Got Kale?
Posted: June 7, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: garden, kale, kale chips 2 Comments »Kale is the new acai berry. Well they may not taste the same, but it surely is becoming the health food spokes vegetable.
This week it was time to harvest some leaves and plants new things! I harvested kale and pulled the leggy spinach. We have had a lot of rain lately and I think it is hurting my plants because our soil is high is clay content.
Back to the kale, we have a lot around these parts.
Yummy! That is about $8 worth of kale from $2 worth of plants and it is still coming.
My favorite way to eat kale is via Kale Chips!
- Pre-heat oven to 350
- Wash and tare kale into chip like pieces – make sure leaves are dry
- Coat leaves in olive oil, salt, pepper and any other seasoning of choice
- Lay flat on a baking sheet in one layer
- Bake in over for 10min
- Check oven often – you don’t want them to burn!
- Serve with ketchup and hot sauce combo or nothing at all
Even Sissy likes kale!
Try some today!
Cheesy Blues
Posted: January 25, 2011 Filed under: recipe | Tags: healthy blue cheese dressing, kale chips, pinto beans, sweet potato 1 Comment »Have to heard the news about Taco Bell? Apparently they don’t really have meat inside their tacos. In all honesty, did we ever think it was real? My favorite quote is from Mark Bittman today was “Yum foods is saying their beef is as much beef as Tyson’s chicken is chicken.”
On to better things…blue cheese dressing anyone?!
The secret ingredient?
The idea started with my recent discovery for my love of blue cheese on sweet potatoes during my wisdom teeth adventure. I combined the following ingredients in a Ball jar and hoped for the best.
- 1oz good blue cheese, chopped and heated for 20sec in the micro– I mean the stinky stuff!
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt drink
- 1 tsp pepper
- dash salt
- 1 tbsp parsley chopped fine
- 1 splash of EVOO to prevent clumping
Top with anything you would normally coat in dressing – great flavor with a lot less fat and probiotics!
Obviously I was going with a sweet potato here.
Sweet potato, home cooked pinto beans heated with a sautéed onion and garlic. Topped with lovely dressing!
Garnished with a side of kale chips!
I’ve found that pinto beans cook up better than any other beans I can have tried from dry to wet.
Are you getting any crazy weather tomorrow into Thursday? We are supposed to get a wintRy mix and I am not looking forward to the icy conditions.
Chop, Chop
Posted: April 13, 2010 Filed under: Tuesday | Tags: beans, ezekiel, fig bar, kale chips 1 Comment »Hello! It is so grey here! We were so spoiled last week with nice weather, I want that all the time! Yet another reason to move to San Diego. It is supposed to get nicer as week goes on but I am getting kind of sick of moving my plants in and out every day. I need a cart or something!
I am sort of on a fridge cleanout this week because we are getting a roommate on Sunday, and I am kind of a pantry and fridge hog.
Leftover 15 bean soup from the freezer and a piece of cornbread also from the freezer. Cornbread does not last as long as soup…
Open wide!
I was getting my haircut this afternoon so I left work a little early and snacked on a fig cookie just before leaving.
I agree with Nick that I like these better. they are definitely more like a cookie!
I wasn’t planning on getting a lot cut off but when Alyson asked I said “hmmmm lets do it!”
I couldn’t get a good picture. I think it looks better in person. It is so short, but I like it! I am just too lazy to manage long wavy hair.
I wasn’t really hungry when dinner time rolled around, but I did want to try out my nooch (nutritional yeast) on some kale chips!
I marinated the kale in nooch and lemon juice. It turned out to have too much lemon 
I was bummed, but I plan on trying it again. No verdict on nooch yet.
In addition to the kale I made a 1/2 Ezekiel english muffin topped with an LC wedge and a runny egg.
Obviously there was also ketchup involved 
I am planning on a square of chocolate for dessert and then it is time for GLEE!!!!! Until then I will be flipping between My First Place and Biggest Loser. I am so not into this season.
See you in the mornin’!
Triple Layered
Posted: April 6, 2010 Filed under: running, Tuesday | Tags: baked beans, bars, kale chips, salad, sweet potato 1 Comment »Holy Cow it is hot out there! I actually had to turn on the AC otherwise there is no way we could get to sleep. It was 90! I went for a walk during lunch and I was trying not to sweat through my clothes. Gross I know!
At least my lunch was refreshing!
Salad of organic mixed baby greens, wheat berries, carrots and maters topped with some luscious lemon hummus. I reallllllly like this hummus!
Plus a huge grapefruit that was extremely messy!
For my afternoon pick me up I went with some protein.
Chobani pineapple. Hands down the best yogurt flavor I have ever eaten.
Mirrored!
When I got home I watered the plants that had endured the hot sun, fed sissy and cleaned up the kitchen. I wanted it to get a little cooler before my run, but that wasn’t happening.
