Archives for 2011

Here are today’s journaling prompts, sorry for lack of photos for my pages, I have several in progress but they aren’t quite finished yet.

1. My life….

For this one, I thought a fun collage might work. Choose some random pictures (either your own photos or cut stuff out of magazines) that pertain to your life right now. And/or cut out some words and definitions from a dictionary or simply cut up random words that might describe your life. For example, I might use words such as: happy, busy, chaotic, thankful…. to put on my page. Don’t forget to date it!

2. Just for fun….

What fun things have you been doing in the last week or two? Life can’t be all about work – we need some play in there too! Did you see any movies, enjoy a nice date night with your sweetie, eat at a new restaurant, or even just hang out with your family and play a game. Journal about all the fun things you’ve done recently.

So I have a couple quick, easy, and healthy snack recipes to share!

I had read in the past about making kale chips but never tried it. However, while I was making breakfast for our troop of animals this morning, I pulled a big bag of kale out of the fridge for them – and thought why not try it! I’ve been buying kale for years because of its incredible health benefits – but I never once made it for us – I always feed it to the animals, haha. I overcooked the first tray and most of it was pretty brown but I tasted a piece anyway – and it was SO good, that I quickly ate up all the most salvageable pieces before throwing the rest in the garbage. Then I used all the remaining kale we had a made another huge tray of it. Steve walked into the kitchen while I was ripping the kale into bite sized pieces and asked what I was making. When I told him “kale chips”, he got a funny look on his face, the kind of look that says “ewww…” so then I said “they’re so good!!! so good that you aren’t allowed to have any! I want all of it for myself!” A little reverse psychology never hurts, especially when it will get him to try more healthy things! lol! So he thinks about it for a second and then says “I want to try them”. Sure enough after I pulled them out of the oven, properly cooked this time, I put them all into a big bowl and offered Steve one. He tried it and loved it!! So we polished off the bowl of chips in a couple minutes and were sad we didn’t have more.

Kale Chips: (sorry I totally forgot to take a photo – yep they were that good – didn’t last long enough!)

rip apart kale leaves into bite sized pieces and remove the stems, then put them into a large mixing bowl and spray with cooking spray. Toss so they all get evenly coated. (You really don’t have to add too much spray, they still taste delicious even when they aren’t saturated with oil). Sprinkle some sea salt on and toss them again. Spread out evenly on a cooking sheet and bake in the oven at 350 for about 10-15 minutes. The first time you make these, keep checking on them and pull them out just when the edges start to brown. All oven are different so timing will vary. Be prepared for these to disappear fast! 🙂

The oil I use is Coconut oil which I found at Whole Foods. It’s supposed to be really healthy and it’s good for high heat. (Apparently olive oil is not good for high heat….)

So after we finished off out kale chips, I went back into the kitchen to make another of our favorite healthy snacks: Baked zucchini. This recipe I got from my good friend Jodi, who is back in BC. Jodi, I miss you so much!

Slice a zucchini up and spread the slices on a baking tray (spray with oil first), then sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top. Bake at 350 for about 15 min (once again, keep an eye on them and pull them out when they start to brown a bit). Oh my goodness, these are so delicious, I could eat them all day long. These are also a favorite of Steve’s so I had to share them, haha. These didn’t even last a minute I don’t think, we were fighting over the bowl!