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Tips for Your Boomer Years

Helping Boomers Find Wealth, Health and Happiness in Your Boomer Years

Archive for the ‘Green Living’ Category

Get Healthy with Tasty Chia Seed Recipes

Posted by JE Jones on Mar-9-2010


Get Healthy with Tasty Chia Seed Recipes

Tiny chia seeds offer a powerful nutritional addition to your diet. How much chia seed should you eat per day? About 2 to 3 teaspoons of chia seeds offers B vitamins, omega 3 fatty acids, fiber, protein and more.

How Do You Use Chia Seeds?

Chia seeds can be added to just about any food, such as yogurt, pancake or muffin batter, or sprinkled over cereals or added to your morning smoothie. Or you can try these tasty chia seed recipes:

Luscious Chia Seed Smoothie

1 Tbs Chia Seeds
3/4 cup fruit juice
1/2 banana
2 oz yogurt

Add chia seed to juice and wait for chia gel to form. This usually takes a few minutes. Add rest of ingredients and blend until smooth.

Chia gel can be made with water and kept in the frig too, ready to add to any recipe. Simply use 9 parts water to 1 part chia seed and put in a shaker bottle. Shake well several times to prevent clumping and store in the frig.

Chia Seed Guacamole

1 Avocados
1 scoop chia seeds
1/2 juiced lemon
1 TBS onion, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS Olive oil

Mash avocados, then stir in remaining ingredients.

Chia Seed Quesadilla Recipe

1/2 scoop chia seeds
2 Flour Tortillas
Butter or Ghee
1 cups shredded cheese

Heat a skillet. Spread butter or ghee onto tortillas.

Place one tortilla in skillet, butter side down and sprinkle cheese on top.

Place second tortilla on top, butter side up.

Saute both sides of tortilla until it’s golden brown.

Serve.

Chia Seed Pancakes

2 scoops chia seeds
pancake mix
fresh blueberries or strawberries

Mix pancake batter according to directions. Add chia seeds and fruit.

Heat skillet and add batter.

When bottom side is golden brown, flip and cook other side.

Top with fresh fruit and serve.

Chia Seed Stir Fry

Chicken or beef strips
1 scoop chia seeds
cut up veggies for stir fry
Sesame oil
Soy sauce-low sodium

Mix chia seeds with soy sauce and wait one minute for gel to form.

Heat skillet with sesame oil. Add meat and saute until golden brown.

Add veggies and chia soy sauce mixture. Stir fry until veggies are tender.

Serve with rice.

Easy Banana Chia Seed Snack Recipe

1 banana
1 scoop chia seeds
2 Tbs shredded coconut
1 Tbs cocoa powder

Peel the banana and roll it in the coconut, chia seeds and cocoa powder.

Slice coated banana into pieces and serve.

As you can see by these chia seed recipes, it’s possible to add them to just about any dish.

Where to Buy Chia Seeds?

These delicious chia seed recipes came from Omega 3 Chia Seed, which is available on Amazon.com. I’ve been using this brand for about a year and find good quality for the price. Amazon also carries several other brands of chia seeds too.

Many health food stores also sell chia seeds.

Posted in: Fitness After 50, Green Living, Healthy Living, Healthy Living Products, Healthy Recipes, healthy aging
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Boomer Living - Create Your Own Indoor Herb Garden

Posted by JE Jones on Aug-24-2009

Want to create your own indoor herb garden so you can have fresh herbs for your recipes all year long? Cooks can’t get enough of fresh herbs for their recipes but buying them can get expensive. It’s easy to grow your own indoor herb garden for the long winter months cooking. Then, when summer arrives, transplant the herbs into outdoor containers.

Nothing beats the fragrance and taste of fresh herbs and creating an indoor herb garden for use year-round is as easy as growing herbs in the outdoor garden.

Grow your own Cilantro

Grow your own Cilantro

The same basic ingredients are needed for your indoor herbs gardens as those your grow outside - sunlight and well-drained, not too rich soil.

Light for Indoor Herb Gardens

While different herbs have somewhat different requirements for light, most herb plants need a sunny location to thrive. For the sunniest location, choose west or south-facing window. Sometimes supplementing with a fluorescent lamp, or “grow light,” is necessary in the winter too, when hours of sunlight is less.

