what we deserve & sweet potatoes

Hey friends! We had the launch of our church this past weekend and I'm slowly catching up on all things internet. Today is a sweet treat though because my friend Heather from Heather's Dish has an amazing recipe! Enjoy and make sure you check out the Naptime Diaries New Year Sale before it's over! 

My husband and I have turned into "those people." You know, the ones that sit back and talk about "kids these days" don't appreciate things the way we did, they feel entitled and narcissistic in ways we would never have dreamed of. "Kids these days" don't have respect for authority or the world order or the church or elders or whatever. These dang kids! Oh, and by the way, we're only 30. Still kids ourselves. 

The other day I was stewing on this for really no apparent reason when suddenly my son woke up from his nap early. "Dang it! Don't I deserve some peace and quiet to eat in peace? Don't I deserve to be able to make a quick meal without an interruption? Don't I deserve to have some chocolate after every meal and snack? I mean I work hard. REALLY hard. Don't I deserve...?!"

Suddenly it hit me. No. I don't deserve any of it. I don't deserve the beautiful marriage, the incredible husband, the healthy and smart and adorable little boy. I don't deserve the house we live in, the cars we drive, the dogs we have. I don't deserve to have the entire world at my fingertips. I don't deserve to pick and choose every little morsel that goes in my mouth. I don't deserve the unconscionable and never-ending love and grace of a Savior who laid down his life for me. I deserve nothing. 

And yet. I love Habakkuk 3:18 that starts off with, "And yet God..." Those three words change everything. I deserve nothing, AND YET GOD still delivers. He still brings me up out of the unfathomably dark places. He still gives his love and grace, his Word, his Spirit, his son Jesus even when every entitled statement in the world has been choked out. He loves us, he loves me, still. 

This place of truly understanding grace is, unfortunately, not one that I comprehend to the point that it's like breathing - it's not an unconscious understanding. I still have to stop, think about the fact that regardless of all the "good things" I do, it's still all done out of a sinful heart. I have to come to that place where true reflection happens and grace hits my heart like a ton of bricks. Like the verse in 'Amazing Grace' says, "The Lord has promised good to me, His Word my hope endures, He will my shield and portion be, as long as life endures." If I lost everything and everyone I have, God is still my portion. He is still my everything. And God is so so very good, truly truly all the time.

Kind of heavy for a post with a chip recipe at the bottom, right? But here's where it comes together for me: I don't deserve to be picky about what I eat. I don't deserve to have the income to be able to buy whatever I want at the store. I don't deserve to have a body that is healthy. AND YET GOD has given me these resources to glorify Him. So I stop being picky about what I eat, I stop spending tons of money at the store, and I eat foods that will nourish this body well. I stop and I thank God for his graciousness and ask for the strength to use this voice and this money and this body to honor Him. I don't deserve any of it, but I am so very grateful.

These chips, you guys, are seriously amazing. They're a quick and healthy snack that you can truly season however you want. They're something you can make with or without kiddos (just be super careful when you're slicing!), and they can quell the snack monster like no one's business. Enjoy!

HEALTHY MICROWAVE SWEET POTATO CHIPS

Ingredients:

• 1 large sweet potato (it helps if it's long and skinny)
• nonstick cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons of your seasoning of choice (I love the Creole seasoning in the picture above, but you can honestly use whatever you love! Just salt, pepper and garlic powder is great too!)

Directions:

1. VERY thinly slice the sweet potatoes. A mandolin (I got mine at Walmart for a cool $7) works best for this for uniformity purposes, but please PLEASE be careful if you use one. They are super sharp!
2. Arrange the sweet potato slices on a microwave-safe plate.
3. Spray lightly with nonstick spray, then sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of your seasonings.
4. Turn the rounds over and repeat with the cooking spray and seasoning.
5. Microwave for 10 minutes at 60% power.
6. Carefully turn the rounds over again, then microwave for another 5-7 minutes at 70% power. 
7. Open the microwave door and walk away for 10 minutes. You want both the chips and the plate to be cool enough to handle!
8. Enjoy!

recitherapy AND grape leaves, oh yes!

