Quick & Easy No Knead Bread in Less than an Hour!

I've been a little under the weather lately with a head cold, so not much to report here. My husband has even been cooking about half the meals this last week or two... And you have him to thank for this fabulous recipe:

* Quick, No Knead Bread *

Ingredients:
3.5 cups whole wheat flour (you can also use half oat/half white flour, which is very good. Or anything else you want to try!)
1 tbs baking powder
1.25 cups beer (different beers will make different flavor breads. yum!)
1 tsp honey

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease rectangular bread pan. Mix the flour and baking powder together. Add beer and honey, and mix thoroughly. Pour into pan and smooth top. Bake for about 45 minutes.

Ready to eat! This is great for a last-minute bread to go with a nice hearty soup. Don't forget the butter ;)

US Carbon Emissions Decreasing Steadily

This is an interesting, hopeful article written by a serious environmentalist. Nice to have some good news :) Enjoy!

United States Headed for Massive Decline in Carbon Emissions

By Lester R. Brown, Mother Earth News

(Lester R. Brown is president of the Earth Policy Institute and author of the book "Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization.")

For years now, many members of Congress have insisted that cutting carbon emissions was difficult, if not impossible. It is not.

During the two years since 2007, carbon emissions have dropped 9 percent. While part of this drop is from the recession, part of it is also from efficiency gains and from replacing coal with natural gas, wind, solar and geothermal energy.

The United States has ended a century of rising carbon emissions and has now entered a new energy era — one of declining emissions. Peak carbon is now history. What had appeared to be hopelessly difficult is happening at amazing speed.

For a country where oil and coal use have been growing for more than a century, the fall since 2007 is startling. In 2008, oil use dropped 5 percent, coal 1 percent, and carbon emissions by 3 percent. Estimates for 2009, based on U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) data for the first nine months, show oil use down by another 5 percent. Coal is set to fall by 10 percent. Carbon emissions from burning all fossil fuels dropped 9 percent over the two years.

Beyond the cuts already made, there are further massive reductions in the policy pipeline. Prominent among them are stronger automobile fuel-economy standards, higher appliance efficiency standards, and financial incentives supporting the large-scale development of wind, solar and geothermal energy. (See data on the Earth Policy Institute website.)

Efforts to reduce fossil fuel use are under way at every level of government — national, state and city — as well as in corporations, utilities and universities. And millions of climate-conscious, cost-cutting Americans are altering their lifestyles to reduce energy use.

For its part, the federal government — the largest U.S. energy consumer, with some 500,000 buildings and 600,000 vehicles — announced in early October 2009 that it is setting its own carbon-cutting goals. These include reducing vehicle fleet fuel use 30 percent by 2020, recycling at least 50 percent of waste by 2015, and buying environmentally responsible products.

Electricity use is falling partly because of gains in efficiency. The potential for further cuts is evident in the wide variation in energy efficiency among states. The Rocky Mountain Institute calculates that if the 40 least efficient states were to reach the electrical efficiency of the 10 most efficient ones, national electricity use would be reduced by one third. This would allow the equivalent of 62 percent of the country’s 617 coal-fired power plants to be closed.

Actions are being taken to realize this potential. For several years, the DOE failed to write the regulations needed to implement appliance efficiency legislation that Congress had already passed. Within days of taking office, President Obama instructed the agency to write the regulations needed to realize these potentially vast efficiency gains as soon as possible.

The energy efficiency revolution that is now under way will transform everything from lighting to transportation. With lighting, for example, shifting from incandescent bulbs to the newer light-emitting diodes (LEDs), combined with motion sensors to turn lights off in unoccupied spaces, can cut electricity use by more than 90 percent. Los Angeles, for example, is replacing its 140,000 streetlights with LEDs — and cutting electricity and maintenance costs by $10 million per year.

