Admittedly Kale is not high on the list of vegetables that I love. Indeed, sometimes it barely makes the list. As this nutrient dense vegetable is so completely good for me, I decided to set myself on a mission to find a way that I could eat it and like it.
I tried a salad recipe that was good. I could eat that salad a couple times a week. It was really the dressing on the salad that did it though, not so much the kale. My mission continued...
I tried a white bean and kale soup with sausage. It was just okay. I preferred the white beans by themselves as the kale seemed bitter in the soup and the sausage seemed to overpower everything else. My mission continued...
I tried sauteing it in garlic butter, which seemed to be the most popular method on the internet, but found that recipe to be bitter and tough to chew. EW! My mission continued...
Just the other day I was watching foodnetwork, and let me preface this by saying that while I love to watch cooking shows, foodnetwork is a bit disappointing these days but we'll go there later. I was watching the show with Ann Burrell, something about cooking like a restaurant chef, I believe. She's kind of annoying but kind of entertaining so I take it with a grain of salt because she usually has very cool recipes.
To my surprise she was cooking with kale! I figured I might as well sit down for the half hour show and see what she had to say about it. Like me, most times she finds it to be too bitter to tolerate. Like me, she found she was at a loss as to how it would be best served to others. Interesting...even a chef has trouble with some foods.
Her resolution was to prepare Kale Chips. I never would have thought of that, would you? Surely you would have told me so... LOL
So Ann takes the washed and dried kale and removes the woody stems. This is easy enough to do by just grabbing the leaves from the thick end of the stems and pulling them down and away. They come free with little or no trouble at all.
If the leaves are too big to stick in your mouth, chop them up a bit. The bunch that I bought from the farmer's market had little leaves so no chopping was necessary - you decide. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees and get out your sheet pan/s.
Put the kale in a large bowl, depending on how much you're using, and sprinkle with olive oil. Don't overdo it, sprinkle then mix with your hands and once all the leaves feel coated, that's all you need of the oil. After the oil, sprinkle with the salt of your choice. I used Kosher because that's what was on hand but any kind of sea salt would do this recipe justice as well for it's the salt that makes the kale edible in my mind.
Don't get too carried away with the salt unless you prefer really salty chips. I do! Spread out the kale on your sheet pan/s and set them in the oven. The recipe says leave them in for 25-30 minutes. I found that mine were done at exactly 30 minutes. You may want yours less done but mine were crispy and crunchy and perfectly salty! mmm mmm good
Mission accomplished!
Thanks to Ann Burrell :)
So now you can try kale and hopefully enjoy it as much as I now do!
My issue with foodnetwork? Well, it's mostly the fact that they still insist on using lots of white flour, and white breads for sandwiches or subs or even breadcrumbs. I don't think they should promote the use of such an unhealthy food. The same goes for pasta. They still use processed white pasta instead of the more wholesome, whole wheat versions that are so readily available. And what about the healthier alternative - barley?
My biggest issue is the amount of sugar used. My goodness, I know we limit sweeteners because of the diabetes but watching those shows reminds me of the time when we ate that bad stuff. It is something that is incredibly difficult to eliminate but just as incredibly important to do so. The United States has an epidemic of diabetes and not just in adults. Children are now reported to have the highest rates of diabetes ever...ever! That's not a good thing folks.
When I see the Nestle Quik commercials on TV, I want to shut it off. Those kids have evil eyes that look like they are craving that chocolate syrup like there is nothing else in the world to satisfy them. It is soooooooooo bad for them, for all of us.
So when foodnetwork chefs (cooks) dump a cup of sugar into something, I cringe. Surely they could make it with honey or organic applesauce or hey, just don't make it at all! LOL
That's my newest soapbox...I can't get away from it either. I would like to see you on board with me but I know how you are about your candy bars and cookies and such so I'll leave it at this. For now. For however long I can stand to go without bringing it up again...LOL
I'm off to read about growing garlic in the house...gotta grow something!
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
Two Posts In One Week??? Crazy, Right?
Woo Hoo I found I had a few minutes of time so I thought I would write to update you on the planting I've done. As you know not much can be planted up here this time of year but when a good friend sent me a box of 40 bulbs, well I found it hard to resist.
Forty bulbs may sound like a lot to most of you but if you have ever planted mass quantities of bulbs, forty is easy street. To start with, I had to decide where to plant them or in what to plant them. I didn't really want to dig in the ground with it being such rough terrain, especially when the ground is close to being frozen.
I finally decided on this old speckled pot that was Wally's grandma's pot. It somehow ended up with a couple holes in it and so now it has been turned into a planter. It's more than ample in size to hold 40 bulbs and so my mind was set.
I got my gloves and my little digger and set out with my box of bulbs in hand. I had to clean out some roots from the calibricoa that was planted there over the summer (and that the chickens gobbled up in no time) and clean out a handful of rocks. I used the digger to kind of stir up the potting soil and move it up on the sides of the pot so the bulbs could go in the center.
