Remember when you were little and would make it a point to call out that you were 7-and-a-half years old? Yeah, I don’t do that anymore either.

Nevertheless, here we are: July 1st, 2010-and-a-half. Six more months left in twenty-ten.

In keeping with the theme of Fitness & Spice…where fitness, food, and fashion get a healthy shake, I set 3 goals at the beginning of the year:

• One for fitness…to kick it up a notch when doing cardio instead of just going through the motions
• One for food…to add more variety to my diet since I was eating the same ole things over and over again
• One for fashion…to get out of my work from home clothes (also known as gym clothes or pajamas) more often and wear “real clothes”

So how am I doing? Let’s just say I’m glad we have 6 more months left in this year!

I did great right out of the gate with my fitness goal, but I could work harder. I’m going to start wearing a heart rate monitor again to make sure I’m in the zone when doing cardio.

I’m rocking my food goal and trying out all sorts of new recipes thanks to all of the food bloggers and cookbooks I’ve read already this year…hello, kale chips!

My fashion mission needs improvement (kind of like my math grade when I was 7-and-a-half). If lululemon would stop making such comfortable workout gear, I’d have this one in the (shopping) bag.

It looks like I have some work to do to make sure I hit my 2010 goals, but where there’s a will, there’s a way!

What are your 2010-and-a-half year goals?

Now I really must go wrap up my half-time report and get ready a winning season!

I do not like kale. But I have fallen in love with kale chips.

In fact, kale chips are my new popcorn.

Plain ole kale does nothing for me, I find it down right bitter which is why I’ve been ignoring all of the articles, recipes, and tweets written about kale chips. Call me stubborn, I’ll answer.

I don’t know what came over me but I finally broke down and decided to give kale chips a shake and bake.

Who knew kale is a such a nutritional powerhouse?

According to Dr. Bowden’s book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth…

“Kale is loaded with calcium, iron, and vitamins A, C, and bone building vitamin K…And 2 cups contain about 4 grams of protein and 3 grams of fiber.”

So does that make kale chips one of the healthiest snack foods on Earth? I’ll put all my chips on that bet!

Anyway, here’s how I’ve been making…

Kale Chips

• Remove the stems from 1-2 large pieces of kale
• Massage 1 T olive oil into the leaves, tear into bite sized pieces, and place onto a cookie sheet
• Sprinkle with the topping of your choice (like sea salt, taco seasoning, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, you get the idea!)

Bake at 300 degrees for about 10 – 12 minutes. If the edges get brown, you’ve gone to far. Burnt kale chips go back to their original bitter state.

If you’ve never made kale chips, trust me, it’s time. They REALLY DO taste and crunch just like potato chips.

I’m just bitter I didn’t try them sooner.

Now I really must go apologize to all of the food bloggers for having such a chip on my shoulder!