Healthy Apple Turnover

You know, it’s the weirdest thing; I came home the other day and noticed one of our Golden Retrievers was sitting in the outdoor kennel with the door shut. The kids informed me that Coco (short for Coconut) always does that, locks herself in a cage when she has acreage to run free. It really made me think- do I ever do that?

Three years ago, let’s say, I would have honestly said that I didn’t feel bound up. But, in the same way that Coco doesn’t see that she’s unnecessarily locking herself in a cage, I now look back and see areas like that in my life. Sobering but SO GOOD to realize there’s a door and wide open glorious field! Some changes in me this year have been… I stopped just saying all the things I wanted to do and started doing them. In a new way, I started expecting to be treated with respect and mutuality. I started believing, that one step at a time and with God’s help, I could achieve big things. So, I bow my more cage- free head today and thank God for his many gifts and lessons.

While it’s not unique to a certain gender, I think the tender, nurturing aspect of women makes us particularly prone to being bound by the opinions of others. Often these messages, early on, make their way into the female head. I know my own girls have battled at different times with this, while often the boys say, “who cares,” and mean it.

Speaking of my lovely girls, may I introduce you to them? Juliette is 19 and has become a beautiful woman in her own right. She loves children, music, photography, is direct and has a huge heart. Caetlin and Hannah are two years apart and, together, feisty but inseparable. One sees everything in black and white, is decisive, direct, organized and also flamboyantly creative and loves color. The other is in love with all the options and, so, struggles to “land the plane”, nostalgic, more free spirited and disorganized, joyful and giggles constantly. They really are hysterical best friends who adore and drive each other crazy too. The joyful one makes the organized one roll her eyes and the organized one makes the joyful one giggle even more.

Now that I’ve introduced you to all of my kids, you may ask any questions that you want, because I realize 7 children is a curiosity in this day and age. However, since we are currently suffering from DTSD (During Teenage Stress Disorder), please be kind and refrain from any eye rolls while typing or words like “whatevs,” “YOLO” or “jaykay.” Besides, you would sound ludicrous because parents can’t be hipsters; didn’t you know that? I’ve been told it’s embarrassing. Who knew- they prefer dated, irrelevant, parents, who drive their 1970’s broken down VW van to pick them up, sport high waisted, pleated and pegged jeans, ask your best friend for the “411” on their weekend and hum and headbang to “Eye of the Tiger” with their teeth over their bottom lip because they are that baaaad. Actually, while there are, sometimes, the usual teenagy kind of days, our kids have great hearts and don’t abuse us too badly. 🙂 In fact, they are really funny.

Sometimes, I will share recipes from other bloggers that are full of healthy ingredients, delicious and tested by Mwa. 🙂 Below is a link for a gluten free, low glycemic Apple Turnover that my entire family LOVED, creating a stampede in the kitchen, as they all went sniffing for seconds, only to come out of the kitchen with long faces, because I made only one each. For most of my family, I would top this with an icecream made from sugar and not high fructose corn syrup. Here’s the deal, folks, I have to work them all into these things and these healthy Apple Turnovers were enough of a stretch for one sitting. I tried to top these with a healthy coconut ice-cream and that part was NOT a hit. But, the turnovers ROCKED! Even though these are full of good things, like ground almond meal and coconut milk, anyone following The Vibrant Life Diet, should count them as a weekly treat. This is the kind of treat I would have if I was losing weight well, didn’t want to set myself back with a really heavy duty treat but needed a little break, because weekly treats are like a mini vaca to Aruba! For myself, I would either have them plain or would whip up the following and put a large tablespoonful on top:

Greek Yoghurt Vanilla Desert Topping