Sunday Singing

Okay, you are probably beginning to notice a theme here. On Sunday's I enjoy listening to gospel music (I am a non-denominational minister), and I enjoy sharing this with my audience. If you do not wish to listen to it, that is fine. Simply do not click on the YouTube link below to watch and listen.

Let's all head down the lane to the little church in the woods to hear some Sunday Singing. I've saved a seat for you beside me in the pew! Let's set a spell and enjoy the purty singing!

The Pink Fork

The Pink Fork 

I'd like to introduce you to a wonderful blog I discovered while scouring through Pinterest.com The Pink Fork. (The title above is a link to the web site, so just click on it to go there.

But before you go, I'd like to direct you to a web page there that may help those of you who may have elevated blood pressure readings (also known as 'high blood pressure', or 'hypertension'). The writer of The Pink Fork (whom I was unable to uncover the name of) has written a good, informative article on hypertension and foods that can assist you in controlling this problem which is so prevalent in our country. Here's the link to the article:

https://thepinkfork.com/high-blood-pressure-eat-these-11-foods-to-lower-it/#pic4   

You can thank me later!

How to Check Your Feet if You Are Diabetic

    Are you diabetic? Either using insulin, taking an oral medication, or controlling it with diet? If so, then you should be performing at least weekly foot checks, if not more.

    Foot problems for a diabetic can be a death sentence. Literally. Which is why you should take good care of your feet if you are diabetic.

    If you are diabetic you are prone to circulatory problems which means that fluid doesn't return from the feet as it should, back through the circulatory system. This includes regular body fluids, as well as blood. When this happens, you might notice fluid pooling in the feet, ankles or lower legs. This is called edema.

    With this poor circulation, if you develop a problem with your feet you could have serious, and as I said, even life threatening, consequences. So, let's go over your feet so that you will understand what you need to do to check them thoroughly.

    First, let's remove your socks and shoes. What? You're not wearing shoes? What about slippers? Those either? No? Okay, let's get one thing straight here, as a diabetic, except when you are either sitting with your legs/feet elevated, or are in bed for the night, you should have some form of foot protection on your feet. A bump against a table leg, a rocker, or the baseboard even, can cause serious injury! So, next time i ask you to check your feet, let's make sure you have to take shoes off first, okay?

    Make sure you are sitting in a place comfortable where you can check your feet. If, for some reason, you can't reach your feet, then get a partner, your spouse, a child, a neighbor, or friend, to check them for you.

    Comfortable? Okay, let's take your left foot first. I want you to run your hands over the top, around the ankle, around the heel, across the sole, and in between each toe. Be sure to check for open, cracked or split skin. Check for heavy callouses, bunions, or corns. Next, look at well hydrated they are. Are they very dry and flaky? Or soft and moist (not wet, but the skin is not overly dry or flaky). Next take a look at your toe nails. Are they in need of being cut? Do you have any ingrown nails?

    If you are diabetic, and you answered yes to any of the anomalies above, you should probably get your feet looked at by a podiatrist so that they can get you on a regular foot check up every few months.

    If your feet are dry, but have no open areas, you can use a good moisturizing lotion. I personally like Vaseline Intensive Care Lotion. It will put the moisture back into your feet and legs without leaving you feeling greasy. And it actually works!

    If you have callouses, bunions, or corns, please do NOT try to treat these yourself! Please make an appointment with a podiatrist (again, this message is for diabetics). Only your podiatrist should ever treat these problems.

    If you do not have ingrown nails, you are safe to trim your own nails, if you have a steady hand and do not nick the skin. If you do not have a steady hand, then seek out a podiatrist to trim your nails. If you can cut your nails yourself, do soak them in warm water for about 15 minutes prior to cutting them. This will soften the nail and make it easier to trim without difficulty.

   If you have ingrown nails, do NOT attempt to remove these yourself! If you are diabetic, you can cause an infection that could literally result in losing your toe, your foot, and in some cases an entire leg, or take your life! (Believe me, in my 30-years as a nurse, I have seen this on more than one occasion!)

    If you have no problems, but want to keep your feet soft and comfortable, apply lotion nightly and apply white, loose fitting socks before bed and sleep with them on. This is a wonderful way to moisturize your feet, and repeatedly doing this will keep them in good shape.

    I hope this helps you as you go through your life with diabetes, and having good foot health!

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Thirsty?

    Do you ever have excessive thirst? Where you simply cannot get enough to drink? And only water seems to actually quench it?

    This is a natural reaction when you are dehydrated. But, you say, you are always drinking something! How can you possibly be dehydrated?

    Not all drinks are actually hydrating to the body. Depending upon the drink, you may actually be contributing to your dehydration with the drink itself! Especially when caffeine is in the drink you are consuming!

