If you are a parent, grandparent or caregiver of kids, especially those 0-12, you need to know about Macaroni Kid for Johnson County!  This locally owned company is part of the national Macaroni Kid media brand with over 350 e-publications nationwide.  The concept is simple.  We provide a hyper-local e-publication of everything to do with kids in and around your neighborhood.   Every inexpensive and free child activity and family event in Johnson County, KS is listed for no charge.  Theater, music, arts and other cultural and live events which require advanced ticket purchase are also listed.

You can subscribe on line or in person by visiting one of our many community friends.  We would love for you to visit and support these local businesses! We will reward one lucky new subscriber who visits one of these locations to sign up with a $125 gift card to her/his favorite grocery store.

Monkey Bizness – “Where kids monkey around.” Offering open play, birthday parties, and special events. Located inside the Great Mall of the Great Plains,20080 W. 151st St, Olathe, KS 66061.

Debbie Howard’s Gym – “We want to teach the kids how to believe in themselves.” Offering gymnastics classes, open gyms, birthday and sports parties, and gym rentals. Located at 655 North Somerset Terrace, Olathe, KS 66062.

Stephanie’s Wonderland – “Every little girl should have a tutu or pettiskirt and be a princess for a day.” Find their amazing products at 115 N. Parker St, Olathe, KS 66061 (Wed-Sat), online, and also inside Mommy Shop (see below).

Mommy Shop – “Get the basics, stay unique.” 60+ vendors in one location offering unique items for maternity, gifts, infant, and children. Catering to moms with free gift wrapping, a play area for the little ones, and frequent in-store events.  Located at 14870 Metcalf Ave, Overland Park, KS 66223.

Little Monkey Bizness – “Where little kids monkey around.” Offering open play, birthday parties and special events for crawling babies on up and a separate dining area with a full menu of snacks and beverages. Located at 12219 Shawnee Mission Parkway, Shawnee, KS 66216

Ceramics & Coffee House @ Paint, Glaze & Fire – Offering drop in ceramic painting, glass fusion, birthday parties, girls night out, special events, paint/story time, camps and a full service coffee bar and free Wi-Fi. Located at 12683 Metcalf Ave, at the south end of Metcalf 127 Shopping Center, Overland Park, KS 66213.

If you have a Johnson County, KS business and are interested in hosting our subscription box, please contact Gail at info@gailsscoop.com

You can be a part of history as the first ever US showing of Love Never Dies comes to Movie Theaters Nationwide on Tuesday, February 28 with a second showing on March 7 both at 7:30pm local time.

Tickets are now on sale for these local theaters:

AMC Olathe Studio 29, Olathe

AMC Town Center 20, Leawood

Cinemark 20, Merriam

and several other Kansas City metro theaters.

Our sponsors at Serino/Coyne LLC are giving two lucky Macaroni Kid Overland Park readers a pair of free tickets!

Here is what you need for one entry:

1. Subscribe to the Macaroni Kid weekly e-newsletter.

2. Comment here.

For a second entry:

3. Re-pin our “Love Never Dies” photo on Pinterest.

Two winners will be selected by random on Wednesday, February 22 and announced Thursday morning in our e-newsletter and by email.  GOOD LUCK!

Get a sneak peak at the comprehensive Gail’s Scoop / Macaroni Kid guide!

Thanks to all our sponsors at All About Kids, Here We Grow Again, Just Between Friends, Kids Closet Connection, Merry Go Round 4 Kids,  Northland Mothers of Multiples, and Rhea Lana’s!  Please help spread the love by sharing on Facebook and Pinterest!

It’s time for Monster Jam at the Sprint Center.

Get $5 off per ticket while supplies last!

Friday, February 10                7:30 PM

Saturday, February 11          2 PM & 7:30 PM

Sunday, February 12             2 PM

Discount: Save $5 per ticket!

Offer Expires:  Monday, February 6 or while supplies last.

Full Price: Discount

$26.00             $21.00       Lover Level/end zone seating

$16.00             $11.00       Upper Level

To purchase discount tickets click here. Special Offer Code: gailsscoop

Notes to consider:

*          No TicketMaster fees will be added to the order. The only additional charge is a $1.25/ticket TicketFast charge. Purchased tickets are delivered via e-mail to print at work or home.

*          Ages 2 and over require a ticket for this event. If you encounter any problems ordering contact Kerri Troyer at 816.949.7175.

Discount: Save $5-$7 per ticket!

