Today's Headlines

If breast cancer runs in a woman's family she may want to be screened for mutations in a gene known as CHEK2.

A new study led by Cezary Cybulski of the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, Poland estimated that a woman who carries a CHEK2 mutation would have a 34 percent risk of developing breast cancer if her mother or sister had the disease.

Experts in the US have warned that Polish women may be different than American women and the test is not ready for widespread use yet.

It is recommended that women with a family history of breast or ovarian cancer get screened for mutations in the BRCA 1 and 2 genes which may increase their risk for developing a tumor.

The Polish study involved nearly 7,500 women with breast cancer who didn't have BRCA 1 mutations. They found that 3 percent had a certain type of mutation in the CHEK2 gene. But fewer than one percent without breast cancer harbored such mutations.

This study is a great step in the right direction in breast cancer prevention. Although, it is too early to encourage American women to go out and get screened for the CHEK2 gene.


About This Author


Cascia Talbert is a busy blogger, publisher, freelance writer, online merchant and mother of five children, living in The Pacific Northwest. With a B.A. in history and law and a passion for writing and staying healthy, she started The Healthy Moms Magazine in 2007. The Healthy Moms Magazine is currently ranked the top health blog for moms and features several health expert writers and mom bloggers. Ms. Talbert believes that if mothers are well educated on health issues and how to stay healthy, they can pass that information down to their children and reverse the childhood obesity statistics in the U.S.

Ms. Talbert is a featured health blogger at Wellsphere.com and her articles can also be found on ezinearticles.com. She also runs the Healthy Moms Social Network on Ning, manages Mom's Natural Health and Wellness Store, and is on the Social Media Advisory Board for America's Wellness Challenge.

I am so sorry I haven't updated this blog in a while. My husband has been out of town a lot more often than normal this summer and it well, just has been crazy in our home. Below is a little story about what Monkey did yesterday. Yes this is a true story and told in a way that only a two year old can tell.

Monkey's Day in the Zoo


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By the National Diabetes Education Program

Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in children. For students with diabetes and their parents, getting ready for a new school year includes a lot more than buying new clothes, backpacks, notebooks, and pens. It means buying a whole list of diabetes supplies to keep at school—but also preparing school staff to help keep their children safe at school and at school-sponsored activities.

“Nobody knows your child’s day-to-day needs and how to respond to a diabetes emergency better than you,” said Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). “That’s why it is so important to start the school year as part of the school health team, and to keep open the lines of communication throughout the school year.”

Both parents and school personnel can get the guidance they need from an invaluable manual, Helping the Student with Diabetes Succeed: A Guide for School Personnel. This guide was produced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) and is an essential resource for parents, schools, and health care professionals.

As the school year begins, parents of youth with diabetes are encouraged to follow these tips from the NDEP School Guide to help ensure their children’s safety and well-being.

• Take action. Notify the school right away that your child has diabetes. Allow the sharing of medical information to keep your child safe and provide up-to-date emergency contact numbers to the school.

• Work with your child’s health care team to develop a “Diabetes Medical Management Plan.” This plan contains the medical orders for your child. It should be signed by the health care team and submitted to the school nurse at the start of each school year. An updated plan is needed if there are changes in your child’s diabetes care plan during the year. A sample plan is included in the NDEP School Guide.

• Meet with the school nurse to go over your child’s school health care plans. The school nurse will use the medical orders to prepare your child’s routine and emergency diabetes care plans at school. You can find samples of these plans in the School Guide.

• Provide the school with all supplies, medicines, and items needed to carry out your child’s health care and emergency plans. This includes blood glucose testing items, supplies for taking insulin and urine and blood ketone testing, snacks, quick-acting glucose products, and a glucagon kit.

• Be an active member of the school health team. The School Guide includes action plans for all school personnel, and for you and your child to work together to manage diabetes care at school. Go over these checklists with your child so both of you can work as a team with school staff throughout the school year.

To order a free copy of NDEP’s Helping the Student with Diabetes Succeed: A Guide for School Personnel, call 1-888-693-NDEP (1-888-693-6337), TTY: 1-866-569-1162 or visit www.YourDiabetesInfo.org. You can download a copy of the guide and find more information about children with diabetes at this website.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Diabetes Education Program is jointly sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with the support of more than 200 partner organizations.

