Eat, Drink & Be Merry

Good morning folks. Gosh it is so good to have Dear Hubby back home. Healthy and on the mend. You should see him, his color is good and he can breath again. Makes me smile so much. So I thought today I would share with you so many ways to help take good care of yourself.  I have quite a line up of goodies that are able to help out in so many ways.  I hope you find something here you like.  I know we did.

So let's get started.  First I will tell you (and you already know it) we have to hydrate.  Water is the most important drink we can consume.  And there are tons of them on the market now.  Gosh, if you had told me as a kid that we would pay for water I would have said you was nuts.  I mean buy a soda, sure!  Buy bottled water, NO WAY!  But we do.  I can understand why even.  Have you ever tasted the water where I live?  Unlimited lake water and sure taste just like it.  YUCK!  But I do not need the extras either.  I mean flavor yes, sugar no, caffeine no.  I love the taste of HINT water.  You can get it at Starbucks around here.  They have great fruit flavors with my favorite being Strawberry Kiwi.  It is funny because right now that is the Yogi bottle.  You know, Yogi and Boo-Boo!  Loved that cartoon when I was young.  There is a new 3 D movie coming out for Yogi on December 13th and you can win free tickets from HINT.  Just go to www.drinkhint.com/yogi.

Speaking of no added caffeine there is a new energy drink on the horizon too.  College Girl loves it chilled and has been carrying it to campus with her.  MODJO 4LIFE is made with natural flavors and organic cane juice.  It also has Resveratrol in it which comes from the skin of red grapes....good for your heart folks.  Add in the antioxidants, electrolytes and vitamins and you have a winning combination.  CG says the flavor is great and she seems to be thriving on it during this busy season of plays, class work and projects she is currently working on.  There is also a Modjo Life Natural Energy shot that is caffeine free.  CG says it works but does not care for the heavy taste.  Of course she is not a energy shot kinda girl.  She thought it would have been better if she had it chilled too.

I was happy to have some snacks while I was waiting in the hospital for Dear Hubby.  I felt worried and drained.   I did not have much of an appetite but knew I needed to keep up my energy too.  Thankfully I had some of the bars from Wings of Nature.  They are organic health bars that are not heated when being made.  So none of the ingredients loose their raw potential.  I also love that they were gluten free, cholesterol free, no trans fats, vegetarian and low in sodium.  Gosh, I did wonder if they were so "free" of  things how would they taste?  But I do have to say I loved two of them very much.  Of course if you know me you would know that the Espresso Coffee Bar had my name all over it.  Great flavor and a true feeling of indulgence when I ate it.  My other fav was the Cranberry Crunch Bar.  I love cranberries and we all know this is the season for them.  I was not as thrilled with the Almond Raisin Bar even though I love almonds and raisins.  But the lil sesame seeds where not to my taste.

One more thing that I really loved using while I was away from home.  It is the Bryton Pick.  This is a great lil jewel.  It is a way to floss your teeth but not have all that string to carry with you.  This took up the same amount of space as my debit card does in my wallet.  But I can pull it out and floss (I did go to the bathroom to do it!) after my meals and snacks.  I was not having to feel bad about not being able to take care of my teeth while I was away from home.  And since it is my own lil pick, I just rinse it, dry it and store it for reuse.  Great idea!

So what have you found lately that seems to be a go to for replenishing your thirst or hunger?  I keep trying to find different things that I will enjoy to take away my guilty pleasures of candy and sodas.  I am not horrid on them but I do enjoy them very much.  I will say that with this season of parties, meals and get togethers we are having to find the good things to fill our bodies with.

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Celebrating Instead of Crying

Image via Wikipedia

I have a lil mix today. Sensing the sad in my life right now....loss of family member, I felt that an upbeat post would be best. So on with the show, right?

First off I want to tell you that I enjoy a nice glass of wine but I am very very picky. You see I am a sweet gal. No not like that, I like sweet things. So not too many red wines cross my path. More of a white dessert type wine. And my favorite is Fetzer VineyardsValley Oaks Gewurztraminer. Now I may not be able to say the name of this wine well but I sure can sip it. Top that off I found it was a 'best' wine in my book Good, Better, Best Wines-A No Nonsense Guide to Popular Wines. My handy dandy go to book for getting a wine to go with a meal or occasion. Nice pocket size and easy to use. Also the wines in this book are all under $15 so very very affordable. Worth having as a resource to finding the wine you are looking for. You can see a book trailer here http://www.wine-tribune.com . Thanks Abby for sharing this with me!

