Food and Health Carnival Feb. 10

Do you have a Favorite Recipe, a Great Tip, a Great Resource or a Giveaway? Do you have a Giveaway Linky or Recipe Carnival on your blog? Or maybe you would just like to share your Food or Health Blog/Website.

Add your link to my Food and Health Carnival.

All I ask for in return is for you to add my blog button above to your blog and/or a link to my website. Lisa's Gluten-Free Advice and Healthy Living. Another idea is that you could add my link to your blog roll. Thank-You.

Add Your Gluten-Free and/or Healthy Living Blog to my Directory.

This week I will share with you: The Importance of Fiber in a Gluten-Free Diet

Be sure and check out my current giveaways located on my right side bar. Have a great week.

Simply Linked doesn't like URL's that are more than 100 character's long, so I am adding my friend's recipe, Pork Chops w/ Apples & Mushrooms in Port Wine Sauce to this post.

Intro To Baby Sign Language And Some Helpful Tips

Baby Signing is a cool way to communicate with your baby or young toddler. It is easy to learn how to sign and the rewards are great. You can start to sign with your child at any time – why not begin right now?

When starting with baby sign language, it’s best to pick a few simple signs to begin with. These should be signs that represent something sure to grab the interest of your baby! Mommy and Daddy are great starter signs, as are Milk and More. Right, let’s learn how to make the signs…

MOMMY: To make the sign for Mommy, extend and spread your fingers apart on your right hand. With your little finger facing forwards, tap your thumb on your chin.

DADDY: To make the sign for Daddy, extend and spread out the fingers on your right hand, then tap your hand on your forehead with your thumb. This is similar to the sign for Mommy but done higher up the head.

MILK: The sign for Milk is a lot like the action of milking a cow without the up and down motion. Just pretend you are just squeezing the cow’s udder. Make both hands into a fist, relax and repeat. Milk.

MORE: To make the sign for More, make an O shape with each hand by meeting your fingers and thumbs. Bring your hands together and separate them a few times. More.

How To Start Teaching The Signs
It’s important to say the word that goes with the sign, making good eye contact, while pointing to the thing or person you are describing. Say and make the signs often each day. Sign when your baby is bright and not fussing or tired. Be sure to make the sign and say the word every time you do an action or use an object. Babies learn through repetition. With enough exposure to a sign, and repetition of it, eventually your baby will begin to use the signs himself.

Helpful Tips

1. Enjoy it yourself. It’s no good trying to tell your baby signing is fun if you are not that into it! You should enjoy signing, or your baby will pick up your negativity. If you really don’t like it, give up and try something else.

2. Get baby’s dad involved. A key tip is to involve other family members in Sign Language For Babies. The more people signing to your baby the quicker she will pick up the signs and use them herself. Dads love to sign with their babies – it makes them feel really useful and important. Teach baby the sign for Daddy and you’re on your way.

3. Try a class. If you are struggling to learn the signs, or to think of new ones to try, visit a baby sign language class. This is a fun way to learn signing and meet other signing moms.

4. Remember to learn the signs yourself first. You will need to feel comfortable and confident making the signs to your baby, so it’s important to learn them yourself first. Spend a little time on each new sign before you show it to baby.

5. Only use a few signs to start off with. It’s important not to overwhelm your baby – or yourself – when you are Teaching Baby Sign Language. Begin with a few signs, then once you have learned these you can add more to your repertoire.

How to Furnish Your Home in a Less Toxic Way

We have all seen the headlines warning that our homes are likely being polluted by cleaning items, hair styling products, and pest control sprays. All of these environmental pollutants are easily controlled or replaced by less toxic varieties. A less well-known danger, however, may not be as easily corrected. Researchers have found that many household furnishings contain toxic materials that may also be leaking into the air we breathe. Clearly, it is best to arm yourself with information and use it to replace the most offensive sources of toxic vapors within your home.

Items That Could Be Dangerous

Scientists have determined that these furnishings can potentially have a detrimental influence on you and your family. They have been linked to behavioral changes and can even cause hormonal changes in some people.

• Soft plastics such as those used to make beanbag chairs usually contain phthalates, which can be particularly dangerous for expecting moms. Other sources of phthalates are plastic tablecloths and shower curtains. Any new item that smells like plastic should be considered suspect and should be placed outside in the sun until the odor has gone away.

• Furniture made from wafer board, or pressed wood, plywood, or some fiberboards almost always contains formaldehyde which has been linked to several kinds of cancer. Formaldehyde in the air can also cause breathing difficulties and is especially problematic for those with asthma. Most of the furnishings which are put together at home after being purchased in a box are questionable.