Starting a blog is exciting and a lot of fun but can be challenging too if you are not familiar the blogosphere. Thousands of new blogs are published every single day. Getting your blog noticed is becoming more and more difficult. Old methods of generating traffic can be way too time consuming for busy moms. But don't let this discourage you. There are several simple ways you can get more visitors to your blog without spending hours and hours in front of your computer. I have been blogging since 2007 and have tried and tested nearly everything that other bloggers recommend to increase my page views. Below are ten of my favorite ways to generate website traffic in less time.

1. Comment on high traffic blogs.

If you want to have a loyal following and increase your readership and comments you must comment on other blogs. A lot of well known bloggers spend all day reading and commenting on blogs. But from experience I know that this is time consuming and nearly impossible for bloggers with a job outside the home or a busy family life. My suggestion is comment on high traffic blogs only.

How do you know if it is a high traffic blog? blogs that consistently receive 50+ comments on their articles and have over 1,000 readers and or Facebook fans are the best place to start. Do your research first and find out what blogs in your niche meet those requirements. Then make a list of the top ten. Make sure you visit those blogs every single day. You can also make another list of ten or more high traffic blogs and visit one of those a day rotating the list so that you are commenting on a variety of blogs. When you leave your comments make sure you link to your blog. You should get comments from the blog owners in return and you may also get traffic from their readers as long as you leave your link.

Time commitment: 20 minutes to a half an hour a day.

2. Join and use Stumble Upon every single day.

"StumbleUpon helps you discover and share great websites. As you click Stumble!, we deliver high-quality pages matched to your personal preferences. These pages have been explicitly recommended by your friends or one of over 15 million other websurfers with interests similar to you. Rating these sites you like () automatically shares them with like-minded people – and helps you discover great sites your friends recommend." StumbleUpon.com

I love this site and I get about 20% of my daily traffic from StumbleUpon. StumbleUpon is a social bookmarking site that has been around for a long time. The site is designed for users to share links with each other and review websites in the StumbleUpon network and add your own websites to their network. If you stumble all of your articles each one will be added to their network.

StumbleUpon also has a great free tool for publishers that makes sharing links faster and easier called Su.pr. Su.pr shortens your links and lets you post to the StumbleUpon network and to twitter. The application also tracks the clicks for you so you know which articles are your most popular. You can also connect your blog feed to your Su.pr account so that it automatically posts your article once you publish it. StumpleUpon also has a Su.pr tool for Firefox which makes bookmarking links even easier.

Time commitment: 10 minutes a day tops.

3. Facebook.

Do I need to say more? Every blog must have a Facebook page in order to get noticed. Facebook is the most visited website in the world. It has even surpassed Google. Once you have your page set up you need to know how to use it effectively in order to get more "likes." If your blog hosts a lot of giveaways you have an advantage. Make your readers like you on Facebook in order to enter the giveaway. This is a great way to start to grow your Facebook "likes." You must also link to your Facebook page on the front of your blog. If you have at least 200 "likes" displaying the Facebook widget on your sidebar is a great way to encourage more readers to "like" your site.

Make sure you use your Facebook page every day. Post links to your articles on your page as soon as you publish them. Visit your page every day. Keep your readers engaged on your page by commenting on what they say. Let them post links on your Facebook page. People love to share links to their blogs and websites. In fact I encourage my readers and advertisers to leave their links on my Facebook. "Like" similar websites on Facebook and participate on their page. You can "like" a website as your blog instead of yourself. When you participate by commenting on these pages you are leaving a link to your Facebook page which will encourage others to "like" you back.

Time commitment: 20 minutes to a half an hour each day.

4. Post to forums.

Visit forums that are related to your niche and actively participate. If you are looking for a forum to join The Blog Frog is a great place to start. This is an online community designed especially for bloggers. You can join for free and even start your own forum for your blog. Find and join communities that are related to your niche. Participate in discussions you find interesting and make sure you always start your own discussions and leave links to your blog every single day. You can read more about tips on posting to forums in this article:

Participating in Forums and Online Communities Can Help You Grow Your Mom Blog

Time commitment: 10 minutes per day to as long as you want.


5. Set up an e mail newsletter and use it!

A great way to capture e mail addresses is to offer something free to your visitors. For example, you can give away an e book on something related to your niche. E books are simple to make as long as you have the right software. OpenOffice is a free publishing suite that allows you to turn any document into a PDF. E-Books in PDF format are the most accesable to every day computer users.

