Kale Chips

KALE CHIPS are delicious! They are light, crunchy and immediately dissolve in your mouth. My whole family just loves kale chips. They are so good, that when we make them, we have to ration them out to make sure everybody gets some. They are very easy to make, healthy and fun. 

Emma and I team up on making the batches and this is what we do:

Wash a bunch of kale

Tear of pieces of the kale the size of a chip on to a towel to dry, discard the stems

The secret to the perfect kale chip is to make sure that the kale is completely dry for it to be crunchy

Get two baking sheets, oil them with olive oil

Place the kale on to the baking sheets

Drizzle olive oil on top of the kale, sprinkle with salt, garlic and a handful of sesame seeds

Bake at 350 degrees for 18 minutes

and voila! you've got the yummiest chips ever!

ENJOY and make sure to share :)

Hiking

I will jump at the opportunity to go trekking in nature anytime. Hiking is one of my favorite activities, and I am honored to walk the trails with my sweet family. We all love the peace of the outdoors, the fresh air, the healing green and the mountainous terrain. When I was a child, my mom used to take my brother and I hiking, and the walking and climbing we did together are some of my most cherished childhood memories. I don't know if it was the challenge, the company, the majestic trails, probably the combination of all now that I think of it, that fulfilled me so.

On our recent hiking trip, I was enchanted by Emma's excitement at seeing all the rocks as we were going up the mountain. I knew that it would take a longer than usual because she wanted to jump from one rock to the other and tell me what shape they were. She would say: "Mama, that's a pineapple, mama, that's a castle, mama, that's a pizza, mama, that's a triangle..." and so on she went enjoying all the shapes. I started appreciating the trail more just because she made me be present at what was there at the moment and I forgot about thinking to get to the top as soon as possible. I actually started to see what shapes I could see in the rocks too. The one that looked like a heart to me, looked like a shoe to her, so it was interesting to see how we would interpret them. I really didn't care if the walk would take us forever because we were enjoying the journey, and at the end, that's what it's all about.

Alexandra was quite receptive the whole time and I could feel her taking in all the green around us and she was happy and peaceful. She was awake the whole trail riding on her backpack and right before we reached the peak she fell asleep. When she woke up, I nursed her and she was ecstatic to feel the wind caressing her face at the mountain top. Juan Carlos and I had gone up that trail so many times during the years with our three puppies and various friends and family, that we conversed about all our adventures on that trail and how now we continue on with our beloved daughters. We will continue exploring and finding new trails as we also enjoy the old ones with our treasures and companions in life. We are the inner circle journeying together in the outer circle of life.

Tattoo Artist

Here's a great thing to do with your kids on a rainy evening. Give them a washable non-toxic marker to make tattoos on you or themselves. It is so much fun! Especially to see what they come up with. This was Emma's idea and she really got into it! She described what she was drawing and also came up with some stories along the way! She is my little tattoo artist.

A happy family :)