#i don’t think I eat that much sodium but I need to double check

[simplyghosting]

Wonder if my diastolic bp being at 100 is the reason for my disorienting headache

[weightlosstips2021]

How to Lose Weight By Thinking Differently

Do you play mind games that prevent you from winning at losing weight? Are you always having a conversation with yourself that manages to sabotage your newest Monday efforts to lose weight? If so, chances are pretty good that you have a dialogue in your head that needs to change. If you're having the following self conversations, it's best to change your dialogue. Changing your self talk is a great first step when you feel you absolutely can't lose weight.

The clean plate game to lose weight

You know this game: eat it all up because some people are starving! If you eat up all the food when not hungry, you are not helping anyone that is starving! Or, you paid for it so you must eat it. At home, put less food on your plate. In a restaurant, ask for the people box prior to digging into the large plate of food. Acknowledge that while you still paid for it, you now have food for another meal so you doubled your value. This is a hard habit to break, but it can be done with practice. These portion control strategies are always going to help when one has trouble losing weight. The portion control automatically decreases your calorie consumption. It's such a simple concept that is often overlooked.

Skipping breakfast may slow weight loss

You think you will eat less overall calories by limiting what you consume in the morning. Many studies indicate that when people do this, they manage to consume more total calories in a given day. In other words, this eating strategy can backfire for some people. Other studies show that when people consume substantial calories in the morning, they use those calories to meet energy requirements more efficiently, and store less of that energy in fat cells. Eating the bulk of your calories at the tail end of the day is, therefore, theoretically less efficient for your body weight and overall energy levels.

I will add, however, that some studies also suggest that whether someone eats breakfast or not has no impact on weight status. With that said, skipping breakfast and lighter daytime eating can put you at some degree of nutritional risk. It is very difficult to meet overall nutritional requirements with almost no daytime food and just dinner. And, if your blood sugar takes a nose dive during the day, you are at risk for an eating binge.

Use caution with foods prepared elsewhere

Do you really know what is happening in the kitchen of your favorite restaurant and take-out place? I would venture to guess that this food has much more fat, calories, and sodium than you would find in your own kitchen. Try to limit relying on outside sources for your meals unless you are able to confirm with nutrition labels that it is a healthy option. When you do dine out, at least try to check the nutrition information out ahead of time. There are so many websites and apps available to the consumer to do some pre-planning for healthier options. 

Review menus in advance

While not all restaurants can make their nutrition information available, you can at least take a peek at the menu online. That way you can begin thinking about the better meal options in advance of stepping foot into the restaurant. This helps you avoid quick impulse decisions on your selections. Once with friends socializing at the restaurant, your planning strategies to pick healthy choices may fizzle. Having thought about what to order in advance will keep defensive dining tactics in play.

It's for "company" game

There are many variations to this one: there is also "It's for the kids." Do the M & Ms really need to be in a bowl for your grandchildren and shouting to you all the time? I have grandchildren too, but I would not have a candy bowl sitting out all the time. I certainly like the chocolate as well and I would not be able to stare it down. Get the treats for kids, grandchildren, and company, but keep a limited stock that is purchased just prior to their arrival. Or, hide it from yourself. Better yet, get a treat that does not pose a high temptation threat to you! The less you like that treat, the better you can resist it.

Willpower for weight loss

I don't feel that most people successful at long-term weight loss can use the concept of willpower. Over the long haul, they should instead think "smart" on eating strategies: keep a clean kitchen free of high temptation foods, keep small amounts or portion controlled foods that you conceptualize as treats, or if food is just too tempting to avoid once in your kitchen, just don't put it into your grocery cart in the first place. Willpower, in my opinion, is not a good long-term weight loss strategy.

Reflection for weight loss

Taking a step back to evaluate how you think about eating may be just the solution for trouble losing weight! By managing your thoughts along with your eating environment, you can start down the weight management road without tripping up too much. While summer is over, the holidays are right around the corner. Thinking differently could be just the torture-free weight loss fix you need when you think you can't lose weight. Anyone can lose weight with the proper tools. After you change your thinking, you are ready for any additional steps necessary to lose your weight.

The Simplest and Fastest Way To Lose Weight Naturally & Permanently

[crushzone]

Haikyuu!! Characters As A Film Crew (Pt. 1: Pharmacy Commercial for Gardening Tools

NO ONE asked for this, but I felt a strong urge to bring it to existence. 😂

Will probably be a multi-series because I breath, eat, and sleep on film sets, and even if they are the same crew positions, they all got different styles and reactions based off the premises.

Also, not all positions will be included. I’m only typing the specific ones where Haikyuu!! characters occupy.

So consider each of these headcanons as one film shoot. And the next part as a different shoot. Some characters might get called back to be on future shoots, so expect some reappearances.

And if you have a goofy idea for our next premise, we might be able to open a lil brainstorm pool.

———————

Premise:

The crew gathers, bright and early, on a commercial shoot for a pharmacy store. They’re trying to promote their newly stocked Spring gardening products where a shopper browses through the aisles, then a group of dancers and a leaf mascot emerges and begins dancing.

———————

1st Assistant Director - Sugawara Koshi

He’s so happy to be here. When he hears that there will be dancing involved, he gets SO excited.

When the shot is rolling and people are dancing, he will be right by the director, swaying happily to the songs that they are dancing to. By the end of the first day of filming, he’s already remembered all the dance moves.

Because he enjoyed the fun dancing so much, he gets too distracted to...you know....actually do his job.

Is the main reason why the film shoot goes overtime; because he forgets to keep the director’s and cinematographer’s time in check.

He’s also not very harsh when it comes to putting his foot down and telling the cinematographer that this HAS to be the last shot before they  move on.

When the cinematographer kinda brushes him off, he will pout a lil, and mentally settle on allowing them 2 mores shots just cuz the dance is so fun in this. And same goes for the other shot, then the other...holy crap we have to be out in 15 minutes?! Where did the time go.

If they need more extras to dance, he low key wishes that he could hop in and help out. And when they let him, he is freaking happy.

Is very kind to any production assistants who may be new to the gig.

Makes every instruction sound like a very polite request.

All production assistant interns have a crush on him, and they keep trying to bring him fruit snacks from crafty.

Cinematographer - Tsukishima Kei

The wrong man for this particular shoot

He’s low-key a little embarrassed that he is going to be filming a bunch of people dancing and being happy.

While everyone is happily dancing along, he just glowers by the camera when some dancers can’t seem to hit their mark right. They’re not going to get the perfect spotlight he’s designed for them, dammit!

Gets a little annoyed by how Suga is so excited about the dance.

Also hates the fact that there are so many actors, it’s making him a little anxious about any background actors knocking on his lighting or camera equipments. 

Needs to sip on some Caprisun to calm his nerves, asap.

Will never tell his brother, Akiteru, how his shoot went when he gets home. That, or he’ll make it up, that he actually shot a horror film or something less “lame”.

Will eat the catering meals that are provided, but will silently judge how stiff the chicken is, or how overcooked the pastas are.

The kind of cinematographer who always remains by the camera, and doesn’t really help lighting and grips much when they need it. (It’s a very small crew, so some people are doubling duties.)

Will also leave most of the work to his camera assistants, treats this commercial shoot with the standards of a feature film, and will get kind of annoyed when his expectations are not met. However, if someone asks him if he’s okay, he’ll just smile and say that it is all dandy.

Wouldn’t even accept fruit snacks that his assistant camera brought for him, in an attempt to lighten his mood.

Sodium levels are very high.

Lighting - Wakatoshi Ushijima

Just general really quiet and stoic

No one really notices him, but even before the cinematographer can figure out how to describe the way they want the shot lit, he’s already had a massive light set up on stand by and is ready to go.

Also freaking strong, while the other electrics are figuring out a way to carry this lighting contraption across the pharmacy, and up the stairs wit no elevator, he’ll just say “Let me try”, picks it up, then walks out there alone like he’s holding a feather.

Him and his big lights lol

Somehow, his hands are heat resistant? He tends to lose his leather gloves when he lends it out to someone who needs it. So he just uses those cheap, thin gloves from expendables to adjust some hot lights, and he never flinches. We will never know if it actually hurts him or if he just doesn’t react, even when we can clearly see the smoke coming from his melting gloves.

Doesn’t know anything about voltages though, if there is an outlet, he will plug. Keeps blowing the fuse, and while some people are afraid to mess with the pharmacy’s breaker, it doesn’t bother him. Flips EVERY switch till it works, without reading the labels. definitely gave locations a heart attack.

Never complains about poor catering, but he will bring his own healthy lunch and breakfast.

Though he’ll occasionally snack on fruit snacks from crafty. However, if he got the last packet of fruit snacks available on crafty and someone wants it, he will give it to them in a heartbeat.

Makeup - Satori Tendou

There will be people dressed as leaves and trees? Some farmer-themed costume? DANCING?! He’s DOWN.

He probably had no makeup experience, but he found a way to fake his resume, so that he can put in all of his acrylic finger painting “experiments” as his experience.

When he gets there, his eyes sparkles at ALLLL of the people who are waiting for him to turn them into something.

Doesn’t really listen to what he was instructed to do, so some of the customers who were suppose to have some natural makeup, got turned into a tree as well. Fortunately, the director was able to work around this error, but now they are very short on human-looking actors.

Surprisingly not as awful with his body painting as he could’ve been? Not the best, but he’s not too shabby.

Started off doing the actor’s makeup with one of his original random humming, but when he steps outside to see some of the dancers practicing their moves, the song instantly got stuck in his head, and he CANNOT stop singing it. It’s beginning to drive some people insane.

He will be by the monitor, wiggling his lil hips and humming to the song. He had to be hushed by the Assistant Director Suga a few times, but he can’t help it, music just kind of rumbles out of him like breathing. Also, it’s not like Suga is so harsh about his hushing to begin with, but it did annoy Tendou for a hot sec, before he disregards him since he also notices him dancing next to the director.

Terrible at sanitizing his brushes. Will use the same brushes on different actors (gross). When an actor complains about sanitization, he just pretends like it had JUST occurred to him that they are right. Then he would set the brushes down and go at it with his freaking fingers.

Tilts his head like an owl and steps 10 steps back to study how his makeup job looks, before coming back to examine up close. Just really not subtle about it.

Grip - Keiji Akaashi

This man is a grip i would HIRE in a heartbeat.

Just like Ushijima, people don’t really notice him, per say, but in a way, you also can’t help but notice how he’s always shadowing the cinematographer so he can get a head start on instructions and problem solving.

However, he is very methodical though. Never just asks his team to grab a gear until he is sure it will be used. He just understands that most equipments are freaking heavy, and he never wants to overwork his crew.

Always hella crafty; need a dolly shot, but you couldn’t rent one? Here’s a shopping cart lol. Sound department misplaced their dead cat? (It’s a fluffy thing that you put over the microphone to prevent wind sounds), just let me buy a teddy bear from the kids section and make one for you. His rigs definitely makes it to shittyrigs Instagram page often.

But you have to admit that his shittyrigs are pretty impressive AND actually secure.

Ended up getting pulled into the commercial to be one of the costumers, since they were short on actors (Since Makeup Artist Tendou kept turning actors into trees). He barely reacts to anything so they had to pull him back out.

Because his roommate, Bokuto, is taking the role of the main leaf mascot, he cannot wander off to rest between takes because Bokuto keeps looking to him for approval haha.

Really quiet, but when anybody comes up to him for some advice, he never hesitates to share what he’s learnt from his experience.

Lead Actor (Mascot) - Kotaro Bokuto

Is Akaashi’s roommate.

One day when Bokuto returns home, all pouty, because he decided to quit his job, Akaashi tries to think of a way to get this man a job that he would enjoy.

Then when he tells Bokuto that he’s hired for a commercial shoot as a Grip, Bokuto basically threw him a little ice cream party (he probably throws Akaashi a little celebratory party every time he gets a gig, and he is an experienced regular who gets gigs ALL the time.) but he did sensed something wrong: As happy as Bo is for one of his many grip gigs, there’s an underlying atmosphere of sadness that he can’t brush off.

“How do you feel about potentially dancing in a leaf mascot costume for a commercial shoot?” And at that question, Bo’s eyes sparkle ✨

Seeing as Akaashi had worked with this advertising company as a freelancer for a while, he put in a good word for his friend.

When Bokuto shows up for audition, the casting directors LOVE him. Gets the role right away, and from that day on, this company keeps re-hiring him as their different mascots.

The crew loves him, the client loves him, and the casts love him. This man is THRIVING.

Not the best dancer, but he’s energetic enough that it’s just endearing in his own way.

When he gets handed the leaf costume, he’ll accepts it as if someone’s handing him a sword.

Just stomps around the pharmacy as a lil leaf, the heat of the suit doesn’t even bother him when he could look this cool. However, he’ll trip on his costume A LOT, but he’s fine because it’s actually pretty cushiony.

In one of the shots, he tripped on his costume, and simply stands back up to continue dancing like nothing’s happened, cuz the show must go on. That was the shot that made it to the final commercial.

The choreographer actually tried to teach him a dance, but because he’s pretty bad at learning dances, they just let him do his thing.

Boom Operator - Lev Haiba

This tall boi is BORN to be a boom operator.

Due to his naturally friendly demeanor, a lot of background and dancers thought that he is flirting with them. However they later realize that he’s just friendly when they figured out they were all swooning over the same person.

Can hold boom poles very high, like he can hold it over the aisles without a ladder sometimes.

This is his first gig, so he doesn’t really know tricks to hold the boom pole for an extended amount of time.

So his arms will probably tire out real fast. And sometimes you can turn around mid dance to see that he has his eyes closed and his arms are TREMBLING. (Poor boi, but please keep your eyes open when the camera is rolling lol.)

And when the shot is cut, he will bring his arms back down and smile SO big cuz he gets to relax. But will cry when they have to go again.When will this shot cut omg. The dance sequence is so long.

Because he keeps his eyes closed, he always accidentally dips the microphone in frame. I can assure you that you will hear “BOOM IN FRAME” about a 100 times on this shoot.

When the director views their favorite shot, they realize the microphone is in frame, Lev would smile VERY innocently when the director groans.

Trips on his own microphone cable. Akaashi had to come up with a contraption to save him from tripping.

No idea how to coil cables, so it’s always just a big spaghetti mess.

Always eats SO much during lunch.

Always bumping into shelves, counters, fridges. If you hear the sound of 30 cans falling from a distant aisle, it’s probably Lev and his boom pole. Will also give locations a heart attack.

Same goes for if you hear “OW!!” it’s probably him too, but this time he is tripping on his cable, before the pole lands on someone’s head.

Just overall a very chaotic and dangerous boom operator.

Transportation - Hinata Shoyo

Honestly has no idea what he is doing. JUST learnt how to drive recently, so he figured, he’d make some money.

Can’t even follow the GPS so well. GPS: turn left at Baker St. Hinata: BUT WHEN?! Is it this street? Whoa, this car is coming out of the street...oh...that was Baker St. uhh, I’ll do another loop. Actor: this is your 4th loop!!

Gets kind of overwhelmed by how many actors he had to pick up. This is a pharmacy commercial shoot right? Why are there so many actors?!

Just gets really awkward when there is no one to transport though. Like what else is he suppose to do now?

Would just hang out around crafty and stress snack. Then he’d have to run to the bathroom often cuz he ate too much.

Because of that, you can’t really find him when you need him, sometimes. He’ll have to keep responding to his radio while in the restroom.

Totally thinks that the distortion of the radio will mask his flushing. But he is WRONG.

Dancer - Terushima Yuuji

Is actually a pretty great dancer. He gets to be one of the dancers who get the most screen time.

The choreographer loves him, he even asked if he can please add his own flair to it, and when he attempts some free styling, the whole team is impressed, some even swooned.

Found a way to convince the director to have him wink at the camera, and that may or may not be why the pharmacy’s gardening products were nearly all sold out the moment the commercial aired. Never knew gardening could be this sexy, did’cha? *winks*

Playboy af. At the end of the shoot, he’s got 10 new numbers from cuties on set, can’t even decide who he should hit up first. Some of these numbers, he got them from crew/cast members who genuinely thought his cocky behavior’s pretty hot, but a good half of it also came from his persistence.

