Myplate 1- French Bread Pizza

 

French Bread Pizza

* One serving = 1/4 of the french bread loaf

Ingredients

• 1/4 mini baguette or Italian bread (split lengthwise, or 2 split English muffins)
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce
• 1/2 cup mozzarella or cheddar cheese (part-skim, shredded)
• 1/4 cup green pepper (chopped)
• 1/4 cup mushrooms (fresh or canned, sliced)
• vegetable toppings (other, as desired, optional)
• Italian seasoning (optional)

Directions

1. Toast the bread or English muffin until slightly brown.
2. Top bread or muffin with pizza sauce, vegetables and low-fat cheese.
3. Sprinkle with Italian seasonings as desired.
4. Return bread to toaster oven (or regular oven preheated to 350 degrees).
5. Heat until cheese melts.

MyPlate Food Groups

	Vegetables	1/2 cups
	Grains	1/2 ounces
	Dairy	3/4 cups

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1 slice, 1 English muffin or 1/2 of recipe (144g)

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Nutrients	Amount
Total Calories	180
Total Fat	7 g
Saturated Fat	3 g
Cholesterol	15 mg
Sodium	502 mg
Carbohydrates	18 g
Dietary Fiber	2 g
Total Sugars	4 g
Added Sugars included	1 g
Protein	11 g
Vitamin D	N/A
Calcium	251
Iron	1
Potassium	335

Silence is Therapeutic

  

                                 

                                     Silence is therapeutic.

There is incomparable beauty to be found in a tranquil place. Silence is therapeutic because it allows me to listen to my own internal voice and be true to myself.

When I focus on living according to my own ideas, I build my inner strength and confidence. There are many external influences, so I am careful to give my own voice ongoing attention. It is important for me to stick to my internal value system.

Spending time in solitude encourages me to accept myself as I am. It allows me to ponder what I stand for and recommit to it regularly.

I smile with contentment when I reaffirm the things that I believe in. I am strengthened in my conviction and am able to stand up for what sits well with my soul.

It is difficult to hear myself amidst the noise, so I retreat whenever I am in search of answers.

Silence also contributes to a relaxed body and mind. I am able to confidently work through challenges when I am at ease.

My quiet time rejuvenates me. A fresh mind makes room for fresh ideas and endless possibilities. I build meditation into each day in the same way I make time for food and exercise. 

Today, the silence around me is relaxing because I rely on it to renew my mind. Pulling away from the noise of the world around me is an important part of my well-being. It gives me the perspective to approach life with clarity.

Self-Reflection Questions:

1. How do I build silence into my normal daily activities?

2. When is noise influential?

3. What other forms of therapy do I regularly expose myself to?

Looking Forward to Your Best Year Yet

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                                                  Looking forward to Your Best Year Yet   


Every Year as the holidays roll around we start looking forward to the Year to come. We think hard about our resolutions and what about our lives we are going to change for the better. Then we proclaim that these actions will come into effect starting January 1st. 

Why are we waiting? It's October and we are still months away from January. Let's look back on that old saying "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today." 

This quote resonates with me because I didn't wait until the new year to begin my own journey. I sat down on my 50th birthday and thought to myself, "I need something more in my life." I was no longer satisfied with what I had and I wanted more. That was the day my journey started. July 11th, 2018. Today I am feeling more empowered than ever, and I want to shout it out to the world. In this blog, I will share some tips, and questions that you should ask yourself.

Q1.

If while you were asleep tonight a miracle happened and the next morning you woke up and found that you have accomplished the goal that you are currently thinking about accomplishing. What would your life look like? 

Q2. 

what is the first step you need to take to achieve this goal? Seek out college courses, or maybe non-traditional courses will help you. Research the requirements. make a list of the goals you need to reach to get started. include the steps you need to take to reach each goal. This question can't be answered in a few minutes. This section will be a work in progress. Begin by researching and list the steps. 

Activity 1.

Make a visual board of what your life will look like when this goal is accomplished. Cut pictures out of magazines, print pictures off the internet, draw pictures of what your life will look like when this goal is accomplished. No matter where the pictures come from put yourself into the pictures. Imagine the pictures are of you. Use a poster board to make a collage. Tape the pictures directly to a wall, Put pictures in your refrigerator. However, you choose to make it remember to look at it often to help you visualize what your life will look like when this goal is achieved. 

 

Tip 1.

Do not wait until New Year's. Begin today! Today is the first day of the rest of your life. 

Tip 2.

Don't be in a hurry for the ultimate results make sure you are reaching goals though. Achieve your first goal before you move on to the next. We are calling this the best year yet because you very well could be working toward the end goal all year. Don't get discouraged, move on to the next goal when you have reached your latest goal, use the visual board and place yourself in the pictures to  inspire you., 

Tip 3.

Push forward, Don't quit. When you have reached the first, second, or maybe even third goal by the New Year You will be so happy you didn't wait. 

Good luck with all your goals. Please leave comments below. 

Short Sound Meditation

                                                    Short Sound Meditation For Stress

For the past year, I have been focusing quite a bit on self-care. In my personal time, my professional time, and in my education. I have learned a lot about holistic health and how important it is to care for my whole self. Stress management has been one of those things on the top of my list and learning how to manage my own stress has been quite enlightening. Below I would like to share a short sound meditation that is helpful in managing stress and helps me get through the day in a better mood.

