Ten Tips to Eat Healthy

  Are you trying to live a healthier lifestyle?  Check out these great tips on how to eat healthy!  What are your healthy eating tips? Check out more tips at Clarke.

1. Eat a good breakfast - Studies show that skipping breakfast detracts from scholastic achievement. When there isn’t time to sit down and enjoy your morning meal, grab a bagel, piece of fruit, and some juice. Most of these items can be easily stored in your residence hall room.
2. If you must eat fast foods, choose wisely - Choose pizza with half the cheese, a regular size roast beef sandwich, baked potato, or green salad with reduced calorie dressing. Limit high fat offerings like French fries, fried chicken, or fish sandwiches and watch out for salad dressing!
3. Keep healthy snacks on hand - This way, if hunger strikes during a late night study session, you won’t be tempted by vending machine candy, chips, or ice cream. Possibilities include fresh or dried fruit, pretzels, unbuttered popcorn, rice cakes, or whole wheat crackers. If you have a refrigerator, consider raw vegetables with low-fat yogurt or cottage cheese dip.
4. Eat plenty of foods rich in calcium - People in their early twenties need to be building up stores of calcium in their bodies to prevent osteoporosis later in life. If you don’t like milk, try to include ample amounts of low-fat yogurt, low-fat cheese, and green leafy vegetables in your diet.
5. If you need to lose weight, do it sensibly - Starvation and/or diets that offer a quick fix usually backfire and are harmful. There is no truth to the theories that suggest eating foods in any particular combination will promote weight loss. The only safe way to lose weight, feel good while doing it, and keep it off, is to eat a balanced diet and exercise.
6. Limit your sugar intake - Sugar provides calories in your diet but few other nutrients, and it contributes significantly to tooth decay. Use it sparingly and consider sweetening coffee, tea, cereal, and fruit with diet sweeteners instead.
7. Visit the salad bar - The dining hall salad bar can be either an asset or a detriment to your diet depending on how you choose from it. Of course, leafy greens, raw vegetables, and fresh fruits are beneficial. But, if you choose a lot of creamy dressings, bacon bits, and mayonnaise-based salads, the calories and fat may equal or even exceed those of a burger and fries—so choose wisely!
8. Limit your alcohol intake - If you drink alcohol, keep in mind that it supplies calories but no nutritional value. A light beer, a glass of wine, or an ounce of liquor each has about 100 calories. There may also be health problems associated with drinking alcohol.
9. Drink lots of water - Your body needs at least eight glasses a day, and, if you exercise vigorously, you may need more. To remind yourself, carry a water bottle along to class and keep it handy during late night study sessions.
10. Enjoy your food - Food is a lot more than nourishment for our bodies, so take the time to enjoy and savor it!

Four Ways to De-Stress At Work

Work can stress anyone out.  These are four great items to help you de-stress while you are working on that last minute project at the office.  You can learn more great health tips on apartment therapy. 

Everyone has to deal with stress at one time or another, so having a few tools inside the desk to pull out for a stress-break can be helpful (as well as giving your eyes a break from the computer screen). These are quick, easy, and not to mention fun ways to relax yourself throughout the day.




Knock Out Desktop Punching Bag
$29.99
We're not going to judge if you're imagining a horrible boss as you punch away. It's amazing how getting a little adrenaline going and hitting something (versus someone) can feel so liberating and help reduce your stress levels. Just be careful not to get too into it and start cursing out loud for all your coworkers to hear.




 

Resistance Bands
$15.79
These little resistance bands are so small you can keep them in your pocket and carry them throughout the work day. We would recommend taking your hands out of your pockets while you're working out your hands, fingers, and forearms. Comes in packs of 5 color coded resistance levels.




 

Thera-Flex Therapy Putty
$6.46
Squeeze away your stress, no matter the shape and pattern. Or make a putty figurine of your boss to squish at your command. Odorless and non-sticky, make sure to keep it fresh and clean by storing it in its air tight container. Comes in multiple sizes.







 

Chinese Medicine Balls
$13.68
Harness the power of the far east with a traditional Chinese stress reliever, hand exerciser, and agility builder. Fit the two balls in your hand and rotate them around in circles. The trick is to do so without the balls ever coming into contact with each other. Practice and work your way up in ball size and rotation speed until you're the (zen) master of your workspace.

Have a Make Your Own Party!

