To know more about MRSA Skin Infection

MRSA is an acronym for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria that has become resistant to many antibiotics, including methicillin, penicillin, amoxicillin, and cephalosporins. It is routinely pronounced M.R.S.A. MRSA Skin Infection are now very common among healthy children and adults in the community. Your pediatrician will likely suspect that an infection, such as a leg abscess, is caused by MRSA if it isn't improving with routine antibiotics. In that case, the abscess may need to be drained or the would need to be changed to a stronger or different antibiotic to treat the infection. MRSA Skin Infection is highly contagious and can be contracted simply by touching something an infected person has touched with the infection on their hands and then touching yourself somewhere.
MRSA-infected skin can change from skin or surface irritations to abscesses. This germ can infect the blood, bones, tendons, skin and all surrounding tissue. It can survive on objects and surfaces for more than 24 hours. Pus from skin sores can spread to other body parts or to other people. Infections can be found in crowds of people such as schools, gyms, teams and jails. MRSA is usually spread by physical direct contact of the skin secretions with bacteria or pus. It is spread through towels, keys, sheets, and work areas that have the germ on them.


Preventing the Spread of MRSA

One of the most important factors in MRSA prevention though is helping to prevent MRSA infection from spreading to others . In addition to keeping suspected MRSA infection covered, it is important to see your pediatrician so that it can be properly treated. If the wound is draining and can't be completely covered, then it should likely be excluded, so that it doesn't infect other pepole. Also, it is important to wash your clothing, towels, and bedding in hot water .

Raw Food Recipes: Day 1 of Raw Eatings

Good morning, loves!

What a great first Raw Day we had! But… preparation is EVERYTHING!

First, I got geared up: I used my Blendtec Total Blender and VitaMix 5200 6-7 times yesterday. They are truly an investment in our health! I actually had them running simultaneously when making green smoothies in the morning—saves a lot of time!

Second, I went shopping yesterday and, behold, this is how my fridge and my counter look now—totally fresh and totally raw! We are ready to rock and roll.

Yesterday’s food intake was delicious and more than enough—green smoothies, fruit, and raw soups were flowing abundantly. Even my 81 yr old mother, who still gets on me once in a while for rejecting even fish [that is a biggy in her mind] has joined the raw train—not purposefully but by default, since I am making all the meals. Yesterday she had only ONE cooked meal! That is it!

About a month ago she went to see a doctor—she’s been having problems with her hip—to see if she needed a hip replacement. Thankfully he said NO, not yet, gave her a shot and sent her home with instructions to cut down calories and lose weight. What a smart man! Because he is a doctor she naturally listened to him and it now opened a huge window of opportunity for me to get her health in order. She is drinking smoothies/green smoothies every day, raw soups and blended fruit are abundant. She has not time to miss her dairy [although she is still having some, and dairy is her weakness]. She already lost about 10 lbs! That is one month! Isn’t that awesome?!

With that said, here are all of the recipes for the yesterday.

Green Smoothies

I made large portions, since I am feeding 4 adults.

Each of the recipes made up to 64 oz~

If you are going to use frozen corn, like I did, start running the blender with water first and other ingredients first, then pour corn in slowly, so it won’t freeze up.

Pineapple/Blackberry Green Smoothie

~3 cups water

~1-2 cups blackberries

~½ pineapple [peeled from the outer skin [you don’t need to core it if you have a high speed blender]; chop in smaller chunks to add to blender

~1 orange, peeled and seeded

~2 full stems of mint greens [with leaves]

~1 bunch of chard

~3 tbs dulse

~8 dates, pitted [for sweetness, optional]

~2 tbs chia seeds

Banana Beet Green Smoothie

~4 cups water

~3 bananas

~2 tbs maca powder [optional]

~5 dates, pitted

~1 Bunch of beet greens

~Handful of spinach [optional]

~2 tbs chia seeds

Banana Pineapple Green Smoothie

~4 c water

~1 banana

~½ pineapple [peeled from the outer skin [you don’t need to core it if you have a high speed blender]; chop in smaller chunks to add to blender

~2 full stems of mint greens [with leaves]

~½ bunch chard

~Handful of parsley

~5 dates, pitted [optional, for sweetness]

Raw Soups

Get ready for a delight galore. Today’s star was Corn, so all of the soups will have some corn as an ingredient.

