Just a few quick tips.

Here are a few quick tips to keep you healthy, wealthy and wise. Okay I don't know about the wealthy or wise part, but I do know about the healthy.

1 cup of butter is 1600 calories
1 cup of sour cream is 800 calories

But 1 cup of yogurt or greek yogurt (Which is thickier. I only like to cook with it. I don't like it by itself as a yogurt but it is great to make dips with.) is 120 calories.

Bad oils: Palm oil, Seasame oil

Good oils: Canola, olive, and grapeseed. Canola and grapeseed oil have a higher flash point to fry or saute in. Olive oil is best in dressings or to roast with.

Bad Starches: White rice, and enriched flour pasta

Good Starches: Quinoa, brown rice, and whole wheat pasta (Check the ingredients on the back of the box. I've ran into wheat pasta looked on the back and the first words are enriched. Yikes! There is your sign all good stuff taken out and your left with most of the bad and processed.)

Now you probably already new these things but I thought a reminder wouldn't hurt since were moving into spring. But to make your visit worth it I thought I'd leave you with a Quinoa recipe.

Quinoa Muffins
1 C quinoa, rinsed
1/4 C canola oil or safflower oil
2 C flour
3/4 C brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 C raisins or craisins
3/4 C whole milk
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

In medium saucepan bring 2 c water and quinoa to boil. reduce to simmer, cover and cook until water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender (11-13 minutes) I use my rice cooker.
Meanwhile brush a standard 12 cup muffin pan with oil and dust with flour. In medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt raisins and 2 cups cooked quinoa, reserve any leftover for another use. In a small bowl whisk together oil, milk, egg and vanilla. Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 25 - 30 minutes.
These are also good with banana and chocolate chips. Adjust the mild and vegatable oil a bit and add a smashed banana and choc chips instead of raisins.

Enjoy!

The who, the when, and the why of the Health Care Bill

Let’s talk about how all this got started or the reason they say all of this got started. I’m talking about the Health Care Reform Bill. Currently, there are 32 million without health insurance. The new health insurance coverage expansion begins in 2014. When fully phased in, 95 percent of eligible Americans would have health insurance coverage, compared with 83 percent today. I have to admit I thought there was a wider gap between insured and uninsured. The difference here is twelve percent and yet it will cost $871 Billion. (Chump change.)
There are several expletives I’d like to use as I watched Washington these last few days. (I’ll leave what they are to your capable imaginations.) However, I thought I’d like to know the who, the when, and the why of the health care bill. Maybe you’re not as curious as I am, but here is a small run down of what I found out.
Thursday afternoon the Senate passed the reconciliation portion of health care reform. The vote was 56 to 43, with all Republicans and three Democrats voting against it.
Included in the no votes were Democrats Ben Nelson of Nebraska, both Arkansas senators, Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln, and both of Maine's Republican senators, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, who Democrats had once hoped would vote for the bill. Georgia Republican Johnny Isakson missed the vote due to illness.
Among The Republican amendments were defeated Wednesday those amendments defeated were Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to prevent convicted child molesters and rapists from getting reimbursed by the government for drugs to treat erectile dysfunction; an amendment from Sen. George LeMieux (R-Fla.) to require all members of Congress to enroll in Medicaid; a measure from Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) to certify that no households earning less than $250,000 will see increased taxes as a result of health care reform; and an amendment by Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) to certify that Americans will not have to change their health insurance as a result of the bill if they do not want to. However the Senate parliamentarian, Alan Frumin, ruled in favor of Republicans on two objections to portions of the student loan reform section, a decision that changes the text of the reconciliation bill and thus requires the House to vote again. When did students loans become a health care issue? Weather you believe in the health care plan or not or your Republican or Democrat can we both agree that student loans has nothing to do with heath care. Isn't this a streeeeeetch even for government? At least they are going back to vote on this again. I would encourage you to write your senators and house representatives on this matter because it will come up again and soon.
Health insurance mandate - Almost everyone is required to get health insurance or else pay a fine. There is an exemption for low-income people. This exemption though is for households who will earn less than $25,000 a year. The Mandate takes effect in 2014.
In 2014, the IRS penalty of $750 per individual or 2% of income – whichever is greater – kicks in for those that choose not to purchase health insurance. No one can be denied access to insurance for pre-existing conditions, and annual caps on benefits are banned altogether. In addition, the temporary high risk pools are now done away with as states will have to have exchanges put in place.

Pheew! Did you get all that. I hope you learned something and I'm hoping that whatever your opinion is that you will take a moment and get involved. We really do live in the best country in the world--The United States of America. We are truely blessed.

