Is Ice Cream the Ambrosia Of the Gods?

Photo: Braum

In Homer's epic poems, the Illiad and the Odyssey, the gods are always eating Ambrosia and drinking The Nectar of the Gods although in early editions they may be one and the same, so indistinguishable. In Homer's work, the divine food is consumed on top of Mount Olympus and thereby tied to immortality, magical powers, and godliness. 

Photo: ultraboardgames

I can't be the only person on earth ever to wonder what precisely Ambrosia and The Nectar of the Gods are. Scholars think both could be honey ... or if one is a drink, Nectar is likely mead while only Ambrosia is honey. Like the brains who study these questions in depth, I also guessed they are honey and an alcoholic beverage. (Hey academics, perhaps my blog can save you years of research. Read on.😊)

As I have another guess for Ambrosia if we accept it is separate from the Nectar of the Gods. I think ambrosia is likely ice cream since once you let yourself eat ice cream you can't get enough. In your mouth, it has magical powers!

Because in my family we have no desire to weigh 300 pounds, I don't buy ice cream for the freezer until the end of June. The weather in early June can still be nippy, so we try to hold off until the real summer with steamy hot weather arrives. We buy ice cream throughout July and August, then try to stop once fall is upon us. I also buy wafer cones because it slows us down and we tend to eat less ice cream if we lick it on a cone. You have no idea how much ice cream you can scoop out to fit into a bowl in our house! It's our magical power.😛

Photo: freepik

So, readers, we ate our last ice cream cone on Thursday, August 31st and the question is, will I buy one more carton of ice cream (or 2, or 3) as summer is not officially over this year until Saturday, September 23rd? Also, we have 2 rows of wafer cones left in a box. They shouldn't go to waste, right?

I decided yes, buy another carton if temperatures soar again and no, we've eaten plenty already if they don't.

Ice cream is a dessert I buy readymade since I can't make it better, healthier, easier, or cheaper at home.

By the way, we do eat ice cream throughout the year to celebrate birthdays and as dessert if we host a dinner or are invited to dinner, or if we treat ourselves with a trip to an ice cream shop. I just don't keep it in the freezer outside of the summer months. Unlike the ancient Greek gods (image ↖credit) we must leave home to eat it during the fall, winter, or spring seasons in the interest of health and not adding another 50 pounds to our frames! We don't have the discipline to skip ice cream if it's in the house because ice cream really is the Ambrosia of the gods! It's soooo good you can't stop eating it!!

Do you love ice cream?🍦

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Drinking Water And The Human Body

According to Water Science School, the bodies of babies are 78% water at birth. It drops down to 65% for 1-year-olds. In adult men, 60% of their bodies are water, and women (who average 5% more fat than men) have 55% of their bodies made of water.

As many of us know drinking water in all temperatures is essential to keeping the human body going. Doctors say we can count beverages such as coffee and tea as part of our water intake. Without knowing why, I find I don't get tired of drinking plain water in winter as I do in the summer months when I suppose I drink more glasses of water to cool off in more oppressive heat.

In the summer months, I like iced tea sweetened with Stevia. I'll buy different brands of black tea at the supermarket to make it.

Recently I started buying Target's house brand, Market Pantry Water Enhancers too. Oddly enough, I don't crave either iced tea or water flavor enhancers during the winter months, but they are very refreshing over ice on sizzling days in June, July, and August.

The 3 flavors I buy are Raspberry Lemonade, Peach Mango, and Strawberry Watermelon. There are other flavors also.

Iced tea made from tea bags and water flavored with enhancers are lower in acid compared to sodas and commercially made iced tea, making them easy on sensitive teeth. Nowadays I won't drink beverages that eat away at my enamel!

Although there's no set number of glasses (like 8 glasses, etc.) of how much water to drink in a day that applies to everybody, doctors do advise us to drink plenty of liquids, especially in hot weather, before we actually get thirsty to prevent dehydration and/or heat stroke. All good to know as we enter the often sweltering hot dog days of August! 

