Thursday, September 20, 2012

Roasted Kale Chips (Trust Me!)

I have made no secret of the fact that I am lookin' to get healthier.

And part of this quest includes my journey to finally lose that frickin baby weight!

I know, I know...my baby is almost two.

It has been a long journey!

And part of this journey includes figuring out my weak spots and trying to remedy them with healthier alternatives.

So like many others, I am an evening snacker.

Here I am eating and watching bad, reality TV.


I can go all day...up to and including dinner...eating pretty darn well.

But once the kids are in bed and no one is watching...well...often all hell breaks loose!

This is the time when I crave those evil, complex carbs!

Evil buggers!


Chocolate, cookies, bread...oh my!

If only I could lock my mouth shut after 8pm, I would probably look like frickin Heidi Klum.

Including the wings and light-up underwear!

OK...maybe not. But my ass would be slightly smaller at the very least.

So where am I going with this?

Well peeps...I am gonna tell you about a healthy snack.

Kale!

All hail the mighty kale!

Actually...to be precise...Roasted Kale Chips!

Sounds pretty yummy, right?

No?

Yeah...that was my reaction too.

I have a friend who suggested this snack because it had helped him with his weight loss journey. I was, like "ummm...yeah dude...I'll try those pronto!"

My have when my friend suggested I try kale chips.
Yikes!


And then I didn't.

A few months later, I was at my sister-in-law's place and she started munching on something crunchy that resembled dehydrated seaweed.

Mmmmmmmm....dehyrated seaweed. Yuuuummmmmmyyyyyyy!!!!

What I meant was Grrrrroooooosssssss!


"Want some roasted kale?" she asked.

So I told her that a friend had recently recommended this "treat" and so I decided to give it a whirl.

And guess what? I rather enjoyed it!

Me like me some kale chips!


In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I went to the market and bought me a honkin' bunch of fresh kale to try my hand at making my own!

So here's the recipe. Nice and simple!

Take a bunch of kale and wash and dry. Then cut the leaves from the stems.

Toss with some olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Lay as flat as possible on a lightly olive-oiled backing sheet (you will probably need to do this a few times if you are doing a large bunch).

Bake at 350 for about 7 minutes. Take out and turn. Bake for another 3-4 minutes or until crisp. 

(The first few times there may be a bit of trial and error concerning the time as all ovens are different. If the kale starts to turn brownish it is over-done. You can still eat 'em...but they taste better when they are crisp but still green).

Here's what mine looked like:


Not bad for a kale chip virgin...but a little over-done.
Still tasty though!


Here's a pic of what they should look like:

These ones are still on the stem, so technically not chips.
The stems are kinda tough so ya gotta eat the kale off of them.


My husband liked them. My 11 year old son liked them. My 8 year old son liked them.

Oh...here are a few tips (because I'm nice that way!):

1. Best to brush you teeth after indulging in kale chips. Trust me.
2. Kale chips on a salad add a nice crunch without the crouton carbs! Yum!

So there you have it! Enjoy!

Now I gotta get me some more kale!

Smiles,

Lora

3 comments:

  1. Sounds interesting! I'm going to try and let you know what I think! I tried your stuffed peppers a while back and they were a hit!

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  2. I'm going to try this. Love the short time it takes to cook. I think going gourmet on this one...sea salt and cracked pepper would be awesome :P Thanks Lora

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  3. I'm going to try and let you know what I think! I tried your stuffed peppers a while back and they were a hit!

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