November Health Update
In this issue:
· Eat Healthier & Cheaper
· Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Shake
· Profile: A mom who dreamed of staying home with her kids
Eating Healthier & Cheaper
November is here and the holidays will soon be knocking on our door. Cooking, eating and finding ways to pay for all that food are on most of our minds.
The price of food is outrageous! You may be trying to eat healthier, but finding the price of it all a bit too much.
We are the only country in the world whose poor are fat and the rich are thin. The main reason is that the cheapest foods available are the over processed, over re-fined, high fat, high sodium, convenience foods. A healthy diet can cost more and when your cash is limited, you go with what you can afford.
So how do we afford to feed our families and eat right at the same time?
Well, it requires a bit of work.
I can see your shoulders slump and hear your sigh. It’s really not that much work. It just takes a bit of planning.
We all tend to fall into the rut of making the same meals over and over again and I bet a lot of those meals include pouring some kind of sauce over some kind of pasta. Am I right?
Then there’s eating out. Wow! That is not cheap! And let’s be honest, if we knew and saw how that food was being prepared, we wouldn’t have the courage to eat it. The safest and healthiest way to eat is to fix it ourselves. Somehow knowing who touched our food and knowing it was prepared safely goes a long way to enjoying our meals.
Taking some time to plan out meals ahead of time, collect coupons, shop and stock up when items go on sale and cooking, yes cooking your own meals at home is how to eat right and save money.
This will take approximately 1-2 hours a week. More if your family keeps interrupting you as you try and plan this all out on Sunday evening. Warn the next person that interrupts you will cause the family to eat nothing but beans and brussels sprouts the rest of the week!
Now that the kids have left you alone for awhile, take out a simple cookbook, or go online and look at a few simple recipes. Remember to keep the meals simple. Most should be able to be made in less than 30 minutes. Look at the grocery ad for the upcoming week and plan your meals around what’s on sale. Clip your coupons and make your list.
Remember to cook more than what you need for tonight’s dinner. Cooking for two or ten takes about the same amount of time and doesn’t cost all that much more, so cook more and freeze the leftovers. You’ll save money by re-heating leftovers rather than ordering pizza or picking up takeout on your way home. Plus it’s healthier.
When you buy meat, cook it all up at once, divide it up into separate containers, date and freeze. That way, when you have a recipe that calls for meat, you will have the long part, which is cooking it, already done.
Remember to always add veggies or fruit as a side dish. Make it a habit and instruct the kids before they can have seconds of their favorite food, they must finish what’s on their plate first. They may baulk at first, but over time good habits will eventually be learned.
Want to have a quick, easy and affordable convenience food for those nights where there is absolutely no time to cook? Try Shaklee’s Meal Shakes or Cinch Shakes. They’re affordable, they’re good for you and best of all they’re fast and delicious! Kids love them and they are also portable. Something pizza and drive thru tacos are not. Oh, and sometimes when we change our diet to better food our stomachs and digestive system sometimes go into shock. Your body is so happy to have good stuff that it will excitedly purge the bad stuff causing bloating, gas, etc.
To help your tummy feel better and not drive off your friends, try EZ Gest So see, there are ways to eat healthier, save money and your sanity all at the same time! Talk about multi tasking!
Spice Up Your Holidays with a Cinch® Pumpkin Spice Shake
Love pumpkin pie, but still trying to stick to your Cinch plan over the holidays? Try this Pumpkin Spice shake recipe to add some variety to your shake. It tastes just like pumpkin pie! Pumpkin Spice Shake Recipe
2 scoops Cinch Vanilla Shake Mix
8 oz non-fat milk or low fat soy milk
2 tbsp canned pumpkin
½ tsp pumpkin spice
Dash of vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon
4 – 6 ice cubes
Blend until creamy.
286 calories, 24 g protein, 42 g carbohydrate, 3 g fat*
*Nutrient values when non-fat milk is used
Profile - Tori Minder
Tori Minder dreamed of a different life…a life where she could be present for the important moments in the lives of her children. And she wasn’t sure it was possible, until a friend told her about Shaklee.
I have always dreamed of being able to stay at home and raise my children. But when my husband Nic and I found out I was pregnant with our first child we knew that there was no other option for me but to continue working. I continued to teach after my daughter was born and all through my second pregnancy, but I cried most days. I was so afraid I was going to miss all her firsts—the first time she sat up, the first time she stood alone, the first time she walked.
And by the time I came home from work, meetings, late afternoons of grading/planning, or conferences, I was totally exhausted and had no energy for my daughter or my husband. I felt like I couldn’t be a good mom, wife, or teacher because my heart was at home. After my son was born, we decided I wouldn’t return to teaching. I thought my prayers had finally been answered.
But after a couple of months of worrying about finances and finding that our money was running out, my husband and I knew I had to go back to work. I sent in applications to different schools and daycares but I hadn’t heard anything yet. I would often call my friend Kara Sears (Senior Director, IN) to talk because I knew we had the same passion—to be at home with our children.
While I was in Tennessee on a family trip, Kara called me and told me she knew a way that I could live out my passion. As soon as I returned home, I called Kara and met with her and her mom. It was then she presented the Shaklee Dream Plan to me. I kept thinking, “This sounds way too good to be true. Is it?” I talked to Nic when I got home and we thought maybe this is the answer we’d been praying for. We continued to meet with Kara and her husband, Kyle to learn more and discovered that Shaklee could give us the life that we want for our family.
We started building in August of this year and thanks to Shaklee, we are creating a healthier and wealthier life. And we’re also sharing Shaklee with others to help them achieve their own dreams.
That’s it for this month’s newsletter! To learn more about the products or opportunity mentioned here, you can visit our website at www.tobehealthy.myshaklee.com or fill out our Contact Form for a free, no obligation Info Packet. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and go ahead and indulge a little. Just remember, everything in moderation, which is better than having to wear elastic pants the next several months!
To Your Good Health,
Julie