Hey friends! Happy Thanksgiving!

I know you're probably eating up a storm of traditional holiday food today but if you need a recipe for tomorrow that will make your day-after-thanksgiving amazing, I know a girl:).

Or if you just need something read in while that turkey cooks/driving/while your husband is watching football, I'm here for you. 

Here is my precious friend Sid from Recitherapy! 

this is sid. She's kind of like a Lebanese Barbie doll with a crazy beautiful heart
 for Jesus and the voice of an angel.
I love her. 

...........

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope everyone has woken up to a home full of joy and thankfulness and is READY for the cooking, baking, praying, eating, laughing and cleaning up to begin! I for sure am and I'm so grateful I'm able to celebrate this beautiful holiday with my family... what a blessing!

Jessi, what an amazing, inspiring and encouraging woman you are... I am thankful for YOU.... For your transparency, your heart for your family and your desire to help women fully discover their potential as a daughter of Jesus. Thank you for letting me in on your life. Thank you for praying for those of us who read your blog, for really meaning it when you say it. Thank you for asking me to do this Thanksgiving post, I'm honored and blessed to be a part here! :)

Ok so I know it's Thanksgiving and you're probably in your pj's wondering why you're still sitting at your computer when you have 8 million things to cook... so I'm not going to keep you long! I'm going to give you a quick run down of how to make Lebanese Stuffed Grape Leaves! I know, I know, strange... but I was just telling my readers today that we like to use Thanksgiving as our excuse to make all the Lebanese food. Why? Because it's unique and different and we like to have variety at our Thanksgiving table! SO, if you've been looking for a little something to spice up your holiday meals, I hope you'll give these a try, they're SO worth the work! Here we go!

What you'll need:

• 1 or 2 jars grape leaves in brine - 1 or 2 depending on how many people you're having for dinner. Each jar usually contains 30-40 leaves.
• ground beef - the amount depends on how many jars of leaves you're using.. you'll probably need 2 pounds to start with.
• uncooked white rice- 1 cup rice per pound of beef
• 1 teaspoon salt- per pound of beef
• 1 teaspoon pepper- per pound of beef
• juice of 8-10 lemons
• 4 or 5 garlic cloves, pressed

Now, these seem trickier than they are so don't get overwhelmed too soon! Let's walk through it step by step!

• Mix together the ground beef with the uncooked white rice, salt and pepper. Mix well with your hands as to not leave any big bunches of salt or pepper in one place. Remember, the rule is one cup of rice to every one pound of meat. And 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper to every one pound of meat.
• Take the grape leaves out of the jar and lay them in a colander in the sink.
• Lay out paper towels in an open counter space area.
• Carefully peel away one leaf at a time from the bunch and rinse the brine off.
• Lay the leaf on the paper towels, veiny side up, unfolding all the pieces off of itself so that it lays flat nicely. (veiny side up so that when you stuff them and roll them, the pretty front of the leaf is showing)
• Remove the large end stems.
• Now roll a chunk of meat in your hand, about 1 & 1/2 inch long (depending on leaf size) and place at the base of the leaf.
• Carefully, start to wrap the bottom, then fold in the left side, fold in the right side and continue rolling while gently pushing down to finish rolling the leaf around the meat.
• Place in a stock pot, no water or seasoning. (yet!) :)
• Continue rolling each grape leaf and laying in the bottom of the stock pot. Once you have just covered the bottom of the pot, one grape leaf deep, lightly salt and pepper that layer and start to pile the next ones on top of the others going in the other direction. This is to ensure that all the air and juices can get to each grape leaf!
• Once you've reached the top of your pot or you've made what you think is enough, place an inverted plate on top of the grape leaves. (no lid, just the inverted plate)
• Now take the pot over to the sink and fill the pot with water until you see the water just meet the plate. Cook on 'low' for about 2 hours, or until the water is mostly cooked down.
• After this is done, remove the inverted plate with tongs or kitchen gloves (the plate will be piping hot).
• Now pour the juice of the lemons and the pressed garlic all over the grape leaves, making sure to get it into all the spaces!
• Continue to cook this on low, now with the lid partially on for about another 2 hours, or until the skin of the leaves is tender.
• You're done! Serve by themselves, with hummus, or with anything and everything else on your Thanksgiving table!

