Common Sense Living

How do you get your kids to make healthier food choices? Make healthy dinners full of nutritious foods and esteem building conversation. Combatting obesity, eating disorders, and behavior problems can be just that simple.

Most people struggle with getting their kids to eat healthy. But it doesn’t have to be a struggle. Here’s what’s worked for me -

1. Eat healthy yourself - they learn from you.

2. Put out lots of food choices and let them taste different foods.

3. Don’t force them to eat something they don’t like. Just ask that they taste new foods. Most kids will accommodate if you start them early. And if they know you won’t force them to eat it if they don’t like it, they’ll be more willing to take the plunge!

4. Remember that kid’s taste change seemingly overnight. Just because they didn’t like it one time doesn’t mean they won’t like it the next time.

5. If you like it, put it out. When they see you enjoying something, they’re more curious.

6. Kids like simpler foods. They’ll eat a hamburger with nothing on it, or a salad with no dressing. You don’t have to be a world class chef.

7. Rather than talking to your kids about how healthy the food is, talk about how great it tastes. They turn off to the notion of healthy eating just the way you do. But if you’re eating it because it tastes really good, you’ll all be a lot happier - and healthier just happens.

Nothing is better than a great example. If you know a lot about foods, and you eat a lot of different foods, kids will naturally learn from you. How can you learn about healthy food?

By the way - These tips also work on adults!

To your good health-

Carole

What’s the worst housecleaning job in the house?

The bathroom, right?

I come from a long line of terrible housekeepers. In our house, bathroom mold was something that happened that you couldn’t do anything about other than replace the grout - and that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. Seriously!

When I got old enough to start caring about such things, I tried to get it clean, but as you probably already know - regular cleaners just didn’t do it.

And, I wasn’t alone. Cleaning the bathroom was something that everyone seemed to struggle with. Everyone put it off. It seemed impossible, and it took forever to get halfway passable results. Cleaning the bathroom was popular punishment.

Knowing what I do now, I wish someone would have taught me a lot sooner. It’s not that hard at all. But my mom didn’t know how. Her mom didn’t know how. So how could they teach me?

Well I’m here to save you from all that grief. Here’s a plan to get your bathroom clean in 10 minutes - top to bottom -

But don’t putter, don’t stop and admire your work. That’s another reason people take so long to clean house. Focus! Do the steps and get out of there!

4 steps, about 2-3 minutes a day- and you’ll never have to
deal with soap scum build up or scrubbing the bathroom ever
again.

The tools you’ll need-

* a shower squeegee
* paper towels
* glass cleaner
* Scrub Free or Tilex Soap Scum Remover (not mold remover!)

It’s a good idea to have Clorox Clean-Up on hand too. Very handy stuff.

These should be kept in the bathroom. Splurge on the extra
bottle of glass cleaner and an extra roll of paper towels to
keep in the bathroom.

Here are the 4 steps-

1. When you get out of the shower, after you have dried off
and put on your lotions and such… do a once over on the
shower walls with the squeegee.

2. Take 2 pieces of paper towel and clean in this order-
mirror, counters, quick wipe over towel bars, chrome in shower,
and toilet lip. Throw paper towel away.

3. Do one of these chores each day or two-

* Spray tub with scrub free and do a quick wipe down with
wet rag or sponge, or

* Clean the toilet, or

* Do a quick wipe up of the floor, or

* Do a quick cleaning on your shower doors, if you have them,
or if you have a shower curtain- spray any spots with Clorox
Cleanup. Each of these only take seconds if you don’t let it
get bad in the first place.

4. Watch for any mold, or discoloring of the grout. Spray with
Clorox Cleanup and just let it work. (just don’t get any cleaners with bleach on any chrome, it will ruin it!)

That’s it. Your bathroom will always look terrific, and it’ll be a
lot healthier too. Don’t let build up happen in the first place.
Keeping it clean in the first place is so much easier than trying
to clean it later after it’s all caked and built up.

Try it, you’ll see

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Feel Like House Cleaning is a Losing Battle?

If you want a really clean house, but you don’t have a lot of time to spend doing it you want this complete handbook of easy cleaning secrets. Click here to find out how to clean your house fast, and keep it that way!

See you soon -

Carole

Toothaches are never convenient, are they?

They seem to happen late at night, or on Saturday night, or on a day when you have an important meeting.

Here’s some things that can help you put a stop to the pain until you can get to the dentist.

The ache comes from inflammation. Just soak it in cranberry juice for a few seconds a couple times a day to cut the inflammation - and the pain.

Cranberry juice is full of powerful anti-oxidants, and nature’s anti-inflamatories. It even removes plaque from your teeth - and your arteries. Helps relieve leg pain, and keeps your kidneys running great. You should drink some everyday anyway.

If that doesn’t do it, you have a more serious problem - but hang in there! There’s a product called Gly-Oxide. It’s a more potent germ and bacteria solution. You put a few drops on the spot and let it work for 3 - 4 minutes - But DO NOT swallow it! It’s has hydrogen peroxide in it.

If you had a filling fall out and that’s what’s causing your pain, theres’s a product called DentTemp. It’s a temporary filling that you can put in yourself. It will hold for a while.

