Good food, good company, good advice from Grandma

4 of the Best Campfire Recipes You Need to Try This Weekend

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If you’re one of the 78 million families who love camping, then you know how much fun it is to have an outdoor adventure. There’s so much to explore and so many activities to enjoy. One of the best camping pastimes is to relax in front of a campfire and cook up some delicious treats for the entire family. There are a lot of great campfire recipes that the grandkids are sure to love. Listed down below are some of the best that are both delicious and easy to make. They’re a perfect addition to the next campfire ghost story session!

campfire recipes

Pan-Fried Catfish

Pan-fried catfish is a scrumptious dish that is always a winner. Even the pickiest of eaters can’t get enough of this flaky fish.

The cool part is that you can catch the fish fresh right before you cook it to make this one of the best campfire recipes for dinner around. It’s a great way to show the grandkids every step of where their food comes from.

Plus, it’s delicious!

Quesadillas

Quesadillas are one of the simplest campfire cooking recipes. With the bright heat of the campfire, the tortilla gets nice and crispy and the cheese inside melts into a creamy consistency.

All you need is a pan big enough for the tortillas and the fillings such as cheese, chicken, vegetables, and more!

It’s an easy dish that kids can help put together which makes it a wonderful family activity.

Kebabs

Sticking sausages and hot dogs on the end of a stick and holding them over the fire is a classic campfire meal. You can’t go wrong with a quick lunch of fire-roasted sausages.

For dinner, however, you might want to make something a little more special. The perfect way to elevate this dish into something better is to turn this classic idea into a kebab. The idea is the same, but you’re adding more to your stick than a single sausage.

It’s a great way to introduce some extra grilled vegetables into the meal while still having great fun poking all of the food onto the sticks! Its one of the fun campfire recipes.

S’mores are the ultimate campfire recipe.

No camping trip is complete without the creamy and chocolatey addition of delicious s’mores. These are the perfect treat to bring a smile to every face around the campfire.

Making these at home is possible, but the smokey and roasted texture the fire gives to the marshmallows is hard to beat. It gives the dessert an extra layer of flavor.

Finish off every meal with one of these to make it a camping trip to remember!

These Delicious Campfire Recipes Are Sure to Light up Your Trip

Whenever you feel uninspired by your food choices during your trip, come back to these charming campfire recipes. They bring a spark of new energy to your camping fun and are always a tasty treat at any time of the day.

Many recipes work well at a campfire, so don’t be afraid to try something new. Your favorite home recipes could be the next camping hit!

For even more meals that’ll impress the family, don’t forget to check out the rest of the Recipes section.

6 Tips Staying Mobile As A Senior

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Many seniors experience a loss of mobility as they get older. In addition to causing discomfort, this can greatly reduce your independence. Fortunately, there are ways to regain your mobility or reduce the risk of it declining. To enhance your mobility today, take a look at six tips for staying mobile as a senior.

6 tip for staying mobile as a senior
Pixabay – CCO Licence

Live an active life

The more active you are, the less likely you are to experience a loss of mobility as you get older. Although the intensity of your exercise may diminish as you age, retaining your mobility will be far easier if you’re already active. No matter what your age, you can enhance your future mobility by living an active lifestyle now.

Visit your doctor

Before you begin trying to improve your mobility, it’s important to access medical advice. If your mobility is declining, you’ll want to ensure that there isn’t a specific medical reason for this. If you’re developing arthritis, for example, the right treatment can greatly improve your quality of life and minimize the impact on your mobility.

Use the right mobility aids

Mobility aids can be a great way to get around safely and they can help you to retain your independence as you get older. Whether you’re using them temporarily or permanently, they can give you a new lease of life. However, it’s important to use the right mobility aids. Be sure to have an independent assessment before you decide which aids are right for you, as this will ensure you get the right level of support.

Try balance exercises

It’s not unusual for seniors to develop problems with their balance, which tends to have a subsequent impact on their mobility. If you have trouble balancing, for example, you may feel hesitant about moving around too much. Furthermore, being off-balance increases your risk of falling, which could lead to subsequent injuries. Balance exercises are an effective way of retraining your mind and body and can help you to live a safer and more active lifestyle.

Get support from family and friends

If mobility problems are affecting your day-to-day life, don’t hesitate to ask for help. With assistance from a PCS agency, you can choose anyone, including a family member, friend, or neighbor, to be your designated aide. Support from the ones you love can have a tremendous impact on your well being and the PCS program even enables them to get paid for the help they’re providing.

