Wednesday show and tell

Happy Wednesday everyone!! I have been miss in action for a few day because I've been in therapy and busy with appointments. But I hope your doing better and ready to tackle another year of adventure.

Here are a few things that have kept me busy in between all the going & coming.

Tuesday Roots Mango

I loved mango season when i was growing up because it would bloom in large groups. That basically means there was alway a lot to go around, if you had a mango tree or knew a neighbor who had one. It is naturally sweet and not to mention they taste delicious in smoothies. Which I will share a great recipe using mangoes later in this post. Besides that
mangos are rich in the antioxidant beta-carotene and vitamin C. This boost immune defenses as well as protects against cell damages & disease. This fruit is also a great source of insoluble fiber which has a cleansing action on the bowel and can help prevent certain diseases.

Now your diet is an important role in the prevention and management of symptoms or allergic conditions. So incorporating mangoes will help with conditions like asthma, candida, coughs, chicken pox, chronic fatigue syndrome, eczema, sore throat, ear infections, cancer, and celiac disease.

Why and how is this possible you say. Mangoes have beta-carotene which is an antioxidant that can protect the body against free radicals. It protects your skin and the lining of the intestines, lungs, nose, and throat. You can also find this in all brightly colored fruits and vegetables such as cantaloupe, green leafy vegetable or red bell pepper.

Now another essential nutrient that is found in mangoes is vitamin C. Vitamin C is great because it is anti-allergenic, antibacterial, anti-carcinogenic, antioxidant, and antiviral. So if you have a wound it will improve the healing process. Did I mention it is great for the metabolism. Vitamin C has essential fatty acids (EFAS) needed for the metabolism. It is unsaturated fats that are converted into prostaglandins which regulate white blood cells. Hence ensuring a good immune system. You can find the same properties in citrus fruits, green bell pepper, guava, kiwi, parsley and many more.

Here is a smoothie recipe that I found in "Superfoods for Healthy Kids"
•6 ice cubes
•2 kiwi fruit, peeled
•1 mango, peeled & chopped
Handful of mint
1 cup of filtered water

Blend well in your blender and enjoy. Hope this help you as always live, love, and learn.

Wednseday Show and tell DIY dollhouse gift

Glad you are able to stop by today. I made a couple of handmade doll house books for my niece. Now the one that is more of a castle look was inspired by my big helper O. She suggested all the little hearts and placing them at the top. Over all I was pleasantly surprise how it came out. At first I was really stuck on what to do after I had assembled the door. She is really my secret weapon of ideas. It's very refreshing really and ingenious in a way. Where else can you get such inspirational ideas with out looking on pinterest or gfoogle serach. Hehehe!

All in all it came out fabulous. I used recycled cardboard boxes, construction paper, color foam boards, markers, and some printouts of dollhouse wall paper. Oh and some pictures for a magazines and a old baby receiving blankets for O's baby box. Hope you had a great holiday live, love, and learn. :)

Saturday slumber and I'm just starting to get back back to normal. Our Christmas holiday was was pretty good. We had the typical turkey dinner with dressing, gravy, corn bread, potatoes with mix veggies, and homemade vanilla shortbread gingerbread men cut outs.

O loved opening her gifts from Santa, wink! She wrapped her gifts she had pick out herself, those were last to be opened that day. Hahaha! I did the same thing to when I was younger. It doesn't beat the feeling of a new unseen present, lol.

We had a late visit that night and so to end the Christmas night we took a ride to check out the neighborhood Christmas lights & topped it off with the tree.

Family, Food, & Fun # 4

Well, today's subject is going to be slightly different. In the last two day I have discovered, as well as you may have through the news, the cyclone that hit the south pacific very heavily. Now this morning the mass killing of a elementary school in Connecticut. My heart goes out the families who are going thru these unexpected events.

Please take a moment thru this day and remember these people who may have lost children, brother, sister, mother, father, cousin, aunt, uncle, friend(s), and those who experience come out of this heart breaking experience.

With the holiday of Christmas around the corner it brings a tear to my eyes to imagine what the family's of the Connecticut Elementary massacre shooting have lost. As a parent I grieve for those families. May God comfort and keep up all!!!

