More ways to sneak nutrition into your favorite foods!

Who doesn't love gooey cheesy quesadillas? My kids order a cheese quesadilla, all three of the little ones that is, every time we go to Little Fiesta. If you haven't been there - go. Now. The food is great, plentiful and tasty; the service is good, the margaritas are potent and the atmosphere is friendly. Try out your Spanish on the staff - they think it's charming. That's what I tell myself, anyway.

OK, it's a tortilla filled with cheese and grilled, right? Sure, but did you know you can tweak it just a bit and make it a full serving of vegetables and whole grains? Here's how:

Start with whole grain or whole wheat tortillas. I like the Food Club brand at Coborn's Supermarket because they have 1 gram of fat!

Top it with some fresh yellow squash you've pureed in the blender with about a tbl of water and a dash of salt. I like yellow squash instead of Zucchini because it blends into the cheese, whahahahha - that's a nefarious laugh.

Top that with some cheddar or a blend of cheddar and jack, or whatever cheese you like on your quesadillas.

Add in some fresh, chopped Vidalia onions (they are sweet) - yup, my kids like onions.

Add some salsa (I just tried this delicious green olive-tomatillo salsa from Super One natural foods - really good and different!)

Top it with another tortilla and heat in the microwave, or grill, or broil, or pan-fry till warmed through. Cut into 4 wedges and serve with sour cream, guacamole, or more salsa. My kids eat it plain, except for Faith who eats a little quesadilla with her sour cream, not the other way around!

Buen Apetito! It's still cheesy, and gooey, and your kids will never know they are eating squash! Unless they are mine and love vegetables ;)

Photo courtesy of stockvault.net

Read about my time at the Joyce Meyers Conference happening NOW

Read what's happening at the Joyce Meyers Conference it here.

Then, read these:

Starting Your Day Right: Devotions for Each Morning of the Year
joyce meyers
Eat the Cookie...Buy the Shoes: Giving Yourself Permission to Lighten Up
The Love Revolution

12 Reasons Why People Overeat

Eat and Stay Thin: Simple, Spiritual, Satisfying Weight Control

My Pastor friend supports his family with online business- here's how

Friends of mine, Steve and Kerry Beck, support their whole family 100% with online businesses. I have watched them go from being un-employed, when he was in seminary to making 6 figures a year doing easy informational e-books (Kerry is a homeschooling mom who speaks at conferences and shares her info with e-books, and now even their kids write their own e-books and sell them online.) Kerry is the one who got the family started by writing a homeschool info e-book that sold for $11 and made over $10,000 in one week!
Well, they have been doing it long enough and have become so successful, even I can admit they know what they are doing, and have the integrity while doing it that I trust them and will follow their example. I feel very comfortable at this point in passing along their site if you would like more info.  Click here to go Steve and Kerry's page. They give out TONS of FREE, yes FREE content that is extrememly useful on it's own so sign up for their FREE newsletter if you do nothing else. I do know these people personally, Steve gave me the tip to use Kunaki.com to make my audio cd's of my book and it saved me hundreds of dollars. He didn't get any kickback at all for doing this. I like to work with people of integrity. Steve and Kerry Beck's FamilyEBiz

Where I learned to quickly write a book and gets started speaking

I get asked this almost every day, I am not kidding.
I came across a site that ended up changing my life. Even if I never do another thing with writing or speaking, getting the motivation to actually take action to write a book and be able to share my message of how to overcome the depression, anxiety and apathy that had led to my being overweight, and then losing 40 lbs - is worth it! If you have a message to share, or always wanted to write a book but thought it was too difficult or time consuming, this is a very easy way to learn the steps needed to take action and just get it done already. I still keep in touch with my mentor, and as soon as my little ones get a year or two older and can be without mom, I am going to one of his workshops. But, in meantime, I learned everything I have used so far just by being a member of his site. I guarantee my books have sold because of his advice! Check it out here.

Now you are going to go to the site and say, "What if I don't want to be a speaker?" That's ok, I started out wanting to be a speaker, and discovered the path to being a speaker is being an author! So, I took the advice and used it to fulfill my life-long dream to be an author. It was very easy and if I can do it with my busy life-style, so can you.

If you DO want to be a speaker, like to colleges (the economy does NOT affect the budget schools have to pay speakers to come - and if I hadn't realized it is not the feasible for me to go out and speak long distance right now with my kids' needs, this is probably the niche I would get into), then you can also go to this site.

I like this mentor because he actaully tells you what to do - it is not vague advice. And I am proof it is do-able!
Resources: Big Money Speaker
                 Big Money College Speaking Success

The cure for lactose intolerance

I've found the cure for lactose intolerance! Well, for me at least. After doing my fast a few weeks ago, I became lactose intolerant. Meaning, every time I had a bit of cow dairy product  I would immediately swell up with gas (painfully so) and then spend the next 12 hours killing everyone around me with, you know, a non-pleasant odor. (Goat products were no problem so I could still get my cheese fix.)

I mentioned it to my chiropractor during a visit, and she determined my immune system was stressed, as were my ovaries (well, hey, I am  turning 45) and recommended some resources for progesterone cream to help my hormones out a few days.

I ended up buying some Jason's Natural Cosmetics wild yam cream, a natural (and non-cancer-causing) form of progesterone to rub on  three times a day for a week, and a bottle of NOW liquid echinacea to boost my immune system for about a week.

After a few days I tested it out by eating some cow's milk cheese. I experienced a very mild reaction. By the end of the week, I ate a few slices of Parmesan and had a healthy helping of milk in my coffee and guess what?! NO reaction at all. I am cured. Who'da thunk?

Women, Food and God - a book by Geneen Roth

Don't read it to find some new insights into your relationship with God. Believe me, it ain't there. Do read it to gain new insights to your relationship with food. I read it in two days. It's an easy flow and only about 200 pages. Easy on the eyes.

I like the way she enables one to see that most of what we think about ourselves, how we define ourselves, has to with the small, painful moments of our lives when someone said something (probably flippant) that became apart of our values, or our ideals, or our life script. Read it to get what the means in a more easily understood way. I know what I am saying, but you may not.

The biggest challenge I realize I am having is to allow my kids to grow up to be who they are, not who I want to shape them to be based on my own issues. Think about it. Check out the book here.