If you want to live a HEALTHY, BALANCED, and VIBRANT LIFE, you gotta take time to REST!!!

That was the take-home message of last week’s blog.  

So, I hope, every now and again, you have been taking  time for yourself to rest!

I have been, too.

Naturally, I’ve also been doing all I can to knit my knee cap back together again – while keeping all my other 205 bones healthy, strong, flexible . . . and fracture-free.

This week, I share with you 7 BONE-BUILDING AGENTS which I have been using (some of which you might never have guessed!)

You don’t need to break a bone before you can try these for yourself.

But first. . . A NOT-SO-FUN FACT

In the five to seven years following menopause, women can lose up to 20% of their bone density.  Yikes!

Even if this doesn’t apply to you, know that after the age of 30, the rate of bone breakdown exceeds that of bone repair and bone building.

Diet and lifestyle can negatively affect bone health. ...

There’s a reason for everything.  They say.

Mind you, if there IS a reason for my freak accident four weeks ago – and its resulting fractured knee cap – that reason has not yet been revealed to me.  I was just walking out of a CHURCH!!!… for Christ’s sake.  Literally.  Not swearing. ;-)

Nonetheless, THAT is the reason you haven’t heard from me all these weeks.  But, in the words of Willie Nelson, you were always on my mind…

In fact, this business of lying in bed with my leg in a splint and strict orders to keep weight off it for six weeks (two more to go!) has afforded me a LOT of time to think about a LOT of things.

At least a dozen people had suggested that this period of convalescence might be the perfect time to gain headway with the writing of my book.

I thought so, too.  At first.

Then I found something even better to do with my time.  That “something” is – NOTHING!

It’s...

Ugh.  It happens.  Maybe it has even happened to you – and IT SURE AIN’T PRETTY!

“IT” being (ominous drum roll – Da-Da-Da-DUM!). . . DAMAGE to our PRECIOUS SKIN as a result of SUN EXPOSURE.

Thinning skin …   Loose wrinkled skin…  Uneven pigmentation…  Dark spots…   And, at the extreme end of the spectrum, the much-feared skin cancer.

If you’re under the age of thirty, it’s possible that you have absolutely no clue of what I’m talking about.  (Lucky you!)

But the more sunny summers my skin sees, the more I feel a need to get serious about preventing, stopping, and reversing the sun’s attempts to sabotage my efforts of having the skin of my dreams.

Are you too ready to "get serious" about the health of your skin?   Want to make this the summer you turn it all around?  You can!

It all begins with diet.  These 5 foods will get you started:

...

Who doesn't love a new salad recipe?  This one is quick and easy to throw together and beautiful to look at. (Dang, should have take a photo!) It is loaded with so many deliciously healthful ingredients.  Serve it up on a hot summer day on a bed of greens and with a side of quinoa and you've got dinner.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 avocado
• 1/2 fresh lemon
• 1 can chickpeas, drained (19 oz)
• 1/4 cup sliced red onion
• 2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 cups diced cucumber
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 3/4 cup diced green bell pepper

DRESSING

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Cut avocado into cubes and place in bowl.  Squeeze the juice of half a fresh organic lemon all over the avocado and gently toss to combine.

2.  Add remaining salad ingredients and dressing.  Gently toss once more.

3.  Refrigerate at least one hour before serving to allow flavors to blend.

Did you know that this Sunday, April 22, is Earth Day?

What will you be doing to celebrate and honor the planet that has been your home since birth?  (Unless, of course, you’re an alien.  In that case… WELCOME!  LOL.)

The Earth Day Network has dedicated Earth Day 2018 “to providing the information and inspiration needed to fundamentally change human attitude and behavior about plastics.” 

This is a worthy endeavor, in my opinion. 

I know that even though I’ve made efforts to reduce plastic exposure and use over the past few years, I still need to change my own attitude and behavior about plastics. 

Making some changes have been easy:

• I shed no tears when I replaced my plastic kitchen items with glass, steel, wood, and wicker…
• A friend gifted me with a four-pack of steel straws years ago, and my lips haven’t touched a plastic straw since...
• I love taking my Kleen Kanteen water bottle with me when I leave the...

I really don't know what took me so long...   I had snagged this recipe out of a friend's cookbook years ago, but only recently did I get around to trying it out.  What was I waiting for, I now ask myself.

