It could be today!

Today could be the day someone you know gets cancer. Based on statistics...it could even be you or me.
http://www.cancer.org/ has all of the latest stats if you really want to increase your fear and phobia.

So why hit you between the eyes with it? So you'll listen:)

We can't get more out of life if we aren't living !!

Every day we make choices. We know when we make a bad one just like we know when we make an awesome one. Question is...how will that choice impact us in the future?

In my job as a medical underwriter for a long term care insurance company, (retired in 2011) i had the privilege of  getting an up close and personal glimpse into our nations medical history from every corner of the United States.

So what...right?  Here is what I found out...We are one sick, under educated, dying breed. I won't get on any soap box today...but I will give you a few facts to possibly wake you up !!!!!

You are the one I want to help today. You and I are here together and right now, it's you i want to focus on.

Here are some basic TRUTHS you should take to heart:

1- You are what you eat
2-  A body at rest stays at rest, a body in action stays in action
3-  You know your health better than your doctor
4-  Educate yourself to get health

One HUGE thing I noticed was that when individuals had a habit of "eating out" they had cancer in their history. Men had prostate cancer, women had breast cancer. WHY? because they didn't know that they were feeding themselves fats/foods that were causing an inflammatory response in their body. That simple.

So, no one wants to cut out going out to dinner with family and friends right? But there is a way you can ...pardon the pun...have your cake and eat it too.

That is to educate yourself about the healthy fats that you body needs to stay strong and build new cells and the ones that make you fat, sick and dead.

Call me for a 15 minute (just you and I) and get started today!! 1-800-503-0483

Get more out of life!! Live it!!

~Sandra
www.sandrabullard.com

Let me be me!!

Some days wouldn't you just like to scream at the top of your lungs?

Ok, well maybe you are the quiet, reserved, well mannered person in the family. But I bet you have thought about it. I want to just be me, be myself and quit feeling like I have so many rules that I can't breathe.

Come on, yell it!! Now didn't that feel great?I heard you way up here in New York! What a set of lungs!

Enthusiasm, that's what I like and you have it! We all have it! But we have to let go of the thoughts that bind us. The ones that tell us what we have to do for people to accept us.It's such a competitive world out there and it's getting even harder to stand out, or stand up or be unique. Or that's is what I used to think. But what I found out was, that I was already unique. There is only one me and one you. You are awesome. Just the way you are. Get and give permission to grow!! Become the me inside that you want to be. The person you were born to be.

Let's be free...you and me. Are you working still? Let's work together. Are you retired? Let's be retired together. Are you looking for yourself? Let's look together. I'm still discovering myself and you can too.

Sandra

Meals in a Hurry!!

Learn to alkalize your body !
Bean & Rice Combo

Ingredients:

1-½ cups cooked brown or white rice

1 tsp sea salt, (to taste)

2 cups black beans, cooked

½ tsp ground cumin

1 large avocado, cubed

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 clove garlic, minced

2 green onions, chopped

Directions:

1. Cook rice according to package directions and keep warm.

2. Warm beans in a small saucepan and stir in ground cumin.

3. Cut avocado into cubes. Make a salsa by combining diced tomatoes, avocado, lemon juice,

garlic, and green onions; then add sea salt to taste (about ½ tsp). into rice bowls add warm rice, seasoned beans, and salsa.

Here's a simple meal that you can make even faster!
Curried Hummus Wrap

Ingredients:

1 large avocado,sliced

1 cup prepared hummus

1 tsp curry powder

1 medium cucumber cut into thin round slices

4 lettuce leaves (love leaf lettuce)

4 whole grain flatbreads

Directions:

1. Blend curry powder into hummus.

2. To make each wrap, spread ¼ cup hummus onto bread and top with avocado, cucumber and lettuce.

Ooooo...the most important part..ENJOY!! without guilt because you are eating healthy!! Just stick to a small portion size and you have it made in the shade! Comments appreciated!! Questions answered!

Who wants ice cream?