The carbon-cutting movement is gaining momentum on many fronts. In July, the Sierra Club — coordinator of the national anti-coal campaign — announced the 100th cancellation of a proposed plant since 2001. This battle is leading to a de facto moratorium on new coal plants. Despite the coal industry's $45 million annual budget to promote “clean coal,” utilities are giving up on coal and starting to close plants. The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), with 11 coal plants (average age: 47 years) and a court order to install more than $1 billion worth of pollution controls, is considering closing its plant near Rogersville, Tenn., along with the six oldest units out of eight in its Stevenson, Ala., plant.

TVA is not alone. Altogether, some 22 coal-fired power plants in 12 states are being replaced by wind farms, natural gas plants, wood chip plants, or efficiency gains. Many more are likely to close as public pressure to clean up the air and to cut carbon emissions intensifies. Shifting from coal to natural gas cuts carbon emissions by roughly half. Shifting to wind, solar and geothermal energy drops them to zero.

State governments are getting behind renewables big time. Thirty-four states have adopted renewable portfolio standards to produce a larger share of their electricity from renewable sources over the next decade or so. Among the more populous states, the renewable standard is 24 percent in New York, 25 percent in Illinois, and 33 percent in California.

While coal plants are closing, wind farms are multiplying. In 2008, a total of 102 wind farms came online, providing more than 8,400 megawatts of generating capacity. Forty-nine wind farms were completed in the first half of 2009, and 57 more are under construction. More importantly, some 300,000 megawatts of wind projects (think 300 coal plants) are awaiting access to the grid.

U.S. solar cell installations are growing at 40 percent a year. With new incentives, this rapid growth in rooftop installations on homes, shopping malls and factories should continue. In addition, some 15 large solar thermal power plants that use mirrors to concentrate sunlight and generate electricity are planned in California, Arizona and Nevada. A new heat-storage technology that enables the plants to continue generating power for up to six hours past sundown helps explain this boom.

For many years, U.S. geothermal energy was confined largely to the huge Geysers project north of San Francisco, with 850 megawatts of generating capacity. Now the United States, with 132 geothermal power plants under development, is experiencing a geothermal renaissance.
After their century-long love affair with the car, Americans are turning to mass transit. There is hardly a U.S. city that is not either building new light rail, subways or express bus lines or upgrading and expanding existing ones.

As motorists turn to public transit, and also to bicycles, the U.S. car fleet is shrinking. The estimated scrappage of 14 million cars in 2009 will exceed new sales of 10 million by 4 million. This shrinkage will likely continue for a few years.

Oil use and imports are both declining. This will continue as the new fuel economy standards raise the fuel efficiency of new cars 42 percent and light trucks 25 percent by 2016. And because 42 percent of the diesel fuel burned in the rail freight sector is used to haul coal, falling coal use means falling diesel fuel use.

But the big gains in fuel efficiency will come with the shift to plug-in hybrids and all-electric cars. Not only are electric motors three times more efficient than gasoline engines, but they also enable cars to run on wind power at a gasoline-equivalent cost of 75 cents a gallon. Almost every major carmaker will soon be selling plug-in hybrids, electric cars, or both.

In this new energy era, carbon emissions are declining, and they will likely continue to do so because of policies already on the books. We are headed in the right direction. We do not yet know how much we can cut carbon emissions because we are just beginning to make a serious effort. Whether we can move fast enough to avoid climate change remains to be seen.

Winterizing ideas...

It's only mid-october here, but we already have the heat set to come on while we sleep -- just to keep the house at 55F! It is COLD here for October, and there is actually snow forecast for saturday, which is very unusual.

So, I am already looking around the home getting ready to winterize. Generally, I put plastic on all the windows to keep more heat in, especially the big sliding glass door sets we have in our dining room. But, this year we are thinking of putting our house on the market (after we finish up a few small home improvements, like patching old holes in the ceiling!) SO I don't think I can put plastic on the windows because it just doesn't look that great, and might get people thinking that the house is too drafty to buy... (any thoughts?)

