Health / Women Eating Dairy Foods for Calcium

As I have gotten older I don't digest milk products as easily as I used to--primarily real ice cream and/or milk.  I can eat other dairy products--some cheese, cottage cheese and yogurt without problems though.  Women need 1,200 mg of calcium each day to maintain good bone density and to ward off osteoporosis especially as they enter into menopause which literally drains the calcium from your bones.   I am in that 2-3 year process at this stage of life.   I take a 600 mg calcium / 800 mg Vitamin D tablet each day (when I remember, that is) and try to get the other 600 mg of calcium in the foods I eat.  


Note:  As my friend pointed out below in the comments, be sure that you take Vitamin D in addition to  the calcium which is essential to good bone health.  Vitamin D aids in your body's absorption of calcium. Vitamin D is also manufactured in the skin right after direct exposure to sunlight. Sunlight exposure to the hands, face and arms for as little as 10-30 minutes, 2-3 times per week is helpful to produce vitamin D during the summer months.  I could not find a site that stated how much Vitamin D is produced by sunlight but I did find the info below  at THIS LINK.

If you get exposed to the following amounts of midday sun (10 am to 2 pm), without sunscreen, on a day when sunburn is possible (i.e., not winter or cloudy), then you do not need any dietary vitamin D that day:

• light-skinned: 10 to 15 minutes

• dark-skinned: 20 minutes

• elderly: 30 minutes (23-25)

Sometimes I prepare myself a mixture of flavored yogurt and cottage cheese as a boost of calcium and protein.  For those of us who have to limit our breads, this is a tasty breakfast or snack.  Yogurt has the most calcium, with 415 mg in a 1-cup serving.   Cottage cheese has 155 mg in a 1-cup serving.   

Below is 4 oz. cherry Activia yogurt (great for digestion) mixed with 1 cup of cottage cheese which makes about 360 mg of calcium.   Many yogurts come in 6 oz. or 8 oz. servings which, of course, gives you more calcium.  What you may not know is that Greek yogurt which has 2-3x more protein than regular yogurt, actually has less calcium.  I eat both and try to adjust the other foods to compensate for the difference.

All I need now is a piece of cheese and 1/2 cup of milk to get my recommended amounts of calcium.

Some people say they eat broccoli for the extra calcium, but keep in mind that 1/2 cup contains only 21 mg.  You're better off eating spinach, fresh or cooked, which has lots more calcium  at 120 mg per 1/2 cup.    For a list of calcium products and the amount of mg they contain as well as info on Vitamin D, go to THIS LINK.  


P.S.  I love Sally Field, but do your research and avoid Fosamax.

Back to School FLORIDA Tax Free Weekend August 13-15, 2010

For our family it's a little late for this here in Florida since we homeschool and began today, but public schools begin classes August 16 and 23; with colleges resuming on August 23.    Thankfully, I stocked up last year.  :)  If you haven't purchased your school books, supplies and/or clothes, you might want to wait until Friday to stock up.  In past years I believe this tax break has lasted for one week.  This year it is for ONE WEEKEND.   Florida 2010 Tax-Free Days are August 13-15.

From our Governor:

During the sales tax holiday, Floridians will not pay sales tax on books, clothing and footwear that cost $50 or less, as well as school supplies that cost $10 or less. 

Our local newspaper had an excellent article yesterday with the full details.  Go to THIS LINK. 

If you live in the U.S. but not in Florida, go to THIS LINK.

Advance Make-Ahead Cooking / Baking ahead for the weekend

On Saturday morning, I needed to make a cake for a youth family cookout on Saturday night, so since the oven was going to be on anyway, I took a couple of hours and prepared a few things that would be eaten over the next few days.  We had a fairly busy Saturday and Sunday, so here's what I made with the oven on for about one hour, 15 minutes.

One dozen blueberry muffins--started with a Betty Crocker Wild Blueberry mix  and added fresh blueberries.  Great for breakfast and/or snacks.

Blueberry Muffins

Pizza--homemade bread dough flattened/spread on a baking sheet, Ragu sauce, shredded cheese mozzarella cheese sticks (almost panicked here since I was out of cheese!) + sliced onions, fresh mushrooms, green &  yellow peppers and bacon.  This was lunch on Saturday fresh out of the oven and reheated for lunch Sunday after church.  

Homemade Pizza

Homemade Pizza

Mixed Green Salad. Also made  a large green salad with lots of different veggies to go with the pizza.

