Archive for Health and Nutrition

Swerve Sweetener 10% Discount Coupon – Thrifty Thursday

Posted by html404 on January 23, 2014
in All Natural Products, Coupons, Deals, Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Health, Health and Nutrition, Health and Wellness, Shopping, Thrifty Thursday, Uncategorized

This post contains affiliate links.

I reviewed Swerve Sweetener when I wrote the post about replacement sweeteners and really liked it. It isn’t like other replacement sweeteners, it tastes that good. I used most of it in my tea, but I need to order more. I just missed the sale they had going on where you can purchase four canisters for $20. Completely forgot! Boo hoo! Can’t believe I have to start putting sale end dates on my calendar to remind myself to shop!

You all can save 10% discount on your order placed via Swerve’s website.

The discount code is: FAITH10 and expires 12/31/2014.

Have you ever forgotten a sale you really wanted to participate in? Or forgot coupons you really wanted to use?

Stay sweet!

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Get Healthy with Insync Probiotic #NaturalProbiotic #shop #cbias

Posted by html404 on January 19, 2014
in All Natural Products, Exercise, Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Health, Health and Fitness, Health and Nutrition, Health and Wellness, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, Recipes, Uncategorized

Our family really strives to live a healthy lifestyle, but I want to preface that by saying we don’t do it perfectly and we are still on our journey to better health. Always room for improvement, right? Though I have to say we celebrate our two year anniversary of being cold and flu free next month! One of the ways we live healthy is taking a natural probiotic and a daily multivitamin.

Insync Probiotic

Insync Probiotic is a natural probiotic I have been taking for the past three weeks. It is available at Meijer stores in the “condition specific” section. It contains doctor recommended B. infantis’, which is a healthy probiotic bacteria that has been found to help women with irritable bowel syndrome (Source: National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine). I have found it easy on my digestive system.

Four Things to Stay Healthy

Here are four other things to do to help maintain a healthy digestive system balance in addition to taking a natural probiotic.

1. Eating the right foods. One of my favorite fall and winter time foods is soup, especially Potato Kale Soup. It has lots of yummy veggies that keep your digestive system going.

It looks wonderful in the above photo with all its brightly colored vegetables, and it’s how the children prefer it, but I prefer to blend it together as the recipe calls for, which makes it look not quite so appealing. It is oh-so-yummy though!

2. Getting enough sleep is an important part of staying healthy and giving our body the rest it needs to function properly.

3. Get enough exercise. I struggle with this one because I like to get my exercise naturally rather than go to the gym or get on exercise equipment. One of the reasons I want to live on a farm! The thing is I have so many children that usually what’s left for me is weeding the garden which no one else enjoys. Before my older two boys took it over, one of my favorite things to do in the winter was shovel snow. Exercise aids in regular bowel movements.

4. Laughter. We are all probably familiar with the old proverb “Laughter is good medicine”, but it rings true. Exercise, laughter and having fun gets the endorphines going and reduces stress in our life. Less stress promotes good digestion and promotes good health.

For more information about Insync Probiotic, please visit:
http://www.insyncprobiotic.com
Twitter – @insyncprobiotic
Facebook – insyncprobiotic

Do you and your family take a natural probiotic to stay healthy? Have you ever heard of or tried Insync Probiotic before reading this post?

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MinuteClinic at select CVS Pharmacy Stores

Posted by Brande on December 12, 2013
in Family Stuff, Health, Health and Nutrition, News Worthy, Parenting, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, Uncategorized

“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Dad Central Consulting for CVS MinuteClinic. I received promotional items as a thank you for participating”

By: Guest Dad Blogger Scott – #MC

“Children suffer around 6 or 12 colds a year.”

And

“Americans get 1 billion colds a year.”

Source: Center for Disease Control and Prevention

With cold and flu season fast approaching it’s good to know that MinuteClinic in select CVS Pharmacy Stores are here to help you.

What’s a MinuteClinic you ask? Good Question!

MinuteClinic is an affordable alternative to visiting your doctor when you or a family member is suffering from a cold, cough or flu illness. No appointments are necessary and they are open 7 days a week with evening hours! The MinuteClinic can vaccinate, diagnose, treat, and prescribe for cold, cough, and/or flu!

Board Certified Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants are there for you to treat a variety of common family illnesses. Not just limited to cold, cough, and flu. They are able to diagnose strep throat, ear infections, pink eye, and UTI’s. In addition, they are able to provide vaccinations for flu, pertussis, and others. The MinuteClinic can also provide physicals for sports and /or camps and wellness services to stop smoking, lose weight, and screening for diabetes and cholesterol.

