8 dried tomatoes (not oil packed)
1 1/2 cup packed shredded cabbage with carrot(coleslaw mix)
3 Tbs. fat-free mayo dressing or salad dressing
1 teaspoon horseradish mustard
6 ounces thinly sliced roast beef
( I love them toasted)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl cover tomatoes with boiling water, let stand about 10 min or until softened.
2. Drain tomatoes and cut into small strips, toss tomato strips with shredded cabbage and carrot mixture.
3. Combine mayo fat-free dressing or fat-free salad dressing, horseradish mustard.
4. Add to cabbage – tomato mixture toss to coat
5. To fix sandwiches divide roast beef and cabbage mixture and stuff into toasted pita bread pockets cut into halves.

Health Benefits:
High in protein, roast beef is low in saturated fat and a good choice to have once in a while. Tomatoes provide Vitamin C, potassium, fiber and antioxidants. Carrots and cabbage are both wonderful sources of Beta Carotene and Vitamin K.

Cross contamination is one of the major factors in food-borne illnesses. You might be surprised how easily bacteria can spread in a kitchen. Everything from your cutlery to your cutting boards to your countertops can be a secret haven for serious bacterial contamination.

When you handle raw meat, chicken or uncooked seafood, you open the door to bacteria. In order to keep your kitchen at its safest, you want to use separate sides of your cutting board for meats and vegetables. Some boards make it easy for you by adding a green dot on one side and a red dot on the other. The green is for veggies, the red for raw meat.

Once you use the cutting board for raw meat, you’ll want to scrub it clean and carefully dry it completely before using it again. If you need to cut vegetables next, clean the board, then turn it over to the opposite side. That way you will be certain not to cross contaminate the veggies with the bacteria from the meat.

You see, contaminants such as e Coli come from the feces of humans and warm-blooded animals. That’s why hand washing is so important when you are talking about food safety. That means cleaning under your fingernails too. Dirt and bacteria, especially if you have been cutting meat, can hide under your beautifully painted nails, be sure to use a hand scrub brush to clean under these delicate hiding places.

The cutlery that you use for peeling, chopping, slicing and dicing needs to be cleaned and sanitized too. Be sure that you clean the entire knife in warm soapy water. Fine cutlery shouldn’t be cleaned in the dishwasher in order to preserve them, so it is suggested that you hand wash these carefully.

Finally you will need to clean and sanitize the countertops or anywhere in the kitchen that has come in contact with the raw meat. Remember, e Coli and other bacterias exist naturally in meat since it comes from animals, that’s why keeping it separate from your produce is so important, especially produce such as salads that you eat uncooked.

Be sure to wash your produce carefully to remove bacteria from others handling your fruits and veggies. Don’t allow them to air dry either, always use a clean paper towel and carefully wipe them off after washing.

Another factor in keeping your kitchen safe is to carefully monitor the temperature of foods and the surrounding ambient temps. Bacteria grows at an accelerated rate at temperatures above 42 degrees to 180 degrees. This is called the critical time when food can become contaminated and if stored in the refrigerator too soon or too late, can make a person sick who tries to eat the food.

In restaurants after service is over, the cooked foods all have to be stored or discarded. In order to bring the temperature of the food to a safe storing temp, the restaurant uses a cold paddle to lower the temp of the food. That’s because if you wait for the food to cool by itself it will enter the critical time warp and become contaminated and restaurants can risk that for the health of their customers and their business.

You can adapt this same practice in your home. Simply fill a water bottle up with water and put it in the freezer. When you have soup or stew and everyone has been served, allow the food to cool for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then place the frozen plastic bottle in your food and it will help to lower the temp. Make stirring motions with the bottle to effectively cool the entire pot of food.

Some people think that with an air-conditioned house, you don’t have to worry about the food being left out. Some might say they have been leaving food out without any problem with illnesses in their family.

While this may be true, someone with a weakened immune system might get contaminated very easily. If you or other members of your family have problems with intestinal problems it very well may be the result of contaminated food.

When dining out and taking home a doggie bag, it’s important that you go straight home. Holding onto food and then leaving it in your car for a couple of hours is just not safe. If your planning to go to the movie after dinner leave the food behind, don’t take any with you, you’ll only have to toss it out later.