Monitor your weight

If you’re carrying a few extra pounds, you might notice that you feel uncomfortable walking long distances or that it gets harder to get up and down out of your favorite chair. Maintaining a healthy weight is key to staying mobile, so take the time to reassess your diet and make changes if you need to.

Staying Mobile as a Senior

Joining local groups, socializing with friends, and taking part in hobbies will help you to stay mobile as you get older. What’s more, these activities will help to ensure you maintain a busy social life. When you’re having fun and spending time with other people, you’ll find that you’re able to maintain and improve your mobility without even thinking about it!

 

How To Reduce The Pain Of Osteoarthritis

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The older you get, the more knee and finger joints feel more like creaky rusted door hinges than working lubricated joints, especially if you suffer from arthritis. While some symptoms associated with osteoarthritis may inevitable, let’s look at how to reduce the pain of osteoarthritis.

What is arthritis?

Osteoarthritis is the degeneration of joint cartilage and is commonly associated with aging. The symptoms that it produces range from joint pain and stiffness to swelling and loss of flexibility. There’s no cure for osteoarthritis since you cannot reverse joint cartilage degeneration. You can, however, treat it.

reduce the pain of osteoarthritis
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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a very different type of arthritis and is an autoimmune disorder. While some of these tips might prove helpful for RA, you will want to seek medical help if you suspect you have RA as it can affect organs ranging from your kidneys to your heart, as well as your eyes, nerves, bone marrow, and more.  It may even cause weight loss, so if you’re suddenly seeing the scale drop without reason, make an appointment with your doctor.

Treatment options for osteoarthritis

If you know for certain that arthritis symptoms you’re experiencing is that of osteoarthritis, you have a handful of treatment options to explore. Some of these will offer immediate reduction in pain and stiffness, while others may take weeks or months to see a real improvement.

Use CBD Oil to Reduce Pain of Osteoarthritis

In an earlier blog, it was mentioned that CBD oil can be a fantastic option to relieve some of the pain associated with arthritis, and may reduce inflammation over time. If you are looking for a remedy to start working within a week or two, CBD can be an ideal treatment. Before you start Googling it, yes, CBD is federally legal in the United States since it is a hemp-based product. THC, on the other hand, is still federally illegal to consume. There is evidence from a 2017 study that consuming CBD is a safe and helpful way to treat osteoarthritis.

Further anecdotal evidence suggests that the pain associated with osteoarthritis can be combated with the appropriate level of CBD. If you’re not sure what CBD oil to purchase for your joint pain, contact a local vape shop, or online manufacturer, to see how you could use CBD for pain. (And don’t worry, since CBD is not THC, you won’t feel any type of high when you consume it.)

Lose weight

While not glamorous or an over-night treatment, losing weight can be a substantial relief on arthritis if you are overweight. Reducing the weight on your weight-bearing joints, especially hips and knees, can help prevent arthritis from becoming worse. You’ll also notice other benefits if you are able to reduce your body weight, such as a cardiovascular improvement. Excess fat tissue also produces proteins that increase inflammation around your joints, which directly exacerbates arthritis symptoms.

Change your diet to reduce pain of osteoarthritis

reduce the pain of osteoarthritis
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Even if you do not need to lose weight, your arthritis symptoms may decrease if you switch out certain foods for healthier options. There are six foods that are directly related to flare-ups of arthritis, including sugar, excess sodium, fried foods, white flour, omega-6 fatty acids, and dairy. While this might at first glance seem limiting, with a little creativity, you can find some options to have a fun diet without adding to your joint pain.

Physical therapy

If your knees are feeling joint pain and stiffness, you would likely benefit from physical therapy. Your doctor can recommend a local physical therapist to help you improve your mobility and lessen your pain and stiffness while also teaching you various ways to perform tasks differently, such as sitting, standing, or going up stairs. By implementing new ways of performing old tasks, you’ll reduce the pressure on your knees or hips. Once you go to a couple sessions with a professional physical therapist, you’ll be able to do many of the exercises at home.

Some physical therapists may have you do hydrotherapy, which allows for gentle movements in water to help loosen your joints. If you’ve recently stopped working out because of associated pain, you may want to join a local pool. Swimming is one of the easiest exercises on your joints, and incredibly healthy for your heart and lungs. If possible, opt for a swimming pool that is heated since this will help with mobility.

