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KITCHEN HACKS TO SAVE MONEY & TIME Kitchen Hack #1 Store tomatoes with the stems facing down to keep them from spoiling as fast. They’re also better at room temperature rather than in the refrigerator – so leave them stem down on the counter-top for a longer life. Kitchen Hack #2 Instead of flipping your veggies half-way through roasting, leave the baking sheet in the oven while it’s preheating. This preheats the pan as well, so when you add your veggies they will cook on both sides more evenly and quickly. Kitchen Hack #3 Have you ever stuck your hand in the silverware drawer and gotten an unexpected poke from a knife? Take those old wine corks and place one on the top of each knife while they’re being stored to keep your hands protected. Or get a Bamboo Knife Dock. Kitchen Hack #4 Keep bananas from spoiling too fast by wrapping the end of the bunch with plastic wrap. Even better, separate the bananas and wrap each stem to make them last even longer. Kitchen Hack #5 Have you ever wondered how you could tell if an egg has spoiled? Try this – put an uncooked egg in a bowl of cold water – if it sinks, it’s still good, if it floats, toss it. Kitchen Hack #6 Speed up your herb chopping process with a pizza cutter! Get your herb bunch ready on the cutting board and roll a pizza cutter in different directions. This chops herbs thoroughly. Kitchen Hack #7 Apple slicers certainly make apple cutting a breeze, but have you ever thought to use it for potatoes, as well? Use your apple slicer to get white or sweet potatoes into long chunks. You can have fresh, homemade sweet potato fries cut perfectly within minutes! Grocery Store Tips If you’re heading to the supermarket with a half-baked plan of what you need -- don’t. Doing this is the perfect storm for a grocery cart full of unnecessary items, and a receipt a mile long. Before you go – make up a menu for the week and then create your shopping list from what you need on your menu! Trust me – you’ll spend less time and money at the store. When creating your weekly menu – think about large meals you can make that you can later eat for a few days (dinner one night, lunch two days later, etc.). It might seem like a chore at first, but it pays off big in saving both time and money. When you prep your meals, you free up a LOT of time you’d spend scurrying around during the week. No more running late. No more being too tired to cook something delicious and nutritious. Plus, you’re less likely to waste food when you have everything organized and ready to go. Spending little time up front planning and organizing will give you back more time later to enjoy for yourself. Take a look at your kitchen. Are the cabinets messy? Are the pots and pans here and there? Do you know where everything is? Do you have things you never use? Organize everything so that it’s easy to find. You’ll never waste time in the kitchen again when you do! More Grocery Store Tips Have you heard this – Shop the Perimeter? This means, when you’re in the supermarket stay away from the center aisles whenever possible. All supermarkets follow the same basic layout. Around the perimeter, you’ll see fresh foods like produce, seafood, eggs, meats and dairy. The good stuff! The internal aisles display those colorful shelf-stable pre-packaged food-like-items. Keep to your list when you need to go into the interior, items such as dried beans or rice. This way you won’t cave and wind up with a cart full of cookies and chips! Here’s another tip. Choose fruits and vegetables that are in season. They will be fresher, priced lower, more abundant, and taste better! Here is where you can be flexible in your meal planning and swap out one vegetable for another, focusing on what’s in season. WANT TO LEARN MORE HACKS-----> Sign up for our $1.00 Trial Apple JACS Membership SIGN UP STARTS IN MAY. 
