Baked Kale Chips

I looooove homemade kale chips. They're crispy, salty, light and delicious. It's so simple to make- you only need 4 ingredients:

• kale
• olive oil
• lemon
• sea salt

I used to buy a kale bunch then tear it into bite size pieces until I found bagged kale at Trader Joe's. This made the whole process A LOT faster. Aside from saving yourself the washing, drying and cutting, it takes half the time to crisp up in the oven since they're pre washed and dried.

Here's how I prepare them. First, empty about 1/4-1/3 of a bag of kale onto a baking sheet. It may look like a lot but they reduce in size once they're baked. Make sure not to crowd the sheet.

Lightly drizzle it with olive oil and the juice of half a lemon.  Salt to taste, toss, then add a few extra touches of salt. Little secret- try using Himalayan pink crystal salt. It adds an extra kick and can also found at Trader Joe's.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until crisp.

Eat them quickly while they're nice and crisp or allow them to cool before plating.

 Enjoy! 

Taco Night.... and Morning!

Last night, Matt and I had a craving for tacos. We wanted to make them like how our moms made them; with ground beef (we used ground turkey instead), a packet of taco seasoning and a crunchy shell. Matt can't have dairy or gluten at the moment, so we have to read every label. Did you know that Lawry's Taco Seasoning has milk in it? Weird. We kept browsing the aisles and stumbled across Frontera Kitchen's Taco Skillet Sauce. It was so damn good! Matt and I agreed, they were the BEST tacos we have ever had! Here's how we made them.

I sauteed half a chopped onion and a few chopped green onions for a couple minutes until the onions were translucent. Then I added a package of ground turkey and cooked through.

We had some left over roasted acorn squash from the other night. I added about a cup of the chopped squash after the turkey was fully cooked. Then I added the skillet sauce. Cooked everything together for a few minutes until the sauce and squash was heated through, of course adding some extra salt and pepper.

I shredded some cabbage that we got from our veggie box for extra crunch. 

Then we built our tacos! For the bottom layer we used refried beans, then the turkey and acorn squash mix, shredded cabbage, then our favorite salsa.

It was TONS of food! So much, that we had left overs for breakfast.

Underneath all that goodness is a soft corn tortilla smothered in refried beans. Then a crunchy taco shell broken in half, the meat/squash mixture, two fried eggs, shredded cabbage and salsa.

Mama Earl's Spaghetti Sauce

Our mom makes the best spaghetti sauce ever. Here's my rendition of her recipe. 

1 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion diced

4-6 cloves of garlic minced

pinch of red pepper flakes

1-1.25 lbs ground turkey or beef 

1 tbsp Italian seasoning

2 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 jar of Prego Traditional marinara sauce

1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 6oz can of tomato paste

1 bay leaf

1/4-1/2 tsp garlic salt

1. Heat a big saucepan or pot with a lid over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent. 

2. Add ground turkey or beef, Italian seasoning, oregano, salt and pepper to pan. Cook for several minutes, stirring frequently until meat is fully cooked. If using ground beef, drain pan of excess fat.

3. Add jar of Prego, crushed tomatoes, and tomato paste. Stir until combined. Add bay leaf and garlic salt. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 20-30 minutes. 

4. Make sure you taste the sauce, add more garlic salt and pepper if necessary. Serve with your favorite pasta and enjoy!