Category Archives: Health

Sleep Deprived

Sleep Deprived

Today I feel like I’m a walking zombie….. I’m walking around looking like I’m composed and functional yet I’m nothing close to that!

I’m actually surprised that I’m sitting up right looking at the screen and typing…. mind you I’m misspelling every other word (I actually wrote order instead of word, that’s how bad!) Thank God for spell check and that squiggly red line!

I decided to actually Google “Remedies for Sleep Deprivation” and the first on the list was WebMD….ahhh yes the site that make you believe you have a tumor or fatal disease because you complain of a simple head ache… I went to read what it had to say anyway!!!

I start the first few paragraphs and say “Ok….tell me something I don’t know!” and then I get totally insulted when the article starts talking about age!! I mean seriously it’s getting personal here! SO I then decide I need to find another site to get educated…

Most of the sites I read all spoke about ways to avoid sleep deprivation…. I know why I’m sleep deprived “I SLEPT LATE!!” and I need to fix it now so I can function normally….Remedy = Cure why isn’t Google not giving me the cure?? I don’t need preventative measures….

Did I put to many “….” in that last paragraph?? Well I’m probably not going to proof read any way I’m too tired for perfection today:) still misspelling every other word by the way.

GREAT now this other site is starting to talk about how sleep deprivation can cause depression!! This is not looking good, obviously I’m depressed I want to curl into bed and sleep but don’t have that luxury.

Page after page of somewhat useless information at this point I’m feeling like I’m just wasting my time without getting anywhere. Yet I move onto the next website in the hopes that it will have something to wake me up!

That’s IT I’m calling it a post! I’m just going to engross myself with a ton of work, ignore the fact that I feel like I’m jetlagged and hit by a bus at the same time and have a big cup of coffee to give me some false energy.

Turns out I am human after all people!

Here’s to hoping that I get to bed earlier today so that tomorrow I can start Making Life Memorable with all my screws on tight!

Officially Sick

Officially Sick

One of the hardest things of being a mommy is getting sick… the last thing we need in our busy schedule is not to have energy to do it all.

This past week I have tried to fight it as much as I can but I guess it caught up on me.

So in the process I have researched natural remedies that help in speeding the process of recovery. As much as we all would like to believe that there are remedies but in truth a cold is going to take a week with or without medication but all we can do is relieve the pain.

I have found that ginger really help in relieving soar and itchy throat. There are many ways you can take it. As a tea as a “shot” but my favorite is blended in my smoothie.

ginger
 

It’s a fairly simple Recipe

1 Green Apple
1 Carrot
1/2 inch Ginger
1 1/2 Cup Water

Blend it all in your blender and enjoy the zingyness.

If your prefer not to have it textured and own a juicer just do the same but omit water.

It would be nice to say that I hope you won’t have to use this one day but the likeliness of that is minimal.
 

So here’s me signing off and hope I get well enough to continue Making Life Memorable.

My Mission Week

My Mission Week

It’s funny how sometimes life takes over and you’re just busy doing your daily routine that it takes you maybe days (or months) to realize that you’ve lost your groove.

In my case it could be overwhelmed with life. Apart from the punches it has thrown at us, we ( my husband and I) have kept it together this past year. Hoping that come September our mission to keep on track should fall into place (insert prayer here!)

I’ve taken these past few days to make a list of the things that I have to get back on the wagon. The first I shared with you yesterday which was the “Return of blogging” so mission one seems to go as planned as I’m still typing

Banana Ideas

Banana Ideas

In our household we always have an abundance of Bananas.

I use them daily in my green smoothies, great breakfast/snack for the girls yet we always end up with a few that are too ripe.

The lovely thing about these delectable fruit is that they are soooo versatile. Transformable to several things from Peanut butter & Banana Smoothie, Healthy Oatmeal & Banana cookies or Banana Muffins…. the list is really endless.

Yet at times I just want to save the fruit for a specific purpose ….My smoothie or you have too much to go in a baking frenzy.

As they say the “Necessity is the mother of invention”. I figured out the best way to actually freeze Bananas. It’s amazing because now it actually works well with the smoothie because it makes it even colder.
B1
 

You’ll need:
The ripe bananas (do not freeze unripe bananas they won’t do well in the freezer)
Cookie Sheet
Parchment paper
Knife
Ziploc bags
 
 
 
 
 
 

B2
 
 

Directions:
Peel & slice the bananas into pieces (about 2.5cm)

Place on the cookie sheet lined with Parchment paper.

Make sure that bananas are not touching to avoid sticking to each other.

