This week has been a bit crazy. Both my girls had a 48 hour head cold, my husband has had it for five days, and he had the added responsibility of preaching today. These “events” have thrown many things askew. Today I have been quite tired. While my mind was telling me to go for a run, I heard my body loud and clear, so I rested today- no run, no weights, no workout of any kind. I even to a break from cooking! For dinner, I grabbed my frozen meatballs, threw them in a pot, and put together some meatball subs- minimal assembly and minimal mess! Anna helped pulled out the grapes, blueberries, peppers, and cherry tomatoes, and voila!- dinner was served. I am looking forward to a good night’s rest and some normalcy (whatever that means!) for the upcoming week .

While I love the fellowship aspect of a pot luck, I dread the choices presented on the food table, and not just for myself and my family, but for all who attend. The best way to combat this is to bring a healthy dish yourself. Today, my church is having a pot luck after service, so I am bringing a salad. I am tossing together some chopped artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and white beans and serving them on a bed of spinach with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. While my girls do like spinach salad, I am making them a special yogurt parfait so they have something a little extra special, and they don’t feel like they are missing out. While I know the vast majority of people will choose to eat potato salad over a spinach salad, I feel like I am maybe giving someone the opportunity to make a delicious and healthy choice. I also used Hodgson Mill’s gingerbread mix to make some mini gingerbread muffins. (Scott loves these so much that I did buy the box of 6 packages off Amazon! Sometimes you can find it at Publix.) I then simply melted some dark chocolate and dipped the tops of the muffins into the chocolate- a treat that is tasty and won’t throw you off course!