Cinnamon Sugar Chips

These chips are a quick, easy, and fairly healthy way to satisfy your sweets craving! I know I posted them as "Cinnamon Sugar", but there are other variations you can do. I'm not sure if Pampered Chef still has these, but they are great on these chips: Sweet Caramel Sprinkle, Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkle, and Sweet Apple Sprinkle. Feel free to get creative with your spices!

Ingredients

-1 tortilla

-Spray Butter

-Cinnamon/sugar mix, or whatever spices you decide to use

Preheat oven to 425. Spray a tortilla with the spray butter until it's covered. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Cut into small pieces, about 1 inch by 1 inch or a little bigger. Bake on a baking sheet or a stone (my preference) for about 10-12 minutes or until edges are slightly browned and chips are crispy. 

Sprayed and sprinkled

*The tortillas I used are the healthiest tortillas I've been able to find. They are a whole wheat tortilla made by La Tortilla Factory. They contain only 80 calories, 3 g fat, 12 g fiber(wahoo), and 8 g protein! They don't seem to crisp up as well as regular tortillas, but they're still good!

Cut into pieces

Doesn't that look great?!

Reese's Wannabes

With Easter around the corner, I'm sure everyone has been seeing those amazing Reese's Eggs popping up. Ahhh, they're so good! So this definitely seems to be an appropriate time to add this recipe- Reese's Wannabes. Do I dare say these are better than the famous Eggs?! Yes. Yes, I do. I love them for a few reasons: 1. They're a perfect marriage of chocolate and peanut butter. 2. You can control how thick the peanut butter filling is (some like it thin, some like it thick...I absolutely adore it thick!). 3. With them being homemade, you KNOW what is in them!

Reese's Wannabes
-1 c. Peanut Butter
-1/4 c. (half stick) melted butter
-2 c. Powdered Sugar
-1-2 T. milk
-pinch of salt
-Chocolate Almond Bark
Mix peanut butter, butter, and powdered sugar in a mixer until well combined. Add a little of the milk to moisten it. Sprinkle in a little salt. The easiest thing to do is roll the dough into about 1 inch balls. Once you do half the dough, put the balls in the freezer on a piece of wax paper. Do the same with the other half. You can also do shapes if you want. For that, dump the dough onto a piece of wax paper. Flatten it out to your preference. These are so versatile, you can do half thick and half thin if you have both preferences to satisfy. Use cookie cutters to cut your shapes out, or freehand with a paring knife. Put in the freezer to harden up a little. Once the balls or shapes have been in the freezer for at least 10 minutes, they are ready to dip. Melt almond bark according to package directions. Dip the balls or shapes in the chocolate and turn to coat them. Use a fork to lift them out. Bounce the fork off the edge of the bowl to remove excess chocolate. Let dry on wax paper. I store these in the refrigerator, but like to have them sit out for about 20 minutes before eating.


You could drizzle these with vanilla almond bark to make them look extra pretty if you want. You could also use white chocolate to dip them in for a variation. But my Reese's loving husband and I, sure do love the original flavor of milk chocolate and peanut butter :)

Popcorn Cauliflower

Here's another way to eat a veggie (that's disguised as something else)! This recipe is also from my mom!

-I head of cauliflower
-3 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Sea Salt
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Trim all thick stems off of the cauliflower. Cut into pieces about the size of popcorn (once popped). Toss pieces of cauliflower with EVOO in a bowl. Spread onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for about 1 hour. Turn it every 15 minutes to ensure even baking. If you start to notice it getting brown, don't panic! It's supposed to caramelize like that! You can eat it right away, just like popcorn! Don't you just feel healthier already?! hehe

Savory Flax Seed Crackers

Thought I'd give everyone a healthier recipe now :) These are good to just eat plain, or you can spread some cheese on them! I actually didn't make this recipe up- saw it on Pinterest!

Ingredients

-2 c, ground flax seed
-2/3 c. grated parmesan cheese
-2 1/2 t. garlic powder
-1/2 t. salt
-1 c. water

All flattened out

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl. Add the water and mix well. The original recipe didn't say what size of pan to put these in, so I used my Large Bar Pan Stone from Pampered Chef. The measurements are pretty close to a jelly roll pan. So, if you have a jelly roll pan use that. If not, you could use a cookie sheet that's at least 15X10. The crackers don't spread, so wherever you put them on a pan-they stay! Anyway, line your sheet with parchment paper (always there to make life easier-which is why I love it). Drop the mixture by spoon fulls onto the parchment. Lay a piece of wax paper over the top of it all. Start "smooshing" it all together by just pressing down on the wax paper. You want it to be very thin, like 1/8 of an inch. You could use a rolling pin or a wine bottle instead of your hands if you want. Make sure it's a consistent thickness all the way to the edges. If the edges are thinner than the rest, they'll burn and be naaaaasty! Once it has all come together and is thinned out, take the wax paper off. Bake these for about 20 minutes, or until the top starts looking golden brown. Once they've cooled for at least an hour, cut them into whatever size crackers you want. I used a pizza cutter to cut them, and that worked very well.

Ta-Da!

So a couple things about this recipe-
The first time I made these, my edges were thinner than the middle. I didn't bake it long enough (because the edges started getting a little too brown), so my crackers were a little chewy. They tasted fine, just weren't crispy like a cracker. SO MAKE SURE THE THICKNESS IS CONSISTENT! :)
A reviewer of this recipe said she made them a sweeter cracker by substituting the parmesan cheese with 1/2 c. almond flour, the garlic and salt with a teaspoon of cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of cloves. She also added a little sweetener. So that's something to try. I haven't tried that yet, but I will at some point. Just wanted to give you all that idea, too.

