Salt and Vinegar Kale Chips

Admittedly I am very bored with food.  Yes, yes, I know food is not here to entertain and please me but to serve as a source of energy and nutrients for my body to function.  The problem is I get bored eating healthy because I don't have a variety of healthy recipes in my arsenal.  Armed with a ton of kale in my refrigerator I was determined to do something different.  I did hear mention of Kale Chips a while ago so I was up to the challenge.  A quick Pinterest search yielded options galore but who doesn't love Salt & Vinegar potato chips.  Salt, vinegar, olive oil and kale.  Easy peasy!!!

So get your ingredients mix them up to you liking put it on the pan and bake.  This is really something that is a purely to your liking type deal.  Experiment to find what you like.  Flavor, crispness, type of kale, etc.  It was fun having my girls come taste and give the "not-quite-thumbs-up-but- let's-tweak-this" approval.  If that is really and approval.  They helped and we determined a bit more vinegar and more salt would be fine.  These shrivel up quite a bit as you can so so pack as much as you can on your baking sheet but make sure it is still only one layer.

We even burned a batch causing the smoke detector to go off so keep a close eye and check often.  One minute does make a difference in hearing your smoke detector go off.  This is going to definitely be made again!!!  Probably a lot.

I can't wait to try with Old Bay, Curry, Chile and Lime.  So many options.

Fit Test 2

I am still going strong with INSANITY. Today was my 2nd Fit Test. I am pleased to see my work is paying off.

I think I have another one 2 weeks from now so I really have to continue to push myself.

Bummed - Low Iron Means No Blood Donation

As you may have read in previous posts I am all for making sure those who can donate blood do so. Yesterday when I went to do my donation they told me I couldn't. Yep, my iron count was to low. In order to donate you have to have a hemoglobin level of 12.5 g/dL. My count was only 12.3. Waaaaa, I want to cry. They allow you to try twice and both times it was 12.3. This has actually happened before but when they did my second prick to get my level I was where I needed to be to donate.

Boooo, to me. I want to cry. For some reason I feel really bad. The nurse told me there are a number of reasons that can cause it but I can try again in 24 hours. I think I will try to make sure I eat really healthy this week and try again next Monday.

So what can I do. They gave me a list advising me to increase my intake of high iron foods. I think I see where I went wrong.   Having been on vacation last week I wasn't eating the greatest but was taking an iron supplement. Obviously not enough.

Wish me luck for next week. Now all I have to do is find a place.

Oh, and they were really nice. They let me take a snack and gave me some flip flops anyway.  I am pretty sure for the month of August if you donate you get a pair of flip flops.  The flip flops are pretty cool too. If you walk in the sand it will leave an imprint that says Give Blood. Neat!!

Ooops..the flip flop is upside down. You get the idea.  GIVE BLOOD.

I GAVE TODAY!!

I am happy to say that I went and gave blood today. It has been since before my kids that I have given but hopefully this will start me back to a regular donation schedule.

Of course it seemed like it took forever but part of it was my fault. If you have never given blood before they ask you a bunch of questions one of which is if you have been out of the United States or Canada in the last year. Me with my horrible memory says yes I went to Mexico last summer. The tech asked for where in Mexico and they couldn't find Riviera Maya in their database. So they had to make a phone call and the interrogation was about to start. "What airport? How did you get to the hotel?" I called my hubby while they were still looking in the database and come to find out it was 2008 that we went. That was a 10 minute waste of time.

Then the girl who did me othewise known as the phlebotomist was new. I could tell but I relaxed. She was slow more than anything, double checking each of her steps meticulously, which was fine with me. She called in help when she needed it and the blood drainage process went smoothly and I was out the door.

I guess that is what I get for waiting so long. The plan is to donate every 8 weeks. I just wish I could track where my blood goes. It would be interesting to find out who has it.

GIVE BLOOD...

It has been so long since I have given blood I am ashamed of myself. One of the threads of a forum I frequent asked members what their blood type is. Everyone chimed in about their blood types and genetics and as I was reading I began to feel really guilty. I used to donate blood once or twice a year at least when I was much younger. There is no excuse I can give for why I stopped so I won't even make one. Their is no excuse for a healthy person with the ability to give blood not to give blood.

After reading through the thread I promptly got on the American Red Cross website to find where I could donate. It is as easy as putting in your zipcode and a list of blood drives in your area come up. For most of them you can make your appointment right online!! My gym is having a blood drive in a few weeks so I scheduled my appointment.

I am excited to start getting back to the old me(that is another story) and giving blood was always something that made me feel like I was helping someone else. If you can give blood please do.