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do! They are a tradition for us and an authentic original recipe from my Lebanese grandmother, Tata. I can promise you this... you won't find better grape leaves anywhere in the world! You can hold me to it. :)

Jessi, thank you, thank you, thank you again for having me. Praying blessings, and joy and love for you and your family today as you're enjoying this great holiday together! New friends, I'm so happy to meet you and I hope to see you again soon! Jesus, THANK YOU for all that you've given us... we are humbled, happy and so so grateful.

Happy Thanksgiving and happy eating! xo

holy souphood

Ya'll; I love a good theme. 
That's part of why I love the MHG so much. A tidy little scripture theme littered through my heart and my home. (ps - have you gotten your October MHG yet? why not?!) 

Anyhow, in September, I've just been chewing on 1 Peter 2:9. 

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

And I've been asking the Lord to shed some light on the areas of my life that I've ceased to see as holy. There are so many places where I've begun to live day in and day in under the belief that this life is mundane and tedious and I've just got to get it all done, just to get it done.

A big one for me is food/cooking/eating.
There's so many pieces to this.
I've talked about my weight loss issues here, but truly it's EVERYTHING about food/cooking/eating that is challenging to me. I want to be healthy, but not too healthy. I believe a vegan diet is a super healthy choice for me, but I don't want to be defined by it and I certainly don't want to put it on anyone else. I want to cook well for my family, but I don't want to be doing it just to be some sort of Martha-Stewart-with-better-recipes-than-pinterest cooking woman that prides herself on anything besides Jesus.

And then I remembered.
I am a part of the holy priesthood and have been made a people of His own possession, SO THAT I can proclaim the excellencies of Him who called me out of darkness and into marvelous light.
And our family has to eat.
So how can I combine those two things?

For me it meant, back to whole foods.
As little processed as possible. Delicious but nutritious.
Simple ingredients. Simple recipes.
Food as nourishment and celebration, not as indulgence and comfort.
Trying to worship the Lord in my cooking, in our eating, and even in our grocery buying.
But keeping it simple, so we can be extravagantly worshipful in other areas of our life.

And of course, I have two simple simple recipes for ya'll.
(fall pumpkin ginger carrot soup)
1. warm up some diced ginger & diced garlic in olive oil
2. combine two big cans of pure pumkpin with .5 can of light coconut milk and one - 2 cans of water.
3. roast some carrots (earlier) in olive oil and salt. puree roasted carrots with a a little bit of water.
4. combine carrot puree & pumpkin goodness.
5. add water or coconut milk if needed.
6. flavor with more ginger, garlic, salt, pepper, & curry as needed.
7. simmer as long as you can wait to eat it.


skip the cheese or sour cream and top this baby with cashew cream.
(cashew cream is raw cashews blended with a little bit of water and a dash of honey).
DELISH.

So that's all I have to say about that.
maybe it's not cooking for you, but what have you neglected to see as holy?
take it back.
it's all His.

have you gotten your October MHG yet?

have you used your 20% discount in my shop using coupon code GIVEAWAY yet?
shoot, girl - have you entered the giveaway?

sundays call for desserts.

Lately, Sundays are messing me up. 
Sunday's should be sweet and quiet and relaxing, right? 
Then why do they feel dirty and full of dishes and stir-crazy? 
And sure, Nick has to leave for some ministry stuff right when it gets tough (4-7), but he's not even preaching yet?! What am I going to do when he's gone all day Sunday. 
I'll tell you what I'm going to do, ladies, 
I'm going to make this dessert every week. 


The kids like helping with the mixing. It's healthy. It's raw. It's delicious. 
If you're intimidated by vegan food or raw food, DON'T BE. 
At least don't be intimidated by this recipe, because it's easier than anything. 

1. Step one. Freeze a whole peach and thaw it, whole, for a few hours. Dice it up. This is a great way to make fresh peaches taste like canned, sweet peaches. 

Without all the yucky stuff. 

