Hospital Promotes Health or Disease?

Thankfully, I've never been a patient in a hospital. I have, however, visited a few people over the last couple of months. While driving to the hospital, I alway pass a billboard that touts this message:

The hospital I typically visit was voted one of the best by U.S. News for 2010-2011. I briefly researched it on the Internet and found they were voted the best because of ranking high in 3 particular medical fields.

Anyways, I smirk at the irony of being voted "best hospital" when certain aspects basically set people up to be sick - namely, the food. I visited a diabetic patient who was given a freezer pop for dessert with every meal for multiple days. No matter how many times she said "I can't eat this because there's too much sugar!" it was still placed on her tray as the only dessert option. No fruit, no sweet sugar-free items. Just freezer pops.

I visited another patient who was malnourished from vomiting for a whole week. Hospital staff kept bringing food in for her to try to keep down. The most common food was red or green gelatin. If she's malnourished, what good is artificially colored gelatin going to do?

The final food problem I encountered was when trying to find dinner or snacks for myself while visiting. First, I'm allergic to wheat and milk. I asked the food staff in the cafeteria if the sauce-covered chicken had either, and they had no clue. "The food is just given to us to serve. I know nothing about it," was the response I received. All of the other entrees were breaded and fried. Not only was I out of luck on that front because of the wheat allergy, but since when is fried foods a decent meal for a hospital? A salad was my only option. As for dessert, there wasn't even a fruit cup. The sweet section was loaded with sugar-free pies and gelatins. I glanced at the other food options out of curiosity, and all of the sandwiches and wraps were made with bleached white flours. No whole grains to be found.

I always assumed a hospital was supposed to do everything it could to make people well. Yet, it seems to be extremely lacking when it comes to nutrition, which is a major part of keeping the body healthy. This particular hospital may be voted "best" when it comes to a few of the medical fields, but it also seems to do a good job about keeping people sick so they have to come back for care. It has to stay in business somehow, right?

Annie's Gardening Kit - Heirloom Seeds & Gloves

I forgot to mention this when I did the gardening post about gathering supplies...

Annie's has a new program called Root 4 Kids. As part of the promotion, you can register to receive a free gardening gift pack when you buy 2 Annie's Homegrown or Annie's Natural products. The gift pack includes gloves (take your pick of adult or child) and heirloom seeds. While supplies last. The 2 Annie's products must be purchased between 1/5/2011 and 4/30/2011.



Minimum Maintenance at Home

Do house cleaning and home maintenance often seem to get in the way of LIFE? I don't know about you, but it's so hard for me to find a balance. Either I'm having a great time loving life and my home is a mess or my house is neat and tidy while my social life has hit rock bottom. I don't feel like I need a spotless house (though that would be nice every now and then); tidy is perfectly acceptable for me. I just really, really, really don't like to clean so it often gets shoved to the back burner. I imagine I'm not alone on this.

Wouldn't it be great to wave a magic wand and *POOF* - clothes are suddenly clean and hung in closets, dishes are scrubbed and put in cupboards, the dust disappears, and all clutter finds a spot to call home. Unfortunately, unless you can afford a live-in maid, this doesn't happen.

Living greatly requires a livable home because our attitudes often reflect the condition of our home. We (or at least me) are likely to be more irritable, lethargic, and unproductive when our home is a mess. It feels GOOD to be able to eat dinner together as a family when I can actually see the dining table. Or to be able to play a board game with the family in the living room floor because it's been vacuumed.

And that's why I'm thankful I came across Home Sanctuary. Rachel Anne lists a daily super easy Small Thing to help with home maintenance and often puts a funny twist in her posts to make house cleaning less mundane. Even better, she lists a point value for each day. At the end of the month, the reader with the highest point value receives a prize. That's some pretty good motivation to tidy up a bit. To be eligible for the prize, you must join her "Company Girls" - but it's free and no hassle.

Home Sanctuary also has a great post about Minimum Maintenance to be done on a daily basis. I encourage you to read backposts because she shows it really doesn't take long to make a house feel more like a comforting home.