Soil for Indoor Herb Gardens

Try this general planting mix for indoor herbs.

  • Two parts sterilized potting soil and one part coarse sand or perlite.
  • Add about one teaspoon lime per 5-inch pot to sweeten the soil, or a cup per bushel of soil if you want to make a large amount.
  • Place an inch or so of gravel or Styrofoam pellets at the bottom of the pot to help with proper drainage, which is essential for growing herbs.

Caring for Your Indoor Herb Garden

  • Herbs hate wet feet! Water your indoor herbs only when soil is dry to the touch. If plants are growing in hanging baskets or clay pots, they might require a little more water.
  • Provide needed humidity by placing the plants on a tray of moistened pebbles or mist water on them.
  • For plants with different water needs, try using separate planters or divided planters.

What to Plant in Your Indoor Herb Garden

An indoor herb garden can be made up of annuals or perennials.

  • Annual herbs including basil, cilantro and parsley can be grown indoors through their entire lifecycle. Annuals can be grown from seed or you can purchase small plants at a nursery or garden store.
  • Perennials, such as thyme, oregano and rosemary, do much better if they are indoors only in the winter months and then moved outdoors during summer months. In mild climates, you can still pick these herbs in winter, although the oils aren’t as pungent. To move perennials in summer, you can simply plunge the pot into soil up to its rim or keep the pot in a protected spot on the porch or patio, rather than transplanting into the ground. Perennials are usually best purchased as a small plant and transplanted to your pot as growing them from seed is more difficult.

If you move your herb plants outdoors during the summer months, be sure to bring them into the house before the first frost to avoid damage. Mint, chives and tarragon, however, benefit from a light frost which induces a rest period in the plant and helps make new growth firm and fresh.

Perennial herb plants can thrive indefinitely in your indoor herb garden with periodic light feeding, yearly repotting, seasonal moves outdoors and an occasional pruning. For annuals, renew plants yearly.

By following these basics for creating an indoor herb garden, you can ensure a supply of fresh, fragrant plants all year long for use in your recipes or in potpourri.

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Posted in: Boomer Living, Green Living, Healthy Living, How To, Money Saving Ideas
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Anti-Aging Foods for Longevity

Posted by JE Jones on Aug-17-2009

Can eating certain anti-aging foods help baby boomers live a long, and healthy, life? Research shows that some foods help your body replenish healthy cells and help your body fight off the damage caused by aging and toxins in the air, food and water. You may be eating many of these anti-aging foods right now so it will be easy to add more to your daily diet for all the nutrition you need to be healthy and avoid age-related diseases well into your senior years.

A recent study in Greece of 23,000 adults found that lots of fruits and veggies, nuts and legumes had the greatest affect at increasing longevity.

Green Vegetables

Your mother always said to “eat your vegetables” for good reason. Five servings a day of veggies would help protect us from age related diseases like heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and other illnesses that decrease the quality of life as we age. Add a salad to your dinner every day, buy a package of pre cut veggies for snacking and make a smoothie with breakfast, adding spinach or avocado. Be creative with your veggie recipes when cooking. Veggies are low calorie and filling too so they’re perfect if you’re watching your weight as you increase in age.

Avocados

Avocados contain heart healthy omega 3’s and actually help you lose belly fat and improve cholesterol. Add one to your salad every day.

Walnuts

Walnuts contain heart and brain healthy omega-3 fatty acids, plus fiber and other nutrients. Add them to your salad every day or eat a few as a healthy snack.

Water

Your body needs water to function in a healthy way and keep toxins and other wastes flushed from your system, which greatly increases longevity. Water has no calories and if you get a filter on your sink and a non-toxic, reusable bottle for refilling, water is inexpensive.

Berries

Berries are number one on every superfood list for good reason. A power house of antioxidants and other chemicals that your body can use to make repairs and

Blueberries are #1 on every superfood list

Blueberries are #1 on every superfood list

prevent some of the damage caused by aging. Berries offer low calorie nutrition too.