2. Make your "crust". A few carrots, tablespoon of flax seeds, handful of raisins, handful of almonds. Food-processor it, blend it, mix it all up together SOMEHOW.

3. Put the "crust" on top of yo' peaches. Your peaches will be all mushy and seem canned, but they're not sweetie! Don't worry! 

4. Make your "cream". A handful of cashews, water, and a gloop of honey in the processor or blender. Gloop is a technical measurement. Top "crust" with "cream". 

5. Clean your food processor for the millionth time this weekend. Blerg. 

So, listen. I'm not gonna call this anything but made up goodness. 

And it's no carrot cake or brownies. 

But it's yummy and delicious. 

And Monday isn't so scary after you eat it for sure. 

Love you friends. 

Also, you're welcome to come help me clean food processor if you want. 

one percent, a call to action

In total honesty, I'm reaching a little. 

This has a TINY bit to do with healthy living, definitely a good amount to do with spiritual & community health, but it's maybe more like a 7% change. Meh, maybe 4%. 

You decide. 

So I know we already have a 1% change club, right ladies?! 

(that's my best beyonce voice)

(oh oh oh oh oh oh oh ohh oh oh oh oh)

But can we start another club?!
I've had this on my mind for awhile and this is my official call to action. 

I wrote about this a year and a half ago, but here is my official challenge. 

My initial club meeting and you're all invited. 

Will you make a meal for someone just because?

If you're single or childless, please don't tune out. If you're in college, stay with us. 

If you're a mom or wife or taker-carer-of-others or just a WOMAN, you know what 4 or 5pm looks like on a random hard Tuesday. Maybe you're sweating over all you have to do, or you're discouraged or lonely, or tired. Or frustrated with yourself. Or just disillusioned with Tuesday. The answer is always Jesus, to let Him do the fulfilling, but can you imagine if a friend called at 4:11 and say, "hey girl! Oh I'm just listening to Beyonce, prepping dinner, and thinking, I should really bring you some food tonight!". 

Would it change your life a little? 

Would it change your life a lot? 

So what if on a Tuesday or a Wednesday (or monday, thursday, fri, sat, sun.... ) that WASN'T the hardest for you, you just doubled up on what you had and took it to a friend. Single moms, moms to sixteen kids, not yet married friends, EVERYONE. Not just for a special occasion where everyone is already thinking to serve (new baby, adoption, death in the family), but for the person no one is really thinking to serve. 

It won't cost you much, but Lord willing - it will change your heart and theirs. 

And He'll get more glory. 

To get you started, I have the EASIEST (read: non-gourmet), CHEAPEST, filling recipe that can be doubled and made for two big families (or many portions for less people). 

vegetarian enchilada casserole

what you need: two cans black beans, two cans corn, two cans of diced tomatoes, some tofu (optional), chili powder & cumin, flour or corn tortillas, shredded cheese. 

Take two casserole dishes and layer like a lasagna: 

- diced tomatoes

- tortillas cut & pieced together to make casserole dish shape

- black bean/tofu/spice mixture mixed in food processor (or by hand with fork)

- corn

- cheese

- diced tomatoes

- tortillas

- bean mixture

- corn

- tortillas

- cheese

(bake at 350 for 20ish minutes) 

You can get crazy, mix it up, this just works best for me. 

Throw some fun ingredients in there, cilantro or fun veggies or meat if you so desire! 

This is just the CHEAP and EASY version. 

Grab a bag of tortillas for your friend and drop it off before dinner time. 

It won't make you any holier, but if you can spend some time praying for her/him while you make it, your heart will be inclined to them and the Lord. And you may just avoid your own 4pm slump. 

Will you try it? 

My goal is once a week, but they may be way too much or too little for you. 

Can we start a club? 

Will you ask your friends to join?

I think we should. 

