Last fall, I was visiting a sister of mine in the state of Washington and she served us a light, crispy, green “chip”. It was salty and delightful to eat because of it’s mild flavor and satisfying crunch. The chip was roasted kale and it was a wonderful alternative to potato chips.
Now, whenever I have a craving for salty chips, I make roasted kale! I am personally addicted. I prepare it at least twice a week and I’m waiting for the day that my son says – please, can you make something else! Luckily, he is a kale chip fan too – at least for now!
Making Kale Chips
Kale leaves
Remove the leaves from the stalk and tear into bite size pieces. Drizzle with olive oil and your favorite salt. Using your hands, toss the leaves until they are lightly coated in oil.
Kale ready to be roasted!
Evenly spread the leaves on baking sheets. It you have a pizza pan with perforations, use that as your baking sheet. It is not necessary, but it does work best.
I bake the kale at 300 degrees, but you could use a lower temperature. If you go as high as 300 degrees make sure you keep a close eye on the kale. Check it at least every 5 minutes until it is dry and crisp. It will be done in 15-20 minutes depending on how dry your leaves were when you started roasting them.
Roasted Kale
Remove from your baking sheet and enjoy. It really is that easy!
Toss kale leaves with olive oil and salt!
Kale leaves ready for roasting!
Crisp Roasted Kale
Update: Today I tried something new! Instead of using olive oil to lightly coat the kale leaves, I used melted coconut oil! It was delicious! To find out more about the merits of coconut oil, check another post of mine – Coconut Oil…Coconut Oil…I love Coconut Oil!
This recipe is fabulous and produces a deep rich chocolate cake filled with a creamy ganache and piled high with light as air, velvety, meringue frosting.
Wish they were bigger – no worries – just have two, three….
Filling cupcakes with ganache.
Because the cupcake’s frosting was white, I wanted to embellish it with a chocolate garnish. I struggled over what to create until my daughter suggested making bow ties and dresses. Brilliant! I immediately set out to do just that!
Chocolate Garnish
I began by drawing an outline of ties and a dress in the sizes I wanted the garnish to be. I then placed a piece of translucent wax paper over the drawings and the pencil lines were clearly visible. After filling my pastry bag with melted chocolate, I piped the chocolate onto the sheet of wax paper using a small round decorator tip. I simply needed to follow the lines and voila – a super easy and very fun garnish.
Chocolate Garnish for Cupcakes
Once the chocolate hardened, I eased them from the wax paper and gently pressed them into the frosting. So fun!
Special Occasion Chocolate Garnish for Cupcakes
This easy garnish would work well for any formal occasion especially weddings, engagement parties, wedding showers, anniversaries, prom…..
Wonderful Breakfast & Great Snack
At least that’s the way it goes at my house and it never seems to last very long!
My family can’t seem to get enough of all the goodness granola has to offer and the expensive single pound bags at the grocery store, although delicious, were not cutting it. We needed larger quantities at a lower cost!
Making granola is very easy. Think about what ingredients you enjoy in granola, put it together with some oil and a sweetener (Not necessary, but oh so good!). Lightly toast at a low temperature and voila – Granola!
Here is my recipe!
Granola Ingredients
Coconut Chips for Granola Recipe
Nuts & Seeds for Great Granola
Granola Recipe
5 cups oatmeal
1 ½ cups coconut (I use unsweetened coconut chips when I can!)
¾ cups chopped pecans
¾ cups chopped almonds
½ cup sunflower seeds
½ cup oat bran
½ cup honey or maple syrup
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup raisins or dried cranberries
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Granola Ingredients
Mix the oatmeal, coconut, pecans, almonds, sunflower seeds and oat bran in a large bowl.
Add vanilla to the oil/sweetener mixture!
To a small saucepan add the coconut oil and sweetener (honey or maple syrup). Let the mixture come to a simmer, remove from heat and add the vanilla.
Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and mix well. Distribute the oatmeal mixture evenly in two jelly roll pans.
Granola mixture is ready for toasting!
Place in the oven and stir well after 10 minutes and every 5 minutes after that until it starts to get to a nice golden brown. It usually takes about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, let cool and add the raisins or dried cranberries or both! Store in an airtight container. Ours usually lasts for about a week, but it should be good for several. Enjoy!
I love to eat granola, but honestly it has a lot of calories. My favorite way to eat the granola is to mix unsweetened greek yogurt with blueberries. If you like, sweeten it a bit with honey or maple syrup – I like it! I will then top that mixture with 1/3 cup of granola! Delicious and not so many calories!
Need a quick decoration for your Easter cupcakes or carrot cake? Look no further – this is a super quick and super easy garnish. Melt white chocolate chips in a double boiler. Once melted, separate into two bowls and stir in food coloring. I used liquid food coloring and it worked fine, but Wilton’s icing color is better because it is concentrated. The potential problem with adding the liquid to the chocolate is that the chocolate can begin to seize. Mine worked with the green, but the orange began to seize because of the extra drops required. Adding a solid shortening helps the chocolate to remain smooth. I chose to use coconut oil because it is healthier! It is awesome stuff!