Offer Expires:  Monday, January 30 or while supplies last.

Full Price: Discount

$19.00             $15.00       ($5 Discount)

$26.00             $19.00       ($7 Discount)

$30.00             $23.00       ($7 Discount)

$35.00             $28.00       ($7 Discount)

To purchase discount tickets click here. Special Offer Code: gailsscoop

Notes to consider:

*          No TicketMaster fees will be added to the order. The only additional charge is a $1.25/ticket TicketFast charge. Purchased tickets are delivered via e-mail to print at work or home.

*          Ages 2 and over require a ticket for this event. If you encounter any problems ordering contact Kerri Troyer at 816.949.7175.

Complex Movement is Best

WAIT! Don’t just skim down to see which exercise I’ve labeled as the best, get the whole story…

I’m often approached and asked to pin down a single exercise as the one that will help lose the most fat and sculpt the quickest. That’s not an easy question to answer. Not every exercise works with every person, hence my hesitation to label any exercise as the universal best. That being said, some exercises are definitely better than others so we are going to learn about the best TYPE of exercises that will get you results.

What makes an exercise the best?

When you decide which exercises to include in your routine, it is important to consider the type of movement involved. The simpler the movement, the fewer calories you’ll burn and the fewer muscles you will strengthen. On the other hand, the more complex the movement, the more calories you will burn and the more muscles you will strengthen.

To put it simply, exercises that use complex movements will deliver better results than exercises that use only simple movements. Complex movements recruit multiple muscles, some to stabilize and others to perform the movement. This process keeps your heart rate higher than a simple exercise would and gives you a more intense workout.

What is a complex movement?

A complex movement is a multi-joint movement that recruits large portions of the body to complete the exercise. Let’s compare a simple movement leg exercise with a complex movement leg exercise:

The leg curl machine uses a simple, isolated movement to work the hamstrings. You’re in a seated position moving only your knee joint. There isn’t much involvement, if any, from other muscles and it doesn’t burn very many calories.

Now let’s look at a stability ball double leg curl. You start by laying down on your back, hands next to your hips and heels of your feet on the top, center of the ball. Engage the core, squeeze the gluteus then bridge until you have control of the ball. Curl your heels towards your gluteus while keeping your gluteus off the floor! Repeat!!

How many muscles did you utilize while performing the stability ball leg curl? Probably too many to count. You certainly worked your hamstrings, gluteus, calves and your entire core to be able to control the ball during your movement. You also raised your heart rate and really kicked your metabolism into high gear. It’s all about combining exercises that demand more “help” from other muscles! That’s what I call a great exercise.

Other ways to increase intensity

Using complex movements are just one of many ways to kick your workout intensity up a notch. Try incorporating a Super Set into your routine. To do so simply perform two or more exercises in a row and then take a short rest. **For example: Stability Ball Double Leg Curl for 30 seconds then go straight to push-ups (no rest) for 30 seconds. Keep repeating for 2-8 rounds.

The key to finding the best exercise is to find the ones that bring your workout intensity to a whole new level. A combination of changing your workouts up, using interval training, and even some good old cardio will ultimately see you to your goal.

These methods will help you to burn more calories, increase your metabolic rate, and will stimulate the production of more fat burning and muscle toning hormones. Of course, there is more involved to achieving your fitness goals. You need to incorporate fat burning into your routine. You need to consistently challenge yourself during workouts. You need to take control of your eating habits.

So what’s the best exercise for you? Try different exercises patterns and create your own. Just remember to never sacrifice anything for good form. You can also call or email me today to schedule a time for you to try out a class for FREE and experiment with the complex movements I have described.

For some ideas you can go through my “On the 12th Day of Christmas my Trainer gave to me:” workout video on Youtube. It’s a great workout that utilizes Complex Movements..enjoy!

Remember to always Train HARD, Train SAFE and EXPECT results!

Do you feel like you need more “balance”.  Do you feel pulled in too many directions?

That feeling in your chest or stomach, or that tightness in your shoulders is the stress of wanting to do it all, but not having enough time in the day.  That much desired balance in your life only happens if you have clarity on what is most important and the focus to make it happen.

Look at your actions and how you spend your time each day.  Does it reflect your priorities?  Odds are you’re spending time on something that really isn’t high priority and it’s resulting in you getting to the end of the day and being dissatisfied.  Yikes.

So here’s the deal.  When you’re stressed, the part of your brain that helps you prioritize and see the consequences of your current actions doesn’t function very well.