Demands some fancy snacks for crafty, but when the crafty person leaves to go find that snack for him, he quickly shoves a handful of some junky candy and cheetos in his pockets. 

And those snacks will probably be his dinner tonight.

Is a little bit of a jerk to “newer” actors. Like bruh, this is not even a film shoot for a movie, it’s just a commercial. 🤷🏻‍♀️

REFUSES to be turned into a tree. He will maintain his sexy human form, please, and thank you. But sexy farmer is fine, I guess.

Background Actor (who dances too) - Kageyama Tobio

Shows up thinking that all he has do is to just push shopping carts around in the background.

Wrong

He didn’t know he had to dance too. And suddenly all blood drains from him.

What is he going to do?! He was already in 2 of the shots, he can’t back out now.

When it comes to the dancing part, he is as stiff about it as you can expect.

Why are there no yogurt or milk at crafty? :( He needs it now more than ever, to calm his nerves.

But when he did get it, and drank it, it didn’t seem to sit too well in his tummy when he dances. He’s confused.

Freaking transportation guy keeps occupying the bathroom. His name is Hinata? He knows because he can hear Hinata’s name being called through the walkie while he is in the restroom.

-----------------

A/N This is my first headcanon, so please let me know if there are things I can improve on! 🥰

——————

Taglist (open): @shhhlikeme @ceo-of-daichi @karasu-hoes @super-noya @nonexistent-social-life

[histologyapology]

Quiz Review #2: The PAS/PASD Stain

bout that time again ay chaps. right oh. big ol wall of text under the cut, let’s get at it

Alright so sometimes in the course of a patient’s disease, they’re either going to have carbohydrates end up in tissues that aren’t meant to store them or have too few carbohydrates in places where they ought to be. A handy test for this is the Periodic Acid-Schiff test and/or the Periodic Acid Schiff with Diastase digestion. This isn’t to say that the PAS/D is a strict presence/absence test but it gets used that way fairly often depending on the case. 

First things first: What’s a carbohydrate? Well that’s a big chemistry question and if we wanted to deal with that mess we’d have gone to grad school. For the purposes of the HTL this post, carbohydrates are organic compounds such as sugars, starches, cellulose and polymers that are typically bound to proteins found in tissue. When we eat food, we break the complex sugars down into simple sugars such as glucose. What we don’t immediately use we store as glycogen. This glycogen *generally* should be found within liver and skeletal muscle tissue, specifically within the cytoplasm of those cells.

 Disease and uses- A healthy liver should be able to store glycogen up and release it as the body’s demand for it changes. We can use the PAS/D to look at how much glycogen the liver has and where that glycogen is within the liver.  Most of the disease you’ll see in medical histology regarding glycogen storage disorders are congenital and fatal. A good example is Pompe’s disease, in which the  patient has a mutation that causes them to be unable to convert glycogen back into glucose, causing an over-accumulation of glycogen within the skeletal muscle, cardiac muscle and liver; most people born with Pompe’s disease will die in less than a year. Other illnesses that effect glycogen storage are diabetes (low glycogen in the liver) and certain wasting disease. There are also some applications for differentiating tumor types on the oncology end of things; for instance you can use the PAS to differentiate secreting adenocarcinomas (should be PAS positive) from undifferentiated squamous cell carcinomas (should be PAS negative). I am told that these days we would use an immuno stain to answer this question but, you know, half of histology is actually Arcane Medical History so whatever. My favorite application of the PAS, however- one that could have saved my undergrad research project had I known what the hell I was doing but that’s another topic for another day- is its ability to stain for fungal cell walls. Fungal cell walls are made of chitin, a complex carbohydrate that stains nicely with PAS. Some of the techs in my current lab will automatically order PAS along with any silver stains they get on a suspected fungal case, just because it’s a nice way of double checking (especially if you’re looking at tissues with lots of argentaffin/argyrophil structures where the fungi could be obscured other things). 

Fixation- now if you’re in a hospital, chances are you’re just going to throw the tissue in question into a bucket for formalin and be done with it. And that’s not necessarily bad; tissue slated for PAS can be fixed in either aqueous or alcoholic solutions. Just remember that structurally, the carbohydrates you’re testing for are bound to the tissue proteins, so the faster you preserve those proteins the more honest and indicative the results of your PAS will be. If you know that this tissue is going to have to wait a while before going to processing, go for alcohol if you can. Formalin and most other aqueous fixatives will slowly leach glycogen from tissue because glycogen is water soluble. Of some note to pathologists, glycogen degrades rapidly postmortem, so get that liver out of there and into some sort of fixative asap of you’ll be missing that particular piece of the puzzle. The only real fixatives to avoid are those containing chromate, since these may over oxidize the tissue and result in a weak stain or cause resistance the diastase digestion in the PASD. 

Reagents and their purposes- Fairly straight forward. 

Periodic acid, aqueous, 0.5%. This will act as your oxidizer. It opens up ‘certain tissue elements’ (nice dodge, Frieda) and exposes aldehydes such as 1,2 glycol groups. At this concentration periodic acid probably will not burn you to death if you spill it on yourself but you should be extremely careful when preparing it from concentrate (under a hood, wearing goggles and gloves, full weenie regalia required, this is not fun stuff to get in your eyes). Remember: acid into water is the way that you oughta. Dispose of with lots of water down the sink. 

Schiff Reagent. This stuff is N A S T Y but you gotta use it. It binds to the aldehyde groups exposed by the periodic acid  and forms an intermediate colorless compound known as leucofuchsin. Schiff’s contains sodium metabisulfite, hydrochloric acid and basic fuchsin. Basic fuchsin is classified as a known carcinogen by OSHA so you need to make and use schiff’s under a fume hood whenever possible; most labs i have been in are not good about this and some even heat their shiff’s in a microwave, which causes techs to breath in even more vapors. Most labs need to dispose of used solution via a licensed waste hauler; do not flush down the sink. 

Sodium metabisulfite, aqueous, 10%. This will remove any excess schiff’s that’s hanging onto the tissue and prevent overstaining. At 10% it’s not horribly dangerous but it is a strong reducing agent and if you’re preparing it from powder you should do your mixing under the hood. dispose of down the sink with lots of water. 

Alum hematoxylin (counterstain). This is just hematoxylin that contains alcohol. Normal alcohol precautions apply (ie it’s slightly flammable and skin/eye irritant; normal ppe is fine). Dispose of down the sink. 

How it works, step by step:

First- are you doing a PAS or a PASD? If you’re doing a PAS, start at step 2. For a PASD, start here. You need some way to chop up the glycogen in your section, and that’s a job for an enzyme. Once upon a time we used malt disatase to do this, which is a mix of a bunch of different amylases. If possible, you should use alpha amylase because it’s the most specific enzyme for glycogen, aka your target. Now, if you’re anything like my lab, you have chill pathologists and cheap administrators, so what you gotta do is think real hard about sour candy and go ahead and just spit on the slide. I’m dead serious. You have perfectly good amylase in your spit, and on the off chance that you have free cells in your mouth the pathologist should be able to figure out what doesn’t belong to the patient tissue; it’s a thing that’s done. The first time I saw my instructor do it I almost walked out of the lab but. you know. When in Rome. We usually let ours digest for about 20 minutes, rinse real well in DI and then add the slides to the PAS group for the rest of the procedure.

oxidize your tissue with periodic acid. We use periodic acid because it’s not going to over-oxidize the aldehyde groups it creates when it opens the c-c bonds in the sugars. 

add schiff reagent. it will bind to the aldehyde groups creating an unstable, colorless compound (leucofuchsin) that resembles a partially opened ring. When you run warm water over the slide, the ring will close and this creates the colored reaction product (pink). 

rinse in sodium metabisulfate. some labs omit this step to save time/money and some labs do get good results just by rinsing for extra time in water but you’re better safe than sorry. Sodium metabisulfate should remove any excess schiff reagent. 

counterstain with hematoxylin. My instructor told me that some labs use fast green instead. I’ve never seen it done before but it strikes me as a good idea (who wants to look at a bunch of pink/purple on top of the schiff reaction? not me). 

Other important details:

Controls should be kidney (specifically the golmeruli and basement membranes) if you’re doing PAS and Liver if you’re doing PASD. 

Good results should show glycogen, neutral mucosubstances, epithelial sulfomucin and sialomucins, colloid, basment membranes and fungal cell walls. They will appear ‘bright rose’ (aka pink). 

A PAS and a PASD  of the same tissue  slides run in the same batch should be loose negative images of eachother; this is to say, the PAS will show the presence of glycogen in the section, while the PASD will show what the tissue looks like once that glycogen is digested away. This is not to say that a PASD is necesarily PAS negative, but rather that a PASD will show any PAS positive substances that are NOT glycogen. 

Before you use your schiff reagent you want to test it for freshness. Do this by pouring a small beaker (10ml should do) of formalin. Drip a few drops of schiff into the beaker. If it’s good to use, you’ll see a red to purple color. If it’s degraded, you’ll get a delayed reaction and an eventual dark purple to deep blue color. This a good test but remember: when it doubt, throw it out. It’s not worth having to repeat a day’s worth of PAS/Ds just because you don’t want to take ten minutes to make your reagents properly. 

Calling back to last week’s quiz on water quality, PAS procedures have been known to fail if the water you’re using to rinse is heavily chlorinated, since the chlorine can oxidize the schiff reagent and turn it back into basic fuchsin, giving you a false negative. I’m not sure what constitutes ‘heavily chlorinated’ but I figure you’d probably smell it and say, you know, maybe i shouldn’t put this precious sample into this nasty water and go talk to my supervisor before i ruin this poor sick person’s life. 

What-if list:

no PAS/D reaction occurs at all, including control- check your periodic acid. If oxidation fails, so does everything after it. 

faint of pale staining-you probably cut the tissue too thin. This is a little counter-intuitive but the thicker the section is, the less time you will need to stain it for in PAS/D. My theory is that staining time is strictly is a function of quantity of glycogen, and quantity of glycogen should go up with section thickness. There’s biochemistry afoot here but my ochem-failing-self is ill-equipped to suss this one out. have at it, you nerds. 

you still see glycogen on a PASD- give it more time in amylase and keep it around 37C. If you’re heating your slide too high you can degrade your enzymes (remember, most enzymes used in the clinical setting work at body temperature. Don’t go above that if you can help it). 

you have weird glycogen looking artifacts in places where glycogen 100% can’t be-should have used some kind of sulfurous rinse. this is what you get for cutting corners and being a cheapskate. are you happy now. look at your life, look at your choices. 

Alright that’s all for now. My instructor is traveling this week so I don’t know if I’ll have a quiz next monday but I’ll keep you posted. 

Peace!

-Reby

[wellpersonsblog]

Healthy Store Bought Granola Bars For Kids

This list of healthy store bought granola bars for kids features top picks for healthy snack bars from a Registered Dietitian. All have seven grams of added sugar or less and include some protein and fiber. 

*Originally published April 2019. Updated Feb 2021*

  Hi friends!

This list of healthy store bought granola bars for kids comes highly requested as a lot of people are looking for healthy granola bars for kids and quite honestly has really been a labor of love. I spent hours looking at nutrition labels of various granola and snack bars on the market, analyzing the label, reading the ingredients and researching all the options. And believe me, there are A LOT of bar options out there. While I typically don’t recommend a bar every single day, I recognize that they’re convenient and that there are some nutritious options out there that can fit nicely in a child’s diet. So I did my research and wanted to help cut through the clutter and give you some good options.

Like anything when it comes to feeding your kids, you are in charge. Do your own research. Read the labels. Check out the ingredients. Then decide what you feel comfortable feeding your kids.

Healthy Snack Bars

Similar to what I discussed in my Lower Sugar Cereals for Kids guide, for posts like this, there has to be a cutoff. Otherwise, the list would be too large and overwhelming. Similarly, this is not an all-inclusive list. There are just too many options out there to cover them all.

So what are the best granola bars for kids? Here are the criteria I used for my list:

Sugar: 7g or less added for the main list 10g or less for alternates

It’s sometimes hard to determine how much is added versus natural. That’s why the new nutrition labels that break out added sugar will be helpful. Some bars are already using them so if the amount of added sugar was specifically noted, I’ve listed that in the table below. In the meantime, you can look at the order of ingredients in the ingredient list. If sugar is listed before fruit, you can assume that more of the sugar is added. 

Calories: 160 cal or less for the main list 200 or less for alternate

I typically don’t like to focus on calories, but since most bars are used as a snack, I think it’s important to at least consider them. For the main list, calories range from 100-160. If a bar has 100 calories or less, you may need to pair it with another snack depending on age/size/activity level of the child because it likely won’t do much to help keep them full or satisfied.

Fiber and Protein: At least 2 grams of each for the main list (except the pressed fruit bars)

Note that fiber can come from oats, fruit, nuts/seeds, but in some bars, it is added in the form of inulin, chicory root etc. Similarly, protein can come from whole ingredients or it can be added in the form of whey protein, egg powder, etc. 

Also, I didn’t include sodium in my considerations but I think it’s worth noting that some bars have higher amounts than others. 

I did my best to choose bars with ingredients I think are wholesome. Is every single ingredient in each bar on this list perfect? No. But overall, I feel like the ingredient lists are good. If you’re overly concerned with ingredients, you may be better off making your own bars at home!

Many of the bars on the list come in multiple flavors. For this list, I’ve picked one flavor of each. Remember that sometimes other flavors might have differences in ingredients, amount of sugar, etc. You can compare nutrition labels and ingredients between flavors on the websites,

Healthy Granola Bars For Kids

Rx Bar Kids Double Chocolate 

Larabar Mini Peanut Butter Cookie 

Larabar Fruit and Greens Strawberry Spinach Cashew 

HappyTot Strawberry Banana Sunflower Seed Butter Oat Bar

Happykid Fruit and Oat Bars Apple Cinnamon 

Thunderkids Peanut Butter and Jelly

Skout Apple Cinnamon Energy Bar 

18 Rabbits Jr Dark Chocolate Cherry Chia Cranberry 

Matt ‘n Mikes Superkid Bars Raspberry (NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

Health Warrior Chia Bar Chocolate Peanut Butter 

KIND Healthy Grains Cinnamon Oat 

Kashi Chewy Peanut Peanut Butter 

My Supersnack Chocolate Chip Granola Bar 

Nature’s Path Envirokidz Chewy Strawberry 

Bobo’s Original Chocolate Chip Oat Bites 

Happytot Fiber and Protein Banana Carrot Bar 

88 Acres Cinnamon Oat Seed Bar 

Enjoy Life Crispy Grain and Seed Chocolate Marshmallow (NO LONGER AVAILABLE- check out Enjoy Life Chewy Bars)

KIND Whole Fruit Bars Strawberry Apple Cherry Chia (Formerly Pressed by KIND)

That’s It Fruit Bar Apple Blueberry 

That’s It Probiotics Blueberry 

Perfect Kids Bar Chocolate Chip

Nature’s Path Love Crunch Dark Chocolate with Red Berries Granola Bar 

Kashi Chewy Nut Butter Bars Salted Caramel Pecan 

Clif Kid Z Bar Filled Double Peanut Butter 

Quaker Whole Grain Strawberry Bars

Alternates- higher added sugar, less protein and/or fiber, some higher calorie:

Nature’s Path Sunrise Trail Mixer Chewy

Kashi Strawberry Breakfast Bar

Cascadian Farms Chewy Dark Chocolate Chip

Nothin But Bars Cherry Cranberry Almond

Nature’s Path Sunrise Chewy Dark Chocolate Chip

Nature’s Bakery Fig Bars Original

Cascadian Farms Crunchy Oats and Honey

Clif Kid Z Bar Chocolate Chip

Here are a few where the ingredients are fine for the most part but I don’t really feel like they’re worth eating. They’re quite low in calories and don’t really offer anything in the way of fiber or protein so they won’t be very satisfying or have a lot of staying power:

KIND Kids Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

Little Ducks Organics Blueberry Kale Fig Bar  

Annie’s Chewy Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip

Cascadian Farms Kids Chewy Oatmeal Raisin

And finally, there are some common brands or brands that were recommended to me that I just wasn’t crazy about. Some were higher in sugar than my 10g cutoff for the alternate list. Again, it’s hard to tell what’s added so the added number might be lower, but in many cases, sugar was listed as an ingredient before fruit indicating to me that most of the sugar is added. Some were just mostly sugar with no real nutritional value.