• Older furniture from an antique store may have been painted with a lead based paint. This paint could fleck off and lead to brain damage if eaten by a child. Antique clocks, lamps, and mirrors are also possible sources of mercury, which may cause long term health consequences. A single spill is almost impossible to clean up without professional help and should be disposed of with caution.

Finding Healthier Replacements

• Look for furniture that is labeled with the Greenguard certification which assures the buyer that the surface finishes have been tested and are environmentally friendly. This certification can be found on items such tables, chairs and bar stools.

• Make sure that any purchases composed of pressed wood has been stamped with the Composite Panel Association label or the HPVA label. Both indicate that the surfaces have been treated with a special coating to reduce the amount of vapors emitted.

• Look for wood labeled with the Forest Stewardship Council which gives assurance that it comes from a legal, well-managed source.

Leading manufacturers are becoming aware of the consumer’s desire for less toxic furnishings. By purchasing a healthier furniture design, even if it costs a bit more, we can help to protect the health of our families.

By-line:
Helen has a keen interest in healthy living. She writes for a website that sells Greenguard certified bar stools, which are low-emitting and better for the indoor air quality in your home.

Egg in a Hole

My mom and grandma used to make this for us kids when I was growing up.  It is a favorite of mine and I am sure your kids will love it as much as I did. I make this now for my own family.

Ingredients:

1 slice of gluten-free bread (I used Udi's Gluten-Free Whole Grain Bread as shown in the picture)

1 large egg

1 tablespoon butter

Salt and Pepper

Directions:

Cut a 2" circle with a butter knife in the center of the slice of bread. Butter the slice of bread and bread round on both sides. Place the slice of bread and bread round in a pre-heated skillet (medium heat). Lightly toast the slice of bread and bread round on both sides (about 2 minutes on each side). Place the piece of round bread on a plate. Crack open an egg into the center of the slice of bread. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 2-3 minutes on both sides for an over easy egg, a couple more minutes for a harder cooked egg.

When done, place bread with the bread round on a plate and enjoy. I love to use the round bread to dip in the egg yolk.

You can see more recipes on my Gluten-Free Recipe page.

For even more recipes check out my Food and Health Carnival on Thursdays and add your own recipes.

Food and Health Carnival Feb. 3

Do you have a Favorite Recipe, a Great Tip, a Great Resource or a Giveaway? Do you have a Giveaway Linky or Recipe Carnival on your blog? Or maybe you would just like to share your Food or Health Blog/Website.

Add your link to my Food and Health Carnival.

All I ask for in return is for you to add my blog button above to your blog and/or a link to my website. Lisa's Gluten-Free Advice and Healthy Living. Another idea is that you could add my link to your blog roll. Thank-You.

Add Your Gluten-Free and/or Healthy Living Blog to my Directory.

This week I will share with you: How to Eat Healthy and Gluten-Free

Be sure and check out my current giveaways located on my right side bar. Have a great week.

Wow Baking Company Review and Giveaway

This is a review and giveaway of Wow Baking Company. At Wow Baking they are dedicated to creating the best tasting All Natural Wheat and Gluten-free baked goods found anywhere.

Susan Howe, The Director of Product Development is passionate about creating the best tasting WOW baked goods. With a true love for baking, Susan spends countless hours mixing and baking until she has mastered the ultimate blend of ingredients. After the WOW team gets a chance to devour her creations, Susan evaluates the comments and refines the recipie to perfection.

Wow Baking Company makes:

• Individually Packed Gluten-Free Cookies and Brownies
• Gluten-Free Cookie Dough
• Grocery Style Box Gluten-Free Cookies
• Gluten-Free Bakery Cookie and Brownie Tubs
• Gluten-Free Cake Mix

I had the opportunity to try out these products from Wow Baking Company.

• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Ginger Molasses Cookies
• Snickerdoodle Cookies
• Peanut Butter Cookies
• Oregon Oatmeal Cookies
• Brownies

Everything tasted very good and moist. My favorites are the gluten-free chocolate chips cookie and the brownies. My least favorite is the ginger molasses cookies. My husband liked the peanut butter cookies, peanut butter cookies are his favoirte kind of cookies, even my five year old liked these cookies. We like these cookies so much we bought some at Fred Meyers last week. It is so good to be able to eat gluten-Free baked products that taste good. The cookies and brownies do contain sugar in them, for those of you who cannot have sugar in your diet. I give Wow Baking Company 4 stars out of 5.

