Two articles in December editions of parenting magazines I was lucky enough to acquire free subscriptions for have me very excited. One is geared more toward parents, but the other applies to anyone.

Parents magazine had a great article on page 42 sharing a new statement from the American Dietetic Association. A well-planned vegetarian diet can be healthy for infants and toddlers. This thrills me because I was nervous we would have difficulties finding a pediatrician that supported our vegetarian eating style. The article also shares vegetarian sources for iron, protein, B-12, and zinc, nutrients generally sought from meat products. I could not locate the article on the website, but if you are interested in reading more, pop over to your local library and read up on it.

Kiwi Magazine, a source for raising children with natural and organic issues in mind, is my newest subscription. I also couldn't find the article online that mentioned this juicy advice, but I'm still very happy to pass it on. A great, natural way to fight the dryness of winter scalp is to soak rosemary (dry or fresh) in olive oil and apply 1 teaspoon of the mixture to the scalp. I suspect this could work on other dry skin, too. Olive oil is such a worthy body lotion. And, I'll have to tell you, this is an exceptionally cheap thing for us as we have a beautiful rosemary bush on our front porch. I had already planned on giving dried rosemary as part of my gift to my staff for the holidays and get to share a non-cooking use for it. (Just for the record, I don't expect to be spoiling their surprise because I keep them working very hard, and they won't have time to read this post before their gifts are delivered.)