Green Tea

Green tea is the staple drink of Asian countries for good reason. High in antioxidants and other nutrients, green tea boost immunity, gives you energy and protects your body from age related disease like heart disease, Alzheimers and more. A UCLA study found that Just  cups of green tea daily cuts your risk of having a stroke by 21%.

If you don’t care for the taste of regular green tea, mix it with black tea or find fruity flavors.

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Red Wine

In moderation, red wine is good for you. Containing resveratrol, it helps protect your body from age-related illnesses. At the end of your day have a glass of red wine with your meal and enjoy it’s anti-aging properties.

Legumes like Beans, Peas and Lentils

Legumes give you a health source of lean protein, plus fiber and antioxidants. Some researchers believe that animal protein may cause many of age-related diseases so if you switch to a vegetarian source of protein, you’ll be helping your heart and arteries stay younger, longer. If you can’t give up meat entirely, try eating legumes a few times per week instead. When you do eat meat, op for organically raised meat which contains no growth hormones or other additives.

Chocolate

Dark Chocolate, which contains at least 72% cacao, contains antioxidants and healthy chemicals that your body needs to keep you young. However, as with alcohol, it’s easy to overdo the chocolate. One small  square daily is all you need.

What else can you do to increase longevity and be healthy as you live longer? Exercise as much as you have time for, even if it’s just a brisk 10 minute walk per day. Eat less red meat and drink alcohol only in moderation. Keep your weight down and if you smoke, quit today.

More on Anti-Aging Foods - What to eat and what not to eat.

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Posted in: Baby Boomer Health & Weight Loss Tips, Boomer Living, Fitness After 50, Green Living, Healthy Living, Healthy Recipes
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Boomer Living - Safe Medication Disposal

Posted by JE Jones on Mar-30-2009

With medications showing up in municipal water systems, medication safety is a very important topic. Flushing old medications down the toilet is not good for the environment but do you just how to dispose of your medications properly? Here are some guidelines:

1. Check in your community for a medication “take back” program which would be part of their hazardous waste disposal program.

2. If your community doesn’t offer a medication safety program, government guidelines suggest disposing of medication in the trash but crush them up and mix them with undesirable materials such as coffee grounds or cat litter in a sealed plastic bag.

I use my own coffee grounds to sprinkle on my lawn and plants and never dispose of them in the trash but having a cat, I do have lots of cat litter I can use!

For more information on medication disposal safety and how to dispose of other hazardous materials to help save our environment, visit Earth 911.

Posted in: Boomer Living, Green Living, Healthy Living
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Baby Boomer Health - The Benefits of Calli Tea

Posted by JE Jones on Mar-23-2009

As a baby boomer concerned with healthy aging, I’ve tried many healthy living products over the years and as part of my healthy living program I’ve come to depend on the benefits of Calli Tea.  I drink Calli Tea daily and I have for about 8 years.

Would you like more information on the benefits of Calli Tea?  If so, please send for my free Calli Tea Report, which includes a discount coupon for ordering. If you’d like to try Calli Tea, you can order securely through my website.

Try this Calli Tea Smoothie to begin your day and start experiencing the benefits of Calli Tea for yourself.

Healthy Smoothie Recipe

I make a Holy Tea smoothie every morning so we can get our day off to a healthy start.

Ingredients

2 cups Calli Tea
1 cup Green Tea
1 small banana
Several Sprigs of Spinach for Greens
1/3 cup blueberries
1 TBS chia gel
2 oz Activia or yogurt
1 tbs cranberry or Acai berry concentrate

Blend these ingredients in a blender and enjoy good health and energy all day long.

Sunrider® products are not intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, prevention, or treatment of any medical condition.

More information on Detoxing and Health

Posted in: Baby Boomer Health & Weight Loss Tips, Boomer Living, Green Living, Healthy Living, Healthy Living Products
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Baby Boomers Snap up AntiAging SkinCare Products Despite Economy

Posted by JE Jones on Mar-3-2009

Thanks to baby boomers, the sale of anti aging skin is booming despite the bad economy. According to a report in Consumer Affairs.com, during 2008, sales of anti-aging skincare products rose to over $1.6 billion. In the US, sales rose 13% over the past two years, while general facial skincare products only rose 11%. Experts agree that baby boomer’s wish to remain as young looking as possible for as long as possible will drive this growth 20% through 2013.In fact, nearly all skin care products these days are claiming to stop or reduce wrinkles so how do you know what to believe? Some people look for an expensive price tag. If you spend $90 for a jar of antiaging skin cream, it must be good, right?