    So, what is the best drink for curing dehydration? Plain and simple, it is water! Yep, plain old water!

    I stopped recommending tap water to everyone years ago. There are so many additives to the water coming from your tap simply to get sanitary enough to government standards for you to drink. And believe me, if you realized what chemicals are added to your public water, you would not trust it! And if you have well water, unless you live in a very, very rural area, and are certain nothing is being leeched into your well water, then I would not trust even that.

    I highly recommend distilled water for drinking. Yes, I know, that's not what you get in the store for drinking. But it is the cleanest form of water you can purchase today. It has no additives. Which is why it's the only thing safe for appliances. (Duh.... if bottled water isn't safe enough for your appliances, what makes you think it's okay for you???) Yeah, take a look at the label on your bottled water, and just see how much is added to it! Take a look, and you're even likely to see "flavoring". Since when did water need to be flavored? Especially when you don't taste any flavoring? It's to cover up the taste of the other things that are added to it!

    Want to make distilled water more palatable? Add lemon, lime, or kiwi slices. You can add fruit pieces. You can even add mint leaves, or cucumber slices! All of these will give the water a bit more of a palatable taste. Not quite as bland as just the distilled water alone.

    You should drink about 60-ounces of water daily. Limit your coffee intake to one or two cups daily. Cut out sodas, even diet sodas (these are killers!). Teas are okay, so long as you drink them plain (without sugar, which is highly addictive) if you can. I realize not everyone can drink plain tea, but at least try. Green tea is best for you, but I realize some people are not going to give up their plain old black tea for that good ol' southern sweet tea!

    When you get at least 60-ounces of water daily, you will find less arthritis pain (joints will lubricate naturally); less skin eruptions or dandruff; clearer mind; and sweeter breath (yes, when you are dehydrated, your breath becomes atrocious! Phew!).

    Okay, so let's all raise our glass of mint water and toast to each others best health!

Wordless Wednesday

Each Wednesday, I will post a photo from my travels, both here and abroad.

Trimming Those Winter Utility Bills

 

    Boy, we all begin to dread this time of year, don't we? The high cost of heating, especially in cold climates, can be devastating to many! So how do we even begin to save money on our utility bills?

    Well, here's just a couple of ways I have found that helps us to save a bit of money. Of course, what I save, may differ from what you do, depending upon utility companies and regional weather. But doing these things can only help.

    Because i work full time, and spend many long hours on the highway, I do splurge and always use my clothes dryer, where many others don't. So, you have to make that call. Is the added cost of using your clothes dryer worth it to you or not? Weigh it out for yourself.

    You can cut the cost of your water bill by either installing a low flow toilet, or simply adding 2 bottles (bottle and all) of water to your toilet tank. This will keep your water flow low, and will help cut your flushes down by as much as 2 gallons a flush, depending on the type of toilet you have. Also, check your spigots for any leaks or drips. Winterize your water pipes if you live in cold climates to prevent water lines from freezing, and having to repair burst pipes!

    You can cut your electric bill by turning off lights not in use, and unplugging small appliances when not in use. Now, I have to tell you, our computers and coffee pot are never unplugged. Because of the job I do, and the work my husband does, our computers have to be ready at a moment's notice. And the coffee pot, well, although it's only used once a day, there's been many a morning we spent waiting for the coffee to be ready before we decided that we'd leave that one appliance always plugged in (pure silliness, I know).  You can also cut your water heater to a lower temperature. Just 10-degrees can save as much as $12 a month in savings. Also, I wash all of my clothes, except for whites, in cold water. They get just as clean, and save us a ton of money by not using the hot water! I do use it for whites, as I work in the public, and my white blouses and white garments need to be spotless white. Whether you heat your home with gas or electric, you can save a lot of money simply by turning back your furnace's thermostat. Ours is set on 68 and simply left there. Sometimes it's a bit cool during the day, but 68 and under the blankets at night means we sleep like babies. During the day, we simply make sure we are wearing winter socks, and a warm sweater. Doing this one simple change saved us from a winter heating bill of $400 to a bill of only $150. So, yeah, a little cooler house is worth it for us! Winterize your windows if you have an older home with old windows that aren't double or triple thick for insulation. Use draft blockers if you have any drafts around door facings or window facings. Close off heating vents in rooms you aren't using, and shut the doors. Use a draft blocker at these doors to keep the cooler air in those rooms.