I ended up heading out in the heat anyway and boy was it a hard run. I wanted water so badly when I got home! I think I am up to six glasses at this point. I did a nice 4miler again and my knee felt great! No pain whatsoever!
I came home did some foam rolling and core before hitting the showers and starting on dinner.
Nick was going to trivia tonight so I was able to make something I have been wanting to try for a long time!
Sweet potato with baked beans and Ashley’s salt and vinegar kale chips.
Man I love baked beans!
I also loved how vinegary these chips got! I was going to use some ketchup but instead I used them to soak up the extra baked bean juice, yum!
Then it was time for me to get baking! I haven’t made bars in a really long time and this idea came to me today. What if I combined 3 bars that I had been eyeing online????
Ashley’s Graham Crackers + Allie’s Figgy Bars + Kelsey’s granola bars
Layer style!
First off I 1/2ed everything.
Bottom Layer = Graham Cracker
- 3/4 cup WW flour
- 1/6 cup sugar
- cinnamon
- dash salt
- 1 tbs oil
- 1 tbs applesauce
- 1 tbs molasses
- vanilla
- 1/8 cup whole grain milk
- Mix dry and make well.
- Mix wet and pour into well.
- mix together into a ball and roll out into pan.
Middle Layer = Figgy Bar
- 6oz figs
- 4 ct dates
- small handful almonds
- 1 tbs water
- squirt honey
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- cinnamon
- vanilla
- ginger
- Mix everything in food processor.
- Layer on top of graham crackers.
Top Layer = Oat Bar
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup Bob’s Red Mill muesli
- 1 tbs ground flax
- ~ 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
- cinnamon
- pinch salt
- vanilla
- 3/4 cup whole grain drink
- 1 eggs worth of whites
- pumpkin seeds
- chia seeds
So how did they taste?
Figgy! Which was great because I really enjoy figs, but it was border line too much. I also think the graham got a little over powered by all of the other flavors going on. I think I could make a kick butt fig newton re-make by doing a graham-fig-graham combo. Also I think I would stick to 100% rolled oats. All of the other fruit ie raisins and dates were a little too much, maybe the reason I think the fig layer was too much even.
Nonetheless I think they were a great success for a first stab, and now I finally have a good afternoon snack before runs!
Now it is time for me to crawl into bed. I am pooped! I can’t believe it is going to be 90 again tomorrow then 60 on Thursday!
Night Night!
Sunny Days
Posted: March 23, 2010 Filed under: Sanibel, Tuesday | Tags: beach, kale chips, Mucky Duck, Sanibel, shrimp, sunset Leave a comment »Today was full of sun!
We spent about 3 hours at the beach and that is about all the sun my pale body could take.
My view for the day. We gathered shells and built a sand castle. I think we finally have the shelling technique down and are ready to head out early with the pros tomorrow morning.
When we came in at 2pm I was starving!
I made myself another little snack plate.
Carrots, green beans, maters in hummus. Orange slices, toast with peanut butter and strawberries. Loupe with Oikos.
I love strawberry pb sandwiches!
After lunch I was still hungry and had 1/2 of an Odwalla bar to get me full. I read some blogs and watched Dr. Oz talk about obesity, but I was still hungry!
Mom and I popped some popcorn to eat while watching Gilmore Girls and then we were off to the Mucky Duck for sunset.
The Mucky Duck is supposed to be the best place to see the sunset and everyone and their mom was there. We got a couple of drinks and settled in to wait it out.
Shortly after this things got really cold and I put on a sweater and a jacket. It was breeeeeezy!
And now for the sunset sequence!
Freezing our bums off, but it was a pretty sunset!
When we arrived home we got started on our quick planned dinner. Fresh Rock Shrimp and kale chips!
Yes the kale totally overshadows the shrimp. Love kale chips. Mom was a trooper and ate most of her’s.
We finished the shrimp off in lime juice and cilantro.
Now we are watching the Biggest Loser weigh in. I missed the trainer tips and nutrition this week.
Kayaking tomorrow! I will be wearing my hat!
Olympics Day 1
Posted: February 13, 2010 Filed under: saturday | Tags: almond butter, apple, BARCS, butternut squash, chickpeas, kale chips, wrap Leave a comment »Greetings from Guitar Hero land! We have been switching between the game and Olympics all day long. We also took a break to watch Duke stomp all over Maryland in Basketball. Nick and I are both Duke fan thanks to our parents both attending.
I played with some pretty nice kitties this morning. There was one that was just a lap lover named Sydnee. She was a year old and seized from her previous owner. Stupid humans. Most of the animals are strays or owner surrendered, but there are a few that we get from animal control. The animals of BARCS are just looking for love.
Anyway I stopped by Target on my way home to get Nick’s V-day present and when I finally got home I was starving.
