As a senior home care giver, I’m always trying to balance eating healthier with eating on the run. Studies have repeatedly shown the health benefits of oat bran in our diet. Full of B vitamins and great for cholesterol, bran is beautiful. Getting enough of it, though, can sometimes be difficult.

One easy way I’ve found to add oat bran to my diet includes mixing some with a container of Yoplait cherry yogurt (my favorite ).  It gives it a nice, nutty texture and is quite tasty.

A new idea I just came up with uses one of those yummy Betty Crocker Warm Delights chocolate cakes or brownies. Those are the ones that make an individual serving in the microwave in less than a minute. I mix about 1/3 cup of bran with the dry mix, stir it well, add the water and include about 1/2 tablespoon extra (experiment to your taste), and carefully stir well. Bake for the normal time (I always use the longer time indicated on the directions but, of course, each microwave can vary.) When the timer dings, out pops a yummy dessert that is now healthified with oat bran just for you.

Another way this could be a help is if you have an aging parent with extreme constipation, whose doctor has suggested adding wheat bran to his diet. I had a neighbor who went through that. Even though the doctor had recommended it, he didn’t like the wheat bran in his cereal and wouldn’t try it. I wish I could go back and try this chocolate dessert with wheat bran for him. I bet he would have liked that!

I’m all for eating healthy but when I can make healthy be a bit yummier, for myself or a senior parent (or neighbor   ), I’m a very happy camper! How about you?

SENIOR HOME CARE:

Here’s an interesting article about one family’s struggle to find the correct diagnosis, which turned out to be Alzheimer’s Disease. Per @ALZHEIMERSread

Alzheimers Long Term Care Costs and Calculator

The goal at Parkinson’s Disease News is to provide coverage of all significant new research, reports, books, and resources concerning Parkinson’s Disease. Per @ParkinsonPD

Beyond Coping: Mastering the Art of Joyful Caregiving. This telesummit is a FREE virtual event designed specifically for caregivers of aging parents or loved ones who want to experience more joy in their role of a caregiver. Dates include July 28th, 30th, August 3rd, 5th, 8th, 11th, 13th, 18th and 20th with free replays available to those who have signed up.

Simplifying Senior Care – AARP’s Doughnut Hole Tool.

How to e-mail Grandma if she doesn’t have a computer. Per @CarolMarak

The elderly are finding “Online, ‘a Reason to Keep on Going.” @CarolMarak

GRANDPARENTING:

If you, like me, are enjoying the blessings of twins included in your grandkid count, I bet you’d enjoy @TwinHappyJen’s Twin book. You can win a free copy, “Two Snowflakes,” just by leaving a comment at her site, TwinHappyJen.

Many states have SALES TAX HOLIDAYs coming up in the next few weeks. That’s when you can buy school supplies, computers, and school clothes for your grandkids TAX-FREE! Couple that with the great back-to-school sales going on and it’s definitely one of the great ways to save money this summer – a major help for a grandparent’s budget! Keep your eyes peeled for the announcements at various stores, in the local newspaper, and/or at the website for your state. Per @invisibleillwk

For those grandparents whose grandbabies are being breastfed, you might be interested to know that the first week of August is World Breastfeeding Week. Per @SarahStewart

SANDWICH GENERATION MISCELLANEOUS:

Ways to Save Money on Books – Truthbomb Apologetics has a free E-Book Library with some good resources, both religious and secular, including many full books.

Hurry to Family Doctor Magazine to take advantage of their money-saving, limited-time offer for a free issue of My Family Doctor, a health magazine written mostly by doctors.   

We in the Sandwich Generation need to remember to drink plenty of water during these hot summer months, as well as remind our aging parents and young grandkids to do so. Per @dakimbrainfit

Nine-tenths of wisdom is appreciation. Go find somebody’s hand and squeeze it, while there’s time. Author: Dale Dauten via @LilliJ

Seniors for Living has a terrific resource for those of us in the Baby Boomer Generation.  100 Ways to a Healthier, Happier, Longer Life

A brownie recipe that is DELISH from a site with a great name, Cook Like Your Grandmother! We tried it and really liked it. I will caution you, it’s very rich and a bit more on the moist side than my ultra-favorite brownies, but it was definitely a hit at the pot luck because it is so good!

