Recipe: Baked Kale Chips

Kale chips are one of those things I knew I'd like, but I pushed off trying them for so long! Eating well has become pretty important to me, and I want Levi to feel good about eating healthy foods as he grows up. These kale chips literally melt in your mouth! They're great. Make them!

Wash your bundle of kale thoroughly. Blot leaves with paper towels before tearing, then tear off 1-2 inch pieces. Make sure you leave out the big stem in the middle because they can be bitter!

Put your kale in a mixing bowl and toss with one tablespoon of olive oil and one teaspoon of coarse salt. Lay out in a single layer on a baking sheet (you may need to use two) and then bake at 300 degrees for 25-30 minutes.

I made two batches, one with garlic powder instead of coarse salt. The garlic smelled really good while baking, but I wasn't digging the taste once they came out. Especially compared with the EVOO and salt combination! These could really be spiced up any way. Next time I think I'll mix some Sriracha in with the oil for a spicy version!

Recipe: Black Bean Vegetarian Spring Rolls

This was my first attempt at making my own spring rolls, and they came out tasting really great! I love that spring rolls are so customizable. I can't wait to do these again, next time with some pineapple and mushroom.

You will need:

2 carrots, 1 green pepper, 4 stalks green onion, and a 2 inch piece of cucumber

1/3 cup black bean sauce

spring roll wrappers

sweet chili dipping sauce

Start by slicing your veggies into thin 2-inch strips. Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil over med-high heat. Once it's hot, put in all the veggies except for the cucumber. After 2-3 minutes, add the cucumber and black bean sauce. (I just drained the sauce from a can of black beans and had plenty!) Heat for 1-2 minutes and then set aside. 

Take 6 of your spring roll wrappers and wrap them in plastic wrap so they don't dry out during this process. One at a time, place the wrapper diagonally and brush the edges with water. Then put a spoonful of your cooked vegetable filling onto the wrapper. Fold the right corner over the filling and fold. Then bring in the top and bottom corners and continue rolling until the end. Set aside.

Heat a good amount of vegetable oil over high heat, then place your rolls into the oil. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side, or until brown. Mine cooked really fast, so be careful not to burn them! Once cooked, place onto a plate lined with paper towels to absorb leftover oil. Let cool and enjoy!

Recipe: Banana Ice Cream

Okay, it doesn't look all that pretty, but I promise that banana ice cream is something you should try. It was the easiest thing ever to make, and it tastes like heaven. I used four bananas for two servings.

First, cut up your bananas and stick em in the freezer for an hour or two.

Take them out and place in the blender. I made two batches, one with cinnamon and one with Reese's. Once they're all creamy, you're good to go! I stuck mine in the freezer for a little longer so that it would harden and thicken a little bit. The Reese's one was definitely my favorite!

Recipe: Mini Pita Pizzas

** I seem to be getting a ton of page views from Pinterest for this recipe. I just wanted to put it out there that I also post other healthy, simple recipes on my blog, along with my adventures in thrifting, crafting, and style! If you're interested in seeing this, just follow my blog by clicking "Join this site" on the right hand side of the page or clicking the "f" button under my picture to see my posts on your Facebook feed! :) **

I'm trying to play a little catch-up for my 24 before 24 goals (that I'm failing miserably at!) and one of them was to create a little recipe book with my own pictures and directions. This week I'm sharing a healthy-ish lunch that's so simple to prepare: Mini pita pizzas!

Other than your toppings, the only thing you need for this bad boy is some pita bread and pizza sauce. I opted for whole wheat and Muir Glen pizza sauce, 'cause it's seriously the bomb. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, then spread about two big teaspoons of pizza sauce over each circle of pita bread.

Then add your toppings. I thought we had more toppings in the fridge, and was going to go for some pineapple and green pepper. I ended up using tomato, onion, and jalapeño. We also didn't have any mozzarella cheese, so I used feta. Yeah, guess I wasn't really prepared to make this recipe, huh?!

Anyway, add your toppings and bake until the cheese is melted, about 7-10 minutes. Slice 'em into fours and enjoy!

Eating Healthy Breakfasts

One of my goals for this year is to adopt a healthier lifestyle. I'm already pretty knowledgable about what's in our food and how to eat well for my body, but I fall off track a lot of the time. It's not realistic for me to never have treats or eat clean 100% of the time, but it's good to aim for a healthy diet! And I don't mean diet like a temporary fix to lose weight, I mean what you eat on a daily basis. I find that when I eat a healthy breakfast, I tend to eat better meals throughout the day as well.

One of the tastiest breakfasts is to get yourself a bowl of plain greek yogurt and add fruit and a little bit of granola if you like the crunch. I've found that the best fruits to use are berries, especially frozen ones! If you buy a frozen bag of mixed berries, you can set some out in the fridge the night before, and add them in with your yogurt in the morning. They get all mushy and juicy, and it's seriously so tasty!

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Another go-to breakfast for me is oatmeal. Publix has some amazing instant organic oats if you have one in your area, and if not, there are plenty of great natural brands to choose from whether you prefer instant (microwavable) or cooking them. I like adding fresh sliced banana and lots of cinnamon to mine, but if I get bored with that then I'll add some nuts and dried cranberries if I have them on hand.  

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Eggs and toast is such a simple breakfast that packs nutrients, especially protein! I usually scramble two eggs and add a slice of whole wheat toast, then pile it up like the picture below. It's healthy, takes less than five minutes, and has an easy clean up. This breakfast is only about 250 calories, so you might want to add a piece of fruit or lean meat, like sliced turkey.