Batch of Homemade Fruit Smoothies. For snacks and breakfast for me on Sunday rushing out the door to a music practice before church.

Strawberry Bundt Cake.  Recipe from  THIS SITE.  I made a bundt cake  instead of a layer cake, substituted strawberry cake mix, deleted the gelatin and pureed fresh strawberries to make it more moist.  I also had strawberry frosting but I used less than half of the can because it was a bundt cake (trying to cut out a bit of sugar).   Actually, I wanted to make homemade whipped cream to top it but I was out of heavy cream.   Topped with fresh sliced strawberries, served on a red and white plate.  (Presentation is half the taste, you know.)  :)  I took this to a party Saturday evening; leftovers came home.  

Homemade Strawberry Bundt Cake

Modesty: Victoria's Real Secret

Here is #4 in the series on Women and Beauty from Family Life--Modesty:  Victoria's "Real" Secret.


THIS LINK

...So I'm going to ask our beloved panelists here, Nancy Stafford, Sharon Jaynes, and Nancy Leigh DeMoss to–well, first of all, welcome back to FamilyLife Today. Thanks for trusting us enough to come back here on a fourth day to talk about the hot subject of modesty. Who would like to take a pass at this? Why do women dress immodestly?

Sharon Jaynes: I think probably the obvious reason is they want to get a man's attention. And women know that when they show parts of their body that a man is going to look. Unfortunately, even Christian women are doing this, and we are really getting two words confused. One word is "beauty" and the other word is "sexy." They are very different. What we need to realize is when a woman does show parts of her body her real desire is to appear sexy and to make a man think certain thoughts, and he's probably not going to be thinking she's beautiful. He's probably going to be having other thoughts...

Your Opthalmologist Eye Exam

I took one of my sons to the eye doctor last week and of course, had my camera in my  purse.  [They never knew I was shooting.]   In case you've ever wondered what it looks like when YOU get your eye exam...

This one is a little creepy but very interesting.

Loving the Body You Are Born With / Family Life Today

Here is Part #3 in the series this week from Family Life Today--Loving The Body You're Born With.  


THE LINK

Excerpt:

Bob: Do you remember the woman in the beginning of the fairy tale, "Sleeping Beauty?" The one who keeps looking in the mirror saying, "Mirror, mirror, on the wall; who's the fairest of them all?" If you're really the most beautiful, you don't have to worry about comparison, do you? Here is Nancy Stafford.

Nancy Stafford: That's maybe the biggest lie of all, because then when you feel beautiful, then the old thing kicks in of you're constantly looking over your shoulder – but how beautiful am I compared to her? So then the focus becomes being the thinnest, the prettiest, the fairest, at the party, because we‘re so desperate for that affirmation, and we love the attention that it garners us.

Actually, that quote is from the Disney film  Snow White, not Sleeping Beauty...

Longing for Beauty

Here is #2 in the radio series I mentioned yesterday.  Today's title is Longing for Beauty.

What I think women really need to remind themselves is that Madison Avenue, advertising on television and ads in magazines are for the purpose of making us discontent with ourselves so that we buy stuff.

And part of the lie, too, is that the world is defining for us what beautiful is. So you look at the magazines and the movie stars and whatever, and you say, "Beauty equals," you know, "being this height and weighing nothing and wearing a size zero. And having this kind of face and this kind of youthfulness. If you're 50 years old, you still have to look 20, and you can't and you don't."

How true!

The Beauty of a Woman Inward Beauty vs. Outward Beauty

Just wanted to let you all know that Family Life Today (division of Campus Crusade) is doing a series this week about women and their beauty.  This is an issue that pretty much all women are interested in, so listen (or read) and enjoy.

The Mirror Tells All--Or Does It? 

Go to THIS LINK to listen online or download the podcast.  

Go to THIS LINK to read the manuscript.

Guest speakers:

Sharon Jaynes, Nancy Stafford, Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Proverbs 31:30 

Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, 

But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised. 

Generosity: Baking for Someone Else / Random Act of Kindness

This weekend someone was talking about Random Acts of Kindness.  You know, when you do something for someone out of the blue, just because.  Totally unexpected.  No strings attached.   It's a lift to someone else's spirit and blesses you at the same time.  Like a quiet hug from the Lord.


Last week a young college-age friend posted  on Facebook that she wanted to bake a cake but didn't want to eat it.  (My son said that's against the laws of nature.)  I told her that if no one else wanted it that I'd love to have one.  I was planning on having company over this weekend and a nice homemade dessert would be great.  

