Have a Better Life

One of my goals for 2009 was to get organized but until know I haven’t accomplished it.

Having a full time job outside the house makes me use the office computer during the day and at night my desktop or my laptop.

I’ve been downloading a lot of free reports about family budget, affiliate marketing, debt strategies several reports from important bloggers about better blogging, so I’ve got those reports scattered all over the place. Some are on my handbag, others are on the laptop bag, some in the living room and others in my bedroom. I try to have them around me so that when I have a little time I can take a look at them but it’s not working.

Another thing that delays my online work is that in the office computer I can’t save my passwords and sites I visit for my own security so each time I want to check my Gmail, my feed reader, reply to some post comments I spend a lot of time with logging in and afterwards logging out and deleting all the private links or cookies that are left in the computer. I also stopped using twitter so often because some of my co-workers and bosses have access to my computer and I don’t want them to sneak pick my stuff or think that I’m neglecting work to use twitter.

I don’t know if there is an easy way to manage this but it’s getting complicated.

Of course blogging is not my main job but I came to a point that I think I should have my own space at home where I can store all the passwords, reports, e-books I have related to blogging. I have a small dressing room connected with my main room and I’m thinking about getting some sort of home office furniture like a desk with a drawer where I can put my laptop and blogging related items.

As we are going through a financial crisis I’m thinking about recycling an old piece of a bar we had in the living room and maybe I can built the desk I want.

What about you that work full time? Do you check your mails and feed reader at work? How do you “hide” it from your bosses? Do you login and out several times during the day?

It’s time for another healthy recipe. This time I bring here a very easy Sandwich that is delicious and healthy.

Stuffed Pork Sandwich

Ingredients:

• 4 4-ounce boneless pork chops, 1/2 inch thick, trimmed
• 2 thin slices Swiss cheese (1 ounce each), cut in half
• 4 dill pickle sandwich slices
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 4 whole-wheat hamburger buns, toasted
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 4 slices tomato
• 2 romaine lettuce leaves, cut in half

1. Cut each pork chop nearly in half horizontally, stopping short of the opposite side. Open each chop and place between sheets of plastic wrap. Pound with a meat mallet or heavy skillet until flattened to an even thickness, slightly thicker than 1/8 inch.
2. Place a piece of cheese and a pickle slice on one side of each flattened chop. Fold the chop over the filling, closing it like a book. Press the edges firmly together to seal. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the stuffed chops, reduce heat to medium and cook until golden brown and cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes per side.
4. To assemble sandwiches, spread the toasted buns with mustard and top each with a pork chop, tomato slice and lettuce.

If you want you can add any other healthy ingredient you like. I grabbed this recipe from Eating Well and I hope you like it.

I’m going to bring you a new recipe once a week, I’ll pick them up on great cooking sites I find on the web and I assure you that they will be always light and healthy recipes.

I wonder if there are any franchises ideas for light and healthy cooking companies. This might be something that a cooking lover would be interested in.

I guess that from running, playing and sweating so much on his birthday party, my son is now with a strong cold and cough.  For now it is just a common cold, how do I know that? Because he has normal common cold symptoms, no fever, runny nose, cough and sore throat. Let’s wait one or two days to see if this cold evolves to something worse, I hope not.

Here is some information about symptoms and home remedies for a common cold.

Symptoms of a common Cold
There are lots of symptoms associated  with the common cold. One of the first things is soreness in the throat. Your throat may get very dry and scratchy. It is also relatively common for a little fever in the early onset of symptoms. The fever is often just less than one hundred degrees. The eyes often become watery and reddened. Also, the sufferer will probably get a persistent sneeze, cough and a runny nose. When an individual experiences a severe cold, the body may ache continuously. There may be an altered taste, or even no motivation to eat at all.

Home Remedies for a common Cold
There are quite a few home remedies for the common cold. It is important to know that when searching for these remedies, there is no one set/cure for the common cold. Any and all home remedies that you use will either improve the symptoms that you are experiencing with your cold, or simply improve your comfort level while the cold goes away. The following are some of the better home remedies for you to use for the common cold:

1. One of the best home remedies for a cold is to get plenty of rest. Rest is essential when you get sick because it allows your body to devote its time and energy to fighting off the infection. You should not overly exert yourself before you are better, or you may be sick much longer!
2. When seeking an herbal remedy to alleviate the symptoms of the cold, you may find garlic to help. Garlic has been found to be a natural antiseptic. This helps to clear the body of viruses and any bacteria that have colonized the body.
3. People who have significant respiratory congestion (my son’s case) find that showers are very helpful for improving the congestion. Once you have breathed in steam, you should then drink some peppermint in a glass of warm milk. This will soothe the throat and open up the sinuses.