Alright, despite my semi-reaching 1% change, I'm still so pumped to hear ya'lls. 
Link it up, ladies!

groceries groceries ooohlala UPDATED

*UPDATE: I added a section by Nick at the bottom since I got a few comments and emails about how I "got Nick to go meatless". I promise you, it was a gradual shift and I'm thankful for the grace and wisdom he's had - not really to let me remove meat from our diet, but to ultimately shift our entire diet. Nick is an amazing little chef and cooked for us mostly when we first married, so he's been extremely gracious to give me 

reign in this area of homemaking. *

One of the most frequent emails/formspring questions I get is about our grocery/eating/budget system. How do we eat healthily cheaply? Usually I prefer NOT to answer this question because I feel like our system/budget works for us and I'm think it's TOTALLY ok if it doesn't work for others. I'm sure some people might think we spend way too little and some people might think we spend way too much. It's just right for us! Some people might think we eat far too healthy, some might think we eat too much junk, but it's just right for us! However, I have a few tips & tricks that have been really helpful to us, so I'm up for sharing. 

i just think these carrots are pretty. carry on. 

A few broad points: 
- I don't coupon. I'm so glad if you do. I think everyone has to choose their "things", and couponing is not mine. I love getting a good deal on shampoo and I know I could probably find some better deals on soy milk and diapers. Maybe one day the Lord will give me the capacity for the cutting and the sorting, but it's not today:). Plus you just don't find a lot of coupons for sweet potatoes, black beans, and quinoa. And we eat a lot of stuff like that. 
- I LOVE ALDI. Aldi is like a discount europeanish market without any kind of flair. You bag your own groceries, you pay $.25 for a grocery cart. BUT almost all the processed foods are hfcs-free and there is an incredible amount of CHEAP produce. It's a lot like Trader Joe's without any fluff. It should be known, if we lived in a town that had an Aldi AND a Trader Joe's, I'd go to both - no hesitation. I think Winco is pretty similar to Aldi, please find one or the other near you or MOVE. I estimate that what used to cost us about $150 at Trader Joe's, would've cost us $200 at a normal grocery store, costs us $70-$80 at Aldi. Those are my rough calculations. 
- We don't buy meat. It just helps. When nothing in your cart is over $3, you can't really go wrong. Milk and Meat = definitely over $3. 
- So on a normal week, I go to Aldi for our processed food (cereal, soy/almond milks, canned goods, granola bars, frozen waffles {uh huh, don't hate}, veggie chips) and some of our basics (coffee, eggs, string cheese for kids, bread, almonds). This costs us about $50 and I get $20 in cash back at Aldi and go to town at the veggie stand. I go to a REALLY cheap produce stand here in South Carolina, and $20 buys me bananas, apples, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, grapes, strawberries, canteloupe, and usually a few other random goodies. THEN I go to Earthfare for our bulk grains and healthy odds & ends,  - quinoa, buckwheat, dates, soy protein drinks & bars for me. I spent anywhere from $25-$30 here, rounding our weekly budget out to about $100. 
The week I detail below cost exactly $100 and some change. 

Here's an example menu of exactly what we ate for dinners

 (and a guesstimate for lunches) last week for $100: 

(sunday) breakfast for dinner. pancakes, frittata, homemade biscuits, toast. 
(monday) quinoa black bean burgers & carrot fries. 
(tuesday) vegan lasagna
(wednesday) bacon & grilled cheese swiches with salad (protein shake night for mom)
(thursday) out to eat! Earthfare kids eat free night!
(friday) homemade pizzas
(saturday) quinoa stuffed peppers

For breakfast the kids will eat any of the following: cereal,

 frozen waffles, yogurt & fruit, bagels, toast & pb, or oatmeal. Mostly, it's just cereal:) 

For breakfast I eat: a protein bar, an omelette, 

soy yogurt & granola, or buckwheat bake.

For lunch the kids eat: pbj, hummus & honey wraps, 

leftovers, veggie plates, or mac & cheese. It happens. 

For lunch I almost always eat: a big spinach salad with 

either a roasted sweet potato or carrot fries. Or a protein shake. 

Snacks we do: granola bars, fruit, veggies & hummus, 

energy balls, or homemade popcorn

Nick eats: cereal or eggs for breakfast. Granola bars & fruit to snack on. 

Leftovers or a salad for lunch. Cereal at night when my dinner is too light:)

Thoughts from Nick: 

For me, why meatless is ok:

1. It is a great way to honor Jess and fulfill the command for husbands in 1 Peter 3. Honoring her interests, passions, and very importantly her call as a wife and mother.

