Color me healthy. No, seriously. Try to.

I did one thing today that I pretty much swore I'd never do. No, you weirdo, I did not healthify chocolate chip cookies, thankyouverymuch. I told you I would never do that and on that, you have my word. I made homemade crackers. Not that I have anything against it. Certain circumstances, like dietary restrictions, make it reasonable to make something like that. It's just not something I was ever planning on doing. But. I did. And they were pretty good. The kids helped me cut them out with miniature cookie cutters, so it was a fun thing to do with the girlies. Heaven knows I have enough girls to include in things.

Oh. And a second thing. I made healthified popsicles. Hoo boy. I didn't make them in a these-are-just-as-good-as-ice-cream-sandwiches way, I made them in a these-are-a-funner-way-to-eat-your-veggies way. And I told my kids as much. They have the choice to take 'em or leave 'em. The girlies all claim they are delicious. Logan hasn't taken the plunge. Hey, if they are falling for it...

Plus, a third thing. I healthified dessert. Well, it goes like this. I love dessert. And I rarely reward myself with (homemade) dessert. That being said, I'm not against a cookie here and there. Or Dove Dark Chocolate. Anywho, healthified homemade dessert = less guilt. And, it actually was good. If it wasn't, I wouldn't waste the calories. Trust me. Win, win. It included my two favorite fruits: nectarines and raspberries. So why not? Of course, this is coming from the lady who decided, halfway into the abs challenge, that two months of really healthy eating was over the top and proceeded to make up for lost time with two varieties of Oreos and pizza. Heh. Hey, if it isn't good- don't waste your time putting it in your mouth. (When I Z suggested we invite someone over to share this dessert, I quickly vetoed him. I'm not pushing health upon my guests. I will feed them the sinfully delicious variety. Plus, it didn't make a big pan and I wasn't against cleaning out the remainder myself.)

The links that I included are from two different websites that I've stumbled upon. The eighty twenty website is new to me. LoVe. I love her concept. It suits me well. As a matter of fact, it's like she stole thoughts from my head. And the other one? Well. She doesn't buy snacks for her kid(s). She makes them all from scratch. Which is great in theory, but something tells me that she doesn't have as many kids as I do. But it got me thinking, maybe I could be a little healthier with my kids meals during the school year.

And I've set some goals for myself.

1. Wake up a half an hour before my kids, to enjoy the calm before the storm. Idea taken from Molly Shannon. Great idea. On the rare occasion that I do this, I never regret it. I'm hoping that over the summer I've learned to love waking up to an alarm clock. Heh.

2. In that time, I can start on a real breakfast for my kids. Cold cereal will be for weekends. I need to keep those bellies full. Some grades eat really late and I don't need my kids to be distracted by their bellies screaming from hunger. I'm ahead of the game and have been baking things like muffins and pancakes in excess and freezing them for an easy breakfast.

3. Pack healthier lunches. A water, good sandwich, something healthy (yogurt, fruit, string cheese, etc.) and healthier treat (dark chocolate or something).

Hoo boy. This is a lot of goals and I'll probably crash and burn two weeks into it. And my kids will be waking up ten minutes late because the snooze button has become my friend and they will be trying to shovel as much cold cereal as they can into their mouths before the bus comes and grabbing a Lunchable on the way out the door. Actually, scratch the Lunchable part. For the same price, they can eat an equally questionable, but warm school lunch. But you get the picture.

Picture. Oh, picture! That's right. Isn't my cayenne pepper beautiful? I can't wait to try it in my Migas tonight. YUM-O. I should have waited until it was completely red, but I got ahead of myself. It's just so pretty with all the different colors it is wrapped in.

So. I can't talk anymore. I have an Oreo in my mouth.