    Want to save on your phone bill? Cut the land line if you have a reliable cell phone. We did this a couple years ago, and I've never regretted it. Frontier charged us $80 a month for our phone. I have two cell phones, one for me, and one for hubby, with unlimited talk, text and data for $60 a month (taxes included). (I use Consumer Cellular.) Since I have to have a cell phone for work, it just made sense for us. iPhones were purchased from Amazon.com. We bought the next to last released model. Not the latest. This saved us several hundred of dollars.

    We had our cable turned off. Purchased a Roku device for a one time charge from Amazon.com. We have thousands of channels (yeah, literally thousands!), and while there are channels that require subscription to watch, we haven't needed to purchase any yet. There is ALWAYS something to watch for free! Love it!

    Winterize your car. Make sure you have good snow tires on it if you live in northern clime. Never purchase cheap tires. This is your life we're talking about here! Literally, you are trusting your life to those tires! So spend accordingly.

    I hope this has given you a few ideas about how to cut some of your utility bills this winter. Not everything here may work for you, but there should be some ways listed that will!

    Now, get out there and get your home ready! Winter is on its way!

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Being a Vegan

 

    Before you completely walk away, and say "No, not me!", just take a moment to hear me out. I am NOT going to try to talk you into becoming a vegan. That's a personal decision for each person, I simply want to tell you may story. And, just maybe, it might actually help someone.

    For many years, I was a carnivore. Literally. I HAD to have meat! Every single meal! I loved my hamburger meat, chicken, turkey, steaks, bacon, fish, you name it, if it was flesh, I was eating it! 

    Then, as I began to get a little age on me, at about the age of 47-48, I began to notice some digestion problems. Especially with pork and red meats. I would eat, and then it felt like something was laying in my belly for DAYS. I ended up having to take Epsom Salts as a laxative to expel "it". And what we found out "it" was, was undigested meats! 

  Of course, my doctor wanted to do tests to find out what was going on that I wasn't breaking down meats. However, like many Americans, I did not have medical insurance. And scoping ones abdomen can be quite (interpret that as pricey) economically unfeasible. So, for years I would limit how much meat I ate. I stuck to fish and poultry exclusively, as they "hurt me" the least. But, hurt me, they still did. I was getting on a revolving door of laxatives after eating any meats. Now, in case you don't know this, using laxatives too often can cause what is called paralytic bowel, or dependent bowel, syndrome. That's just a fancy way of saying that you can't have a bowel movement without using a laxative. And, let's face it, who wants to live like that?

    In 2005, I had a bad experience while at a beef slaughterhouse. I saw first hand how a national beef company handled the cattle headed into the slaughter. I was very upset over the atrocities I saw. (At the time, my husband was driving a big 18-wheeler for a transport company, and I was traveling with him for a year, which is why I was in the slaughterhouse.) It left me appalled. And mentally changed. (Look, I was raised as a teenager in the country, and I never saw animals so abused! I never had a problem with slaughtering animals for the table and in fact, I have done my fair share of butchering hogs, chickens, rabbits, and deer, so don't judge me!)

    Company my experience in the slaughterhouse, with my stomach problem, and well, you can begin to see why becoming vegan wasn't a difficult decision for me to make. 

    I chose to become vegan for my own health. Not eating enough protein was leaving me tired, depressed, and with a whole slew of problems that I'd never encountered before. All of which the doctors I saw informed me could be cured with tests, surgeries, or adding this or that medication to my regimen.

    One day I read an awesome book about veganism, by a Christian writer. And I was forever changed. While I had seriously considered the idea, I was not ready to become a vegan until I actually read this book. (I won't list it now, but I can share this if you want. So, just let me know, if you'd like to read it. I'm not being silly and trying to hide the title of the book, I'm simply not where I can get to the book as I write this, to reference the complete book title and the author's name, etc.)

    I told my husband I wanted to go vegan. He wasn't too enthused, thinking that I meant he would also have to eat the same way I did. (He's another carnivore, LOL.) Once I assured him I wouldn't try to change his eating habits, he was all for me doing whatever would make me feel better.

    I literally became a vegan overnight. No wading in as a vegetarian first, to see if I wanted to do it. No trial first. I simply stepped off that cliff in a leap of faith, believing someone would see me and catch me if I fell.

    But the amazing thing was that I didn't fall! It was the most natural transition to me! I never missed the meat. I never missed the dairy. None of that!

    In one month, I went from having to take 4 different diabetic tablets a day, to taking none. Yes, you read that right. Because, you see, I not only became vegan, but I gave up all processed foods. Including sugar. (I only use absolutely natural ingredients for sweeteners, fruits, pure maple syrup, or pure agave syrup.) I found that by eating fresh fruits, my sweet tooth was naturally satiated.