Check out Wow Baking Company website to find out where to buy.

Now for the giveaway.

One lucky winner will receive a Gift Basket of Gluten-Free Baked Goods from Wow Baking Company.

Entries:

1) Order any of the Wow Baking Company products. (10 entries)

2) Follow me on Google Friend Connect. (1 entry)
3) Subscribe to my RSS Feed, E-mail and/or my Newsletter (in the blue box on the right hand column). (1 entry each)
4) Follow me on Twitter. (1 entry)
5) Tweet about this giveaway daily and/or post on your Facebook. (2 additional entries a day) You can use this for an example,
"#Win Gluten-Free Baked Goods @superglutenfree from Wow Baking Company #giveaway http://goo.gl/fb/2KJ5N, Ends 2/20/2011".
6) "Like" my blog on Facebook and/or Networked Blogs. (1 entry each)
7) Blog about this giveaway and link to Lisa's Gluten-Free Advice and Healthy Living and to Wow Baking Company. (3 entries)
8) Add my blog to your blog roll. (2 entries)
9) Add my button to the side bar of your blog. (3 entries)
10) Check out my Squidoo Lens and/or create your own Squidoo Lens. (2 entries each)
Please leave me a comment while you are there as well leave me a comment on here telling me you checked out my Squidoo Lens.
11) Vote for my Blog on these Blog Directories by clicking on each of the following buttons. One additional entry per click. You can do this every 6 hours. Top Mommy Blogs can only be voted for once a day. Make sure to make a separate comment for each button you click on.





That gives you several entries for this giveaway. Enter as many of them as you want. Leave a comment for each entry.

This Giveaway is available for USA Only.

Giveaway goes through till February 20, 2011.

Giveaway Rules: All entries must be received by 11:59pm PST on February 20, 2011. A winner will be chosen by random.org. I will notify the winner by February 21, 2011 via email (please respond within 48 hours). I will also announce the winner on my blog. Leave a comment for each entry. Be sure and leave me your Twitter user name and Blog URL of your post. Leave me your e-mail address or make sure it is visible on your blog so that in the event that you win this giveaway I can contact you.

DISCLAIMER: I was not financially compensated for this post. I received samples of this product for review purposes. The opinions are completely my own based on my experience.

How Eating Healthy Can Help You Get a Good Night's Sleep

Have you ever wondered about why you can't sleep well at night? Have you ever gone to bed feeling hungry or completely full and slept poorly as a result, despite having what you consider 'regular eating habits'? Well, if this has happened to you, one reason could be that you aren't necessarily eating healthy enough to help your body get a good night's sleep. Your dietary habits and the nutrition you take into your body both significantly affect how you sleep at night.

Think first about your dietary habits. Are you eating a lot of heavy food three times a day? If so, this heavy meal at night for dinner could keep you awake. The sleepiness you feel after eating a heavy meal is a little misleading. Your body is tired, yes, but not in a way that is conducive to getting a good night's sleep. Instead, your body is trying to process the large amount of food in its system. As such, this can stress your digestive track, which is why many overeaters wake up in the middle of the night suffering from heartburn or intestinal cramping. If you can regulate the amount of food you eat at dinner by snacking throughout the day, you can manage your digestion process and make it more efficient, thus helping your body to sleep well.

Secondly, the nutrition you receive can also affect how you sleep. Yes, it's fairly common knowledge that foods and drinks heavy in caffeine can keep you up late, but so too could foods with natural sugars, such as fruits. Likewise, extremely spicy foods could give you heartburn, obviously, and certain liquids, such as milk, could make your stomach feel uncomfortably full. Of course, everyone reacts differently to different kinds of foods and drinks so you'll want to monitor your eating and sleeping habits in order to figure out what habits are best for you. Try tracking your eating and sleeping in a journal. Try it for a couple weeks and then examine the results as you experiment with different combinations. Your best bet is to learn by trial an error. Eventually you'll find the right formula and will hopefully sleep better.

If you continue to have trouble sleeping, however, and have done all you can to adjust your diet, consider speaking to a doctor and a nutritionist. Trouble sleeping can be a symptom of a greater nutritional deficiency, so you'll want to speak to an expert with the knowledge to help you diagnose and solve the problem. Until then, your best bet is to eat in moderation, to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, and to eat in a fairly standard routine.

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Kitty Holman, who writes on the topics of nursing colleges. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: kitty.holman20@gmail.com.