Easy Fruit Leather

This morning I made some kale chips.

I had a couple extra drying trays for my food dehydrator, so I made some fruit leather as well.

My kids LOVE this fruit leather, and it's truly simple to make with just two ingredients and you don't even have to use a blender or a food processor!

I pour unsweetened applesauce on a tray about 1/4 inch thick and sprinkle sugar free jello mix on the top. (I don't use an entire pack of jello for one tray.)

It's healthy and easy to change the flavor with different flavors of jello.

Guests

I LOVE love Love love when people come to visit us. (Hint hint!) This weekend we enjoyed the company of my sis, Heather, and Jim. We didn't have much time together, but we got to enjoy some good meals with each other, a stroll around the park, and just each others' time. It was wonderful!

Me, Embrie, & Heather

Sundays Are Not Fun Days

My kiddos are homeschooled by a mother who doesn't like to wake early. Therefore, they don't have to wake up early… most days.

On Sundays things are different. We have to be to church by 9:00. Not only do we have to be to church by 9:00, but our church building flooded and is undergoing repairs so we have to be to a church building that is 20 minutes away. Not only do we have to be to a church building that is 20 minutes away by 9:00, but my husband has to work on Sundays during this quarter of the year. I NEED him around in order for me to get anywhere on time.

My Sunday mornings typically consist of me getting my kids ready as much as I can while they sleep. We eat breakfast in the car while driving to church, which inevitably is during the same time we should already have our rumps placed on the pew sitting reverently awaiting the beginning of church.

For instance, take a look at this Sunday. See what happened when I tried to do Em's hair?

She fell asleep on the giant pile of clean laundry that almost always takes up the majority of my bathroom countertop. I left her there sleeping while I finished getting the other two ready and eventually propped her up enough to do her hair.

And this is just the beginnings of my Sundays. Next I have to get through three hours of church with three kids, by myself.

Salad Nicoise

Here's another one for ya. Healthy and delicious! I found a recipe on Pinterest for Salad Nicoise that looked healthy, and since I'm trying to be healthy I pinned it. You know how it goes. You can check out the original recipe here.

I changed mine up a bit, mostly to include easier to find, i.e. can be found at Walmart, ingredients.

Here goes:

Salad Nicoise

Ingredients: 

     For the dressing:

• 2 Tbls. Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 Tbls. Dijon Mustard
• 1/3 C. Extra Virgin Olive Oil

     For the Salad:

• 1 Head Romaine Lettuce
• 1 Can Black Olives
• 1 Medium Heirloom Tomato
• 1 Can Tuna
• 2 Hard-Boiled Eggs
• 2 Cups Baby Potatoes, boiled and cooled
• 2 Cups Green Beans, boiled and chilled over an ice bath
• Salt & Pepper to taste.

Preparation:

     Boil beans, potatoes and eggs in separate pots. The potatoes take 15-20 minutes of boiling to become tender. The eggs need to be boiled for 12 minutes. The beans only take about 3 minutes of boiling. Drain and allow potatoes, eggs and beans to cool. I chilled the beans in an ice bath.

     For the dressing, whisk together the vinegar and mustard. Slowly stir in the oil. Let sit for a few minutes or while you're preparing the rest of the salad.

     Cut the potatoes into quarters and mix with a bit of dressing just to lightly coat them. Cut or tear the lettuce into small pieces. Put on the bottom of a large plate or bowl. Slice the tomatoes and eggs. Arrange the olives, tomato, tuna, eggs, potatoes and green beans in sections on top of the bed of lettuce. Drizzle with the dressing and add salt and pepper.

Serves 4

That is it, and it's pretty tasty!

My Resolve

It's a new year. With that always comes added motivation and determination to do something better or something new, at least that's what I'm told. I don't actually typically make New Year's resolutions. I have a strong objection to being told what to do. I think that's human nature. What's not so normal is having such an objection that you rebel against everything you're told to do, even when it's yourself doing the telling. Ya, that's me and a little look into my neuroses. So that is why I don't make resolutions, at least in any sort of formal way. In spite of all that, this year I set a resolution goal for myself to regain my health.

I've always enjoyed good, healthy food. Unfortunately I've also always enjoyed sugar, A LOT of it. It's got to go. I'm kind of an all or nothing kind of gal. The last month has definitely been an all month. This month has to be a nothing month. It all needs to go, the refined form of it at least. I know I can do it. Shay, my sister and I once went a year without sweets. Sugar is poison.

The next step to reclaiming my health is to incorporate more good food into my diet. I'm trying to up my veggie intake and eat mostly whole, real, clean, natural, however you want to say it foods. My stumbling block with this step is it requires more time preparing meals. I'm not exactly a fan of cooking.  I am a fan of fueling my body with good food though, so I guess I'll take the bad with the good.

Dinner on Day 1 was so good I think I'll share. I made Spinach and Feta Quinoa Bites for the appetizer. I didn't think the kids would eat the rest of dinner, so I made these in their behalf. We all scarfed them down though.

Look at these bite-sized morsels of heaven!

Our meal really surprised me. We had Roasted Broccoli, Kale and Chickpea Salad. When I saw this recipe on Pinterest I thought, well that looks edible and super healthy. Pin. I was blown away at how delicious this recipe actually is. Everyone, all three kids included, loved this recipe!

And finally, my activity level has to go up. I love exercising. I really do. I especially love doing outdoor activities that keep me moving and fit, i.e. hiking, biking, skiing and all that jazz. The thing is, life with three young kids and a husband that works seemingly endlessly, really hinder my opportunities to do all of those fun activities. In fact, it even limits my opportunities to go run or even do an exercise video. My solution? Wake up super duper early and workout while the kids are snoozing. I'm still limited in my exercise because I can't actually leave those snoozing babies home alone, but at least I'll get this body moving. Plus, Youtube has some fun exercise videos. Yesterday it was a belly dancing workout. Cayben actually woke up and did it with me, which was all too entertaining.

Well there you have it. It's written down and shared with others. (Two important steps to keeping goals, right?)

What are your New Year's resolutions.