Made Good

Don’t Go Nuts

Larabar Kids

Plum Organics

Ellas Nibbly Fingers

Nature Valley Crunchy

Because I wanted to make this list as helpful as possible, I’ve also made you a table. It includes the number of calories, grams of sugar, fiber and protein and the ingredients of the flavor on the list. Hopefully, that will make it easier for you to quickly compare different bars and look at the areas of nutrition that are most important to you so you can make the best decision for your family!

To see the full spreadsheet, click here!

  If you’re looking for more snack ideas, be sure to check out my 60+ HealthyPackaged Snacks for Kids!

I think that’s it! Remember this isn’t an all-inclusive list and it’s just based on my opinion. You do you! Make choices you’re happy with feeding your family and let others do the same

Enjoy! –Lindsay–

  First found here: Healthy Store Bought Granola Bars For Kids

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Where To Find Low Sodium Ingredients

Questions about sources are some of the most frequently asked ones that I get. Many people have difficulty finding ingredients in their local stores. So it seems worthwhile to occasionally try to summarize what I know about some of the more common ingredients. I'll talk about what ingredients I'm aware of that can help you reduce the sodium content of recipes and where I get them, both locally and through online sources. Many of the suggestions have come from you readers. Obviously, I can't include information on all the stores that may or may not have specific products. I get lots of tips form readers that I pass on and one enhancement I'm looking at for our Low Sodium Community membership site is to put all that info in the bulletin board there. But for now, you may still have to do a lot of searching shelves and reading labels to see what is available where you live.

First of all a little background information. I live in southern Maryland, about in the middle of that peninsula south of Washington DC between the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River. I do most of my local shopping at Safeway, with an occasional trip to Giant Food, Food Lion, Sam's Club, BJ's Wholesale Club and a local southern Maryland chain called McKay's. I buy many of the items I use at one of these places. I also stop by my local health food store occasionally. I live in a rural area, so the items I get here should be available in many areas, but there is no guarantee. Stores carry what they think will sell, and the store manager has some discretion in choosing those items. So letting your store manager know that you want low sodium items stocked may help. I've seen cases where a manager will order something new for you and ones where they don't, because they feel the space could be used for something that more people want. It never hurts to ask. If you have in your area a store that specializes in organic foods like Whole Foods or Trader Joe's is often a good source of low sodium items. The closest one to me is more than an hour away, so I don't get there that often. Some of the larger grocery chains also have good organic sections with a number of low sodium choices.

There is one primary online source that I'm going to mention right up front here because they carry a large variety of low sodium items. Healthy Heart Market at http://www.healthyheartmarket.com They specialize in low sodium items and carry some things that you probably didn't even know came in low sodium versions. Pete, the founder, is a great guy, and actually got me started in this newsletter bit when he published one of my recipes in his newsletter. Healthy Heart Market also ships to Canada for those of you who live in our neighbor to the north.The service is great, the prices and shipping costs are reasonable and the selection is extensive. Besides that, it makes good sense to patronize those places that are striving to make a living providing the products that we all need and often find difficult to locate. It's a win for both sides.

The other online source I'll mention is Net Grocer at http://www.netgrocer.com. They carry a large selection of grocery items from many of the major national brands. Although they don't specialize in low sodium, they do have a lot of items that I haven't found locally. If your local store doesn't carry a particular item, you may want to check there.

Baking Powder - In my humble opinion, this is a no-brainer. If you bake anything that uses baking powder with the regular stuff off your grocer's shelves you are eating sodium that can easily be avoiding. Given the amount of sodium in standard baking powder it's likely to be 100-200 mgs per serving. Some doctors also believe the aluminum in regular baking powder is bad for you. The simple solution is sodium free, aluminum free baking powder. There are several brands available, but the only one I've actually seen is Featherweight. I can find it at a local health food store sometimes. It's also available for just about the same price that I can buy it locally at both Healthy Heart Market and Salt Watcher. The price is also comparable to the regular baking powder and the resulting baked goods are the same as those made with regular baking powder. The only drawback I've seen is that is sometimes seems to leave little darker brown spots in light colored baked items.

Baking Soda - Like baking powder, regular baking soda is unnecessary sodium intake. The only brand of sodium free baking soda I'm familiar with is Ener-G and it is also available at both Healthy Heart Market and Salt Watcher. You need to remember to double the amount called for in your favorite recipes. I've had a few items that didn't rise quite as well as I expected and have heard the same thing from other people. I don't know if it's more sensitive to the amount of acid ingredients in the mix or what causes this. Most of the time it works great.

Kitchen Appliances and Reviews - Definitely check out ReviewKitchenware for accurate reviews and tips.

Seasoning Blends - This covers a whole range of items like seasoned salt, seafood seasoning, taco seasoning and other blends like Cajun, barbecue and curry powders. You'll likely be able to find some salt free versions of these on your regular grocer's shelves. Mrs. Dash makes a number of different blends that are widely available and major spice manufacturers like McCormack do also. Many spices come in bottles small enough to be exempt from the usual labeling requirements in the US, so you'll need to read the ingredient list and look for added salt. Health food stores and stores with large organic or gourmet sections often stock salt free spice blends. A couple of the more common brands are Frontier and The Spice Hunter. Healthy Heart Market and Salt Watcher both have a large selection of different flavors and brands. There also are a number of recipes for making your own blends on the web site at http://www.lowsodiumcooking.com/free/Archive.htm#condiments.

Tomato Products - Tomato products without salt are available from a number of national brands like Hunts and Del Monte as well as in store brands. Whole and diced tomatoes, stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste are all easy to find here. Most stores carry a couple of brands, in fact. The amount of sodium in the different brands varies a little and I personally prefer the flavor of the Del Monte brand. If you can't find them locally, Healthy Heart Market, Salt Watcher and Net Grocer all carry them online. There are also several brands of organic salt free tomatoes that may be available in health food stores. Eden Organic even makes salt free tomatoes with chilies, for those who may have been Rotel fans, also available at Salt Watcher and Healthy Heart Market.

Soy Sauce - The amount of sodium in soy sauce was a major disappointment to me, the guy who used to say he could eat Chinese six night a week. For almost a year and a half after starting the diet, I ate none at all. Then I began adding an occasional meal with low sodium soy sauce. After much experimenting and with a little help from a subscriber and an old recipe, I finally came up with a recipe for a substitute. If you don't want to go to the bother of making your own, the lowest sodium widely available commercial brand I know of is Angostura Lite, with 390 mg per tablespoon, but may be difficult to find.

Spaghetti Sauce - When I first started the diet, my only choices when it came to spaghetti sauce were to make my own, order some from Healthy Heart Market or buy the expensive health food store brand. Then our local Safeway began carrying No Salt Added Francesco Rinaldi Marinara Sauce. It only comes in the one variety, but the flavor is good, it only has 25 mg of sodium per serving and you can always add to it if you like chunky veggies or something in your sauce. Unfortunately, none of my local stores carry it any longer, but it is still available from the manufacturer at http://www.francescorinaldi.com/shop/welcome.asp If you can't find that locally, almost any spaghetti sauce recipe will work if you just leave out the salt. There are also several varieties available from Healthy Heart Market and Net Grocer. I've had a number of people write in about different brands of salt free pasta sauce, mostly from small manufacturers who specialize in organic food, so you also may be able to find other brands locally.

Barbecue Sauce/Salsa/etc. - Big name commercial brands of these products almost always have too much sodium. But they are relatively easy to make yourself from the recipes at http://www.lowsodiumcooking.com/free/Archive.htm Or go to Healthy Heart Market for a good variety of all of these types of products. One of my current favorites is a very low salt brand of Salsa from Enrico's that I found at a local store that has a good variety of organic foods.

Ketchup - Both Hunts and Heinz make no salt added versions. The Hunts brand is widely available at almost all large grocery stores here in Maryland. Both are also available online.

Mustard - This is a real mixed bag. You will probably be able to find mustards on your grocer's shelves that run anywhere from 20 to more than 100 mg per teaspoon. The sweeter varieties like honey mustard generally have the least. Healthy Heart Market carries a number of different flavored low sodium mustards. A couple of personal favorites are the Herlocher's Dipping Mustard (great with unsalted pretzels) and the Westbrae No Salt Stoneground, which has a flavor and texture similar to Gray Poupon Country French.

Unsalted Butter and Margarine - When I first started the low sodium diet it seemed a good reason to switch from regular margarine to unsalted butter. It was readily available, sodium free and tasted great. Then my doctor suggested lowering my cholesterol. So I was off on a search for unsalted margarine. It's not as commonly stocked as unsalted butter, but it does exist in several national brands. I was always able to get the Fleishmann's, but it has been harder to find lately as my local Safeway no longer stocks it. I also use the I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray for things like toast and vegetables. It is still low in sodium and much lower in fat than putting a glob of butter or margarine on something. This is an area where you'll need to weigh your personal diet needs. Between the cholesterol in butter and the hydrogenated fats in margarine, there's much to be said for using as little as possible of whichever one you chose.

Bouillon - What a difference being "salt free" makes. An envelope of regular bouillon contains over 200 times as much sodium as the low sodium variety. Wyler's make a low sodium bouillon, although none of my local stores carry it. So does Herb Ox and it is readily available around here. Unfortunately, I can't find it in the larger jar, only the single serving envelopes, which can be less convenient. I've heard from readers that they can still get the jar though, so as always check your local stores. If you can't find it locally, it's available online. An alternative is to use the low sodium soup and stock bases that are available. I haven't seen any of them locally, but they are available from Healthy Heart Market or directly from manufacturers like RediBase at http://www.redibase.com They also come in a wider variety like ham and veggie flavor ones with 140 mg per serving, in addition to the very low sodium chicken and beef ones with 35 mg per serving. They are a bit more expensive than bouillon, but they go a long way and the flavor is *much* more natural.

Broth - You can make your own broth fairly easily and cheaply in a crockpot There are also good low sodium canned broths out there for those of you who don't want to go to the trouble. But they may not be available in your local stores ... unfortunately the Campbell's brand is a bit higher in sodium than some of the others. I've been able to find the Health Valley brand in several stores here, but it contains almost as much sodium as the Campbell's. Healthy Heart Market both carries low sodium broths.

Soup - This is another case where the "lower sodium" soups from major manufacturers usually still contain significant sodium, so you'll need to be careful and study the label to see what you are really getting. No salt added soup mixes and make it yourself recipes are usually a better choice, although there are some salt free ones from organic producers like Eden Organic and Health Valley . Healthy Heart Market carries low sodium soups and mixes.

Canned Vegetables - Del Monte makes a pretty good selection of no salt added canned veggies. The Giant Food store locally recently began stocking them. They are also available from Net Grocer.

Beans - It's easy and very cheap to cook your own beans using the dried ones that every grocery store carries. For a bit more money you can buy canned unsalted ones like those from Eden Organic. They are available at health food stores and online. You may also want to give your grocery shelf a good hard look. Giant Food carries a store brand of unsalted kidney beans, the only ones I've seen around here. And several local stores here carry some of the Eden Organic products.

Bread - If you are like most people, one of the biggest single changes that you can make to reduce your sodium intake is to make your own bread. Most commercial bread has well over 100 mg per slice. Many rolls and specialty breads like muffins and bagels are in the 300-400 mg range. A bread machine can reduce the amount of effort required to make your own yeast bread to a manageable level. It takes at most 10 minutes to load it and turn it on. You can even set it on a timer to have your house filled with the aroma of fresh bread when you come home. And you have the satisfaction of knowing that great taste of warm bread is accompanied by a single digit sodium count. You will read that the salt in bread recipes is required to help control the yeast. Don't believe it. Other than an occasional loaf that has risen too fast and fallen in on top, I've not had a problem. Even in the rare times when that happens, it still tastes just as good. Reducing the amount of yeast the next time you use that recipe usually solves the problem. If you decide to purchase your bread you should read the label carefully. Stores here like Safeway and Giant have carried low sodium bread, but it's getting harder to find. Pita bread low in sodium may be available. There are also several national brands that make salt free bread. Both Alvarado Street Bakery and Food For Life make no salt added sprouted grain bread that is carried nationally in grocery chains and organic food stores. Salt Watcher also has the Food For Life Ezekiel 4:19 low sodium bread,

Mayonnaise - This is another area of wide variation. Healthy Heart Market sells a sodium free, egg free mayo from Hains. The lowest I can find here locally is 60 mg per serving for a Spectrum Safflower Oil Mayo. Most run 100 or more mg per serving. You can also make your own mayo without salt, but I honestly am not as fond of the taste.

Cheese - There's good news here, even though your choices are pretty limited. Swiss cheese is usually fairly low in sodium, while most other cheeses aren't. And even with Swiss there's a lot of variation. My favorite low sodium Swiss from Alpine Lace isn't around any more, but Kraft and a number of other brands are 50 mg per serving or less. Food Lion also carries a block of Swiss with only 10 mg per serving and I've heard of other stores that have similar products. The flavor of the Food Lion one is quite good. Boar's Head makes Swiss that you can find at their stores or the deli counter that are very good and very low. They have a no salt 10 mg per serving Swiss, but their Lacey Swiss is also only 35 mg per serving. The problem comes when you want something other than Swiss. Most regular cheddar and jack cheese is in the 180-200 mg per 1/4 cup range. Boar's Head has a Munster with 75 mg per serving. They also have a Provolone with 140 mg, which is a little high, but lower than most you'll find on the grocery shelf. Bel Gioioso Fresh Mozzarella Cheese has only 85 mg per serving. The Mozzarella Company at http://www.mozzco.com also makes and sells online an unsalted mozzarella, but it is quite a bit more expensive than the Bel Gioioso. You can probably also find fresh mozzarella with the gourmet cheeses in most large groceries. It has a lot less sodium than the pre-shredded mozzarella most people think of first. Black Diamond Cheese, in Ontario, Canada used to make a low sodium cheddar that was available in Canada and the northern US, but it doesn't seem to be listed on their website anymore, so they may no longer be making it.

Bacon - There are some reasonably low sodium versions available (and some astronomically high ones, so read the labels carefully). Gwaltney and a Safeway store brand are 120 mg per 2 slices. And Kunzler's Honey Cured Bacon is only 75 mg per 2 slices.

Sausage - Unlike bacon, I've never found any low sodium sausage. I spent the first several years on this diet looking for low sodium products, reading recipes and trying to come up with a recipe for making my own. Some of them weren't too bad ... some of them were. And none was quite what I wanted. Then I discovered Wassi's Meat at http://www.wassis.com Their web page said they were the largest seller of breakfast sausage seasonings on the net. They offer a number of no-salt varieties, including Italian, kielbasa and the best salt-free breakfast sausage I've found. Making the sausage can be as easy as measuring spices and mixing it into ground pork or turkey. I like to grind my own meat so I can also control the amount of fat. And the good news is that a ground pork loin, or well trimmed shoulder roast or country style ribs is not only much lower in fat, it's also about half the price that ground pork is here. Wassi's does require a $10 minimum purchase for online orders.