Here are some suggestions:

1. Take a breather.   When you’re stressed, your breath becomes more shallow.  Pausing to catch your breath from the race of life is essential and can restore much needed perspective on what you’re facing.

You know the feeling – you’re frantically looking for something and then you find it was right in front of you the whole time.  If you’re stressed, that’s how you’re leading your life – missing pieces that will make things easier if you would just become aware that they’re there.

If you think you’re too busy to take a breather for a few minutes or you find that when you do you can’t stop your racing thoughts – you REALLY need to slow down or you’ll look up one day and wonder what happened.

2. Close those open loops. Researchers say that keeping a to-do list on your mind or having too many things that are undone not only zaps your brainpower, but can make you anxious, forgetful, and indecisive.  The solution?  Write things down.

Odds are that you’re keeping too much on your brain.  Think about your house, your car, your finances, work, etc.  There are things in each one of those categories that need doing and it’s impossible to keep it all in your head.

Here’s the deal – if you spent time right now going through all those categories and writing what you had to do down, it would free up energy for you to have more willpower to focus on what’s most important to you.  There are tons of research about this.

3. Energize your prefrontal cortex. What leads to the discrepancy between what you SAY you want to focus on and what you really end up doing is the lack of brainpower to see and make the right choice.

The specific area of your brain that is in charge of how you spend your time during the day is called the prefrontal cortex. There are different ways that have been used over the centuries to bring energy and blood-flow to this critical area of the brain.  Below are two different options – one that you can do on your own and the one I’ve developed as  a new alternative at my practice.

An exercise that you can do on your own:

• Start by simply carving out 5 minutes of your day morning or night to sit in a quiet undisturbed place.  Have your spouse be “on watch” for the kids or do whatever you have to do to be undisturbed.
• Next sit comfortably and focus on your breathing.  Thoughts will come to your mind which is okay, but just bring your focus back to your breathing and make sure you take a few deep breaths during that 5 minutes. Continually bring your focus back to your breath.
• Gradually increase the time to 30 minutes.

Part of a 45 minute session in my practice is a hands-on technique to clear physical stress and energize the prefrontal cortex.  In short, this portion of the session is a combination of breathing techniques, meditation, acupressure, and massage all in a 45 minute session.

After a few sessions, people gain more focus and clarity on what they need to be doing and get in action with their relationships, health, organization.  Things are changing in dramatic ways for them!

Whichever of the above options you choose, DO SOMETHING to be able to spend time doing what’s most important.

Cleansing Veggie Stir-fry Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 bunch lacinato kale, chopped

2 golden beets, chopped

1/2 head purple cabbage, chopped

1 baby bok choy, chopped

1 large carrot, thinly sliced

1 medium yellow onion or 2 shallots, chopped

1 inch ginger root, minced

1 cup crimini mushrooms, quartered

8 asparagus stalks, cut in 1-inch pieces, tough ends removed

2 Tablespoons almond butter

1 Tablespoon low sodium, wheat-free tamari or soy sauce

1 Tablespoon water

1 15oz can no salt added black beans, drained and rinsed

Method

Steam-fry* kale, beets, cabbage, bok choy, carrot, onion and ginger root until kale wilts (~7 minutes).  Mix almond butter, tamari and water together while veggies are cooking.  Add mushrooms, asparagus and black beans to stir-fry and cook until another 2-3 minutes until mushrooms are warm.  Add mixture of tamari, almond butter and water to veggies and mix until all vegetables are coated.  Serve over brown rice.

* Learn how to steam-fry by watching this video.

Benefits

This stir-fry recipe is packed full of nutrient dense foods that help cleanse the body of toxins:

• The Lacinato kale provides Isothiocyanates (ITCs), which may decrease the risk of certain types of cancer.  Kale also contains 45 different flavonoids that have anti-inflammatory properties and they act as antioxidants that help protect our cell membranes from free radicals.
• The golden beets provide an antioxidant called betalain that provides detoxification support, especially in phase 2 of the liver detoxification process.
• Purple cabbage contains a glucosinolate compound called “sinigrin” that may have cancer prevention potential for the bladder, colon and prostate.
• Carrots have a phytonutrient called polyacetylenes that may inhibit the growth of cancer in the colon cells.
• Ginger promotes healthy sweating, which helps rid body of toxins during detoxing and helps fight off infection.
• Black beans have anthocyanins, which act as antioxidants in our body.
• The brown rice and black beans are good sources of soluble fiber that binds to toxins in the intestine, which destines the toxins to be eliminated from your body.

