How to Make Kale Chips

I may never eat potato chips again.

Why do these taste so good? They're green.

I've been wanting to make these for awhile, but most recipes just say something like this:

Spritz with olive oil spray and bake at 400F until crispy.


That's it? That can't be it. That's not a recipe, it's not even a complete sentence. How am I supposed out make a dish off of that?

So I didn't. My life was kale-less until I made these, and frankly, I'm not sure how I made it this long.

So when I found the most in depth kale chip recipe I had seen so far from Kath, I decided to give it a go.

Now, my dear readers, behold the most descriptive, picture filled kale chips recipe you may ever find.

Ever.

Kale Chips


Note: You can season these however you like. You can use cheese, chives, salt, pepper, garlic, cayenee, oregano, whatever you like! The possibilities go and on. It al depends on your tase buds, if you like sour cream and onion chips, salt snd vinegar chips, cheesey, chips, spicy chips, barbecue chips, or just good ol' salt.

Ingredients

One bunch of kale (You can use multiple bunches if you want more chips.)
Olive oil nontcik spray (I think a Misto would work really well with this)
Whatever seasoning you want (see note)
I used salt and onion powder

Tear the stem off of the bottom of the kale like so. Now, tear off the leafy part off the stem. You can make them almost any size you want; your guest won't care how good they look. They'll be too busy trying to figure out how these taste so good.
But you may want to try to make them somewhat similar sizes for the sake of even cooking.

Place them on a baking sheet and bake them at 400F for about 10 minutes. (Keep a pretty keen eye on them, no one wants over or under done kale chips.)

 Preseneting... CRISPY KALE CHIPS!!!!!!!!

They may not look like much in this picture, but kale is not overly photogenic. (No offense, kale.)

Don't be decieved, these are amazingly amazing. I said amazing twice.

Please try these. I dare you.

Enjoy!

-Kelly M.

How to Make Cheese Stuffed Meatballs

Good evening, friends!

I've been thinking, and I really want to thank you all for reading my blog. It's still in its preliminary stages, and it's so heartwarming to say I have such wonderful readers in the beginning.  It means so much to me that you take the time out of your busy lives to read my fiascoes, and I am very grateful. Thank you.

So I was also thinking about how nice a community the blogging community is. Have you heard of the The Great Fundraising Act? It's to support a brilliant blogger named Susan, who has recently been diagnosed with Lymphoma. The blogging community is coming together to help pay her medical bills, because she obviously can't work while she's in the hospital having chemo, but she is still blogging.

Susan seems like a lovely person, and this whole story really hits home for me because of my mom's recent diagnosis with stage 2 breast cancer. The auction is taking place this Monday, July 25th, so maybe you'll stop by?

Dear Susan, I send my love and best wishes to you. And if I had a product or a cookbook I was selling, I would donate it to the auction. (Although I wouldn't mind publishing a cookbook one day ;)  )

So speaking of meatballs (which I wasn't,) here is a delicious and beyond recipe I made for dinner a few days ago. It's flavorful meat stuffed with gooey, melt-y cheese!

Are you drooling yet? I am.

Cheese Stuffed Meatballs


Note: You can use whatever cheese you want, or whatever cheese you have on hand. This recipe is also very easily halved, doubled, etc. to fit your needs. The amount of cheese is an approximate, I didn't weigh it our or anything. This is very simple, and very good, so just have fun!

Ingredients

12 oz. extra lean ground turkey (That's what I used, but you can use lean or however you like.)
1T onion powder
2t bottled garlic (I like stuff garlicky, so feel free to use less and/or actual cloves of garlic)
dash of salt
dash of pepper
About 2-3 oz. cheese of choice (see note)

 Mix together all ingredients except cheese in a medium-large bowl. (Meat, onion powder, garlic, salt, pepper)

 I used 1 wedge of Light Laughing Cow cheese, and some Light Havarti cheese.

 So take a little bit of meat (take as much as you like depending on how big you want the meatballs,) squish it into a flat circle, and plop some cheese in the center.

I did the same thing with the Havarti.

 Take the meat and pinch it around the cheese, and roll it around until it turns into a ball.

 Load 'em up in a large pot or skillet sprayed with nonstick spray or a Misto, but just don't overcrowd them too much. Bring it to medium-high heat.

 Let the meatballs sit for a bit or until the bottom browns slightly.