Instead, I have gone out and invested in some faux silk, lined curtains to hang in the dining room, which I hope will work similarly. Our other windows are quite airtight, so I am not as worried about heat loss there...

I am also scraping plans we had to make a small external solar heater, b/c it would have to be right by our front walk for optimal sun exposure, and let's face it, it just wasn't going to look too pretty :( But I still have hopes to turn my southern facing window box by my kitchen sink into a solar heater. How you ask? By installing a plexiglass sheet (removable with small screws) over the inner opening, with a small gap at both the top and bottom. I would fill bottom of the window box with an attractive layer of dark rocks to attract and store heat. Natural convection will draw the cold air in the bottom and push the warm air out the top, which will create some nice heat for the kitchen/dining area during the day, I hope. I tried it out last year with some impermanent plastic sheeting and it seemed to work rather well.

Most Benevolent Outcomes

I read an article a few weeks ago about working with the Divine to acheive positive results. This article made things so simple for readers that although working with my higher self, my guides or my guardian angels is not really new for me, I thought I would give their method a shot.

Basically, the author suggests that you use a very simple format to ask for assistance -- whether it is with finding a great parking space or solving financial woes. The guidelines are simple: It works best if the situation affects you personally. You can not affect things negatively (even if you try, for your guardian angel or higher self just won't let that sort of thing happen). You can ask for assistance with as many situations as you desire, as often as you desire.

The format for asking for this help could not be simpler:

You say "I ask for a most benevolent outcome for ________(fill in the blank). Thank you."

Use emotion and real feeling, and then let it go. Trust that what you desire will be fulfilled.

And when it happens as you asked, make sure you say "Thank you" again!

Some of you may ask: Do you have to believe in Angels to use this? No, I don't think so -- though I do believe you probably need to believe in some sort of a higher power, even if it simply a physics sort of belief that All is Connected on a quantum level.

I have been experimenting with this since I read the article and it does really work. I see this working for a variety of reasons.

The first is faith and hope. When you ask, and then let it go, you are trusting the universe to provide, and really, that is what it wants to do. So when you allow it to do so, presto: it happens!

The second is that the more a particular phrase enters the mass consciousness and is used by people all over, the more power it gains. Magical symbols become magic because of our attention to them. So this phrase "Most Benevolent Outcome" has now entered mass consciousness (the author of the article has a book, and gives seminars, so it is really spreading quickly) and each time you use it, it has more power. Just as the "Hail Mary" prayer has become more and more powerful with each utterance. Words gain power. Symbols gain power. Intent breeds power.

The third is that when you formulate an MBO request, you are clarifying your desire, which makes it easier for the Source, God or the Universe to respond to what you are asking. The clearer you are, the more heartfelt your request, the better the outcome.

The fourth is that the formula works very well with the Law of Attraction. You are putting your desire out there, and you are feeling positive emotion (hope, faith, excitement) about it. These are key ingredients to using the LOA successfully.

So where do you begin? I like to start off in the morning and "request a most benevolent outcome for the day." It puts a positive spin on things from the start :)

Have fun!

Protein-rich Vegetarian Stuffed Pumpkins

We got several little pumpkins from our CSA last week, and last night I decided to cook one for dinner. I made up this recipe, which was a huge hit. A 5-inch pumpkin will easily serve two people, one half for each person (this is a very filling recipe, and oh-s0-healthy-and-tasty!).

Ingredients:

One 5 or 6-inch pumpkin, cut in half with the seeds scooped out.
One packet of falafel mix (Far East makes a great one)
One cup of Vegetable broth
One Green Pepper, Diced
Two tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesean Cheese

Mix the falafel mix, broth, pepper, olive oil and parsely in a bowl and let sit while you grate the cheese and pre-heat the oven to 350*F.

Fill the pumpkin halves with the mixture. Rub a little olive oil on the top exposed rim of the cut pumpkin to help keep it moist during baking. Cover the "bowl" part of the pumpkins thoroughly with the cheese, leaving the pumpkin rim exposed.