Meats - These days many fresh meats are "enhanced" by injecting them with a broth solution to make them juicer. Unfortunately, it also increases the sodium level from 75-80 mg per serving to more than 300 mg. This is especially true of chicken and increasingly true of pork also. There is still unadulterated meat around, but you have to be careful and look for it. Safeway carries a Butcher's Cut store brand that is marked "minimally processed. And BJ's Wholesale Club has Perdue All Natural chicken in a number of different cuts. They also sell pork loins and other large cuts of pork and beef that are both a good price and untreated with anything that adds sodium. All of the Perdue chicken at Sam's Club, on the other hand, contains added sodium. I've also seen several instances of pork that was marked as being "enhanced", but that didn't contain a nutrition label to let you know how much sodium had been added. I now buy most of my meat at a local store that cuts and proceeses it themselves. In mnay cases it's not only better tasting and lower in sodium, but cheaper than the same cuts at the grocery chains.

Deli and Sandwich Meats - There was a long period where I figured that foods like deli meat and hot dogs were a thing of the past. But there has been some progress. Boar's Head, who run their own deli stores as well as being carried at the deli counter in some groceries, has a couple of options. They have a no salt added roast beef with only 40 mg of sodium per serving and a deluxe roast beef with only 80 milligrams. On the hot dog front, there is also good news. The lowest sodium ones I'd seen until very recently are the soy dogs that you'll find in the organic and vegetarian food section of the refrigerator case. The lowest ones were only 200 mg per dog and there are several brands at or under 300 mg. Trouble is, they don't cook or taste quite right either. They refuse to brown on the grill. The lowest sodium "real" hot dogs were the Hebrew National Light (now called Reduced Fat) ones. They have 360 mg of sodium and taste good, so they can work as an occasional treat for people who can stand that much sodium. But they are long and thin and still don't puff up or brown well. The good news about them is that they are available pretty much throughout the United States and in Ontario. You can find stores on the Hebrew National website at http://www.hebrewnational.com. I've recently found something even better though. Hatfield Meats in Pennsylvania makes a lower sodium frank with only 300 mg that is good. They taste right and they grill beautifully. They are available in stores from Virginia into New England. Check out the stores where they are sold on the Hatfield Quality Meats website at http://www.hqm.com/.

Egg Substitute vs. Real Eggs - You'll notice that many of the recipes call for egg substitute rather than whole eggs. The reason I switched to it was I was also trying to watch my cholesterol, so I trade off the extra 25 mg of sodium for reduced cholesterol. If cholesterol isn't an issue for you, it cheaper and easier to just use whole eggs. I use the Safeway brand egg substitute that is similar to Egg Beaters. It is cheaper and contains a little less sodium. It's basically colored egg whites with some vitamins and minerals. You could also just use egg whites in most of the recipes, but I'm the kind of guy whose Mother did too good of a job teaching me to clean my plate and I have a tough time just throwing the yolks away. The "real" whites have more sodium than the yolks too, by the way, so you don't save much by doing that. You can also buy refrigerated whites without the added chemicals.

Non-dairy Creamer vs. Milk - This is another item like the butter/margarine discussion where I've gone back and forth. Most of the recipes call for skim milk, but some call for non-diary creamer instead. I don't like skim milk, and the 2% that I can stand the taste of has more fat and cholesterol. I haven't found any recipe where creamer is a problem, although it is a bit sweeter. One of the things I've found is that there is often a tradeoff between sodium and fat and cholesterol, particularly in dairy foods. The creamer I had been using is a Safeway house brand, non-fat, non- dairy creamer. It contained no fat or cholesterol and 5 mg of sodium per tablespoon. This put it at about 2/3 the amount of sodium in milk, but much richer flavor than skim milk, which would rate the same in fat and cholesterol. Unfortunately, they no longer carry the no fat version and I have gone back to 2% milk most of the time. The regular version of their creamer lists 0 sodium, although the difference from the non-fat version may not be as great as it appears, since sodium contents less than 5 mgs per serving may be reported as zero. The drawback of course is that you get none of the nutritional benefits of milk ... it is primarily corn syrup and water with some chemicals added. Milk would obviously provide protein and a wide array of vitamins and minerals that the creamer does not. This is not a major concern to me personally because I am careful about getting these nutrients elsewhere, but it is something you should be aware of in making a personal decision to use either the creamer or real milk.

[mass-effect-a-companions-react]

Team reacting to the mods as the pathfinder?

Mod Di

~ ~ ~ ~

Cora: How in the fresh hell is this meek thing the pathfinder? She cant fire a gun, she barely keeps up in training, and is 50 pound’s over the average military weight for a girl her height. She doesn’t like Di and gets really irritated. She pushes hard to whip Di into shape, and does her best to keep Di alive.

On the very off chance they do become friends Di can be seen drawing Cora frequently, and Cora is noticeably less harsh than usual.

Jaal: He honestly couldn’t believe that she was a threat when they first met. She looked absolutely terrified as she was confronted by the Angara. She stuttered when she spoke, and basically hid behind her companions. But even so he remained rough, even though he could help but noticed she flinched when faced with hostility. After spending time with her on the Tempest, her learns that she is not meek, but uncomfortable around strangers. She actually quite loud, and creative and terribly temperamental.

They bond over their ridiculously large families. Cousins, aunts, uncles, members unknown or unremembered. We even have the whole “other mother” thing. We add the word “Mama” in front of a woman's name as a term of maternal respect.

If romanced, Jaal will move things just a tad bit slower, as she is really reserved about her emotions. She never answers most of the questions Shauna asks, but yes Di does like pie.

Liam: He honestly couldn’t help but to feel a little bad for her. She didn’t come to be pathfinder, and is obviously unprepared for it. He teaches her how to fire a hand pistol, and trains with her to make it seem less horrible. He listens to her when she feels like rambling about Cora, and they bond over their love cheesy vids. They also like to play “The Name Game” which is when they compare how they say things in British English and American English.

If romanced Liam is still absolutely shameless, much to Di’s embarrassment. He won’t do the “lover’s jump” because Di has a fear of falling, but he still does have a way making her adrenaline rush. He teaches her how to play soccer, and keeps a list of bad pick up lines and cheesy puns because they make her laugh.

PeeBee: No sense of adventure. What kind of pathfinder has no sense of adventure? They have a rocky start because of how “out there” PeeBee is and Di likes to stay inside of her comfort zone. But when Di does admit she’d like to try something new, PeeBee makes it her mission to break this pathfinder out of her shell. Di likes to watch PeeBee work on POC, and is very interested in remnant tech.

If romanced, Di doesn’t do the anti gravity fling, because they aren’t her thing. But she does like to float around in PeeBee’s pod. She and PeeBee go on dates that aren’t as dangerous as remnant archives, but PeeBee swears they’re working their way up. They are both really cautious about the relationship in the beginning.

Suvi: Di likes to spend to spend time with her in her lab because she does have an interest in science experience. Sure, she almost blew up the ship a few times, but it’s not that much of a big deal (Yes it is, Suvi had banned her from her lab unsupervised)

If romancing Suvi Di is just as awkward as Ryder would be. She has zero romantic skills, and Kallo rolls his eyes to the next dimension every time he sees her. Di also likes to to tell her awful science puns for Suvi.

“Do you have 11 protons? ‘Cause you’re Sodium fine! ”

Some one save Kallo

Gil: She’s an awful poker player, but a good friend. They often make jokes together about their sexuality.

“If I was into women, you’d be my 3rd pick.”

“As if Gil. Just because I date both doesn't mean I don’t have standards.”

“OUCH,that hurts.”

She gets along with Jill marvelously. Di isn’t really interested in mechanics, but she does like t watch him work, and asks questions about the basic stuff just in case she needs to do it.

Drack: Di is terrified of him at first. He was big, armed to the teeth, and tackled a Kett with his bare hands. It was a pretty big first impression. Drack thought she was too soft and squishy to be pathfinder. But after a few mission he warms up, or takes pity. He teaches her how to fire a “real gun” as he calls them.

“Hand pistols are for chumps.”

“But…I like hand pistols.”

He’s totally her Krogan dad.

Lexi: Relationship wise, they’re on good terms . Di checks in on her to make sure she eats and sleeps and such, even if she is kind of a hypocrite herself. Work wise, Lexi can stand her. She doesn’t listen and she’s too stubborn to come to her when she she’s sick.

“You have a fever! Take the medicine!”

“You have weak ankles because you don't let then heal properly!”

“If your wrist is sore, stop drawing!”

Vetra: Older siblings unite. These two are peas in a pod, and Di understands Vetra’s situation with Sid. Even though they but heads, Di would (And did) travel to another galaxy if it meant her little sisters could be happy. Di prefers to stay away from the black market, but every one in a while she finds a new armor piece or visor or something else that she wants or needs mysterious appearing in her room.

If romanced the awkwardness is doubled. No one knows what they are doing. Di cant cook either, so she can’t really do much about Vetra.

Kallo: He doesn’t mind her. They have only have a professional relationship in the beginning, but Di begins to get curious about the ship. She asks Kallo questions, he cant help but feel a little swell of pride. They like to talk about weird idle thing together.

Mod Ash

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cora: Even if the girl wasn’t really the standard Pathfinder material from the start, at the very least she could defend herself on some level, even if her fighting style was mostly hitting things till they fell over. There’s some sort of neutral respect between the two which isn’t quite friendship yet but closer to frequent acquaintances.(Mod Ash wishes Cora was romancable for her)

Liam: It was weird how they were able to bond even though their personalities were so different, though maybe that has something to do with their shared love for movies. She comes to him for advice pretty often, much to Cora’s displeasure, but if only she followed at least half of it. However he is grateful for a pretty fun-loving Pathfinder

If romanced, he still wishes she’s listen more to him, but then again her stubbornness is one of her main qualities. Both have movie nights on a daily basis, and after his insistence that she’d get some exercise in someway, it was decided upon that they’d have weekly dance sessions. And despite her groaning at it, he knows she still has fun.

Suvi: It was nice to have someone who appreciated ‘space rocks’ as much as herself around the ship, though they never really had anything to talk about unless the topic was missions. They were a little too different, and although that didn’t really affect their attitudes towards each other, it did affect the atmosphere of any room they were in alone.If romanced, Nope. Never happening.

Gil: the team has tried on many instances to separate them for the benefit of others, since when the two are together, you know there are various pranks and banters abound. Most of the time she would coerce him into assisting her with these said pranks. She tries very hard to learn about the ship’s engineering, and he appreciates that. (Though he’s pretty sure she wants to learn engineering so that she can build a freeze ray at this point)

Jaal: When he first met her, he didn’t really understand why everyone was so afraid of this short and skinny alien. Until he joins the crew and finds out that she can be very temperamental when provoked, and can be extremely spiteful with a tongue to match. He finds it frustrating that her feelings are so hidden from others. Despite this, they both become friends due to her wanting to explore more of his culture and he of her’s. That and the fact that she always seems to want to get a sketch of him at all times, since according to her he was something ‘new and waiting to be drawn out’.

If romanced, he is skeptical about her true feelings at first, but over the course of the relationship he is able to get her to open up more and they progress things at a healthy pace. They got together probably because she finds it refreshing that he is more honest than most people, and he finds it great that she’s very opened to new things about his culture and people.

Vetra: From the get go Vetra knew that the girl was weird, how weird was only revealed to her later on. There was never a dull moment on the Tempest if the Pathfinder was around, from the pranking, to the sudden changes in attitude and random singing. She dances in her room too but Vetra pretends not to know. The first thing they bonded over was siblings, then from there it progressed to learning about the black market and all sorts of shady things. It wasn’t very well approved by some of the other crew members but it sure as hell looked like the Pathfinder was having fun. 

If romanced, Vetra’s not sure how it all really went down, but now there is a strong sense of trust between both. She catches Ash drawing her more than once, because apparently ‘it’s easier to draw someone with such defining features that a human with a rounded face or an asari!’ She’s not sure whether that’s a compliment but Ash assures her it is.

Peebee: Alright! Finally a partner to do shenanigans with! And she doesn’t bother with the nitty gritty bits like your past relationships or well, just your backstory in general. It’s almost like having the sister that she never really had, or twin maybe, considering how but were so alike in personality, the only difference being that Ash is more the silent-deadly type. It’s great to have someone willing to take risks for history and discovery as the leader though.

If romanced, sorry guys, I didn’t think of Peebee in that way at all

Lexi: it’s interesting to do health checkups for this Pathfinder because between the weird agility she has and the even more curious genetic makeup, her personality is quite entertaining to evaluate. Both of them get along just fine, though their friendship is almost non-existent due to never really having a reason to speak to each other. 

Drack: he thought that she was too squishy and short to be Pathfinder at first, but after seeing her scale a flat surfaced cupboard to get food and punch a guy so hard it injured his nose even though he was twice her size, (i.e things I’ve actually done) he began to like her. She tries her very best to help the Krogan colony too, and that makes him begin to like her even more. The only thing he doesn’t like is how much she tries to suck up to Tann, though he does understand it helps them  get what they need at times.

Kallo: The girl had absolutely no understanding about the Tempest at all, and at the beginning their friendship was simply one of colleagues, though it later developed into maybe a little bit of banter here and there, especially since the incident with Gil where she helped them come to a compromise. He does quite like her quiet company when he’s flying though.

[recipes-for-dinner-easy]

How to Make Homemade Magic Shell ⋆ Real Housemoms

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How to Make Homemade Magic Shell ⋆ Real Housemoms

Make your favorite ice cream topping at home with this easy, 3-ingredient Magic Shell recipe. Go from drizzled sauce to a rich snap of chocolate in minutes!Just because school is starting back up, doesn’t mean all the summer fun has to come to an end. With a little help from Alberton’s ice cream rewards, this homemade magic shell recipe, and some free printables, you can turn any night into an ice social night. It’s a quick and simple recipe that will transform any ice cream creation into one you would think came right out of your favorite scoop shop. With a recipe this good, you’ll be craving ice cream every night. Don’t just stop there, though, let the ice cream adventures continue and make this Easy Ice Cream Sandwich Cake too!HOMEMADE MAGIC SHELLLike this recipe? Pin it to your DESSERT pinboard!Follow Real Housemoms on Pinterest What is Magic Shell?The idea for this recipes comes from the magic shell you can buy at the store.  If you haven’t tried it before, it’s basically like a chocolate topping for your ice cream that hardens up a little once it’s been on the ice cream for a few seconds.  It creates a chocolate shell around the ice cream, but it still says soft enough to break apart and enjoy.  I love it.How To Make Magic Shell Ice Cream TopperOnce you realize how easy it is to make your own magic shell at home, you’ll never waste money on the store-bought stuff again. It only takes a few extra minutes, and tastes just as good!Add 2 cups of water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.Add chocolate and coconut oil to a glass or metal mixing bowl.Place the bowl over boil water (creating a double-boiler) and stir the chocolate as it starts to melt. Continue to heat and stir the chocolate until completely melted, about 5- to 8 minutes.Once the chocolate and coconut oil have melted and are mixed together, carefully pour the warm magic shell topping into a cup or mason jar. Let cool to room temperature before using. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.For Serving: Spoon a couple of tablespoons of magic shell over your ice cream. The cold ice cream will cause the chocolate to harden into a shell. How Does Magic Shell Work?The way that this chocolate shell ice cream topping works is and gets hard but not too hard is actually simple to explain. The coconut oil keeps the chocolate soft without preventing it from hardening when cooled. So when the chocolate hits the frozen ice cream, it is still able to solidify into that visually appealing chocolate shell mold but isn’t so hard that you will chip a tooth is you try to bite into it.Without the coconut oil, the melted chocolate would just turn into one giant chocolate chip on top of your ice cream, which wouldn’t necessarily be bad, just not so great for your teeth, so it’s best you just save this homemade magic shell recipe instead.Ice Cream Social IdeasWhile of course, the shell wouldn’t work without coconut oil, there’s another key component you need… The ice cream and other toppings. To make the perfect ice cream social bar, be sure you have everything you need for your ice cream creations.Printable invitations and topping cards (free download at the end of this post)Lots of ice cream!Homemade Salted Caramel SauceHomemade Magic ShellMarshmallowsSprinklesChocolate ChipsCherriesCrumbled CookiesIce Cream ConesWaffle BowlsIce Cream ScoopBalloonsCute napkinsPlastic spoons Have Your Ice Cream and Eat It Too This Summer!Now that you have one excuse to eat ice cream as much as you can, while the weather is still warm, let me give you even more of a reason. The Albertsons Ice Cream Rewards Program is up and running again, and that means you get rewarded when you purchase your Unilever ice cream from any participating Albertsons store. So why not participate, because who doesn’t love getting ice cream and free stuff?!Before you go and gather up everything you need for your magic shell recipe, and ice cream social head over to IceCreamRewards.com and check out their sweepstakes where you can be entered to win a year’s supply of ice cream for free. One winner will be chosen weekly, at random, for 21 consecutive weeks and will be rewarded the year’s supply of ice cream in the form of a $250 gift card to your local participating Albertsons Companies Participating store.To Get the Most Out of Your Ice Cream Rewards, All You Have to Remember is Three Simple Steps – Buy, Snap, and Choose!Buy: With the purchase of $20 of Unilever ice cream products (this can be through one or multiple transactions) you’ll be eligible for a $5 reward to choose from.Snap: Once you’ve made your purchase, just snap a photo of your receipt and upload it to IceCreamRewards.com and you’ll receive your reward.Choose: Lastly, you’ll choose one of the two rewards options, either a Fandango movie gift card or Virtual Visa card. Are you chocolate obsessed? Then check out these chocolate recipes that are to die for! Homemade Magic ShellMake your favorite ice cream topping at home with this easy, 3-ingredient Magic Shell recipe. Go from drizzled sauce to a rich snap of chocolate in minutes!Prep Time: 2 minutesCook Time: 8 minutesCourse: DessertCuisine: AmericanKeyword: chocolateServings: 1 cupCalories: 1248Author: Allison SousanInstructionsAdd 2 cups of water to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.Add chocolate and coconut oil to a glass or metal mixing bowl.Place the bowl over boil water (creating a double-boiler) and stir the chocolate as it starts to melt. Continue to heat and stir the chocolate until completely melted, about 5- to 8 minutes.Once the chocolate and coconut oil have melted and are mixed together, carefully pour the warm magic shell topping into a cup or mason jar. Let cool to room temperature before using. Store at room temperature in an airtight container.For Serving: Spoon a couple of tablespoons of magic shell over your ice cream. The cold ice cream will cause the chocolate to harden into a shell.NutritionCalories: 1248kcal | Carbohydrates: 98g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 91g | Saturated Fat: 70g | Cholesterol: 6mg | Sodium: 105mg | Potassium: 1080mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 64g | Calcium: 329mg | Iron: 7mgClick the images below to download your free customizable printables!**You will need to download & install free Gooseberry Juice and Pacifico fonts to edit this file.**   Download Your Free Copy! Download your FREE copy of Dinner Made Easy!Sign up to receive our newsletter and download your copy of Dinner Made Easy FREE! You’ll get one email a week with our favorite recipes and tools to make life easy!Thank you so much for signing up to get our recipes delivered right to your inbox! Check your inbox to get our thank you present and to confirm you really want to sign up! You can unsubscribe at any time but I really hope you stick around! Source link