Next I want to tip my hat to one very smart lady. Jessica has put out HINT water. Now we all enjoy having water to keep us hydrated and healthy. And of course we would like a lil flavor from fruit and such. Then no one wants any sugars or such dirty-ing up their water either. But Jessica knows that we also would like to have a lil 'adult' water. So she took that into mind and made up mixed drinks using HINT water as a mixer. Fantastic. Now we have a great tasting drink and cut the sugars out of other mixers. She is one smart cookie. I thank her for sending me a few bottles to try for myself.

Here is a couple of ideas from Jessica:

Healthy Mama for the summer time.
1 part vodka
1 1/2 parts HINT watermelon water
1 slice of watermelon
Ohhhh, cool drink that is just sweet enough.

Sweet Mama for us GRITS (girls raised in the south)
2 oz pomegranate vodka
6 oz HINT pomegranate-tangerine water
2 mint leaves (yes pop them off of your own lil plant in the window sill)
dash of honey syrup
This is a front porch sipper if I ever had one.

Juice Face--Ewww!

Ewwww! Yeah, poor lil lady Lilly, she keeps breaking out around her mouth. Why? Well due to drinking so much juice. We have tried to cut it in 1/2 with water. Nope, still breaks out. Can't do milk all the time due to her poor tummy. Just can not digest that much. And water is not that interesting all on its on. So what are some healthy alternatives?

Well, I am checking out H2Organics for kids. They come out like juice boxes and are flavored. They will still give lil lady Lilly 100% vitamin C like the juice. And they also have calcium and are organic. But they also have sugar. Well it is half the sugar of juice so that can help out too. So far Strawberry Apple has been the biggest hit. I was hoping more toward Orange Tangerine and there is always Grape Berry.

But if they can take the place of juice for lil lady Lilly and not break her out then that is great! There is also H2Organics for adults too. With enhanced water adding in vitamins but also adding up with calories (100 calories a bottle). And if your in the family way or just had your own lil lady then you can get prenatal and postnatal waters. Cool idea. They are available at all Babies “R” Us and Toys “R” Us stores nationwide, and many Whole Foods Market stores.

I want to thank H2Organics for letting me try out their water. Of course I only had some water sent to me and did not get paid. And my thoughts are just mine. I just wanted to share with you.

I need more WAT-AAH!

I need to drink more water. It is important to my diet to do this. It is even more important to my body that I keep drinking water. Well it is a habit I am not use to. But I am trying. And in doing so I have learned not all water is the same.
Nope not at all.
Some taste yucky, some is very expensive, some is just perfect too!
I have found water that is just that.
Perfect!
WAT-AAH!


This is the call for me. Ice cold it can replenish all the water that I am losing with all this summer heat. And I can get WAT-AAH! that also helps me with my body, brain and energy. But there is not sugars added, flavorings or preservatives. But that is not all. Nope, of course not.
This water is also geared to talk to kids.
Why? Well because kids are targeted to drink sodas, energy drinks and lots and lots of sugar. This is not what they need. Yet! It is what they are enticed to drink.
SO, here is WAT-AAH! that is kid perfect too. Why?
It is packaged to appeal to kids, has their own language on it (thus WAT-AAH!) and has kids in mind. Moms want their kids to be healthy and it is not always easy to get them to do what is best for them. Now we have a way to show them water is, well, cool.

Check out WAT-AAH! and see if your kids get as excited about it as College Girl did. She loved that it tasted like water, not minerals or muddy. (We have lake water for our city supply--yuck!) Dear Hubby tried the energy WAT-AAH! instead of a energy shot and he said it worked great. Remember he works two jobs every day. Most I heard that they felt refreshed and replenished. That is what we all need.

• Product Review - Wat-Aah! Functional Water for Kids

  Review and taste test of Wat-Aah! premium water designed especially for kids, with no artificial flavors, colors, additives, or sugar and packaged in a ...
  http://familyfitness.about.com/od/nutrition/gr/review_wataah.htm

• Let Water Be Water, LLC, Launches WAT-AAH!(TM), First Premium ...