Each recipe will feed 4-5 people comfortably.

Corn Bisque

Ingredients

Part I

~2.5 cups warm water

~4 cups frozen corn [you can use fresh, if you have access to it]

~2 cloves [medium size] garlic

~Himalayan salt and pepper to taste

Part II

~1-2 cups corn

Preparation

~Blend Part I ingredients until smooth

~Pour into a large bowl and mix in Part II ingredients

~Enjoy!

~[you can also add a handful of sunflower seeds for crunch]

Corn Chowder

Ingredients

Part I

~2 cups warm-hot water

~4 cups frozen corn [you can use fresh, if you have access to it]

~2 cloves [medium size] garlic

~Himalayan salt and pepper to taste

~1 tbs cumin

Part II

~1/3 medium size jicoma root, cut in a food processor to look like rice [I put it in chunks an pulse a few times]

~½ green [or any other kind] bell pepper, chopped into small [very small] cubes

~2 cups corn

~2 medium avocados, cubed

Preparation

~Blend Part I ingredients until smooth

~Pour into a large bowl and mix in Part II ingredients

~Enjoy!

Taco Raw Soup

Ingredients

~3.5 cups water [cold, warm or hot]

~2 Roma tomatoes

~2 stalks celery

~6 tbs corn

~2 medium carrots

~2 springs of green onion, or 1/4-1/3 cup white onion

~1 handful [yes, I did not measure it!] of cashews

~Few springs of parsley

~1 clove of garlic

~1.5 tbs chili poweder [or taco seasoning]

~½ tbs cumin

~¼ tsp white or black pepper [optional]

~1 tsp Kirkland organic seasoning

~Himalayan salt to taste

Garnish

~3 small-medium size avocados, cubed

~2 Roma tomatoes, cubed

Preparation

~Blend ingredients in a high speed blender [I used Blendtech Total Blender’s Soup function]

~Pour in a bowl, add garnish and serve!

~It will make you lick your bowl!

Raw Bread

I also made an attempt at making quick raw “bread” to go with Taco soup, but it needs perfecting. However, if you want to give it a whirl, here is the recipe [remember that it is not perfected yet!]

Ingredients Part I

~1 cup presoaked and dehydrated oatmeal groats

~1cups presoaked and dehydrated almonds

Ingredient Part II

~2 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice

~¾ tsp raw honey

~1 tbs raw coconut butter

~½ tsp Himalayan salt

~1 ¾ tbs water

Preparation

~Blend Part I ingredients in a high speed blender [I used VitaMix 5200] into fine flour

~Pour into a food processor

~Add Part II ingredients and pulse until combined

~Take out by hand and press “dough” into small blocks [I came away with 6, which was sufficient for 4 people]

~Serve with Taco soup

If I ever get to perfect this recipe I will let you know :)

I also had a green salad:

~Mixed spring greens

~Cherry tomatoes

~Sliced cucumber

~Sprinkle with lemon, spices and salt and you are set!

Well, folks, I hope this will be enough to keep you going for a day or two! I will continue with our intake tomorrow.

Happy Raw Eatings!

Raw Food Meal Possibilities for this Raw Week

Here are a few possibilities you can kick off your week with, until I start blogging about our daily food intake:

Creamy Tomato Corn Soup

Green Avocado Cucumber Raw Soup

 Cucumber and Green Pea Raw Soup



Raw Corn Bisque

Raw Vegan Borsh

Tons of Green Smoothie Recipes

Goji Delight Salad

as well as many other delicious Raw Salads
 

Well, this should give you a start... Tomorrow, at the end of the day I will blog about our food intake. 

For snacks you can use anything from raw fruit, veggies, berries, and occasional [small portions] of raw [pre-soaked and dehydrated] nuts. 