[familylifescsaping-blog]

Our Precious Little Ones

Let’s get all the unpleasant facts out of the way first, and cover what to avoid.  Toxins are the unhealthy chemicals in life. They are everywhere. But you have a choice of what you buy at the supermarket. Thankfully I no longer need to go down those cleaning or personal aisles in the store, which are full of toxins. Have you wondered why some people have reactions such as headaches by only walking through these aisles? This should be a warning sign for all of us.  

Toxins To Avoid What we breathe in, put on our skin and on our floors affect our babies. They are touching and breathing in the chemicals as they lay on the floor or snuggle in our arms. But their livers, respiratory and immune systems are not fully developed.  Here are a few key ingredients to avoid, and I’ll go into more detail regarding these and others in the topic of a “Toxin Free Home”, in a Thursday Night Live, which I’m planning for August.  These are in alphabetical order, so not a priority list to avoid.  Formaldehyde - cancer causing. Think candles and home sprays.  Fragrances - synthetic chemicals. May include phthalates, neurotoxins and synthetic musks. One of top 5 allergens in the world. This word covers a multitude of sins, such as toluene.   Parabens - endocrine disruptors. Found in breast cancer tumors.  Phthalates - endocrine disruptors. Carcinogen. Linked to birth defects, lowered sperm counts and certain cancers. Damages reproductive organs and a hormone disruptor linked to early puberty in girls.  Propylene Glycol - Linked to kidney damage and can damage cell membranes.  Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) - in personal items such as your toothpaste, baby bubble bath. It’s used in clinical testing to purposely irritate the skin.  But it’s worse than that.  Also avoid derivatives such as sodium laureth sulfate.  Triclosan - affects hormones (thyroid) There are so many more to mention. But when we use products on ourselves and our children on a daily basis, the toxins build up and accumulate within our bodies - a process called “bioaccumulation”. So the more we expose our little ones to toxins, the harder it is for their bodies to break them down and therefore in the long run cause both minor and major health issues that could be prevented.  If you don’t know what other ingredients you should avoid or which have been proven to cause cancers, are hormone disruptors, known allergens or cause respiratory problems, then check out either of these apps on your phone: Healthy Living (by EWG.org)Think Dirty These are a great starting point, where you can scan bar codes in the store or around your home and see how harmful they are e.g. laundry soap, all purpose cleaners and unfortunately also well known brands designed specifically and advertised as safe for our little ones. This also includes “organic” and “all-natural” brands. All I can say is know your ingredients as these toxic chemicals, especially in the long run are too much for our precious little ones to handle.  Now specifically regarding essential oils, that don’t have any of these nasty ingredients… Unfortunately, essential oils are becoming so popular you can get them in nearly every store, and via multiple sites online, BUT, as I’ve explained in previous webinars, those that are labeled as 100% pure aren’t good enough, especially when it comes to our children. Here’s a quick tip: Peppermint Essential Oil should smell like the raw peppermint plant, NOT peppermint candy.  It’s also so important that you know your source, which is why I’m only referring to products from Young Living as time and time again it’s proven that they have the highest therapeutic grade oils out there. Check out their Seed To Seal commitment and their expertise when it comes to understanding EVERYTHING that goes into making and using an essential oil.  Surely you want to know where the food you eat has come from, well essential oils should ONLY come from plants and are so concentrated you definitely should want to know what they contain before you use them.  You may have heard of chemical burns or allergic reactions. Well this is due to the synthetic chemicals and fillers that are added to the majority of essential oils on the market, as they don’t have to label these ingredients. It’s scary. But I can show you ways to compare essential oils and test that yours are safe.  Also, it’s being mindful that some essential oils are HOT oils and issues can occur when you don’t dilute them, particularly with children. They have very sensitive skin.  There are multiple research studies proving more of the benefits of essential oils and backing-up why they have been used since ancient times. These studies are available to all of us, so we can understand why they are being used more in hospitals and by doctors and nurses.  But we’re covering tonight how you can use them for your little ones at home and when on-the-go. First off, if you don’t know me, I’m not a doctor, so consult yours. I’m not hear to help prevent or treat any disease, so do YOUR research. It’s worth it!  I’ve said it for years now, but there’s a significant difference in our household since making a change to our lifestyle. And that involves what we are going to discuss tonight. Now, I’m a city girl, but since having our children I’ve seriously started to dive into a non-toxic lifestyle. The results speak for themselves. BUT, it’s all about doing the best we can, making changes ONE STEP AT A TIME.  Keeping it manageable.  Now I said it was going to be unpleasant, but hopefully I haven’t freaked you all out. This is a no judgement here. I used to use toxic products on my kids before I knew better. We all have to start somewhere… So, let’s cover some Safety Tips & Tricks

When you love essential oils, you want to share them with your whole family—including the newest members! Essential oils can be fantastic for children and babies, but it’s important to use oils in a way that is safe for their sensitive systems.  Here’s what you need to know about using essential oils for babies and children to get the best and safest results. Again, ALWAYS dilute essential oils before applying to babies and children. If in doubt, the safest place to start is with the feet, because of the thicker skin and large pores.  Remember to NEVER dilute with water, only carrier oils. And NEVER drop oils into the ears or eyes. If this happens, simply add a carrier oil and wipe away. Essential oils are very potent and should only be used with adult supervision, they are not toys, but I’ve always encourage mine to be involved so their curiosity doesn’t take over when I’m not watching. A great place to start is adding your favorite oil to your child’s stuffed animal or blanket to gently diffuse in their presence.  Diluting If you’re unsure how to dilute with a carrier oil, use these suggestions and general guidelines to ensure your little one has a great experience. Once a child is 12 years I would follow the directions on any essential oil label, but younger than that I would dilute further if you don’t have an oil that is already prediluted for children, such as those in the KidScents line. 

By diluting an essential oil you’re not decreasing its benefits, but rather helping to disperse them in an even application and for slower absorption that is safer for babies and children.  Start low and slow. Which Essential Oils to use with Caution Due to the natural compounds of certain essential oils, it’s recommended to use the following with caution and avoid them them infants. 

Idaho TansyHyssopSageClary SageWintergreenEucalyptus There may be others too, so double check an oil’s safety first before using on your little one. There are plenty of lists that are generally regarded as safe  There is also a list in aromatherapy guides of oils to avoid during pregnancy. And remember the quality of the essential oil you are using makes a big difference too.  So now we’ve discussed some safety features and toxins to avoid, let’s change gears and get you educated on safe, non-toxic alternatives.  Let’s first take a look at the Seedlings line, which is designed for newborns and infants.

I say that, but I actually use several of these products on my children. I have a 7 year old and my twins are nearly 6. The twins have always had drier and more sensitive skin, so this line is perfect for them.  Parents make hundreds of decisions about the health and happiness of their family each day. With so many products and promises to choose from, Young Living Seedlings™ is designed to make it simple for parents to find pure, gentle products infused with baby-safe essential oils to care for their littlest, most vulnerable family members. The soothing, plant-based formulas use infant-safe essential oils and are free from harmful ingredients to help you gently comfort and care for your little one. With essential oil-infused products made by experts and diluted to a strength safe for your baby, Seedlings leaves you with peace of mind and your baby feeling snug and secure. Let’s have a quick look…

Baby Wash & Shampoo: This is mild and tear free is perfect for everyday use and I use on my girls. This soft, non-drying formula has added essential oils of Lavender, Coriander, Bergamot, Ylang Ylang and Geranium.

Baby Oil: Unlike other baby oils, what makes this extra special for delicate skin, is that it does NOT contain mineral oil. Yep, who thought mineral oil, which is a distilled from petroleum is good for any of us? Instead, this non greasy formula uses apricot, safflower and prickly pear. It is also contains Lavender, Coriander, Bergamot, Ylang Ylang and Geranium essential oils. Even though my twins are no longer babies, I still on occasion give this to them after a bath.  

Diaper Rash Cream: This is a thick cream that’s scented with Lavender and will keep little bottoms comfortable without using harsh chemicals. It reduces duration and severity of diaper rash and can be used as a preventative to seal out wetness, and like all Young Living products remember, a little goes a long way. 

Linen Spray: Wrap your baby up in a soothing, relaxing atmosphere that we all want at bed time. This gentle, alcohol-free spray adds a calming aroma to linens with a formula specially created for infants.  Use it to refresh blankets, crib sheets, car seats, and clothing. This calming spray is gentle enough for babies and parents alike.

Baby Wipes: Now this is my personal favorite from the Seedlings line as they are soft, thick and versatile. It contains cleansing botanicals and formulated to minimize the risk of common allergies. Thankfully my girls have been out of diapers for years now, but I still use these for a makeup remover as they are ultra-soft and comfortable, or for an emergency clean up when on-the-go. They provide gentle and thorough cleansing without drying your infant’s delicate skin. Some even use these for a non-toxic dryer sheet.

Baby Lotion:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          While babies are known for their cuddly softness, dry skin affects infants just like adults. Hot baths, dry air, irritants, and other factors can all leave your baby uncomfortable and fussy. My girls love this non greasy moisturizer, and it’s been especially useful for the twins as it helps with drier skin. It has a delicate calming scent for all to enjoy.  Now if you’re like me, and want to try it all the Seedlings line and see the difference for your little ones, do what I did and start with…  The Seedling’s Gift Bundle

In it you’ll find everything your baby needs in one convenient bundle! It’s filled with one of everything I’ve mentioned tonight and it’s perfect for your new nursery or a friend’s baby shower.  This collection of naturally derived, essential oil infused products have been made specifically for babies. Each item features the soothing scent of Lavender essential oil to help create a calming environment wherever you and baby are—from bath time to bedtime and in between. The bundle also comes with a hooded bath towel and washcloth. Both are made with 100% unbleached cotton. The set comes together in an unbleached cotton rope basket, so it’s easy to gift to a friend or keep organized in your bathroom. Next let’s take a look at options for children aged 2-12 - the KidScents line 

Raising kids can be a challenge. Fortunately, Young Living is here to make the job a little easier. They have topical and aromatic Kidscents products developed and diluted especially for children aged 2-12! They are predilluted, so these are perfect choices to add a roller fitment, and roll directly onto your child’s skin. Less mess!   Let’s have a quick look at the essential oils in this line…

Owie: Never leave home without it! This essential oil blend is a soothing option for your child. Apply it topically to improve the appearance of your child’s skin. It soothes irritation and may also help with emotions and stress.

SniffleEase: This is a rejuvenating and refreshing blend of 14 essential oils, formulated just for kids. Add a roller fitment to the bottle and roll-on the chest or feet for easy application. This is one of our favorites to apply at bedtime, or when the girls have come in from running around outside in the spring air.

Sleepyize: This bottle is a little trick to making bedtime go smoother by applying it to back of the neck, feet, or wrists every night! Diffuse it at bedtime for a peaceful aromatic environment. It’s calming from overstimulation and play. Quite often my girls will take it in turns to inhale from a drop rubbed into my palm as we snuggle on the sofa. 

Geneyus: This is an excellent blend to diffuse for young minds that are focusing and concentrating on projects. Apply it when there is need for extra focus during class, homework time or reading. 

TummyGize: This is a relaxing blend that can be applied to little tummies. It promotes healthy digestion, which is key for all of us, especially delicate little ones. Think also car journeys. My girls love this aroma too.  But there’s more than essential oils in this line for our kiddos…

They have their very own Bath Gel: This is a safe, gentle soap that cleanses and protects sensitive skin. It’s formulated with MSM, aloe vera, antioxidants, and essential oils such as Lemon and Cedarwood. This liquid soap is pH balanced for children’s skin. And along with this, they do NOT have toxic ingredients, which includes no artificial colorings, that are key to avoid. 

Shampoo: KidScents® Shampoo contains no synthetic perfumes, colors, or toxic ingredients. The natural components in this shampoo include aloe, MSM and the essential oils of Chamomile, Tangerine and Lemon. So it’s effective and gently cleanses without causing irritation. Again no artificial colorings either.  

KidScents Lotion: This contains safe, gentle ingredients to moisturize and soften sensitive skin. The premium blend of MSM, shea butter, aloe vera, and pure Cedarwood, Geranium, and other essential oils supports healthy-looking skin for children of all ages. My oldest loves this lotion. 

Slique Toothpaste: This uses Thieves and Slique Essence essential oil blends to gently clean and protect teeth. This safe and effective blend promotes healthy teeth without the use of fluoride, dyes, synthetic colors, artificial flavors, or preservatives. As my girls learned to brush their teeth at a young age I had no worries of having to call poison control if they accidentally swallowed any. And they love the light citrus flavor.  I also highly recommend researching a couple of the other products in the KidScents line…

Kidscents MightyPro: This supplement is a unique synergistic blend of prebiotics and probiotics. They are packaged in easy, one-dose packets that can go anywhere and it contains over 8 billion active, live cultures to support digestive and immune health. This is key for kiddos!       And for a bonus…my girls think it’s candy. It’s that good. 