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The Sleep Pod Explained

Hug Sleep founders and husband and wife team, Matt Mundt and Angie Kupper partnered with Shark Tank's Mark Cuban and Lori Greiner to manufacture cocoon-like sleep pods based on the science of Deep Touch therapy. It goes on like a pair of pants using both legs. The sleep pod provides a gentle, calming pressure around your entire body to induce relaxation and a good night's sleep. Customers who are problem sleepers claim it's a game charger. Many prefer a sleep pod to a weighted blanket in relieving anxiety. One consumer whose daughter has autism and sensory processing difficulties is surprised by how it helps her child settle into sleep.

Made from a specialized 4-way stretch poly span material that provides a gentle, calming pressure to simulate the feeling of being hugged or swaddled, the sleep pod is lightweight, flexible, breathable, and doesn't trap heat. 

The USA-manufactured sleep pod can be machine washed in warm water and tumble dried at medium temperature. It's a cuddle for adults and through compression a calming way to doze off.

People who have trouble falling or staying asleep say it really works. To find the best deal do a Google search. Here is the Sleep Pod for $49.

 

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Should We Line Our Waterline?

Photo: Getty images/Ingolf Hatz

The waterline is the rim of the upper or lower eyelid between our lashes and eyeballs. Lining my lower waterline is sometimes the only eye makeup I apply as a quick way to accent my eyes without putting on shadow or mascara. I think of it as the lazy girl's smoky eye since it creates the illusion of a smoky eye without the time it takes to do a complete and smudged smoky eye using additional makeup products.

Photo: YouTube

Although I've been lining my lower waterline for decades now without any side effects, optometrists don't encourage us to do so. The waterline area has specialized glands that excrete oil and the practice could obstruct the glands' natural ability to produce healthy tears.

You also must make sure the eye crayon pencils you use are soft and remain free of contaminants that could lead to eye infections.

Revlon Eye Colorstay eyeliner is a good and cheap option.

I have no scientific evidence to back up my guess that perhaps the reason I've been spared eye issues is usually I only apply the eye crayon in the morning after hopping out of a shower and don't use a lot of other eye makeup which would increase my chances for irritation or contamination. However, I can't say I've never reapplied my eyeliner crayon to my waterline later on in the day or used eye shadows and mascara at the same time. Moreover, in my 20s I often sampled display eye makeup at Ulta and Sophora ... a huge risky and stupid no, no!!!

Photo: Aishwarya - Loreal Infallible Waterproof eyeliners - Good eyeliner but difficult to sharpen. LOeal has other developed other types of eye crayons that roll up. 

IMHO the eye doctors' warnings should make us more mindful about safe makeup practices, as well as, more vigilant in keeping our makeup and our makeup tools super clean. 

But frankly, I don't want to stop lining my waterline altogether with a soft eyeliner crayon. It's such an easy and attractive look!

How about you?🤫

I'm still using Adrienne (how she spells her TV line) Arpel's eye crayon (which I stocked up on when it was discontinued). Her makeup including a newer eye crayon is hard to find nowadays, but it's a good one.

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Fat-Free Hot Zesty Cheerios

I won't lie. The above bags of salty savory snacks are what I crave. I eat them 10% of the time. I want them 100% of the time. I'm addicted, and sometimes I need a hit. I want to eat them daily, nightly, and not in moderation! 

Sooooo I'm trying to find other healthier, fat-free, savory snacks to take the edge off ... and to eat the other 90% of the time when I don't let myself eat Cheetos or Doritos. Here's what I'm trying now ... you make the snack yourself, but it's mostly seasoning:

Fat-Free Hot and Zesty Cheerios

Ingredients:

1 egg white

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon dried cumin

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

3 cups Cheerios (multi-grain or oat)

Directions:

1) Whisk the egg white into peaks. Mix in the spices and next add and coat the cheerios with the egg white mixture.

2) Transfer the spiced cheerios onto a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil sprayed with cooking oil.