Bake at 350*F for 45-55 minutes. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving (these come out HOT!)

Omnivore's Hundred

This is a fun list I picked up from Laura, the Fearless Chef. I’ve put the items I haven't eaten in bold.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (No, but I HAVE seen and smelled it. Foul!)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (All!)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare/Rabbit
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

Not bad! This is a fun list to go through -- it certainly does cover a wide spectrum... And give me some ideas! God, I love food.

How about you?

Baby Boo's New Cradle

I found this beautiful vintage cradle at goodwill for $3. It was missing the matress support and looking a bit too...brown... for my taste, so I cut a plywood bottom and added a bit of white and sunshine yellow paint.












A yard of white eyelet fabric and ribbons for a "bumper" to keep baby's arms inside and cold drafts out, and here we are: the perfect little cradle to lie next to my bed (which is a platform style bed and very low to the ground.) All set for midnight nursings this winter :)










The bumper was very easy to make: cut the yard of fabric in half lengthwise, fold each half in half again and sew inside out legthwise to make long "tubes." Turn the right way out, turn under the unfinsished edges and sew the tubes together to make a huge band. The add two ribbons at the corners, top and bottom.

Then, I cut down the vinyl covered foam pad from our son's changing table which we never used (it's about 1-inch thick) and sewed the unfinished edges. All in all, the entire cradle project took about an hour.

End of Summer...

and straight into fall!

Where fantasy and reality meet... 'Gollum-like' monster emerges from lake

A very strange (and rather sad, I think) story I read this week, courtesy of Metro UK news...

'Gollum-like' monster emerges from lake

"A slimy, glob-like creature dubbed Gollum has terrified children after it slithered out of a lake and clambered over the rocks towards them.
The young teenagers were playing by the waterfront in a Panama lake near Cerro Azul when the bald beast emerged from a cave behind a waterfall. They started screaming as it shuffled out "as if to attack them".
Locals told Panama news the monster was like "Gollum from Lord of the Rings".

One said: "I have only seen that creature once before - and it was in the Tolkien film."
But in a "desperate bid to defend themselves" four children grabbed rocks from the beach and hurled them at the beast.

Having killed it they picked up the body and tossed it back into the lake, before fleeing.
Disbelieving parents went to investigate and were amazed to see the body had washed up on the shore. It has since been picked apart by buzzards.

Melquiades Ramos, an expert at the National Environmental Authority said, he will investigate the animal.
Zoologist Jacobo Arauz said it was likely the creature was likely to be a mutation and suggested it could be a form of sloth."

Baby Pinafores

Even though my last ultrasound did not show the sex of my baby-to-be, I am leaning toward girl, so I am having fun sewing with my new thrift-store Sears/Kenmore machine ($20!) and made a couple little baby pinafores from scrap material I had. The purple/yellow one is your basic pinafore, ties on both sides and at shoulders, "risque" because it will show the onesie on the sides (and that cute cloth diaper she'll be wearing!). The red one goes on over the head, with straps that cross in the back, is a little longer than the purple one, and the front is wider than the back so that when you tie the straps in the back the sides are covered. Both pinafores have little matching pockets in the front, too. I just adore them!

All the foods I am craving are polar opposites of the ones I wanted as a son, and I've had a few intuitive friends second my own suspicions that it is a girl. Plus, the other 5 pregnant women I know, two of whom are related, are all having boys, so I figure the odds are with me on this ;)

Zesty Lemon Balm Jelly

I have an abundance of lemon balm on my property that I generally make into 14" smudge sticks for clearing and uplifting the energy on properties (available at earthlodgeherbals.com/smudge.htm) but this week I harvested so much I decided to make some super lemony jelly using a lemon balm infusion. It turned out fantastic, here's the recipe:

*Zesty Lemon Balm Jelly*

3.5 cups of strong lemon balm infusion
(steep fresh herb in boiling hot water for 30+ minutes, strain)

1/2 cup lemon juice

Zest from 2 lemons

1 package of pectin

4.5 cups granulated sugar

Prepare SIX 8oz. jars and lids by placing in a bowl/sink of very hot/boiled water. Sealing rings do not need to be warmed.