MightyVites & Mightzyme: MightyVites are an excellent source of essential nutrients designed for children that is FREE from additives such as synthetic folic acid. It’s rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other whole food-based nutrients. It comes in a berry-flavored chewable for ages 4-12.  It’s another where my girls ask me for their vitamins.  MightyZyme is a vegetarian chewable that supports digestion of proteins, carbohydrates and fats in children. As with adults, enzymes are key for a healthy digestive track. This is for children aged 6 or older; although you can crush and mix in 1/2 a tablet with yogurt or applesauce for children under 6 years old.  Now let’s change gears again and review some essential oils you may already have in your home and how they can be beneficial to little ones. First up… Diffusing

Adding 1-2 drops of an essential oil to your diffuser is a great place to start. Our mind creates powerful connections between scent and our emotions, surroundings and memories.  Diffusing is a simple but effective way to access those connections. It can also help build new and positive memories and experiences for little minds.  Diffusing in the same room as a baby is safe, but never place a baby directly over a diffuser’s mist stream. Try diffusing Lavender at nighttimePurification to freshen up the nursery space. Or add some to a cotton ball and pop it in your diaper pail. You’ll thank me! Peace & Calming is great during quiet time or play time at the end of the day when you’re beginning to prep for bedtime.Frankincense is great for a grounding and a soothing experience. As I’ve mentioned in a previous webinar, I love to diffuse this one with Lavender. Citrus Fresh is wonderful during fun and exciting games. You’ll feel the positive energy.  So What about Roller Balls to apply to the skin? Here’s some popular baby and toddler roller bottle blends These recipes all contain essential oils that are key in our household, and that of many moms! So if you don’t already have the essential oils in the KidScents line, you may want to start here: 

Add 5-10 drops of each of the oils I will mention in a 10ml roller bottle and top up with a carrier oil. Or adjust the recipe and add to a 5 or 15ml empty essential oil bottle and add a roller fitment to the top. Roll it on and go with no mess.  Happy gums with CopaibaCalm Baby with the Gentle Baby blendStay Well with Thieves (rub on the bottoms of the feet - remember it’s a hot oil)Happy Tummy with the DiGize blendBreathe Deep with Raven or R.C. blends (please note that within its ingredients, Raven contains Eucalyptus Radiata, Peppermint and Wintergreen and R.C. contains three different species of eucalyptus and peppermint). My girls love these, but introduce very slowly. Happy Skin with frankincenseRest Well by combining lavender and frankincense I have to say though that Cedarwood has been a top favorite for me to apply to the girls at bedtime. I have even been known to massage it into their scalp. Then some Popular Child Roller bottle blends: These custom DIY roller blends are great for all sorts of applications and fun for kids to apply themselves (with supervision), here are some I haven’t already mentioned, again adding 10-15 drops and topping up with a carrier oil:  Happy Mood with Valor and Orange. I love this combination.Seasonal discomforts with lemon, lavender and peppermint. This is a key combination in our householdHappy Tummy with DiGize and extra peppermintBoo Boos turned into smiles with a combination of frankincense, lavender and copaiba. Rest Well with lavender and peace + calming. 

The blends you could put together are endless. However, these are a great starting point for you, but don’t be scared to make your own with your favorites and with the ones that click with YOUR little ones. I will cover even more options in upcoming webinars such as on the immune, respiratory and digestive systems. In the Meantime Here Are More Resources Investing in a book such as Gentle Babies is a great resource. It’s full of essential oils and natural remedies for pregnancy, childbirth, infants and young children. It includes safety features, as well as how to use essential oils. I’ve used the 5th edition multiple times for my children, but they have recently released a newer edition for their 10th Anniversary.  

Another good starting point is The Chemical Free Home #3 Booklet, which includes multiple DIY recipes and remember I’ll be giving away a copy of this live in a moment. There will also be applicable information that your family can apply from the Back to School Survival Webinar which is scheduled for July 25. You can register for this upcoming event on our website: familylifescaping.com (via educational resources and webinars). Next Week, our Thursday Night Live will cover: Summer Survival.   It’s going to be another fast paced webinar as I cover all the summer essentials. Whether you’re planning to travel, or stay local and hang out by the pool all summer, you’re going to want to tune in for this one. There will be more tips specific for children in this webinar too. As usual, you can register via our website or with the link in the email you’ll receive tomorrow morning with tonight’s webinar recording.  Video: Our Precious Little Ones Click to Register for Thursday Night Live Webnars Read the full article

[countdownstudyblr]

Study Tips - Part 1/?

This is a (non-comprehensive) list of study tips and attitudes that have helped me get through my first year of uni. 

Note-taking:

Think about using a personalized shorthand

This is entirely up to how your brain works and picks out patterns, but I find reading over notes to be much smoother if it flows in my own words, and if there isn’t too much written down to clutter the space.

I use things like “w” instead of the word “with”. I use “=“ when I want to say that something is defined as whatever follows, and I use “≠” to mean that the two terms being separated are exactly opposite in meaning. If two terms mean the same thing and can be used interchangeably, I use a “/”.

Some of the things I do are specific to subjects:

In math, “cont” means continuous and “diff” means differentiable. I only denote “if and only if” statements with iff, never with the double-headed arrow. I only ever write “aa” for amino acids in biology. I will never write “sodium” (or other elements) fully, and will use Na+/K+/H+/P/Ca2+, or H20, O2, CO2, H2SO4, H30+ (with reference to compounds). 

I also always use a delta symbol to represent the word “change” or “difference”.

Examples:

“xyz can be labelled w a fluorescent dye...”

“... separation/unzipping of the helix.”

“xyz causes Δ in pH.” 

Humour

I used to be pretty particular about the way my notes looked, and I know that marginalia is not always something people want to have. I’m also garbage at doodling. 

I would suggest trying this out even if the above apply to you (even if it is on a sticky note or somewhere else!). I found that this was incredibly helpful for me: if anything funny was said in lecture (the prof made a joke, there was some kind of funny interaction...), I wrote it down. 

In the margins of a lot of my notes, I now have memorable events alongside coursework. Though this doesn’t necessarily help me study or retain information, it makes the review process a bit more dynamic. I really value, now, my opportunity to slip into the amusement of a moment past, and it keeps me feeling refreshed enough to continue studying. 

Examples: 

In my biology class this semester, on the first day, in response to something the professor said, my neighbour turned to me and I wrote down what she said. “I love engulfing large particles.” Hilarious, and definitely comes to mind whenever I think about phagocytosis.

“Ladies and gentlemen... you’ll have to deal with his [a classmate’s] puns for the next four years!” Groans, mumbling, and then, “Not if you fail him, Professor!”

“Why would we [the professors] ever use l’Hôpital’s rule when we can just do it in our heads in two seconds with Taylor expansions? Ha!” (which is followed in my notes by: “him @ us fools/plebs.”)

Studying:

Task-based breaks, not time-based ones

I like to break up my time by task. I always read and hear tips that one should study for 1.5 hours and then take a fifteen minute break, then come back, rinse, repeat... My two cents: that doesn’t work for me. Not only am I notoriously bad at respecting the “fifteen minute break” limit, but approaching the 1.5 hour mark, I start to fidget and lose my focus. 

Though it certainly isn’t productive or healthy to close yourself up in a room/library/class for hours on end, I find that having a task as your goal is much more rewarding than a time based one. If I tell myself I will eat once I finish all the math problems I have assigned, there is no way for me to creatively manipulate that goal. 

That said, I think “productive” breaks are important. Regardless of how you set up your break time, it’s no good if all you do is flip open a new tab on your computer and watch youtube every hour and a half. Walks are good, the gym is good, a healthy snack is good, and the occasional episode of a short and funny show is good. 

Ultimately, finishing a task is a great mental reward, and as long as you make sure to chunk responsibilities in manageable bites, you won’t find yourself working longer than is healthy, but you also won’t feel like time is working against you.

Study during daylight hours (in exam time, especially)

Wake up early and study. Try not to stay up late. Ultimately, you won’t get more hours of studying done just because you stay up late (then you sleep in, etc). Unless your productivity goes way up (which doesn’t make much sense, because one gets tired out after a whole day of existing!) at night, sleep when it’s dark and work when it’s daytime. Prioritizing sleep is so important.

Daylight stimulates so many things in the body - so don’t shut yourself up somewhere dark. Get out at least once, open the window, think about sunlight. Give yourself a change of pace from all the pages of notes you’re going through.

Your exam won’t happen at 4 in the morning. Make sure you’re going to be functional whenever it is, which won’t happen if you pull five all-nighters before the exam.

Also, don’t live off of coffee. I love it as much as the next person, and up my intake as stressful periods come and go... but it affects the quality of sleep and can sometimes work against you by making you fidgety. Tea is good as a ~caffeinated drink! 

Other resources:

Read&Write

This is a chrome extension that reads your text out to you. There are probably a million other ways to have this happen, but I like this one. I find it hard to focus when I have to read my notes back, an essay I’ve written, or other dense readings. If someone is reading it out to me, it is easier to listen along and harder to get distracted.

Similarly, when doing long readings of well-known books (philosophy readings), I’ve found it very effective to search up the audiobook (maybe speed it up to 1.5 speed if on youtube!) and read my copy while someone is also reading to me. It helps me process the words on a few different levels - the reader’s intonation makes understanding easier for me, it makes it impossible to skim and miss important sections, and it gives me a chance to take some notes without stopping reading. 

Rely on others constructively

Working with other people is good, but nothing replaces devoting time to something yourself. Your own ideas, while often positively impacted by discussion with others, can get lost if you only think the way someone else is thinking. 

Shared notes are messy and don’t follow linearly. Everyone has different styles for note-taking. If you miss a class and get someone else’s note, rewrite it! After passing through your head, it will be more accessible to you. If you don’t, it’s as good as having it in a different language!

That said, if you have a final coming up with a million essay prompts or something, it can help to divide up tasks and make the preparation easier on you. My philosophy notes for the final are the result of collaboration. However, I intend to copy them to a private document, check them, verify quotes and concepts against my notes from the year, and finally modify all the notes I received. I cannot memorize what someone else wrote for me.

Also, don’t blindly send all your hard-earned notes to someone who does not deserve them, who won’t return the favour, or who is asking at the very last minute. Sharing a day’s worth of notes or helping with a specific question is always good. Writing notes with others in mind can motivate you to take more complete notes and follow everything in lecture! However, the choice someone makes to skip every class all year... is their own problem. Issues of academic dishonesty and plagiarism are not lightly dealt with at any level, so consider what’s at risk and at what possible personal cost before saying yes to every request.

Look for textbooks online (as late as possible)

If you want to avoid selling your soul for a $200 textbook and you don’t mind reading from a computer screen, always look for pdf versions of your textbooks. The catch: some professors suck and they make the most recent version of a textbook the required text. Some of them like to make money by releasing updates to their own books just days before the semester starts. Some have a million “recommended” resources that are... actually mandatory. Some will make you buy four solution manuals along with the textbook (none of which you want or will use). Some will make you buy a book you will never open. 

Don’t play yourself by forgetting to buy necessary software for online quizzes or animations, but really look online for whatever else remains. You might be surprised about what’s out there. 

All of this is old news. What I’m saying is: don’t get desperate if you can’t find your textbook online before classes start. If you know you can buy it from the school bookstore anytime, and you can afford to go a few lessons without a book (or maybe you can borrow a classmate’s!), wait. Someone will upload that pdf you need, but maybe it will take a few days. 

I found two HUGE textbooks of mine online (bio and organic chemistry), though neither was available as a pdf at the beginning of term. My reason to have them both in paper copy and electronic copy is that I avoid lugging them around on my long commute. I also plan to sell the hard copies after the year is done, but keep the digital ones for possible reference. 

So many resources are available - try them all out at least once

Inside the classroom setting, take advantage of review sessions and question periods to seek clarification. 

If you want, make some friends in class - at least so that you have someone to fall back on if you’re ill, can’t come to class, or if your computer crashes and you lose everything. If you have questions after a practical, a problem set, an essay, or a test, there is always someone there who can help you work through it. 

Outside the classroom... you have infinite resources. Free ones, too! Youtube channels like crash-course have helped me with getting a full understanding of historical periods and gaining a foundation for classwork. Professor Dave Explains’ channel has been invaluable for me in organic chemistry. I’ve listened through many a lecture by Dr. Sadler to gain new perspectives on some of my philosophy readings. I’ve also looked online for suggestions about approaches to different math problems and physics questions, because sometimes a comment in some random forum can inspire you to get to the answer!

Also, check out past exams and tests! Even if you can’t do them all or don’t have an answer key, they help you feel more prepared for the structure of an assessment. Along those lines, check out model answers or assignments if they are provided or offered. Before the assignment is due, this will help you make sure you are including everything you need. After the assignment is due, this will help you improve your answers and see where you went wrong.

Thanks for reading, I hope to be back soon with more tips! 

[girlwonderxo-blog]

Want to feel better without having to think about it too much?

Here’s how: Improve your diet. Yep. Notice I said “improve” NOT “change” (simply to emphasize the need for improvements that are easily sustainable). How do you do this? By not ripping away everything you’re used to all at once of course. Realistically, this is why fad diets rarely, if ever, work long term. You drive yourself (and your body respectively) crazy trying to eat barely anything, or only things you don’t really enjoy. I used to probably be the world’s pickiest eater (Guinness Book of World Records status). As a result of this, I had a HORRIBLE diet that lacked a ton of important nutrients. I’m lucky that I’m as healthy as I am eating like that for so long; YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT! On top of that, I used to, as a lot of us do (especially here in the good U S of A) consume a ton of meat and not nearly enough fruits and vegetables—However, now I’m a vegetarian and l-o-v-i-n-g it. No matter what your goal is (indeed I know not everyone is trying to go as far as vegetarianism), I’m going to share 10 honest to goodness tips on how I personally have achieved a mega transition in my diet with little or no pain. But first, a disclaimer:

 I am not, nor do I claim to be, a Nutritionist. 

These are merely 10 simple strategies I’ve implemented when starting my journey that I found to be effective. Enjoy.

Start off by substituting; no need to fully eliminate. You wouldn’t wean yourself off of a medication all at once would you? You’d go bonkers. The same goes with food. My favorite trick is to substitute my junky snack cravings with healthier ones that actually hold nutritional value. So slice up an apple and eat it with your favorite chunky peanut butter instead of the cookies, eat healthier options that still pack a crunch if you’re craving potato chips (think crisp veggies with your favorite ranch dip, plantain chips, pea crisps etc.), or make a smoothie with your favorite fruits instead of drinking that double chocolate milkshake; but on occasion... Do have the double chocolate milkshake. It’s OKAY in moderation.

For goodness sake lay off the sugar. It is horrible for you and not doing you any favors. When I really started reading nutrition labels I realized just how much a lot of the products pushed to us are often overloaded with sugar (more than the 25g for women / 38g for men daily recommended amount in just one product). When shopping always grab a few options to compare their sugar content. After reading the labels, opt for the one with less sugar. I’ve long ago given up soda, but I still enjoy my occasional juice beverage. I swear by Kombucha, because despite costing about $3.99 per bottle, they are one of the few juice drinks that do not literally have 30-58g of sugar per serving (note: there are some classified as non-alcoholic and alcohol). Being more conscious of the amounts of sugar in each product that I am consuming has become a habit and drastically brought down my over-all level of sugar intake on a daily basis. My waist and newfound lack of insomnia thank me; yours will as well.

Also, lay off excessive amounts of sodium. This is another baddy the food industry just loves to overload our food with. As with sugar, weigh your options and go with the one that has the least amount of sodium. I definitely used to do counterproductive things like add extra salt to my fries, potatoes and pasta until I realized how much salt were already in these things; yikes. If it already has sodium in it, there’s no need to add anymore.

For the amount of meat you think you need on that dinner plate, make sure you have at least equal (preferably more but here’s hoping you’ll get there) servings of fruits & vegetables too! This will ensure that you’re eating balanced and not getting full off one thing food group before you can get your other, necessary nutrients. A trick I like to do is to mix vegetables I am not that fond of with something I do love, like preferred veggies or brown rice. 