3) Bake in a preheated 350-degree F oven for 10 - 20 minutes. Check for doneness after 10 minutes.

Cool and eat.

Again I won't lie. Zesty Cheerios are not as addicting as Crunchy Cheetos or Nacho Doritos, but they are crunchy, zesty, and tasty. They'd also be delicious if made with butter. I like the hot spicy snack very much as a healthy alternative. 

Additionally in the recipe, you can substitute other unsweetened cereal such as Chex, or mini shredded wheat, plus add salted nuts or popcorn to make a party mix, as well as, experiment with the flavor by adding Worcestershire sauce or Parmesan or dried cheddar cheese (the one in a shaker you buy for popcorn). Creole seasoning or a dried Italian spice blend works too. Another idea is to mix the fat-free homemade snack with a bag of Cheetos and Doritos to at least cut your calories in half ... but that may be the addict talking.😁

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Why Get A Pneumonia Vaccine?

All photos: istock

Without a doubt, my family is a vaccine family. I got vaccinated as an infant ... before I could visit my Oma in Germany ... before I could start school ... and before I could visit Europe and Egypt as a university student. I'm grateful to have avoided common childhood diseases that killed previous generations. We do not remember the days when families often lost a child to measles or diphtheria.

I suspect everybody will eventually get Covid, but having been vaccinated and boosted lessens our fear of it as we now have immunities to fight the virus. My family will do everything in our power not to get Covid, and yet the virus seems to be here to stay.

My senior mother today was vaccinated against pneumonia (pneumococcal conjugate), and here's why this vaccination is a good idea, too, if you're over 65 years old or have any underlying conditions. With Covid-19 and the flu still around, this additional vaccine protects against lung-inflaming pneumonia. Seniors who get pneumonia often have a difficult time recovering from it. My mother's grandmother died of pneumonia after she fell and was bedridden.

As with other vaccines, the pneumonia vaccine can't prevent all cases, but it lessens both the chances of getting it and the severity of the disease if you do catch it.

Older adults will either be given 2 doses that give protection against different types of the infection or if you're lucky like my mom was today, you'll be given the newer single dose, the PCV20 vaccine, approved by the FDA in 2021. Studies are showing no boosters are needed for this newer vaccine. The newer PCV20 vaccine is based on the older PCV13 vaccine but lets you skip the 2nd PPSV23 dose that is needed one year after receiving the PCV13 dose. Depending on what's available in your area, expect to receive one or two shots. Be grateful for their development!

According to the CDC, the pneumonia vaccine is safe and not only effective in preventing seniors from getting pneumonia, but it [researchers followed patients given the PCV13 older shot] also protects them against other invasive pneumococcal diseases, such as meningitis (infection of the tissue covering the brain and spinal cord), bacteremia (infection of the blood), ear infections, and sinus infections. In CDC studies not only did vaccinated patients avoid pneumonia, but 75% of them also avoided meningitis and bacteremia, thus lowering their chances of being hospitalized.

Health insurance (including Medicare) covers pneumonia vaccines for seniors and people with medical conditions such as asthma. Pneumococcal diseases can be fatal, so if you are in the risk group, talk to your doctor about getting the vaccine.

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The Savvy Shopper Is 14 Years Old Today

Fourteen years ago, I published a blog with no idea of what I was doing, and here I am still writing it. A Facebook friend's birthday is March 3rd, and it's how I remember the blog's beginning. The year 2009 was also the year her daughter was born, and now her little baby, Fiona, is a teenager. Back then, I thought, oh now she has a baby and I have a blog!😳 Although nobody can tell, we adults are also 14 years older.

By design, many of THE SAVVY SHOPPER'S blogs aren't dated so you can catch up by reading old posts and still be informed or entertained. The blog is structured as an electronic lifestyle magazine with a focus on good decision-making while living on a budget. On occasion, I do write about trends or current events with the awareness the posts will date, but then they become a record of our past. 

Many things in life get better with age, wine, cheese, leather shoes, friendships, and hopefully blog posts. 