Once you have what I call "bait" (free offer) to capture the e mail addresses you need to have a reliable e-mail marketing program. I have been using Aweber for years to send out my newsletters. Their service is professional and the best e mail marketing software out there. And for a small fee every month it is well worth it.

Once you have your newsletter set up make sure you e mail your subscribers at least once a week and provide plenty of links to your blog in your e mails.


Time commitment: One week to a month to create the free e book, a half an hour a week to update your newsletter.

6. Be consistent with your articles.

If you only have time to write once a week make sure you stick to the same day each week to publish your article. I write Monday-Friday and take weekends off. If I am out of town I try to schedule past articles to re-run while I am away. If you plan on writing every single day try to publish your articles at the same time each day.

Time commitment: varies, a half and hour to two hours per article.

7. Write about newsworthy or controversial topics.

Every morning I make sure I check the news headlines before I write. If I find something hot that the mainstream media is covering then I write about it, as long as it is in the same niche as my blog. My articles on current events and controversial topics are the most popular ones on my blog.

8. Make sure your website and articles are search engine optimized.

I could easily publish a fifty page e-book on optimizing your blog for the search engines. Instead I will try to squeeze the important points in a couple of paragraphs. If your blog does not appear on the front page of Google for your main keyword or phrase you are losing out on a ton of traffic. Over 60% of my traffic comes directly from the search engines. We are number one in Google for these keywords and phrases:

healthy moms
mom health blog
health blog for moms
mom health magazine

It took a lot of hard work, time and a little money in order to get there. If you are serious about getting your blog optimized for the search engines get a professional SEO firm to help you. It might cost a little money but it will be well worth it in the end.

In order to be properly indexed your site must have search engine friendly meta tags, your keywords should appear somewhere on the front page of your site, and you must have other sites similar to yours link to you.

Do a Google search on SEO tips for blogs and how to create meta tags for your blog. You can also check out the article below for more SEO tips.

Search Engine Optimization Tips to Increase Blog Traffic

Time commitment: varies depending on whether you want to do this yourself or hire a SEO firm.

9. Ping your blog every single day.

There are several pinging services out there that are completely free. Why do you need to ping your blog's feed?

"A ping is a way of notifying the major search engines to make them know that the blog that you have created has had a recent update. This is like calling up these search engines and letting them know that a certain update has been made. You ping by making a bookmark or placing an entry into one of the sites for blogging: examples include Technorati, del.icio.us, Furl, Flickr, and Blinklist.

The pinging alerts that are sent to the major sites for blog tracking help numerous search engines on re-indexing the new contents that have been added at a quicker pace. This is also a good way for the search engines to analyze what would be better for the business that you are watching over. Pinging brings over a lot of potential clients to the Web site. With the traffic already targeted, there are much better chances that these potential clients become real customers.

Visitors to the sites that you have pinged will be able to see your blog's link once an update has been made. Also, since what is being discussed here are the majority of search engines, and also high-traffic directories, then it is very likely that people who visit these sites are more prone to click on the link that leads back to your blog. This makes your market more specific or targeted." Why You Should Ping Your Blog by Shane Woods

I search for "ping your blog free" on Google and pick a different pinging service every day.

10. Be professional.

Know the dos and don't of professional blogging. Do not send out spam e mails or leave spammy comments on other blogs. Do use your real name or a pen name for your blogger account or wordpress account. If you are known by the title of your blog for example, Silly Mom from the Silly Mom blog, then go ahead and use Silly Mom for your name. However if your blog is titled "Pregnancy and Wellness Resource for Moms" you do not want to have your name be Pregnancy and Wellness Resource. Go ahead and use your real name or a pen name like Jane Smith.

Add a professional profile along with an updated headshot at the bottom of your articles. This helps inform readers about who you are and lets them know that you are serious about blogging.

Be consistent with all of your social network profiles. Make sure they are all the same. This helps people out when they are searching for you across different social media networks. I'll admit I still need to double check all of mine to make sure they are the same.

Edit your articles before you publish them. Make sure your grammar looks good and you don't have any spelling errors. I made a major spelling error for an advertiser a while back and learned my lesson the hard way. Don't make the same mistake!

Time commitment: varies.

On the average I spend about 4-5 hours a day blogging by using these ten tips. This gives me time in the afternoon and evening to spend with my family and housework. Don't let your blog take over your life. When I first started blogging I was spending up to 10 hours a day blogging and I missed out a lot of quality family time. I hope you do not make the same mistakes I did.

Most of all, have fun!