Place in the freezer (uncovered) for at least 30 minutes until the bananas are solid.
 
 
 
 

B3

 
 
Transfer the banana slices into Ziploc bags.

I like to mark the bags with the date so that I know their “life”.
Squeeze the air out of each bag and seal.

Return back to the freezer.

The banana chunks are good for 3/4 months.

If you plan on using them for baking it’s a good idea to thaw them out.

NOTE: You can also use the same method without slicing the bananas and freezing them whole (peeled) and they will last for the same amount of time. I personally like to slice them as it’s easier to store in the bags.

Going Green

Going Green

After many fad diets, life altering eating habits, checkups and all that there is under the sun about weight loss I have decided to go green….. May have been talking about it and raving about not only its health benefits but also how it helps the metabolism, decreases appetite, detoxing the body and other advantages.

It first started when I was following “My Healthy Dish” the blog and instagram account @myhealthydish_ It was a real encouragement to see the transformation of what a few fibers in the system can do. Then the real investigation started with downloading several books and doing loads of reading. Now I added two more GREEN blogs. Simple Green Smoothies and Raw Family. There are TONS of blogs and websites that you can also find but I stopped myself before getting too overwhelmed.

The concept of green smoothies is fairly simple. 60% Fruit & 40% Greens and 1-2 cups liquid. A great instructional video is “How to Make a Green Smoothie” by Sergei Boutenko from the Raw Family. You can also check out many of their other articles and videos for inspiration.

The hardest thing I found in Kuwait was actually the “green” ingredients. The most common green that is used is spinach because it’s a little milder in taste and is masked very well behind all the added fruit. I used to see fresh spinach all the time at the Jamiya, Sultan, Lulu hypermarket but now that I’m looking for it it’s no where to bee seen. So I had to do some alterations what other veggies can I use and I found a list . So there goes another investigation of finding these other greens. Kale….hmmm what is it in Arabic? What does it look like? so here you see me in the vegetable section with my iPhone looking at pictures of these greens and trying to find them. It was really entertaining I’m sure for those that were looking at me. Meanwhile, Jennah and Zeenah kept stocking up on fruits for me and weighing them. So I substituted with what I could and off to the cashier with a cart full of fruits and vegetables and two hyper girls. Paid, bagged and buckled on our way home. Excited that the first thing I do in the morning was get my first green smoothie and no coffee.

For help on the greens here’s a list of what you could use. Spinach, lettuce, parsley, kale, chard, basil, cilantro, bok choy, celery, and cucumber. Mostly everywhere I read state that the darker the leaf the better the heath benefits. So other uncommon suggestions would be beet tops, celery leaves and strawberry leaves. One desperate grocery run I actually bought fresh horseradish because the leaves looked perfect…. that really made a Spicy breakfast for me. I added a few dates to the mix and it balanced it out.

I think I don’t need to tell you what fruits are because most of us have a general sense BUT…. Don’t forget to add Tomato and Cucumbers to that list… a misconception to many.

Finally the liquid part. The most common in recipes would be either water or green tea. Other options are Almont Milk, Coconut water or milk, rice milk or orange juice.

Some recipes and websites recommend things called “Super foods” these basically add additional nutrients to your smoothie. I still haven’t ventured into that area. Possibly because I anticipate that many of these items would be a challenge to find locally and it’s too hot for me to find out….maybe in October?

The amazing result of these morning smoothies is that it really suppressed my appetite. I’m not sure if its psychological or not but hey it works!! I do recommend it to everyone. Whatever the reason try to incorporate it into your daily diet. It really will make a difference. I think my next step is actually to try out the 21 day cleanse. I want to take it one step at a time and really get the hang of the green smoothies before diving into something that I might slip up on.
 

blender
 
 
 

After 2 weeks of green smoothies and using my regular out-dated 10+ year old blender I was ready to step up my game. Many of the websites recommend the Vitamix blender. Which I’m sure is amazing but probably unavailable in Kuwait and I really wanted to just click a few buttons and have a good blender delivered to my doorstep. A Quick visit to Xcite App and 24 hours later my new blender with a special SMOOTHIE dial was delivered.

 
 

 

If you were debating and worried about the taste no need to wonder. The first time I made it the girls were so excited and tasted it and decided they wanted to have their own cup of green smoothie. It doesn’t taste green at all. I hope you decide to venture out and start Greening it soon.

My favorite recipe was Kale, celery, strawberry, blueberry, apple, peach, banana and green tea. If you’re a green smoothie drinker I’d love to hear your favorite recipe!