2. My personal goal of stewardship of self. I think our generation knows enough to not eat crap. I want to be able to work as hard as I can, as long as I can...until God calls me Home. Eating and exercise is a great way.

Tips for men/women:

1. Some might disagree, but men should eat what their wife cooks...or try. But it is a two way street, cook as well as you can, especially if it is tofu!

2. Grace and freedom, easing into: eating is not bound by law. Paul spent most of his ministry combating dietary restrictions. I eat at home how my wife cooks,...but if I am out, meat in moderation is ok. Ease into it for your husband's sake, don't go from steak to tofu. It really requires grace for the husband...and grace for the wife from the husband.

Last thing: this might sound stupid, but this is a heart issue. Why do you want to change the way you eat...or as husbands why do you not want to change the way you eat. Ultimately there is pride and selfishness somewhere so forgive and repent often...repeat if necessary, because it will be!

And now you know why I love him so much. 

I definitely don't think it is the perfect model for everyone, but for now - it fits our budget and our desires for healthy living. In the future, I'd love to do more with local farms - but right now, they're just too expensive and the produce stand serves us well! 

I hope you are all not bored to death, and I promise to blog about something FAR more interesting tomorrow. 

Um, well. Maybe not. I can always try. 

1% get raw, and a dangerously cute baby

You know what one of my healthiness-downfalls is? 

The afternoon slump. 

When I'm tired, I've been up since who-knows-how-long, I need to make dinner and live my second day (5pm-11pm is a whole nother beast), I don't crave carrots. I don't want freshly slice cucumbers or a quick stretch. I want a massive coffee, a snickers, and a magazine. 
But how would those things leave me feeling? Not so hot. 

Couple this problem with my brand spanking new food processor and library book mistaken checkout and you get today's one percent change! Last week I though I was getting a vegan recipe book, when I really grabbed a raw food recipe book and I was more than intrigued and kept reading. Enter mother's day gift of food processor and basically, my afternoons have taken a direct AND POSITIVE change. 

My 1% change for today, get a little raw. 

The research seems pretty misleading about whether or not a totally raw food diet is healthy for most people and let's be honest - that's no 1% change! That's like a 2,000% change. And probably one we shouldn't all be making. But what I've found is replacing some kind of yucky snacks with a some raw snacks boosts my energy, leaves me feeling MUCH better, and makes me feel like a pro in the kitchen (which is all a facade, it's just the food processor). 

Read here about some of the benefits of raw foods. 

I can tell you the benefits for me are just plain feeling better. The 4pm slump is nonexistent and I'm ready to live my second day full of husband hanging out with, exercise, blog writing, email answering, and laundry doing. 

And the kids, they're LOVING the raw. 

patience & focus. 

My tip for starting with raw snacks is just make some balls. 

Use any of these ingredients and food process (or blenderize) your own different combinations until you get a doughy-ish ball. Make many smaller balls and then either refrigerate them or freeze them until they form sweet little snacks. You can even coat them in coconut or flax seed or nuts to make them more beautiful! 

Some ingredient suggestions: almonds, walnuts, cashews, any favorite nut, coconut, flax, carob, carrots, ginger, dark chocolate, apricots, dates, raisins, etc! Go nuts! 

pensive & wary 

handsome

a fan of the energy balls! really, he ate like 3 and loved them!

Here is my favorite recipe so far. I like to eat one or two mid-morning INSTEAD of grazing my kid's lunches when I'm starving. Then I pop one or two in the afternoon while I'm cleaning & prepping dinner. And, if I'm feeling crazy, I'll munch another one after p90x time with the husband as I head to bed. Without further ado, 

my favorite energy ball

five or six carrots

few tablespoons of flax

tspoon of coconut

1/3 cup of almonds

1/3 cup of raisins 

3 dates

1/5 cup of cashews

It's like carrot cake, but not as delicious, and WAY better for you. 

How's that for honest:)?

And, to prove it, here is the most precious Benja I've ever seen. 