These tips won’t permanently fix the problem. You’ll still need to get to the dentist. When the pain comes back, it will be with a vengence - and it can cause much more serious problems if you leave it untreated. But at least these tips will buy you some time.

Were you a little surprised to see cranberry juice is so powerful? There are a lot of foods that have been used for hundreds of years to fight infections, stop colds, combat heart disease, give you energy, and more. Want to know what these powerful foods are?

See you soon!

Carole

a.k.a. – ‘Mother’

P.S. Speaking of Healing Foods >>>

Is your life a bit chaotic? Always running around with never enough time? It’s probably the way your Mom lived too. It’s actually the way most people live - because no one ever taught you how to live any differently.

Just imagine if you could spend an evening in my life. What would it be like to come home to a clean home, make a healthy dinner, and still have a few hours to spend however you like? Would you like to try?

OK, here goes -

You come in the door after a hard day at work. The house is clean and inviting. You close the door on the outside world. Whew - It’s nice to be home!

You sit down for a few minutes and sort through the mail. One pile to be dealt with goes on the desk. Catalogs and magazines go in their own bin to be read later. The rest goes in the garbage. (5-10 minutes.)

You set out to make dinner. The chicken has been marinating all day. Yum.

You wash and poke your potatoes and put them in the microwave. You put the chicken in the pan to cook. While those are cooking, you throw together a great salad. 10 - 15 minutes later, dinner is ready. Eat up! (30-40 minutes depending on how much you talk.)

You put the dishes in the sink to soak, or in the dishwasher to wash. (2-5 minutes.)

Now you have time to work on your business, or work on a hobby, or do some cleaning, or help your kids with homework, or take a walk, or get some exercise, or take your kids to soccer or scouts, or call a friend, or anything other than plopping in front of the brain drain machine (TV). (2-3 hours)

As you wind down, you finish the dishes and wipe up the kitchen. (It only takes 15 minutes MAX when you do it most every day.)

You pick up around the house, and maybe do one little household chore, like dust and get it out of the way. (15 minutes)

You do a quick once over on the bathroom before heading off to bed. (2 minutes)

You go to bed feeling pretty good about how much you accomplished today!

As you can see, I have plenty of time for everything - except TV. Even my daughter isn’t a big TV watcher. We have more life to live. We’ll usually watch a movie or two a week. NetFlix is a great service! The local library can’t be beat.

You can live life, or watch it on TV. You have the same 24 hours I do. How you choose to spend it is up to you.

I hope you enjoyed an evening in my life. Now go and make it your own!

See you soon!

Carole

A friend of mine came to me with a problem. She is a long time student of High Energy Eating, but now she’s run up against a problem finding time to eat healthy.

She works 3 jobs. Yes, 3. She’s a teacher full time, and holds 2 part time jobs at the mall. So most nights, she’s not getting home until 10 P.M. and she’s hungry!

She wanted ideas for what to eat so late at night.

So as I set out to make a plan for her, I figured it might help you too.

Here are some light dinner ideas that she can make quickly, eat comfortably and still maintain her weight loss.

>> Quesadillas, or are they tostadas? I get them mixed up – anyway, they’re so easy. Warm 2 flour tortillas on one side. Flip and place cheese on each. You can also put in leftover shredded chicken, diced tomatoes, salsa, and/or refried beans. Put the tortillas together, sandwich style. Cut into quarters. Have a salad or fresh fruit on the side.

You can also take the same basic ingredients and just make soft tacos.

BLTs. This time of year, Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato sandwiches are a real treat with fresh tomatoes. With microwave bacon, these can be ready in just a few minutes. I wouldn’t eat it too often since the bacon part is not great for you, but it’s a good fast treat once in a while. I’ve ended up with BSTs once in a while too – Bacon, Spinach, and Tomato when I don’t have any lettuce in the house! Still good. Easy on the Mayo! Try the olive oil mayo for extra omega 3s.

Sandwiches are a great light dinner option too. Roast beef, or chicken, or turkey with lettuce, tomato, and cheese. That’s a meal right there. Yellow mustard has healing benefits, and you can eat as much of that as you want, or your stomach can handle

You can cook a chicken breast in about 10 minutes. Pair it up with a salad for a great light dinner. If you’re organized enough to plan ahead, you could have that chicken marinating all day. Yum.

A pork chop, or a steak can be made just as quickly.

Get creative with salad. You can throw in all kinds of good for you stuff.

Eggs are another great quick option. Omelets can be made quickly and filled with almost anything.

Tuna Salad.

Low sodium soups. Canned soups have a lot of salt, so go for the low sodium versions.

Fruit and yogurt and nuts

Fruit and cheese

Oatmeal

Just make sure to skip the starchy, high carb side dishes like potatoes or pasta - that will just turn to fat because you’re not going to do anything that late at night to burn it off.

Especially stay away from fries, chips and pop. But a glass of red wine is good for you!

Another friend piped in that she can just sit down with a bowl of my broccoli salad. Wow, I haven’t made that in a while – and I’m sure that was a hint!

We all know we shouldn’t eat a lot late at night. But sometimes, life doesn’t always allow us to be so perfect, does it? So, if you find yourself eating late, I hope these healthy eating tips help!

To your good health –

Carole

.a.k.a. – ‘Mother’

Find out how you can be naturally thin and healthy and full of energy to enjoy life >>>