We aren't turning green..... YET!

I have been hearing a lot about kale and all its health benefits, but I was certain my Blessings, though they LOVE salad.... wouldn't go for kale shakes and chips.

When bought in a bunch at the store, kale tends to look like this!

Kale is a very reasonably priced food item..... a bundled bunch such as the above, can often be purchased for about $1.00 or less.

I was curious if The Blessings would like it..... so I made both Kale Chips

and

a few Kale Shakes. The Blessings not only liked my efforts, but they literally DEVOURED them and were completely hooked!

The chips were consumed to the crumbs in less than an hour. The skake cups were drained to the very LAST DROP. They are begging for more daily!

While, I DID look at some of the recipes online for both the chips and the shakes, I primarily used these resources only for general information, before I began to create my own recipes. I am not a proportion/measuring type of cook/ chef..... so all recipe measurements should be taken with a grain of salt.... and tweaked to taste.

Kale Chips Recipe

1 bunch fresh Kale (rinsed and dried)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 Tbl coconut oil

Light dusting of garlic salt

Turn oven to 400 degrees to preheat. Wash and dry kale and then shred into bite size pieces. In a microwavable cup put olive oil and coconut oil together. Heat in microwave for approximately 1 minute. (Why coconut oil and olive oil.... O.O. is good for your heart but can tend to add weight to your body, C.O. is not as good as O.O. for your heart, but it is good at eliminating toxins and other things from your body). Lightly drizzle the O.O. and the C.O. on your Kale Chips. Dust the chips lightly with garlic salt. (Less is more when it comes to the seasoning here). Bake for 4 to 6 minutes. Do not let Kale burn!  Remove from oven and cool before eating (unless you want a burned tongue).

Enjoy!

Kale Shake Recipe #1

A handful of rinsed Kale

4 bananas

2 cup Blueberries

2 cups Ice

1 cup Milk

1 cup fruit juice of your choice

Blend together! Drink and Enjoy!

(this shake recipe will feed an entire family - reduce portions for individual and smaller groups)

Kale Shake Recipe #2

A handful of Kale

4 bananas

2 cups of sweet potato (cooked/ mashed/fries/ with or without skin)

1 cup milk

1 cup fruit juice of your choice

2 cups ice

Blend together. Enjoy!

(I liked the second shake better! This is again a family size portion.... reduce to accomodate your needs!)

Kale is now officially a staple part of our family's diet!

Even if you think your family wouldn't like it!

I encourage you to try!

You might be surprised!

Sweet Blessings!

R.

On This Day....

It is always good, not to lose sight of our God given role.

On this day, I am very thankful for my precious Beloved...... who works so hard for our family, who loves the Blessings and me, and is consistently striving to honor God!

Thank you for being in our lives!

We love you so much!





Happy Father's Day!

R.

Naturally Better........

With 4 small Blessings, we want to take care of our property with the least amount of pesticides possible. I did a little research recently and came upon this... weed killing formula. A comparison was made between three different homemade recipe suggestions and it was found that the best weed killing formula is the following. We did have to spray the weeds about 3 times to completely kill them off, but because it involved no pesticides, we found it to be well worth it!

HOMEMADE WEED KILLER

1/8 of a cup of any type of dish soap

1 gallon of vinegar

Mix in a gallon size container and then pour off a small portion into a spray bottle. Label the bottle well (this solution looks like water)!!!! Go spray away your weeds.  Weeds will immediately start turning brown, but to kill off completely you will want to spray several times.

Enjoy your lush flowers, trees, and yard....  FREE OF WEEDS!!!!!

While this isn't our backyard, it does happen to be close to our home. The weather here has been off this year, this was taken recently (not by me), during one of our many afternoon storms. Isn't it beautiful?

Precious Blessings!

R.



The Table..... and The Blessings

This was the vintage looking table that I found at SA..... last summer. I fell in love and knew it would be perfect for our home.

This was after I painted the table black... but before I antiqued or sealed it.

This looks a little blurry but is the table antiqued and ready to use.

I have photos taken of the table all dressed up, but

I guess we haven't uploaded them yet. Once we upload, I will post how wonderful it looks all dressed up! It is perfect for our sized family!

I am now working on a dresser for the Blessings! It has been painted sage green. It will look lovely when it is all in place!

This is how we set up The Blessings for our family card this year.... but sadly, though they were printed and paid for they never got out. Perhaps next year we will send out two.

It is a snowy day here..... where I would love to stay in pajamas and do this.....



but alas.... there is laundry, cleaning, Blessings entertaining, painting, birthday celebrations preparations, and organizing to do!

Perhaps I will be able to grab just a moment or two.

Have a wonderful day!

R.

Just a little light in the darkness....

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven!"

Matthew 5:16

Aren't these thought provoking? I have always loved to watch the light spread throughout the room at a candlelight service.

Life here at Heart and Home has been full. While, The Blessings and I have had a bout or two with the flu, I am also in the midst of lots of creative projects.  Whenever we take the Blessings to the library, I scour the decorator/home furnishing/furniture refinishing section to see what's in that I have previously missed. The creative juices flow freely on a daily basis now for many current as well as future projects. Beloved tolerates it all fairly well and I endeavor to keep the messes to minimum when he gets home from work. Of course the curious thing about all the above is that we are also in the midst of a major family budgeting/future planning overhaul.... which means the decorator bug must be kept in check with the budget at all times. So there are no wild splurges going on at this point.... but there is a lot of creativity. Pinterest has become a new found love as well. So many wonderful ideas feed the mind, heart, and soul. Ahh, if only I had boundless hours in a day to devote to it all! But... stay tuned... for I will soon give a peak or two at some of the wonderful things going on here at HaH!

Precious Blessings!

Real or Fabricated?

Beloved thinks this is fabricated and edited, but I thought it looked pretty real. What's your guess?

A little of Estes' beauty

This was from our recent trip to the Estes. Even though we have somewhat similar views here, it never ceases to take my breath away! We couldn't have picked a better time to visit.... the weather was wonderful and the leaves were at their prime.

Enjoy!

R.