Making Homemade Baked Fries

My potato cutter you see above has been a great way to make my boys fries in a healthy way over the years.  I simply wash and scrub my potatoes, cut the ends off, and put them through the potato cutter you see above.  I spray my pampered chef stone pan with Pam before putting the fries in. Then I either spray the fries with Pam or use a brush to brush them with olive oil.  This pan of fries has kosher salt sprinkled on them to have fish and chips with vinegar (on the fries) and tartar sauce with the fish.  I set my convection oven at 400 degrees and bake them for 28 minutes.  Sometimes I sprinkle garlic salt and sometimes I use seasoning salt on them depending on what we are having with them. Sometimes I make homemade chicken fingers using sliced chicken breasts with shake'n  bake or bread crumb coating.  I have also made poutine with fries baked this way.  This way I can cook/bake a meal in the oven in a much healthier way than if a similar meal was gotten at a fast food or regular restaurant and fried.  High cholesterol runs in my family and at 40, mine is already borderline high even though I lead a healthy, active lifestyle and maintain a healthy weight.  This makes it even more important for me to be conscious of the types of food I eat.  I also hope and believe that I am helping my children in a day and age where childhood obesity is such a huge problem.  It is very rare that my kids eat fast food and even rarer that I do.

Here are what these fries look like coming out of the oven.  Depending on how crisp you like them, you can bake them a few minutes less or longer.

The Proof Is In The Picture - Tria Age-Defying Laser

I wasn't going to post on Tria's Age-Defying Laser  for a few more weeks, but when I saw this picture I just had to!  In the side by side picture above, the one on the left is right before I started treatment and the one on the right was taken last Tuesday morning before I started getting ready for my day.  I think that when you look at the pictures side by side, that the results I have been telling people that I think I am seeing show very clearly here.  The first thing that I want to point out is the scar on my face.  If you look at the picture on the right, you will see that I have a scar right below/up to my nose on the right side of the picture.  This is a scar that I got when I was 5 years old.  That was 35 years ago!  When I was a little girl I was pretty self conscious about it and always though that when I got older, that I would seek out some type of treatment to get rid of it.  However, as I got older I grew used to it and stopped noticing it so I stopped worrying about getting rid of it.  This scar fading or diminishing with using the Age-Defying Laser was not something I expected as I started treatment as this is not something the laser has been tested for,which is that it is "indicated for wrinkles around the eyes and smoother skin in the treated areas".  A couple weeks into treatment I thought I was starting to see it changing, but I thought that maybe it was just me.  When I put these 2 pictures side by side yesterday, I was amazed to see the results very clearly.  To me it is obvious how much the scar has faded.  I cannot say for sure, but I am thinking that the treatments must be helping rebuild/renew the collagen around and nder the area of my scar.  If you go back to looking at the side by side picture, I think you can also see how my skin tone has increased which has made my skin feel much smoother and looks more radiant.  Also, I can tell that my wrinkles on my forehead are fading and around my mouth you can see my laugh lines decreasing as well.

I have just finished my second week on level 3 treatment.  That means that 5 nights a week I am treating each of the 4 zones on my face for 2 1/2 minutes which makes my total treatment time 10 minutes.  My face has become accustomed to the treatments and I barely notice any prickling or discomfort during and after the treatment.  The redness I am seeing after a treatment is minimal.  I continue to use the Finishing Serum right after my treatment and sunscreen before my makeup in the morning.  I am following the directions and taking a 2 day break between each 5 day treatment.  I will continue this for another 7 weeks in order to complete the full 12 weeks of treatment that is recommended.

I even packed it on our weekend spring break trip and took it with me to the hotel so I could stay on schedule.  It was easy to take along and use.  It really has become a part of my evening routine and I am very excited with the results I am seeing!

Tria Age-Defying Laser

Sassy Water

Have you heard of Sassy Water? I hadn't until about six weeks ago.  We have all been told how it's important to drink lots of water (8-10 glasses a day) for our bodies to function properly.  In the morning I love my coffee and again mid afternoon, but I always try to make sure that I'm drinking enough water as well throughout the day. Some days are easier than others, and with being raised in the country with  well water, I do not like drinking city water.  As you can see above I made my first batch in a large jar.  I was amazed when I tasted it at how refreshing it was and I immediately began drinking a lot more water.  Because of the items in it it may also have other health benefits which I find interesting.

To make a batch of sassy water I use: 1 medium lemon, 1 medium lime, 1 small cucumber peeled, 12 fresh mint leaves, and 1 teaspoon of fresh grated ginger. I have found that as the batch is getting low I can refill my jar or container and let it sit and use the same batch I've chopped up for about a week until I start fresh. I learned the hard way that it is important to peel the cucumber as I made my second batch without doing this and it had a bitter taste to it. You can see from the picture above that the lemon,lime, and cucumber are thinly sliced.

You can imagine how excited I was when I found the jugs below at Costco two weeks ago with the basket to use to make my sassy water! It came with two jugs with the basket as well as another netting for making tea for $24.99.

I alternate the basket between jugs. Every time I fill one jug up fresh, I let it sit for at least eight hours to let the flavor infuse. It is great because this allows me to have one jug ready and another one sitting infusing for when I'm finished the one that I'm drinking.

Some of the added health benefits that sassy water may have are as follows:

1) Added fiber to your water and diet because of the ingredients.

2) Soothe your stomach and help digestion because of the grated ginger and mint leaves. As well these items may help decrease bloating in your stomach.

3) It may increase your energy levels because you are staying hydrated.

4) It may aid weight-loss as drinking lots of water helps you stay full on less calories.

5) The cucumber and lemon tend to act as natural diuretics.