Best Healthy Fruit Salad Period

It's been way to long since my last post but I wanted my comeback to be different than an upset of what's been going on. Or just a sequence of photos. So here it is, a recipe...

Earth shaking. I know.

This entire recipe is less than 150 calories, loaded with vitamin C and potassium if you make it similar to how I have in this version. Mind you, it's fresh fruit so I have made it slightly different every time.

The thing I like about this dressing is the lovely gloss it adds to the fruit. Makes for a very pleasant presentation.

Ingredients:

Dressing:
1/4 cup Honey
1/4 cup lime juice (or the juice of two large limes)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)
Lime zest from one lime (I eyeball this one)

Fresh (mostly) fruit:
1 quart container of strawberries
1 cup grapes halved (red or green or both)
1 cup blueberries
1 can (11 oz.) Mandarin oranges
2 kiwis
1 cup papaya

Mix your dressing with a whisk. Pour over your diced fruit. Gently toss your salad.

Done!

I have topped my salad with the kiwi slices in the past but mixed them in this time.

Alternatively, I have added pecans, raspberries, cantaloupe, and/or red grapes. You could add all kinds of your favorites but I possibly would avoid apples or pears. Not that I don't love these fruits, but they just don't seem right for this recipe to me. 

Feel free to try whatever combinations you like. I aim for color variations.

As a side note, I usually have whip cream available for my husband to add to his own bowl but honestly, even with my sweet tooth I think the honey is enough.

I would love to hear about your variations so leave me a comment or send me a message.

Thanks for reading!

Busiest Summer Yet! I'm a New Mommy!

I'm EXHAUSTED!!! So let me tell you where this summer went in the House of Jensen this year.

This summer was probably one of the nicest weather summers we have had in the Pacific Northwest for YEARS. I mean, just gorgeous sunny days. Ok, maybe towards the end of summer it was a little on the humid side but other than that, it was great! But I really didn't get to enjoy the weather outside as much as I had hoped. I got some jogging in but virtually no hiking. :'(

I did get to do a tiny bit of this: (La Wis Wis & Mt. Rainier)

But that was not even until SEPTEMBER!!! And it wasn't even a hike! I miss hiking and I HAD hoped to do a great deal of it this summer since my cousin had whipped me and our friend Candi into shape last year. But this was a busy summer none-the-less.

My buddy Candi got married at the very end of September and both my cousin and I were also in the wedding party. so we were pretty wrapped up in the planning all summer. No joke, she had her wedding the first week of Fall and it stormed like a berserker! 40-50 MPH gusts of wind! Power outages aside, the wedding was beautiful and the reception was really fun!

This summer was full of baby showers, garage sales, visiting family, and even my very first (and possibly last) Mud Run!

Planning wedding showers and attending bachelorette parties kept us all pretty busy, but the biggest distraction, or commitment I had this summer, starting at the beginning of July was Henry.

No I didn't have a baby, or even adopt, but we did get a new little puppy. Not just any puppy, a hound puppy. Yes, the whole, Roo-Roo-Roo bit and everything.

Henry, as we have so named him, is a Walker Coonhound, bread for hunting and chasing down large prey animals like bears and cougars, as well as racoons or other small animals.

For those of you who might not know me all that well, I have been trying to convince my husband that we need a dog for at least 12 years. I just assumed we could rescue a potty trained angel looking for their "forever home." My husband thought otherwise, believing we would do better training a puppy from the get go and avoiding any possible bad habits... while of course, ignoring the fact that we would be creating them ourselves. 

I wanted a dog I could eventually jog with but not necessarily one that would chase all manner of small critters. So far, he hasn't shown much interest in chasing other animals... but he's only 13 weeks old.

So here is the real reason I have found time to write this update blog post. I am having separation anxiety about Henry's first day alone (in his Kennel). Up until today, Henry has spent time with either my parents or myself or an occasional kind auntie. Thank goodness he's so cute, or I probably wouldn't have had as much help in these first few weeks. I am in serious debt to my supportive family and friends for all their time and advice as well. Henry was a little young when we got him, so he needed tons more babying than a dog you would get at 9 weeks, Henry was only 5!

