbates this situation then you could especially benefit from this experience.

5) It relieves pain. Between the massage, the removed corns and callouses, and the increased blood flow you should also get pain relieve. Women particularly suffer frequently from foot pain because of poorly fitting shoes. A pedicure can easily improve the happiness of your feet.

6) It prevents infection. It's gnarly, but there is bacteria everywhere on your foot. It especially loves to get under your toenails or into the rough dead skin. Bacteria around the nail can cause ugly nail infections or can get into the skin of ingrown toenails and cause infection there. Pedicures are a good way to reset your bacteria levels. Your toenails will be thoroughly cleansed all around and your dead skin will be completely removed. It's good to start from square one with bacteria as often as you can to keep it in check. Less foot bacteria can also cause less foot stank as well, which is always a plus!

7) It boosts confidence. Hey, confidence is super healthy. A lot of women avoid wearing shoes that they think are cute because they fear their feet are cracked, scaly, or "ugly". Don't let that stop you from getting shoes that will make you feel fabulous! A pedicure will brighten your feet right up and you can rock those shoes that day.

I keep trying to get my husband to get a pedicure to help him with his starting-to-be-ingrown toenails, but he won't do it! To my men friends out there: it's fine for men to enjoy the benefits as well, go with your lady friend next time, you won't regret it.

Even horses enjoy the benefits! I told Buddy he'd be the envy of all the girls with his fresh pedicure and new shoes!