About This Author


Cascia Talbert is a busy blogger, publisher, freelance writer, online merchant and mother of five children, living in The Pacific Northwest. With a B.A. in history and law and a passion for writing and staying healthy, she started The Healthy Moms Magazine in 2007. The Healthy Moms Magazine is currently ranked the top health blog for moms and features several health expert writers and mom bloggers. Ms. Talbert believes that if mothers are well educated on health issues and how to stay healthy, they can pass that information down to their children and reverse the childhood obesity statistics in the U.S.

Ms. Talbert is a featured health blogger at Wellsphere.com and her articles can also be found on ezinearticles.com. She also runs the Healthy Moms Social Network on Ning, manages Mom's Natural Health and Wellness Store, and is on the Social Media Advisory Board for America's Wellness Challenge.

Women who try to do everything balancing family life and a high powered career, nicknamed "Supermoms" are more likely to become depressed according to a University of Washington study.

The study was conducted by Katrina Leupp, a graduate student at the school. She presented her research on Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Las Vegas. Leupp and her colleagues analyzed survey responses from 1,600 married US women who had children at home and were participating in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. This survey was conducted in 1979 when the women were between the ages of 14 and 22 years old. Today the oldest participants are about 50. Some of the women included in the Leupp study are stay at home moms while others have full or part time jobs outside the home.

After the study Leupp concluded that by age 40 the women who worked full or part time were less likely to be depressed. The working moms who were not sure how they would be able to balance work and family were less likely to become depressed than those who thought it would be easy. The women who decided to pass on some of their family responsibilities like housework, and taking care of the children to their husbands were also less likely to be depressed.

After learning about this study my advice to moms is this, don't take on more than you can handle. Take a close look at your schedule. A busy schedule can lead to stress, insomnia and of course depression. Do you really have to wash those dishes before you go to bed tonight or can they wait until tomorrow? How many extra curricular activities do your kids need to be involved in? I think that one activity outside of school is plenty. Do you really need to vacuum every day or can that wait until the weekend?

Make sure you take the time to relax and take time out for yourself. Your mental health is important. If Mom is not happy and healthy her family will suffer.

About This Author


Cascia Talbert is a busy blogger, publisher, freelance writer, online merchant and mother of five children, living in The Pacific Northwest. With a B.A. in history and law and a passion for writing and staying healthy, she started The Healthy Moms Magazine in 2007. The Healthy Moms Magazine is currently ranked the top health blog for moms and features several health expert writers and mom bloggers. Ms. Talbert believes that if mothers are well educated on health issues and how to stay healthy, they can pass that information down to their children and reverse the childhood obesity statistics in the U.S.

Ms. Talbert is a featured health blogger at Wellsphere.com and her articles can also be found on ezinearticles.com. She also runs the Healthy Moms Social Network on Ning, manages Mom's Natural Health and Wellness Store, and is on the Social Media Advisory Board for America's Wellness Challenge.

According to the National Institute of Mental Health,

A child who sees a scary movie and then has trouble falling asleep or has a similar temporary fear can be reassured and comforted. But that is not enough to help a child with an anxiety disorder get past his or her fear and anxiety.

Anxiety disorders affect one in eight children. Research shows that untreated children with anxiety disorders are at higher risk to perform poorly in school, miss out on important social experiences, and engage in substance abuse.

Anxiety disorders also often co-occur with other disorders such as depression, eating disorders, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

With treatment and support, your child can learn how to successfully manage the symptoms of an anxiety disorder and live a normal childhood.

Childhood anxiety has become more common in the US in recent years. Today over 5.9% of children between the ages of 13 to 18 are diagnosed with severe anxiety.

What can you do if you believe that your child has an anxiety disorder?

The most important thing you can do for your child is stay calm. Often anxiety disorders run in the family. If you have suffered from anxiety yourself your child is more likely to develop it as well. If you get anxious when your child is it will lead to a more stressful situation for him and he will have a harder time calming down. Praise your child when she does something positive. Don't punish mistakes and try to maintain a routine. If your child's anxiety gets overwhelming or causes problems within your family make sure you get a proper diagnosis and know that there are natural treatments that you can try at home.

Overcoming shyness in children can be very difficult if not properly supported and can cause children anxiety. Natural remedies can help!

No matter what the cause of worry, nervous behavior or childhood anxiety, whether it's shyness, fear, or separation, there are ways to support greater balance and functioning. With perseverance, a steady, easygoing, composed attitude will be more likely and overcoming shyness in children can be a success.