Talk to your doctor

If you are finding that you’ve exhausted your resources, and are still not finding any relief from pain and stiffness, you’ll want to talk to your doctor about other options including pain killers, cold and heat therapy, acupuncture or even discuss taking Cymbalta, an antidepressant that has shown to reduce pain of osteoarthritis symptoms.

How To Transform A House Into A Family Home

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Creating the perfect family home is no easy task. If you live in the city, you will know only too well that space is at a premium, and the average cost per square foot is exceptionally high. Even with a generous budget, finding a property that is suitable to raise your family in, and is in a location that you want to live in can be incredibly difficult. If you already have children or are planning to add to your family, staying where you are and improving your current home is often the best option. Understandably, you may be reluctant to move once you are settled in a home that you love, in a location that suits your lifestyle and is close to schools that you would like your children to attend. In this situation, your best option is to transform your current house into a family home.

transform a house into a family home
Image Pexels CC0 License

Increase Your Space

When the size of your property is the only element of it that is not working for you, it is time to consider extending your home to meet the needs of your expanding family. An extension is the best way to achieve an increase in space. A double storey extension is an excellent option as it enables you to add square footage to your home within the same footprint. This allows for extra bedrooms to be added on the first floor, and additional living space on the ground floor. Working with your architect, you will be able to create a space that is tailored to suit your lifestyle while bringing some serious wow factor into your home.

Maximize Storage

 Before having kids, storage was probably not something that you gave too much thought. However, once little ones arrive, you will find that you have so much stuff that storage becomes an integral part of your life. Kitting your home out with the best storage options is essential. Finding storage that is attractive, yet practical enough to hold everything you need is vital. If you are having an extension, your architect should be able to incorporate smart storage solutions within the design for your home. The right storage can make a real difference to your home and will make it far easier to keep your home neat and tidy.

Make the Most of Your Outdoor Space

Living in a city often means having limited outdoor space. However, the size of your yard shouldn’t prevent you from using it. It is possible to use your outdoor space no matter how small, so long as you design it in the right way. To maximize the space that you have in your yard, it is a good idea to forgo flower beds as they can take up lots of room, and use pots instead so that the kids will have more space to play.

Living in the city has many benefits, and with the right modifications, you can transform a house into a family home to raise your children.

Smoking Cessation Tips For Older Adults

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There’s often the cliche that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. However, when it comes to quitting smoking, sometimes that’s the only choice. While many believe that it’s much harder to quit when you’re older, your age actually has little to do with your willpower. In fact, many older smokers find it easier to quit later in life because it fell out of fashion or was something they had to do for their kid’s sake. And, if you’ve been considering quitting as you’ve started to reach the middle of your life, we’ve provided a few smoking cessation tips for older adults.

smoking cessation tips for older adults

Take It Easy At First

The hardest part of developing a healthier lifestyle is learning how to take things in stride. We often get these grandiose visions in our heads of who we could be, imagining someone that not only has quit cigarettes, but is in tip-top shape, eating healthy, and even just overall looking and feeling better. While it’s great to have an overall goal, being able to accomplish that comes with looking at what you can do one day at a time. And, often, that means taking things easy at first.

When it comes to quitting cigarettes, the first thing you should consider is if you want to use a tobacco-free product or not. While some people go at it cold turkey, others find it easier to have something there to help alleviate withdrawal. There’s no shame in giving yourself the chance to catch up with yourself, which means not always doing everything all at once, but rather gradually over time.

Learn To Pick Up New Habits

A great way to get out of bad habits is to develop new ones. Although it sounds easier than it is, picking up new habits is a day-to-day task. Usually, it can take an average of 66 days to develop a habit, which requires a significant amount of patience. A lifestyle change is never accomplished overnight (especially in older age), which is why learning how to reward yourself is also an important aspect as well.

Remember To Reward Yourself

One of the biggest secrets to breaking old habits while building new ones is knowing how to reward yourself. As noted by behavioral psychologist Charles Duhigg, the biggest reason why people fail to develop a new habit (or, quit a current one) is that they don’t reward themselves enough for successfully breaking the action. Granted, this doesn’t mean to necessarily go hog wild for every micro-accomplishment, however, setting milestones or benchmarks in your progress is important, giving your reward complex the boost it needs.