 Then turn them over and do the same ting with the other side. Once that side browns, just keep rolling them around until the balls are browned and crispy all over. Maybe I should've boiled them or something else to get them to cook more evenly, but this really did get the job done and rolling balls around in a hot skillet is actually quite fun. :)

 Meanwhile, I swiped to raw balls and baked them in cover ed dish at 450F for experimental purposes.

 Here are my balls, all yummy, oozy, crispy, and done.

So I baked them for about 30 minutes or until they turned pinkish like this. The verdict ruled in favor of the non-baked ones, because the baked balls lacked a crispy crust like the skillet done ones did. But these were still very, very yummy. Remember when I said I baked two?

Served with class in a mug with a fork. Meatballs in a mug? I should write that down.

Enjoy!

-Kelly M.

Green Garden Super Soup

Good afternoon!

Is everyone enjoying their holiday weekend?

I have an interesting concoction for you today. In case you didn't know, my mom recently started chemotherapy. It's pretty hard on the family, but my mom's a tough cookie.

She needs protein, vitamins, and good stuff. So I'm really trying to make the healthiest (and tastiest!) stuff I can think of.

This is no exception.

So once upon a time (which was a few days ago,) I was stuck at dinnertime without a significant source of protein at my disposal. The horror. So to slip back into the category of health, I pretty much threw in every green vegetable in my fridge into a pot, pureed it up, and ta da! Super soup.

Are you taking notes?

Green Garden Super Soup

1 head of broccoli, broken up and roughly chopped
1 heart of celery, chopped
1 cup brussel sprouts, chopped  (they're not that bad)
about 5 green onions, chopped
about 15 spears of asparagus, cut into pretty small pieces
3 cups spinach (I used bagged. It just makes prep that much easier.)
2/3 cup peas
1/2t onion powder
dash of nutmeg
dash of salt
Feel free to add any other green veggies you like. I later realized I had green beans in the fridge, but forgot to put them in. Looking back on it, I think they would've been really good in this soup.

 Place all veggies except spinach and peas in a pot sprayed with nonstick spray. (Make sure you use a pot bigger than this one.) Saute until slightly browned.

 Put veggies into a bigger pot after you realize the pot you used was way too small. (Note: Feel free to skip this step if you started with the right size pot, unlike me.) Add spinach.

 Saute until wilted.

 This is where I ran into some trouble. I took my glass Pyrex 2 cup measuring cup and filled it up with water twice (I was out of broth) and poured it in. Then I added some more water, but I didn't really take note of what measuring line it came up to. I'm pretty sure it was less than a cup, though.
The problem was that later, when I pureed it, it came out way too watery. So next time, I would only add enough water to just barely cover the veggies, or maybe even a little less. I'm guessing that would be about 3 cups.

 So, a little after it started simmering, I realized I forgot the celery. So I chopped some up, threw it into the too small pot sprayed with nonstick spray I started in, (at least it was put to good use!) and sauteed until slightly browned.

 Then I threw it in with the rest of the simmering veggies, and let it sit for a bit more.

 

 So next, I pulled out one of my new favorite gadgets, my schmancy new immersion blender, and started pureeing.

 With a hint more salt, it tasted fine, but was too thin for my liking. I don't think straining it would have done anything, but my mom had a good suggestion.
Add peas!

 So I thawed out some frozen peas in that too small pot, (more than what's shown in this pic; I did two batches of peas after still not accepting the thickness of the soup after adding the first set of peas) threw them in the soup, and pureed it up.

It turned out amazingly good. It has a wonderful consistency, and a great flavor from the slight browning we got on the veggies.

After I added the peas, I also added some turkey lunch meat for the sake of protein and using it before it went bad. I don't think it's crucial to the soup, but I think adding some kind of cooked protein at the end is a really nice touch.

After adding the turkey and peas, I just heated it a little longer, and served it up!

P.S. I had three bowls.

Enjoy!

-Kelly M.

So much food, so little time

I'm so confused.

Yesterday, I accidentally fell asleep at 6 pm. At 2 in the morning, I'm up and about.  Great.

I was still determined to stick to my regimen, so I did my hour of hula hooping. At 2 am.

Anyway, enough about strange sleeping patterns. I'm sorry I've been gone for a bit, but life happens. So onto food...

It may not look like much, but this is one of the most adventurous oat bowls I've made to date.

Into my pot went:
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 cup water
1/4 rolled oats
3T wheat bran
1T coconut flour
1/4t cinnamon
powdered stevia (a lot)


And topped with:
sliced banana
shredded coconut
white chocolate chips
coconut cream (1T coconut flour mixed with enough almond milk to dissolve it. I read about it on HEAB who found out about it from Non-Dairy Queen.

