Food, Health

Avocado and Toast Best Friends Forever

Mary

Lately, it’s all things avocado. Avocado toast, avocado colored shoes, guacamole. There are even giant avocados grown in Florida that measure three feet long and cost around $45. That is some serious green there!

Avocado is incredibly nutritious: Vitamin K, folate, Vitamin C, potassium, Vitamin B5 and B6, Vitamin E. It also contains small amounts of magnesium, manganese, copper, iron, zinc, phosphorous and vitamins A, B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin) and B3 (niacin).

Benefits of Avocado

Contains more potassium than bananas

Loaded with heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids

Loaded with fiber

Eating avocados can lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels

Avocados weigh in at around 160 calories, 2 grams of protein and 15 grams of healthy fats.  They do not contain any cholesterol or sodium and are low in saturated fat.

Avocados are considered a high-fat food but the fat content is oleic acid—a monounsaturated fatty acid that is also in olive oil.

You can get as creative as you want to with avocado. Of course, there is avocado toast where you spread avocado on toast and top with an egg. Add some arugula to the top with a sprinkle of lime juice and celery salt. I’ve had avocado in breakfast bowls comprised of brown rice, egg and slices of avocado with a sprinkle of soy sauce. There are a myriad of ways to prepare it.

Seriously, you can’t go wrong with eating avocado in any way, shape, or form. They taste good and are good for you. My favorite way to eat them is mashed with a clove of pressed garlic, a squeeze of lemon or lime juice to prevent oxidization and to add flavor, a sprinkle of sea salt, a hint of tabasco and then I dig in with some tortilla chips. Yum!

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Health, Inspiration

Summer Breeze Makes Me Feel Fine…

Mary
Sweet days of summer, the jasmine’s in bloom
July is dressed up and playing her tune

I love the sweet scent of jasmine on a hot summer evening as I sit on the porch and drink an ice-cold glass of water and listen to the breeze gently blowing and rustling the tree leaves. It’s one of my favorite pastimes. The jasmine sits in a comfortable spot in a container on my porch and runs up a small trellis. Every time I think of jasmine, I think of the Seals and Crofts song with some of the lyrics evident in the blog title and photo caption.

Not only is the sweet scent pleasant on a summer evening but scientists have discovered that the fragrance of jasmine could potentially help replace medication for sleep, anxiety, stress, and a host of other modern day illnesses.

It has been determined that jasmine can

-Reduce anxiety and nervous tension

-Boost mood and improve cognitive performance and alertness

-Improve sleep quality

-Balance hormones

-Treat hot flashes and mood swings

-Increase libido

Scientists who conducted tests on laboratory mice discovered that the fragrance of jasmine augments the effects of a chemical named GABA on nerve cells.  This chemical reaction is what helps relieve anxiety and stirs up the desire to be still and at rest.

Being in nature naturally reduces anxiety and stress and it has been found that there is a correlation between stress and oxygen levels.  Adding the soothing aroma of jasmine can positively impact mental health and improve your mood in general.

Now if only my bedroom window was closer to the jasmine.

Health, Mind, Soul, Body

Living with Pain

Mary

I had a headache today and I was trying to determine the cause. It seems that I do have headaches a little more frequently as I get older and want to explore the root cause so that they do not become chronic. I think the headaches are caused from tension.

I can experience tension from the seemingly smallest things and I think tight neck muscles contribute to the headaches. I probably need to move my body a little more. I am becoming more attuned to my body and what might trigger it to feel poorly. I have realized that I need to eat at a particular time each day, which also helps with the upkeep of a healthy metabolism, and to keep my body hydrated by drinking a lot of water. Many headaches are caused by dehydration.

Muscles can become tense when working at a desk all day or tensed up with cold weather or cold air conditioned rooms. I find when I travel to warmer climes, my muscles tend to melt like wax. Ah, an excuse for a warm weather adventure!

When muscles become tense deep breathing exercises can help with relaxation, calming the body and also can boost energy. Yoga can target specific areas of the body and I am amazed at how different yoga postures can align the body. I cross my legs when I am sitting and that is probably one of the worst things you can do for you body and for your posture.