Bring the first four ingredients to a boil together in a large pot.

Add the sugar all at once, return to a hard boil and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour into jars. Wipe rims, place lids and rings on jars, sealing "finger-tip" tight.

Process in water bath canner for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, remove lid from canner and wait 5 minutes before removing jars from water. Allow to cool for 12 -24 hours before removing rings for pantry storage.

Cash for Clunkers Replaces 700,000 Vehicles with More Efficient Models

My husband is a mechanic, and we were both a little leery of the Cash for Clunkers program, particularly because it seemed like the clunkers were being wasted as a resource for people that can't afford new vehicle parts. Also I simply did not trust most people to really trade up to better mileage and effeciency. But lo and behold -- the program seems to have been a real success! As cited in the article below, the majority of truck owners traded their trucks in for cars, even the ones who were trading in heavy work vehicles. The reults also send a pretty clear message to American auto makers about what the public wants in a vehicle with their top-ten list, so perhaps they will pay attention this time and begin producing more effecient, long-lasting vehicles. Here is the rest of the article:

(From EERE Network News)

The popular Cash for Clunkers program ended its run on Aug. 25, and the program is estimated to have removed nearly 700,000 inefficient vehicles from U.S. roads.
Officially known as the Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), the program achieved greater fuel economy gains than originally expected, as consumers chose more fuel-efficient models than were required by the program.

In fact, the average fuel economy of the traded-in vehicles, which were crushed, was 15.8 miles per gallon (mpg), while the average fuel economy of the newly purchased vehicles was 24.9 mpg — a gain of 9.1 mpg, or 58 percent.

That figure makes sense for trade-ins of old cars for new cars, because those trade-ins earned the maximum rebate with a 10 mpg increase in fuel economy. However, analysts expected trade-ins of light trucks (sport utility vehicles, pickups and vans) for new light trucks to drag down the fuel economy gains, as such trade-ins could earn the maximum rebate with a fuel economy gain of only 5 mpg. But according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), such truck-for-truck trade-ins were less common than expected, as 84 percent of the program participants traded in trucks, but only 41 percent purchased new trucks, which means that more than half of the truck owners traded their vehicles in for a car.

The results are even starker for heavier vehicles, as 8,134 heavy work trucks were traded in, but only 2,408 new heavy work trucks were purchased, and 116,909 large pickups or vans were traded in, but only 46,838 new ones were purchased. The fuel economy of the newly purchased cars was also 19 percent greater than the average fuel economy of all new cars available in the United States.

The CARS program allowed dealers to start providing rebates to customers on July 1, even though the program didn’t officially start until July 24. The billion-dollar program proved so popular that Congress had to quickly approve an additional $2 billion for the program, which was approved by President Obama on Aug. 7.

Despite the extra funding, the funds went quickly, and the DOT announced on Aug. 20 that the program would end on Aug. 24. Dealers had until the evening of Aug. 21 to submit their paperwork, and the results demonstrate that the DOT timed it pretty well, with rebate applications worth $2.877 billion submitted to the agency, leaving only $123 million in rebate funds unaccounted for. The program proved so popular that the DOT changed the rules, allowing people to buy cars even if the dealer was sold out on that model.

According to DOT, the top vehicles traded in under the program include sport utility vehicles, pickups and vans from Ford, Jeep, Dodge and Chevrolet.

The top 10 new vehicles purchased include cars from Toyota Motor Sales, American Honda Motor Co., Hyundai Motor America, Nissan North America and Ford Motor Co., with the Ford Focus and Ford Escape both making the top 10 list. The increased demand caused Ford to boost its production of the two vehicles at its assembly plants in Kansas City, Mo., and Wayne, Mich. Ford experienced year-to-year sales increases in both July and August. Toyota had three vehicles — the Corolla, Camry and Prius hybrid — on the top 10 list, and the company estimates that it accounted for nearly a third of the fuel savings achieved by the program.

