Tag Archives: nutrition

Recipe: Slow Cooker Chicken, Pineapple, Peach, And Mango Over Rice

We got two huge fifty pound boxes of peaches from The Peach Truck at our local family owned nursery, Wedel’s Nursery, Florist, and Garden Center. They are ripening on our dining room table as we eat them, use them in smoothies, crisps, or in recipes like tonight’s dinner.

I’ve recently started using Shipt for grocery shopping. My groceries are delivered from our local Meijer. It’s been a huge help to not use all my energy solely on grocery shopping. I can focus on other aspects of running my household and doing my therapies. I’m still learning this, but managing my household doesn’t mean “I do it all.” It means I manage what needs to be done.  In leadership business circles, managing often means delegating. I’m choosing to delegate my grocery shopping to Shipt as part of my household leadership and management.

As I recently wrote, in my e-book 9 Nutrients for Healthy Hair, I’ve focused on foods that contain the nine main nutrients. I’ve actually craved protein, so thankfully we have chickens who lay lots of eggs! I love chicken. I’ve craved foods high in lots of vitamin C, like red peppers and berries. I’ve wanted avocado, watermelon, peaches, and grapes. I can’t wait for those tomatoes and squash to finish growing in our garden!

I placed my order first thing this morning, and had my groceries in my kitchen in time to make this slow cooker dinner. I had plenty of peaches to add to this meal. I love having a well stocked, well organized pantry to shop from as well!

This recipe is enough for our family to have for two meals. I also love time saving by preparing one meal for two nights. The strategy is part of my household management philosophy: work once for time savings.

This could also be served in burritos, tacos, or with chips instead of over rice.


This has become a family favorite, and it’s quick and easy on a busy night. I hope your family enjoys it as much as ours has.

Blessings,

Deb

9 Nutrients For Growing Healthy Hair

As most of my readers know, in October, 2018, I was diagnosed with a benign vestibular schwannoma, or acoustic neuroma as it is also called. It is a tumor that arises off of the vestibular nerve that controls gait, balance, and the main nerve for hearing that connects to the brain. My tumor was a big larger than large, displacing my brain stem, causing shortness of breath, temperature control issues, some hydrocephalus, and necrosis of the tumor. At diagnosis, my situation was deemed critical enough to report to the ER, as it could have been life threatening. There’s a phone call you hate making to your parents, let me tell you.

On November 29th, 2018 my tumor was removed after being on decadron, a steroid, to relieve brain inflammation all that time. My shortness of breath and temperature control issues were managed, but my dizziness, facial numbness, tinnitus, massive fatigue, and hearing loss were not. In fact, the only thing that is not permanent, even after surgery, is facial numbness. I have facial paralysis turned facial synkinesis, but most facial function is returning through time, soft tissue mobilization therapy and neuromuscular retraining. I am permanently deaf in my right ear as the nerve was severed. My tinnitus is permanent because my brain thinks it can still hear. It’s trying to make sense of the sounds it can feel. I do still have occasional dizziness because I worked hard in vestibular therapy, but I’m no longer a fall risk. I have fatigue and brain fog, especially after being around noise. Single sided hearing is a challenge, as sound discernment is often not possible. That may be playing a part in the fatigue and brain fog.

All that being said, while I was recovering from surgery, and after my fabulous not so fashionable neuro-surgical hair cut, I needed to know what I needed to eat and be nutritionally sound to heal well, and to grow my hair back as quickly as I could. I sell hair clips as my business, after all, and hair is needed for demonstrating that.

health, healthy hair, nutrition, hair growth

9 Nutrients for Growing Healthy Hair

In the course of that nutrition research, this e-book, 9 Nutrients for Growing Healthy Hair got written, and it is has literally been how I eat. What else did I have to do, besides lots of vestibular therapy, but focus on writing an e-book and my nutritional status?

I’d love to share it with you. Let me know in the comments if this helps you! I hope it does. You can access it free here.

The good news is that i stayed healthy all the time I’ve been recovering from surgery. My muscles have grown stronger through exercise and therapy. My head where my incision was made healed nicely with no infection. My physical/vestibular therapists have been working on myofascia release in order to prevent cervicogenic dizziness, no scar adhering to my scalp, and to relieve scalp and craniotomy tenderness. My brain mri shows only continued brain stem healing and only scar tissue and a small piece of tumor left to preserve my facial nerve. My facial paralysis is healing.

Diet is not a cure all, nor does it necessarily mean someone will never be sick. Exercise is not a cure all, and maybe it will help in the prevention of future illness.  Good nutritional status does give the best shot at best healing.

I do hope good nutrition continues to help my hair grow! The shaved sections of my head now have hair that is at my ear lobe. My goal is to have grown out my surgical hair cut by November, a full year since surgery. My hair styling technique is very boring while I wait for that to happen.

Goals are good. Good nutrition is good. Exercise is good. Keeping it all in balance-that’s good too.

Blessings,

Deb