Gardening Prep: Supplies

What better way to eat healthier than to grow your own produce?

Yes, I know it's still winter and there is quite awhile before I will get any bounty from a Spring garden. However, it is time to start preparing and planning for it. I'll be planting a few cool-weather crops next month, and I am working on gathering supplies for the rest of the garden. For the past 2 years (I'm such a newbie gardener!), my vegetable garden has consisted of a large flat area with rows of individual plants, most of which began as seeds in the ground. There'd be 1 row of cucumber (which was WAY to many), 1 of zucchini, a couple of rows of corn, etc. Supplies: fertilizer and seeds. That's it. I was determined not to use pesticides or herbicides, but I also didn't know how to keep the bugs and weeds to a minimum. It was a lot of trial and error.

The first year, the garden was overrun with fire ants. NOTHING worked, but it was also the first year they did not come into my home during the warm weather. It was like "New playground with lots of food! Let's invite everyone we know and never leave!" Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) is a fine white powder that consists of fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae. It basically scrapes the exoskeleton of the ants and other pests, leaving them defenseless and dead. It worked on quite a few of the ants, but it also remains in the ground for years and years. Now I have to live with an area that beneficial worms try to avoid. The second year, stink bugs raided the garden.

Weeds were a huge problem, too. I hate weeding with a passion. I had such a large area available for gardening, so I left plenty of space in between plants and rows. Sprawling plants like watermelon loved this, but as the weed-hater, this was not good. It left too much open space for weeds, and I didn't have the money to buy TONS of mulch in the middle of the growing season. And once weeds take hold among watermelons, good luck. The melon vines wrap around anything in it's path, so it's basically stuck to the grass and weeds.

Then there was the problem of deer. How do you stop them from eating the produce? We used electric wiring around some things but didn't have enough for the entire garden.

This year, my supplies list is more than just seeds and fertilizer/compost. First, I'm drooling over this concept of growing herbs, strawberries, or other small plants in a shoe rack. Now I just need a good spot to hang one...

I'm also going to grow up as much as possible. Well, I'M not growing up. I still want my silly moments, but I'm going to have the plants GROW UP, vertically. Space isn't an issue, but vertical sounds so much easier when it comes to weeds, pests, etc. There's less space to fuss over, especially with the melons. I don't have a picture of it yet, but I found a drawing in a book of growing melons on a ladder. The melons are tied to the ladder in slings, like this one (image from Great Stems):

I currently have 3 pool ladders to try growing cantaloupe on like this, but we'll see if monitoring the slings is more work than I bargained for. And yeah, you read that correctly...POOL LADDERS. The funny white and blue ones. They're going in my garden. But they were free, so why not?

Many people recommend using old tires as planters in the garden, but Mother Earth News tells why not to.

As for the pesty insects, I'm going to try companion planting this year, which Wikipedia describes best: Companion Planting is the planting of different crops in proximity, on the theory that they assist each other in nutrient uptake, pest control, pollination, and other factors necessary to increasing crop productivity.


Lastly, though it should come first, is seeds and plants. I found a woman on Freecycle who was giving away lots of planting pots, so I'll be starting some plants (tomatoes, bell peppers, etc.) indoors from seed. Other seeds will be planted directly in the ground. Your Small Kitchen Garden is giving away "sets" of seeds. One set includes three packets—enough to grow one hill of neck pumpkins, one hill of blue hubbard squash, and at least 20 paste tomato plants. The offer ends Sunday, February 13, so go request some free seeds if you will be growing veggies this year!

This is the paste tomato in the Your Small Kitchen Garden seed giveaway.

Are you preparing for a garden this year? Do you have plans already worked out, seeds bought, and supplies available? What will you be growing?

Baby Steps to a Healthier You: Fix It Beforehand

It seems like no matter what I do, I'm always rushing around in the morning like a crazy woman so that I won't be late. And yet, after all the craziness, I'm often still late. I normally start the morning with the best of intentions. My alarm clock is set a little bit early just so I have enough time to fix a healthy breakfast and lunch or to simply have a few minutes to relax or read my Bible before the hectic day starts.