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Whoa, do I have a good post for you today!😊 I’ve got an excellent mini-quiz to give yourself a check-up on how well you’re doing with self-care and your answers may surprise you! February is all about the HEART. I mean, Valentine’s Day is just a few days away! Plus, in the United States, it also happens to be Heart Awareness month. Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States and in many other countries around the world, including Australia and major parts of Europe. Here’s another super shocking stat. According to the American Heart Association, about 80% of all cardiovascular disease can be prevented. That’s amazing, right? EIGHTY PERCENT!!!! That’s why this assessment is SO IMPORTANT. If you’re like a lot of people, you’re cruising along in some areas of your self-care, but maybe need a little improvement in others. This quiz isn’t about being perfect; it’s just about taking great care of yourself because you and your heart deserve it! Ready for the quiz? Grab a pen and paper and write down your answers to these questions…. First Part: How are you doing in the eating department? Are you eating a healthy, well-balanced diet that includes mostly unprocessed foods? Do you cut back on foods that are high in sugar, and instead eat a mostly plant-based diet with healthy fats and proteins? (example - large green salad with grilled chicken and avocado)Take a second to think about what you have eaten over the past week, all the meals plus any snacks you’ve eaten. What grade would you give yourself on this, on a scale of 1-5? Are there some things you can easily change to boost your grade? Here’s how to keep score: If 20% or less of your meals were healthy, give yourself a 1 If about 20-40% of your meals were healthy, give yourself a 2 If about 40-60% of your meals were healthy, give yourself a 3 If about 60-80% of your meals were healthy, give yourself a 4 If 80% or more of your meals were healthy, give yourself a 5 Remember, this isn’t about being perfect, it’s just about seeing what you’re ACTUALLY doing on a daily basis. Write down your score, or at least remember it, because you’re going to need it later. Second Part: Exercise and Daily Movement. Nearly every health organization recommends you get at least 30 minutes of exercise most days of the week for heart health. You can rack up your minutes over a day, or you can get it done all at once. This could be walking, doing a workout, dancing, gardening, or anything else that keeps you moving. Here’s how to score your activity: Let’s count 20 minutes or more of INTENTIONAL exercise (a brisk walk counts) as an activity for this quiz! If you’ve only been active 1 day in the last week, give yourself a 1 If you’ve been active for 2 days in the last week, give yourself a 2 If you’ve been active for 3 days in the last week, give yourself a 3 If you’ve been active for 4 days in the last week, give yourself a 4 If you’ve been active for 5 or more days in the last week, give yourself a 5 Now, give yourself a score on a scale of 1-5 Third Part Sleep! Studies show that getting less than 7 hours of sleep a night regularly is linked with all kinds of ailments that are tied to heart disease, like stress, inflammation, high blood pressure, and weight gain. Are you getting enough sleep? If you’re not, is there anything you can do to make it happen? Do you need to go to bed earlier, or create a nighttime routine, or take some other action? It’s amazing how much better you feel when you get a great night’s sleep! To give yourself a score, for each day in the last 5 days that you’ve gotten 7 or MORE hours of sleep, give yourself a point! (up to 5 points total) Fourth Part: Meditation / Prayer / Gratitude Practice. Studies show these practices can help your heart health. Do you spend at least a couple minutes a day focused on reducing stress and feeling grateful? This can take a lot of forms. It can be simply sitting and breathing, praying, taking a walk in nature, or journaling. To give yourself a score, for each day in the last 5 days where you’ve done some form of prayer, meditation, or gratitude practice ... give yourself a point! (up to 5 points total). Fifth Part: Know Your Numbers! When was the last time you had your blood pressure and cholesterol checked? This is good to know for everyone, but it’s especially important if you’re over 40. It’s definitely worth asking your doctor about! To give yourself a score, Give yourself a 1 if you have NO idea what your numbers are Give yourself a 3 if you’ve had your #’s checked within the last 3 months Give yourself a 5 if you’ve had your #’s checked in the last 30 days And last but not least, smoking! I’m not going to lecture you, because you already know the deal. If you do smoke, I highly encourage you to ask your doctor about help with quitting! There are so many avenues available nowadays to make it a little less challenging and the payoff is definitely worth it. Scoring: No gray area on this one- if you’ve smoked anything even a single cigarette in the past 7 days, give yourself a zero. If you haven’t, give yourself a 5. OK … so the areas we went over are nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress-reduction, as well as knowing your most recent health stats. Add up all your scores. The highest possible score is 30. What number did you get? How did you do?! If you scored over 25, that’s amazing! Good for you!😊 If you gave yourself a score below 25, chances are you’ve got an area or two you want to work on to bring your overall number up. Remember, it’s not about passing a quiz, but about feeling healthier, more energized and getting the most out of your days! Maybe you’re doing wondrous with sleep and exercise, but you want to improve in the areas of nutrition or the stress-relief. Or vice versa. It’s time to come up with an action plan! As I mentioned earlier, this isn’t about being perfect, but coming up with strategies to make self-care an enjoyable part of your lifestyle … and taking great care of your heart! References: https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/four-keys-to-prevent-cardiovascular-disease https://www.heart.org/en/about-us/heart-and-stroke-association-statistics -disease/understanding-heart-disease-prevention? |
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May 2020
AuthorJennifer Castro is a Health Educator & Patient Advocate who specializes in Women's Health & Vestibular Disorders. Coach Jenny is working towards becoming Board Certified while working as an Instructional Team Member for the College of Health Solutions at ASU. She also works as an Insurance Broker providing insurance solutions for small business & office settings, employee benefits and workplace wellness options 
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