The fact is that many expensive antiaging skincare products are no better than the cheaper versions and many contain toxic chemicals and petroleum products. Great antiaging skin care can be found on any budget.

What I look for to keep my skin looking young is natural ingredients. I gave up the parabens, sulfates, petroleum and chemical preservatives long ago. What I look for is an economical, natural lightweight product with no harmful chemicals.

Here are some totally natural, chemical free products you can use to keep your skin looking younger and wrinkle free:

  • Coconut Oil - Many high priced beauty treatments contain coconut oil, which heals, strengthens tissues and supplies nourishment to your skin. Why not use the real stuff? Find pure, organic coconut oil in your health food store.
  • Shea Butter - Shea butter is also in hundreds of anti-aging products but you can purchase real shea butter at your health food store and apply it to your skin where it will be free of chemicals, toxins and preservatives.
Remember youth and beauty start on the inside. Here’s some other things you can do to have smooth, young skin, no matter what your age:
  • Drink lots of water - water flushes toxins from your body which can cause aging and skin conditions such as acne. Many famous women who’s business is beauty, say their number one beauty secret is drinking lots of water.
  • Don’t smoke! - I gave up smoking when I read about how it causes wrinkles. Smoking introduces those toxins into your body, destroys the vitamin B- an important anti-aging vitamin, and it inhibits collagen production, which ages your skin drastically.
  • Routinely detox for health and beauty - I drink Calli Tea daily, as well as making certain detoxifying foods part of my daily diet.
  • Stay out of the sun and use sunscreen routinely on your face- Age spots and aging of the skin are made much worse by sun damage.
  • Exercise - Work up a sweat! This also helps rid your body of toxins and helps keep you young.

Here are some of the books I would also recommend on antiaging skincare and how to look younger:

Now that baby boomers are reaching their 50’s and beyond, they are becoming more and more concerned about healthy aging and antiaging skincare. For my own antiaging regimen, I try to do things naturally. This not only keeps my skin young but the rest of me too.

Posted in: Baby Boomer Health & Weight Loss Tips, Book Reviews, Boomer Living, Boomer News, Fitness After 50, Green Living, Healthy Living, Healthy Living Products
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Healthy Eating Tips: Shop for Organic Produce on a Budget

Posted by JE Jones on Nov-13-2008

This morning’s newspaper said the sale of organic produce is down because of the slowing economy. Most healthy eating tips recommend eating organic produce and there are ways to shop for organic foods on a budget. These simple strategies will help you save money and still buy organic produce and other organic foods.

1. When shopping for organic produce, make sure you’re getting what you pay for.

Make sure organic produce is being displayed separately from conventionally grown produce. Organic produce is legally required to be displayed where it won’t be contaminated by water run-off created when conventional produce is misted. This water run-off can contain pesticide residue which should not touch the organic produce.

Gaiam.com, Inc

2. Beware the labeling “natural.”

Always check the labels for additives and chemicals, which must be listed. All natural on the label does not mean the products are 100% organic. The product may contain some organic ingredients but the labeling “natural” is really just a marketing ploy and has no official meaning.

3. Check for the USDA certified organic label, even if the product says it is organic. Laws and restrictions are not well enforced by the USDA.

Some tips from ShopSmart Magazine to save money on organics:

1. Check the Internet for coupons for organic brands. Check the websites of major brands like Stonyfield Farm, Earthbound Farm and Health Valley which offer coupons.

2. Try discount stores such as Walmart, Sams Club and Costco. I’ve found many Costco brand organic products there under the Kirkland brand. These organic products really do save you money, even though at Costco you have to buy large sizes. Sometimes buying in bulk will also help save.

3. If your store has bulk bins, check out the prices of organic products in these. Bulk bins are usually cheaper because you bag your own.