Homeopathic remedies have been used for decades to address a range of everyday problems experienced by children and adults alike. This is because homeopathic healing works on a holistic level and is known to have an extremely positive effect on personality and emotions.

Homeopathic remedies have a long history of safely treating nervousness and anxiety in children, as well as overcoming shyness in children without negative side effects or risk of addiction.

Mom's Natural Health and Wellness carries a wide variety of homeopathic remedies that are safe for children. K–OK Kiddie Calmer is a safe, non–addictive, natural remedy containing 100% homeopathic ingredients selected to relieve nervousness, worry, separation anxiety, and shyness in children. This has been formulated by a clinical psychologist and is a registered OTC homeopathic remedy.

What are customers saying about K-OK Kiddie Calmer?

“My 5 year old daughter is a naturally timid child always clinging to my skirts. When she started pre–school her teacher said that she was not settling in because she was shy and cried easily. I did not want to give her any strong medication, but nothing I did helped her. My sister told me about K–OK Kiddie Calmer and I liked the idea of something natural. Although I think she will always be shy, she is playing with the other children and seems happy to join in with other kids at school now.”

– Phoebe, USA

“I know it is supposed to take about 3–4 weeks to show the calming effect, but after two days of taking the K–OK Kiddie Calmer, my son has not shed a tear, gotten nervous or sick. It has been amazing. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't found you!”

– Cindy, TN, USA

K–OK Kiddie Calmer is highly recommended along with the following natural remedies for maximum effectiveness.

* Triple Complex Nerve Tonic™ is used to promote nervous system health and wellness * Triple Complex Brain Tonic™ is used to support the health and functioning of the brain and nervous system * Mom’s Magic Trauma Sprinkles™ is used to support on–the–spot–relief for tumultuous tears and sudden common childhood upsets * Bad Dream Sprinkles™ is used to support the maintenance of sweet dreams and a healthy sleep cycle.

The Healthy Moms Magazine readers can save 10% at Mom's Natural Health and Wellness Store by using code deal10 at the checkout.

About This Author


Cascia Talbert is a busy blogger, publisher, freelance writer, online merchant and mother of five children, living in The Pacific Northwest. With a B.A. in history and law and a passion for writing and staying healthy, she started The Healthy Moms Magazine in 2007. The Healthy Moms Magazine is currently ranked the top health blog for moms and features several health expert writers and mom bloggers. Ms. Talbert believes that if mothers are well educated on health issues and how to stay healthy, they can pass that information down to their children and reverse the childhood obesity statistics in the U.S.

Ms. Talbert is a featured health blogger at Wellsphere.com and her articles can also be found on ezinearticles.com. She also runs the Healthy Moms Social Network on Ning, manages Mom's Natural Health and Wellness Store, and is on the Social Media Advisory Board for America's Wellness Challenge.

Last month I shared Cauliflower and Cheese with you all and I heard back that you liked it because it was a new way to eat it and it had cheese... who doesn't love cheese! This recipe also has cheese and is loaded with vegetables. We got a bunch of asparagus with our produce co-op and I wanted a different way to use it, so this is what I came up with.

About This Author


Crystal (Crystal's Cozy Kitchen) is a mom to an active 2 year old son. Since becoming a mom she has learned just how hard it can be to get a toddler to eat healthy. She has always loved to cook and believes that while eating healthy your taste buds should not suffer and neither should your bank account. Crystal is a firm believer in the Family Table and loves to sit down to dinner with her husband and son as often as their schedules permit.

Growing up in a rural area in Utah she learned to love comfort food, but now realizes that most comfort foods can be made healthier. During her childhood she feels that vegetables were almost an afterthought to preparing meals and wants to have them take a more central role on the table.

She and her family have moved 6 times in the last 5 years, lived in two different states and will be moving again once her husband finishes his Masters Degree. She can understand the varying situations of home cooks as she has lived in apartments with small stoves/ovens, no counter space, hardly any cabinets as well as lived in areas where it is impossible to find some ingredients in local stores.

Crystal also blogs at Crystal's Cozy Kitchen

Pregnant women can find out if they are having a boy or a girl with a simple blood test taken as early as seven weeks according to a research analysis.

Gender detecting blood tests are not offered by US doctors although, you can easily order one online. Genetic researchers recently took a closer look at these tests.