White Chocolate CarrotsCarrot Cake Cupcake
Once your colors are ready, load up your pastry bags and have some fun. I used a small round tip for the orange and a small leaf tip for the green! Let them harden and add them to your fabulous dessert!
Who doesn’t love Nestle Toll House cookies? We all do, but wouldn’t it be nice if they were a little healthier. Well – Grandmother has done it! She adds 2 cups of toasted oatmeal and a cup of toasted walnuts to the tollhouse cookie recipe. The result is a dense delicious chocolate chip cookie with a hearty sweet goodness and a guilt-free feeling. Ok – maybe not totally guilt-free. The addition of 2 cups of oatmeal adds 16 grams of fiber and 20 grams of protein. The walnuts contribute 5 grams of fiber and 12 grams of protein. Sounds like some good additions to me!
Toasting Oatmeal
Oatmeal Toll House Cookies
Toasting Oatmeal
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Butter a cookie sheet and evenly distribute 2 cups of oatmeal. Bake for 10 minutes, stir the oatmeal and bake an additional 10 minutes. Let cool before adding to your Tollhouse cookie dough. I add the nuts and oatmeal right before the chocolate chips.
Swiss Muesli is one of my all time favorite breakfasts and one my family requests regularly! Recently, I picked up my daughter from college and she asked if I would make her muesli because she had been craving it! I love that she appreciates my cooking!
It was on a family vacation to Banff, Canada that I discovered Swiss muesli. At the time, my husband was in his “Swiss” phase of life. He had just returned home from an extended business trip to Switzerland and was undergoing a bit of an identity crisis. Ok, I’ll just say it – he thought he was Swiss. All he talked about was staying in his flat… eating cheese and bread…. drinking wine each night…. eating raclette…. Yeah – well, while you were gone I was eating macaroni and cheese with the kids and I have no idea what raclette is?
Luckily, this crisis of his wasn’t overly concerning. He was still speaking English and if anything, I felt bad. If I found his “Swissness” annoying think of what it must have been like for the Swiss! I knew in a week his selfhood would be restored and the benefit of his crisis was that he did introduce me to a wonderful dish called Muesli!
The muesli I was served that day in Banff was cool, sweet and satisfying. The creamy milk soaked oatmeal was mixed with fresh fruit, dried fruit, and nuts and had just a touch of sweetness. It was hearty, with a wonderful texture and very filling. After scraping every bit of it out of my bowl, I asked the server how the muesli was prepared. She eagerly explained to me the effortless process of soaking the oatmeal in milk/cream, sweetening with maple syrup and adding whatever fruits and nuts you desired. The muesli they served that day had freshly cut apples, raisins and nuts. It was wonderful.
Below you will find my recipe. It’s not much of a recipe, because you make it however you want. Read on and you will see what I mean! The muesli I was served in the restaurant was prepared with rolled oats. I have used quick cook or old fashioned, depending on what I have in the cupboard and the amount of time I have to allow the oatmeal to soak. Yes – you guessed it – quick cook oatmeal softens faster!
Muesli with Steel Cut Oats
Oatmeal
Enjoying Muesli!
On the mornings I wish to make muesli, I deposit a cup of oatmeal in a medium sized bowl and cover with milk. I then place it in the refrigerator to soak for 30-60 minutes. This gives me plenty of time to make myself presentable and allows the oatmeal to soften and cool. After the soaking time, add additional milk, some cream (it’s worth the calories – just a little bit provides a creaminess that makes everything better), and whatever fruits and nuts you like.
Basic Muesli Recipe:
Cover 1 cup of rolled oats with milk and refrigerate for 30-60 minutes to soften. Once softened add: Milk or cream to thin. Maple syrup or honey to sweeten Chopped nuts Dried fruit Shredded coconut Cut up apples, bananas, berries…. The sky is the limit – add whatever combination you would like. My favorite is: cut up apples, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, shredded coconut, maple syrup, milk and a little cream.
Muesli using Steel Cut Oatmeal
A little more time, but well worth it! Recently I read an article about the merits of steel cut oatmeal at eatdrinkbemellow.com. After reading it I thought, what the heck, let’s try it in Muesli! The muesli with steel cut oats was absolutely fabulous and well worth the extra time! It’s definitely my new favorite!
Toasting Steel Cut Oats
Cooking Steel Cut Oats
Preparing the Oats – Over medium high heat melt one tablespoon of butter in a pan and add 1 cup of steel cut oats. Toast the oatmeal for a few minutes then add two cups of water. Bring to a boil, cover and let simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let it sit for an additional 10 minutes to soften. Transfer the oatmeal to a medium sized bowl and refrigerate. You may notice the oatmeal is almost dry. I make it that way because I want it to retain it’s nuttiness and because there will be plenty of liquid added later on with the milk, cream, and sweetener. Once it is chilled, we are ready to make Muesli. Usually, I will prepare the steel cut oatmeal the night before so it’s ready to go first thing in the morning. Now the fun part – add any of the above ingredients to personalize it to your tastes!
