Your brain isn't the only part of your body affected by a lack of sleep. When you miss out on good sleep, your risk of stroke, diabetes, hypertension and heart disease increase.




During the month of May, you can earn up to two points every day for focusing on your sleep - one point is available for each night you get at least seven hours of sleep, and another can be earned for the methods you use to get to sleep easier or to get more quality sleep. If you need additional help in establishing a solid sleep schedule, please contact Lauren Almdale at extension 2137 for a wellness coaching session.

All of the resources in this post, and more, can be found on our Pinterest page. Follow us there to access a lot of great health resources in one easy-to-find place.

Avocado Hash Benedict

Ingredients
1 large sweet potato, grated or shredded twice with a food processor shredding attachment
1 cup almond flour
1 egg
1/4 cup cornstarch or arrowroot powder
Dash of salt

1 large avocado, mashed
dash of salt
dash of pepper

3 eggs, poached
Batch of Hollandaise sauce (I used grass-fed butter instead of ghee)

Directions
Mix sweet potato, almond flour, egg, cornstarch or arrowroot, and salt together.
Place a skillet over medium heat and add oil. Once oil is hot, add potato mixture and press into pan.
Flip potatoes to cook on opposite side until both sides are brown and slightly crispy.

Plate some of your hashbrowns, add some of the mashed avocado, add an egg and drizzle with Hollandaise sauce. Serves three.

 Materials:

Two balloons
Rice or corn starch, or you can use a combination of the two
Scissors
Funnel or a piece of cardstock

Directions:

Place your funnel inside the neck of the balloon. If you don't have a funnel, you can simply roll up a piece of cardstock paper as a makeshift one.

Add your filling, a little at a time, until the balloon is filled to the neck. Work some of the filling down to compact it a bit more, before removing the funnel.

Cut the balloon about halfway down the neck and fold it over. Cut the second balloon at the bottom of the neck and wrap around the first balloon, securing the neck of the first by positioning it in the base of the second.

Voila!


















If you don't want to make your own stress balls, but you want to take advantage of some of the same benefits, try progressive muscle relaxation. Hold tension in each of your muscles, then actively relax them, starting in your jaw and working your way down to your toes.

At the end of a long, tough day, how do you unwind? One of the easiest ways to relieve some stress is to draw a hot bath. Along with offering an escape from everything that may be causing you stress, twenty minutes in the bath can release tension in your muscles, which helps you to relax and even sleep better. The hot water also works to open your blood vessels, which can lower your blood pressure and also alleviate the pressure that causes headaches.



To give your bath a boost, try adding the following to your bath:

One cup Epsom salts (found at any grocery store, near the bandages and wraps)
One cup baking soda
5-10 drops essential oil (lavender is best for promoting relaxation, peppermint can be used to invigorate and treat headache or stomach ache)

For maximum benefit, soak in the tub for 15-20 minutes. For further relaxation, light candles, turn off the lights, and listen to some relaxing music. Just don't fall asleep!

When season changes roll around, I'm always hit with a sense of dread just knowing that someone in my family is going to bring some kind of sickness home with them, and we're all going to be sniffling for the next month. But what if there was something you could do that would not only fight off a cold, but could prevent one from ever happening in the first place?

In the process of wrestling with my own, personal gut health, one of the most valuable things I've learned is that 70-80% of a person's immune tissues are located in the digestive tract. Thus, the old adage, "you are what you eat," becomes surprisingly accurate. Eat food loaded with sugar, chemicals and preservatives and you're likely to feel sick, sluggish and foggy, along with any other number of other symptoms. But eat foods rich in nutrients, vitamins and minerals and you're more likely to experience life the way it was intended - full of energy and vitality, and free of inflammation and chronic disease.

Bone broth is one of the easiest and most beneficial diet staples I've come across in the last year. It's nothing new - in fact, when you were growing up and got sick, the advice from your grandmother to eat chicken noodle soup probably derived from something closer to the bone broth variety than from Campbell's. The benefits that come from the collagen found in bones are vast: stronger immune system, healthier hair skin and nails, improved joint pain, healing of the digestive tract for those suffering from IBS, ulcerative colitis, crohn's and acid reflux, and even reduction or elimination of asthma and allergy symptoms.



Making broth is simple, although it does take time to draw all of the nutrients out of the bone. You can use any bones, but I find the most benefit from using bones that have marrow, like beef knuckles. Most local butchers will save bones from processing. My butcher offers up to two free bones every time I shop. Some may charge, but you're likely to still find that it's cheaper to make your own broth than it is to buy the stuff in the store.

Simply throw your bones into a slow cooker, cover with water, add any extras to suit your taste, set your timer and walk away. I prefer to add carrots, onions, celery, some thyme and a bay leaf to the slow cooker, both for the extra nutrients that the vegetables contribute and for the wonderful flavor they add. If you're using chicken bones, plan to simmer for 24 hours, and for beef bones, allow 48 hours.

Once your broth is done cooking, discard the bones and remove the vegetables. You can either eat what's left of the vegetables, puree them up for a baby or toddler, or discard them. Store your broth in the refrigerator for up to a week, or you can easily freeze it to keep it for a lot longer. Once your broth has cooled, you'll find a natural separation occurs and that the fat will rise and harden on top. If you don't mind the extra fat, you can mix it back in, or you can easily pull it off of the top and discard it.

It's up to you to decide how to use your broth. You can sip it on its own, from a mug, to reap its health benefits, or you can use it as a base in your soups and stews. Bone appétit!

Cinnamon Apple N'Oatmeal

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