The researchers analyzed 57 published studies of gender testing. The results suggest that blood tests like those studied could be a breakthrough for women at risk of having babies with certain diseases, who could avoid invasive procedures if they learned that their baby was a gender not affected by those illnesses. Couples could use the tests for gender selection and even abortion. If you decide to take this blood test what are you going to do with the results?

The test can detect the baby's DNA in the mother's blood and is about 95 percent accurate at identifying gender when women are at least seven weeks' pregnant. The test is more accurate the further along the women's pregnancy is.

Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association published the analysis which involved more than 6,000 pregnancies. The testing used a lab procedure called PCR that detects genetic material. If the male Y chromosome is present in the mother's blood she's carrying a boy, but if it is not detected she is having a girl.

Although these technology is amazing with these tests, why do you need to know the gender of your child that early on in pregnancy? I also believe that more innocent unborn babies are going to be aborted because couples will find out that their child is not the gender they are hoping for. I am concerned that abortions will increase due to these tests. You can find out the gender of your child when the mother is twenty weeks along. Women should wait until their twenty week ultrasound to find out the gender instead of taking this test. Currently the blood test is extremely expensive and hard to get here in the United States. I hope that it stays that way and does not lead to more abortions. Do you think this gender selection blood test is going to lead to more abortions?


About This Author


Cascia Talbert is a busy blogger, publisher, freelance writer, online merchant and mother of five children, living in The Pacific Northwest. With a B.A. in history and law and a passion for writing and staying healthy, she started The Healthy Moms Magazine in 2007. The Healthy Moms Magazine is currently ranked the top health blog for moms and features several health expert writers and mom bloggers. Ms. Talbert believes that if mothers are well educated on health issues and how to stay healthy, they can pass that information down to their children and reverse the childhood obesity statistics in the U.S.

Ms. Talbert is a featured health blogger at Wellsphere.com and her articles can also be found on ezinearticles.com. She also runs the Healthy Moms Social Network on Ning, manages Mom's Natural Health and Wellness Store, and is on the Social Media Advisory Board for America's Wellness Challenge.

Photo Credit

 I don't often have to pack lunches for my kids since we home school.  Our lunches usually consist of leftovers or mac and cheese or cheesy rice with the occasional sandwich. However, sometimes we have to be out for the day and we do different things. If I were to pack a school lunch, here are some easy things I would try:




Instead of another PBJ: 

Meat and Cheese Roll-ups
Spread a whole wheat tortilla with homemade or healthy mayo and add a slice of lunch meat and a slice of cheese OR a scoop of chicken or tuna salad. Add some lettuce and onion if your child will tolerate it, and wrap it up. You can even do this without the tortilla if you are using lunch meat. My kids like ham and cheese roll-ups with mustard. To keep lunch meat healthy, try to get a kind without nitrates and preservatives. It's pricy, I know, so do the best you can.


Instead of unhealthy potato chips:
Popcorn or Homemade Tortilla Chips
Take a corn or whole wheat tortilla, cut into wedges with a pizza cutter and spray with cooking spray on both sides. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 - 10 minutes.


Instead of juice boxes:
Lemon Water or Emergen-C Water
At home, my kids keep filled water bottles in the fridge all the time and sip on them when we're not eating meals. I'm frankly not a big fan of milk or juice. If your kids won't drink plain water, even with a snazzy water bottle, add some lemon slices and a little sugar and it will be lemonade-y by lunch time. Or try a packet of Emergen-C to give it a little fizz and flavor. They have a multi-vitamin one for kids, too, so they can get their vitamins and a delicious drink as well.


Instead of fruit snacks/leather:
Give them the real thing! My kids love clementines separated into wedges in a baggie. They also jump up and down for a fresh peach. Some other ideas are apple slices and bananas. If your school allows it and your child is old enough, a few nuts or nut butter is delicious with the apple slices and will add some filling protein to get them through the afternoon.


Instead of sugary yogurt and pudding:
Sweeten plain yogurt with some raw honey and add some fresh berries.


Instead of junk-food desserts:
Add a homemade dessert to their lunches once or twice a week. I love Laura's recipes for granola bars and Butterscotch Bars over at Heavenly Homemakers.


Some other ideas:
Veggies and homemade dip (No, not homemade from those little packets!)

Cheese cubes (You can even cut them into fun shapes using mini cookie cutters, if you're so inclined.)

Salad and homemade dressing (Yep! Some kids just might surprise you, but load them up with lots of yummy veggies and a "fun" topping like shredded cheese, crunchy almonds or dried fruit.)