This program is terrific for that on the go person or family. The MinuteClinic also accepts insurance! If your regular doctor is not available and you visit the MinuteClinic, they will send your summary visit to your primary care physician (with your permission). No regular doctor? No problem – The MinuteClinic can even help you find a provider.

Currently the MinuteClinic at CVS Pharmacy Stores is available in 28 states and in Washington DC.

If you sneeze or cough, please cover your mouth, this is how most germs spread. One of the best ways to avoid sickness is wash your hands with soap and water and try not to touch your face.

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Liquid Amino Diet Part 2 and Giveaway

Posted by html404 on November 29, 2013
in Giveaways, Health, Health and Nutrition, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, Reviews, Uncategorized, Wordless Wednesday

By now you all know how much I struggle with any sort of diet to help me lose weight. Most of you know I have been trying the Liquid Amino Diet for the past few weeks. See my post on Liquid Amino Diet Part 1 here.

As a recap….

What is the Liquid Amino Diet?

Dr. Finsand developed the Amino Diet about 4 years ago after years of research and trials with his patients. The Liquid Amino diet is not about a quick fix, it is about a total and complete lifestyle change. The lifestyle change is accomplished through clean eating and ALL NATURAL homeopathic drops. Because of the healthy change in diet, you can expect to lose between .5-1 lb per day. Unlike other diets, the Amino Diet does not inject hormones for a total body shock, but instead focuses on teaching people how to eat clean without the shock of the system. This is one HUGE factor in keeping the weight off for extended periods of time.

Be sure to check out this video from a real Amino dieter who lost 85 pounds on the program.

Liquid Amino Diet Review and Giveaway

Taking the Liquid Amino Diet was a breeze. It has an odd flavor, yet it’s not unpleasant by any means. Letting it sit under my tongue was a breeze and I normally allowed it to go over 20 seconds. What I struggled with was remembering to take it 15 minutes before my meals. I also struggled with consistency.

In our busy household we do not like to make several meals for each of the three main meal times so I am very use to eating whatever the rest of the family eats. In terms of “dieting” I struggle with eating differently and what I’ll say to my children. If I say I am trying to eat healthier, that will leave them questioning if our family meals are truly healthy. 95-99% of our meals are made from scratch, made with mostly organic ingredients etc. With a houseful of growing children, we do eat a lot of carbs. Because of this I really did not experience the weight loss I could or perhaps should have. I do know that when I happened to take the Liquid Amino Diet supplement consistently at least once or twice a day it did seem to curb my appetite. That’s always a good thing, right?

I like the fact there is coaching available with the Liquid Amino Diet, but I only reached out to my “coach” a couple of times and when I did she did have encouraging things to say. I probably should have reached out a lot more, even on a daily basis to take full advantage of a “cheerleading” section. Who doesn’t want to do well when someone is quietly cheering you on in the sidelines?

I think anything is worth a try and for that reason I would say give the Liquid Amino Diet a try but be consistent and keep your calories within that 1500 range and see what happens to the extra weight you so desperately desire to lose. Add a little exercise and I bet you lose a few more pounds than you expected.

Me? I always have high hopes and high aspirations in anything but always seem to fail when it comes to weight loss.

Enter the giveaway below to win your own Liquid Amino Diet:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Yogurt and Blueberries – Wordless Wednesday

Posted by html404 on November 20, 2013
in Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Health, Health and Nutrition, Recipes, Uncategorized, Wordless Wednesday

Yogurt is a yummy, healthy snack. Creating yogurt recipes is pretty easy when you keep it simple and I like simple. One of my favorite snacks is yogurt and blueberries. To spice it up I like to top it with almonds and pecans. I love eating just plain frozen blueberries too.

I was playing around with taking photos of food and took one of my yogurt and blueberries. I thought it turned out decent enough to make into a blog post.

For my yogurt and blueberries snack, all I did is poured vanilla or French vanilla yogurt into a bowl, added frozen or fresh blueberries, topped it with sliced almonds and/or pecans. We do this a lot with any of our favorite fruit. You could do this with plain yogurt too.

We also like to make smoothies….at least until our blender broke. Sniff. Sniff. Still have to figure out which part I need to buy since the last time I purchased the wrong part.

Something we have not made since getting Miss Moo is homemade yogurt. Amazing, eh? Whenever I buy yogurt to have the starter it always gets eaten before we get to it.

Do you eat yogurt? Do you do anything “fancy” with it? Have any yogurt recipes to recommend or do you make homemade yogurt?

