My Family Health Binder *Update*

Remember back in July when I posted about our family health binder?

I was finally able to make some appointments and actually fill the binder recently! I know-- quite an accomplishment. :)

The business card section is slowly growing.. 

My one doctor did not have business cards. I was so bummed because I really wanted to put it in there! Oh well. 

Now that I'm actively using the binder, I keep a pink post it on the inside front cover. This reminds me who needs what in what month/year. For example, my husband needs a physical in May 2013. 

The "Doc Info" section is filled out for me with names, phone numbers, and addresses of all my doctors. 

And now is time for my public service announcement.. 

Call your parents/family/grandparents and get their medical history!

Seriously. Please. Because I have a horrible family medical history, it's absolutely crucial to know what I'm dealing with.

You can learn so much about your family, and it opens the door for conversations that you should have before it's too late.

Okay? Here is my original post on our Family Health Binder. I encourage you to put this on your to-do list this fall!

Smoothie Recipe-- Just 3 Ingredients

I didn't realize how many smoothie recipes I've posted. Whoops! We've had the chocolate banana and spinach smoothie, the smoothie trick using a popsicle, and I've even put broccoli in my smoothie.

Today's smoothie recipe is a bit less "complicated" with just 3 ingredients.

Of course the spinach is completely optional, but I always add it if I have it in the fridge. 

Tip: If you've never done spinach in a smoothie before, start with a small amount-- smaller than a handful. I have never been able to tell there is spinach in my smoothie but I made one for my sister and she could taste it. 

Very Berry Smoothie

-- 1 cup frozen berries (I use a combination bag from Target that had raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries.
-- 1/2 cup plain yogurt (As you can see I use Light & Fit because it's low calorie).
-- 1 cup milk
-- large handful of spinach (Optional)

Blend until well incorporated.

Sorry, I completely forgot to get a picture of the actual smoothie. Whoops! It doesn't turn green at all because the berries are so dark.

PS-- Can you spot my handy soap dispenser? Cute, huh?

I've Become "That" Lady

Yup, never thought I'd see the day. That's organic 100% whole grain Quinoa, organic skim milk, and organic, farm fresh, free range eggs. Those dumb eggs costs $2.75. For six.

I'm not going all crazy, I just thought we'd give it a shot. Try everything out. See if it's worth the money. No, we haven't tried anything yet but I'll be sure to report how everything tastes.

Let's go through these items one by one:

The eggs. The eggs themselves have a story. I see the Amish people selling these eggs every Tuesday at the farmer's market. At almost $3 for a half dozen (Three times what I usually spend on a dozen), they weren't on the top of my "to-buy" list. Then one of my Facebook friends mentioned how much she loved farm fresh, free range, organic eggs.

So the following Tuesday I mentioned to Nathan that I was going to try the eggs (6, In case we didn't like them) and we'd have them for dinner that night. We got our bags and headed to the market. We're literally in front of the Amish egg-selling woman and Nathan says "$5.75 for a dozen? You aren't going to get those, right?". Are you kidding? I had talked the boy's ear off for a week about these eggs. So I got defensive and said "No, let's go". We left. Without my eggs.

We walked home in silence and I was annoyed because we had nothing for dinner. Awesome. When we got home (Eggless. Did I mention that?), Nathan said he was going for a run. He came back 30 minutes later with my eggs and Chick Fil A! Did I mention I love that boy?

I don't know what to expect from this but if it tastes anything like the Silk Vanilla Soy Milk, we're doomed. 

Quinoa is delicious! Luckily I've tried quinoa, but haven't cooked with it recently. I know it's not as starchy (obviously) as rice or couscous, but it's still pretty tasty. I've never tried organic quinoa, but I can't imagine it tasting that different. We'll see, I guess. 

Wish me luck in our new adventure! xO

PS-- If you have any recipes that use these foods, feel free to share them! 

My Family Health Binder

To see an update on how I'm using our health binder more often click here.

Right before we got married Nathan's mom kept mentioning a health binder. I kind of knew what she was referring to but I wasn't exactly sure what would go in it. It seemed tedious.. can't you just file the important stuff away and get rid of what you don't need? Well, yes. 

This way, we would have our information together and in one place. If, God forbid, something happened to one of us, we would have one binder with everything in it.

After our honeymoon we lived with Nathan's parents for a little until we left for DC. Life was crazy at that point but Nathan's mom printed off some sheets and got my health binder all set up. It was so nice of her and she even included some of Nathan's shot information. (It was written on super cute baby paper from when he was born..awww).

So anyways, after we got settled in DC I wanted to put my information in it and start getting organized.

Want to make your own health binder? All you really need is a binder, and maybe some dividers. If you want to get fancy you can use some scrapbook paper and stickers, but it's not necessary.

As you can see, I have really awesome hand writing and an obsession with flower stickers! 

I wasn't crazy about the plain white on each end of the binder, so I just trimmed some scrapbook paper and added some scrapbook tape to the back. I didn't cover the pocket, so it can still be used.

I also included some business card holders and plain sheet covers. This will be for pamphlets, random information, etc.

Back to the flower obsession. The stickers really added some pizazz, don't you think? Anyways, you can see that the first tab is Shots. This is where I have hole punched Nathan's shot history, my shot history, and I'll add any other dates of shots we get in the future.

The next divider was business cards. This is where I'll put business cards of all doctors we have. I'll probably do one side for Nathan's doctors and one side for mine. Since we just moved, this section is empty. 

Next up is Doctor's Information. I'm not 100% sure what I'll put here, but probably directions to offices,  or maybe pamphlets from particular appointments. Like I said, I don't have anything here because we don't have any doctors yet!

As you can see from the pictures, the last few dividers are Medications and Perscriptions, History, and Tests. These ones are pretty obvious. The prescription divider will be the most important one for me-- I used to lose prescriptions all the time! I also put Nathan's contact information in the Rx section, for when he needs more contacts. 

History is pretty self explanatory, but I did make up a short list of our medical history. This is quite basic (because we're young, don't have kids, and we are generally pretty healthy) for us, but I hope with time it will become more extensive. Diabetes runs in my family as well as Melanoma, so that is written on "my" side of the medical history sheet. Like I said, it's very basic-- it's up to you how thorough you want to be!

Tests is empty for now. The sheets that my MIL printed off said to always ask for results of any test you take. I guess in the future when we have any tests done, we'll include the results in this section. 

I'm not sure if I will to silly check ups, but it's a good idea to bring this binder with you to more important appointments! I think especially so if you're forgetful like me about your prescriptions. :) 

Keep some scratch paper in here for notes, along with extra business card holders and clear plastic sheet protects.

Have any questions on creating your own family medical binder? Comment below! Feel free to email me at elboese@yahoo.com. 

Be sure to check our the updated post here.