Sit quietly and close your eyes, Relax your face, relax your jaw, your cheekbones, your eye sockets feel your face drop and relax.

Imagine your ears are opening wide. Notice the sounds around you. 

Now just pick one of those sounds and focus on it. 

It may be a ticking clock or a cat softly purring. Now follow that sound for a few minutes. 

Now let go of that sound and focus on another sound. 

Stay with this sound for a few minutes and then let it go and focus on a third sound. Let go of that sound.  

Now take a deep, slow breath, and focusing only on your breath,  

slowly let it out allowing any stress in your body leave with your breath. Repeat this for a few moments focusing only on your breath.

Feel yourself relax (You may do this until you feel the stress leaving your body), 

open your eyes and take one last deep breath and let it out slowly.

Let the breath open up your chest, and allow any remanence of stress leave your body as you exhale. 

*Feel free to lengthen or shorten this meditation as you feel is needed. I would do at least five minutes.  

And the Search Goes On.

Simple and Sage 

And the Search Goes On.

I Woke up this morning fully intending to do something special for myself, but after I got up I stood in the middle of the living room and thought, I really just need to clean. I need to clean then, I guess. I know what will make me happy right now, and that is for my living space to reflect peace and happiness. For that to happen I need to make some changes. First, though I feel like I need to make some personal decisions about my future.

I am a dual major in Human Services and Criminal Justice. These are things I felt very strongly about just a year ago, but in this second half of my life, I find myself unhappy with these choices. Don't get me wrong I love helping people and the problems I wanted to help fix a year ago still exist today. Poverty, drug use, and misdirection. I just feel now that these things are better left behind professionally so that I can focus more on me. It is not that I don't want to help anymore. I still feel strongly about these things, but I deal with many of these issues in my personal life and I would love to take my professional life in a more positive and peaceful direction. I am looking for a new focus in my formal education for next semester. I do still intend to do everything I can to help in this field, but I will do so in the form of volunteering. Guiding people toward a better life is my life's mission and I will never give that up. 

The worst feeling I have right now is that I have jumped into this without a solid plan. I don't have a step by step agenda set, nor do I know where to begin. My life has become just a mess of a whole lot of things that I used to want, but that no longer serve me personally or professionally. I need to become more organized. I need to take steps that lead toward my goals, but I have so many goals to change that it is hard to know where to begin. My formal education has been so important to me in the past and it still is. I wish to keep updating myself in the helping fields that I have been working in, but now I feel that I may work on those on a part-time schedule, and take on a new full-time direction in my education.

What are my new passions? I would love to travel and experience new things. This is a little out of my comfort zone, but since turning 50 I feel like I need to experience new things. I have always planned to write. Can I be the next Stephen King, Kert Vonnegut, Isaac Asimov, or  J.K. Rowling? Maybe not, but who knows. I do know though that I want to be more in this second half of my life then I have ever been before.    

And so today I will make plans. I will prepare lists of the steps I need to take to lead me down the path of learning to be who I am now. If any of my readers feel like they need to make some changes in their lives please let us know about them in the comments section. Let's support each other in our goals so that we may be who we have always wanted to be. We all had goals in our younger years. Some of us may have achieved some of these goals, but for those of us who didn't let's help each other push forward with positive encouragement. 

* Go forth toward your future not meekly, but with a vengeance.    

Finding myself again and Loving Life at 50+

Simple and Sage 

Finding myself again and 

Loving Life at 50+ 

Last Month was my 50th birthday and suddenly I looked at myself in the mirror and thought, " You are still young enough to enjoy life, but in this the second half of your life you should expect better things, more peace and new ways to reinvent yourself as the person you are now. In short, I feel like I need to reinvent myself in order to transition from the first half of my life into the second. The things I accepted are no longer acceptable. What made me happy when I was younger is no longer making me happy. I need to find out who I am now, and in order to do that I need to find out what will make me happy now. 

Today started the first day of my second vacation this year. I took my first vacation last month. I spent a few great days with my daughters who are both in their 20's and have energy coming out of their fingertips. We went to Ashville, NC. I have been wanting to go there for years, but never made it. In my head, I visioned a small quaint town waiting for me to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee in the local small town coffee shop. I was surprised when I got there to find that it was very touristy. I had a great time with my girls we stayed in a mini winnebago it was very comfortable and quiet. The key word there is quiet. As I get older I find that I don't tolerate noise as well as I once had. It was sitting there in that winni that the thought for this blog popped into my head. When I was younger I would have fallen in love with Asheville, and It was a great place to spend with my daughters. Lazy river tubing was just the quality time I needed with the both of them. I got to spend several hours floating in tubes with them. We were tied together and they couldn't get away from me. We talked, laughed and had just the quality time we needed together. My oldest lives in New York and i'm lucky if I get to see her for an entire day once a year. It was a great vacation, but it got me thinking about what I really want now. 

This blog will be dedicated to finding myself again and helping others create their new lives at 50+ Please enjoy the journey with me as you find what makes you happy at 50.