That’s the important thing, just because the food looks okay from the outside, doesn’t mean that it’s safe to eat. If after leaving it out, you place it in the fridge, you won’t be able to use your nose to determine if the food has gone bad. Refrigeration merely puts bacteria to sleep for a while, but it’s still present in your food. If it got in there before the food went into the fridge, then it remains alive in the food.

When eating out at buffets, you’ll want to be careful too. Not everyone has the best hand washing practices, so anything like buffet spoons or other objects that are shared, could possibly be contaminated. It’s also smart to pay attention to things like the temperature of the food in a buffet. The temperature for holding food should be around 215 degrees for best condition.

Back in your kitchen, foods stored in the refrigerator should be covered completely. Keep deli meats and raw meats separately as well as vegetables and fruits. Most fruits should be kept out of the refrigerator for the best taste.

Launder all dish rags, towels and potholders used in the kitchen regularly to keep down on cross contamination too. You might be surprised at the number of bacteria that can live on a wet dish rag. All in all, don’t let your kitchen practices make your family sick. Use this information to create a safe and healthy place to prepare your family’s meals.

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7 oz. feta cheese ( fat-free)
1 bag Romaine lettuce
4 tomatoes cut up
1 cucumber sliced
12-20 Greek black olives
2 Tbs. fresh herb (oregano or basil)

For Dressing:

6 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove crushed
Pinch of pepper

1. Combine all ingredients in large salad bowl.
2. Combine all ingredients for dressing in small bowl pour over salad.

Health Benefits:
High in Vitamins A, C and K, romaine lettuce is a great choice. Tomatoes are full of antioxidants that protect the body against free-radicals. Eating cucumbers can help to lower blood pressure and give your complexion that radiant glow, so definitely include them with your salads. Olives are a great source of Vitamin E, another contributor to healthy skin.

Most of us, who are healthy, don’t spend a huge amount of time thinking about our immune systems. Unfortunately, the majority of people don’t realize how important their health is until they lose it. But lucky for us, sex can be beneficial to our immune systems, and that’s good news.

Sex lowers the blood pressure and reduces stress. In tests, people who had engaged in sexual intercourse had quicker responses and showed lower stress levels when presented with problem-solving tasks than those participants who had not recently had sex. This is probably something you have noticed yourself. Sex, like exercise, releases endorphins into our bodies.

Sex also helps you to lose weight. It’s a great form of exercise and will actually help you live healthier and longer. Sexual intercourse can burn anywhere from 70 to 85 calories in 30 minutes. The wonderful thing about sex is that it’s good for your partner too. Not only does this act offer tremendous benefits to you, but also to your lover. What better way to show your love?

But how does it help your immune system? Having sex once or twice a week has been associated with higher levels of the antibody immunoglobulin A or IgA, which has been known to protect people from getting colds and other infections. Scientists at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., took samples of saliva, which contain IgA, from 112 college students who reported the frequency of sex they had.

Those students that were in the “frequent” group, having sex once or twice a week, had higher levels of IgA than those in the other three groups. The other groups consisted of students who reported being abstinent, those having sex less than once a week, or those students having it very often, three or more times weekly.

Taking time out for sex can be very advantageous to you mind, body and spirit. So keep your body healthy and strong and allow yourself that intimate time with your partner, it just may help to keep you both on the path to a long and happy life.

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Answer: A strain is a muscle or tendon injury; a sprain is a ligament injury.

Back strain is when you pull your back muscles.

Simple strains are the most common cause of back pain, especially lower back pain. Muscle strain is often caused by overuse of a muscle or overloading a muscle. When a muscle is stressed beyond its limits, injury occurs.

A muscle strain (or pulled muscle) is an overstretched or torn muscle. With injury comes inflammation, which is part of the healing process. Inflammation causes pain and can also trigger muscle spasms. The severity of a muscle strain can range from mild to severe.

Strained back muscles can occur when the back is overloaded – such as when you lift a child or anything that’s really heavy. If your muscles are weak, they are more easily overloaded and can become injured. While any muscle can be overloaded, building your muscles helps them to become stronger so you don’t get injured when performing everyday tasks.