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Replacement Sweeteners

Posted by html404 on November 19, 2013
in Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Health, Health and Nutrition, Holidays, Recipes, Reviews, Uncategorized

Did you know many replacement sweeteners are not healthy or even safe for long term use? Did you know that many websites including the Mayo Clinic say that artificial sweeteners are generally safe, even for pregnant women? Personally, we have stayed away from artificial sweeteners. Aspartame always left a weird, icky taste in my mouth and so even before I knew of the dangers of it I never liked it. We also try hard to stay away from High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) as well. We use organic cane sugar, raw honey, molasses and maple syrup for the most part.

I participated in a Twitter party last week for #Switch2Swerve – Swerve Sweetener (granular) – and these are some facts I learned about refined sugar and artificial sweeteners:

1. Artificial sweetener Aspartame is genetically modified, toxic to brain cells and makes you to put it bluntly…fat. (I hate that word!)
2. Americans ingest 200 calories of high fructose corn syrup daily and 130 lbs per year.
3. Some high fructose corn syrup is laced with mercury which is a metal linked to heart disease and autism.
4. Sorbitol & erythritol can have a laxative effective if you consume too much. Family members with diabetes consuming products with artificial sweeteners have have found this to be true, but I don’t know which artificial sweeteners.
5. Someone went to a maple syrup farm, and was told 90% of store maple syrup really has none in it at all!
6. Sucralose (Spenda) is passing through our bodies found in waste water treatment plants. It has potential to harm food supply.
7. 21.4 teaspoons of sugar equals about 16-25% of total caloric intake. Currently only 5% of sugar is recommended.
8. Safe sweeteners include: Swerve, Stevia, xylitol, sorbitol, erythritol, raw honey, blackstrap molasses, & maple syrup
9. It is important to note that naturally occurring sugar in fruits, veggies etc. are all acceptable and should not be avoided.

Dr. Mercola has issues with store bought honey, not raw honey, and agave. He has a great article on sugar substitutes. Discovery Health even has an article on artificial sweeteners. So I won’t go into any more risks of using artificial sweeteners because you can do your own research and find out a ton of information instead of taking my word for it.

Enter Swerve, a product I just learned about and tried recently.

Swerve

I like the fact that Swerve contains no artificial ingredients, preservatives or flavors! It is non-GMO and has no calories. Swerve is non-glycemic and is actually good for your gut by helping you grow beneficial bacteria. You can learn more facts when you visit Swerve Sweetener (granular)

I have only tried Swerve in my tea so far but it tasted good. Not too sweet at all. We received an 8 oz. canister of Swerve Sweetner and I want to try it in one of our holiday recipes to see how it makes dessert taste. Swerve has lots of recipe ideas that look delicious. I am especially looking forward to trying their blueberry muffin, fudge and pumpkin pie recipes.

3 Swerve Sample Packets are available for just $1.00, plus you get a $2.00 coupon for your next order, if you are interested in trying it. Right now they also have a sale going on for aCanister 4pk for $20 + Free Shipping.

For more information on Swerve Sweetener visit them on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest (more recipe ideas).

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Fall Inspired Recipes with Squash

Posted by html404 on November 11, 2013
in All Natural Products, Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Health, Health and Nutrition, Holidays, Home, Organic, Recipes, Shopping, Uncategorized

Thanksgiving is only a little over a couple of weeks away and I have been looking for fall inspired recipes for squash. I found a couple new ones I want to try. To facilitate this post I shopped at Mariano’s for the ingredients for our traditional recipe.

I really enjoy shopping at Mariano’s. I love that they carry a good selection of organic food. The employees make it a pleasant experience. Each time I have gone, one has helped direct me to a faster checkout. It’s very helpful. Mariano’s also has a reward card shoppers can use to earn 1% cash back on every $50 purchased from November 7 thru February 8, 2014. How’s that for a bit of holiday shopping incentive?

For my very simple recipe I purchased four organic squash, but only used two. Organic parsley, organic butter and ground cinnamon.

Those of you who have never cooked a squash, you wash the squash and cut it into halves lengthwise. Then put it face down inside a 9×12 dish.

Once cut, scoop out the seeds and pulp from the ball of the squash.

The squash seeds may be saved, dried and used to plant in your garden next spring (especially if they are organic, non-hybrid seeds!). Or the seeds may be roasted and eaten as a super nutritious snack.

All four halves would not fit in my pan so I wrapped the last half in foil and baked it along side the pan.

