Not Wealthy But Healthy: April 2012

This blog will help you towards healthier lifestyle choices!

I owned a State Approved K-6 for over 20 years and when it closed, I was devastated. However, I decided to make lemonade out of lemons and so I thought: I went to school for 40 years (one class at a time) and I have a PhD, I'll just look for a better job.

And, I did.....look that is, the "finding" part eluded me. I was 60 years old, never got sick and could outwork almost anyone half my age but, as I was looking for a job, it was NOT looking for me!

In the first two years after my school's closure, I applied for over 450 jobs (everything from Starbucks, to Admin Assistant to jewelry sales) and had no luck.

Finally a friend asked why I was counting the jobs and I realized I was focusing on what was NOT happening instead of what might happen so I quit counting, but not applying.

In order to survive, I sold my house and lived off the proceeds while I continued applying. I lived extremely frugally because I knew that the money would not last forever.

Over the years, I have continued to live frugally and apply for jobs. However, there truly is ageism in America today and I have been unsuccessful in getting a "real" job.

What I have been successful at is cobbling together a life by working at my many part time jobs! Currently, I have 2 jobs each day (subbing in the Auburn School District and tutoring at Sylvan Learning Centers). And I do other jobs occasionally such as Real Estate Broker, Author, and Editor.

Because I am a Health Coach, my passion is helping people be healthier.
Over the years, I've learned much about how to be healthy even if I wasn't wealthy so I decided to share my expertise with you! I will bring you tips, recipes, and many ideas on how to choose a healthy lifestyle, even if you are eating out of the local Food Bank and/or don't have much money to pay for gym memberships!

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Spinach Salad with Coleslaw

We got an abundance of spinach yesterday, along with a coleslaw mix. I put the two together for a salad. I used a non-fat Italian dressing over it. It was very good.

Enchiladas

Two weeks ago, I received some enchilada sauce, yesterday I received corn tortillas and a can of beans. So, I warmed the corn tortillas and heated the beans. I poured a little enchilada sauce into the bottom of a glass baking pan. I put about 2 tablespoons of heated beans into the center of the warmed corn tortillas and rolled them so the edges were down. I laid them into the enchilada sauce and poured the reaminder of the enchilada sauce over them. I baked them for about 30 minutes at 350. It was delicious!

Easy and Nutritious Stir Fry

Although not every item in this recipe was received yesterday at the Food Bank, it is a really good tasting stir fry.

Create an easy nutritious vegetable stir fry, heat 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a wok, add 1 chopped onion and 1 clove crushed garlic, cook for 2 minutes and then add 2 cups shredded cabbage, 2 cups sliced mushrooms and 2 cups chopped bok choy, cook for 4 minutes and serve immediately.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Yummy Green Tropical Smoothie!

To make a blended tropical green smoothie, blend one mango, one frozen banana, 2 cups fresh spinach and 1/4 cup coconut water.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Quick and Easy Tomato Soup with Pizazz!

2 cans Tomato soup
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1 can corn (or 2 cups frozen corn)
3 potatoes (small diced)
Chili (to taste)

This soup is healthy but does use canned foods so some may choose to do something different. However, if there were a disaster, and you had the ingredients, it would work. I put in lots of chili because I like it HOT!

Spring Mix Salad with Kale

Two weeks ago, I was given a bag of kale salad (with carrots, purple cabbage, and white cabbage), a container of organic spring mix and some very small tomatoes.

I put them all together and had a wonderful salad.