All About Apples

A couple years ago, one of my mom and Jeff's apple trees was quite fruitful, haha! But seriously, there were so many!! My relationship with apples was similar to Forrest Gump's relationship with shrimp. I tried so many recipes that summer/fall, so here are my favorites!

Homemade Cinnamon Applesauce

-8 apples; peeled, cored, and chopped

-1 1/2 c. water

-1/2 c. white sugar

-1 t. cinnamon

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan. Cover and cook about 20 minutes over medium heat or until apples are tender and only a little liquid remains. Cool completely. Pour into a food processor or blender. Pulse until desired consistency. *You can leave the cinnamon out if that's not your thing! 

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

-1 1/4 c. flour

-1/2 c. brown sugar

-1/3 c. white sugar

-1/2 t. salt

-2 t. baking powder

-1 t. cinnamon

-1/2 c. oil or applesauce (feel extra Martha Stewart by using the applesauce from above!)

-1 egg

-1/3 c. milk

-1 apple; peeled, cored, and chopped- I chop mine pretty thin because I don't love big chunks of stuff

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with muffin liners. Stir all dry ingredients in a bowl, 

including sugars. Add oil/applesauce and milk; mix well. Beat in egg. Fold in apples. The batter will be thicker than what you may be used to- that's normal! Sometimes I have to add just a splash more of milk if everything isn't combined well. Use a cookie dough scoop to fill muffin cups about 2/3 full. You can pour the batter in, of course, but a cookie scoop makes your life easier. Bake 16-18 minutes.

Apple Crisp 

-1 c. flour

-2 c. oats (old fashioned if you like an "oatier" texture, quick if you want to not really notice them much)

-1 1/2 t. cinnamon

-1/2 t. nutmeg

-1 1/2 c. brown sugar

-2 sticks butter, softened (maybe a little more if there is still too much floury mixture)

-2 quarts (8 cups) apples; peeled, cored, and chopped or sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Cut in butter. You can use a fork if you want to do that. A pastry blender doesn't work well because of the oats, FYI! I think it's easiest and fastest to just use your hands. Put the butter in the bowl and start squeezing it into the oat mixture. BUT don't go overboard and make this like dough! You WANT it to be kind of crumbly. Pat half of this mixture into a 9X13 pan. Pour all apples on top of that. Cover with remaining crumb mixture. Don't pat the top though- just drop it by little spoon fulls on the apples. Bake for 45-50 minutes. This stuff is great right out of the oven. Put a scoop of vanilla ice cream over it. Plop some Cool Whip on top of it. Or, do like I do and eat it just as it is!

As I was typing all these out, I realized I may have developed an obsession with apples and brown sugar a couple years ago. Oh well :) I've made these with store bought apples, too. I usually get Honeycrisp- when they're available- for the muffins and crisp. Gala work well for both of those, too. Granny Smith work well for the crisp. I would even use a mixture of them. Golden Delicious apples work well for the applesauce. Enjoy!

Kale Chips

On my endeavor to be healthier, I've been trying to find snacks that have a few more nutrients. I have to thank my mom for this recipe! I am able to trick my brain into thinking that these crunchy little things are like potato chips. Woot woot!
-A bundle of Kale
-1 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
-Sea Salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Tear off all the leafy part of the kale and put it into a bowl. Try not to get the stem part in there, otherwise it will be kinda chewy. Mix in 1 tablespoon of the EVOO and stir to coat all of the kale. Spread it onto a baking sheet in a single layer. Lightly sprinkle with sea salt. Bake for about 10 minutes or until kale is crunchy. You can eat it right away or store it in a ziploc bag. I've eaten it several days later, and it stays crispy!! *If you don't want to make the whole bundle, do about a third and use closer to 1 teaspoon of EVOO.* You can also sprinkle other spices on it for different flavors. I've done cayenne pepper to give it some kick, and it was pretty good!

Before baking

After baking

My Chocolate / Peanut Butter Obsession

I love chocolate and peanut butter together. Seriously, one of the best inventions ever. Maybe, THE best. So I've been trying to think of different ways to get that combo "fix" without blowing my whole diet... Just thought I'd share a couple of my ideas, just in case any of you are in the same boat.
*1/2 cup of Peanut Butter Cheerios + 1/2 cup of Chocolate Cheerios in a bag mixed together
*Thin layer of peanut butter + a thin layer of Nutella on a graham cracker (cinnamon is my fave)
*Sugar free, fat free instant chocolate pudding with a little peanut butter mixed in
*Dipping a cinnamon graham cracker into the chocolate pudding (little strange, I know)
*Any 100 calorie packs involving the beautiful union
*My most recent little treat is from 2 ideas on Pinterest that I combined (God bless Pinterest). I saw the idea of combining a box of Angel Food Cake Mix with another box of cake mix and making little individual cakes. So I mixed Angel Food Cake Mix with Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix. Once mixed, combine 3 tablespoons of the mix with 2 tablespoons of water in a little dish or ramekin. Microwave for 1 minute. So, you can eat it just like that, buuuuuut if you feel the need to make it just a little more indulgent, try this. Mix 1 tablespoon Fat Free Cool Whip with 1 teaspoon of PB2. Then just spread it on top of the cake while it's still warm. Yummo!
*For those of you who are not familiar with PB2, it is a powdered peanut butter. It has waaaaay less calories and fat, but still has quite a bit of fiber and protein. BONUS! I don't think it tastes amazing enough to replace my lovely Jif, but I like that I can use it in situations like this one. I know people who do use it instead of regular peanut butter though!
*If any of you have any chocolate / peanut butter combos you want to share with me, please do! I love new ideas!