So after a decision to make a rather complex dinner, a trip to Bristol Farms was made.

The deli counter was visited...

...and the cart was stocked.

Then a stop was made at Whole Foods to look for their coconut. I read on HEAB that the coconut butter I  (tried) to make a few days ago it truly an exact science. Apparently, I was NOT supposed to use flaked coconut, but shredded coconut. Did I listen?
No. So I bought coconut that best fit the description at Whole Foods, and headed on my way.

Of course, I had to stop at the flour aisle, just to make sure nothing was exploding over there. (Taking one for the team, I was.)

Don't laugh at this recipe.

Meat Chips w/ Thyme Dijon (This is not nearly as gross as it sounds)
Adapted from Real Simple
Desired amount of your meat of choice
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
2-3T fresh chopped thyme

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Spritz baking sheet with nonstick spray. Line meat on baking sheet and spritz with nonstick spray.Bake in oven at 375 F for 12-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together Dijon and thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve "chips" with the thyme Dijon. Dig in!

Next...
Blueberry Preserves
Adapted from Real Simple
2 packages of organic blueberries (I'll see later if this works with other berries)
1/4 granulated stevia
1T fresh lemon juice
1/4t salt

Mash all ingredients together with a potato masher until the blueberries have released there juices.

Pour everything into a food processor and process until pretty smooth (I guess you could skip this if you really wanted to.)

I poured into a small saucepan over medium-high heat like the original recipe, but it smelled like burning. I don't really like my preserves burned, so I just turned down to medium heat. That worked fine.

You're going to let that sit for awhile, about 18-25 minutes or until pretty thick. It probably won't be exactly jam/jelly/preserve texture right out of the pan. Don't worry, it'll firm up once cooled in the fridge.

And...
Curried Yogurt Dip
Adapted from Real Simple
1.5 cups nonfat Greek yogurt (I think Fage is the best)
1T curry powder
salt and pepper to taste
Dijon mustard
Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Whisk it all together until smooth.

Once it was all together and uniform in color, it was time to taste. Good, but missing something.

So I added the juice from half a lemon and enough Dijon to bring it to the desired consistency. If you want it more or less Dijon-y, just adjust to your tastes. Yum.

Meanwhile, our preserves are almost done, but not quite.

Behold the glory of the finished dip!

It tasted great when I dipped a carrot into it.

Perfect.

Sorry the lighting isn't very good, but the pan is black, and the preserves are dark. Just believe it's good.

Pop into the fridge until cool.

Yes, there is more.

Balsamic Strawberries
Loosely based on Real Simple
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
as many strawberries as you want

Put the balsamic vinegar into a small saucepan and boil for 3-4 minutes or until reduced by about half. Serve balsamic with or poured on top of strawberries. This combo is unexplainable and AMAZING!!!
Try it.

Bear with me:


Red Curry Glazed Salmon
Adapted from Real Simple

4 4 oz. fillets of salmon
1T+1-2t of Thai red curry paste
2t canola oil
1/2t brown sugar
1/2t granulated stevia
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat broiler.

Whisk together all ingredients except salmon in a small bowl.

Line a baking sheet with nonstick foil. Place salmon fillets on foil-lined baking sheet and rub evenly with curry paste mixture. Broil for 5-7 minutes, or until "opaque throughout. (Real Simple's words, not mine)

Very simple.

Garlic and Red Pepper Green Beans
Adapted from Real Simple

1 bag of snapped, pre-washed green beans
about 1T garlic powder
2t crushed red pepper
salt to taste

Spray a large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray. Add garlic powder, red pepper, salt and stir to distribute. Cook until desired done-ness.

Beauteous.

Excuse me, I have food to devour.

OK, one more thing. My mom found a white nectarine at a Farmer's Market, and it was amazing. Sweet, but not too sweet. Yeah, I just though I'd share that. ;)

Enjoy!

-Kelly M

Q of the day: Have you ever heard of a white nectarine? If so, what do you think?

The Local Iron Chef

Happy Friday!

Grrrrrr. I uploaded many in depth picture for the poached salmon and mashed "potatoes"(cauliflower.)

But... When I went to go write the rest of the post, where were the pics? *Poof.* Gone.

I think I might actually have to talk about what happened today. Oh well.