Poor lifting techniques as well as lifting objects that are too heavy can overload your back and cause strained back muscles. A fall or an accidental twisting of the back can also cause pulled back muscles.

You can strain your back muscles through overuse, too.

Back pain often occurs when a muscle contraction is held too long. Your body is made to move. When you hold one position too long, your back muscles become fatigued and strained. If you keep switching positions you are able to shift the workload to another group of muscles, preventing any one group of  muscles from becoming fatigued.

If you do too many repetitive movements, such as too many reps using weights, you can cause muscle strain from overuse. Increasing back exercises or weights too quickly can also cause back pain due to overuse injuries.

Poor posture is another main cause of back strain. The muscles are forced to work harder in order to support the spine, which leads to fatigue, strain, and back pain.

The lower back is most commonly strained, that’s because the lower back has to support the weight of the upper body, when standing or sitting.

The symptoms of back muscle strain.

Pulled back muscles include symptoms of back pain and muscle weakness and sometimes  back muscle spasms. The back pain may come on suddenly, but usually begin gradually.

The muscles begin to stiffen or spasm to cause you to reduce motion and prevent further injury. Muscle injuries cause inflammation. Inflammation is a part of the healing process, but may trigger muscle spasms. Muscle spasms may bother you for the first couple of days after an injury – when inflammation is at its worst. Though not serious, back muscle spasms can be painful. Inflammation also causes pain. So, that’s why your back aches when you strain your back muscles.

Healing time depends on the severity of the strain. Mild muscle strains usually heal within two weeks. Moderate muscle strains may take six to eight weeks to heal. Consult you physician if pain intensifies or lasts longer than normal.

When you begin rehabilitation, start slowly and increase movements daily. It’s important to get the blood flowing through the muscles, but you don’t want to do anything too fast and cause further injury to your back.

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8 cups fresh packed spinach
1 cup strawberry halved
1 cup blueberries
1 11oz. can Mandarin orange section, drained
1 cup of walnuts
2 Tbs. parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Tear spinach into bite sized pieces.
2. Toss in strawberries, blueberries and Mandarin oranges.
3. Sprinkle with walnuts and parmesan cheese.

Health Benefits:
Walnuts are a good source of protein as is the parmesan cheese and it’s important to include a serving of protein at every meal. Spinach is iron-rich and an excellent source of Vitamins A, C and K. Low in sodium, cholesterol, saturated fat and sugar. This is an excellent choice for a healthy meal.

Oregano has anti-bacterial properties that help to fight infection. It is said that Hippocrates, born around 460 BC used oregano on his patients. He may not have known the full nature of infection, but he was aware that eating oregano could prevent it. This benefit is due to the oils thymol and carvacrol found in oregano.

An excellent antioxidant, it can be compared to the benefits found in apples and blueberries. Like spinach and other leafy vegetables, fresh oregano is nutrient and vitamin rich. A good source of vitamin C, vitamin A, iron, manganese and calcium as well as containing omega-3 fatty acids.

Oregano is one of the few herbs in which the flavor is stronger when it is dried rather than fresh. Most commonly associated with Italian dishes, the smell and savory taste of oregano were the main culprits responsible for the pizza craze that hit this country after World War II.

Oregano is usually purchased dried in spice jars at the grocery store. However, some stores sell it fresh. You can also buy seeds or seedlings and grow your own fresh oregano. When storing oregano, put it in a plastic bag filled with air and place in the crisper of the refrigerator. When using fresh oregano, you will probably need to use three times as much as you would of the dried variety to achieve the same intensity of flavor. Other spices that go with oregano are garlic, parsley, sage, thyme, pepper, basil, and dried onions.

There are many recipes that call for oregano, both fresh and dried. If you’re stuck and looking for some new ideas of what to cook for yourself and your family, I’ve got a treasure chest full of healthy meals to share with you. Many of them include oregano and some of the other spices listed above. Just click on the Healthy Cooking category for your choice of recipes. You must be a member of Fitness4Her to get access, so join today. It quick and easy to do, plus it’s free. So join today and cook up a healthy meal with the savory essence of oregano.

