How to Make Banana Chips

You are what you eat.

We're bananas.

Bananas are an excellent source of potassium.  I learned from my renaissance festival performer days, if you are sweating out of every pore and losing electrolytes (all day every day when you are performing on a 90 degree day wearing 4 layers of clothing) the best way to replace them is to eat a banana. This is why race organizers have bananas for the runners to eat after every 5K race or fun walk.

Now you know.

Unfortunately bananas are squishy fruit and don't survive well in a backpack, purse, or tote bag for later in the day. Fortunately banana chips do. We don't perform at the ren fair anymore but I still like to toss a container of banana chips in my bag when play in the park or whatever in case I get a little woggy from the heat.

Later I found out some banana chips are fried to make them crisp or have a sugar coating to make them sweeter. That's not quite what we want in a banana chip.

Luckily, dried banana chips are easy to make if you can slice and forget for a bit. No extra frying or adding sugar either!

13 Steps to a Better Me

The thing Husband and I forgot when it comes to working with and rehabilitating a dog with behavioral fear issues is how hard and frustrating it can be in the beginning!

We love Lacey and our committed to helping with her issues. But we are empathizing with all of those second time around parents who also forget that as wonderful and sweet newborns are, there are times when they drive you crazy! Parental sleep deprivation when the baby refuses to go to sleep night after night after night anyone?

Thankfully, Lacey sleeps through the night. However, her fears gives her the attention span of a gnat. That can be frustrating when we are trying to work on something or after an evening of barking jags because the neighbors are having a BBQ.


I wrote on my DIY blog Condo Blues about the light bulb moment I experienced when I realized why Lacey didn't always do as I said and how my frustration feed into her frustration to boomerang back at me. Of course the first instinct is to blame the dog but to be honest,  a big chunk of the problem is me (you can read about it here.)

I need to get my head back in the game. I can’t expect Lacey to consistently confident if I don’t give her a good example to follow.

I've spent the last year putting everything but me first that I haven't even been on my own list.

Sound familiar to anyone?

The Easiest and Cheapest Kitchen Cabinet Organizer in the World!

The lower corner cabinet in my kitchen is a hot mess. It is great for storing small appliances and things I don't use often but still accessible, you know, in case we run into a waffle making emergency or something.

Well, it is accessible in theory.

Most of the time the corner cabinet looks like I shoved stuff in and slammed the door before the pile exploded into the kitchen.

I am not proud of this.

Do you know why?

27 Quick and Easy Dinner Ideas for Families

I am spending all of my spare time, and not so spare time, working with Lacey on her fear issues. In the meantime, Husband and I need dinner recipes that use a short list of common real food ingredients that are easy to make and come together quickly.

I asked the smartest people I know – my Facebook friends (you can be one too, click here to Like my page!) for their easy family dinner ideas.

You can easily adjust most of these recipes to fit your family and what is in your cupboards. Can’t eat gluten? Switch to a gluten free pasta or flour. Don’t like vegetarian? Toss in some meat. Don't like canned ingredients? Use fresh or frozen. Don't have fresh? Do just the opposite. You get the drill.

Let’s eat!

Easy Chicken Dinner Ideas

Paleo Primal Chicken Tacos with Bacon   from Tiffany of Nature Moms says, "If I have 10-20 minutes I make tacos. I made paleo tacos for dinner tonight and boy were they ever good!! I don't miss tortillas or taco shells at all when I eat these! Plus, they are a snap to make."

Chicken Pepper Stir Fry from Angie Country Chic Cottage. Like Angie, stir frys paired with brown rice are a quick meal staple at my house.

April Earth Day and Allergy Coupons

April is Earth Day/Earth Month. That means some of those wonderful, wonderful plant based products that never seen to go on sale - DO!

I want to share those coupons with you. There are allergy medicine coupons too. You know, because it is Spring.

If you don't see that tickles your fancy listed in this post, there are more printable coupons available here.

I am a Coupons.com affiliate and recieve a small commission on every coupon you print that help me keep this blogging running at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support! You can print two copies of each coupon per computer unless the coupon indicates otherwise.

Earth Day Coupons

 

Big Balance Bar Giveaway!

Husband like to keep energy bars around in case he needs one after working out at the gym. Sounds like a simple purchase, right?

Not always. When you read that the ingredients in a lot of so called healthy energy bars are full of high fructose corn syrup and are more like eating a candy bar than something that is supposed to replace protein and carbs after a five mile run.

In this type of situation, it would be easier to bake them myself. I have several recipes for energy bars but haven’t gotten around to trying them. Helping and rehabilitating Lacey with her fear of ,well, just about everything, is the priority right now. That doesn’t give me time for side projects like baking energy bars.

The friendly folks at Balance Bar  offered to help us out and send us (Husband, really) samples of their new line – Balance Bar Dark. Of course, before I agreed to anything I had to research Balance Bar and the ingredients in Balance Bar Dark. Balance Bar Dark bars do not contain high fructose corn syrup. They are high in protein, certified gluten free, contain certified kosher dairy and 4 grams of fiber per serving. Balance Bar Dark follows the 40-30-30 nutrition principle, which Balance Bar explains better than I can.

" 40% of the calories come from carbohydrates - specially blended with our unique protein blend and dietary fat to help promote a slow glycemic response and sustain your energy levels.

30% of the calories come from quality protein - a combination of whey, milk and soy protein for muscle recovery.

30% of the calories come from dietary fat - a concentrated source of energy and source of essential fatty acids."

Husband likes the ingredients in Balance Bar Dark. I like Balance Bar Dark uses Rainforest Alliance Certified Cocoa. OK then. Let’s sample!

Husband tried all three Balance Bar Dark flavors Dark Chocolate Coconut, Dark Chocolate Crunch, and Dark Chocolate Peanut. Husband the dark chocolate is an immediate plus. He was pleasantly surprised Balance Bar Dark tastes more like an energy bar than like a candy bar as other chocolate energy bars he has tried do – another big plus. The only criticism Husband has is that the name of the Dark Chocolate Coconut should say Toasted Coconut because “toasted coconut is even better than coconut!”

How to Shop Seasonally and Save Money when Nothing is Growing Locally

I had a Facebook conversation (Like my fan page pretty please?) about how much money our families spend on groceries each month.  The conversation eventually turned, as it usually does, to complaining that   fresh fruit and vegetables cost a lot more money.

I used to think that way about buying fresh fruit and vegetables too.

I also got frustrated when the media told me to eat locally and in season. Well that is all very well and good if you live in an area with a year round growing season. I don't. I shop Ohio grown as much as I can in the summer. I can’t during the winter and spring. Ohio has six months out of every year where nothing grows – including root vegetables.

From winter to spring, I sucked it up and paid the extra money if I wanted a summer squash or whatever. My grocery bill fluctuates seasonally. Less in summer, more in winter. I didn’t like it but I didn’t want to eat canned vegetables to cut costs either – yuck.