Puppies that young take a serious amount of effort for potty training and just reassurance. But like a protective mommy that I am, I watched every poo, monitored  his food intake and tried to mold his sleeping habits. We are crate training, but I had a tough time not just snuggling him back to sleep out on the couch. I still take naps with him that way.

The reality is, no matter what dog we would have gotten, they would have to learn to spend some of the workday alone. This is not unusual, and I totally accepted that it was going to happen. Eventually. But my baby is now at a point where he either learns to adjust to some lonesome time, or I pay buco-bucks for puppy day-care. And we simply cannot afford that.

I'll keep you posted about his progress much like new parents do on their mommy blogs, because in a way, I too am a new mommy. My best friend Kyla even sent me a new baby congratulations card, complete with a gift card to PetSmart to get Henry a special prize. (Thanks again Kyla!) 

Here is what Henry looks like as of 13 weeks: 

I work from home one day a week and this is what it looks like: (Hey mom, when can we play again? Whatever you are doing can't possibly be as cute as I am, right?)

Who could say NO to that face? It's tough I tell you!

I'm pretty sure there will be hundreds more photos of Henry to share in the coming months. So please stay tuned. I also have some fun crafts that I made shortly before bin Hank's arrival that I hope to post on here as well.

Thanks for reading!

Father's Day Gift - Fishing Tackle Box

So for Father's Day I made a little gift this year I made a neat little treat box for my Dad. I'm under the impression he doesn't get treats too often, but I might be mistaken. Either way, I wanted to include candy as well as non-sweet treats he could take with him when he goes out fishing with his buddies.

The examples I found online were equally as cute but used baby food bottles. There are no babies in this house, and I didn't have enough time to ask my friends to save their jars for me. This project can be made in very little time, which means I did it sort of last minute... typical for me.

I got my jars from the DollarTree and drew up my labels myself in Photoshop® and everything else I had on hand. Well, except the treats of course!

I had a box that fit 6 pint sized mason jars perfectly so I covered that in scrapbook paper. You could also cover your box in the wood patterned contact paper they have at the DollarTree and make your box look a little more authentically wooden or antique.

I printed my labels out on heavy weight white paper, but I would suggest using a cream color to make it look a little more vintage.

I used my 2.5 inch circle punch for the lid labels, and they worked out perfect! I just attached the labels to the lid with double sided tape, again, on-hand.

The side labels were also simply taped on with double sided tape. I cut them out by hand. I customized my labels to say what was in each jar.

My treats were:

• Swedish Fish
• Gummy Worms
• Peanut M&Ms
• Sunflower Seeds
• Mixed Nuts
• Goldfish Crackers

You could use all kinds of treats but I tried to stay with the fishing theme mostly. I added some labels to the box itself and voilà! There you have a sweet little treat box for dad on Father's Day or maybe for his birthday. And it doesn't have to be for only dad, it can be for any Fisher-person you have in your life!

FREE DOWNLOAD LABELS

Here are the labels I made in a free PDF download.

2 Minute Book Review: Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen

Reading time for this post: 1 minute, 30 seconds. Read it Later

Book: Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen
Author: Susan Gregg Gilmore
Audiobook read by: Tavia Gilbert

Since I haven't written in so long I thought I'd ease back into the swing of things with a short little book review. I don't give a review for every book I read but focus on the ones I really liked (our didn't) that aren't already on everyone's summer reading lists.

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen was a sweet little story about a small town girl dreaming of escaping to the big city of Atlanta. But as she begins her adventure in the exciting metropolis she's brought back home by tragedy and life altering news, changing her perspective of the place she grew up.

What I did liked:
The characters I this story were likeable even at their worst. I found the main character, Catherine Grace a realistic portrayal of a girl. Too often I read stories where a character is exaggerated as a story device rather than a believable or relatable person. This book's characters have personalities that tell you their back story without needing the extra chapters and I appreciate that. It's as though the author is giving the reader a little credit for a change! I also appreciate an ending where you can assume the best but it isn't completely tied up with a big shiny bow.