I found my information at: Politics Daily—written by; Patricia Murphy, Health Bill 2010 Info; CNM News Network

What you learn when you talk to your children

These are the things I've learned from talking to my daughter today. But first I would like to say that I couldn't believe that I am this out of touch with society and the teen population. I've always thought of myself as being a realist and knowing what's going on in the world of teenhood. However, I also realize that I shelter my kids as much as possible and in fact I shelter myself as well since I don't have to navigate my way through things I don't want to by choice. But still some of what she told me I found a little shocking.

Today she found herself having a conversation with five people, four girls including her and one guy. They are all graduating from high school this year. She can't remember how the conversation got started but surfice it to say. She found out that--out of all five of them, she was the only one that has never had sex, two; had never had a miscarriage along with the boy, (of course) All three of the girls had miscarriages in the last year and one of them has had three and still does not use birth control while engaging in sex. Yikes, have these kids not heard of sexually transmitted dieseaes. None of them used any precautions what so ever. I thought we had spread the campaign about using birth control and condoms. Or I know how about abstanace that seems to be a new one.

Off to her next class she sits behinds this boy who proudly turns around and shows her his freshly black inked flesh. He has gotten his first tattoo a japanese characters. Then he proceeds to rub lotion on it. My daughter, My daughter says, "Don't do that it will make it smear." Excuse me how does she know that. So I ask. "Mom, everyone knows that. Besides there are lots of kids with tattoo's at school.

Now I realize that yes, there are lots of kids with tattoo's, but how many is a lot. My daughter in forms me she thinks it's probably seventy percent has some form of tattoo. Again excuse me. I was thinking it was probably in the twenty-five percent range had a tattoo. Evidently I was wrong. Again don't you have to have parental permission to get a tattoo if your under eighteen. Who are these parents. Or is it just me but tattoos are permanent things. They cannot be easily removed should we not talk about this, maybe have a wait and see period, before we all jump off the cliff and do what everyone else is doing. I found this all a bit nauseating. I guess I'm showing my age here, but tattoos were on military personnel when I was young and they meant something to these men that wore them. Yes men. ( I never saw a woman with a tattoo until years later.) My grandfather had one on his forearm and I always thought it was kind of cool. However, it was mostly because of the story that went with it. My grandmother however, said, "It was a foolish and stupid moment in my granddad's life." You guessed it. She didn't like it.

See what you can learn when you talk to your children.

Let's talk... shall we. (Just for your information this is not my fingernail)The other day I was visiting my step-mother-in-law when she noticed my finger nails...they have horitzontal lines in them. She said, "you are allergic to gluten. Lines in your fingernails is a sign of Siliac's diesea's. I came home and looked on my trusty computer for lines in the fingernails. this is what it gave me.

fingernail lines are in the texture of the nail. Because the changes in nail texture are gradual you may hardly notice them to begin with. When you see ridges in your nails check a list of symptoms of low B12; so being dutiful I checked the list on symptoms. There is about a hundred different kind of problems that stem from the lack of B12. Some admittedly are down right frightening. I was going to post the list, however it was so long I didn't even read it all.

Next I tried to do more research. I came up with that ridges on nails can mean you have a serious health problem. I have to admit I know several people with ridges on their nails and they seem to be completely fine.

So HELP! Has anyone ever heard of ridges on fingernails meaning they're allergic to gluten?

I don't know what got me thinking about this today, but... maybe it's the earthquakes happening around the world and the tsunamis they are causing, or the people I know that are too young to be struggling with diabilitating horendous illnesses. In any case it got me thinking about planning my funeral.



I have only one request so far. When I was a senior in high School I was one member of twelve in Seminary Council. We did two sacarament meetings a month. At every sacrament meeting we sang Because We Have Been Given Much. I would like those who are still around from the council to sing at my funeral the song we sang together. And if there is no one left and I out live them all. I would like my family to sing it.

Today is Dr. Suess Birthday and read across America day.

I don't know about you, but as a child I could not get enough of Dr. Suess books and I don't think it has changed much for children all over the world. He made reading fun, silly and something you experienced. No one has ever been able to write quite the way he did and make nonsensicle things make perfect sense. I'm grateful for those moments when I read his books when I was a child, but I'm extremely grateful that I got to share his books with my kids.

So heres to you Dr. Suess, I raise my glass and celebrate your uniquness and down right clever verbage that made kids every where go ahh.

This is one of my favorite quotes by Dr. Suess; "Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

Who else do you know made words and make believe characters famous with names like these; Sneetches, Floob-Bobber-Bab-Boober-Buds, Fiffer-Feffer-Feff, Dinwoodie, Grickily-Gractus-Grox, Horn-Honkers-Hopp, Soup-Snoop-Group, Long-Legger-Kwong. Just to name a few.

Green Eggs and Ham is the 3rd largest selling book in the English language of all time. He wrote over 54 children's books and continued writing up until his death in 1991.

I think we owe alot to Dr. Suess. No one has ever said things the way he did; "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than you."

He made my childhood one of wonderment as I turned the pages of each and everyone of his books. Thank you for those moments and for the memories.