Tuesday Roots with Pineapple

Dad visited us over the past few weeks and was feeling a little sick. So hosting and aiding him back to health was much of the weeks tasks. I am glad that he was looking and feeling better before we saw him off yesterday. Early flights can throw your sleep off especially 5 in the AM and 3 appointment after.

Growing up in the islands there was always visits and functions to host or attend. At first I it was all new to me and scary, especially moments where you were asked to deliver a traditional greeting or farewell gifts and mats. Which usually required being around a group or crowd of observers. Let me tell you, you were corrected in front of everyone. So I quickly came out of my shell of shyness. Good thing I was always around other family members who would walking and guide my every step. Especially because I was still trying to get the hang of it all. Just for the record  I was such a clumpy one  back then... still am though, hehehe!!

I do admit my favorite part about it all was when my cousins and family would seat down to relax with a late tea. And if you were lucky there were yummy desserts left over or dad's hush-puppy pancake also know as pani keke. Glad I got the recipe from dad, looking forward to try it out. I'm going to try out his bananas recipe and pineapples recipe of the pani keke. It's simply mashing the fruit then adding it to the batter. Can't wait to try the pineapple hush-puppies. Can't you smell it... Yummy!!!

Alright enough about that lets take a better look at the pineapple and all it's health benefits. Now pineapples was not see much of on our land. If there was a pineapple growing there was only one and I only seen it because it was growing in the back on the side of the road. Pineapple are rich in vitamin C which has anti-allergenic, antibacterial, antioxidant, and the ability to heal and improve wounds. Pineapples are also a great source of Iron. Also good for general skin health.

Now the plant it self has enzyme bromelain which has been much studied for its potential healing powers. Its been used therapeutically for arthritis which is great for inflammation. The enzyme also helps to break down protein in the body, thereby aiding digestion. Also good to know when you have a little one who maybe dealing constipation.

Now migraines are severe headaches that occur on a regular basis and usually suffer with the incapacity to do anything for several hours or in some cases, days.Migraine is classed as an allergic condition so for this reason be sure to establish whether it is triggered by any food or combination of foods. Even more so eating foods containing nutrients that prevent this from happening.

A list of foods for headaches and migraines

• almond
• arugula
• blackcurrant
• broccoli
• brown rice
• camomile
• carrot
• cashew nut
• cherry
• chili pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• fennel
• flaxseed
• garlic
• ginger root (click here for a ginger root recipe)
• honey
• kale

So here is a smoothie recipe that would be great to add to your notes of remedies.Which is also good for treating headaches and migraines. Headaches in children may have several different causes. For instance they often occur simply because dehydration. So encouraging your child to drink water regularly will pervent this from happening. We have made it a routine to drink lots, 3 cups, of water with our breakfast. O loves her water in the morning and to tell you the truth I'm so use to it that I really feel sluggish thru the morning if I miss it.

Tropical Smoothie (via of page 35, Superfoods for healthy kids by Lucy Burney)

• Juice of 2 oranges
• 1 small pineapple, peeled and ddecored
• 2ripe bananas
• 1 cup of coconut milk
• 1tbsp flaxseed oil 

blend well in a blender or into a liquidizer

Happy Hanukkah

Hanukkah known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple (the Second Temple) in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE.

A beautiful holiday of victory and celebration. I often try to picture myself in a situation where my right to prayer and worship would be ripped out of my daily routine. What horrible thing to endure. First the being slaved into a country of unfamiliar grounds, then harassed or punished for mentioning God's name, and to top it off forced to worship another god.

As much as I appreciate my freedom to choose and worship in this great country of ours. There were times when this great county of ours were no different & in most cases down right horrific toward African slaves. Yet it still remains, the faith and strength of believers. I guess that is why I always grew up knowing in my heart that God does not judge us for the outer "man" but the inner man.

I watched a video from History.com that explained Hanukkah was celebrated in 8 days in remembrance of a miracle oil that burn for several days. It was thought to last for a short period but ended up in 8 days. Now that is amazing... I mean come on it's amazing. 

So in spirit of the holiday lets eat of course, food cooked in oil. Live love and learn!!