I hope you are in on the challenge!  See you all soon!

Raw Food for a Week: Any Takers?

Spur of the moment decision: my hubby and I are going raw for 1 week, starting tomorrow.  If you would like to join, leave a comment under this post to let me know, that way I can make a decision on whether to blog about it [i.e. recipes, etc.].

You WILL need a good blender--we will be consuming a lot of green smoothies, smoothies and raw soups.  I will be heavily relying on my Blendtec Total Blender this week [my favorite blender for making raw soups].

So, are you in?

Raw Tomato Soup, Weight Loss, Vacation and Product Reviews

Good morning, loves! Long time since last post… I did enjoy my time off thoroughly, though.

I have a few cool product reviews in the works: Blendtec Total Blender, which I am using on a daily basis nowadays, Ulimana chocolates, and Sesen glass drinking bottles, which I use NONSTOP daily. These items are totally cool and I cannot imagine my day without them.

I also have a delicious giveaway in the works. You would not want to miss it! Two words: Coconut Bliss!

Meanwhile, I wanted to catch you up on things that are going on in my life, that are related to plant-based diet and exercise, well… almost :)

Trip to AZ!

First, here are a few pictures from our trip to Arizona.

Enjoying Lovin' Spoonfuls offerings  

St. Xavier's Mission was my favorite stop in Tucson

Inside St. Xavier church

Demetrye's love/hate relationship with cacti was nonstop ;) Cacti won!

I got to enjoy locally grown grapefruit, which was HUGE [here I am comparing it to my hubby's head ;)]

I could not bring my Blendtec with me, so I had to use the blender we had at the resort... I went through 2 of them!  They were so flimsy they just could not take the pressure ;)

My favorite ice cream comppany Coconut Bliss sent me this cute tote [along with a coupon for awesome ice cream bars to give away!] that I carried with me EVERYwhere. It comes with a little pocket and folds to a tiny-tiny size.  Thanks, CB!

The Biggest Winner Challenge

The Biggest Winner Challenge is going full speed—we just reached our 4 week mark. The contestants lost combined 37 lbs! [Diana-15 lbs; Dan and Barb—11 lbs each!] How great is that?! To read about the rest of their [and my] adventures go to The Biggest Winner Challenge blog and leave some blog love ;).

We were blessed to have gotten sponsorship from two wonderful places that support healthy living: Excalibur Dehydrator sent our participants two 5-tray dehydrators—one to each family; and CSN Stores [who sell about EVERYTHING you will ever need in the kitchen, AND lighting and barstools!] provided two $40 gift certificates to each family. Diana was able to get herself a chemical free frying pan and Barb got herself a handy salad spinner [I use mine faithfully—my kitchen would not be complete without it!].

Raw for 30!

Another awesome project that just started to unfold has to do with my niece and sister. They both, totally of their own accord, decided to go on a 30-day Green Smoothie/Raw diet. It is really hard to believe, considering that these people thought I was totally insane for going on a plant-based [vegan] diet only a couple of years back.

I was very impressed and excited to hear about their adventure. So, this morning I made my sis 64 oz of green smoothies to take to work with her AND a delicious raw soup for lunch. I am going to share the soup recipe with you, so you can add it to your daily meal repertoire.

Creamy Tomato Corn Soup [RAW]

Ingredients

Soup
~1/4 cup water
~2 middle-large ripe tomatoes
~½ large red bell pepper
~1 ½ cup yellow corn [fresh or frozen]
~1 clove garlic
~white pepper and Kirkland seasoning to taste
~sea or Himalayan salt to taste
~2 tbs hemp seeds

Garnish
~1 avocado, cubed
~2 tbs sunflower seeds
~1 tbs chopped cilantro

Preparation
~Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender [I used Blendtec Total Blender] until smooth.
~Pour in a bowl
~Cube 1 ripe avocado, add to the soup
~Sprinkle with sunflower seeds for crunch
~Finish with cilantro and…
~Enjoy!

I will chat with you all soon! Enjoy your day!