Collard Green Chips

Totally healthy snack coming your way! I can't believe how easy these are, and how nutritious they are, too!  Its so good for you. I just recently discovered collard greens within the last year, and I can't believe I've been missing out this whole time.

1 bunch of collard greens - cleaned and dried.
2 teaspoons olive oil
Seasoned salt

Directions:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Tear greens apart from its stem, creating a bunch of bite sized chunks (as shown)

Add two teaspoons olive oil and stir until greens are coated.

Place greens flat on baking sheet. Sprinkle with seasoned salt, sea salt, or garlic salt.
Bake for 10 minutes or until leaves are crisp and light brown on the edges. Remove from oven and place in serving bowl. Enjoy my friends!

Healthy Soft Pretzels (Healthy, I promise!)

After being pregnant and posting mostly 'treats' that weren't so healthy..I've got to go back to my original style of cooking and baking. This pretzel recipe is healthy in the way of sneaking nutrition for your family in a tasty snack.  

• 1 1/2 cups warm (110 to 115 degrees F) water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon flaxseed meal
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 22 ounces all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 cups
• 2 ounces margarine, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 cups water
• 2/3 cup baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 tablespoon water
• Pretzel salt

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. 

Add the flour, flaxseed meal and margarine and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. (Health hint:  Use half whole wheat flour for added benefits!)  Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 cups of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, 1 by 1, for 30 seconds. 

Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

My two boys, ages 11 and 9 loved these with a bit of mustard on the side. Totally heart healthy and great for the digestive system. Thats my kind of treat!

Homemade Baby Foodie

Hi again! It feels like its been sooo long since I last blogged a recipe. Being a new mommy is a full-time job (no kidding, right?) and I've had my hands full. I have a few recipes stowed away that I will post when I get more time, but I thought that in the spirit of mommydom, I would post how I steam and make my baby's puree food. Its a super easy 'recipe', and every mom can do it. So, lets get to it!!

Firstly, I'd like to share that I get my produce delivered to my door from local farmers www.farmfreshtoyou.com so I can be assured that my food is locally grown, is organic and is pesticide free.

Step 1:  Cut up fruits and/or vegetable. Here I didn't remove the skin first. You can remove skin before or after you steam your food. Place food in accu-steamer or any steamer. You can also steam in a pot if you don't have a steamer handy.

Step 2:  Add water. My steamer calls for 1/2 cup.

Step 3: Cover steamer basket with lid and steam. My accu-steamer automatically shuts off when food is properly steamed (how? I don't know) but check your food after 10 minutes and go from there.

Step 4:  Puree. You can use any food processor for this step. I have a Kitchenaid obsession, so thats what you see here. But I have other mommy friends who swear by the Baby Bullet and the Baby Brezza.  The step you didn't see here is that I added formula to the food before blending. I do this to ease the transistion from formula to 'solids', and to ensure that my baby gets enough nutrition. You can also do this with stored breastmilk ;)

Step 5: Move puree to sealable, freezer safe container.

Step 6:  Hug your baby for letting you do all of this without interruption! (shout out to the Baby Einstein Jumper!)

Step 7:  Done! Mark your food/date on the container and store in the fridge for up to 3 days, or the freezer for up to 2 months!!!!

  

My baby has a happy, heathy belly!!! Hope you enjoy the 'recipe', time to picnic with my boy!