Thursday, January 9, 2014

Inspiring quote

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”                                                 ~ Maryanne Williamson

I just watched the movie Akeelah and the Bee, and her coach has her read a version of this quote. It really spoke to me. It's all about having self-confidence, and how having a positive attitude about yourself helps others feel good about themselves, too. I'm not actually sure if this is the case (I have plenty of friends/acquaintances who have self-esteem issues), but I like to think that my confidence helps them know that it is possible to love yourself unconditionally, and how everyone in their own way is special. Akeelah's coach in this movie had this quote hanging in a frame on his wall. Maybe we all should to remind us of how amazing each of us is! 

Monday, January 6, 2014

Healthy Dessert

Ok, that's kind of an oxymoron. I guess pretty much all desserts have sugar in them, which is not the healthiest thing in the world to eat. However, a friend and I made frozen yogurt sundaes the other day, and I thought of this treat as rather guilt-free.


1 cup frozen yogurt (Ice cream would work, too, but wouldn't be as healthy.)
1 cup berries (We used strawberries and blueberries.)
1 handful of chocolate-covered pretzels, broken up into tiny pieces (We used gluten-free ones.)
Chocolate syrup and/or fruit syrup (Ok, this part isn't healthy at all. So you could skip this.)

This dessert was so tasty, and since the serving is rather small, we didn't feel like gluttons afterwards. Try it!

Thursday, January 2, 2014

My chicken salad recipe

I made chicken salad for the first time yesterday. I love chicken salad, but I had never actually made it before because of the effort it takes to chop up the chicken (yes, I'm that lazy). But I happened to have some already cooked chicken breast strips, so the hard part was half-way over with anyway. So here's my completely made-up recipe (for one serving):

2 cups cooked chicken (cubed)
1 tablespoon mayonaise
2 shredded baby carrots
3 tiny pickle slices, diced
A dash of celery seeds (since I didn't have actual celery)
A small handful of Craisins (I like them better than raisins)

If I had had grapes and/or curry powder, I would have added those, too. I love the mix of sweet/tangy/spicy in chicken salad!

You can eat this on crackers, over a bed of lettuce, on a sandwich, or just by itself! What's your favorite made-up recipe?