Staying Healthy (and a few random pics)

Avonlea squeezing lemons for lemonade

When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade, right? =)

Here are two natural, herbal remedies that we're taking to support our immune systems this flu season...Sambucus and Elderberry.

Brewing Black tea

Homemade chicken vegetable soup (you can make it with noodles, but adding veggies and taking out the carbs is healthier and I think it tastes better too!)

{Random Pic} Rob took a pic of me with the kiddos.

{Random Pic} Norah and I getting ready to do dishes.

{Random Pic} Norah's crib in her room. We bought these letters a week after she was born and I just got around to putting them up.

As this flu season has rolled around, I've definately been doing a little bit more research on some natural foods that can keep you healthy naturally. We've been on the fence about to take the Swine flu vaccine or not and I can honestly say that we wouldn't be taking it if it weren't for the fact that we have a 4-month-old in our house. We are pumping our bodies full of healthy, immune-boosting foods (I'll share specifics later) and I have an appointment for vaccines this week. I have decided for us to get both the regular flu shot as well as the Swine flu shot. My kids can't get the mist due to asthma, so shots, here we come. I've been praying about this and it all comes down to the fact that my infant's life (worse case scenerio because yes, babies have smaller immune systems and can't get the vaccines) is more important than the rest of us getting a side effect or two. From the research I've done, it's the added ingridients that some doctors are against, not the strains of flu themselves. So, hopefully my pediatrician will give us the Swine shots this week because I know the vaccines are limited. The fact that we have an infant in our house puts us as more of a risk and bumps us ahead of others who may have older children.

I've been reading this new book by Dr. Sears. It's called The Top 100 Zone Foods (You can order it on Amazon for $1.99/new). There is a list of the top 100 healthy foods for your body. It tells you how the food itself is healthy for you, what vitamins it contains and how high it ranks in terms of health. I've been particularly paying attention to the immune-boosting foods and I'm going to post some on this today. Here goes...

(I used THIS WEBSITE and THIS WEBSITE that you may want to check out)

Top foods to keep you healthy (not in any particular order, just what I jotted down from doing research):

flaxseed, salmon, omega-3 eggs, nuts/seeds, Stoneyfield yogurt, oysters (loaded with zinc), garbanzo beans, lentils, garlic, sweet potatoes, carrots, spinach, EVOO, citrus fruit, potatoes, peppers, pineapple, strawberries, cantalope, pumpkin, green and black teas, pork/poultry, cilantro, fresh thyme, blueberries, blackberries, mushrooms, oat or barley bread.

Things I have learned...

Did you know that green peppers have more vitamin C than citrus?

Stoneyfield Farm yogurt is the only US brand that carries the Lactobacillus reuteri strand which is a specific probiotic that appears to stimulate white blood cells?

Grandma was right about fixing chicken soup for a sicky. =) "The amino acid cysteine, released from chicken during cooking, chemically resembles the bronchitis drugacetylcysteine, which may explain the results."

By buying raw honey that is LOCALLY GROWN, you can help your children with asthma. Bees that pollinate locally, produce honey with local pollen eliments in it, giving you a very small dose of it (like a shot), thus helping you stay immune to local pollen.

You just have to check out the websites and/or do your own research for foods that can really help your body fight off disease and just in general, help you keep a healthy body. I can honestly say that I've never actually sat down and done research on what foods keep you healthy. My mom is a very health-conscious person and I'm so grateful for the healthy choices she made for our family and how she taught us to eat lots of fruits, veggies and whole grains. However, I also know what it's like to live on a budget and healthier foods are more a bit more expensive. Now, if you're a coupon clipper like myself and you watch for sales and can buy in bulk, you can definately save a bundle and make your grocery bills much lower. So, give it a try. This week, I'm working on a new weekly menu (I may make two and rotate them, having a "week 1 list" and a "week 2 list") which has more of these foods in them:

(Here are the 100 Healthiest Foods according to Dr. Sears, please note I was copying and typing fast so there are capitalization errors)

alfalfa sprouts, almonds, apples, apricots, artichokes, asparagus, avacados, barley, basil, beef tenderloin, black beans, blackberries, blueberries, bok choy, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, canola oil, cashews, cauliflower, celery, cherries, chicken breast, chickpeas, chili peppers, cinamon, cod, cottage cheese, crabmeat, cucumber, curry, eggplant egg whites, emu, fennel, garlic, ginger, grapefruit, grapes, green beans, haddock, kale, kidney beans, kiwi, kohlrabi, leeks, lemons, lentils, lettuce, lobster, macadamia nuts, mackerel, milk (skim), miso, mushrooms, mustard greens, navy beans, nectarines, oats (slow cooked), okar, olive oil, onions, oranges, parsley, peaches, peanuts, pears, plums, pork tenderloin, protein powder, radishes, raspberries, red bell peppers, salmon, salsa, sardines, scallops, sea bass, sesame seeds, shrimp, soybeans (boiled), soybean hamburger crumbles, soybean imitation meat products, soy cheese, soy milk, spinach, strawberries, swiss chard, tangerines, tempeh, tofu, tomatoes, trout, tuna, turkey breast, turnip greens, wine, yellow squash, yogurt, zucchini


Look at your breakfast, lunch and dinner menus and see what you can implement for healthier choices. Once I get mine finished, I'll share.

My other "to dos" this week are to change my master grocery list to include the new, healthier ingridients for my new meals and to clean out my pantry.

IF YOU HAVE ANY GREAT RECIPES, PLEASE DO SHARE!! =)