4. Check out the organic store brand labels when you shop. Kroger’s now has Kroger’s Private Selection organic which costs less than name brands. I’ve tried many of Kroger’s organic products and been impressed with their flavor and quality. Other stores, like Safeway, which offers O Organics and Whole Foods which offers Whole Foods Market’s 365 Organic Every Day Value can be great values for your organic dollar.

5. Join an organic food coop. I’ve belonged to an organic food coop for several years. Every other week, I get a large bin of fresh fruits and veggies which in season. All the produce is certified organic and much of it is locally grown, or at least grown in my state, which is Texas. My food coop also offers bulk orders twice a year yearly on organic berries, fish and other specials, such as organic meat. With group buying power you can save money. Check Local Harvest for more information on a coop in your area.

6. Buy bulk organic produce in season when it’s the least expensive and freeze what you can for later. Check for local organic U-Pick farms to see if local organic farmers offer memberships for their products.

7. Check local farms and farmer’s markets for produce labeled “grown without chemicals and pesticides.” Getting the certified organic label is expensive and many farms just opt to sell their produce without the label, even though they don’t use conventional pesticides and fertilizers.

Even in a bad economy, you can make a change to organic produce one step at a time, looking for ways to save money where you can. Healthy Eating Tip: The organic lifestyle pays off in increased health, not only for you, but for the planet.

Posted in: Baby Boomer Health & Weight Loss Tips, Boomer Living, Green Living, Healthy Living
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Boomer Living Nostalgia - Is Eco-Living Really New?

Posted by JE Jones on Oct-9-2008

I recently read an article in USA today that said, to those over 50, eco-living isn’t really new. Older Baby Boomers and their parents have spent their lives conserving and “living green.” My parents were born in the late 1920’s and lived through the depression and WWII. This WWII generation knows a lot about conserving resources!

When I was a child, we didn’t call it green living but conforming our lives to the environment was just natural to us. My family lived on a small farm in Southern Oregon where we raised our own beef, pigs and chickens. Our milk came from our own cows and our fresh eggs were laid by our own chickens. Most of our food came from our huge vegetable garden, which was fertilized with composted manure from the animals and all of our table scraps, which went into the compost pile.

My mother was a natural at eco-living. She pinched every penny, reused every jar and piece of cloth. She scraped every jar whistle clean of its contents. She still upends the empty ketchup bottle onto the new one to get the last drop of ketchup from the old one before discarding. She even saves tin foil and plastic bags so she can recycle them.

Green living? My mother worked from early morning till late at night, sewing our clothes, growing our food and then preserving it. My mom tended the chickens, gathered and sold eggs and milk to our neighbors. She hung laundry on the clothes to dry and fed and milked cows right along with my father. There was no inequality of pay in our family. My parents worked for the common goal of taking care of our family.

Here’s some nostalgia for you - As kids we spent our days, when not in school, running free around our rural neighborhood. We spent Saturdays down at the creek or climbing the mountain behind our house. Nobody ever thought we’d get stolen. There were no cell phones to keep in touch. If we showed up for meals, everybody figured we were ok. Mostly, we were off being kids.

Recycling? In our family, clothes were handed down till they were in tatters. I didn’t have to wear as many hand-me-downs as my sisters because I was the oldest. My two sisters wore my old clothes though and thought nothing of it. We were excited to get a new outfit when school started and a fancier one - with shiny black shoes - at Easter. Our Christmas presents were mostly clothes that my mom had made and ONE toy that we especially wanted. Nobody knew about designer duds and NOBODY ever suspected that kids could also be consumers.

For fun my parents used to take us to the A&W Root Beer stand for a root beer float on Friday nights and once in a great while we went out to eat. The rest of our meals were all home cooked and home grown. Nothing we ate came from a card board box and we’d never heard of “processed” food or dumping pesticides all over everything.

We didn’t breathe, drink or eat any toxic substances that I know of.

I don’t think it’s strictly nostalgia to be saddened by how much the world has changed since my youth and I’m very happy to see the green living movement going strong. Perhaps we can keep what was good about the past, even while enjoying the conveniences and benefits of the modern world.

Posted in: Green Living, Healthy Living, Nostalgia
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