How to Make...Kale Chips (4 Easy Steps to Delicious Kale Chips)

I love kale. Kale is amazing. It's delicious. It's guilt-free. It's just an incredible vegetable that is so versatile and probably one of the healthiest leafy greens you can add to your diet. 

For those of you who have no idea what the heck kale even is, here's a definition:
Kale is a vegetable closely related to the wild cabbage and can be in the form of green or purple leaves. The leaves are thick, textured, and perfect for eating raw or cooking. Kale is being called "the queen of greens" due to its powerhouse nutritional benefits.

You can get kale at any supermarket or local farmer's market but I find that the best kale always come from local farmer's market. They're also usually half the price so why not support your local farmers? :)

Look for thick textured leaves vibrant in colour. If it feels limp or looks like it's yellowing on the edges, leave it.

Here are four steps to easy peasy homemade kale chips!

1) Wash your kale leaves thoroughly in cold water. Make sure you hit all the areas between the leafy edges where dirt can hide.

2) Remove the leaves from the stem by holding the end of the stem with one hand and pushing the leaves outwards with your other hand. You should be able to slide the leaves off pretty easily using this method. 

Tear the leaves into bite size pieces and dry them with a paper towel. Remember, they will shrink in the oven so don't make them *tiny*.

3) Pour a bit of extra virgin olive oil to the leaves (about 1-2 tablespooon) and MASSAGE them into the leaves. This part is so important because you want each leaf to be covered in a thin film of oil. This will not only ensure crisp kale chips but will also help the spices stick.

Rub it in gooood. :) Next, crack salt and pepper and give it a good shimmy.

 4) Preheat the oven to 300F and bake for 10 minutes. You want it at a low heat like 300F so it doesn't burn the chips and make them bitter. After 10 minutes, take it out, reassess, and flip the leaves if some look like their are crispier than others. I usually do it for another 5-10 minutes and it's done!

The final product! It's so delicious and if you ask me, it can curb any salty late night craving. You can either make these in a small conventional oven like me or a regular large one with a full size baking sheet.

I will now leave you with some health benefits of kale chips (as if you need any more reason to make them)

1) Kale is low in calories, high in fiber, and has zero fat

2) Kale is high in iron, Vitamin K, Vitamin C, and Vitamin A

3) Kale has powerful antioxidants such as carotenoids and flavonoids to help protect against various cancers

4) Kale is high in calcium

5) Kale can be a great detox food due to its high fiber and sulfur content (keeps your liver healthy!)

I hope you enjoyed this recipe! 

Other popular healthy recipes:

• Healthy Banana Bread Recipe here
• Berry Greek Yogurt Recipe here
• Apple Pie Baked in Apple Recipe here
• Mango and Avocado Quinoa Salad with Blackened Shrimp Recipe here

Happy Eating!

 

courtesy of www.quickmeme.com

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Organic Matcha Hemp Protein Pancake Recipe

Recently I watched a Blogilates video on protein pancakes and decided it was my time to give it a try!

I used her recipe as a guideline but changed up some of the ingredients to give it a bit more flavour and pazazz.

 Organic Matcha Hemp Protein Pancake (Rich in Protein, Low Carb, Rich in Fiber)

Ingredients
1 scoop of Whey Protein (I used Vanilla North Coast Natural Hemp Protein Powder)
1/2 cup of unprocessed oats
1 whole egg
2 tbsp almond milk
1 tbsp fat free greek yogurt
dash of cinnamon
2 Tbsp of matcha powder (I used Organic Matcha)
1/2 tbsp of baking powder

Hemp Protein is good choice for vegans (not that I'm a vegan) because it not only is high in fiber but it also contains immune enhancing properties and kidney-protective effects.

1) Grind the oats in a Magic Bullet or normal blender until it's smooth like powder. You just made simple oat flour!

It looks like this when it's all grounded.

2) Add the protein powder, egg, cinnamon, almond milk, baking powder, and greek yogurt.

 3) Mix, mix, mix... and it'll look something like this!