Are you looking for a great party idea?  Check out these build your own foods for a great party theme. Tacos, baked potatoes, and pizza are just some of the build your own ideas you can try.  Keep reading to learn more, and you can also check out The Kitchn for more information.

We don't know why, but there is something universally appealing about customizing your own meal — which makes a build-your-own bar an easy dinner or dessert option for you and a fun party experience for your guests. From a baked potato bar to an avocado party, here are nine ideas for fun meals that your guests assemble themselves.

• 1 Taco Bar: A party classic. Put out a spread of warm tortillas, salsas and the fillings of your choice, from barbacoa beef to a vegan roasted vegetable and cabbage slaw combo.

• 2 BLT Party: Cook up a batch of bacon in the oven, borrow a few extra toasters, make a couple types of fancy mayonnaise, and you have a fun and different way to feed a crowd.

• 3 Baked Potato Bar: Bake a bunch of potatoes and lay out toppings like chili, cheese, cooked vegetables, sour cream and herbs for guests to build their ideal stuffed potato.


• 4 Pizza Party: If you're entertaining just a few people, everyone can make their own personal pizza; otherwise just let people take turns devising combinations from a spread of meats, vegetables, cheeses and sauces.




Party Idea! A Build-Your-Own Bánh Mì Sandwich Bar


• 5 Bánh Mì Bar: These intensely flavorful Vietnamese sandwiches make for a different and totally delicious spread. Baguettes, fresh herbs, pickled vegetables, an array of Vietnamese-style proteins and a few condiments are all you need.


• 6 Avocado Bar: Take advantage of the fact that everything tastes better stuffed into an avocado with this unique party idea: Lay out ripe avocado halves and a variety of toppings for guests to mix as they like.


• 7 Polenta Bar: A more low-key alternative to Faith's incredible Italian polenta board party is hosting a polenta bar, with everyone getting a bowl of polenta and their choice of an array of toppings.


• 8 Crêpe Party: A pile of warm crêpes, a pot of hot coffee and a myriad of syrups, jams, sauces, fruits, yogurts, nuts and treats to make your dream creation — what more do you need?
• 9 Ice Cream Sundae Bar: Another classic. It's hard not to feel like a kid again when presented with ice cream, hot fudge, butterscotch, sprinkles and whipped cream.

Three Ways to Avoid the Audit

The tax deadline is coming up in a few weeks.  When submitting your taxes, you hope you will not be audited because of a slight mistake.  These are three simple ways to avoid being audited, and making sure your taxes are done correctly.  You can learn more at RealSimple.

• Report all your income. You must tell the IRS about every penny of income that you make, including stock dividends, cash payments, gambling winnings, jury-duty payments, and unemployment benefits. The amounts must match the forms that are submitted to the federal government by your employer, banks, or third-party payers. If there is even one digit off, the IRS could note the mismatch and generate an inquiry.
• Be cautious when claiming deductions. Be prepared to back up every deduction—particularly car write-offs, charitable contributions, and business purchases—with written documentation, especially if you are self-employed or make more than $100,000. And be precise: Deductions rounded to the nearest hundred-dollar amount could up your risk. “That signals you are not keeping records,” says Frederick W. Daily, author of Stand Up to the IRS (Nolo, $35, amazon.com).
• Check your work. A simple math error won’t automatically trigger an audit, but it can give the IRS a reason to revisit your return, which increases the odds that it might find other problems. When figuring your taxes, check your math. Twice. Or hire a reputable tax preparer (but never sign your return until you have reviewed it). You can also use a computer program, like Turbo-Tax. The software won’t make silly mistakes.

Easter Egg Hunt

 Summerlin will host an Easter Egg Hunt this Saturday.  The event will be from 1:30-3:30 pm at the Trails Park Ballfields.  You can purchase tickets early for five dollars or at the door for eight dollars. Keep reading to learn more about the event.   You can learn more about Summerlin events at Summerlink.

Egg Hunt

Saturday, March 23, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Trails Park Ballfields

 
Summerlin residents are invited to The Trails Park Ballfields on March 23 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. for the annual Summerlin Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza.  Egg Hunt will give your little ones an opportunity to scurry around The Trails Park in search of goodies, games and prizes that are sure to get things hopping for the entire family this spring.  In addition, there will be visits by some very special guests.  Everyone is sure to have an eggstra-special time. 

Egg Hunt passes may be purchased in advance for $5 each (checks only made payable to The Summerlin Council) starting March 11 at The Trails, Willows and Gardens Community Centers. Day-of passes are $8 each and may be purchased starting at 9 a.m. at The Trails Community Center.  Proof of residency is required.  For more information, please call 341-5500.

