Clean house and healthy body

Lately when I ask Rose to help me with some household chore, especially picking up her toys, she tells me that I should do it because her arms hurt, or she's so tired, or because "you like to clean, Mommy." I usually respond that I do not like to clean, but I like to have a clean house, and there's only one way to get it.

As any visitor to our house will tell you, we don't live in a magazine house, and there's a reason the playroom has a door. So I can close it. But I'm better at doing chores that I used to greatly dislike. I start a load of laundry every morning, wash all the dishes every evening right after dinner, wipe down the bathroom periodically, and sweep the kitchen floor.

Soon after we moved in to this house, looking out the dirty kitchen window was bugging me so much that I decided to clean it, inside and out. Just looking out that window now still makes me feel happy. every. single. time. I like having a clean house.

Recently a friend of mine told another friend, "Lorraine actually likes eating carrots and celery all day." What I really like are Doritos, dark chocolate, lemon squares, and cheesecake. I also like feeling healthy and having the energy to attempt staying one step ahead of my kids, not to mention being able to button my pants. I also want my kids to like good food, so I try to make our meals as clean and simple and unprocessed as possible.

The good news is that healthy habits are also delicious. Fruits and a lot of vegetables are naturally sweet. My kids call frozen corn "candy corn" and they love plain carrots and cucumbers. When I got kale in my food co-op basket a few months back, I googled a few recipes. I decided to try kale chips. All the recipe descriptions and comments went on and one about how much kale chips taste just like potato chips.

That is a lie. Especially if you have just eaten potato chips. I have an unpublished post exposing kale chips, but I kept making them and I have somehow become addicted to kale chips. Elijah likes them, too.

So... clean house, healthy body, there's a spiritual principle here as well, but I think I'll just wrap up with this recipe.

Kale chips
1 bunch fresh kale, washed, dried, thick stems removed, and torn into bite-sized pieces.
Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
Bake in a 275 degree oven for 15 minutes, turn with a spatula, and bake till crispy.

And a bonus: Pineapple Pomegranate Pistachio Salad
Fresh grapefuit, mandarin oranges, pineapple, pomegranate, pistachios

It's a rainbow in your bowl.


And this story. Today I picked up Elijah who was crying "Mommy, Mommy," and I changed his diaper and said, "you're so tired. Let's take a nap." And without missing a beat his cry changed to "Daddy, Daddy." Ha.