Come spring, I should see from the center towards the outside, 4 "Striped Red and Yellow" tulips, 10 "Sky Blue" lilies, 15 "Rock Garden Mixed" Allium, and 20 "Mixed" crocus flowers. They all bloom close to the same time and were planted with the taller plants in the center and shorter ones towards the outside.
I don't know if it's true of everyone (probably not) but it sure does me good to get my hands dirty! Thank you Karla!
As I was exploring the best place to put these bulbs, I noticed that some of last years tulips and hyacinths were poking out of the ground. Out of 12 tulips, I could see just 4 peaking out. The hyacinths were all there - none were flowering but their green tips could be seen. Spring should be colorful indeed!
My rosemary is growing just as if winter never arrived. It doesn't seem to be bothered in the least by cold temperatures. Next time I'm at the store, I'll get a chicken to roast and clip some of the rosemary with which to season it.
I'm also growing my own celery. I know, crazy, crazy, crazy. Kris found the instructions on-line and sent them to me so I thought, what the heck. I took the celery from the refrigerator and cut it from the root end. The stalks I put in a glass of water and the root end went into a bowl of water.
Within three days, the root end began to sprout! Who knew? It's a slow grower to be sure but what could be better than growing your own celery? And in a bowl to boot!! LOL I know I'll have to transfer it to dirt before too long and that's just fine. When you go through celery like I do, it's nice to have some growing at all times. I even bought another bunch of it just so I can get another plant started.
With any luck, the first root will get me through until the next one is ready and then, guess what? I'll just use those roots and start again...if it works that way or not, I'm not really sure but you know me, I'll try it out! And if I'm not too busy, I'll let you know how it works out for me. I sure never thought I'd be a celery farmer hahahahaha bet you aren't too surprised though, huh?
I tried a new recipe the other day, it's a sticky candy that is diabetic friendly and super yummy. The ingredients are simple; honey, nuts and egg whites. You bring the honey to a boil in a pot and then set it aside as soon as it boils. You roast the nuts and set them aside. You mix the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the honey and bring to a light simmer. Cook on medium for 15-20 minutes. When it turns a burnt orange color, add the nuts and press into a parchment paper lined 9x9 casserole/bowl/dish/pan - whatever you have. Use another piece of parchment to press it down and refrigerate for 3 hours. That's it!
It's soooooooooooo good. It's sticky, chewy, crunchy, sweet and a wonderful treat! I already have an order for a batch to be sent to friends in Georgia LOL
I've been reading the blog of "OneGoodThingbyJillee." I don't know if you've heard of it but she puts something on the blog every day and in most cases, they are helpful hints, cleaning solutions and lots of homemade remedies. I've tried a few with moderate results.
For those of you who like to use fabric softener but forget to add it, she has a good solution. The solution began as an idea for dryer sheets instead of always buying dryer sheets. When I tried it, I found it was more like using fabric softener than a dryer sheet. I'm not a fan of fabric softener so I'll be back to using my dryer sheets but you might like the idea.
She instructs you to pour the fabric softener into a jar or other lidded container. Don't fill it to the top, only go about half way. Using an old dish towel (or other old towel) cut it into pieces the size of about 5x5 or smaller. I cut one old dish towel into thirds and they were fine for this process.
Put the towels into the container and when you're ready to dry your clothes, take one out, lightly wring it back into the container and toss into the dryer with your clothes. As they dry, they'll be softened by the fabric softener and it will also prevent static cling.
If you often forget your softener, this might be a good solution for you. I had two issues with it; wringing it out is kind of messy and I don't like the feel of my clothes with fabric softener on them. I don't like static cling either but dryer sheets take care of that issue just fine for me. Let me know if you like her idea though.
Another solution, instead of buying swiffer dry sheets, she suggests using a fuzzy sock instead. I haven't tried this one yet because none of my fuzzy socks will fit over the swiffer head. I looked for larger size fuzzy socks at the Dollar General but all they had were little sizes, smaller even than mine. Oh well, so much for that solution LOL!
The weather man is calling for the possibility of snow first thing in the morning. If it happens, I'll get some pictures! There's one of me on the flickr site with a little bit of snow falling. It hasn't been much so far this year but that's okay, they say mid-January there's more to come.
I hope you're enjoying this fine Friday afternoon. Hugs to all and know that you're missed xoxoxox
"Life is tough pilgrim, and it's even tougher when your stupid." John Wayne
(contributed by Sydna! Love it!)
Forty bulbs may sound like a lot to most of you but if you have ever planted mass quantities of bulbs, forty is easy street. To start with, I had to decide where to plant them or in what to plant them. I didn't really want to dig in the ground with it being such rough terrain, especially when the ground is close to being frozen.
