I am very conscious of the food I eat. I try to eat organic (if it’s not too expensive), a variety of fruits and veggies, only natural sugars, and I read labels (actually I don’t read that many labels since I rarely buy prepackaged food).
I am pretty regimented about what goes in my body BUT I still have all those awesome food memories floating in my thoughts and emotions. Memories of sharing an ice cream cone with my daughter on a hot summers day, pizza with gooey strings of cheese, or a hot dog off the BBQ. Food is super emotional isn’t it? Food seems to be so connected to some of my best memories. Just because I am pretty regimented about the food I eat doesn’t mean that the food can’t be fun anymore. Other than the hot dog, I have found “clean eating” alternatives to the ice cream cone and the pizza- still fun but good for my body!

The crazy pace of December was getting to us. My family was a little grumpy and a little stressed out. We needed a serious dose of FUN! It was time for some fondue! My daughter wanted a oil fondue so that’s what we did!
A “clean eating” fondue you ask. Well….maybe not crystal clean and healthy but much better than how I used to do fondue night!
How I made “fun-due” work for my new healthy lifestyle. The first thing to go- CANOLA OIL. Not a healthy oil! I did some research and learned grapeseed oil can be used to deep fry so that’s what went into the fondue pot.
Next- dipping sauces! My family loves mayonnaise as a special dip for the fried yumminess that come out of the pot. I usually use mayo as the base and add either garlic and herbs to one dish and then ketchup or chilli sauce to another. This time I got adventurous and tried my hand at making mayonnaise from scratch. I used grapeseed oil again and it turned out beautifully! It’s like magic!

You can find the recipe here: http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-mayonnaise/ It is super easy and really yummy!
Now what to fry….. My husband made mini meatballs- nice and small so they didn’t take too long in the fondue oil. I cubed chicken breast and this amazing grass fed beef steak I found at the B&H Grocery store in Kemptville.

We also fried some cocktail wieners. I know! Not clean eating!!! But they fry super quick so you can fry one while waiting for they other meat to fry! Lol!

To add some green to our meal my daughter made an amazing Kale Caesar Salad. You will need:

1/2 cup of mayonnaise (homemade or olive oil based)
1-2 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 tbsp almond milk
Finely chopped kale
Croutons (Ace Bakery has clean croutons now!)
Grated parmesan cheese
Optional- chopped bacon

Whisk dressing and toss with the kale. Enjoy!

It was a super fun meal!

Choose happy 🙂

P.S. Don’t forget about my giveaway! I’m giving away these awesome candles!

How you can win:
-followers of my blog before Nov 30 get 2 ballots in the draw
-new blog followers get a ballot in the draw
-every time you share my blog (on twitter use the hashtag #ichoosehappyblog and on Facebook you need to make your status public so I can see it and use the hashtag #ichoosehappyblog) you get a ticket in the draw 🙂
Ps Target or the makers of the candles have no idea who I am- I just liked the candles and bought them for this contest.
-I’ll do the draw Dec 21st at 5:00pm
Good luck!