A Healthy, Tasty Lunch

I'm just like every other women in the world, I love find new recipes on Pinterest. Some I make straight up, some I tweak. Here's a tweak, that is DELISH!

1 Everything Bagel Thin
1 Tbsp Fat Free Cream Cheese
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Pepperoncini Slices
1.5oz Shredded Chicken
1/4c Avocado

Toast the bagel thing. Pile high. Get ready to enjoy every bite.



It's a super healthy lunch and really, really tasty. The only catch is that it's a bit messy (it kind of landslides). So grab some napkins.

We gave Mckenna a deconstructed twist on this (sandwiches that aren't held together with PB or melted cheese usually end up that way anyways). I told her it was an "appetizer plate" so she wouldn't wonder why I gave her such a mash up.

For her plate, we swapped out the chicken to cottage cheese, so she could use it like dip for all the goodies (avocado, cucumber and tomatoes). We also threw in some veggie straws for added dipped pleasure. I'm not sure that she loves cream cheese, as she ate the least amount of the bagel and cream cheese (we rarely have cream cheese, so I'm not sure if it was a fluke or a preference). But the rest went down the hatch joyfully. She loved it so much that she requested an "app plate" for dinner with the same stuff. I switched it up a bit (swapping the bagel and cream cheese for some apples and bananas). I had never tried the "app plate" angle in the past (she's had random meals full of finger foods in the past, but never gave it a name) and boy did the name stick. Give it a shot. We found it's a good way to pile small amounts of left overs all onto one plate :)

A Story To Make You Smile

If you ask Ronnie, or anyone else in my family, they'll tell you I read too many stories online. And they're probably right. I'm a sucker for all those shocking headlines that pop up on my Facebook newsfeed. Most of them get read in the middle of the night when I'm up feeding baby N or have been up for one of the kiddos and can't fall right back to sleep. I love the sad ones, the happy ones, and the shocking ones. But most of all, I love the ones that genuinely make my heart happy.

I saw a story tonight that made my heart truly happy. It's about a 91-year-old woman that started working at a top design firm. I'm not sure what made me the happiest. Maybe the fact that that sweet little old lady had the courage to apply for the job in the first place, or maybe that she gets there taking public transportation and using Costco ski poles she modified. It could be the fact that she works sitting on a couch. But mostly, I think it's the fact that they send a company-wide email announcing her arrival so everyone can greet her on her one day a week, to give her a hug. I also love the fact that they seem to really value her wisdom. I can only imagine the how valued it must make her feel as a person and how spry she must feel on Thursdays (her workday) regardless of how she feels other days of the week.

This is a great reminder of the value elderly people can have in our communities if we were to give them the opportunity to share what they know. It's also a great reminder that sometimes it's less about doing what makes sense, and more about what enhances the lives of people around us. Because I'd say everyone is winning in this story!

Check out the story HERE!

Guilty Pleasures We Love to Eat

For those of you who know the Sharpe clan, you know we have some major guilty pleasures when it comes to snacks and foods. We like to eat fairly healthy, but we do have some favorites that we tend to eat (read: OVEReat).

Thin Mint Cookies - Thankfully this is only 1 time a year. But my all time favorite are Thin Mints. I've been known to polish off a whole box in a day....yes, you read that right. I try to limit myself to 5 or 6 boxes a season. Don't do the math on the number of calories that is!

Birthday Cake - This one is Ronnie's FAVORITE. We have bought birthday cake on many occasions when no birthday was anywhere to be seen on the calendar. On Ronnie's birthday this year, Ronnie ate cake for all his meals and snacks, except breakfast. You call that overkill? We call that commitment.

Costco's Fruit and Nut Medley - The old classic. People like to pretend trail mix is healthy. And we like to convince ourselves of that. And while trail mix isn't bad for you, it does pack a mean caloric punch. A bag of this stuff doesn't last long in our house...which means in a very short time we consume enough nuts and dried fruit for a lifetime.

Mints - This one is mainly Mckenna's guilty pleasure, but Ronnie and I partake. Wintergreen mints are usually the preferred mint. I actually have a theory in which I can pick out the softest of the batch, and those are my favorite. It's pretty sick...and I don't mean sick as in cool. Mckenna will choose mints over pretty much any other candy, if given the choice.

Muddy Buddies - These are mainly my favorite. But Ronnie and Keni will house their fair share. I've been known to make a couple cups of it at a time to eat as dessert, a snack, or even (shhhh) a meal.

Candy - This one I won't even narrow down because, well, we don't discriminate, really. If it's found in the candy aisle, we probably overeat it. Jelly beans, jelly bellies, candy hearts, snickers, twix, smarties, chewy sweet tarts.

There you have it...the yummiest list of goodness that if you're looking to put on some unhealthy weight, this may be a perfect place to start ;-)