Bring your pan to a medium high heat and spray a bit of oil on it. I was able to make four large protein pancakes with this batter.

Once the edges turn a little brown and you see a few bubbles pop on top, that's when you know it's good to flip.

Ta-da!

To top my pancakes with a bit of sweetness, I heated up a tablespoon of Coca Almond Spread from Trader Joes and a handful of fresh raspberries.

 Boy was this yummy. Not only do you get to eat pancakes for brunch, it's completely void of butter, white processed flour, and white sugar! It's a win win situation.

Happy Eating!

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Strawberry Banana Chia Seed Pudding Recipe

I had an amazing vacation at Dominican Republic filled with all you can eat food, room service, bar, drinks, and naturally I ate EVERYTHING. I didn't hold anything back when I was on vacation!

Now that I'm back, I have to revert back to my healthier lifestyle and eating habits (and surprisingly I really missed it while I was stuffing myself with steak and alcohol everyday). I tried this chia seed pudding recipe for the first time and it was absolutely delicious! It's super simple, quick, and acts as a great filling and clean breakfast.

 All you need is: 5 strawberries, 1/2 a banana, 1/2 cup of almond milk, 2 tbsp of Daily Cleanse from North Coast Naturals, and 3 tbsp of chia seeds.

 Blend all of the ingredients besides the chia seeds (leave one strawberry to cut up in chunks if you like a getting chunks of fruit in your pudding).

Once blended, stir in the chia seeds and fresh strawberry chunks. Leave overnight in the fridge to let the chia seeds expand to its fullest (that's what makes this pudding so filling for breakfast).

I made this on two different occasions and it was delicious! Next time, I'm going to try it with mango and matcha to make a Mango Match Chia Seed Pudding so let me know in the comments if you want to see the recipe for that too!

Happy Eating!!

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Blueberry Matcha Protein Smoothie Recipe

As a lover of the "Mind Over Matcha" smoothie at Booster Juice and an avid smoothie maker, I came to a sudden realization that instead of spending $8 for a smoothie each time, I should try replicating it at home instead! 

The Mind Over Matcha smoothie from Booster Juice contains: "Pure Matcha green tea, vanilla soymilk, blueberries, vanilla frozen yogurt, and whey protein powder. Hey! Whaddya know? I have pretty much all those ingredients. The smoothie (for 710ml contains 446 calories, 3.8 g of fat, 4g of fibre, 28g of protein, and 41g of sugar).

Here is my version of the "Mind Over Matcha" recipe:

Ingredients:
2 tbsp of Kiss Me Organics: Organic Matcha Powder
2 tbsp of 0% M.F Greek Yogurt
1 banana
1 rounded scoop of North Coast Naturals Unflavoured Whey Protein
1/2 cup of frozen blueberries
1 1/2 cup of Silk almond milk

1) Put all the ingredients listed above in a blender and blend.

Feel free to play around with the recipe and substitute where needed. Also the brand of almond milk, matcha powder, whey protein I use is most likely not what you have at home so just use whatever is available to you.

I have to say, the result of this 'experiment' was absolutely amazeballs. It tastes almost exactly like the smoothie I love without breaking the bank (you gotta admit, Booster Juice is not cheap by any means). Not only do you get a caffeine kick from the matcha, the blueberry matcha flavour combination is out of this world. I've also experimented by putting a handful of spinach and chia seeds to boost up the nutritional content and it tasted equally as delicious.

Happy Drinking!

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Easy Health-fied Spaghetti Carbonara Recipe

Am I the only one who has never once ordered Carbonara at a spaghetti joint? I once heard how heavy and fatty it was and I've never dared order it, fearing of a cream, egg, bacon, and cheese overload.

One day I was watching my favourite Youtube channel, "Cooking with Dog" and they had an interesting recipe video on Japanese style Spaghetti Carbonara. It didn't look too heavy so I decided to give it a shot. It's actually super easy and I even made a few tweaks to it myself!