4 – 10 inch flour tortillas / whole wheat
1 package all white lean ground chicken
1-cup chopped onion
1- 15oz.can reduced-sodium black beans rinsed and drained
1- 10oz. can chopped tomatoes and green chiles un-drained
2- teaspoons chopped green onions

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wrap tortillas in foil to soften 10 min.
3. In a large skillet cook ground chicken and chopped onion until golden.
4. Drain off fat, stir in beans, un-drained tomatoes, green chiles and chili powder.
5. Bring to boil, simmer 5-min. then set aside 1/2 cup for topper.
6. For each burrito spoon remaining filling evenly onto each tortilla-roll-up.
7. Top each burritos with reserved filling.
8. Sprinkle green onion, serve with rice ( whole wheat optional).
9. Pinch of fat free cheese, fat free sour cream and my favorite fresh guacamole.

Health Benefits:

Chicken is high in protein and low in fat so it’s a good choice for a main dish. The black beans are a great source of fiber and antioxidants. Beans help to lower blood pressure and cholesterol. High in nutrients with the tomatoes, green chiles and chili powder. Serve with rice for a meal that will truly fill you up.

Recent studies have found exercises that build the core muscles help to alleviate back pain and will even help to strengthen you back muscles. They tone the muscles without damaging the spinal disks which as ever so fragile. Plus, core exercises give you a lean, long, appearance like that of a dancer’s body.

There are 29 core muscles in the torso that provide a stable midsection, vital to all of your motions. The core muscles connect the actions between the lower and upper body, as nearly every action you take is transferred across the core muscles. That’s why it is so important that these muscles are strengthened, but done so wisely.

Your center of power lies in your core strength. The best core exercises maintain a neutral spine and most movements occur at the hip rather than the back. You will see quick results when you begin working out with Pilates’ specific exercises.

Another proven method for relieving back pain is fast walking using a vigorous arm swing. If you have back pain, begin by walking on a regular basis. Walking will actually strengthen your core. As you become stronger, step it up by slowly adding jogging, cycling, or elliptical training to your routine.

Seven Ways To Avoid Injury When Exercising:

1. Perform most core exercises on a solid surface.

2. Muscle endurance is more important than muscle strength; muscles must have good endurance before concentrating on core strength.

3. Avoid core training first thing in the morning. You must warm up your muscles, then stretch before putting too much stress on them.

4. When you first begin exercising, learn to handle your own weight resistance before adding any weights to your work out. Adding weights too soon can lead to injury.

5. Aerobic exercise is important for building core muscles and reducing fat, especially around the stomach area.

6. Engage your core muscles when lifting weights or performing total body workouts during exercise or sports to protect your spine.

7. Always use good form when exercising. Bad form causes muscle fatigue, which destabilizes the spine and can lead to injury.

Follow these tips to keep you safe when strengthening your core muscles. You’ll begin to feel the difference as your core becomes stronger. Your range of movement will improve drastically and it won’t be long before you see the visible differences. Fabulous abs, that make you look younger, sexier and better than ever.

Having back pain after exercise?  Tell us and our readers about it in the comment space below:

There are so many great styles to chose from and a number of places to buy fitness clothes. Shop around and find the best fit for your figure and that will allow your body to move with ease. Try not to buy something just because it’s inexpensive, it may not offer the flexibility of other clothes. On the same note, don’t assume just because it costs a pretty penny that it will be functional for your activities. It’s best to try all of your clothes on before purchasing.

When selecting shoes, be sure to wear the thickest socks that you ever wear. Walk around the shoe area, run a little bit, don’t make any hasty decisions when buying shoes. Exercise can become quite un-motivating if your feet are aching because your shoes don’t fit well.

Gym bags are a smart accessory that you can purchase to reward yourself for sticking to your exercise program. Old gym bags can harbor bacteria, so a new gym bag is an item that you need to replace occasionally. Find one that is functional but attractive to you. A new gym bag can be just what you need to put a smile on your face when you are headed out to exercise.

Sometimes just shopping at a sports and fitness store can get you in the mood for exercise. All of the merchandise is fitness related and can provide a nice little boost in your motivation. Reward yourself, look good and stay motivated.

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