Did you know that March is National Nutrition Month?
We all know that eating a variety of foods, colored like the rainbow, is one of the best ways to make sure that you are getting a full range of nutrients in your diet. In truth, we should eat a rainbow every day. But seriously, it’s not always easy to eat a rainbow everyday. Who has the time?
I know I don’t always have the time to eat as healthily as I would like. Which is one reason I started making smoothies. I discovered that I really enjoy making and eating smoothies. I mean, I REALLY enjoy smoothies. I typically have a smoothie at least 4-5 days a week, if not everyday. After about two weeks of smoothie making, though, I ran out of ideas. 
Then I received the What Color is Your Smoothie? book for review, from Adams Media. It is a veritable treasure trove of smoothie recipes and ideas. I would have NEVER considered putting cauliflower in a smoothie. Or green tea. Or spinach. And yet, they are DELICIOUS! With recipes like Strawberry Guava Smoothie, Clever Carrots with Spice, Pineapple Banana Cream, Spicy Spinach Smoothie, and Blueberry Blast Smoothie you are sure to find a few you love. I know I have!
Here’s a few of my recent smoothies…
Aside from discovering Kefir, I’ve also learned that I enjoy a savory smoothie just as well as a sweet smoothie. Of course, the kidlets and Hubs prefer the sweet ones.
What Color is Your Smoothie? contains over 300 smoothie recipes, divided into chapters by color. That’s nearly enough for a different smoothie every day of the year! It also has an “At-a-Glance Produce Chart” that details the serving size, proper color, main nutrients, and main benefits of a variety of produce, from acorn squash to zucchini and everything in between.
The only thing I would change about the book is the index, which isn’t nearly as comprehensive as it could be. For example, the benefits of Vanilla bean are described on page 56 of the book. Several recipes, including the Very Cherry Vanilla (p 98) include vanilla bean pulp. HOWEVER, the only thing referenced in the index under vanilla is the description of the benefits of vanilla (p. 56). I would love to be able to flip to the index and see a comprehensive list of places to find vanilla bean (i.e. p. 56, 73,74,84,98, …). Of course, doing that may cause the index to be longer than the book itself, since there are so many recipes.
Overall, I have really enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone that enjoys smoothies, wants to broaden their smoothie horizons, or wants to be creative in eating the rainbow (or getting their kids to do so)!
In honor of National Nutrition Month, Adams Media Bookstore would like to give one lucky TBC reader their own What Color is Your Smoothie? book, to help you eat a rainbow a day!
As I was walking through the house the other day, Mister went running past me in nothing but his Diego undies. “Dude, where’s your clothes?” I asked.
“Mom, I’m hot,” he tossed over his shoulders, which were bright red, as he kept running. I grabbed my Exergen TemporalScanner and chased after him to check his temperature. It was 100 even. I looked at the thermostat on the wall. Sure enough, the house temp had risen to 75 degrees with the unseasonably warm (and humid) weather here. Since he is unable to sweat properly, Mister is unable to tolerate the ambient room temperature going above 72 or 73 degrees. I kicked the central air on (IN MARCH) and put the thermometer back in my bag.
About the Exergen TemporalScanner
· It is non-invasive, easy-to-use (only takes 2 seconds) and extremely accurate.
· It will help parents avoid the painful experience of taking their sick child’s temperature rectally and uncomfortably.
· It merely takes two seconds and a gentle swipe, so parents can even check a sleeping child’s temperature.
And you can bet, as a Mom with a child that is unable to regulate his body temperature, you’d be hard pressed to ever catch me without my Exergen. So, when Exergen contacted me and asked me to consider doing a review/giveaway, of course I said YES! YES! YES!
We purchased our first Exergen temporal artery thermometer, from Walgreens, when Mister was about five months old. I blogged this back in 2010, in my Grace is Enough post.
When Mister was just a few months old, we literally had to pack ice packs into the lining of his car seat just to go to church. We keep a “cooling bag” with us at all times. In it is a specialized cooling blanket (when wet works off of the evaporative properties), a cooling vest, a battery operated fan, a spray bottle, two bottles of water, a zipper bag with wash clothes, and a temporal scanning thermometer.
In fact, when we visited the allergist this week, the office nurse couldn’t get Mister to keep the little paper thermometer under his arm, so I whipped out my Exergen and scanned him. Her eyes widened and she said, “You just happen to have a thermometer in your bag?” I smiled and explained, “He can’t sweat. I don’t leave home without it.”
You can see by the red in his ear in this picture, that he was getting warm. His baseline temp is 97.2. He’s 98.4 here. If he gets to 98.6, which is “normal” for everyone else, he is already starting to overheat. We’ve learned the only thing “normal” in our home is a setting on a washing machine. If he gets to 100, trouble is brewing.
I can honestly say that, for us, the Exergen TemporalScanner is a lifesaver and is a must-have product for every household with children.
The Exergen TemporalScanner is available at Walmart, Babies R Us, Toys R Us, Sams Club, Walgreens, and on Amazon, as well as other retailers nationwide.
Exergen would like to give one lucky TBC reader a TemporalScanner of their own.