Here are the ingredients:
1 egg or 2 small eggs
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tbsp almond milk
pinch of black pepper and salt

1/2 tbsp EVOO
3 strips of bacon
3 cloves of black garlic

1 spring onion, chopped up
Parmesan cheese, grated
Black pepper

In a small bowl, combine the first four ingredients. This will be used later for your sauce.

I try to avoid gluten most of the time so I've had to look for alternatives when it comes to my spaghetti cravings. My favourite alternative is Brown Rice Pasta because it's not grainy like whole wheat spaghetti yet healthier than plain spaghetti made with durum wheat.

I used three cloves of black garlic (made by moi!) and they are MUCH richer in antioxidants than regular garlic. I have a feeling they're the next kale so read up on it here if you want to know more about their health benefits.

Heat up the EVOO on medium heat and add your black garlic and sliced bacon.

Put a pot of water to boil with a few drops of oil and rock salt. Add the spaghetti in. The oil prevents the spaghetti from sticking to each other and the salt adds a bit of flavour to the otherwise bland pasta.

I clearly thought there was not enough bacon, and proceeded to add more.

Once the spaghetti is cooked, put it immediately in your skillet and stir around incorporating all the flavours of garlic and bacon.

I put the egg mixture from the beginning in a larger pot and put the hot pasta in it. STIR QUICKLY! Mix everything together and the heat of the spaghetti should cook the egg without coagulating it. If you need a bit more heat to cook the egg, put the pot on simmer (lowest heat setting) and keep stirring for 30 seconds or more.

Sprinkle on a big of chopped green onion, Parmesan cheese, and you're golden!

If you enjoyed this recipe, please check out my other healthy spaghetti recipes!

Japanese Masago Yakiudon


Spaghetti Alle Vongole (Clams)


Spaghetti Squash with Meatballs in Tomato Sauce


Zucchini Pasta (with Tomato Sauce)


Caulifredo Sauce with Zucchini Pasta


Happy Eating!

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Easy Mini Corn Dog Muffin Recipe

I made this quite a while ago for 'Game Day' when the Canucks still had a shot of winning the Stanley Cup. Since our premature elimination from the game, I didn't think it was a good idea to post up game day recipes but now I say screw it! Why do we have to wait for the Super Bowl or Stanley Cup to make deliciously addicting snack foods? We should just make these for any day of the week! So here it is... I present the (Easy) Mini Corn Dog Muffin Recipe.

These 'corn dog' muffins are obviously not deep fried (health first!) and you can always substitute the all beef sausages for turkey if you want to cut the fat down even further.

One recipe will yield approximately 16-24 of these little babies. Put some ketchup or mustard on the side and let the games begin!

I used European Weiners from Costco because those were the only sausages I had on hand. For the Cornbread mix, you can either make it from scratch (recipe here) or be a lazy bum like me and get the pre-made one.

Mix 2 1/2 cups of the Cornbread Muffin Mix, 1 1/4 cups of water, 1/4 cup of oil, and 1egg in a large mixing bowl.

Once it is thoroughly mixed together, it will look a little something like this. Grainy is the texture we are going for.

Fill up each mini muffin tin to about two thirds (2/3) full and stick a 2 inch sausage in the center. Clearly, mine were over filled so my first batch rose way too high.

Make sure you grease the muffin tins like no tomorrow and bake at 400°F for 15 minutes.

Easy Mini Corn Dog Muffin 
(protein rich, whole grains, vitamins B-6)

Ingredients:
1 package of all beef (or turkey) sausages
1 egg
1/4 cup oil (extra for greasing the tins)
2-1/2 cups Red Mill Cornbread Muffin Mix
1- 1/4 cups Water

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Cut up each sausage to about 2 inch in length
3. Mix all of the last four ingredients together
4. Pour cornbread batter into each muffin tin to cover 2/3
5. Insert a sausage in the middle of each muffin tin
6. Bake for 15 minutes

That's it! Easy as pie. :) Let me know what you think of the recipe in the comments section!

Happy Eating!

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