KALE CHIPS

Oh yeah!.... Kale Chips!

These little green wonders are Fantastic.  They actually taste like real chips without the potatoes, calories and Fat!!!

I have made these a few times in the past months.  When my husband Chris tried them for the first time he thought they weren't bad and nibbled on a few, and I finished off the rest of the tray.
Today when I make them, I end up only having a few nibbles because Chris devours the entire tray for himself.
He is the biggest sceptic I know.  So, if he's willing to eat these yummy Kale Chips like there's no tomorrow than I'm sure you will enjoy these too.

Yummy Kale, ready to eat in my garden

It all starts with some Kale leaves growing in my garden.
Here's the recipe, you won't be disappointed.  And they are much more cost efficient with less fat than any kale chips you can purchase at a store.


INGREDIENTS
1 large bunch of Kale or 2 small bunches
1 Tblsp. olive oil
1 - 2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cayenne powder
1 - 2 Tblsp. grated Parmesan cheese







INSTRUCTIONS
Throw all of the kale in the sink with cold water.
Swish them around to get off any dirt and bugs left on them from the ground. Or if buying from the store wash off any dirt left behind from shipping and handling.

Rip off all of the leafy parts and leave the tough stems behind to compost.

Layer the leaves onto a baking sheet.
There should be one good layer on the baking sheet nice and thick with leaves.  But do not overlap them too much.

Sprinkle on very little olive oil.  If too much oil is sprinkled on, the chips become very soggy.  So extremely little amount of olive oil is best.
Sprinkle on the garlic powder, as much as you like.
Shake on the Parmesan or Romano cheese of your liking.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven for 30 minutes.

After 20 minutes of baking, they've shrunk but are not quite crispy enough yet.

After 30 minutes, they're ready.  Crispy and ready to eat.

The chips should be brown/green in colour and crispy.
If they're not leave them in a few minutes longer or you may have too much oil on them.
Maybe try a spritz bottle with the oil, that may work better.

Close up so you can see the spices on the leaves and the crisp look of these kale chips

When these little kale crisps are done baking, enjoy their yummy goodness.  They are delicious!
I like to sit in front of the t.v. and enjoy the entire tray to myself.  Which I may have to do before my husband gets to them. Hee hee, ha ha.

Eat Well,
;)

BORING SALAD NO MORE

Last night for dinner, I wanted a light quick salad.  I opted for the boring romaine and any veg I had laying around.  I chopped up the romaine and added yellow bell pepper, cuc, and tomatoes.  Boring!!!

I've been watching a lot of You Tube videos about Fruitarianism and Low Fat Raw Vegan Diet/Lifestyles and thought I would try a version of one of their salad dressings.  I threw in the blender the rest of the yellow pepper I had.  I remembered that a mango was one of the dressing ingredients, so i threw in a chopped up ataulfo mango.  To add a hint of saltiness, I threw in one chopped celery rib.  And then for some added watery consistancy I threw in  a few grape tomatoes and a bit of fresh dill from the garden.  Blend, blend, blend.  No water needed to be added as there was enough from the tomatoes.

OMG!  This dressing was amazing!  Sweet, creamy, and delicious.   I could have probably eaten the dressing all by itself like a gazbacho.

My husband did suggest to add a bit of red onion.  But little did he know there was NO FAT in this salad dressing at all.  Only fruit and veggies.  As for Chris's suggestion, next time I will try a little red onion.  Maybe it will add another yummy dimention to my dressing.

I turned my boring salad into Extrodinary.

Try making your own salad dressings.  It's quick and easy and LOW FAT!!!
Fat makes you FAT!!!!
Use a dense fruit as the base.  Start with a mango, a peach, some pineapple even.
Add in a few veg like tomato, or cucumber or bell pepper ( any colour )or all of these.
Add in some celery for a bit of saltyness.
Finish with some fresh herbs, dill, basil, mint, etc.
Your dressing can be a mix of fruit and veg or fruit only or veg only.  Although I do recommend adding some fruit, they make any salad taste yummy with a hint of sweet.
Add a small piece of hot pepper if you want an extra little kick.
If you need to, add a bit of olive oil or any vinegar of your choice.  A bit of avacado can replace the olive oil, or a few pecans too.  But I would recommend using only fresh fruit and veggies as these make the dressing low fat and super fresh tasting.
Just blend everything as much or a little as you like.  Start with a few ingredients and work up to more.
The best part is you get to taste as much as you want through your entire new salad dressing journey.  Yum!

I have also tried fruit only dressings..
A whole peeled clementine orange and tomato.
Orange and mango.  Yum!
Pineapple and mango.

But the all sweet fruit dressings, I like to use for my all fruit salads only.

Here's the recipe for my NO MORE BORING SALAD.

INGREDIENTS FOR SALAD

1 head chopped romaine lettuce
1 large handful baby spinach
2 mini cucumbers ( these are my favorite, I find the english cuc's have very little flavour anymore )
1/4 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped

INGREDIENTS FOR SALAD DRESSING

1/4 yellow pepper chopped
1 rib celery
1 ataulfo mango
6 grape tomatoes
1Tbsp fresh dill

INSTRUCTIONS

Place all salad ingredients in a bowl.

Place all dressing ingredients in a blender and blend away. You can make it as chunky or as smooth as you like by how long you blend up all of the ingredients.

looking down into the blender.

Pour dressing onto salad and devour.  Yummmmy!

Enjoy!
Eat Well,
:)