Honda saw a near doubling of its sales of the fuel-efficient Fit, and the DOT notes that Honda will increase production at two plants in Ohio and one in Alabama. General Motors Corp. (GM) also experienced gains from the CARS program, attributing it to a 159 percent year-to-year increase in August sales of the Chevrolet Aveo, a 13.8 percent increase in Chevy Cobalt sales, a near doubling in Chevy Equinox sales, and a 26 percent boost in Chevy HHR sales. GM plans to increase production to restock inventories. Chrysler also credited the program with increased sales and has raised its production by 50,000 vehicles.

The Buzz about Germs

Everywhere I go, every mother I talk to, I am hearing alot about the flu, and "the vaccine."

"Should we get it? Should little baby K get it? Should grandma get it?"

People are calling their doctors and getting frustrated and angry that they if they can't get it. One mother I know is switching doctors because the doctor suggested that her baby will be fine, as long as she doesn't let anyone touch or lean over the stroller when she is out shopping.

But here's the thing. There currently IS no vaccine for the Novel H1N1 Flu. Not yet. The CDC website is very clear about that. Companies are working on it, and it "may" be ready in the fall. And once it exists, it won't be available until after a month or so of the minimum required testing, to make sure it at least doesn't kill people outright (so testing for long-term effects, or effects on babies in utero.) All flus, including the novel strain people are so worried about, is spread primarily through direct contact with an infected surface, sneezing and coughing. My friend's baby in the stroller will indeed be quite safe if she remains in her stroller, especially if mom throws a sheer scarf over it to discourage strangers from peering in at her baby.

And here's another thing. Right now, the "novel flu" virus is no more serious that your regular flu. It doesn't kill any more people than the regular flu does, and I don't get vaccines for that, either. I am pregnant, and my OB and pediatrician both agree that he is not seeing anything in the material he gets from the CDC or WHO to recommend that his patients get the vaccine for the novel flu if they aren't getting one for the regular flu. Medical language is scary to lay-people, but the fact is that this pandemic is not something to be terrified of. This is, frankly, one of the nicest pandemics we could get.

What I AM going to do is wash my hands more in the winter. I will wear my gloves all the time to enter schools and malls, and I won't wipe my gloves on my face. If I know someone is sick, I usually try not to see that person, even for several days after they are well.

Now, with my 3 year old son starting a Pre-K program at our local elementary school, you can bet that I just went out bought some hand sanitizer and will be using it every day when I put him in the car to pick him from school. Yes, this is coming from someone who rarely uses anti-bacterial soap, and washes her dishes with regular soap and warm water by hand. The fact is that schools are breeding grounds for ALL viral infections, and when I ran a health center for five years, it was the parents of school-age kids who got sick the most often. I personally would like to avoid that. I rarely got sick as a kid, and that continues as an adult, but still: I recognize that sometimes a little extra care is all that is needed. Baths for kids right after school, instead of at night-time, are not a bad idea either. Wash your hands before you cook or eat, and make sure your kids do, too.

Other things I am investing in are basic health supplements for the family. Think preventative care. Zinc, selenium and vitamin C in the diet all help the immune system stay strong, as do B vitamins and good nutrition in general. School age kids can benefit from a daily chewable vitamin, as well as some extra vitamin C during cold season. A chewable C with extra zinc can help knock out colds in their early stages. And when all else fails, I always have very good results from Hyland's cold formulas (especially "sniffles & sneezes for kids" and their cough syrup) and Olbas cough syrup...

Well. That is enough on that topic! As a mother, of course it has been on my mind. Even more so since I am pregnant, and the media is really going out of their way to strike fear into our preggo hearts. "There is nothing to fear, except fear itself." A little common sense and extra hygeine can go a long a way during cold & flu season.