Take A Second To Appreciate What You’re Gaining

While you’re in the trenches of quitting, it’s smart to remember what you’re gaining from this whole process. These are things as simple as your risk of a heart attack being reduced 24 hours after quitting, as well as an array of other health benefits too. Furthermore, this is also time you’re winning back to spend with friends and family, enabling you to get to know them better and feel like you’re truly getting more time on this earth. Finally, this is a moment to counterbalance and reverse a lot of negative things in your life; for example, most middle-aged people gain at least 3-4 pounds per year, which you can start counteracting with your newfound ability to exercise.

Give yourself a chance to enjoy being a nonsmoker, as you might learn something new about yourself.

Enjoy The Perspective Of Being A Nonsmoker

Being a nonsmoker can be quite an enjoyable lifestyle if you let it be. While it’s estimated that only 6 percent of people who attempt to quit are successful, a big reason for that is they view themselves as being deprived. Quite simply, they count the days in agony, relying on the idea that if they make it ‘3 days, 2 weeks, 1 month, etc’, that at some point, they’ll stop thinking about it. However, this confines you from being able to truly enjoy being a nonsmoker. Use these smoking cessation tips for older adults to get started now. 

Make a list of all the activities you’d like to do as a nonsmoker. No matter how silly, these can be activities you want to try, objects you’ve wanted to buy, or even trips you’ve wanted to take. Nothings off limits, especially since you don’t have to worry about cigarettes holding you back anymore. Even as an older adult, there’s no reason you don’t deserve to feel young again, which starts by looking at this as a new chapter in your life. The only thing left to do is start writing the story you want to see.

Finding The Perfect Pair Of Jeans Is Easier Than You Think

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We’ve all been there: Around and around a department store looking for the perfect pair of jeans. With so many styles and shapes to choose from, it feels like an endless mission. Luckily, just a little bit of research around the best styles and washes for different body types could go a long way in helping you find the perfect pair of jeans. I’ve done that research for you, so keep reading!

It’s not all that bad

Don’t get so caught up in the search that you forget to have fun. Don’t be scared to try on different styles and sizes, and don’t get disheartened if it doesn’t feel right on you. Keep an open mind and you might even have a bit of a giggle about the experience. Play around with going up or down from your regular size, and see how different fits affect your body type. You could even go all out and bring different styles of shoes with you, to see what your jeans look like in different outfit scenarios.

Who made the jeans doesn’t matter

Time and again, I see people falling Into the trap of focusing on the label rather than on the fit. Fixating too much on the manufacturer might prevent you from seeing the wood for the trees – perhaps the perfect pair of jeans for you is simply the no name brand, and if you want true freedom from the struggle of finding a new pair of jeans, don’t worry about anything other than how they look on you.

Sizing it up

Remember that different clothing manufacturers use different scales when assigning sizes to the garments that they produce. This means that a size 12 from one brand could be a size 10 or 14 in another. Trust me on this one: It’s not you, it’s them. Just because the number varies, doesn’t mean that the pants are suddenly a different size!

Buy for your body

High-waisted styles in a dark color is very beneficial to those with a pear-shaped build. It creates the illusion of a small waist, and will balance your proportions by skimming the fabric over the hips. If there’s one thing to avoid as a pear shaped body type, it is a fading effect over the thighs, as that is a guaranteed way of making them look bigger!

Don’t stress about distress

Distressed jeans have been a fashionable look for many, many years. There is nothing wrong with trying on a pair and seeing how it works for you, but bear a few things in mind: Firstly remember that wherever the jeans are distressed, is where the eye goes! The bottom line is that if you don’t want people to look at a certain area, don’t highlight it by wearing distressed jeans.
It may seem that classic jeans in plain black or blue denim are safer, but don’t be scared to switch it up a bit if you are feeling adventurous. Why not give lighter washes, or even white denim a try if you’re up for something new?

Top 4 Financial Scams That Seniors Fall Victim To and How to Avoid Them

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Unfortunately, it is a sad reality that financial scammers gravitate towards the elderly. There are various reasons for this, however, the most plausible theories are that the elderly are not as up to date with the latest scams, because some elderly may have a decent amount of money in the bank after working their lives, or simply because they are afraid of losing their money as they are on a fixed income. No matter the twisted reason that a person scams a senior, it’s important for people to be aware of some of these common scams and fraudulent acts. This post will detail the top 4 financial scams that seniors fall victim to.

