Having recently discovered the joy that is kale, I have recently been hearing about kale chips. Last week three people asked me if I had tried them, assured me that it is a must make, and talked at length about how delicious they are.
They were not wrong. I picked up some kale this weekend and got around to making it while little j was at piano this afternoon. First of all, it is completely easy: kale, olive oil, salt. And I'm pretty sure that any type of kale will work. I got the super curly kale and, while it took longer to cook, it worked as well as I would expect any variety.
I simply stripped out the tough stems, washed, spun dry, tossed with olive oil and salt (less is more here), put on a baking pan in one layer and popped it in the oven at 250° for about 35 minutes. I took out all the crispy leaves at that point and left the rest in the oven for intervals of 3 minutes until they were all done.
The result was crispy, light, yummyness. little j and I devoured it all while visiting about her day. The only negative is that the little kale pieces stick in your teeth. So it might not be the best "make a good impression" snack. But my gosh it is good!
Monday, March 19, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Breakfast Dilemma
I don't really care for breakfast. I think this is mostly because I always feel rushed in the morning and I don't like sweet things first thing in the morning. I would seriously like to know who decided that breakfast was a time for sickeningly sweet foods? Also, I don't like to eat as soon as I get up; I actually prefer to wait about an hour. By that time I'm generally at work or doing stuff around the house. But the thing is that I know how important breakfast is in the general scheme of overall health.
Occasionally I will eat my planned lunch for breakfast and then have a bowl of cereal or a yogurt and some fruit for lunch. This actually seems like a better choice in many ways. I get plenty of protein and nothing that is particularly sweet for breakfast which tends to hold me to lunch, and I have a lighter lunch which doesn't make my overly sleepy around 2 p.m.
I have found that I like swiss oatmeal which is often served cold with yogurt and fruit. The nice thing is that it isn't sweet. There is a coffee shop in town that sells swiss oatmeal and I've bought it a few times, but it seems so easy to make that I can't justify buying it too often.
What has stumped me is how to make the oatmeal part -- should I cook it and put it in the fridge? Should I soak the oats overnight? What I don't want is a big gummy blob, so I need to think this through. So I am searching out a variety of recipes and will be trying a few over the next week. I'll let you know how it turns out!
Occasionally I will eat my planned lunch for breakfast and then have a bowl of cereal or a yogurt and some fruit for lunch. This actually seems like a better choice in many ways. I get plenty of protein and nothing that is particularly sweet for breakfast which tends to hold me to lunch, and I have a lighter lunch which doesn't make my overly sleepy around 2 p.m.
I have found that I like swiss oatmeal which is often served cold with yogurt and fruit. The nice thing is that it isn't sweet. There is a coffee shop in town that sells swiss oatmeal and I've bought it a few times, but it seems so easy to make that I can't justify buying it too often.
What has stumped me is how to make the oatmeal part -- should I cook it and put it in the fridge? Should I soak the oats overnight? What I don't want is a big gummy blob, so I need to think this through. So I am searching out a variety of recipes and will be trying a few over the next week. I'll let you know how it turns out!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Carrot Muffins
I really love muffins that are packed with delicious items -- apples, blueberries, raisins, carrots. What I don't like is the insane calorie count that comes with many of these muffins. I typically replace half of the oil in any recipe with unsweetened applesauce (homemade, of course).
This past week I have been craving carrot cake. Probably due to the fact that little j got a piece from a local bakery on Monday and shared a tiny little bite with me. But I can't really justify making a whole cake for 3 people, even though I have an amazing secret recipe. So I decided to do the next best thing: muffins.
I searched and searched for a low-fat, low-sugar recipe and finally decided to take a few different recipes and add my own twist. I got the calories down to 270 with 11 grams of fat per muffin* (still a bit high). In retrospect, I probably should have made smaller muffins. But I'll see how they turn out and possibly make a few tweaks again. They are in the oven right now and I can't wait!
UPDATE: They are good, but I have a couple ideas that will cut the sugar and fat: reduce the eggs to 2 whole and 1 egg white, increase the carrots to 12 oz., add 1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple -- and, of course, make 18 muffins instead of 12.
*I like to use this recipe analyzer to check nutritional values.
This past week I have been craving carrot cake. Probably due to the fact that little j got a piece from a local bakery on Monday and shared a tiny little bite with me. But I can't really justify making a whole cake for 3 people, even though I have an amazing secret recipe. So I decided to do the next best thing: muffins.
I searched and searched for a low-fat, low-sugar recipe and finally decided to take a few different recipes and add my own twist. I got the calories down to 270 with 11 grams of fat per muffin* (still a bit high). In retrospect, I probably should have made smaller muffins. But I'll see how they turn out and possibly make a few tweaks again. They are in the oven right now and I can't wait!
UPDATE: They are good, but I have a couple ideas that will cut the sugar and fat: reduce the eggs to 2 whole and 1 egg white, increase the carrots to 12 oz., add 1/2 cup drained crushed pineapple -- and, of course, make 18 muffins instead of 12.
That Girl's Carrot Muffins
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
8 oz carrot, coarsely shredded
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
3 eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 apple, peeled, cored and coarsely grated
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare a muffin 12 (12 muffins) with either liners or light oil.
Into a large bowl sift together flours, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, allspice and salt. Whisk in sugars. Mix in carrot, raisins and coconut.
In a separate smaller bowl, mix together eggs, oil, applesauce, and grated apple.
Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring until just incorporated.
Divide batter between muffin cups (they will be quite full). Bake for 15 to 20 minutes; check with a tester.
Cool muffin tin on wire rack for 5 minutes, then turn out muffins on rack to cool at least 5 minutes more.
*I like to use this recipe analyzer to check nutritional values.
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