If you're feeling creative and want to plan ahead, go for some homemade granola bars! You can use tons of different ingredients and alter them pretty much any way you like or need. I've tried peanut butter based and apple sauce based, and they're both good! Corey prefers the apple sauce, but I'm a sucker for some good peanut butter, and it adds healthy fats. There are tons of granola bar recipes on Pinterest, and the one I sourced below is excellent as well, albeit a bit ingredient heavy for me.

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Recipe: Cucumber & Chickpea Salad

I have a super quick and simple recipe for you guys today! My sister often makes a big batch of chickpea salad to take to work and eat as part of her lunch for the week. I thought this was a brilliant idea (if you have a fridge you can put it in, of course) so I decided to try it for myself. Plus, I just like copycatting my sis. ;)

Start by draining two 15oz cans of chickpeas.

Next, dice the following vegetables: 1/2 cup onion, 1/2 cup celery, 1/2 cup tomato, and 1 cucumber. 

Now, make the dressing. Mix 1/4 cup olive oil, 3 teaspoons red wine vinegar, and 1 teaspoon dill weed. Shake well and set aside.

Mix up the chickpeas and vegetables in a large mixing bowl.

Now pour the dressing over the mixture and evenly dispense.

Annnd you're done! It's best served chilled, but I ate this little bowl right away, it was so good! I'm a sucker for dill weed, and I think it just makes this recipe. The first time I tried, I didn't put dill weed in and it was pretty bland. Hope you enjoy!

Recipe: Kale & Chicken Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

This recipes rules. When I was putting it all together, it never even occurred to me that I was combining  a sweet potato with a spicy sauce mix. Maybe I should cook more often... But anyway, it was a different taste than I ever expected and so delicious! This recipe serves two.

You will need:

2 big sweet potatoes

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tbsp. lime juice

2 cloves garlic, minced or grated

1 tsp. chipotle chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. dried oregano

salt & pepper

2 cups kale

5 oz. feta cheese

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. Wash your sweet potatoes and poke all over with a fork. Place in the oven for 50-60 minutes, until tender. 

Brush your chicken breasts with olive oil and top with salt and pepper, then place in a baking dish and bake with sweet potatoes for 25 minutes. Allow to chill and shred the chicken with a fork. When the sweet potatoes are done, slice in half and allow to cool off.

In a mixing bowl, combine the olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chipotle chili powder, cumin, oregano, and salt and pepper. Heat a small skillet over medium heat and wilt the kale. Toss the kale, sauce and shredded chicken together. Set aside and keep warm.

Turn the oven up to 400 degrees. Hollow out the potato, leaving a medium size layer of flesh inside. Brush the skins with a little bit of sauce mixture and bake for 5-10 minutes until skins are crisp. Remove the skins and stuff with the chicken mixture and top with feta cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Serve with chopped cilantro and greek yogurt if desired.

YUM. If you have any interesting recipes, please send them my way! This one was adapted from Half Baked Harvest, which I found through Pinterest of course. 

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I made some peanut butter cookies for the pups in my family. Grizzly prefers crunchy treats, and these are little bit softer. I gave some to my sister's dog, Baylie, for her fourth birthday and she absolutely loved them!

What you'll need:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/3 cup peanut butter

1 1/4 cups hot water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

In a large bowl, mix the flour and oats until evenly dispersed. Then gently combine the water and peanut butter to the dry ingredients. 

Knead with your hands until you have a smooth ball of dough. Take a rolling pin and flatten out the dough. You can use a cookie cutter to make cute shapes, but I just broke off pieces and rolled them into little balls. After I placed the balls on a nonstick pan, I flattened them out using pressure with a fork.

Bake for 30 minutes. If you want them a little bit softer, take them out 5-10 minutes early. For a shiny look, brush a thin coat of egg whites onto the cookies before baking.

A quick and simple recipe... My favorite kind. :)

Recipe: Clean Chocolate & Peanut Butter Oat Clusters

** I seem to be getting a ton of page views from Pinterest for this recipe. I just wanted to put it out there that I also post other healthy, simple recipes on my blog, along with my adventures in thrifting, crafting, and style! If you're interested in seeing this, just follow my blog by clicking "Join this site" on the right hand side of the page or clicking the "f" button under my picture to see my posts on your Facebook feed! :) **


 Last Friday was National Peanut Cluster Day (as if you didn't already know!) so I thought it would be a good excuse to break into the baking world. I wanted to keep it simple and healthy, and the one recipe I found and altered to my liking didn't even require baking! Lucky me!

 

All you need is:

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/4 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze)

1/4 cup natural peanut butter (I used chunky for more texture)

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

That's my kind of recipe! Four ingredients!

Start by boiling an inch of water in a double boiler, then place the chocolate chips, peanut butter, and milk into the bowl and stir until everything is melted.

Remove from heat, and add your oats. Stir well until the oats are fully coated.

Line a baking sheet and use a tablespoon to drop the oat mixture into clusters.

Refrigerate! I waited 35 minutes.

If you know me, I am NOT a baker or chocolate maker of any kind. This has always kind of bothered me though, and I'd like to start changing it up in the kitchen. I eat "clean" almost all of the time, but my biggest downfall is dessert. I'll eat boring plain chicken and veggies every night of the week and be okay with it, but if someone puts ice cream in front of me, you'd better believe I am going to eat it! With chocolate syrup! So it's nice to know that I am capable of making a healthy dessert. :)

This recipe makes 14 clusters. Each cluster contains 75 calories.