We live about 30 minutes apart but I was on that end of town on Friday morning.  We met at a convenient location to pick it up.  What a treat!    Homemade Chocolate Mousse Cake.  Thank you, Amy.  It was absolutely delicious. At least eight people have had some and all enjoyed it.   I think there are 2 pieces left which our family of four will share tonight after supper.  :)  

I baked her a loaf of homemade bread and took it to her on Sunday for her family to enjoy as well.  :)

Galatians 6:10 

So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, 

and especially to those who are of the household of the faith. 

Sorority Reunion College Friends

UPDATE 8.27.12:  As my youngest begins college today, I'm reflecting back on my days in college and this reunion 2 years ago with my sorority sisters...some friendships made in college are truly life long...time for another reunion!
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Original post from 2010:

Yesterday was such a delightful time for me.  I was able to visit several of my friends from our college sorority.   We belonged to a local sorority of about 50-60 young college women called TYES  that has since become the national sorority Pi Beta Phi.   Local sororities are much less expensive than the national ones that require quite extravagant annual and monthly dues to be  active members and/or alumnae.  However, they are just as much fun!

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A few of us had even gone to high school and carpooled to college classes together since we lived in the same neighborhood.   Some people think that sororities are full of cookie-cutter Barbie girls. Ours were certainly attractive but different in so many ways, both then and now.   

We all played sports--softball, basketball, flag football, water polo--and were very competitive, winning lots of awards in college intramurals.    I'm glad I did since I have two sons.   :)  We do clean up rather nicely, too--see photo above.   We also won many awards for community service on campus and off.  Some were very athletic, some fashionistas, some liked to party hard, some musically gifted, others scientifically gifted...the list goes on.  Grade requirements kept most everyone's academics in line.  


As in all large groups or clubs there are always a few who are closer than others but what joy to be reunited with so many of them after 30+ years.  We're definitely not kids anymore.  I graduated from college  in 1977  so you can do the math. :)   Some Christians, some not.  Some have never married.  Some married young (some married older, like me) with children of all ages, some with grandchildren now.  Some have suffered through divorce, the death of a parent(s), spouse and/or children, sickness or other ways.  Some are moms at home, others have full-time careers. Many live out of state.  Facebook has helped us reconnect and touch each other's lives.  Amazingly, the friendships we had back then are still in tact, for the most part, even today.  

The college years from 18-22 years of age are such a growing up time of life as I can see now watching from the outside in my own son who is in college now (the same one from which I graduated).  :)  We made mistakes and hopefully, learned from them.  We learned how to get along with different personalities and how to appreciate those differences.  We comforted those with broken hearts, family struggles and rejoiced in each other's  accomplishments, engagements, weddings...

There was a reunion dinner on Friday night which was well attended (I couldn't go that night).  Saturday was another dinner and a tour of the university (which is in our city).  I had already done a tour a few months ago so I hosted a smaller gathering in our home--kind of a pre-reunion time of catching up.  

We chatted and laughed just like old times.  A dear friend to us all is in the midst of a battle with cancer (her husband of 34 years has myelenoma and begins the bone marrow transplant process this week).  They live in North Carolina.  We talked to her and met her whole family--kids, grandkids, her mom and also got to talk to her husband-- on SKYPE which was a first for me with VIDEO!    You've got to do this if you haven't already.  It's a free internet site that you can talk (audio) and/or have video at the same time.  It's almost like being there in person.  We were as glad to see her as she was to see us.  At the end  of our talk she put her arms around the computer and so did we for an internet hug.  :)  

Afterwards we headed over to a local restaurant where a room had been reserved for us.   About 20 gathered there to eat, share photographs, scrapbooks and albums, take even more pictures, laugh and talk more--mostly, a different group from Friday night.  We met at 7 p.m. and closed the place down at 11:00 p.m.  I have been hoarse all day from talking practically non-stop from 4:30 - 11:00 p.m.!  :)  

Many posted their photos on Facebook right away.  One of the organizers (thanks, Bobbi) set up a data base to help us keep current as to where everyone is, emails, phone numbers, etc. 

One of the women was headed back to New York so a few of us got together for one last lunch together.  :)

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of friends, particularly the ones who have known me the longest.  These women  are a treasure and I am blessed to know them and to be a part of their lives and them a part of mine, both in our youth and now into mid-life and beyond.  I love you, Ladies.

Philippians 1:3 

 I thank my God in all my remembrance of you...

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