Things I Didn't Know I Loved...

Three years ago:

Kale

This beautiful deep green super food is packed with vitamins that are oh so good for you!  It has just the right crunch and is so yummy added to soups right at the end.  Trying it in a smoothie with peanut butter later from Jo the Baker's new cookbook my darling pal Leah sent me!!
My first experience with kale was  in the Zuppa Toscana soup from Olive Garden.  I make that soup exclusively at home now and fill a bowl with 2 or 3 huge handfuls of fresh kale then pour hot soup over it!  Divine!!!

Lentils

YUM...I could eat lentils every day!!  I love lentil soup and this particular rice/lentil medley from Whole Foods.  So creamy and delicious!!
 I can't remember exactly what my first experience was with lentils.  I remember reading about them a lot a few years ago when I started researching feeding our family better and trying to come up with healthier dinner options.  They sounded very weird. I think lentil soup may have been the first...I haven't ever gone back!!  Bought this rice mix a while back and everyone in the house loves it!!

Almond Milk

I did some research on the coffee creamer I have been using for two years.  I knew all along it wasn't good for me but after trying out regular milk and having no luck--the milk gave me a tummy ache and wasn't tasty in the least!!  So I kept going back to the over processed, preserved, sugared, bleached coffee flavoring.  When I recently read more about what I was drinking, I decided it was enough to make a change.  I prayed Almond Milk would be a good enough substitution.  Of course it wasn't as delicious as the coffee creamer but like everything else, after a few days, I came to really like it.  I used half creamer/half almond milk a few days then threw out the creamer and did only almond milk and a tiny bit of sweetener for a couple days.  Now I use vanilla almond milk with my coffee, no sweeteners!!  I DID NOT do this to cut out calories, I did it for health purposes.  But, an added bonus is almond milk has a TON of calcium and about 1/4 the calories of the creamer I was using.  Paige and I also like it in our cereal when we run out of our cow milk!  We have no intentions of giving up cow milk but its good to know we have a backup!  

My Girls

Okay, this was supposed to be a food post but when I was re-reading the title I realized 3 years ago I never knew how much I would love these creatures!!!  I was pregnant with Paige and already loved her so much but in no way did I ever understand how much!!  Each day I love them more and with Leighton my heart grew even bigger!!  Here they are watching cartoons together and holding hands.  Completely un-prompted! Heart melted right onto the floor...