St. Patrick's Day Cookies

Do you love to celebrate St. Patrick's Day?  Check out this great recipe for Irish themed cookies for your party or celebration this weekend.   You can find more recipes and crafts that are Irish themed at Martha Stewart.


Sprinkle a little luck on your sugar cookies. Draw your own stencil or use our template to create the clover design.

• Yield Makes 50

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Ingredients

• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• Green sanding sugar

Directions

1. Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder into a large bowl; set aside. Combine butter and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment; cream on high speed until fluffy. Beat in eggs
2. Reduce speed to low. Add flour mixture in two additions, mixing until well combined. Mix in vanilla. Divide dough in half, and cover with plastic wrap; refrigerate 30 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 1 piece of dough on a lightly floured work surface 1/8 inch thick. With a 3-inch cookie cutter, cut out 25 rounds. Working with 1 round at a time, place clover stencil on top; sprinkle surface with sanding sugar.
4. Arrange rounds on parchment- or nonstick baking mat-lined baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes, or until ready to bake. Repeat process with remaining dough.
5. Bake, one sheet at a time, until edges just start to brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks. Store cookies in an airtight container for up to 5 days.

Cook's Note

You can freeze the dough, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to one month. Store the cookies in an airtight container up to five days.

Office Organization Tools

Do you like to keep an organized off and work area?  These tools are designed to help you maximize your space, and it will help you keep everything in the proper place.   Keep reading and check out apartment therapy for more organization tips.
  

The perfectly coiffed office doesn't have to cost a fortune. Some of the best storage solutions — the ones that keep office clutter sorted, numbered and at-arms-reach — are right under your nose (or a short drive away). Here are our favorite finds from popular retail chains across the country.

KVISSLE
It holds your pens, rulers, cell phone, binder clips, mail, and anything else you can find space for on your desktop. Here's your one-stop command station.
KVISSLE desk organizer, $5.99, IKEA

FLYT
Organize magazines, books, user manuals, warranty info, or any other pamphlets or paperwork into these holders. They're so inexpensive you can afford to fill up your shelves with dozens of them.
FLYT magazine rack, $1.99/5-pack, IKEA

Multiples Pencil Holder
Don't let the name mislead you. This colorful desktop piece can corral more than pencils. Stash other tools and trinkets in here, or roll up paperwork that you need at an arm's reach. And you can always leave a tube or two open for a fresh bloom. Organization can be pretty, too.
Multiples Pencil Holder, $48, Anthropologie

SPONTAN
Mount this on the wall to catch magazines and mail as they come into your workspace. Or keep it propped against the side of your desk to keep current docs or reference materials handy. The metal surface means you can also tack up notes and memos with small magnets.
SPONTAN magazine rack, $9.99, IKEA

Box Box
Storage boxes will always rule supreme in office organiztion. And these mismatche Scandanavian paper boxes are gorgeous enough to leave out on the shelf.
Box Box Small, $56/7 boxes, Design Within Reach

KASSETT
If it fits, it stores. Keep paper, cords, computer peripherals, photos, printer ink, extra tape and staples—literally anything!— out of sight but top-of-mind with these easily-labeled colorful storage bins.
KASSETT box with lid, $6.99/2-pack, IKEA

Chalkboard Office Accessories
Keep paperwork, periodicals and pencils in perfect order with these conatiners. This file box, magazine holder and pencil cup are covered in a chalkboard surface, so you can label, erase, and then label again.
Chalkboard Office Accessories, $4.50-$39.95, CB2

ALGOT
Four deep drawers, plus an extra desktop surface area. If you need a one-stop office storage solution, this is it. The Algot system is endlessly customizable, too, if you ever want to add-on or switch pieces out.
ALGOT frame with 4 mesh baskets and top shelf, $42.99, IKEA

Bounce Doodad Cup
These cylinders with stackable red silicone bases make quick work of organizing a desktop or drawer. And glass sides mean that you can see everything inside at a glance.
Bounce Doodad Cup, $4.95, CB2

Tag Store Bins
Plastic bins? Old news, we know. But they're still one of the best tools for keeping your office—or any other space—organized. These stackable, color-coded bins from Crate & Barrel feature a small dry-erase panel on the front for easy labeling.Tag Store Bins, $6.50-$19.95, Crate & Barrel