What I didn't like: 

This story starts when the main character is in her early teens so the beginning felt a bit slow but was necessary for character development. Another gripe I had was that many of the characters names were very similar which made parts of the story a little bit difficult to follow but that is likely because up here in Washington, we don't typically use both our first and middle names in conversation. Also some, but not all, of the secrets were given away I felt a little too soon in the story.

Verdict: 
Read this one, it'll make you crave a dilly bar from Dairy Queen for sure but it's worth the temptation. This is a charming little coming of age story but with surprising depth and themes worth discussing with friends or in a reading group. 

DIY Jar Soap Dispensers

SUPER CUTE GIFT ALERT!

These were a hit at the baby shower last spring and this last Christmas and quite inexpensive to make. And who doesn't need soap? It's a nice way to personalize a little, one of the most impersonal gifts I think a person can give, lol!

You can make this as hard or difficult for yourself as you'd like, and as a life rule, I decided on the difficult route. Even the difficult route is pretty simple so don't panic.

Here's what you'll need:

glass canning jars (pint sized is great)
galvanized lids - pre-drilled (This is just my preference. See link for available options)
high-temp hot glue gun
high temp glue
sand paper
soap pump
*optional glass beads
*optional twine or ribbon

I have used the lids that come with the jars, but I don't think they are as nice as the galvanized lids available out there. There are many places to order lids for your jars, in wide mouth OR regular just make sure you buy the right size to fit your jars.

You can get a pack of 12 wide mouth lids from Factory Direct Craft.com for less than six bucks! But you will need to do some work to the lids. You can buy their pumps too and not have to worry about them fitting into the pre-drilled lids, but I figured, why waste money on something I will end up buying anyways, right?

Besides, I prefer the foaming soap dispensers and they didn't appear to have those available through the same store. The only problem with the foaming soap pumps is that they are pretty wide. The smart way to make the holes bigger in these galvanized tin lids would be to use a drill it attachment and quickly drill the right sized hole. That is not how I roll though...

In all my low tech awesomeness, I just used a set of pliers and sorta peeled back the edges of the hole until I had increased the width enough to insert the pump... no measuring. Just insert pliers, bend the edge back and test.I apologize for not having a pict of this part of the process but it seems I was so unhappy with all of the pictures I took of that part, that I deleted them and have none left. Oops!

Once the hole is large enough, just slip the pump through. Make sure the hole is not so big that there is a big gap you have to fill later with hot glue. I sanded the section of the plastic pump that shows through the hole so the hot glue will have something to grab instead of just slick plastic. Trust me, I did not spend much time or effort making this part of the pump look fabulous, and neither should you.

Before I glued anything down, I screwed the lid on the jar. This is sort of an important step if you car about the logo showing on the front of your soap dispenser. Then I put the pump facing the direction I thought was most pleasing and made a mark on the underside of the lid. This might require a little bit of hand coordination so as not to accidentally move or misalign, but if you care enough about this part then you will get it right.

All finished with that, I hot glued everything in place. I suggest that you use high temperature hot glue because it has a stronger bond. Hot glue will also cover the sharp edges that you will make when you resize the hole, adding a little bit of protection for your fingers when you get ready to refill.

If you used the pint size jar, you will need 16 ounces of soap, and that means TWO Bath&Body soaps, OR you can add some glass beads to help fill the dispenser. I got the glass beads from our local DollarTree store.

Then to pretty them up, I added some twine and some holiday bangles I had! Voilà! A pretty little gift you can personalize via scent and decorations. You can buy these ready made for upwards of $35-$60 dollars online, but why when you can make them?!

Leave me a comment or send me a message and let me know what you think! Maybe I missed a step or didn't describe something well enough? I am happy to help!

Thanks!

Where did Summer GO? Part 1

So I can't believe how this summer has FLOWN by! It makes me a little sad even, to see the last post I had was in July. I have read/ listened to tons of books, at least six I can think of off the top of my head, and I might even review a few on here. This post won't be about books though, and it won't be about crafting, though I suspect I'll be doing more in the coming months. I have ambitious plans for this Christmas, but more on that later!

July was crazy, but August, that is the one that flew by. What I think I'll do in this post is just share some of the pictures from my summertime adventures.

