Homemade Friday: Kale Chips*

I’ve never been one of those people who despised kale.  Some people don’t want to go anywhere near it, but I’ve always liked it. 

 Liked it.  

I don’t love it but it’s one of those things that I know I need to eat more of.  It’s packed full of all sorts of vitamins and makes me feel good when I eat it.  No, I don’t sense any warm, rainbow glow settling over my skin or anything, but I feel better mentally.  Does that make sense to anyone else?  I know I need to eat healthy things so I feel like I’m being a grown up, doing the right thing when I eat kale and whole grains and lentils and whatnot.

Maybe it’s just me?

Anyway, kale is really easy to grow so we seem to have a bunch of it in the garden.  I’ve only found one other way to have it that I like, which is a pasta dish with whole-wheat pasta, cannellini beans, kale and tomatoes.  I love it, but Chris just ate it, didn’t really enjoy it.  And it wasn’t Sebastian’s thing.

So I was looking for something else to make with kale that everyone would enjoy.  I’d heard about kale chips before and thought I’d finally give them a try. 

I used this recipe from smitten kitchen.  It’s ridiculously easy and cheap, especially since all I had to do was walk outside and break off some leaves from our garden.  You just cut up the leaves, removing the stem, toss them with some olive oil and salt and bake for about 15-20 minutes.  I didn’t really measure anything, just threw it all together.  Simple.

The kale totally balances out the chicken nuggets.

And everyone loved it.  Even Sebastian.  Granted I didn’t say anything about what it really is. He’s awesome about eating vegetables and fruit but it’s hard to get him to try new things sometimes.  I just stuck with calling it ‘chips’.  It worked.  Once he tried it he kept on eating.  

I’m so dorky that I got a thrill out of seeing him eat it.  Couldn’t stop smiling.  So many times he eats peanut butter sandwiches and chicken nuggets that even though I try to make sure I balance that out with strawberries and cucumbers and tomatoes it’s nice to see him eating some variety, something that healthy.

Word to the wise, though, don’t eat them on a date or around anyone you're trying to impress.  They crisp up in the oven and are really crumbly and fall apart.  You will most definitely have little pieces stuck all in your teeth.

*I never liked the title 'Craft Friday' so I decided to change it.  This makes more sense for me since what I show you isn't always a 'craft'.  Or is it?