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Children, Exercise, Family, Healthy Living, Journaling, Mindfulness, Nutrition, Parenting Tips, self-care
How to Create Self-Care for Kids
Self-care has been a trending topic for a few years now, but most of the focus is on adults. For good reason, since as a parent, you probably get very little time to yourself. But what about kids? They also have stressful, challenging young lives, and need a little self-care focus as well. And now, with the changes in everyone’s situations and the HUGE changes in their school attendance — no school, hybrid school, or face-to-face with social distancing — this is an additional stressor for our kids. What can we do to help? Help them start a self-care routine for themselves. Self-care is not just for adults anymore! Limit…
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8 Techniques for Stress Relief
During a crisis, it’s common for stress levels to dramatically increase. The trouble is excess levels of stress can lead to emotional distress. It can have an impact on every aspect of your life and in extreme cases, cause issues with your physical health. If you’re looking to heal after a crisis, it’s important to find ways to reduce your levels of stress. Here, we’ll look at 5 techniques you can use to relieve stress to achieve better emotional stability. 1. Practice regular meditation Meditation is one of the most effective stress-busting techniques you can use. However, it’s not always easy to get into. You will need to practice meditating…
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How Kids and Teens Can Start Journaling
Once you understand the benefits of journaling for kids and teens, it is time to figure out how to actually introduce it and add it to their routine. Luckily, this is the easy part! Here are some simple ways to get your kids and teens to start writing in a journal. Get Them Supplies They LOVE to Use To start with – the supplies you get for journaling is an important decision to make! Try to involve them in buying the journal, writing utensils, and other supplies. The supplies are probably going to be a little different depending on the age of your kids. For the younger kids, lots of…
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Spicy Black Bean Taco Wraps with Fresh Guacamole
Grab the chips! It’s National Guacamole Day! Or in this class, put the guac on your Spicy Black Bean Taco Wraps! These vegetarian spicy black bean taco wraps are perfect for Meatless Mondays or anytime you want to get a meatless meal on the table in around 20 minutes. There is also a mango salsa that is mentioned in the recipe. That recipe is included below! This mango salsa goes really well with this recipe but it tastes pretty good on chips or alone! Let me know how you like these recipes in the comments!
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Dutch Oven Chicken & Rice with Spicy Peanut Sauce
Happy Sunday! I hope you are having a nice relaxing day. Keeping with my documentation of national days and recipes that go along with them — today is National Peanut Day. This recipe contains peanut butter (allergy warning!) made into a creamy spicy sauce. I really started cooking later in life, so I have been learning about kitchen instruments and other cooking information as I go. I have bought many kitchen appliances and cooking pots and pans because I want to be prepared. Some I haven’t really needed. But that is not the case for my Dutch Oven. I love my Dutch Oven. This recipe uses a Dutch Oven. I…
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5 Strategies for Overcoming Negative Feelings
Negativity. Everybody experiences negative feelings in their lifetime. Whether you are prone to negative thinking, or you’re suffering negative thoughts after a crisis, it’s crucial to learn how to deal with them effectively. The sooner you control those negative thoughts, the less impact they’ll have on your life. If you’re struggling to let go of negative thinking, below you’ll discover some simple strategies you can try. Address your Feelings The first step to overcoming negative feelings is to address them. It’s tempting to bottle up negative emotions, hoping they’ll simply subside on their own. However, this very rarely happens. In fact, bottling up negative emotions can cause them to worsen.…
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4 Reasons that Journaling is Good for Teens
Last week, I posted about Journaling for Kids. This week, we will look at journaling for teens. There are many ways journaling can help someone, from finding clarity to expressing your emotions, but there are some unique advantages for pre-teens and teenagers. Here are some of the top benefits for teens who start using a journal on a daily basis. It Improves Their Self-Esteem and Confidence If there is one thing that most teens universally struggle with, it is their self-esteem. This sometimes start when they are younger, but typically starts around ages 12 or 13. Through journaling, they discover so much about themselves, including what might be causing the…
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One Year Ago and Some Spicy Turkey Stuffed Mushrooms
One year ago today, I published my first post on this blog. My Scars Tell the Story A lot has happened in the past year. Published a lot of posts. Attempted to homeschool my daughter (like we all did and are doing). I celebrated 2 years of my kidney transplant and my son graduated from high school and has gone off to college. My father — who was living with us — passed away. All while I have essentially locked myself down. I venture out some for errands that I can have delivered or that I need to attend in person. I did get to take my son to college…
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Portobello and Sage-Stuffed Acorn Squash
Hi! Today is National Acorn Squash Day. As a kid, I had no idea there were so many different types of squash! This recipe — Portobello and Sage-Stuffed Acorn Squash — is one that you can enjoy as the weather gets cool (in some places) as we head into fall. This protein-packed stuffed acorn squash provides a healthy and tasty alternative to traditional holiday side dishes. Crisp pancetta, rich Portobello mushrooms, sweet dates, and aromatic sage bring fabulous, yet diverse, flavor to every bite. As an added bonus, the lentils and walnuts make it more filling, so maybe you’ll be able to stop at just one piece of pumpkin pie…
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Nutrition for Healthy Eyes
Truth: Worsening eyesight is inevitable and a result of the natural aging process. Another truth: Diet and nutrition can play a key role in eye health and slow down vision deterioration. As a kid many of us were told to drink our milk for strong bones and teeth. Our parents begged us to eat spinach claiming it would make us strong. We were also urged to eat our carrots for healthy eyes. The funny thing is, these are all actually true and not just a sly way to encourage a healthy diet. Our eyes have a very important job for their size, and it would be wise for us to…