Massage also helps with tight muscles and drinking water after a massage session can eliminate the body of toxins.

I am also wondering whether eye strain from reading and working on my phone can contribute to tension. I like to work on my computer but find that working and reading on a phone even though convenient, leaves me with blurry vision sometimes.

Try to recognize the patterns when your body experiences pain or discomfort. Usually, it is your body trying to tell you something.

Inspiration, Mind, Soul, Body

It’s Easter

Mary
Alleluia, He is Risen!

Yes, it is still Easter. The Easter season lasts 50 days until Pentecost. Alleluia! What a great way to have the time to enjoy the church season of Easter and think about the meaning of the resurrection in our lives. After all, it is not the empty tomb that requires our attention but encountering Jesus after the resurrection just like the disciples did on the road to Emmaus.

On a recent trip to the coast, my husband and I encountered a tunnel which we hesitantly navigated through. The tunnel lead to an area of beach that was less populated and foreign to us. Climbing through the tunnel reminded me of the resurrected Jesus walking out of the tomb into the light.

Participating in the Lenten practice of fasting or sacrifice before Easter, I gave up watching TV for 40 days and it was a little like walking through the tunnel which was dark and rock-strewn, but I just kept my focus on the light at the end of the tunnel. I focused on what I might gain from having extra time–extra time to think, to read, to cook, talk to family and friends, etc. I would say that I even gained an appreciation for being able to have the option for televised entertainment and news gathering.

Sometimes when life is dark, especially with so many atrocities we are faced with in the world, it is important to continue to focus on the light.

Inspiration, Mind, Soul, Body

The Uphill Climb

Mary

Well, it’s the 5th week of Lent and I have given up TV for almost 40 days. Now, I did watch one basketball game and one movie on TV and I watched a movie in the theater but other than that and some online Facebook videos, the TV has been off for me.

Tonight, I really wanted to watch some TV. It was just one of those nights where all you want to do is veg in front of the TV. My husband was out of town and I really felt like watching TV because the house was quiet and empty–just like a desert–like the desert that Jesus spent 40 days and 40 nights in. Jesus was tempted and I was really tempted tonight to just plug in. Sometimes it is hard to contend with ourselves when there is no activity planned. When our lives are so busy with so many activities we often feel guilty when we do absolutely nothing.

What have I learned these past days? Am I not just going to go back to what I was doing after Easter arrives? Isn’t it supposed to be about a conversion of heart–to cut away the slack-stripping the excess away? To draw closer to Jesus?

By giving up TV and having extra time available, I found that I experienced a pulling-away from my regular routine to discover something new. In the pulling-away, I found that I was more receptive to an unplanned life of sorts, allowing me to leave room for the quiet, still voice of the Holy Spirit.

Instead of coming home after work and turning on the news without a second thought, I would come home and cook something nutritious, read a book, call my kids and my mom, or just sit in a chair with a cup of tea and do nothing. I found that I picked up actual hard-covered books to read which I haven’t done in a while. I completed two of them and am on my third. I tended not to look at the denial of something pleasurable or routine as a “giving up” but a “honing-in.”

I also refrained from looking up the news on-line except for a few tweets or even clickbait that caught my eye so I probably didn’t miss much. Another thing I learned, is that it is hard to do something completely if the other person, my husband, is not doing the same thing-namely, giving up TV. I had to put my blinders on.

Yes, I can’t wait to watch TV again! I can’t wait to tune into the programs to watch my newscaster “friends,” (my husband gets a chuckle out of this) watch a few select TV programs, watch some of the Oscar movies or just relax and watch TV with my husband. I am going to enjoy watching TV, albeit a bit more judiciously.

I don’t mean to make denial of trivial things (yes, TV viewing is trivial) important. There are hardships in life that are more important and difficult to endure and I think that denying ourselves from trivial things from time-to-time, allows us to unite with those that are truly suffering and reminds us of how and why Christ suffered for us.