References:

www.whfoods.com

Matheson EM, Mainous AG 3rd and Carnemolla MA. The association between onion consumption and bone density in perimenopausal and postmenopausal non-Hispanic white women 50 years and older. Menopause. 2009 Jul-Aug;16(4):756-9. 2009

Have you heard the latest on childhood ear infections?

Did you know that the #1 reason parents take their children to the pediatrician’s office is for earaches, with the most common diagnosis of Otitis Media (aka ear infection).  According to the Journal of the American Medical Association this diagnosis has increased by 150% in the last 20 years, with the most prevalent age group being under the age of 2.  But do you, as parents really know what otitis media is?  It is a general name for inflammation of the inner ear, that is characterized by pain and fever. Occasionally,  otitis media can cause fluid in the middle ear, which is why so many doctors jump to the option of tubes so quickly.

There are a certain population that is at a higher risk for ear infections. A study conducted by CDC showed that children who are exposed to secondhand smoke, and are bottle feed while laying down are at a greater risk.  When a child is given a bottle of milk while laying on it’s back, that milk can get into the ear canals.  Once the milk is in the ear canals, it ferments (because it is mainly sugar), and the bacteria have a hay day until the party explodes into a fever and lots of pain.  There are even some foods that are highly inflammatory to our bodies, such as dairy, wheat, soy, corn and peanuts that can complicate this condition.

The American Academy of Pediatrics passed new guidelines  in 2009 that stated to the doctors to limit the amount of antibiotics because the bacteria were developing resistance causing major problems if your child was to get really sick later in life.  A pediatrician, Dr. Hendley from the University of Virginia studied over 100 cases of otitis media treated with antibiotics. His conclusions were that it only helped 1 out of every 8 children. Another study published in the British Medical Journal stated the same findings.  So the truth is, is that there is little evidence to support the use of antibiotics to treat Acute Otitis Media, and the children are left with fluid in the ear, and symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, and GI problems such as diarrhea from the drugs.

If you are looking for a more natural non-invasive approach to helping your child through an ear infection you can take them to the pediatric chiropractor, in which an average of 4 visits resolves otitis media.  The reason this works is because the first vertebrae of neck can slip to the side, right or left, and when it does it puts pressure on the ear canal, not allowing the ear to drain as needed.  From a simple, very light adjustment, your chiropractor can realign this bone and release the pressure on the inner ear.  From my experience, 8 out of 10 patients with ear infections have this vertebrae out of place.  For another non-invasive approach, you can also put 2-3 drops garlic oil in the ear canal 2 times a day, which has shown to have a greater effect on ear infections than antibiotics.  Garlic is a natural anti-inflammatory making it easy to help your child quickly get out of pain.  For questions on other childhood aliments, please do not hesitate to email or call my office.

A few months ago I was running through the store to pick up a few things. Thinking of dinner that night and how I was going to make some whole wheat beer bread, honey butter sounded so good melting into a freshly sliced piece! I went to the dairy case and pick up a little carton of a national brand, not giving it a second though. It’s honey butter, right? Honey and butter. Oh how wrong I was.

The ingredients were right there staring me on the face when I decided to look at them. No, it wasn’t just honey and butter but high fructose corn syrup, partially hydrogenated soybean oil AND regular soybean oil. Artificial flavor and color! Why do food manufacturers have to add all that stuff to simple food?

I felt cheated and stupid. This is what I’ve been preaching and trying to practice for years – read the labels! My husband, Jim said I should have taken it back but I didn’t. And not wanting to waste it, we did eat it over a period of time. But I made a vow NOT to buy it again and the next time I wanted some I’d figure out how to make it.

Another night we were having cornbread and again the thought of honey butter came to mind. Do you know how hard it was to make my own? A 1/2 cup soft butter and a 1/4 cup honey mixed with a hand mixer! How simple is that?

And while I’m on the subject, just yesterday I was looking at pickles. My son likes sweet pickles on sandwiches and I’ll add chopped pickles to a few recipes. Again, every commercial brand I picked up had high fructose corn syrup and usually the second ingredient right after cucumbers! Some even had more artificial colors and flavors.  ?I’m not sure I’m up for making my own pickles, (although my mom and grandmother used to) but if you can find “Million Dollar Pickles” made at Blackberry Hill Farms in Rich Hill, Missouri they are great! And their ingredient list is cucumbers, vinegar, sugar and spices. Perfect!