Happiness is simple.  Everything we do to find it is complicated.

~ Karen Maezen Miller, Hand Wash Cold: Care Instructions for an Ordinary Life

WIN-ning Wednesday: Floss!

Ok… I’ll admit it… I’m a big fan of flossing my teeth.  I know… this can be a polarizing thing.  A hygienist once was taken aback by my delight at receiving a take home floss package after my visit.  I get happy over small things.  Keeping floss in my purse is one of my simple pleasures.  Although this is generally accepted as a healthy habit, I realize that my exuberance for flossing can be taken as being a little Pollyanna-esque and severely dorky.  Thankfully, I embrace both my inner dork and Pollyanna.

But really…I find my gums are in their best shape when I floss daily.  I don’t know when I got into doing this regularly, but it must have come at the time when I finally understood that the concept of prevention applied to even small aspects of my general health.

I had a major sweet tooth as a kid, and into my early twenties, along with really lax dental care.  Unfortunately, the consequence was a good number of cavities that needed fillings during those years.  Orthodontics got my teeth looking nice and straight, but their quality of health was not good, and who knows what state my teeth would be in today if I didn’t start taking good care of them when I did.

The consequence of poor gum health is inflammation, which can leave gums looking red and puffy, feel tender, be more likely to recede, cause them to bleed easily and contribute to bad breath.  Prolonged gum inflammation over a the years can wear away the bone under the gum and lead to tooth loss.

Somewhere along the way I realized that a little thing like flossing would keep my gums strong and healthy, which in turn would impact the health of my teeth.  I started flossing and it just stuck as part of my routine.  Plus, I started eating much better, which reduced the impact of my diet on my dental health.

Put a few little healthy things together and the effect becomes amplified.  Isn’t that always the way?

Happy Family Day!

I’m back from a little blogging hiatus last week!  Just a little computer vay-cay for a variety of reasons.  It was nice to take a break, but it’s also nice to be back.

With Spring on its way, and with me trying to stick to my New Years Resolution of keeping up healthy eating, I am inspired to share recipes over the next 3 Mondays that consist of those dark green leafy veggies that I sometimes have a tough time finding new ways to prepare.  Other than in soups, and eating them cooked on their own, the dark green leafy veggies like spinach, swiss chard, collard greens and kale can at times be hard to find recipes for.  In my search for new ways to cook them, I found many recipes call for adding some sort of flavoring meat to them.  But… in my habit of tweaking recipes… I came up with some great ways to cook them without the meat and adding great flavor to them.

Today’s veggie: Spinach.  Next week will be collard greens and the week after I’ll do kale.  Three different recipes… although with each one I can use any of the greens I’ll be writing about.  And… as always, these recipes are quick and healthy!  Enjoy!

SWEET SPINACH

This is a super fast recipe that yields a dish that is deliciously sweet because of the baby tomatoes and satisfying because of the fiber and substance that the white kidney beans add.  This one’s always a hit at our house!  

First… in a little olive oil and a splash of water, sauté washed, organic spinach leaves.

Next, add baby tomatoes…and cover with a lid.  Saute a little longer together until the tomatoes soften up.

Finally add white kidney beans to the pan.  Stir together and cook a little longer until the beans are heated.
Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.