Crispy, Spicy, Cheesy, Raw Kale Chips

Let me introduce you to the most addictive healthy snacks you will ever eat. 

Everyone, meet the kale chip. 

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Kale is one if those trendy greens, and for good reason! It's packed with good stuff! Low calories, calcium,  vitamins, minerals, and is supper yummy! (The Truth About Kale by WebMD)  There are tons of recipes floating around for using kale: smoothies, salads, boiled, etc... Kale chips are by far my favorite way to enjoy this "Queen of the Greens".

The Hubby and I have seriously gotten in spats over who ate the last of the kale chips. We have to divide them evenly so as not to risk our marriage, okay maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point. These suckers are crazy mad good!

yumm!

There are a few kale chips on the market and they are pretty good but a) they are not as good as this recipe; and b) they are really expensive.

These kale chips are pretty easy to make, fast (if you don't count the overnight dehydrating), and really cheap.

My mom ended up buying a dehydrator after my dad became addicted to my kale chips. She now makes them even more often than I do. As is her style with everything she cooks, she changes the recipe every time she makes them. She has done a salt and vinegar, various spice combinations, and her most common is tossing them in Todd's Dirt Seasoning. 

before dehydrating

As for me, I am too in love to venture outside of my original recipe. It's just too good! It's a little spicy, a little salty,  a little garlicky, a little smoky, a little tangy, and a little cheesy. Just the perfect amount of everything delicious! 

Apparently you can make kale chips in the oven if you don't have a dehydrator, but the one time I tried (I had loaned out my dehydrator) I burned the heck out of my kale. I would suggest just getting a dehydrator. They aren't that expensive and you can do so much with them! Dried fruit, granola, fruit leather, jerky, dried spices, etc... I have only used my dehydrator once for something other than kale chips, but it was defiantly one if the best wedding gifts we got! 

after dehydrating

If you are looking to save time you can get packages of pre-washed kale that has been cut into strips or bite-sized pieces in the bagged salad section of the grocery store. You can also use any and all kinds of kale, rainbow kale included.

I hardly ever measure anything when I'm making kale chips, so the recipe below is an estimation of measurements. You will need to adjust according to your tastes and to the amount of kale that is in the bunch that you bought. 

omg! doesn't that look so good?!?

Crispy, Spicy, Cheesy, Raw Kale Chips

1 bunch kale

1 cup grated parmesan and remano cheese blend (or just parmesan)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 cup lemon juice (about)
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil (about)

Make sure your sink is clean and fill it with cold water. Rip the leaves of the kale off of the stems. Put the stems in the trash and the leaves in the skin full of water. Swish the leaves around in the water a little and then let them sit for about 30 minutes. This will wash the dirt off the leaves and the dirt will sink down to the bottom  of the sink while the leaves float.

While the leaves are soaking, mix the spices and grated cheese together and set aside.

After the leaves have sat for about 30 minutes scoop them out and lay on a towel to dry. Pat lightly with a towel to dry. This step is not entirely necessary, you could skip it if you don't have time. It does remove the excess water and allows the flavors to stick to the leaves.

Transfer some of the leaves to a big work bowl, doing this in batches is easier than trying to do them all at once. Drizzel some olive oil and lemon juice over the leaves. Sprinkle some of the cheese mixture over the leaves, don't skimp. Mix the leaves with the oil, juice and cheese mix, rubbing and massaging the leaves and mixing well. This is where the flavors get infused into the kale.

Transfer the kale to the dehydrator shelves, and spread out into one layer. Do this with the rest of the kale leaves.

Put the lid on your dehydrator and turn to 135F. Leave in the dehydrator 8-12 hours or overnight. The chips should be dry and crispy. Let cool and transfer to a air-tight container.

A Healthy College Care Package

I send KICK-BUTT care packages. 

Seriously, just ask my sister.

My little sister, Annie, is in her  Junior year of college. She is a bit of a health freak and the deep-fried southern cooking of her school's cafeteria doesn't always cut it for her. She lives on campus and doesn't have a car so she has very little opportunity to get to the grocery store. For the most part she just deals with it, but I thought that since she was in the middle of mid-terms I would send her some love and some healthy snacks.



Here is what I came up with:
Homemade Granola Bars
Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets - recipe below
Green Tea - World Market
Almond Butter Packets - Whole Foods
Instant Coffee Packets - Starbucks
Dark Chocolate Bar - World Market
Free Music Card - Starbucks
Super-food Butter Packets - Whole Foods
Necklace - World Market
Cute Pen - World Market
Mustache Lollipop - ???
Candy Corn - The Dollar Store (just a little Halloween Happy)
Empty Creamer Bottle - My Kitchen (so she can get cream/milk/juice from the caff and stick it in her mini fridge)
Measuring Spoons and Cups - The Dollar Store

Some Other Things I Have Sent Annie In Care Packages:

Instant Soup Cups (Cup-Noodles would work, but I send her the healthy and yummy stuff, check out Whole Foods)

Dried Fruit

Nuts

Homemade Crayons 

Coffee Cozy

Travel Coffee Mug

Stickers

Cookies

Pictures of Family

Art Supplies

Free Music and App Cards from Starbucks

Drawings from my Son

Beauty Supplies (nail polish, make-up, soaps, lotion, etc...)

Funky Socks

Granola

Fruit Cups

School Supplies 

Tuna Packets

Holiday Decorations for the Dorm

Recipe for Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets

Adapted from One Good Thing By Jillee

10 cups quick oats (not rolled oats, needs to be quick oats)

2 teaspoons salt

1-2 cups granulated honey (or brown sugar. More or less depending on your taste preference)

Fixin's (raisins, dried cranberries, chopped pecans or other nuts, dried apple or other fruit chunks, chocolate chips, etc...)
About 24 snack-sized plastic baggies

Blend 3 cups of oats in a blender until powdery then transfer to a big bowl. Blending the oats is what makes the oatmeal creamy. Add the rest (7 cups) of the oatmeal to the bowl along with the salt and granulated honey. Mix all of these ingredients together. Measure out 1/2 of the oats mix into the plastic baggies, add your fixin's and seal.

To make the oatmeal:
Empty 1 baggie of oatmeal into a microwave safe bowl or mug and add 3/4 cup of water. Nook on high for 1-2 minute. (Microwaves vary, so use more or less time depending.) If you don't have a microwave then just add 3/4 cup of boiling water and cover. Let that sit for a few minutes and then stir. Add cream or milk if you like and enjoy your healthy breakfast!

 Here's my little helper!

This is him smiling for the camera.

Robot 1st Birthday Party (1st installment)

The great thing about first birthday parties is that you (the parent) get to do WHATEVER you want! There is no little person complaining about not getting the party that they want, its whatever you want. You can do a crazy robot theme with adult drinks and totally get away with it, because lets be real, this party is as much celebrating you getting through the first year as it is for your little sweetness.

Here is the results of my son's first birthday.

Handmade stencil.

Check out the tutorial here.

Handmade invitations. 

Made the stencils and printed the cards. They turned out so well!

Robot ice cubes!

Used the Fred & Friends Chillbots Ice Cube Tray.

It was a little difficult getting the robots to come out of the tray without breaking their legs and claw hands off, but after breaking a few batches I figured out that if I ran the tray upside-down under hot water for a few seconds the little robots popped out pretty easily.