    By making sure I get a minimum of 60gm of protein a day, I never crave meats. Never. I get my protein through beans, legumes, nuts, nut butters, etc. Because I am also trying to lose weight, I drink a plant based meal replacement drink for my lunches that has 20gm of protein per serving, with no artificial ingredients. No, it doesn't taste very nice, and I simply mix it with water, when I could mix it with fruit juice, or coconut or rice milk. Instead, I opt to drink it as the container suggests, made simply with water, to keep from adding anything to it's all natural base. (I simply shake it up, and drink it down fast, reaching for my water immediately afterward!) Some people may find that a bit hard to do, it just all depends on the individual. 

    My meals are always thought out ahead of time. And sometimes even cooked ahead of time, since I work from home and travel great distances during my work week.  (I am an insurance Nurse/Social Worker.)

    So, some examples of my meals might be:

      BREAKFAST(S): steel cut oats with blueberries, sprinkled with 1/4 cup of walnuts or almonds; fried potato and onion with beans (fried in coconut oil); pancakes with maple syrup sprinkled with nuts (pancakes are made with almond meal and I use ground flax of chia seeds instead of eggs - there's a method to using them).

      LUNCH(ES): protein meal supplement mixed with water; homemade hummus and lettuce roll ups; homemade fruit roll ups with walnuts (my lunches are usually eaten while driving down the road, so they have to be pretty portable!)

      DINNER(S): Texicanwife's Vegan Chili (my internet persona is "Texicanwife"), this consists of black beans, kidney beans, chickpeas, diced tomatoes, onions, homemade tomato sauce, chili powder, paprika and cumin (cumin and paprika give it that distinct Mexican flavor) - this is a meal that cooks all day in the slow cooker, and is absolutely to die for! Pinto beans and cornbread (my cornbread is made with pure stone ground cornmeal, which I purchase locally,  and again I use either ground chia or flax seed for egg substitute, milk is either plain coconut or rice milk, and I add baking powder for leavening, if I'm craving southern cornbread, I add just a touch of agave syrup to give it that little twist of sweet.) I also love to make roasted cabbage and sweet potato with onion in the oven (I'll eat either some hummus spread on it, have a couple tablespoons of peanut butter later on.)

    My peanut butter is an all-natural peanut butter that contains only 2 ingredients: peanuts and salt.

    I do not eat breads. However, if I'm feeling a bit peckish for bread, I will make some homemade corn tortillas, using stone ground cornmeal and coconut oil.  These are good warm or cold, and you can add a variety of things to them. You can even use them to make a complete meal if you make them into tacos (meatless of course!)

    I only use coconut oil (solid) or olive oil for cooking and frying. Both work very well. While the EVOO may add a it of a taste to some things, I have never had the coconut oil add any flavoring to foods. You must use caution when cooking with these, as they have low smoking points.  But then, I don't use a lot of high heat.

    I eat only fresh fruits or vegetables. No canned or frozen. And you are probably asking, "How do you afford that?" Well, since my hubby doesn't eat the same way, and it is only he and I, I am only purchasing for two people. And when I am forced to make a large recipe just for myself, I break it down into portions, and freeze meals separately. These are great when I come home from a long day on the road, and don't feel like cooking!

    And, no, I don't use butter or eggs or milk. I don't eat cheese. I used to eat a lot of soy products, until all the hype about soy products began to be leaked out. So, I've stopped that for a while until I can do my own research on soy products.

    So, enough about my food. Let me tell you what changes have come from eating this way! This is where it gets good! 

    I went from having to take 3 different blood pressure medications twice daily, to only one pill a day. Yes! I went from walking with a cane due to bone problems and fibromyalgia,  to no pain. And no cane! I went from intense stomach pains and constipation to no stomach pains, and I am never constipated. I went from little to no energy, to a ton of energy! My husband cannot keep up with me! Whenever we go out, he is always telling me to slow down so that he can catch up!

    And because of the energy, my mind is clearer than ever, and I can work much more efficiently than I was before!

    My blood sugar went from 160 (with medication) to staying in the mid to low 80's, with no medication! My A1c went from 7.9 to 3.4. My cholesterol went from requiring medication to the lower end of the normal scale, which means no more cholesterol medication!

    As you can tell, I am a woman changed! Literally!

    What I did may not be for everyone, but I want to get my story out there to you, so that you can see what it can do. It doesn't mean that becoming a vegan will cure all of your problems. But if you could have just the chance of less muscle or joint pain, or of lowering your blood sugar, or lowering your cholesterol, or your blood pressure, wouldn't you take it?

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Sunday Singing

Let's all head down the lane to the little church in the woods. I've got you a seat saved on the pew right next to me! There's some special singing planned, so be sure to stop by and set a spell and enjoy this old time church singing with me!