It's WONDERFUL!  Comfort food at its best.   AND loaded with anti-cancer ingredients (onion, carrot, cauliflower, legumes, and curry powder.) 

Don't wait as long as I did to discover this little culinary treasure!  Try it for yourself.  Soon. 

 2 teaspoons organic, raw, unrefined coconut oil

1 yellow onion, minced

1 carrot, thinly sliced

1 small head cauliflower, chopped into florets (about 3 cups)

1 cup low-sodium vegetable broth

2 tablespoons curry powder, or to taste

1 1/2 cups cooked or 1 can (15 ounces, or 428 g) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 can (13 1/2 ounces, or 400 ml) organic coconut milk

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the onion and...

A couple of weeks ago, I sang the praises of chia seed, and offered some suggestions on how to use it to whip up a tasty, nutritious breakfast pudding.  (I hope you've tried it.)

Since then, I discovered that chia isn't just breakfast food.  With a few modifications and embellishments, a simple "breakfast pudding" can be transformed into a sexy Valentine's Day dessert!

Enter:    CHOCOLATE LACED STRAWBERRY CHIA PUDDING

INGREDIENTS

• 13 oz can classic coconut milk, full fat or light.  This makes a seriously rich, creamy and decadent dessert.  Substitute with other non-dairy milk for a lighter version.
  
• 1 cup strawberries, divided
• Natural sweetener to taste - maple syrup, honey, or stevia.  Optional, of course, but it does make the dessert more, well, dessert-y.  I used 1 Tablespoon of organic maple syrup.
  
• 6 Tablespoons chia seeds
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons chocolate chips or some version of dark chocolate.  Choose responsibly...

If you are over the age of fifty, chances are that your physician has recommended that you take a "baby" aspirin as a preventative measure for heart disease.

Well, ahem... Since February IS, after all, "Heart Month" ... and Valentine's Day IS around the corner,  allow me to weigh in on this topic....

Aspirin, in some ways, is a "miracle drug".   It works by blocking the production of hormone-like substances called prostaglandins, which regulate every cell in the body in many of their complex interactions. 

Some of these prostaglandins (i.e. "bad" prostaglandins) play a role in inflammation and heart disease.  They can make your blood more likely to aggregate (clump together) and set you up for heart attack or stroke. 

Nobody wants that.

So, aspirin works its magic by blocking these bad prostaglandins.  Fair enough.

^{However, while solving certain problems, aspirin creates others.  Especially when used over the long term:}

• It suppresses the...

Have you ever eaten chia seeds?

I was wandering through a Mall Food Court the other day when I noticed that Booster Juice now carries Chia Seed Pudding on their menu -- YAY!!!  I always get excited when I find food that is:

1. Dairy-free
2. Wheat-free
3. High in fiber and healthy omega-3 fats

AND... (last but not least)

4. Tasty!

This Chia Seed Pudding met all four criteria.  In fact, it inspired me to go home and make some myself.  Guess what I had for breakfast this morning.  ;-)

If you've never made this delightful, tapioca-like pudding for yourself, why not give it a try?

Known as "the running food", chia's use as a high energy endurance food has been recorded as far back as the ancient Aztecs.  And it is the perfect food for when you, too, are "on the run".  This pudding takes but a minute to whisk together. 

If you google "Chia Pudding", you'll find that there are a gazillion recipes out there.  So, let me make things simpler for you...

The...

Are you eating enough protein?

Even more importantly, are you eating enough good quality fats and oils with your protein?

 If you're struggling with cancer or other degenerative disease....or even if you're healthy and want to stay that way, you'll want to make sure that you are getting enough!

WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED FROM STARVING DOGS

Get this:  A researcher by the name of Lebedow showed that if starving dogs are given either protein or fat alone, they die even faster than if they received no food at all!  However, if they received good protein and good fat together, they recovered quickly from starvation.

This research took place way back in 1880.  But numerous scientists over the last 138 years have confirmed that this tidbit of information is just as relevant to us humans today as it was to those starving dogs, way back then.

Good protein + Good oils =

• Liver detoxification
• Increased cellular oxygen
• Inactivation of toxic estrogen metabolites
• Decreased tumor...