Financial Scams That Seniors Should Look Out For

Whether you are a senior yourself, or you have a senior in your life, it’s imperative that you know the common scams that attack aging adults. A specialist that works for a company that specializes in in-home care for seniors stated that the more that people know about these scams, the easier it will be to avoid them.

Here are  4 financial scams to watch out for as a senior:

Phone Scams

These are some of the most common kinds of scams that prey on older people. Scammers will pose as fake people and will tell a senior that some aspect of their life is in trouble. From there, scammers will get elderly people to give them their personal information so that they can hack their accounts and steal money from them. Common phone scams include:

  • Scammers posing as insurance agents
  • Fake social security employees calling and saying there is an issue with their check
  • The “grandchild scam”; scammers posing as elderly people’s grandchildren and requesting money
  • Fake medicare agents reaching out

Oftentimes, elderly people will become panicked by what the person on the other end of the phone is saying and willingly give their personal information.

Sweepstakes and Lottery Scams

These kinds of scams are found all over and are something to watch out for. Scammers will tell seniors that they just won a contest, a free vacation, a large sum of money, or even an item, and will then coherence them into giving them their personal information so that they can “proceed to their prize.”

Some seniors may not be familiar with this tactic and will willingly give their information, thinking they are doing something good and exciting. Sadly, this is not the case. If you are told that you have randomly won something the likelihood that it is real is low. Be sure to look into the source on your own and see if it is a real source. More often than not, it’s best to ignore and block the sender of the message.

Internet Fraud

As the age of technology persists, internet scammers are getting more and more creative. There are all kinds of internet scams, including:

  • Emails from fraudulent social security agencies
  • Messages from fake insurance and Medicare/Medicaid agents
  • Fraudulent anti-aging products
  • Fake charities
  • Fake investments

Like phone and lottery scams, scammers will scare seniors, saying they are in some kind of trouble or that their money is going to go to something important, and will extract information from them. With that information, scammers will get into the elderly’s bank accounts and take their money, leaving them with nothing.

Fake Online COVID-19 Tests

A popular internet scam that has become popular recently is the fake online corona test. Scammers know that elderly people are afraid of contracting the COVID-19 virus so they are taking drastic measures and precautions to prevent it. Scammers are selling fake COVID-19 testing kits and selling them to fearful seniors. Not only is this wrong because scammers are stealing seniors’ money, but also because this test does not work so could put seniors in danger.

How Can I Avoid Financial Scams as a Senior?

Financial scams are an unfortunate reality of modern-day society. As the Digital Age persists, scammers are getting more creative and are taking advantage of the lack of in-person contact. However, being scammed can be somewhat preventable as long as you know what to look out for. If you are a senior or have a senior in your life, here is what you need to know about avoiding these 4 financial scams.

Do Research

One of the best ways to avoid being scammed out of money as a senior is to do the proper amount of research when someone contacts you that you don’t recognize, or when you are unsure of something that is being offered. If it seems too good to be true, it more than likely is. Or, if you don’t know a person that has emailed you asking for personal information, there is a good chance that he or she is a scammer.

 

Do your research on a person or company that has reached out to you. You can simply Google this person or company to see if it really exists and to see what people are saying. If this person is fake it’s likely that other people got scammed by the same ploy and are talking about it online. Similarly, you will be able to see if what they are claiming or offering is real or if it is in fact a scam.

Ask Questions

After you have done the research to determine whether or not this message is legitimate, contact the person/company and ask questions. Ask how they got your information and what exactly they are looking for. Make it a point to go out of your way to contact them, if they are real then it will not be an issue.

 

Likewise, ask yourself some questions like, does it make sense this company is contacting me? Have I spoken to this person before? Do I have an account with this business? Oftentimes, people get so flustered by a message that they receive that they don’t ask themselves these simple questions and proceed in giving their personal information. This is especially true for seniors.

 

Asking questions and doing research are among the best ways to avoid being scammed. 

Protect You and Your Aging Loved Ones

To best protect yourself from scammers, be sure to stay up to date with the latest scams to ensure that you do not fall victim to them. Though scammers are inevitable, you don’t have to be impacted. Keep these 4 financial scams in mind so that you can be as proactive as possible.

 

 

4 financial scams
Kelsey Simpson

About the Author

Kelsey Simpson enjoys writing about things that can help others. She lives in South Jersey and is the proud companion to two German Shepherds and spends her free time volunteering in dog shelters.

 

 

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