Conclusion
Now you know, there are a number of different home remedies for the common cold. You must first think of the symptoms you want to be rid of, and then choose the remedies that assist in that symptom. Also, you should guarantee that you get sufficient rest and drink lots of fluids. It is then that you will find yourself with a quick recovery.

Usually I don’t have breakfast before I leave home to go to work, at least that 15-minutes-breakfast people talk about. I swallow drink a cup of milk with coffee and I’m on my way. My son does the same and my daughter drinks her milk in the bottle while she is still in bed.

I know this is wrong, breakfast is the most important meal of the day but we never have time to sit down and eat quietly. But I want to change this because:

Breakfast should be a great source of nutrients and energy after 6 to 8 hours of sleep. If we don’t have a healthy breakfast our body will suffer from lack of sugar, vitamins and mineral and this can bring up illnesses and diseases. Of course we can try to make it up and eat a lot of food during the say but it’s not the same as having them in early morning.

Having a healthy breakfast prevent us from eating too much at lunch time because we are too hungry. Remember that eating too much at a meal can cause obesity, weight gain and these conditions can cause heart disease.

My husband leaves home earlier in the morning so we almost never meet in the morning, it’s just me and the kids. I believe that getting up 15 minutes earlier and sit at my kitchen table for 10 to 15 minutes with my kids will avoid the usual morning stress and will make us healthier.

I live in a country with a Mediterranean diet, so sausages, eggs, bacon are not part of our diet. My kids love cereals with milk and for me a cup of milk with coffee and maybe a toast would be great to make feel better during the day.

Having a healthy breakfast is definitely a goal for 2009.

Image by c.a.muller via Flickr

Having two kids at home I know what colds and coughs are and how difficult it is to identify if it is a regular cold or an infection. There are several types of coughs and even with 10 years of experience (my oldest is 10 years old) it’s always kind of difficult to know what to do.

The trusted and well known leader in Pediatric cough and cold medicines Triaminic® (in partnership with National Association of School Nurses) launched the Sick Day Guidelines for parents to identify what their kids really have and also provide the parents with some tips on how to help their children with their cough and cold symptoms. The Sick Day Guidelines is being distributed all over the country by school nurses.

Many parents are a little unsecured on how to deal with the new recommendations of not using cough and cold medicines in children under 4 years of age as well as how to know the right dose for 4 years old and older kids, so this Sick Day Guidelines will be a helper in every family house.

My personal advice is that you should always read the labels on the medicine boxes as well as the pamphlet that comes inside the boxes. Always read all the information that comes with the medicine and make sure you give the right dose to your kids.

If you use Triaminic® Thin Strips® medicine you don’t have to worry about measuring the doses because each strip already has the right dose for your child. The dose is pre-measured and your child just have to dissolve it in her/his tongue.

Of course if your child has symptoms that do not fit those on the Sick Day Guidelines you should search for medical assistance.

My baby boy is 10 years old. Yesterday it was his birthday.

I’m glad he’s not so active as he was when he was younger. I had a rough time with him in the past due to his super activity although he isn’t Hyperactive. I’m going to write a few words that come to my mind about him:

• Sweet - He is just so sweet…
• Active – Never stops, always moving, unable to stay still
• Devil – Under his angel face there is a little devil
• Stubborn – Really stubborn, too much in fact
• Angel – He is sweet and can be a real angel
• Tough – It’s tough to deal with him sometimes, things get rough from time to time.
• Blue Eyes – I love blue eyes and he has them.
• Disorganized - He’s the most disorganized person I know, clothes everywhere, toys scattered through the house,etc.
• Lazy – He never wants to bath, to organize his toys, his clothes.
• Friend – He is a real friend of his friends and sister.
• Caring – He worries a lot about other people’s problems specially when it is a friend or someone from the family.
• Blond – Color of the sun, he is my sun.
• Gorgeous – Blond and blue eyes what a terrific combination.

Happy Birthday my baby!!!