  22 May 2008 ... WAT-AAH! Aims to Help Combat Childhood and Teen Obesity Epidemic b... Offering First Healthy Drink Alternative With Attitude Not Sugar/p.
  http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Let-Water-Be-Water--LLC--Launches-WAT-AAH-21-28TM-29--First-Premium-Brand-of-Pure-Water-with-Function-Specially-Targeted-to-Kids-and-Teens-20114-1/

• WAT-AAH! CHALLENGE!

  Most kids think water is boring... WAT-AAH! is here to prove that water can be cool. A new Challenge to prove kids will choose water over soda.
  http://www.wat-aahchallenge.blogspot.com/

Thanks Nessa

Here I am with Dan and Nessa reading a "hysterical" marker noting that we are at a Blue Star Highway. We are all fans of history and enjoy reading the Historical Markers where ever we go.
HA HA HA Nessa thought she was going to escape my camera but I caught her anyway. I just love her natural curly hair and her energetic smile. It is great to have a best friend and a neighbor all rolled up into one.
Here I am again! TA DA I don't care if I am in a bathing suit in a photo. As long as I am getting wet then life is good. We were in Colorodo Bend State Park playing in the natural springs and water falls. How cool is that!
Dear Hubby and I were goofing around walking across this chasim on a large pipe. Notice the stick to keep our balance. It was so wonderful to have time to play as adults and not be in charge for a little while. Isn't Nessa and Dan the cutest couple ever. I want to thank them again for the great weekend we had last weekend. It was so relaxing and a fun time to pal around together as friends, neighbors and

Getting the Joints Wet

My mom-in-law has had a lot of problems with her knees. And at 70+ years it is not surprising at all. But she has found a great upside to it all. Swimming! Spas!

Yeah, she was told that she had to do Aquatic therapy for her knees. And that she did. With a little hesitation at first. I mean who wants to pop on a bathing suit in your 70's? But once she started then it was a love affair. She was quite upset when they told her that she had to stop. Insurance only does so much you know.

Well we started looking into other options for her. It really was helping and she adored it so. We found that you can get Hydrotherapy pools in your home. Of course you need the room for it too. But it was really wonderful to look at what all they can do. And of course dream of the great relaxation too. Now water exercise in a swim spa is really good for you. And not hard on your joints. Many seniors are finding the benefits of doing this type of exercise for therapy. Heck I would love it myself with the weight I have on me. I am exercising all I can but some days my knees hurt so bad from the RA I have that I just can't do it. That is really when I wish I had a pool to jump in. Well, climb in at least. And think how fast it could cool me down during my ever frequent hot flashes.

Well my mom-in-law does not have the room for one. And we do not have a YMCA in our lil town. But there is a therapy clinic that we are looking into. Hoping that pooling our funds we can buy her a "membership" so she can continue her water exercise. It sure would make her happy and feel much better.

Dog Water?

Ok this is a new one for me. Dog water? No I don't mean putting water into the dog bowl. Nor do I misunderstand having a bottle of water for your dog while traveling or out for a walk. But I am unsure of bottled water for dogs. Yes. Water manufactured for you dog to drink. The Our Hero line of bottled water is the newest one out there that I know of. There are three lines of water you can purchase just for your four legged friend. Hip & Joint | Exercise Recovery | Healthy Aging Am I just a cynic. Or is it silly to purchase what I can get from the tap? Would you purchase dog water? Or dog ice cream? Yes there is that product too.
http://www.frostypawstreats.com/FrostyPaws/

Just a swinging'

As I said I live in a little town in central Texas. This last Saturday night our local VFD and ladies aux sponsored a street dance on our town square. It was fun to take a twirl across the town and to tap our toes to a little country fun. Sunday was a day of rest, well was suppose to be. Instead we had a pipe break in one of our bathrooms and the place was baptized. So half a day of trying to stop that. As usual we could not get the parts we needed in this small town so we have a gaping hole in the wall of our bathroom. And the pipes are cut off so we can not bath in that room. Funny enough the door handle came off in that same bathroom this morning and locked my poor hubby inside. I was out walking the dogs and he was inside banging and trying to get out. Well it is always something you know. Yesterday was my 2nd wedding anniversary too. My hubby is still working two jobs so we did not get to go out, but I made a good dinner and a nice hot cake that we bathed in butter for dessert. So life here is doing the usual. Nice to know I can sit on my veranda (porch for others) and enjoy the breeze blowing through the wind chimes. I hope you have time to do the same there!