What strategies do you use to maintain your health and well-being?
It’s not about maintenance right now. There’s a whole lot to improve. Even if my most recent tests showed that I was in okay health (my pee did say I could drink more water, and my cholesterol levels are on the higher side, but still within the okay limits), I know that I’m unhealthy. I have very poor sleep, thanks to my boys’ sleep issues (ASD), and I’m overweight since I tend to eat my stress and feelings away. Also, I’m in my late 40s and perimenopausal, so there’s also that.
For my family’s sake (and mine too), I am trying to adopt better habits. That includes doing regular detox, avoiding certain foods, and becoming more physically active. Detoxing and exercising are pretty easy practices to uphold. Food is a whole other story, especially since whatever is perceived is okay changes from time to time and varies as well, depending on who’s pushing it.
For now, I’m trying to stick to whole, natural foods as well as avoiding artificial additives, sugar, folic acid, and gluten. Since my kids and I are big snackers, I’ve been looking for alternatives to chips and other unhealthy treats.
For the usual bags of chips, I make our own popcorn, totopos (corn chips), and baked crisps (French fries – just weird to say baked fries). I also bought into the hype of mixed dried fruits and veggies. The kids like them too, which is awesome because, while they love fruits, they’re not big fans of vegetables.
I personally can munch on them all day. The flavors are pretty mild, like what the fruits and veggies taste like fresh, but subtler because they’re not juicy. For me, it’s really the crunch. I love biting down and chomping on the crispy texture.
The thing about the dried fruits and veggies, however, is that they’re a little pricey. I got the idea that I’d just make our own, so I looked up freeze dryer machines. I thought they would be about the same price as a dehydrator. Boy, was I wrong!
I tried making veggie chips with our dehydrator, but they’re not the same. I want the fat crunch.😂 Anyway, the dehydrator’s awesome for making fruit leathers, which is what my kids have for candy now.
Anyway, it all boils down to me just looking for the best mixed dried fruit and veggies deal out there. The cheapest so far is what I bought last week, but it didn’t have okra, banana, and kiwi. Okra happens to be the one I’m most excited about. I never thought I’d feel that way about okra…
So the search continues.
But if you know of an affordable freeze dryer machine, point me to it.
This Small Life 