Grab Bag Who IS This Kid?

Give him a moment to get started…. watch his gestures and facial expressions…

Seriously… is he a 30 year old dude in a toddler suit?

Grab Bag Anti-Inflammatory Bandwagon:

Perhaps the most important topic in the general theme of nutrition right now is using food as a natural anti-inflammatory medication. Nearly every health sector from oncology to heart disease points at low-grade inflammation as a contributing, if not causative, factor. Insidious in nature, the inflammation can’t be felt or detected until disease symptoms begin to appear. Our highly-processed diets are to blame for a large part of this, and being aware of the pitfalls and their fixes can make a world of difference.

Here are Dr. Andrew Weil’s four basic anti-inflammatory diet makeover tips:

1. Consume only high-quality carbohydrates: eliminate white flour, using only whole and cracked grains, and try whole grain/buckwheat noodles such as Japanese udon and soba. Fruits and vegetables should have a low glycemic index, and most do, with some exceptions: dates, watermelon, pineapple, fruit juices, potatoes, and pumpkin are all high glycemic index foods and should be avoided or eaten in limited quantities. Also, the more processed or cooked the carb is, the higher the glycemic index; lightly cooked, “al dente” pasta has a lower index than fully cooked pasta. For fruit, the riper it is, the higher the index… so eat your bananas when they are firmer.

2. Replace your cooking oil: whenever possible, use extra-virgin olive oil or expeller-pressed organic canola oil. Avoid safflower, sunflower, corn, cottonseed and mixed vegetable oils, as well as butter and margarine.

3. Reduce your consumption of animal protein: Except for fish (wild – not farmed- Alaskan salmon is the superstar) and reduced-fat dairy products, animal protein should be kept to a minimum. Look to beans, legumes and whole soy products instead.

4. Increase your fiber: Try to eat 40 grams of fiber a day. It’s good for much that may ail you. This will be easy to do if your processed foods are kept to a minmum and you eat plenty of berries, vegies and whole grains.

Grab Bag Travel Tips:

It’s that time of year… see what TripAdvisor.com has put together. Click on the picture below for a list of their best tips for saving $$$ and still getting what you want when you travel.

Grab Bag Household Tips:

This is not your grandfather’s Efferdent…. use the chopper cleaner (which contains an anti-bacterial) in new and quite useful ways… I especially like cleaning stains off the glass vase… some of those can be impossible to get at. Let me know if you try these and they work…. or not.

NOTE: I would not stay close to these tablets when activated to avoid inhalation irritation possibilities.

• Clean a toilet bowl. Drop several Efferdent tablets into the toilet bowl, scrub, and flush.
• Polish diamonds. Drop two Efferdent tablets in a glass of water and immerse diamonds for five to ten minutes.
• Clean a Thermos bottle. Fill the bottle with water, drop in three Efferdent tablets, and let it soak for an hour or longer if necessary.
• Unclog a sink. Drop several Efferdent tablets into the sink and let it sit overnight.
• Clean a vase. To remove a stain from the bottom of a glass vase or cruet, fill with water and drop in one Efferdent tablet.
• Clean hubcaps. Drop one Efferdent tablet into a glass of water, use a cloth to apply the fizzing solution to the hubcabs, and wash clean with water.
• Clean and prevent mold in backpack/fannypack water bladders. Fill the hydration bladder up to about 2/3 of capacity and drop 1 Efferdent tablet into the bladder for each quart of water. Slosh it around so all surfaces of the bladder are reached. Rinse well with clean water.

Grab Bag Cute Stuff:

Grab Bag Brain Game:

REDSTAR

Grab Bag Funny Stuff:

Once again, more family photo suggestions for those upcoming holiday cards. A few of these have made their way on to the Grab Bag before, but the overall collection is fun, fresh, and fabulous 🙂 Thanks to Deanne T. for sending this holiday greeting along.