Ways Your Family Can Avoid Catching The Flu

If your kids go to school then it is quite likely that your family is going to vulnerable to catching the flu this winter season. There are some way to avoid this!

First off tell everyone that they have to wash their hands all of the time. Teach your kids to scrub their wrists, back of hands and the finger nails. Make it the law that your kids have to wash their hands every time they come into the house, before mealtime and before bed-time.

Each person has to wash their hands for at least twenty seconds. This is about the length of time that it takes to sing Happy Birthday.

It also helps to base alcohol based hand sanitizers in your car and everyone else where you or your kids are unable to get to a sink.

You should also teach your kids to keep their hands off their face. Flu viruses thrive once they reach your eyes, mouth or nose.

Make it a ritual during the winter months to gargle twice a day with warm salt water. Use Listerine if you must but warm salt water is just as effective and does not dry the mouth out. Gargling with salt is an inexpensive way to kill the HSN1 and other serious viruses.

You can also teach your kids how to flush their nostrils every day with warm salt water. Some kids can't handle this as a ritual but it is a great treatment and preventative measure for upper respiratory and sinus ailments. Blowing your nose hard once a day can also bring down the number of viruses that might be hiding in your nostrils.

Make sure your family is also bolstered by taking vitamins C and D. Foods that are richening Vitamin C include kiwi, citrus fruits, red and green peppers, cantaloupes, strawberries, Brussels sprouts and tomatoes. Supplement this diet with Zinc tablets for best results.

Vitamin D is necessary because it helps activate the immune system to defend you against the flu virus and any other kind of infection. Sunlight and fish oil are the best known supplements of vitamin D.

Yet another tip is to diligently keep everything clean including light switches, door knobs and computer mousse. You should also use the 'sanitize' cycle on your dishwasher to keep things hygienic.

In the winter drinking plenty of warm liquids like tea and water with lemons can help wash viruses from the throat and into the stomach where they are unable to survive.

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Health Snacks for Kids in Classrooms

Some schools offer snack time for kids. If that is your case then you might want to ask your child to avoid cookies, cupcakes and doughnuts and instead send them to school with their own healthy snacks.

One healthy choice is fruit kabobs. You can make these out of chunks of strawberries, pineapple, apples, melon and grapes. Your child can help you assemble them on the sticks at home (with adult supervision). The trick to having them keep overnight is to smear a bit of lemon juice on the finished kabobs. This stops the fruit from turning brown. To add excitement to the snack you can also add some strawberry or vanilla yogurt for dipping. To really zap it up you can also add a marshmallow to the kabob for a treat.

You can also send your kid to school with healthy mini muffins. You can bake your muffin in mini-tins. Portion control helps prevent your kid from gaining weight. Great flavors are zucchini, banana, blueberry and carrot. You can also whip together a quick cream cheese frosting for a sweet treat.

Another nice idea is to make cinnamon tortillas with fruit salsa. Simply brush whole wheat flour tortillas with melted butter and then sprinkle liberally with cinnamon sugar. You can then bake them for ten minutes on a cookie sheet until crisp. You can then make a salsa out of any fruit you like by dicing it and mixing g it with sugar and lime juice. Good fruits to use for salsa include blackberries, pineapple, kiwis, strawberries and apples. Serve the salsa in little cups or bowls with the tortilla chips on the side.

Another healthy treat is sweet and salty! You can make your own chocolate-dipped pretzel. Simply buy your favorite pretzels and then melt a bag of dark chocolate chips over a double boiler. Dip the pretzels in the chocolate and then let the dry on wax paper. You can decorate these with sprinkles if you want too.
You can make a portable berries and whipped cream dessert for your children quite easily. Simply take clear plastic glasses and fill them up with any kind of berry. Top with freshly whipped cream and a sprinkling of mini chocolate chips. You can also add chunks of angel cake if you like as well. If you like you could mix a bit of yogurt in with the whipped cream as well.

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