Kale Chips the Lazy Way

Yeah, kale chips are are actually really tasty.  They smell disgusting while cooking, but they taste terrific and are quite addicting.  All the kids like them (or at least those that have tried them.)  I found my four year old walking upstairs with a handful of them - after I'd put him to bed!  My 10 year old had been begging me to make them but I'd dreaded it because the recipe I had used previously was a bit work-intensive.  This is the simple way to make them.  

1 bunch kale
olive oil, sprayer or liquid
sea salt
1/8 cup shredded parmesan (optional)

Preheat oven to 375.  Wash and thoroughly dry the kale.  Prep a cookie sheet by lining it with parchment paper (or tin foil.)   Rip the kale from the thick stem into 2" pieces (or so, obviously this won't come out perfect, but as you rip it from the thick stem, you'll see what I mean. Put those pieces on the cookie sheet. When done ripping, spread out the kale evenly.  Spray with olive oil or drizzle thin stream of olive oil onto the kale, then sprinkle with salt.  Toss with your hands and spread out evenly again.  Repeat 1 or 2 more times until it is to your liking.  The last time, sprinkle parmesan and toss.  Don't worry if some of the parmesan falls to the bottom of the pan, it'll still stick to the kale.

Bake for 10 minutes, then keep checking it every minute until kale is crispy, but not brown and burnt!  Every oven is different, so this is the hardest part about it.

Store in a bowl or plastic bag, but it might all get eaten first.

Asian Turkey Lettuce Wrap Salad

Everyone enjoyed this meal.  The four year old said "I'm not having lettuce wraps!" but I do want the meat and rice and lettuce and carrots.  Even the two year old took one bite and said, "Mmmmmmm!"  
Meat mixture:
1.5 lbs ground turkey, cooked
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
3 cloves garlic
6 green onions, chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped into small pieces
1/4 c. soy sauce
1 T sucanat (brown sugar)
1 T rice wine vinegar

Dressing:
3 T soy sauce
2 T rice wine vinegar
1 T honey
1 T Stone ground mustard
dash up to 1 T hot sauce
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 c. water

Add Ons:
Romaine Lettuce
Cooked rice
Shredded carrots
Chopped cilantro
Chopped Water Chestnuts (optional)

Combine ingredients for dressing.  Add as much hot sauce as you like (either tabasco or siracha hot sauce.)  Shred carrots, cook rice, chop cilantro and wash lettuce.

Cook ground turkey until no pink remains.  Add sesame oil and stir.  Press garlic cloves into mixture and add green onions and celery.  Stir and saute' for a minute or two.  Combine soy sauce, sucanat, and rice wine vinegar in a small bowl.  Add to turkey mixture and let cook for a couple more minutes.

You can serve as traditional lettuce wraps, or as a salad, which is much easier to eat.  Layer in this order:  salad, rice, meat, chestnuts, carrots, cilantro, and drizzle on the salad dressing.

adapted from:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/turkey-lettuce-wraps-recipe/index.html

Crockpot Pulled Pork

I almost never follow recipes exactly and I usually make up my own.  But this one I did follow exactly because it had such a different combination I wasn't sure what I would change!  This had a really good flavor.

Easy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork 

I served it with the soaked buttermilk cornbread, parmesan zucchini and cantalope grape salad (fancy name for cantalope chunks mixed with red grapes!)

Gluten Free Skillet Cornbread

This is a pretty good gluten free version of cornbread.  Much better if you cook it in a cast iron frying pan! 

1-1/2 c. cornmeal
3 TBS gluten free flour mix, any kind
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 T coconut oil or butter
1-1/2 c. milk
1 egg
2-3 T honey

Preheat oven to 425.  Put skillet on stovetop and add 2 TBS oil, heat on medium.  Mix dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in the other.  Pour wet into dry and mix just until moistened.  Pour batter into hot skillet and then place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until center is set.

Soaked Buttermilk Cornbread

This is even better than the regular buttermilk cornbread recipe I posted earlier.  And it's more digestible because the grains are soaked first.  

Mix together and soak for at least 7 hours:
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (Soft white wheat)
2 cups buttermilk

When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 and mix in:
4 eggs,
2/3 to 1 c honey (depending on how sweet you want it)
1/2 c. olive, coconut oil or butter

When mixed, add:
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda

Spread in greased (or lined with parchment paper) 15x10x1 jelly roll pan or 9x13 glass pan. (You can also make 24 muffins, but who wants to wash muffin pans? Not me!)   Bake at 350 for 12-18 minutes in the jelly roll pan, or 22-28 minutes in the glass pan.  The center should be set and the top & edges should begin to be golden.

Serve with butter on top.  Can also drizzle honey over the top.

Old-Fashioned Coconut Brown Rice Pudding

I always like to make a big batch of brown rice and then use the leftovers.  This is a relatively quick and yummy whole grain rice pudding. 

1 can coconut milk (Could sub cow's milk - 2 c. Rice milk separates. Almond milk may work)
2 c. cooked brown rice
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 c. sweetener (agave, honey, maple syrup) - depending on how sweet you prefer, I usually go for 1/3 to 1/2 with hone.
1/2 c. raisins (optional)
5 eggs

Mix everything together in a bowl.  Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake for about 35-40 minutes at 350, or until set.

Roasted potato, green bean & sausage casserole

This is a total throw-together meal, meaning I didn't really measure... So you can adapt as you need (make it smaller or bigger.)  Everyone liked it, but I'll admit that the little kids pretty much just ate sausage and skipped the rest.  And that's why I had side dishes of cucumbers and salad so they would eat something other than sausage.

1/2 to 1lb frozen green beans
potatoes (6-8 is what i used)
1/2 to 1lb any kind of sausage (breakfast sausage, kielbasa, etc)
1 onion
Oil-based dressing (italian, balsamic, etc)
Garlic salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a 9x13 pan, spread green beans on the bottom.  I spread about 1/2 to 3/4" thick.  Wash potatoes and cut in 1/2" chunks (or you can peel them if you prefer.)  Slice an onion in big pieces (so picky eaters can remove them - mine were about 1/4" x 1/2" or 1") OR you can blend the onion in the blender with a little water.  Put on top of potatoes, separating as you go.  Next pour dressing on top.  If you want to measure, I probably put in about 1/4 to 1/3 cup, you just don't want it too greasy.  Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper on top.  Now stir it all up.  Put it in the oven and bake 45 to 55 minutes until potatoes are tender.  You may want to stir occasionally to avoid burning the stuff on top.