I finally decided on this old speckled pot that was Wally's grandma's pot. It somehow ended up with a couple holes in it and so now it has been turned into a planter. It's more than ample in size to hold 40 bulbs and so my mind was set.
I got my gloves and my little digger and set out with my box of bulbs in hand. I had to clean out some roots from the calibricoa that was planted there over the summer (and that the chickens gobbled up in no time) and clean out a handful of rocks. I used the digger to kind of stir up the potting soil and move it up on the sides of the pot so the bulbs could go in the center.
Come spring, I should see from the center towards the outside, 4 "Striped Red and Yellow" tulips, 10 "Sky Blue" lilies, 15 "Rock Garden Mixed" Allium, and 20 "Mixed" crocus flowers. They all bloom close to the same time and were planted with the taller plants in the center and shorter ones towards the outside.
I don't know if it's true of everyone (probably not) but it sure does me good to get my hands dirty! Thank you Karla!
As I was exploring the best place to put these bulbs, I noticed that some of last years tulips and hyacinths were poking out of the ground. Out of 12 tulips, I could see just 4 peaking out. The hyacinths were all there - none were flowering but their green tips could be seen. Spring should be colorful indeed!
My rosemary is growing just as if winter never arrived. It doesn't seem to be bothered in the least by cold temperatures. Next time I'm at the store, I'll get a chicken to roast and clip some of the rosemary with which to season it.
I'm also growing my own celery. I know, crazy, crazy, crazy. Kris found the instructions on-line and sent them to me so I thought, what the heck. I took the celery from the refrigerator and cut it from the root end. The stalks I put in a glass of water and the root end went into a bowl of water.
Within three days, the root end began to sprout! Who knew? It's a slow grower to be sure but what could be better than growing your own celery? And in a bowl to boot!! LOL I know I'll have to transfer it to dirt before too long and that's just fine. When you go through celery like I do, it's nice to have some growing at all times. I even bought another bunch of it just so I can get another plant started.
With any luck, the first root will get me through until the next one is ready and then, guess what? I'll just use those roots and start again...if it works that way or not, I'm not really sure but you know me, I'll try it out! And if I'm not too busy, I'll let you know how it works out for me. I sure never thought I'd be a celery farmer hahahahaha bet you aren't too surprised though, huh?
I tried a new recipe the other day, it's a sticky candy that is diabetic friendly and super yummy. The ingredients are simple; honey, nuts and egg whites. You bring the honey to a boil in a pot and then set it aside as soon as it boils. You roast the nuts and set them aside. You mix the egg whites until soft peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the honey and bring to a light simmer. Cook on medium for 15-20 minutes. When it turns a burnt orange color, add the nuts and press into a parchment paper lined 9x9 casserole/bowl/dish/pan - whatever you have. Use another piece of parchment to press it down and refrigerate for 3 hours. That's it!
It's soooooooooooo good. It's sticky, chewy, crunchy, sweet and a wonderful treat! I already have an order for a batch to be sent to friends in Georgia LOL
I've been reading the blog of "OneGoodThingbyJillee." I don't know if you've heard of it but she puts something on the blog every day and in most cases, they are helpful hints, cleaning solutions and lots of homemade remedies. I've tried a few with moderate results.
For those of you who like to use fabric softener but forget to add it, she has a good solution. The solution began as an idea for dryer sheets instead of always buying dryer sheets. When I tried it, I found it was more like using fabric softener than a dryer sheet. I'm not a fan of fabric softener so I'll be back to using my dryer sheets but you might like the idea.
She instructs you to pour the fabric softener into a jar or other lidded container. Don't fill it to the top, only go about half way. Using an old dish towel (or other old towel) cut it into pieces the size of about 5x5 or smaller. I cut one old dish towel into thirds and they were fine for this process.
Put the towels into the container and when you're ready to dry your clothes, take one out, lightly wring it back into the container and toss into the dryer with your clothes. As they dry, they'll be softened by the fabric softener and it will also prevent static cling.
If you often forget your softener, this might be a good solution for you. I had two issues with it; wringing it out is kind of messy and I don't like the feel of my clothes with fabric softener on them. I don't like static cling either but dryer sheets take care of that issue just fine for me. Let me know if you like her idea though.
Another solution, instead of buying swiffer dry sheets, she suggests using a fuzzy sock instead. I haven't tried this one yet because none of my fuzzy socks will fit over the swiffer head. I looked for larger size fuzzy socks at the Dollar General but all they had were little sizes, smaller even than mine. Oh well, so much for that solution LOL!
The weather man is calling for the possibility of snow first thing in the morning. If it happens, I'll get some pictures! There's one of me on the flickr site with a little bit of snow falling. It hasn't been much so far this year but that's okay, they say mid-January there's more to come.
I hope you're enjoying this fine Friday afternoon. Hugs to all and know that you're missed xoxoxox
"Life is tough pilgrim, and it's even tougher when your stupid." John Wayne
(contributed by Sydna! Love it!)
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