Kale Chips

Eric's Paleo Cakes and cookies

Ok, I'm going on a baking hiatus for a little bit. I've just baked a lot and than ate a ton if it, which is never good. My sweet potato brownies were a hit at the CrossFit party until Eric showed up with his most amazing cakes on the planet. I couldn't make these cakes if my life depended on it and they were all gluten-free, and for the most part paleo! So our CrossFit party on Saturday night was ridiculous fun. My CrossFit gym knows how to party and well we did, until the wee hours of the night. I decided that I was going to have a few adult beverages since I'm usually always the DD and this night I wasn't. Well, once I get a few of those in my bloodstream dancing just takes over. I danced for about 3 hours non-stop and it was fantastic, even though I'm sure I was making a fool of myself, which made it that much better. I'm not saying I'm a good dancer or anything, but I sure had a lot of fun letting loose and having a great time with even greater people! Though the whole point of the party was to congratulate everyone that finished the CrossFit Open and to wish our team good luck at CrossFit Regionals! (May 4th-6th in Castle Rock..BE THERE! BUY TICKETS HERE!!)

Also, real quick for those people that didn't compete in the open or are thinking about it next year..DO IT!  Last year I could only do about 2 of the 6 workouts prescribed. This year I was able to do all of the workouts and it gave me the urge to want to get even better. I realized I should have done it last year even though I couldn't do it all..learn from my mistake and sign up next year no matter what.  Saturdays were CrossFit days during the open and it was inspiring. The camaraderie, support, and everyone working out, gives you the strength to do a lot more than you think you can. Don't think, just do and every time you go to the CrossFit gym from here on out, work as hard as you can, you will surprised how much better you will get ;-).

So here is a super easy recipe that EVERYONE should make. I know it might sound scary at first. Kale..ahhhh thats healthy and sounds gross. I will show you how you will want to make this amazing vegetable a staple in all your meals. I couldn't tell you how many of my friends that I have showed how to make this recipe have become obsessed with them. Most of them are non-paleo or vegetable haters too..yea they are that good! (Find Kale by the greens in any grocery store!)

Why Kale is amazing: Eating a variety of natural, unprocessed vegetables can do wonders for your health, but choosing super-nutritious kale on a regular basis may provide significant health benefits, including cancer protection and lowered cholesterol. Here is a link that explains the 9 Health Benefits of Kale: Kale is a superfood!


RECIPE: KALE CHIPS
1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. Rip the leaves off the stalk (you can even keep them on the stalk too, but I'm not a fan of stalk)
3. Rip the leaves in 'chip sizes' Don't get to technical here, they shrink, so don't worry to much about the size of all the leaves.
4. Spread out on a cookie sheet, try not to have too much overlapping as then some end up a little soggy instead of crispy how you want them. I usually make a few batches
5. Add a little bit of olive oil and mix around with the kale on the cookie sheet, just enough to coat
6. Add sea salt (and anything else you want like pepper, garlic powder, chili powder, etc)
7. Bake for about 10-15min. I usually just check them a lot after 10min until I see them getting brown and they look nice and crispy! You should be able to pick one up and it shouldn't be floppy. 
8. Eat them all and wonder why you didn't know about this recipe sooner! I guarantee you will want to make more right away.


They don't take long and are a perfect side for anything you are making. They are also great when you have guests over to show them how easy to cook and how good kale is! If you haven't made this yet, go to the grocery store, grab some kale and enter into the kale obsession! Yum Yum, I think I'm going to make some now :-).