A Tiny Bit of Tech:

IMPORTANT ALERT ABOUT FLASH BY ADOBE: Homeland Security Issues a Vulnerability Notice – Adobe Flash. By convincing a user to view a specially crafted HTML document (e.g., a web page or an HTML email message or attachment) or a PDF file, an attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code. There is currently no known fix, although they expect one this week. The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT), does have some (very complicated) work arounds.   I have so far managed to disable Flash in Internet Explorer and Firefox and determined not to open any PDFs. There really is more I should do, but I am staying so busy with grandkids this week, it isn’t going to happen in my house. Then again, I’m not getting as much computer time in either, so that would appear to be not so bad either.

Homeland Security Headlines for the Sandwich Generation: Here’s a couple of great ways to stay on top of any known problems, freeing us up to focus on our caregiving. Two of my favorite sources of emergency information from weather to terrorism are reaching out to us via Facebook and Twitter. National Terror Alert has added a Facebook Fan Page. Become a “fan” for a chance to win prizes.  Emergency Email is now on Twitter with quick headlines of high interest.

For my fellow Sandwich Generation, caregiving, and grandparenting bloggers, BlogHerald has a good article on blogging skills with lots of great links.

Pho.to is a serious photo editor with a fun side as well, allowing you to turn your photos into a cartoon, if you’d like. Great for those of us in the Sandwich Generation, fixing up photos for our aging parents, along with having a good laugh with our grandkids! Per @ShawnHussey

Picnik is also great for photo editing online free. I’ve used this extensively and it’s very easy!

Top 10 reasons for churches to Twitter. Per @curtjonestweets

Finally, if you’re traveling this summer, and want to use wifi at the airport but it’s not a free wifi airport, here’s an interesting article. Free wifi is definitely one of my favorite ways to save money when traveling! Per soultravelers3

Once upon a time I made full dinners every night. Healthy ones, not-so-healthy ones. Yummy ones. Not-so-yummy ones. Nowadays I am trying to eat healthier most of the time and watching my calories to at least maintain my weight, if not finally shake loose that last ten pounds. I feel better when my weight is where it belongs and that helps in dealing with all that’s going on. It’s hard though when juggling aging parents and young grandkids and often in-betweeners. The joys of the Sandwich Generation!

It is possible to eat healthy and eat yummy though it does require some willpower. Sometimes I have that, sometimes not so much.

Here’s one of my favorite recipes – a delicious gourmet salad :

Lettuce – my old favorite, iceberg, has been dumped due to overwhelming evidence that it is pretty useless. Nowadays I love baby greens and baby romaine and they are so much healthier.

Tomatoes – I personally love the cherry tomatoes – they are quick and easy, though I think they spoil a bit faster.

Broccoli – I’ve started buying the bags of cut up broccoli. It’s healthy and saves time.

Cabbage – I love red cabbage but to save time, I often use the bags of coleslaw mix – cabbage and carrots shredded up.

Sunflower seeds – I personally prefer roasted/salted – ok, not so healthy but… Honey roasted tastes really good, and even the plain, unsalted are great. Very healthy too!

Raisins – Yummy.

Feta or Blue Cheese – I really like the Treasure Cave brand.

Avocado – I often add 1/2 – 1 avocado to this. Makes a delicious salad even better!

Salad Dressing – I rarely use this. When I do, I really like Paul Newman’s Olive Oil and Vinegar Salad Dressing. What I really love is the Balsamic Vinaigrette from Panera Bread Bakery-Cafe. I’ve bought different ones at the store but they don’t taste as yummy. Anyone know of a brand I can buy that does taste good? If so, please leave the info in the comments section below or send an email to Kaye@SandwichINK.com

I mix up all these ingredients and eat as much as I want. I’ve learned if I have this for dinner, my scales are very friendly to me in the morning. If I have it for lunch, they aren’t quite as friendly. When my weight is where it should be, I have more energy for caregiving duties thus easing caregiver stress!

Do you have a salad idea that is easy and healthy? We’d love to see it. Just leave a comment or send an email for that as well.