My "REAL-solution" for 2014

**knock, knock, knock**

Anyone still out there?

I apologize for the major lack of posts. It's been months, and we've been busy! And to be quite honest, blogging is difficult when you have a young family. I'm not sure how people do it all. They must not sleep much. And I for one am not willing to give up a whole lot of my sleep. My family would suffer greatly.

So anyway, it's a new year, and you know what that means... resolution time! It's funny, I'm actually not a huge fan of resolutions, but I seem to make one every year. Last year I really wanted to work on taking my boys out somewhere new and/or fun once a week. I think I did pretty well. We visited our local Children's Museum a few times (I didn't say we couldn't do something twice!), went to some sporting events in our town, and in the summer and fall we visited a lot of farms to pick berries, apples, and pumpkins. You can't beat a few hours of fresh air and sunshine to ensure a long nap for the little ones!

So building on our farm tours, my 2014 resolution is to eat more REAL foods (hence the REAL-solution). I always try hard to make sure my family eats healthy, but we still consume more processed foods than I'd like. I feel like I'm already half-way there, so this isn't a total lifestyle change for us. But I know there are certain foods we eat often (salad dressings, cereals, fruit snacks!) that I'd like to replace with a simple, homemade version.

Thankfully there are some wonderful blogs out there that make this step in the right direction easier for the rest of us! I'll be starting out the year by using their recipes and meal plans, and I hope to convert some of my favorites and share them with you. Below is a list of Real Food blogs I'll be referencing:

100 Days of Real Food
I think this is my favorite, and the most helpful Real Food blog out there. She explains her reasoning and gives samples meal plans, as well as a ton more recipes to use.

Real Food Real Deals
She breaks down the price per serving in her recipe posts. I made the homemade sloppy joes the other night for my family and my sister's family, and everyone seemed to like them! Simple recipe, but popular with most kids!

Green Plate Rule
I'm excited that she just posted a new recipe for the first time in about 8 months (see - I'm not the only one!). There is a great recipe bank on this blog, as well as prepping tips and "clean" grocery store finds.

I hope not to go too long between posts again! I actually already have my next one done, you'll just have to wait for it to be delivered to your inbox. ;) Oh, and maybe I'll actually show the completed photos of our living room redo, ha!

Happy New Year! (half-way through January...)