Life used to be simple. Why were prices much lower and the interest rates much higher? How do the drug and insurance companies get away with running the doctors. Why do doctors have to pay HUGE $$ for malpractice insurance and we complain we wait too long, get too little and pay too much? How has war become a profitable business? Why do we help other countries recover from disasters, starvation and illnesses while our own country is in need ?Why do both parents have to work? Why are so many people going out to eat and but say they can't afford to buy organic? Why does the neighbor's dog bark all day long for no apparent reason? Who wants ice cream?

Might as well stop asking questions that there are no good answers to right? Is there a solution to all of these problems? Who has the answer and why don't they share it? Why isn't somebody doing something?? Who wants ice cream?

Why are Americans becoming sicker and sicker? Why does the food pyramid keep changing? Why is butter bad one day and good the next? Why do people know they have to eat right and exercise but do everything but that? How do we make ourselves change bad habits? How did cigarettes get to be $10 a pack, require no advertising and still stay as one of the top 5 bad habits? How did getting the doctor of your choice get to be chosen by someone other than you? Who wants ice cream?

I haven't even taken a chip out of the iceberg on these questions. The worst thing about icebergs is what you can't really see isn't it? So what am I missing? What do you think? What questions are bugging you? Share your comments with me. I want to know!!

Oh... and who wants ice cream? That cures everything doesn't it?:)

Quick Tips for Tonight's Supper!

Grilling can be healthy as long as you don't char it. Turn it low and go slow. When weather does not permit outside grilling you can broil in the oven for similar results.

Cooking a one pot meal will feel so much easier and clean up will be faster. 

Learn to use easy clean up techniques such as crock pot bags, cover oven floors with something you can throw out instead of wash or scrub off. Cover cookie sheets and anything that splatters, put a lid on.

If you cook with a microwave ( I don't recommend it) put paper towels under and over things to reduce splatter and avoid cleanup.

If you start out late or are in a hurry, learn to use a pressure cooker. In just 45 minutes you can have a huge roast cooked or enjoy soups, stews and more!

Ingredients
·                     2 lbs russet potatoes (about 5 potatoes)

·                     1 1/2 cups heavy cream

·                     1/2 - 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese

·                     3 cloves garlic

·                     2 sprigs thyme

·                     2 sprigs dill

·                     2 sprigs parsley 

·                     4-5 leaves of rosemary (not the entire sprig)

·                     1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (you can add more if you like it really spicy)

·                     1/2 teaspoon black pepper

·                     1/2 tsp garlic powder 

·                     dash of sea salt 

Directions:

1.            Peel and slice potatoes.  You can slice these by hand or use a mandolin which is the easiest way to get uniformed slices. Slice the potatoes to 1/8 inch thickness.  Place potatoes in a bowl with cold water to prevent from browning. 

2.            Prepare the cream mixture by heating milk on low heat and adding chopped herbs, salt, garlic powder, chopped garlic, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.  Let it simmer until for 5 minutes on low heat. 

3.            Butter a casserole dish and begin to layer potatoes.  Pour a little milk over the first layer and then sprinkle some Parmesan cheese.  Continue to layer until your milk mixture and potatoes have been used up. 

4.            Sprinkle a little paprika or cayenne pepper on the top layer then add rest of parmesan cheese. 

5.            Bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes.  Insert a toothpick into the center of the dish to make sure potatoes have cooked all the way through.  If the top is not brown enough, turn broiler on for 2 minutes to get a golden brown crust.  Keep and eye on it since the broiler works quickly and can burn your potato dish easily!

Under a Bushel Basket

Do you know your own potential for greatness? Do you recognize your talents? You can probably see them in others much better than yourself. But this is what I learned about myself this week, I only see the things that need work. Who doesn't need work? Right?

This tends to take on a life of it's own with me. I start seeing the things that I need to change and only focus on those. It's like hitting yourself with a wooden spoon. It hurts! After a ton of bruises I say "Maybe that's not the best way to bring about change."

We all pick the way we do things based on pain or pleasure. If it causes us pain we naturally stay away. If we like it, we might even find ourselves doing that more often. Old habits die hard don't they? Especially if we have been doing them for a long while. Like eating the wrong foods, eating too much of the right foods, drinking, smoking, driving dangerously, returning to an abusive situation, continuing on a path of least resistance no matter the cost.