I made the quickest thing possible, wrap and apple.
In me wrap; my last 3 meatless meatballs, LC wedge, Frank’s, lettuce
Apple with raw almond butter.
I really don’t like the raw. I also had about 3 graham cracker sheets and a vanilla raspberry ice cream bar from Trader Joe’s.
All this food kept me full until at least 7pm when I thought that maybe I should get up and make dinner.
Roasted chickpeas, butternut squash, kale chips.
I roasted the chickpeas in clementine juice, cinnamon, S&P and apple cider vinegar. Baked clementines are amazing with flavor!
B-nut squash with garlic powder, kale chips with the last of the Heinz ketchup.
Dessert was a tea, adora disk and sugar cookie. No pictures.
We are heading to Ellicott City tonight to check out the night scene. We shall see how it is over there.
Have a great night!
Lots Of Beans Today!
Posted: January 19, 2010 Filed under: Tuesday | Tags: bean burger, kale chips, salad, Vitamuffin, yogurt Leave a comment »30min until Biggest Loser! Until then Sissy and I have been watching Dog Whisperer. Cesar is amazing with animals, but I am glad cats do not have as many issues. Ha, now that I think about it my mom’s cat needs Cesar to come and figure out what is up with her.
Work came and went without too many surprises given that we had the long weekend.
Before I knew it, it was lunch time!
I broke food rule #3 today with my vitamuffin. I am not that worried about it, there are many more things that I could eat that are worse. Also rule #64, which we still have a ways to get to addresses situations like this with “rule breaking”.
Along with my corn muffin top (these do not taste like corn muffins and they have way too much sugar for their own good) I had a lovely salad and plain Stoneyfield with blackberries. These berries were on sale this week at Giant, and I just couldn’t resist. I have been trying to only buy in season produce, but there are only so many apples and pears I can take before I need to switch it up. I will not be dabbling in the strawberries, peaches or nectarines – they look nasty.
My salad had, spinach, white beans, olives, avocado and carrots.
Delicious!
After work I headed to the gym and biked for 45min without pain in my knee, did some PT strength moves and core work. Unfortunately my knee is killing me now and I am currently icing it. I can’t wait to get to the bottom of this tomorrow, or at least take the first step!
At least my dinner was delicious!
leftover white bean burger – 1/2 cup white beans, Wocestershire sauce, tomato paste, thyme, S&P – mashed. I grilled it on the griddler, but my burgers do not like to stay together on there…I think I need to treat them more like a pancake and flip rather than press. They are too delicate!
I melted a piece of swiss on an Ezekiel english muffin with mustard, the totally topped with black bean salsa.
I like big burgers! I think next time I will omit the salsa, it sort of dominated the flavor of the burger. I did sample the bean mix while mixing and really liked it. Some times plain is just better.
Along with my burger I had some kale chips with ketchup!
For my sweet end I had my last square of Newman’s Own Orange Dark Chocolate.
Biggest Loser in T-10min!
Sissy is so excited! Not really, she is sleeping.
Night All!
Winter Weekend
Posted: December 12, 2009 Filed under: weekend | Tags: kale chips, polenta, running, Sicily 1 Comment »Hello Hello!
Wow, I think need a nap. I got my errands done before the crowds got too crazy except for at the grocery store.
When I got home I was staving and had an apple and some nuts before going out for a little run. Ugh I ate way too close to running and I was full of carbonated apple juice when I got home.
I did think about some tip for running in the cold today. I know I looked good all decked out.
- Men do not look good in running tights.
- Make sure you wear gloves. When your body is cold it draws blood aka heat to your vital organs and your fingers and toes are the first to go.
- Wear something over your ears. I am a big fan of the ear warmer because I get serious pains in my ears when I run. Some others like winter hats, but they are too heavy or something for me.
- Layer. Under my white Nike I have some Under Armour Cold gear.
- Wear Sun block. You can still get burned in the winter.
- Run on the sunny side of the street. This is kind of a personal one, but I just feel so much warmer and better when I can feel the sun on my body.
To settle the sparkling cider in my stomach I wrapped a few presents and Sissy helped.
She is good at holding the ribbon.
When I was done my stomach wasn’t exactly settled, but it was 2pm and I was really hungry.
I made a plate of kale chips and polenta fries.
Speaking of polenta…this is the recipe I made up back in Thursday.
It started with the recipe on the back of the Bob’s Red Mill polenta bag minus some of the butter.
This included, 2 cups polenta, 6 cups stock, salt, pepper, rosemary and parm cheese.
Boil the stock and then add the polenta s&p.
I started from there and added other elements once the polenta was thick.
Sundried tomatoes, parm and rosemary.
I poured the tick mixture into a baking dish and put a little more parm and some fresh basil on top before letting it set.
