food for thought

do it anyway

people are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway.

if you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.

if you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway.

if you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.

what you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight; build anyway.

if you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway.

the good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.

give the world the best you have and it may never be enough.

give the world the best you've got anyway.

you see, in the final analysis it is between you and god;

it was never between you and them anyway.

mother teresa

i know this is different from my"normal" post. i wanted to share!

lisa

can i have a snack?

if your a parent, chance's are you hear this question EVERY day... "can i have a snack?" or "i want a snack!" i hear this in my house all the time. we have a rule, the kids can have one "junkie" snack during the day and one "healthy" snack. if they want something else they can fruit or nuts.  i ALWAYS keep fruit on the table for them to grab if they want. no eating after 4:00 pm, because i want the kids to eat dinner. 

well to was like a dream!!! my 5 year old did NOT ask for her "junkie" snack!!!!! she came into the kitchen and started to eat the grapes that i had on the table!!! OMG is she getting it?!?! i started to jump up and down and said to her "do you know what you are doing?" she looked at me like i had ten heads. i said to her " you made a great choice eating the grapes! mommy is proud of you!"

when my family started out healthy lifestyle, it was like pulling teeth, the tears, the fight, the whining. . . all over snacks...junk...junk that my husband and i bought into the house.  now if it is not in the house they don't ask for it.  you ask, but she just said her kids get one junkie snack a day. well they do! a junkie snack would be... frito's(they only have 3 ingredients), chocolate cover raisins, chocolate cover blueberries, homemade whole wheat chocolate chip bran cookie, or cheese crackers and peanut butter.

lisa

fiesty fajitas

made flank steak fajitas in the crock pot yesterday for dinner. you all know how much i love some crock potin' on a sunday. just had the leftovers for dinner tonight. what i love more than a crock pot meal on a sunday is not having to cook on a monday. my husband and i love these, our 4yo, not so much. she had leftover chicken nuggets from saturday. click here for the slow cooker flank steak fajitas recipe from lisa over at 100 days of real food.

thanks for reading.
amy~

taco taco

amy's taco seasoning recipe. i make up a couple batches in a glass jar and keep it in the pantry.

• 6 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons cumin
• 4 tablespoons paprika
• 3 tablespoons onion powder
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less depending on how hot you like it)

for about 1.5 pounds of meat i add 4 tablespoons taco seasoning with 1 cup water

it's like the energizer bunny

i love to take a hunk of meat, rub it down with some tasty spices and throw it in a crock it. especially on a sunday. you can do all your dirty work in the morning and then go about your day. the best is coming home from running errands with the family and the delicious aroma slaps ya in the face before you can even get through the door. this past weekend i did a whole chicken and let me tell you, it's like a gift that keeps on giving. that night we had chicken, brown rice and tossed salads for dinner. the chicken was super moist and we couldn't stop nibbling at it. i kept the juices and carcass in the crock pot and after dinner i added water, threw in a few spices, a couple carrots and let it simmer, all night. i woke up the next morning to homemade chicken stock. i jarred some up for the fridge and also froze some in an ice cube tray. why get it from a can or carton when it's that easy to make? monday night we had pulled chicken tacos. i'm not brave enough to attempt the homemade tortillas that my cousin lisa tried but i do make a mean taco seasoning, no packets for us. tuesday night, more shredded chicken. this time i threw it in a vodka cream sauce i whipped up and served it with whole wheat penne. this meal made enough for wednesday night too. one chicken = 4 nights of dinners & a boatload of chicken stock. it just kept going and going and going.

thanks for reading.
amy~

click here for the 'best whole chicken in a crock pot' recipe. there's a link for the chicken stock as well. this is from my bff lisa over at 100 days of real food.

click here for the vodka cream sauce recipe from allrecipes. i used 1/2 & 1/2 in place of the heavy cream and used less than half a pint.

how much is too much?

i am going to start a jar to put a dollar in every time i hear "how much do you eat?"  the truth is i don't keep track my food! i don't count calories! i don't weigh my food! i don't measure my food! i eat when i am hungry and i stop when i am satisfied.  this was something new to me that i had to get use to. for anyone who ever has been on any kind of diet or weight loss program you had to count, track, tally, weigh, measure of some sort.  AND chances are cut out your favorite dessert or food.  i eat my 3 meals a day and if i want a snack in between i have one! stay tune and i will be posting "my story".

lisa

trail mix, hiking not required

seeds are good. but eating them on their own? eh. trail mix is the answer. throw some seeds, nuts, dried fruit and chocolate together and ya got some healthy snack action going on. oh yeah.

here is a picture of my favorite ingredients; lightly salted sunflower seeds, unsalted pumpkin seeds, roasted unsalted almonds, milk chocolate chips, dried cranberries & unsalted peanuts. this is a staple for us. there's always a canister of trail mix in our cupboard. it covers salty, sweet & crunchy. all my snacking needs. my husband grabs handfuls of it when he does his nightly 'cabinet shuffle' and our 4yo goes straight for the cranberries and chocolate chips. go whip up a batch of your own trail mix and let us know what you like in yours. thanks for reading.

amy~