Thank you, dear readers, for stopping by. I love hearing from you whether by email, in the blog's comments, on Facebook, or on other social media. Let me know what you'd like to see me research and write about in the future, and I'll do my best to cover it! XOXO💋

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Getting A Senior To Eat Her Meals

I could've called today's blog getting wards to eat their meals since the effort of getting good nutrition into the bellies of children can be just as challenging. Sometimes they don't want to eat balanced meals either.

Before my mom needed my help with her life she was an excellent home cook and ate just about everything. Now that she has aged she's a much pickier eater and at times won't eat vegetables, potatoes, bananas, untoasted bread, apples ... the list keeps growing longer! This evening she refused to take a bite of spinach. She won't eat carrots anymore, and I'm a stickler for making sure she consumes enough protein. 

Health care experts cite a myriad of reasons why seniors become finicky eaters. Sometimes it could be dental problems or perhaps their ability to taste food diminishes. My German mother still loves her bratwurst and knackwurst, therefore I doubt in her case, the reason for refusing soft vegetables is dental issues. Moreover, she's a late riser who must drink 3 cups of coffee after she wakes up before she'll consider eating any breakfast.  

Somehow I must make all my mom's personal quirks and refusals work in her favor. How do I do it? Well ... I'm not above trickery.

First I trick her into eating her breakfast while she drinks her 3 cups of coffee with milk. With 3 cups of coffee, she drinks what amounts to a cup of milk every morning, which gives her 8 grams of protein and calcium. Along with it, I serve her a 21-gram low-sugar protein bar to nibble on as she downs her coffee; and I give her dry Life (cinnamon flavored) cereal that I tell her is a food called Cinnamon Crispies.:) As she always asks for cookies while drinking her last cup of coffee, I spread 2 tablespoons of peanut butter in between 2 Digestives (or 2 graham crackers, choosing the lowest sugar grams I can find) every morning. As far as I'm concerned, it's another 8 grams of protein, the same amount a person gets by eating a peanut butter sandwich! So breakfast can be checked off at 36 grams of protein with some fiber. This leads to a subsequent problem to solve ...

As you might guess, after a late riser eats a late breakfast she's not hungry at midday, so wants to skip lunch. So how do you stop late risers from omitting lunch altogether? Naturally the answer again is ... trickery!

I resort to Greek Yogurt Sundaes, a combination of 1 - 1.5 cups of Greek Yogurt that I mix with fresh and canned fruit: whatever I have on hand, such as pineapples, peaches, pears, grapes, banana (yes, I sneak in 1/2 banana!), blueberries (other berries when you have them) and topped off with a scoop more of Greek yogurt along with 1/4 cup or so of diced almonds, pecans, and walnuts; plus dark chocolate chips. A drizzle of locally grown honey helps too (we have a beekeeper friend). Dark chocolate chips are indispensable for your covert operations! You must outsmart them, or the gig is up.

It's best not to make food a battle. If all else fails gently push the dairy (protein) and fruit (vitamins and fiber)! Seniors need more protein, not less. Currently, the recommended dietary allowance for women 70+ years old is 0.36 grams for each pound of body weight or 46 grams of protein for a 130-pound woman. I serve skim milk with meals without asking. My mom can have fruit juice in-between meals if she asks for it. Luckily mam'ma eats nuts, which I give her for snacks also. Nuts have many benefits for old people, including they are good for their brains and hearts.

  

Eating right is the first and most effective medicine. I do my best to keep my mom healthy by limiting her sugar, increasing her protein and fiber, and mixing up the foods she eats. But!! Whoever said the ends don't justify the means never had to get the very young or very old to eat their meals. Niccolò Machianvelli agrees with me! Brazen, unabashed, fragrant, trickery ... it's what's for dinner!!😁

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Summer isn't over till we say it's over! While enjoying the last of our balmy weather don't forget the sunscreen. To protect our exposed skin from the sun's harmful rays, cancer experts tell us to apply the amount of a shot glass (or one ounce) of sunscreen on our bodies and about 1/2 - 1/3 of a teaspoon on our faces, ears, and necks, then reapply it every 2 hours. Like many other people, I don't use as much sunscreen as I should and forget to reapply it during the day. What's more, sometimes I wonder how a diligent family of 4 has enough sunscreen to follow the recommendations of skin doctors to prevent skin cancer.