July was full of, (miserable) Jogging, Hiking and Biking... Although I didn't do any of the biking. I'll start first with the biking... My step-father did the Seattle to Portland Bike Ride and my mother and I were the "support staff" for him. (I was there to take pictures and just generally be impressed.)

This, in itself may or may not sound impressive except that the bike ride is 204 miles (328.3 km). Crazy.

My step-father did this in ONE day. Crazier.

My step-father is 70 years-old. Has had two knee replacements and a stint put in. Ridiculousness.

They wrote an article about him in our local newspaper. Complete silliness. (but also kinda cool.)

I will share some of those pictures, plus some my mom doesn't like. I don't care because she posts pictures on Facebook of me every now and then, where I look absolutely terrible and this is my payback. :) (I Love you mom!)

I don't know ANY of these people, but I have MUCH respect for them.
It was quite HOT out when they were riding.

View from the road. I think this is in Kelso...

This is the finish line. Hollowday Park in Portland, OR. When people arrive they
immediate find a place to discard their bike then locate the nearest Beer Garden.

My step-father, Corky, pointing out his next destination, the Beer Garden.

Mom and I on the Support Staff for Corky. We got t-shirts. We really did nothing
but follow him and shop our way south but we had fun, and we took video of him
when he crossed  the finish line.

 And then there was the Hiking...  I've been personally making an effort to lose some weight and I'm have some success. Partly because I am driven see fewer crappy pictures of myself showing up on Facebook (thanks to others who clearly hate me), but mostly because of my two motivators, Jenny and Candi.

These two young women have been at it maybe only a couple months longer than I, but they are doing fantastic! I can't even explain how well they are doing, but I know the pictures you are about to see are a month old now. A month is a LONG time in terms of the amount of weight lost between the three of us. I'm not going to talk about numbers, but I want you to know, these girls are my inspiration, and these pictures don't do anyone any justice. With that said, here are a few that I'm willing to share.

First there was the Gifford Pinchot National Forest Hike near White Pass in Washington State:

Caityn, our Mascot, couldn't seem to get this photo-op together...

I love this view because it's so lovely AND it has
Caityn, my cousin's yellow lab swimming out to
a stick in the middle.

Me, trying not to mess up the picture too much. This is Lake
Packwood or maybe it's Packwood Lake. Either way...

The view from the trail! It's Mt. Rainier!

I'm clearly not tired yet... this should be the beginning
photo. I don't even look sweaty yet in this shot!

And then there was Pete's Creek trail in Olympic National Forest... This one was a beast, and we didn't complete it. Photos never do the wilderness ANY justice. I am so impressed by the beauty of this area.

Colonel Bob - Pete's Creek trail side. Steep but shorter than the
Northern side.

This is the GOOD part of this trail.

This is part of the NOT SO GOOD part.

Rain forest trees are huge.

We stopped when we reached the wildflowers. Apparently about
half way to the top. I hear the view is spectacular though.

I am already planning my next hiking weekend. One last hurrah before the end of the summer. We have such short summers here in the Pacific Northwest. This year might be a little longer.

August, what a whirlwind month! So much happened that I think it's worth a whole separate post.

2 Minute Book Review: The Thirteenth Tale

Reading time for this post: 1 minute, 59 seconds. Read it Later



Book: The Thirteenth Tale

Author: Diane Setterfield

Audiobook read by: Bianca Amato and Jill Tanner

This book is for those who loved reading the classics. This is the story of Vida Winter, an aging reclusive, but quite famous author, who requests a young biographer, Margaret Lea, to write her story. With her strange and secretive past, the ailing Winter weaves a strange and extraordinary tale of her lineage, conjuring tragedy, ghosts, beauty and devastation. Winter is running out of time but she may or may not be ready to tell the whole truth. This Thirteenth Tale is a strange tale indeed.

What I did like:
The writing style is wonderful and I found that my own writing improved during the period I had been reading. I love books that affect me in this way, and they are rare. I personally loved how descriptive the author was, choosing words that were refreshing to the ear. This story is quite a winding tale that remained a mystery up until the very end. Twists and turns abound, I did find myself having to listen more carefully to the narrator so as not to miss any cues or hints. It’s a pleasant surprise when the author doesn’t throw everything out or give it all away in the beginning of the book. There are many layers to this book, and many of my top favorite books are similar in this way. The characters are richly developed and believable.

