"Orginal Fast Food"

Bananas are the BEST snack food if you are like me on a restrictive diet. I have learned that when I am on the road, doing errands and stuff and am just starving; the best, easiest and cheapest thing I can do is stop at the grocery store and buy a banana. It's great because 1 will usually run no more than a 25 cents. That's better than the value meal at the fast food restaurants.
In addition, bananas are considered a "happy food."
Here are my Top 11 reasons why everyone should eat bananas:
11. Containing three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes.

10. Depression: According to a recent survey amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.

9. PMS: Forget the pills - eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.

8. Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.

7. Morning Sickness: Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.

6. Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.

5. Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.

4. Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.

3. Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.

2. Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!

1. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"

This week's "Happy Song"

Do you have a "happy song"? Mine changes all the time, depending on what I have recently discovered or what mood I have been in lately. The past couple of weeks, I have really enjoyed listening to Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, or otherwise known as IZ. He is a famous Hawaiian singer who passed away in 1997. He is an amazing artist. Here is one of my favorite songs I like to listen to that helps me feel good when my day doesn't seem to be going as planned. It's a combination of Somewhere Over the Rainbow and What a Wonderful World. Enjoy!

Conference Snow

At the beginning of the Saturday afternoon, General Conference session, Lindsay, Trevor and I looked outside and saw SNOW falling. It didn't snow that long, or enough to really stick. But I took some pictures of it. They didn't turn out as well as I would've hoped. But you can use your imaginations. The snow is the big white spots you see in the pictures:)

That morning, during the television news, were showing that 50% of the time it has rained during Conference.

Red Box Codes

Here in Utah, the latest way to check out movies is through "Red Box." You can find them in almost every grocery stores. It's a big machine that has a variety of DVDs available for checkout. They are $1 a day and all you need to rent is to swipe your credit card. My friend and I on Friday attempted to go to a movie, but they were all sold out when we arrived at the movie theater. So we commenced to plan B and tried the Red Box. I had never done this before (although they have been around for 2 years) and my friend had only done it once. We were talking about this as we stood in line waiting for our turn. The lady in front of us started conversing with us about the procedure and then proceeded to tell us about the "promo" codes that allows you to rent the movies for FREE! She told us that in the past 2 years she has never paid for a DVD rental. After we tried this out and it worked, I found the website that has all the codes listed. It looks like the codes are rotated ever so often, and you can only use one code per credit card. But there are quite a few codes that can be used. So if you have a Red Box machine near you, check out the RED BOX CODES

Autumn

Right now in Utah, the scenery has been absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Autumn is at it's peak right now, with the temperatures cooling down and the leaves changing color. Growing up in Arizona I was not able to see the changing of seasons like this much. I don't know if I could ever get tired of it. So this post is going out to all you Arizonans. Enjoy the fall season through pictures while you can:)

Crohn's Survival - Salads

Lately, for a small time, I have had to eliminate raw vegetables from my diet. This had been a tricky thing I am realizing. I went to St. George for a conference and did not have much control over where I could obtain food. When we first arrived to St. George it was around 2pm, and I had not had lunch yet. I was STARVING, and didn't have access to a car at the moment. I walked to Burger King which was across the street. When I got there, I just looked at the menu and wondered what could I eat. I did not want to spend $4 on a small piece of chicken, having to throw away everything else from the chicken burger. I realized that my motel room had a microwave. So I ordered the chicken salad (with no dressing - which is hard for people to accept at times) and took the meal back to my room. I put the salad in the microwave for 2 minutes, and "wala" a meal I could eat. It really wasn't that bad, and the vegetables were cooked. I think though if I had to do it again, I would ask Burger King to cook the salad for me. I would have loved to have seen the expression on their faces. Who knows, maybe this could start a new trend for others as well.

Crohn's 101

In case you didn't know, I have Crohn's disease. I was diagnosed with it 7 years ago, although I now realize that I have had symptoms of it many years before that. This is a very interesting disease, as not many people are familiar with it or the symptoms of it. Generally it is controlled through medication and diet, or if really severe removal of part of the intestines. There are new medications coming out with a lot of promise, but I don't like what it can do with the other parts of your body. I would like to avoid them as much as possible. So I am learning how to control my Crohn's to have it be in mild stages for the majority of the time through a strict diet and mild medication. I am following the SCD diet (Specific Carbohydrate Diet). Through this there is elimination of sugar (except honey), flours, grains, corn, fried foods, starches, dairy (except special yogurt) and preservatives. The "Crohn's Survival" posts will not be about the disease itself. This will not be about serious and sad issue about the disease, but humorous ways I have learned to survive Crohn's in a non - Crohn's world.