Go whole or go home. Whenever you can, opt for whole grains vs. refined ones. Brown > white. Natural and less processed is generally better for you.

Drink more water. We all know we’ve got to, but it just seems so much easier to drink that 24 oz. Venti coffee than even 3 of the recommended 8 glasses of water per day. On top of that, if you’re like me, you’re often so busy that you don’t have time to keep getting up to re-fill your glass. By the end of the day you realize you haven’t had any water. I’ve solved this first world problem by purchasing a 64 oz. jug from Amazon, which I fill up at the beginning of the day & goal myself to finish by the day’s end. You too can purchase this magical product here >> Bluewave Lifestyle Daily 8 Water Jug << 

Try using organic raw honey as a sweetener instead of granulated sugar if you’re a tea totaller or coffee lover, (I love to do this). I find it to be sweeter, and therefore I can use less to achieve the desired taste. I’m no Baker, but I’m sure this can be used as a substitute here as well.

Eat smaller portions, more frequently. This is great for your metabolism and keeps blood sugars leveled. It also helps to take your time when eating! Our brains do not immediately realize the chemicals we’ve put into our bellies to register that we’re full. So if we eat a lot too fast we often don’t even realize that we’ve met or surpassed our threshold of satisfaction, causing us to overeat. I like to eat a serving and then let it marinate for about 15-20 minutes before deciding if I need seconds to be content.

An extremely effective remedy that I want to state again is: Pair foods you know are good for you and that you should be eating (but maybe you don’t really care for) with foods you love. This is one thing that immensely helped me to grow out of my picky eating frenzy. Every time I would take a bite of something I didn’t care for, I’d have something I love on the fork also. You can also find a seasoning or dressing you like to help you enjoy new and healthy foods. Before you know it your palette adapts and that BIG bad broccoli isn’t so icky anymore—dare I say you might grow to enjoy it. On the flip side, it’s important not to force yourself to eat more of things in one sit in then you can stand to. This will only create a disdain for that particular food, and you’ll never learn to enjoy it. It’s a gradual process. Introduce yourself to it multiple times and eat only a little until you find yourself wanting more.

Be aware of, and probably avoid all of the products with the super duper marketing health claims of being low fat, or low calorie. At the very least compare the labels. Often, they reduce the fat or calories in exchange for upping the content of some other horrible ingredient to keep the flavor. Then, they market it to misled consumers as “healthy.” Quality over quantity is always better and you can control how much you eat of anything.

Well, that’s it. Try some, or all, of these pointers if you’re beginning to change some things in your diet for the better. Everyone is different and you have to find what works for you. However, these life hacks have been pivotal for me on my journey and I hope they will be for you. In the very least, it will cause you to be a lot more conscious of what you’re putting into your body and you’ll start noticing what does, or does not work for you.

Happy Shopping.  ✌🏼 💚

Also, to keep getting fit with me check out & follow my primary blog @ ~~>https://www.tumblr.com/blog/stylefit

[planitlady-blog]

Mini fic idea: SF Papyrus being taken care of by an S/O who loves caring for others. Like the S/O trapping him in bed with duvets, yummy (actually cooked and not cold from a can) food, funny films and lots of cuddles, giving him a chance to take a break from his anxiety (Sans has been sent on a goose chase somewhere chasing heffalumps through a wood or some shit) xx

(I had an extra idea for this and I SOOO want to write it but I’m gonna just change it up a bit and make it a crush rather than S/O. Hope that’s ok! ALSO THIS TURNED OUT TO BE KINDA LONG so I put it under a cut. Sorry lol.)

Sans was actually the one who had set you up to the task. That’s not to say you hadn’t had the idea first, Sans just came up to you and voiced his concern for his brother very LOUDLY and asked if you would do something about it. He knew how close the two of you were and he was sure at this point his brother would only listen to you.

You had been mulling over your options for a while ever since his sudden change in demeanor that night on the patio. Sure, you and Paps were good friends! But…close?

You’re face felt hot all of a sudden and you shook your head to clear it.

He needed your help. He was obviously distressed, but for some reason you felt like you were going to make it worse.

“Sans…I’m not sure he really wants to see me right now.”

The guard scoffed and rolled his eyes, fists planted firmly on his hips. “HARDLY. YOU’RE ALL HE TALKS ABOUT ANYMORE. IT’S ANNOYING.”

You frowned at that. It didn’t make any sense. Wasn’t he upset with you?? He sure seemed like it  at the party. You definitely didn’t think he’d be missing you of all people at this point.

“I’LL BE GONE FOR THE DAY TOMORROW SO YOU CAN WORK YOUR ‘MAGIC’ THEN. I HAVE HAD FIRST HAND EXPERIENCE AS YOUR BESTIE AND I AM WELL AWARE YOU ARE UP TO THE TASK.” He sounded embarrassed to admit it but gave a stiff nod, “…I TRUST YOU WILL MAKE HIM FEEL BETTER.”

“Awww….Sans! That’s so sweet.”

He went scarlet at that, “SHUT UP!! I AM NOT!”

“Are too~”

“I WILL RIP OUT YOUR TONGUE.”

You were chased out of the house laughing by a shouting skeleton trailing behind you and telling you to be ready for tomorrow.

The next morning you gathered up a few of your favorite movies, your softest blankets, and some ingredients to bake cookies. (Double chocolate fudge chip. It was Pap’s favorite)

It was about nine when you reached the Skeleton brothers’ house, a duffel bag slung over your shoulder. It was time to get to work. Sans had flung the door open just as you reached the top step. He was dressed casually to go out and had a bag over his shoulder as well.

“I WILL BE GONE THE ENTIRE DAY. ME AND ALPHYS ARE CHECKING OUT THE AMUSEMENT PARK IN TOWN. HE IS STILL IN BED, AS USUAL….”

He sort of stood idle on the threshold for a moment and blinked. “THANK YOU, BY THE WAY.”

You smiled warmly at him and wrapped him up in a quick hug which he immediately protested and tried to wiggle out of.  You laughed and set him down and he huffed as he pushed past you, blushing again.

“It’s no problem Sans! I’ll see you tonight!”

He waved his hand without looking back and you closed the door. It was quiet.

You shrugged off your bag and kicked off your shoes.

“Papyrus?” No answer. You rolled your eyes and trudged up the stairs to his room. The door was shut tight and for a split second you regretted not asking Sans for a key. Paps always kept it locked.

But then a muffled voice sounded from behind the door; “the fuck you want?”

You hesitated. He sounded kind of…irritated.

“I uh…heard you were feelin’ a little down in the dumps. I brought some stuff!”

There was shifting from inside and you held your breath.

“…don’t want it. you can leave.” His voice was strained.

“Papyrus…please at least come out?”

“nah.”

You tried the doorknob and miraculously it opened with very little resistance. The first thing that hit you was the smell. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but it was strong. Like dust and teakwood. It was dark and you had to squint into the room to make out faint shapes. The curtains were drawn tight, there was no light getting in.

“Papyrus…?” you could make out his form on the bed. He wasn’t even covered, just laying there staring at the ceiling. His glowing eyelights disappeared as he squeezed his eyes shut and sighed.

“what.” His tone was short and clipped.

You frowned and put your hands on your hips. “Fine. I’ll just leave then.”

You actually disappeared for a moment to go grab the blankets you had stuffed into your bag. He turned his head to watch you go and looked even more crestfallen than before.

Then he jolted as he heard your footsteps scampering back up the stairs and before he could blink you were jumping on top of him with an armful of duvets.

“y/n–!!”

Suddenly you were being suspended in the air surrounded by glowing magic. You giggled at the sensation, looking down at a now blushing Papyrus. Your hair was hanging down and framing your face as a laugh bubbled up between your lips.

The skeleton gulped.

“You just gonna leave me hanging Papy?” You dropped the blankets and they landed on top of him with a soft poof. You went limp and sighed dramatically. “Come on dude. I brought Movies! And cookie stuff! And I’ll make you a grilled cheese if you put me down and you know…get up.”

His soul clenched in his chest. He slowly sat up to make room for you on the bed before unceremoniously dropping you onto the covers. You righted yourself and pushed the hair out of your face, sitting crossed legged across from him.

He looked pained to see you there though. Your smile faltered.

“Listen…Paps…” You had a chunk of hair in your hands now that you were brushing through nervously, “I know you’re like..upset with me or something. I just want to know what I did wrong?”

He sighed in defeat. He couldn’t bring himself to keep sulking around like this. Especially not around you. “you…. didn’t do anything, sweetheart.”

You leaned over and punched his shoulder, “Shut up!” his eyes widened at you, “I know I did….something. But I promise I’m going to make it up to you today.” you patted the Duvets.

He chuckled and slapped a hand into them. They were really soft…

He fell face forward into the pile of blankets and groaned. You snorted at that and laid down on your back beside him.

“So, I figured after some duvet cuddling, and probably another mid-morning nap knowing you, I could make grilled cheese and soup for lunch! Like homemade soup. Not that gross stuff you always buy in the can that comes out looking like entrails.”

“it makes me feel like a zombie.”

You smacked his shoulder and grinned, “You’re such a kid. Seriously that stuff is like, chock full of sodium. You can’t eat out of a can everyday.”

He rolled onto his back too and let out a long breath through his nasal cavity.

“Ok naps over.” You hopped up and grabbed his arm. “You’ve been laying around for days. I’ll make you lunch and then we can bake cookies!!”

Papyrus groaned and went limp. Your tugging was no use.

“Papyruuuuusssssssssssssss  PLEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSEEEEE.”

“mmmmmmmmm……..ok” You were pulling all your weight backwards when he just disappeared right from the bed. You yelped and fell backwards only to be caught by a pair of strong, warm arms.

It was Papyrus, obviously.

He was laughing at the look on your face and you went scarlet.

Lunch went smoothly after that. Paps seemed really grateful for a homecooked meal, though you could never understand why he liked grilled cheese so much. You could make plenty of other things.

It was when he was sitting at the kitchen table, watching you bustle about getting all the ingredients together to make those cookies you knew he liked, that he sort of just went quiet. You were really going out of your way for him and it was touching to say the least. The Underground didn’t have anyone like you. He wasn’t used to this kind of affection. But when you came along you were pelting him with it 24/7.

He liked hanging out with you. He liked YOU. But he was so unwaveringly sure that you could never return his affections he restrained himself more than he normally would around some girl he was just trying to get into bed.

But that’s not what he wanted with you was it? Well, not JUST that at least. He wanted this. Quiet days when he could have you close.

He just wanted to hold you…

You turned around and tapped the table with your spoon.

“Yo. Earth to Paps. You ok?”

He blinked. You were gazing at him steadily, eyes full of concern. His soul clenched for the second time that day.

“uh…yeah. you almost done?”

You smiled, “Well, I just put the cookies in the oven. We can go set up the movie now if you want.”

“sure.”

You nodded, setting down the spoon and pulline the apron over your head. The two of you wandered into the living room where you had set your bag and you plopped yourself down in front of the DVD player.

“So today I have…Serendipity, Zombieland, the Shining…oh! Mean GirlsI I don’t think….Papyrus?”

You had glanced up and paused. He was just standing there. Looking at you. Staring at you.

It was too much, he felt like he was running out of breath. It wasn’t like anything spectacular had just happened either. You were just sitting there on his floor. Trying to pick out a movie for the two of you to watch and it almost felt like the universe was trying to play some cruel joke on him.

This was almost normal. This was almost…completely content.

But it wasn’t. It couldn’t be because he knew! He knew you couldn’t…that you didn’t…

“i’m in love with you.”

It came out in a short breath and for a second it didn’t even feel like he had really said it. Like his mouth had moved of it’s own accord.

“W-what?” Your heart stopped beating for a second. It was like everything froze. You were clutching onto a DVD case so tight you thought it might break.

And then he started tearing up.

“i….” He clenched his jaw and balled his hands up into fists, refusing to look at you. “i’m…..i’m fucking in love with you ok? never felt like this before but…” he breathed out shakily but his next words were just as strained, “pretty fuckin sure..”

You stood up slowly. His magic was oozing this staticy out of control pressure buzzing across your skin. He glanced at you and the look in his eyes almost made your heart break into a thousand little pieces.

“a-and i know you don’t…you can’t…at the party you said. ‘you’re such a great friend papyrus!’ right after i tried to…to..”

You placed a hesitant hand on his arm and he looked down at it frantically and faltered.

“i…..was trying to kiss you! ya know. i thought the mood…and it seemed like you was leanin’ in and i just–”

Before he could say another word you grabbed his face and cut him off by pressing your mouth squarely to his own.

His eyes widened, his pulse quickened. Your eyes were screwed  shut with determination to pour every ounce of your love for him into one gesture and he was sure you knocked all the breath right out of him. His eyes slid shut and he grabbed you. He yanked you close and held you so tight you though you might bruise. His hand was at the back of your head and tilting it up to deepen the kiss.

When you finally pulled away you were  breathless and blushing. He had gone completely red.

“i…”

“I love you too.”

He was looking at you like you were the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and you probably were.

“heh…” he went in for another kiss, which you gladly accepted. And than another..and another…

When Sans got home it was late. He walked into the living room only to be greeted by a shifting duvet and the sound of breathy laughter.

He immediately went red and dashed off to his room, not about to deal with…whatever THAT was at this ungodly hour.

You peeked your head out from the duvet and Papyrus did too.

“is he gone?”

“Heh yeah. Would he really burn my copy of Mean Girls if he caught us watching it?”

Papyrus reached over you for the remote and flicked the TV on again, “yep. he hates the movie. i just wanna see the broad get run over by a bus.”

You dissolved into laughter and went back to clutching him under the pile of blankets you two had situated on the couch.

Papyrus smiled and felt the happiest he had in years.

[thecoroutfitters]

I can remember as a kid, my dad would get soap on a rope as a gift and it never made much sense to me. I thought, hmm, what a weird thing to do to soap. That’s life as a modern kid in a civilized world.

Soap on a rope was a novelty item, and now it’s practically unheard of. So, what was its purpose, and why do you need it as a survival item?

Originally, soap on a rope was invented by the English Leather Company in 1969 to keep their soap from getting soggy and dissolving. Yep, tricked me, too; I would have guessed that it’s much older than that, but apparently not. Still, I’d be amazed if at least one enterprising pioneer didn’t think to make this novelty, because it’s truly ingenious if you think about it.

Since soap can be made mostly with ingredients that you already have around the house, let’s make some soap on a rope.

Why would you want your soap on a rope?

Think about it. Many good soaps take months to cure properly, so wasting even one bar is foolish in a survival scenario because good hygiene is going to be what saves you from disease. Since it’s also going to be a huge trade commodity, you’ve literally lost what will equate to money if you lose a bar or soap or let it sit in a puddle and dissolve.

Enter soap on a rope. You can take it to the river with you and hang it around your neck or your wrist – a wrist rope seems more functional to me – so that you don’t lose it in the stream or drop it in the dirt. You can also hang it up to dry so that it’s not sitting in dirt or a puddle of water that will cause it to dissolve.

Soap on a rope is one of the most simply frugal ideas I can think of.

But, how do you make it?

The short answer: just like you make any other soap, except you put a rope in it.

The long answer? Well, OK. Let’s have a quick soap-making tutorial.

Can I make soap without lye?

In order to make a solid soap, you’re going to need wood ash, because of the lye (sodium hydroxide) in it. Of course, right now you can just buy lye, or buy melt-and-pour soap that’s already been saponified (the process that lye instigates that causes the liquids and fats to mix and gives soap it’s cleansing properties), but that won’t be the case if SHTF, so it’s good to know how to make it yourself. You’ll be surprised how simple the process is.

And think about our ancestors. They didn’t have the luxury of the modern industry but they were able to create their own hygiene products from simple, readily available ingredients.

These survival lessons from our ancestors will teach you how to take care of your hygiene when there isn’t anything to buy. 

The number one thing that you need to know about soap making is that you need to follow the number one rule in chemistry class – use safety equipment and precautions. Lye is extremely caustic, but if that worries you, just remember that fire is lethal too, but that doesn’t stop you from cooking and camping. Just be careful.