Hope that gets you started towards a healthy school year!


Jennifer Self is a disciple of Jesus Christ who loves following His plan for her life as a wife to the most wonderful man in the world and mama to four little blessings. Her days are filled with spending time with her man, homeschooling, preparing reasonably healthy meals and keeping the dust bunnies and the clutter monster at bay with a little blogging mixed in. After her family has been taken care of, she dabbles in her other passions of reading, health and music. She blogs about her life, her Heavenly Father, marriage, parenting and home at www.joyeverafter.blogspot.com.

Mom's Natural Health & Wellness opened it's doors online in July 2010. Now to celebrate one year of offering affordable quality natural and organic health and beauty products for women and children the online retailer has added a premier discount club for it's customers.

Free to join members will receive new product updates, and special coupon codes just for them. Mom's Natural Health & Wellness already saves customers time and money by offering the lowest online prices for natural supplements, herbal remedies, aromatherapy, vitamins and natural cosmetics. The new discount club is designed to help families save even more money on their natural health and beauty needs.

In addition to the discount club Mom's Natural Health & Wellness has a complete new design and look to their store. "We want our customers to have an easier time navigating the site and find the information they need on top quality natural health and beauty products. The new site is less spammy and puts more emphasis on the products that we offer instead of outside sources." Cascia Talbert, owner of Mom's Natural Health & Wellness stated.

For more information on how you can join please visit: Mom's Natural Health & Wellness Discount Club. You can also visit their Facebook Page for more special deals, discounts and natural health giveaways.

More children and adolescents are being admitted to the hospital today for mental problems a new study shows.

The study took data spanning ten years; from 1996 to 2007. It concluded that the rate of psychiatric hospital discharges rose by more than 80 percent for 5-13-year-olds and by 42 percent for older teens.

"This occurs despite numerous efforts to make outpatient services for the more vulnerable kids more widely available," Joseph C. Blader of Stony Brook State University of New York told Reuters Health. His findings appear in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Blader also stated that hospitalization is the last resort, because it's so disruptive for normal life.

"It's a pretty traumatic thing for a family when your child is admitted to a psych unit," he said.

Data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey showed that short-term hospital admissions for mental illness rose from 156 to 283 per 100,000 children per year over the ten-year study period.

The largest increase was for adolescents. The rate increased from 683 to 969 per 100,000. Most of these young kids were hospitalized for bipolar disorder and anxiety diagnoses dropped.

Are today's teens being over diagnosed for bipolar disorder? A lot of people argue that this is the case. If your child has a mental illness how do you know for sure that it is something as serious as bipolar? I believe that it is important for parents to get a second opinion before they jump to conclusions about the mental condition of their child.

What the experts may tell you is a mental illness could very well only be a behavior issue that can be resolved by reducing your child's stress and changing your parenting style. Ask yourself these questions:

Is your child involved in too many extra curricular activities?
Are you giving your child too much responsibility and not enough space and time alone?
Do you yell at your child on a regular basis?

All of the above could lead to behavior problems that may appear to be a mental illness. Getting a second opinion, changing the way you treat your child and reducing the stress level in your home can change these statistics. What do you think is causing the increase in mental illness among US children today?

About This Author


Cascia Talbert is a busy blogger, publisher, freelance writer, online merchant and mother of five children, living in The Pacific Northwest. With a B.A. in history and law and a passion for writing and staying healthy, she started The Healthy Moms Magazine in 2007. The Healthy Moms Magazine is currently ranked the top health blog for moms and features several health expert writers and mom bloggers. Ms. Talbert believes that if mothers are well educated on health issues and how to stay healthy, they can pass that information down to their children and reverse the childhood obesity statistics in the U.S.

Ms. Talbert is a featured health blogger at Wellsphere.com and her articles can also be found on ezinearticles.com. She also runs the Healthy Moms Social Network on Ning, manages Mom's Natural Health and Wellness Store, and is on the Social Media Advisory Board for America's Wellness Challenge.

It is the time of year once again that every parent looks forward to; back to school. Finally Mom gets a long break five days a week while her little ones leave the house to get their brains filled with knowledge. The long days at school can get tiresome for our children and by the time they come home around 3pm their little bodies need recharging. A healthy after school snack is refreshing and can help kids gain the energy they need to tackle homework, chores and extra curricular activities. Below are a few fun recipes that you can try with your kids.