I think it could have had more time setting, but that is what leftovers are for! This makes eight large portions.
I paired it with some sweet italian sausage.
Other ideas I used it for, sandwiches, fries.
OK I am going to take a power nap and then wrap a few more presents and try to get some cleaning done…this place is a mess!
Sunday, Sunday
Posted: November 15, 2009 Filed under: weekend | Tags: chinese, clementines, kale chips, smoothie, waffle 1 Comment »So where did I leave off?
Oh yes, on my way to hot yoga…it did not go as well as the first class. I felt like I was going to see my breakfast again, and I had to excuse myself to cooler temperatures. I was able to return for savansana, but it was highly annoying not to be able to be part of the whole class, but I don’t think the other people in the class would have enjoyed the added smell. I talked to Emily (the instructed) after, her and her husband Eddie own the studio, and she said it can be a number of things and not get down on myself. I don’t think I hydrated well enough and she did mention that the Chinese food was not the best pre-Bikram choice.
I still felt more stretched and sweated out than when I went in. I consoled myself with a large diet lemonade from Chick-fil-a and the other half of my banana before visiting the Pennsylvania Dutch Market.
There were tons of baked good and jarred items. They also had lots of grains and meats. They only took cash, and the prices were higher than I thought they would be, but it would be fun to have lunch there some time and pick up some homemade pickles.
When I returned home I wanted a smoothie and some peanut butter for lunch. That is what I got.
Sicily approved of the smoothie and actually tried to drink some of it!
In the smoothie: Frozen berries, plain yogurt, amazing grass, chocolate protein powder and almond milk. Leftover pumpkin waffle with Peanut butter and Co. Cinnamon Raisin Swirl.
For any afternoon snack I had one of my Okios cakes.
Then Nick and I went to a house warming party where I continued to eat tons of peanut butter cookies and other desserts 
Whoops, they were staring me in the face, and Aubrey made “belly buttons” which and pretzels with melted Hersey kisses and M&M pressed into them. Bite size and dangerous! Needless to say I did not get a picture.
This morning I slept in until almost 10AM! It was nice to get lots of sleep!
I wasn’t extra hungry for breakfast so went straight for the fruit and yogurt.
1/2 and apple, banana and a clementine with plain yogurt a few WW shredded wheat bites and cinnamon.
So weird to see sunlight on my breakfast!
I had to get a new battery for my watch at the mall and I grabbed a pumpkin maple cake on my way out the door. I popped into a few stores and found a flannel shirt that I liked, but it was $40!!! I don’t think so! Clothes have gotten so trashy lately. I can’t wait to hit up the high quality of Freeport, ME.
When I got home it was time to set out on a nice long run on this beautiful 72 degree day! I ran about 9.5 miles, and my legs felt amazing! It was such a nice run except being forced of the road by two cyclist that had to ride side-by-side while a car and I were passing them. Come on guys I thought we shared the road together!
It was about 4:30PM when I got home so I did a little cleaning before I got in the shower and set to work on a 10min dinner. I really wanted the rest of my sesame noodles but I beefed it up a little bit.
Noodles with shelled edamame and cherry tomatoes, heated so the tomatoes pop warm and gooey in your mouth.
Along with my noodles I had the last of my kale in chip form with ketchup I don’t think I will ever get sick of these!
For dessert I had two clementines to keep it on the light side. Making up for last night.
Ok, I need to get back to mopping the kitchen floor and cleaning the bathrooms. Don’t be jealous, I live a glamorous life.
Hope you all had a great weekend!
Loaded Soup
Posted: November 11, 2009 Filed under: Wednesday | Tags: hot yoga, kale chips, potato soup Leave a comment »I made it through hot yoga! Wow, it smelled! That was my first reaction, then, wow it’s hot! I made it through the class and only got dizzy once during camel. I can go for the whole week so I am thinking of heading back Saturday morning for what I am sure is a huge packed class. Today at 9:30 the class was full.
After class I had the 2nd half of my banana and headed to target to pick up a few things you can’t find at Whole Foods. Including sandwich thins, which Nick will need for dinner.
When I got home I was so wet and cold I jumped into the hot, hot shower!
Then I set to making KERF Loaded Baked Potato Soup!
Sauteed 2 pieces of bacon.
While this happened I cooked the potato cubes in the mirco.
Add the cooked potatoes, buttermilk, skim, flour, dill, S&P and mashed all together.
Topped with bacon and cheddar cheese. It was delicious. A lot like creamy mashed potatoes with less of the fat.
I also had a side of kale chips!
After lunch I cleaned up a bit for mom and started some prep for dinner. Nick is finally getting his bison! Off to get a few more things done before Sicily and I head out to pick up mom from the airport! This will be Sissy’s first car ride and I want her to get used to it for Christmas. Plus mom will be super excited!