And no. You can’t make soap without lye. If you try to, you’ll just have a bucket full of fat and water. The lye causes the saponification process that allows them to mix and gives soap its cleansing properties.

If made correctly, there is not unreacted lye in the soap, but it’s important to use the right ratio of lye to water in order to make sure that this is the case. There are many soap calculators that you can find to help you with this process until you have it down.

A couple of safety tricks to remember – always add the lye to the water, not the water to the lye. As soon as you add the lye, the chemical reaction will start and the mixture will heat up ad steam for 30 seconds or so. Keep a bottle of white vinegar on hand to neutralize the lye if it splashes on something. It will eat a hole in cloth or burn your skin.

Stir immediately so that the lye doesn’t settle in the bottom and possibly cause an explosion (don’t be a baby – you can do this. Granny Clampett did and look how long she lived). Seriously, though, don’t worry about it overly much; just be careful and do it right and you’ll be fine.

Making the Soap

The only ingredients you actually NEED to make soap are water, lye, and fat. That’s it. Of course, smell-good agents, essential oils, and colors make it smell nice, add therapeutic properties, and make it look pretty, but they’re not necessary to make soap that will get you clean.

Now, to make soap on a rope, you obviously need the soap to be solid, so if you’re making your own lye, use wood ash from hardwoods. Otherwise, your soap will be soft.

There are a variety of fats that you can use, including tallow, lard, olive oil, coconut oil, jojoba oil, avocado oil, or any of the “butters” – cocoa, shea, or mango butter. You’ll want to use a combination of fats and oils in order to have the right consistency.

There are two ways to make soap: hot processing and cold processing. As the names suggest, one method requires heat and the other doesn’t.

The main difference is that the heat in hot pressing speeds up the saponification process so that your soap is ready in days instead of weeks, like it would be with cold-processing.

Here’s a cold processing recipe from DIYNatural.com. She’s been a soap maker for many years, and actually teaches university classes on the subject.

Ingredients

The notes after the ingredients are hers, not mine, and I’m paraphrasing her directions. I’ve also added in the rope, and the rope instructions.

Process

First is the chemical reaction, so use gloves and goggles if you so choose. Measure out the water into a quart-sized canning jar and slowly add in the exact amount of lye, stirring as you add it. Stand back a bit so that you’re not breathing the fumes caused by the chemical reaction. Stir until the water starts to clear, then move to the next step.

In a smaller container, combine the oils. You should have almost exactly a pint. Heat them up for just a minute either in the microwave or by placing them in a glass jar and placing them in hot water. You want the temperature of the oils to be about 120 degrees.

By now, the lye mixture should have cooled to about the same temperature. Let the oils and the lye cool until they’re between 95 and 105 degrees F. This is an important stage because if it cools too much it’ll combine quickly but it’ll be crumbly.

When they’re both at the right temperature, pour the oils into a glass mixing bowl and slowly stir in the lye until it’s all mixed, and keep stirring for 5 minutes. The soap mixture will thicken and become lighter in color. Keep stirring either with by hand or with an immersion blender until it looks like vanilla pudding. When it does, add your colors, oils, or herbs.

Pour your soap into 4 molds, or one loaf pan or cardboard box lined with parchment paper that will make 1 solid piece that you can cut into smaller bars. Pour the soap into the molds or pan. Double the rope over into a loop and press the ends down into what will be the center of each bar of soap that will extend from one end of the bar to the other.

Wrap the mold in plastic wrap and then in a towel so that the saponification process can start.

Check it after 24 hours and if it’s still warm or soft, let it sit for an addition 12-24 hours. When it’s finally cold and firm, turn it out onto a piece of parchment paper.

If you made one solid piece, cut it into bars now, making sure to cut it so that the rope runs down the center of each bar.

Since this was a cold process, the soap will need to cure for 4 weeks or so. Turn it every week or so to expose all sides to air. You can also cure it on a rack and won’t have to turn it. Once your soap is completely dry, wrap it in wax paper or store in an airtight container because homemade soap makes its own glycerin, which attracts water.

Now you know how to make quick and easy soap on a rope!

Do you wonder how our forefathers took care of their personal hygiene when they traveled for months?

Click the banner below and uncover their secrets!

This article has been written by Theresa Crouse for Survivopedia.

References:

http://soapcalc.net/calc/soapcalcwp.asp

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from Survivopedia Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies? #SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag

[howellrichard]

How to Stock Your Freezer for Easy Vegan Meals

Hiya Gorgeous!

Ahhh, the fabulous freezer. It’s one of the most misused and underappreciated tools in our kitchens. If your freezer could talk, it would tell you that it is has bigger aspirations than being the land of ice cream, TV dinners and forgotten mystery food.

Your freezer can be a haven for the healthy, long-lasting goodies you need to create easy vegan meals—meals that nourish your body and delight your taste buds. Learning what kinds of foods to freeze, as well as how to properly prep and store them, completely transformed how I use my freezer. And today I’m gonna help you do the same!

But first, grab your Ultimate Vegan Pantry Staples Checklist!

We’re about to talk all things frozen food, but a well-stocked pantry is another key ingredient for easy vegan meals. Grab this free checklist to start building your dream pantry today!

Now, without further ado, let’s take a peek inside my freezer!

7 Freezer Staples for Easy Vegan Meals

1. Fruit

Berries, mango, bananas, pineapple… oh my! Frozen fruit is a staple for me because it’s easy to keep on hand and has lots of different uses. Plus, it’s a great way to eat more in-season fruit. For example, I like to freeze a bunch of fresh blueberries in the summer to have at-the-ready when the colder months roll around.

Here are a few frozen fruit pointers:

Save money at the grocery store by buying the larger bags of frozen fruit, which are often cheaper per ounce. Since fruit lasts so long in the freezer, stocking up is a no-brainer!

If you have fresh fruit that’s about to go bad, wash and prep it before putting it in a reusable baggie in the freezer. Chop all bigger fruit (mango, bananas, etc.) for easier blending or defrosting. Make sure to peel your bananas before freezing.

Green smoothies are one of my go-to easy vegan meals. Toss frozen fruit right in the blender with seeds, nut butters, greens and plant-based milk, then blend to creamy perfection! This Peachy Green smoothie is one of my personal faves from Crazy Sexy Juice.

Plan ahead for breakfast by moving a portion of frozen berries from the freezer to the fridge the night before. Use it as a sweet topping for your morning oatmeal or nondairy yogurt.

You can use frozen fruit in baking, too! Try this Mixed Berry Crisp from my Test Kitchen Tuesday series—just give the blueberries and raspberries some time to defrost before you start cooking.

Most fruit can be frozen for 2-6 months, depending on the variety. If you see freezer burn, that’s usually sign it’s time to discard!

2. Leafy greens

You know I’ve got dark leafies squirreled away wherever I can keep ‘em! Pick up pre-chopped and frozen spinach, kale and collards at the store for tossing in sauces, soups, stews, casseroles and grain/pasta bowls. Or make this delish plant-based Spinach Artichoke Dip for your next movie night… YUM!

And those fresh greens languishing in your veggie drawer in the fridge? Give them new life by washing and chopping them, throwing them in a reusable bag, then tossing them in the freezer to be used later for green smoothies. I’d steer clear of freezing lettuce for salads, though, because the thawed greens won’t be crisp anymore. You can keep most greens in the freezer for 10-12 months.

3. Sprouted whole grain bread

I know that just seeing the word “bread” might make you break into a cold sweat because of all the mixed messages out there about carbs. But I’m here to tell you that it can be part of a healthy, gut-friendly diet (read more about why I love grains here). I usually stick with sprouted, whole grain bread because it contains more vitamins and minerals than your standard processed white bread. Plus, it’s easier to digest and a lot more satisfying!

My favorite sprouted whole grain bread is Ezekiel, which you can find already frozen in many stores. You can make easy vegan meals in a snap by grabbing a couple slices from the freezer and popping them in the toaster. Top ‘em with avocado, crushed red pepper and hemp seeds for breakfast. Or make a hearty sandwich for lunch with Save the Tuna Salad, tomatoes, lettuce and mustard.

Most store-bought bread stays good in the freezer for 3-5 months, and I use the same guidelines for homemade bread. Just make sure to label it so you can check the date when in doubt!

4. Veggie burgers

I always keep veggie burgers in my freezer because they’re so versatile. Top a salad or grain bowl, roll into a burrito, press on a panini or pile high on a bun with all the fixins—so many scrumptious (and simple!) possibilities.

If you’re buying burgers at the store, look for options with minimal ingredients. Also keep an eye on the salt, saturated fat and additives, which can be high in prepared foods. I love the frozen veggie burgers from Hilary’s and Sunshine Burgers!

Or make your own, like these Black Bean and Roasted Sweet Potato Burgers from Crazy Sexy Kitchen. Freeze them in a single layer or stack with parchment paper between each patty to prevent them from sticking together. Homemade burgers are usually good in the freezer for up to 2 months!

5. Cooked whole grains and beans

Whole grains and beans are staples in a healthy, plant-based diet. And while you can usually find that stuff pre-made (canned beans for example), the homemade varieties are extra delicious. But you might not always have the time to cook up a batch of chickpeas or brown rice for dinner at the end of a long day. Luckily, they can be cooked in bulk and stored in the freezer for next week’s (or month’s!) easy vegan meals.

Try these pro tips for freezing grains and beans:

Spoon single portions (or however many you’ll use for a meal if you’re cooking for others) of grains and beans into silicone or other eco-friendly baggies.

Stack bags on top of each other in the freezer to save space. If you’re putting them on a wire shelf, lay down a piece of parchment paper first to keep your grains and beans from settling in the cracks.

Grains and beans keep well in the freezer for up to 2 months.

6. Mixed veggies

Some days, you just don’t wanna chop. Ya feel me? And those are often the same days when you really need a hearty, comforting meal that would normally require a lot of prep. That’s when frozen veggie mixes really shine!

You can usually find good combos in the freezer section of the grocery store. I always keep some mixes with mushrooms, bell peppers, carrots, onions and broccoli on hand for stir fries. Just sauté them with some organic, non-GMO tofu and sauce, and you’re good to go! You can even use a pre-made sauce in a pinch. Just avoid anything with artificial ingredients, added sugars or animal products, and keep an eye on the amount of sodium per serving (anything greater than 400 mg per serving is considered a high-sodium food).

Sure, frozen veggies probably aren’t as cost-effective as buying and chopping fresh produce, but shortcuts like these can be life-savers on nutty days. And it’s ok to take shortcuts sometimes, toots. Knowing when and how to do that is part of taking care of your sweet self!

7. Complete meals

Is it just me, or is the best kind of meal one that’s already done?! When I have extra time or am feeling inspired in the kitchen, I seize the opportunity and make big batches of soups, stews, casseroles, etc. to freeze and eat later.

For example, one of my favorite easy vegan meals is this 1-Pot Lentil, Potato and Spinach Soup from my Test Kitchen Tuesday series. It’s filling, loaded with plant-powered nutrition and super simple to make. I usually make a double batch and freeze the second half in individual portions for up to 2 months. Easy peasy!

Here are some more ideas for cooking and storing complete vegan freezer meals:

Before making a lasagna or casserole that you intend to freeze, line the baking pan with parchment paper. Once it’s frozen, you can simply lift the food out of the pan and transfer it to an airtight container or freezer bag.

Pour individual portions of soups and stews into muffin tins and put them in the freezer for several hours. Once frozen, pop ‘em out of the tins and store in freezer-safe containers or bags. They’ll defrost much faster that way!

A few days before you’re ready to eat your homemade frozen meals, move them to the refrigerator to defrost. If you don’t remember to do that in advance, you can also defrost on low heat in the oven or on the stovetop.

Mmmm… I’m over here drooling just thinking about all the delicious, easy vegan meals you’re gonna create with your fully stocked freezer. And if you want to take your kitchen game to a new level, don’t forget to grab your free pantry checklist here!

Your turn: What’s your favorite freezer staple? Let me know in the comments below!

Peace & freezer foodies,

The post How to Stock Your Freezer for Easy Vegan Meals appeared first on KrisCarr.com.

[shorthaircutsmodels]

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There are many face shapes such as round, oval, diamond shape and more; so you should choose a hairstyle accordingly. If you're between 10 and 15 years old, you should choose a hairstyle that doesn't allow you to look more adult than your age. What is a good haircut for a fat face? Choose a hairstyle so you have a lot of time to manage them. For example, it may take some time if you choose a blow dryer or a hairstyle that requires flattening on a daily basis. Short hairstyles double chin According to your hair type and hair texture, hair styles will always be preferred. The most important thing is to choose a hairstyle that you feel comfortable with and carry easily. Short haircuts for double chin All we want to do is look and feel beautiful, and when there are hundreds of people, counting your flaws, you have to be able to embrace them, because being human makes mistakes. Short hair for double chin faces It often embarrasses fat people regardless of knowing the issues people are facing, and that has some significant impact on you. There is no doubt that you will lose confidence in yourself and go in and out on your own. Double chin Short haircuts for fine hair and round faces However, you should always count your blessings and try to make what you have better. Make-up, hairstyle and other related things always make you feel good, so why not indulge yourself. Are you planning on getting a short haircut? While many tell you not to have it, we're here with these short hairstyles for double-chinned fat faces. How can I hide my double chin? So enjoy reading. However, macho beard styles for men with short hair that you might want your boyfriend to have. If you want a round face woman with a double chin and hair to hide a double chin then yes it will help you. Short hair double chin round face Plus size hairstyles you can see different pictures of double chin models. You can get stunning ideas from this given best haircut for Double Chin pictures. A greasy face with a good round face or double chin is not bad at all, but it can actually transform beauty and intelligence. Does Shorter hair make you look skinnier? In fact, they're more adorable and gorgeous than others because of their double chin and fatness. Double chin is a nightmare for most women. Although this is the case, most of us have a pair of Jaws that are very revealing at times. Yes, they reduce the sparkle to your appearance, and it's also time for us to press on with the myth that double jaws. Which hairstyle makes you look slimmer? Because it's finally time to start loving ourselves, not just for our successes, but for our little flaws. Different hair types for those with double chin are listed below. Short hair and double chin Some of these hide your double chin, while the rest of your hairstyles help to highlight your features more, even with just a double chin. Although you have a greasy face and/or double chin, you might think there are no hairstyles for you to shake. Hairstyles for Double Chin 2020 - 2021 On the contrary, there are many suitable short haircuts to choose from for fat faces and double chin. You can wear your hair short, long or even medium length. Besides, different colors suit your liking. Before you start freaking out about what hairstyle to wear to your next event, check out the guide below. Now, more and more women tend to love short hairstyles because of their modern and unique beauty. Short hairstyles for double chin However, each different face will match different short hairstyles. This was a concern for some girls. In particular, with girls with fat faces and double Jaws, which short hairstyle is ideal for them? So, what we want to show you today are the 11 Best Short Hairstyles for oily faces and double chin. A person with a fat face knows their face is pretty big, not thin. Short haircuts for double chin faces Those with this face often have a strong body, and some have short necks and double jaws. But not all short hairstyles are suitable for oily face and double chin. If you choose the right short hairstyle and shape it perfectly, you can hide the imperfections of the face and be more beautiful and confident. the painting was portrayed by painters, poets and mythology. Short Hairstyles for Fat Faces with Double Chin But over time, the perception has changed drastically. In various cultures, especially in tribal communities in Africa and South America, short-haired women are considered beautiful. This trend trickled down in society, and hairdressers invented several short hairstyles that would easily accentuate the allure of any woman's face. What hairstyle makes you look thinner? These experts say women with double Jaws look pretty good in short haircuts. So, if you have the same problem, choosing short hairstyles for Double Chin faces is the ideal option. Shorter hair styles do not require much time and maintenance. Short hairstyles for double chins photos If you wash hair regularly and apply serum, they remain healthy and shiny. The most important thing is that you don't have to spend hours in front of the mirror, trying to get the hair under your control.