Right after I got done with my energy ball photography session, Benja climbed up to the table to partake. And you see the picky eating husband grabbing one too? Uh-huh. 

It's no carrot cake, but it will please the men in your life. 

I'm rambling and scrambling. Get me another energy ball, stat!

Link it up! I want to hear your 1% changes! 

1% change, it's salad, it's salad time.

(I won't link to the flight of the conchords, "business time" song since 

this is a family blog and it's a little inappropriate, but just know when I say 

"it's salad, it's salad time", I'm singing to that tune)

So, how are your 1% changes going?

If you're new around here, you can check out all the past 1% changes here. 

It's basically just my journey of making steps to become healthier each day. 

But you can apply it to any area of life, and I often do:). 

Today, I'm kind of reminding myself something about 1% changes. They only help if you actually keep making them. Making a big drastic change is hard and sometimes hard to keep, but the danger in making small changes is, sometimes you forget or your lose the passion to keep making them day after day. So this is my encouragement to you and to me - keep pushing forward, keep making your small costly changes, it's worth it. 

So. Salad. 

Instead of thinking about things I can't or shouldn't eat, I often just think about how deliciously and healthily I CAN eat, and it excites me. Salad is one of those things that has drastically changed in my mind and now, after a massive salad at lunch, I feel wonderful physically and really satisfied in my tastebuds. 

If you'd told me three years ago, even two years ago, that I'd be eating a salad once or twice a day  - I'd have told you that was silly. Salads were reserved for restaurant eating, for some weird reason in my mind. I think it was only because I didn't know how delicious a homemade salad could be. 

I've written before how I shift thru different salad ingredients for months at a time and for almost a year now I've been on a spinach, roma tomato, cucumber, (maybe some quinoa) & black bean kick. 

EVERY SINGLE DAY. I love it. But it's all in the dressing. That's what makes it diverse and awesome and truly, truly delicious. 

BUT, use most store bought dressings and if you've just turned a good-choice-healthy-lunch into a maybe not, so wise choice. If you google "unhealthy salad dressings", you'll see what I mean. Normal salad dressings are loaded with fat, too much sugar, and empty calories. Which, hey! is great once in a while - but if you're opting for a salad instead of McDonalds to make a wise choice, and basically pouring a big mac on top of your lettuce, that's a let down. Diet or "healthy" salad dressings almost always contain extremely fake ingredients, a high amount of high fructose corn syrup, and a variety of other grossness. And so, today's 1% change: just make your own. It's healthier, much cheaper, better for the environment (less packaging and waste), and most of the time - way more delicious. 

You can find all sorts of delicious dressings on the internet (I suggest starting on Mama Pea's dressing page). But you can also keep it REALLY simple. Little drizzle of olive oil, little drizzle of balsamic. Wonderful! Drizzle of honey, drizzle of mustard?! Sounds like honey mustard to me!? Here is my current fave, topping my spinach-quinoa-tomato-cucumber-black-bean-creation, daily. 

not the prettiest, but oh so delicious

simple hummus/honey/balsamic dressing: 

(this barely qualifies as a recipe, it's so easy)

2 tablespoons of your favorite hummus

.5 tablespoon of honey

drizzle of balsamic

whip it up and throw it on your salad! 

so easy a 3 year old can do it:) 

It's simple and takes only a second. You feel a little special about making your own dressing and even more special because you saved $3.99 NOT buying salad dressing. It's not saving the world or making the biggest difference ever, but it's a 1% change that we can do, costs us a little extra effort, and will hopefully - help us feel a little more healthy each day. 

.............................

If you haven't checked out the giveaway, 

you're missing out! 

You have until Thursday at 5pm EST. A lot of people are saying it's confusing - don't get overwhelmed! Just enter once by being a following of this blog and leaving a comment. Then for each vendor that you like on facebook, follow their blog, or favorite their shop on Etsy, leave another comment - that's another entry. With SO many great gifts to choose from, the odds aren't too bad that you'll win something!

And thank you guys for your encouragement on yesterday's Glory's post. 

Your prayers and encouragement mean more than you know. 

I like you guys. 

Alright, link up those 1% changes!