Not Wealthy But Healthy: February 2016

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!

Friday, February 26, 2016

Vegan Black Bean Soup

I had a box of spicy black bean soup but wanted it to be more "full" so I added the following ingredients and it was really delicious! 1 box Pacific Spicy Black Bean Soup 2 cups black beans (I reconstitute dry beans but you can use canned beans if you like. Be sure to rinse them if you are using the canned ones). 1 package frozen corn (I use organic only so I don't have to worry about GMO's) 1 each red, yellow, orange bell peppers, diced several stalks of cilantro 1 TBS chili powder dash salt I put all of the ingredients into a crockpot on high and cooked for about 4 hours. Great soup!

Vegan Magaly's Salad

My friend, Magaly, shared this recipe with me and it is SO delicious. It's not very expensive (except for the avocados) and is a great salad or you can use it as a dip. 2 cans black beans (or 2 cups of black beans that have been reconstituted) 2 red bell peppers, diced 2 cups frozen corn 2 avocados, diced 1 large Walla Walla sweet onion (or whatever you have available) Juice from 2 limes Rinse canned black beans. Add rest of ingredients. Squeeze lime juice over the salad. If you want to use this as a dip, lime chips taste really good with it. I have also used it as a filling for a soft tortilla.