After the squash is baked, it is scooped out of it’s skin and put into a bowl.

Then I mash it to make sure all the clumps are pretty much out before adding the butter, cinnamon and parsley. And that’s all there is to it. Very simple, inexpensive and yummy!

Fall Inspired Recipes with Squash

Simple Squash Recipe

Print recipe

Serves	8-10
Prep time	10 minutes
Cook time	1 hour
Total time	1 hour, 10 minutes
Dietary	Diabetic, Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian
Meal type	Side Dish
Misc	Child Friendly, Serve Hot
Occasion	Barbecue, Casual Party, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving
Region	Canadian

This simple squash recipe is a tasty side dish for the holiday season.

Ingredients

2 Organic Butternut Squash
1 sprig Organic Parsely ((I used curly parsley, there is also flat leaf))
1/2-1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
2 tablespoons Organic Butter

Directions

Step 1
Wash squash of in warm water.
Step 2
Cut squash in half lengthwise.
Step 3
Place face down in a 9x12 baking dish. I had an extra so I wrapped it in foil because it would not fit in my pan.
Step 4
Bake at 350 degrees for 45 -60 minutes or until soft when poked with a fork.
Step 5
Spoon out squash into a bowl.
Step 6
Mash out lumps.
Step 7
Add butter and cinnamon. Cinnamon can be to taste with more or less.
Step 8
Sprinkle a little extra cinnamon on top and add a few leaves of parsley for garnish.
Step 9
Enjoy!

Shopping at Mariano’s

You can learn more about Mariano’s and get new ideas on a weekly basis on Mariano’s website. Consider liking #MyMariano’s on Facebook and following them on Twitter.

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Yummy Swap Snack Bars

Posted by html404 on November 7, 2013
in All Natural Products, Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Health, Health and Nutrition, Kids Stuff, Reviews, Uncategorized

As much as our family tries and struggles to eat healthy, we all have a sweet tooth. We like our baked goods and chocolate that’s for sure. Enter…Yummy Swap Snack Bars. Yummy Snacks consist of Peanut Butter Blast and Chocolate Blast Yummy Bars. Seriously, they were yummy. These would make great stocking stuffers for Christmas, snacks for school and home, or even family get togethers.

Everyone loved the Peanut Butter Blast Yummy Bar. It was a chocolate bar with a chewy peanut butter center.

Jr. enjoying his Peanut Butter Blast Yummy Bar.

Everyone but my husband loved the Chocolate Blast Yummy Bar. My husband doesn’t like coconut and the Chocolate Blast has a chocolatey coconut center. I find coconut flavored chocolate very addictive, what about you?

As far as ingredients go, Yummy Snack Bars were created to be used to “swap” out junk food for something healthier. Yummy Swap’s motto is “Dump the Junk” to make the transition from junk food to healthier snacks easier on kids.

Chocolate Blast Ingredients:

Peanut Butter Blast Ingredients may be found here.

Yummy Snack Bars are high in fiber, contain 100mg of Omega 3s, real coconut, cocoa, flax seed and almond butter. They are gluten-free, contain no high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, trans fats, artificial flavors, preservatives or food dyes, which all pass our reading label test.

The only problem we found is the price is more than a chocolate bar, but you get so much more for your health so it’s money well spent in the end.

People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are treated by the health industry, which pays no attention to food.
― Wendell Berry

So…..Yummy Snacks are here to stay at our house!!

Yummy Snacks may be purchased online as single items or as a subscription – get them shipped to your house on a schedule of your choosing! When you buy a subscription you automatically save 10%. You can find Yummy Swap on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on new products.

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Gluten Cutter

Posted by 278Wife on November 4, 2013
in Food and Treats, Health, Health and Nutrition, Products for Dad, Products for Mom, Reviews, Uncategorized

Faith and Family Reviews received the following product in exchange for writing a review. While we consider it a privilege to receive free products to review, our reviews are our honest opinion and thoughts of the product.

Eating healthy is always a challenge for me. Honestly, I love food, especially bread, pasta, and cake! The problem, though, is that my body doesn’t always agree with what I am ingesting. When I go out for a really nice dinner, I always overindulge, and then I always pay for it back home. I get headaches, my stomach bloats, and I just feel uncomfortable. The root of it all comes from the gluten in the food. It is estimated that 70 million Americans have trouble digesting gluten. As a result they experience many discomforts including bloating, nausea, headaches, and fatigue. If only there were a way around this…there is!