Today, being Friday, is the last day in our cooking camp. So we had an "Iron Chef" face off. The class of nine broke into three teams of three, and we were each randomly assigned one dish made earlier in the week; Nachos w/ homemade guac and salsa, crepes w/strawberries and cream, and chicken piccata. My teammates were two boys named Dax and Jacob and we were assigned the Chicken Piccata.

Game on.

I'll share the recipe later b/c I didn't get pics of the actual process, and considering it was kinda involved, I really think visuals would help.

 We cut the chicken into sample-sized pieces, topped with our mushroom laden riff on piccata sauce, lemon slices, sauteed mushroom, parsley, and capers. Dax had a very intricate plan for the presentation.

 You gotta admit, this looks pretty good.

 These were the crepes another team made.

 They were also served with (delish!) strawberries and nectarines.

 Fresh made guac and salsa by yet another team. The chips were bagged, but hey, we weren't given three years to cook. :)

 The guac and salsa team also made the nachos.

So anyway, my teammates and I decided we were going to be really mad if they pulled an "everyone's a winner," on us.

Annie and the sous chef Aimee (we had another sous chef along with Aimee throughout the week named Emma, but we had a sub today,) promised that wouldn't happen, and they pulled out the store manager, the security guard, and some of the parents to be in the judging pool.

After some deliberation, it was decided not to count the parents' votes and a verdict was reached.

Everyone's a winner!

Sorta. They had three categories, and, you guessed, a different team won each category. Three teams, three categories, everyone's a winner!

I wasn't really complaining, though, because I think this was a nice way to make us all feel special. The three categories were Best Teamwork, Best Presentation, and (duh) Best Dish.

The nacho girls (they're all really nice, especially one girl named Jenna, my new kitchen related buddy!)   won Best Teamwork, our team won Best Presentation (rock on, Dax), and the crepes won Best Dish.

Our prizes were caramel covered marshmallows. So onto dinner...

Because of my lack of traditional chili I happened to have on hand, I kinda put a French twist on a traditional turkey chili recipe.

Lentil Turkey Chili

Adapted from Southern Living
Makes 2-3 servings

1/3 cup dried lentils
3 cups broth of choice
2t chili powder
1t cumin
1/4t salt
8 oz. extra lean ground turkey breast (Jennie o is pretty much the only way to go)
a few green onions, chopped
1t bottled minced garlic (or 2 actual garlic cloves)
about 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes (I didn't measure, I just poured)

Combine lentils and 1 cup of broth in a decent sized pot, bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cover. Check occasionally to see if liquid has been absorbed. If they look over done, just add more broth to rehydrate them and stir until slightly absorbed.

Spray a large saucepan with nonstick spray, and saute onions and garlic until browned. Add chili powder, cumin, salt, and ground turkey and saute until no pink is left in the ground turkey. Add cooked lentils, crushed tomatoes, and broth. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.

Sadly, I really don't know how long to simmer it at the end. I just covered it, went to talk to my mom, and did some dishes. By the time I got back to it, it was totally overdone, but I just re hydrated it with some more broth, stirred it around, and let it cook for a bit more. I think this is a very forgiving recipe.

But, it's packed with protein and my mom say it was the best chili she ever had!

Thanks mom!

 Bubbling.

 Chili beauty. ;)

 It speaks for itself.

Anyway, I think when it comes to the kitchen, I can be dangerous on a Friday night.

Too much time on my hands, and too many ideas. Well, you can never have too many ideas, but you get the point.

Too many fiascoes waiting to happen. I think you know what's coming.

I shouldn't have done it, but I did anyway. Coconut butter.

I got it from Heather Eats Almond Butter, and even she admitted that depending on the brand, type of processor, and even cut of coconut could determine whether or not it would work. At all.

 I even read flaked coconut tended no to work very well, but that's what I had, and I was determined at this point.

 Here we go.

 It was blending, really, it was. I had to stop a bunch of times to scrape down the bowl, though.

 The oils were releasing, but, after quite some time of scraping, turning on, watching it get stuck, and scraping again, I decided to consult my sources. (HEAB.)

I let the processor run while doing this, and I hoped that, by the time I got back, it would be buttery.

False hope. I saw that it looked drippy as I walked back into the kitchen, I got all excited, and then I got this.

 Sigh. Well, I loved that coconut, and refused to waste it. So I threw in some unsalted, dry roasted almonds and let it whirl.

 Trusty almonds, saving the day.

Sur jar and a little bit of another 5 oz. jar. As an end product, I got...

COCONUT ALMOND BUTTER W/ WHITE CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!

It was good.


Enjoy!

-Kelly M.