What I didn't like:
The writing style may be difficult for some, and the biggest complaint I have heard is that because of this, the book feels slow at times. I honestly don’t have any complaints about the Thirteenth Tale. As a side note, I listened to the Unabridged Audiobook, if you might discover you don’t like stories written in the 19th century gothic style but still want to give this story a try, maybe get the Abridged version.

Verdict:
I re-read this book I loved it so much. This review was written after the second reading, and I had at least 3 years since the first go round. This is a book I would gift to my friends or family although it’s an adult story so probably not appropriate for the younger family members. I say adult only because of the mature theme and some pretty serious innuendoes that refer to terrible events. It may sound odd, but the manner on which the book was written, I hardly noticed most of the truly atrocious parts. This would be a good book to analyze with a club or group.

Country Style Baby Shower

First and foremost, this was a team effort!

No way it would have turned out so cool without my Aunt Kathie, her daughter Jennifer and our buddy Candi! Candi, Kathie and Jenny worked on all the beautiful (and fabulously tasty) treats, while I just ate them shamelessly. (Hey, I worked out that morning running up and down the stairs about a bazillion times!)

Baby Wyatt is destined to be a cowboy, so that's what our theme was - well that and blue antique Ball jars. Between Jenny and I, I think we had about 12! Not to mention the 25 or so we made into door prizes and shower favors.  Check out the super cute, handmade invites here.

My contribution was mainly the games and prizes, while Jenny and I teamed up on most of the decor. Tissue paper pom-poms from Martha Stewart, burlap runners, raffia, jute, clothes pins, barn wood frame, simple white flower arrangements and a tree were all part of the show.

Thankfully my Aunt had a bunch of flowers and a TREE (random I know) from he older daughter's wedding a couple of weeks earlier.... Seriously a life saver. The tree had a bunch of cute baby items for momma to take with like travel sized baby ointment, socks, binkies and a hanging picture frame even.

DIY - Door prize Ball jar soap dispensers.
Aren't they cute?

Our door prizes were soap pumps made from Ball jars and Bath & Body works soaps. We also had party favors that were Cowboy Cookies in quart sized Ball jars... It had crossed my mind to make one of the games be "How many Ball jars did we use?" but as it was, we had more games than prizes! Jenny found the Cookie recipe on Pinterest. Jenny and Candi put them together in a mad dash a day or so before... I hear it was quite the mess considering they didn't have a funnel to use. HA! I wish I'd have seen it but they turned out SUPER CUTE!

Build-a-Baby Winner and Momma of the hour!

Game list included:

• Diaper Raffle
• Match the Animal Momma with the Baby (printable)
• Guess How Many Clothes Pins Are in the Jar
• Guess the Gerber's
• Build a Baby - from Playdoh (and momma chooses winner)

Plus my all time favorite because it's so helpful...

• Thank You Card Give-Away (People address the Thank You card envelopes to themselves and a winner is drawn from the envelopes.)

** Most of the rules to these games are either self explanatory or available by searching online so I won't go into more detail but everyone seemed to have fun. Awesome Games Available here.

The food was amazing, especially the gluten-free lemon butter cream frosted (and raspberry cream filled) cupcakes. Homemade by Candi!

I made the little flags for the cupcakes and I love how they look on the pedestal with the turquoise ribbon.

I could go on and on about the food but instead I'll just share the pictures and the decor with you now. If you see something you like, let me know in the comments, and if you have questions about how something was made or done, send me a message and I will do my best to explain. Otherwise the rest is a fully gratuitous post for the the baby shower.

Thanks for reading!

Party Favors - Cowboy Cookies in Ball Jars

It's a Cowboy!

Salted Carmel drizzle... oh yeah!

The spread also included 7-layer dip and Raspberry Chipotle dip among other yummies!

All in the details - that is burlap as the table runner.

Cowboy Cookies Galore!

Making a sheriff's badge for her Playdoh baby.

This was hosted at the Polson Museum - I'd use them again in a heartbeat!

Drink Bar with Real Lemonade.

Wooden letters Momma gets to take home and decorate with in the nursery!