Gluten Cutter is a solution for anyone who is trying to reduce or elimate gluten from their diets, but cannot always resist. Gluten Cutter is a proprietary digestive supplement that uses natural enzymes along with peppermint, licorice, and ginger to help digest gluten and other wheat proteins and dairy. The best part is that this dietary supplement is available over-the-counter without a presecription. Gluten Cutter is formulated with GCX50, which is an advanced proprietary blend of natural enzymes and stomach-soothing ingredients that target and break down gluten. It aids in the digestion and enables you to continue enjoying your favorite foods without that “uncomfortable” feeling.

Taking Gluten Cutter is simple. When I know I’m going to indulge in pasta, pizza, or dessert, I simply take 1-2 capsules right before I eat. That’s it! Gluten Cutter does the rest. It is absolutely amazing that I no longer get headaches or feel bloated after a heavy gluten filled meal. It calms my stomach, so I don’t feel uncomfortable. I keep some in my purse so that when I eat out, they are always on hand.

Gluten Cutter is available at Walgreen’s, CVS, and Wal-Mart. It retails for $12.99 for 30 capsules. In my opinion, this is a great price to no longer feel uncomfortable after I’ve indulged a little too much! For more information and a money saving coupon visit their website at:

www.glutencutter.com

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6 Tips to Healthier Eating

Posted by html404 on October 29, 2013
in All Natural Products, Food and Treats, Health, Health and Garden Tuesday, Health and Nutrition, Organic, Recipes, Uncategorized

This is a featured post.

I was recently in a discussion with some other moms about how to start eat healthier. It made me think back to when we began to revamp our eating habits. It became a blog post idea so I thought I share some of the ways we changed our diet when we started to read labels and take a closer look into our pantry and refrigerator.

6 Tips to Healthier Eating

1. Read food labels. I cannot tell you how important this is. Reading labels will change your food buying habits. Learn what ingredients are bad and what ingredients are good for you to ingest.

2. Eliminate food dyes and artificial flavors from your diet. Dyes and artificial flavors are in a lot of things. So read labels and refuse to buy any food with these dyes and artificial flavors. It won’t be easy, but it will be worth it. We noticed a huge difference in how our children acted after we eliminated these from our diet.

People are fed by the FOOD industry, which pays no attention to health….And are treated by the health industry, which pays no attention to FOOD.

~ Wendell Berry

3. Buy as much organic as your budget will allow. There is a meme out there about organic food. It went something like this, “Think organic food is expensive? Have you priced cancer lately?” Pretty much says it all. Cancer is rather rampant. Organic food is usually non-GMO (Genetically Modified Organism), if labeled Non-GMO. Organic food also has a lot less pesticides and insecticides used on it. Organic food can be bought in most grocery stores now. Start with a couple of products and slowly increase it over time so the slight increase is only noticeable over time.

4. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Shopping the perimeter of a grocery store generally means buying more fruit, vegetables, dairy, juice, eggs and meat. It reduces the amount of packaged convenience food you buy.

5. Substitute junk food with healthy snacks. We rarely buy potato chips any more. We buy organic tortilla chips or make popcorn on top of our stove. You can also eat your favorite veggies and fruit in place of your favorite junk food.

6. Reduce and eliminate your soda pop intake. Start drinking water. You can add lemon or lime for flavor. Have a glass or 100% juice with your breakfast. Soda pop offers no nutritional value and causes weight gain when used in excess.

There are many other tips I could share but these seemed like the easiest to start with. For recipes to aid you in your healthier eating journey visit apple crisp recipe and this blueberry muffin recipe appeals to my sweet tooth and love of blueberries!

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« Older Entries Recent Entries »

Archive for Health and Nutrition

Swerve Sweetener 10% Discount Coupon – Thrifty Thursday

Share and Enjoy

Get Healthy with Insync Probiotic #NaturalProbiotic #shop #cbias

Insync Probiotic

Four Things to Stay Healthy

Share and Enjoy

MinuteClinic at select CVS Pharmacy Stores

Share and Enjoy

Liquid Amino Diet Part 2 and Giveaway

What is the Liquid Amino Diet?

Liquid Amino Diet Review and Giveaway

Share and Enjoy

Yogurt and Blueberries – Wordless Wednesday

Share and Enjoy

Replacement Sweeteners

Share and Enjoy

Fall Inspired Recipes with Squash

Fall Inspired Recipes with Squash

Simple Squash Recipe

Ingredients

Directions

Shopping at Mariano’s

Share and Enjoy

Yummy Swap Snack Bars

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Gluten Cutter

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6 Tips to Healthier Eating

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