There are good intentions and then there is reality. In reality, car keys go missing, a leak is noticed under the bathroom sink, and the pants I was planning to wear were accidentally left in the washing machine. The travel mugs are all dirty so I have nothing to put a to-go drink in, and it turns out the lettuce for my salad is a brown wilted mess because it's been in the fridge longer than I realized. Breakfast must be eaten on the run once again, and I'll just have to buy something for lunch.

It seems healthier meals and busy lifestyles do not play well together. But there's a fairly simple solution to this -- fix the food beforehand.

I confess, I'm  having a little bit of difficulty with this one, but I am at least doing better than I used to. Remember, this is about baby steps. Don't beat yourself up if you can't fix every breakfast and lunch beforehand. Let's move on to some ideas.

Breakfast

Whole Wheat Waffles with Blueberry Syrup from Heavenly Homemakers

Smoothies - Ideally these are consumed fresh, but it's so much easier to make a large batch and freeze in individual containers, like in these 8 oz, 16 oz, or 32 oz freezer jars. Move one to the fridge the night before to thaw.
Lots of other foods can be made ahead of time. Get your family to help cook the night before or make a large batch during a weekend to freeze for quick on-the-go breakfasts. For this I love some of the recipes at Heavenly Homemakers, like Giant Breakfast Cookies, Breakfast Burritos, Whole Wheat Waffles, Homemade Poptarts, and Banana Muffins (I add chopped walnuts or pecans).
Fruit and Yogurt Parfaits can also be refrigerated overnight for a delicious breakfast. Top with granola in the morning.

Lunch
Some things get soggy when made early, like PB&J sandwiches. Pack what you can into containers the evening before, like fruit, veggies and dip, pretzels, etc. If making a salad, pack dressing in a separate container so the greens don't get wilted overnight. For burgers, I like to pack them in divided containers. Cheese, meat, and bread on 1 side; lettuce, tomato, and pickles on the other side. It prevents soggy buns and wilted lettuce.

Leftovers from dinner make great lunches as well. Just pack a container that evening or freeze in individual portions for healthy, convenient lunches.

Finally, pack a snack! When you hit the 3:00 slump, it's better to be armed with a healthy snack instead of digging for quarters for the vending machine.

What's your favorite quick breakfast or lunch?

Index: Baby Steps to a Healthier You

Here's the ongoing series of Baby Steps to a Healthier You. Rather than dramatic overnight changes, I encourage you to take smaller, more manageable steps. Do as much or as little as you feel comfortable with, and allow yourself some flexibility.

1. Pack a Snack
2. Keep Junk Food Out of the House
3. Fix It Beforehand

Other posts:
Stepping Stones: What Worked For Me

Muffin Tops - No Special Pans Required

You know those people who eat the tops off of muffins and often leave the bottom for someone else? Yeah, I'm sometimes one of those people. Annoying, right? You reach for a muffin and the bottoms are all that's left.

Well, I wanted to make muffins this morning but really only wanted the crispy tops. Unfortunately, I've never invested in one of those nifty muffin top pans. What's a girl to do?

I only made one batch, so I can't promise the success was not a fluke. All I did was add a bit less liquid to the muffin batter - the mix called for 1 cup and I added 3/4 cup. Drop by spoonfuls onto a nonstick baking sheet, just like you would with cookie batter. Bake at the temperature specified for regular muffins, but for about half the time instructed. I baked mine at 350 degrees F for around 12 minutes, but I also used HUGE spoonfuls of batter for each one. They spread more than cookie batter but hold the shape enough to make rounded tops.

Anyways, they were delicious! After my man and I got into them, this was all that was left...

Apple Strawberry Muffin Tops. Can you tell I kind of skimped on the strawberries? I also used a gluten-free mix, so they didn't brown as much as wheat muffins.

I know this post is a lot different from my usual ones, but in my mind, it worked. Muffin tops on a baking sheet are super easy as well as cheap since you don't buy a special pan. Anything that saves you time, money, and frustration should be included in a blog about living well...right?

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family. Click on over and find lots of other great tips.