I've done all of those and more. What I think about most is the pattern. Setting oneself up for disappointment or listening to others say "watch out for that" and continuing on just the same. What keeps us tethered exactly on that path? How does anyone break a bad habit? How do we change the way we think about what we do? What keeps a moth from hitting a flame?

It's definitely an inside job. No one can change us. We have to find a way to change ourselves. Wow, that's tough!! I can get myself thinking the right thoughts and doing the right things that I know are what I want and before I know it...BOOM...back on the old path. Dang...I thought I had it, well I did have it. It felt good too!! It brought me such pleasure. Why would I want to go back to the pain??

I wish someone else would be in control of my actions. Sort of like a video game, give someone else the controller and that way it would be easy. Willpower, doesn't seem to do it. So what's the answer??

A personal success plan. It takes the emotional part away. Then it's just following your own directions. Make that recipe for success! Find a short term motivator and prevent long term consequences. So let's think of a few. How can we reward ourselves for making good choices?? Put a quarter in a jar so we can see our success pile up. Make a mark on a calendar, add a rubber band to our wrist, take little steps toward a bigger prize (that new goal we have). What would motivate you to change??

It's easy to hide our light under a bushel basket, it's easy to sit in the back, to not speak up, to be a wall flower, to not make waves, to feel we don't deserve the things we really want or want to happen. To sabotage ourselves is easy. How do I know? We do it, we keep doing it. We go right back to it. It must be easy. We have the potential for greatness and we keep hiding it. Flip off the basket and let that light shine! Find an accountability partner, someone who you feel emotionally safe with. Someone who won't judge you. Or get a coach or mentor to pull you out from under!! I'm here too. We can do it, we just can't give up!
www.sandrabullard.com

It's a loose spring!

Every once in awhile I get this really crazy notion...maybe you get those too? You wonder what it would be like to just get up today, get showered, dressed, pack a bag, hop on any flight going anywhere and be there for lunch or supper or lupper. What a wild and really loony idea huh?

So, ever wonder why no one that you know does that? If you know of someone that has done it or if you have done it I want to hear how you came to do it in the comments. Because that my friend is FREEDOM. In today's world of routine and schedules it's hard to find time to do anything you really want to do when you are working.

I guess that kind of thinking was how the "retirement bug" bit me. I was about age 35 when my nursing career was well underway, I saw how poorly nurses were paid. It made me mad to think that chefs made more money. Then there was the guilt of not being there for my kids. I kinda felt like my life took the drivers seat and I was just there for the 45 year ride. Stuff was passing me by on both sides so fast that I hardly had time to prepare or enjoy them.

I started putting those "special events" in plastic zip bags so I could keep the mementos. Figuring that some day ...when I retired, I could take them and put them all in order in a scrap book. Well, I had the hardest time finding a good old fashioned scrap book. You know the kind you just slap stuff on the page and call it a day? No, probably not. Well, they used to make it a little less of an all out 2 day project. But, hey, I retired in 2011 and I haven't gotten to it yet. If my kids are reading this...Sorry:)

I started painting the hallway about 2 months ago now. Luckily the paint can I cracked open had just enough to reach to the end of the wall I started painting. No problem right...wrong. The women behind the paint counter said, well mam (I hate that) we don't make that number base anymore so we can't match that paint color exactly. I bought the closest color they could mix up and there it sits. Along with my 8th day of the week.

So,by now you have completely forgotten what got you interested in reading this post. It was probably the loose spring headline that did it.
I started me thinking about getting older and how I feel about aging. In general, it's obvious that we can put on all the lotions and potions we can afford. Some do nips and tucks and sucks (that's the new one) oh and freeze, I forgot freeze the fat one. But we can't escape the time. It passes even when we aren't looking . But what you remember about people isn't so much what they look like because beauty comes from within. It's the springs that make the mattress. It's how they lived their life! It's what they had the courage to do that you couldn't! It's how they inspired you or how they taught you something about yourself.  No matter what you think about when their name comes to mind, it's that little piece of them that you recall. So by chance if you get a mattress with a little loose spring...think of me! Always there to support you, pretty fair under pressure and sometimes a pain in the butt.