Homemade Healthy Granola Swap!

On the same show that I saw the Kale chip recipe, I saw a swap for granola. I love granola so this was something I really wanted to try too. I should say that the show is Hungry Girl on Food Network.

Granola is something I have always loved. It can be loaded with Fat, calories and sugar though and that's just no good. This recipe is so simple and easy and it is really tasty. You can flavor it too.

Here is the actual recipe:

1/4 cup old fashioned slow cooking oats

1/4 cup puffed rice

1/4 cup puffed wheat

1 1/2 TBSP sugar free pancake syrup

Freeze dried apples

Mix everything EXCEPT apples.

Spray baking sheet or dish with cooking spray

Put granola in dish

Bake @ 275 for 30-35 min flipping once halfway through

add apples when done

Now I didn't have the apples and I do not like maple syrup. I used honey. I also doubled the recipe. I also added a few drops of vanilla and almond extract and some cinnamon to the honey and mixed well before mixing it in the granola. I say  add whatever you like and make it your own.

This granola is a pretty healthy snack. It is also great as a topping. I mixed it in greek yogurt. YUMMY! Kids also like this snack.

 

Kale Chips. My New Favorite Healthy Snack.

Recently I watched a cooking show in which Kale Chips were made. I had heard of them several times before but never really thought about making them. Since I have changed my eating habits and cut out 98% of processed foods, I figured now was the time to try them. 

I worked in the deli dept of a grocery store for a short while when i was a teenager. Kale was used in the display case as garnish and decoration around the meats and such. I never even knew you could eat it. I have been eating it in salads and using it in my green protein shakes (up coming blog post) I really like it and it's really good for you.

So Last night I made Kale chips for the first time. OH. MY. GOD. I can't even get over how good I think they are. The Kale was on sale 99 cents/lb so it was cheap too. 

So basically you wash and DRY the Kale. Make sure it is dry for best results. My first batch I tossed the kale in olive oil. I shouldn't have. The second batch I made using cooking spray and they came out much better.

I sprayed a baking sheet lightly with olive oil cooking spray. Placed kale on baking sheet in single layer. Sprayed them lightly with cooking spray and sprinkled with salt and pepper. Bake @ 425 for 5-8 minutes. It's that easy. This bowl has about 60+ calories. I swear to you, I can't stop eating them!

They are light and crispy and full of flavor. I'm on a mission to try new foods that are healthy but that also taste good. I refuse to eat something I don't like. I hope you will all try these. It's cheap, quick, easy and worth trying, even if you don't end up liking them. I have heard a lot of people say that kids really like them too!

Pretty Healthy Meal For About $16.00 And About $2.30 a serving!!

Ok so it's 9:09pm and my husband isn't home from work yet, Anthony is sleeping and Isabella is sleeping. For those of you who read my last post, things are pretty much the same but I am getting a lot closer to managing all of it and making room for blogging. I normally wouldn't blog at night but I am so impressed with myself that I had to share :)

If you keep up with me on FB, then you may have seen my post about our new healthy eating habits. If not, you'll be reading about it now and in the future. No one in my fam is too overweight so we aren't going extreme with healthy food. We already eat semi healthy. I really wanted to make better meals, with healthier ingredients. More veggies, more whole grains, less animal proteins and less processed foods. I also have become the portion police lol and make the plates myself so I can portion it all out. I am also working on a strictbudget, even with coupons, it's tight but I am making it work and very proud of it. 

Tonights dinner was peppercorn boneless pork chops, brown rice, broccoli and roasted brussel sprouts. It made enough for 5 dinners and 2 lunches. I paid about $16.00 for all of it and that's about $2.30 a serving!!! Here's how I did it.

Pork chops were on sale. I got 12 for $8.53
don't remember how much per lb.

Frozen brussel sprouts and broccoli 1 bag each $1.70 per bag
I love frozen veggies, they are the closest to fresh and they are cheap and easy.
I hardly cook them, I thaw/defrost and warm or roast quickly.

Mahatma brown rice small bag (I think 1lb) was $1.16 I had a 50 cent off coupon that doubled to $1 making it 16 cents for the bag but I only used half of it so that's 8 cents for this meal

2 pkgs of weber peppercorn marinade 98 cents each

I used a bit of butter as condiment, olive oil and vinegar for marinade I added $2.00 for tax and those ingredients

Total $16, made the 7 servings and it's $2.30 per serving!

Recipe
The marinade calls for 1/4 oil, 1/4 water and 2 TBSP vinegar, per packet and I used 2 of them BUT I won't use that much oil so I only did 1/4 oil, 3/4 water and 4 TBSP vinegar (apple cider)
I mixed it but only used 1/4 of it to marinate the pork in a ziploc bag. I saved the rest to cook with so we have a sauce.
I sear the pork on both sides in skillet, then add remaining marinade, cover, and simmer till marinade thickens. DONE!!

I defrosted broc in microwave and then warmed it.

I thawed brussel sprouts in baking dish on counter (you don't have to) I drizzled olive oil on them and drizzled a few spoonfuls of marinade on them too.
I roasted them @ 450 till tender then broiled them on low for a few min till they were a bit charred.

I baked the rice of course. Here is the link for those directions:
http://mytwocents-meliss.blogspot.com/2011/08/baking-rice.html

This pic is of my lunch for tomorrow. Anthony doesn't like brussel sprouts so I gave him 2 servings of broc and some broc for Joe's lunch so I used some mixed veggie and spinach leftover from my lunch today.

I have no idea how many calories etc. I don't really count calories. Like I said before, I am not trying so much to lose weight, I just want us to be healthier and make smarter, healthier choices on a reg basis so we can eat "bad" here and there when we want to without guilt!