20 Foods That Will Help You Relax! – Part Two

How did adding protein, calcium foods (milk), oats and basil help you relax?

Just a note on the calcium foods – apparently eating large quantities of cheese is not good for relaxing even though it is high in calcium. Mature cheeses in particluar are not good for relaxing. They contain Tyramine which sometimes induce migraines and nightmares! So no cheese and crackers for supper!

Ok here’s the next 5 foods!

20 Foods That Will Help You Relax – Part Two

6. Calming herb teas. Stay away from the coffee! The author suggests – chamomile, lemon balm and lavender.  The BEST herbal tea that I have tasted is Red Bush Tea OR Rooibos Tea from South Africa. It actually is the closest tasting to regular tea that I can find BUT it is also VERY calming and induces sleep – It really works. Apparently it is a very tradditional remendy for those babies crying in the night – either the mum drinks the tea and breastfeeds her baby or you mix some in with the milk.

7. Molasses is high in minerals, including calcium and magnesium which balance out the nervous system. It has a strong flavour so only use a small amount. Hands up those who rememeber their mother giving them molasses on a spoon? – Now I know that she was only trying to calm my nervous system (or maybe hers!)

8. Other sugar subsitutes – like Honey (Manuka honey is high in compounds that fight infections), dried fruit which is high in magnesium and iron and sweet fruits like bananas (high in nerve-balancing potassium) .

9.CHOCOLATE – guess which is my favourite calming food!  Eat a modest (now that is hard!) amount of high-quality chocolate, one with 60 – 70 % cocoa solids. It certainly makes me relax but NOT if I eat it after 7pm – it is hard to get to sleep. So here is my fix on that – eat the chocolate and relax then have a Red Bush tea before bed and sleep!!

 10.Lose the alcohol and choose orange juice with sparkling water.  I have to be careful with the orange though – it seems to induce headaches for me. I love the Soda water with a twist of lemon or lime – not sure whether this does the same thing or not!

Well that’s the second five calming foods – What do you think? What food works for you?

Rachel Larkin

20 Foods That Will Help You Relax! – Part One

I came across a cute book called “101 Ways To Simplify Your Life” by Suzannah Olivier. Some ideas were not for me but here’s some healthy tips to help you relax. I have added my own comments to the list. I will start with the first five and finish them over the next week – so come back regularly to obtain the complete list!

 20 Foods That WIll Help You Relax! – Part One

1. Include protein in your meals. E.g. legumes, nuts, fish, meat and cheese. Why? they have sources of tryptophan which is a relaxing brain chemical. If you are like me (a typical homeschool mum) and has mood swings – just add some protein to each meal.
2. Oats are the classic relaxation food and have been used by herbalists for centuries as a calming remendy. As a whole grain they also help to balance blodd sugar. In addition, like other carbohydrates , help the brain to process typtophan. We love porridge in the morning especially on soccer days – it fills up the tummy!
3.  Milk which is rich in calcium, has calming properties. The book suggests having a nightcap of hot milk. I have found that it produces more problems – like extra mucous in the morning – so it’s not on my list.
4. The author suggests that if you are dairy intolerant to have calcium enriched soya milk or rice milk -  that is a good alternative – but doesn’t quite taste the same does it?
   
5. Basil is a highly calming food and can help to induce sleepiness. Keep a plant pot of basil handy to snip leaves off and put into your salads. Another great way to gain the benefits of Basil is to use Pesto Sauce (the one made out of basil that is!) – this will give you a strong sleep inducing boost. How about adding basil to your tomato soups!  Now I never knew that – Basil is now on my shopping list!

As busy mums and wives, a bit of relaxation goes a long way towards gaining sanity! – these foods help our bodies to naturally relax.

I would love to hear what foods are on your list as ones that help you relax – do any of these “do it” for you?  

Pop back for the next 5 foods!

Rachel Larkin

The Total Money Makeover By Dave Ramsey Part Two

Here is the guts of the book – 7 Baby Steps to Financial Freedom

Step One: Set up a $1,000 Emergency Fund

Step Two: Pay off all debt using the “Debt Snowball” method (except the house)

Step Three: Build up your Emergency Fund to be able to cover 3 – 6 months expenses.

Step Four: Invest 15% of Gross Household Income for retirement

Step Five: Start up a college fund for your children

Step Six: Pay off your home mortgage early

Step Seven: Build wealth (through Mutual Funds and Real Estate) and give!

So which step are you on?

We are on Step Three – to build an Emergency Fund from $1,000 to 6 months expenses. Dave suggests that those who are self-employed build their fund to 6 month expenses due to the flucuation of regular work and the risk of injury and illness to the business.We did our sums and 6 months expenses seems like a lot of money to be sitting there so we are going to aim for 3 months.

It seems a bit funny to build up a fund that will sit there for emergencies when we are trying to save for a deposit on a house – but it after reading Dave Ramsey’s book it is starting to make sense to have such a fund. I can just imagine good ol’ Murphey turing up (you know Murphey’s law) and all sorts of unexpected bills could arise once we had committed ourselves to a high mortgage!

Happy Saving!

Rachel Larkin

The Total Money Makeover By Dave Ramsey

The Total Money Makeover – is inspiring and gave me the motivation I needed to start my Money Plan. It is a very easy read with loads of real life examples.

The first half concentrates on myths that we all believe that stop us from moving forward in our finances.

Here are some comments from Dave-

1. Debt is NOT a tool – Debt brings on enough risk to offset any advantage that could be gained through leverage of debt.

2.Do not LOAN money to friends or relatives – the relationship will be strained or destroyed. One party will be the master then other a servant.

3.Do not CO-SIGN (Guarantee in NZ)  a loan- be ready to repay the loan – the bank wants a co-signer for a reason, which is that they don’t expect the friend or relative to pay.

4. Stay away from Rent to Own deals!

5. Pay cash for everything -i.e. Cut up the credit card , no HP’s, laybys or delayed payments. Dave does allow a mortage but only if you have a 15 yr term. He wants you to live debt free.

6.Don’t give your teenager a credit card.

There is many more – I encourage you to buy a copy OR borrow it for free from your local library!

Rachel Larkin

Chocolat Magazine Winter 2007

The latest issue of Chocolat is out!!!

You are able to access it on my Chocolat page -
Click Here

Enjoy

Rachel Larkin