As it turns out, one brand sells its sunscreen in the super size families with children (and perhaps friends who came along) would need for a day in the sun.

In 2007 Holly Thaggard developed Supergoop to provide sunscreen for the public school system of San Antonio, Texas. Supergoop is suitable for the face and body plus comes in several formulas and sizes, not just a super-size, so customers can buy the quantity they need. 

The original SuperGoop Play formula with SPF 50 is hydrating, fast-absorbing, as well as, water and sweat-resistant (for up to 80 minutes). There is also an Unseen SPF 40 sunscreen that is 100% invisible and scentless. The brand's expanded line includes other sun-protecting products such as sunscreen powders, glow moisturizing face creams, as well as, accessories like sun hats.

Here are a few cold, hard facts and statistics on skin cancer. They are good reasons to try to prevent it. 

Nowadays sunscreen isn't greasy on the skin. Tubes of sunscreen are effective for up to 3 years and then should be tossed out. Sun protection should be applied to our faces and exposed skin every day of the year (winter and rainy days included). With the proper protection, skin cancer is a preventable cancer.

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The Best Mosquito Repellents

Yes to fans!

Summer is approaching and unofficial summer is already here. Unfortunately so are bugs. The most hated bugs of all are arguably mosquitos. Researching how to keep them away and specifically how to stop mosquitos from biting us leads to good news and bad news.

citronella bracelets

First the bad news. Nearly all the natural mosquito repellents on the market are worthless. When tested in scientific labs they either don't work, or don't work well enough to be considered effective. Natural mosquito repellents come in the form of citronella candles, slow-burning citronella sticks, and citronella bracelets. Research shows people still get bitten despite wearing or burning citronella repellents. Perhaps a mosquito will avoid your wrist where the bracelet is, but you'll still get eaten alive because the blood-sucking pest will move up to your shoulder or down to your leg for a meal.

Likewise, essential oils such as lemongrass, rosemary, eucalyptus, and peppermint do not work. Moreover, electronic bug zappers do not work as mosquitos largely ignore the violet light. Ultrasonic mosquito repellent devices do not work either. Studies show they fail to irritate or scare mosquitos away. And lastly, newer portable devices that lure mosquitos away from people with carbon dioxide, then entrap them do not show much evidence of reducing bites to people nearby.

So what does work ... are you ready for the good news?

1) A good old fashion fan. Sitting in the wind of a fan works because mosquitos are not strong fliers. 

2) DEET - Chemical name, N, N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (or diethyltoluamide) was developed by the US Army in 1946 and sold on the market beginning in 1957 as an ingredient in lotions and sprays. This potent mosquito, chigger, and other bug repellent has been widely studied over the years. Despite peoples' fears, DEET has an excellent public safety record and lasts for hours.

3) Another effective way to reduce the number of mosquitos in your backyard is to eliminate water sources like puddles, ponds, or birdbaths. Water is where mosquitos like to lay their eggs so don't invite them into your space with basins of standing water.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a mosquito "is the most deadly creature on earth killing hundreds of thousands of people and making millions more sick each year." Therefore, it might be gratifying to consider some of the critters who eat mosquitos or their larvae. Our friends include fish, birds🦜, bats, dragonflies, frogs, spiders, and the red-eared slider turtle (a common pet in the USA).🐢 

As much as we hate to acknowledge it, mosquitos are important to the food chain in our ecosystem, which is not to say, we want to be an important food source for mosquitos. You're not a bad person if your motto is: Stay away or die today! Nothing should bite you with impunity. Squash the living daylights out of it!!👾 

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