If you're anything like me, you LOVE chips. The way they crunch, the salty satisfaction, even the smell is enough to send you on a full fledge binge. The biggest problem with regular potato chips is just that. The potato, high salt content, and high fat content is enough to send any person on a binge. Hence the saying "you just can't eat one,". Well today I'm going to introduce you to one of my favorite recipes. Kale Chips. Kale chips are not only loaded with vitamins and minerals, but they taste amazing once you jazz them up a bit. This recipe is inexpensive, simple, and mouth watering!

What You Will Need

• Kale (organic is best)
• Olive Oil
• Sea Salt
• Any seasoning of your choice

What to do

1. Put the Kale leaves in a bowl and coat each leaf with olive oil
2. Sprinkle you Kale with Sea Salt and any other seasoning of your choice. Choose the seasonings based on the taste you are going for. I wanted a "Lays potato Chip" kind of flavor so I used Adobo seasoning and garlic. 
3. Place the Kale onto a parchment paper covered pan and place into the oven at around 300 degrees.
4. Let the Kale sit for around 10 minutes, or until you get the desired crunch that you want. 
5. Take out of the oven, let them cool down for a minute and enjoy!!!

Recently I posted a blog about the amazing benefits of Chia seeds. I promised a recipe, and here is one of my favorite Chia Seed Recipe. I hope you try it and love it!

What you will need:

2 cups water or coconut water

1.5 tbsp chia seeds (2 tablespoons=10grams of fiber)

1/2 tbsp fresh lemon or lime juice for taste

Sweetener, for taste (I prefer honey, but splenda doesn't have the sugar)

Instructions: 

1. Add the chia seeds and water into a glass and stir until combined. Let this sit for 10 minutes so the chia seeds can swell up. I like to use a bottle so I can shake up the seeds which prevents clumps.

2. Add the lime juice and sweetener, give it a shake or a stir, and enjoy!

Summer is calling! The days are longer, clothes are coming off, and most of all it is getting HOT! My favorite way to cool down on a hot day is to drink something cool and refreshing. This super healthy strawberry smoothie is my favorite way to cool down!


What you will need: 



Ice (depends on how much you want to make)
1/2 cup vanilla soymilk (regular milk works too)
1/2 cup of blueberries or bananas (fresh or frozen)
1 cup of strawberry (fresh or frozen)
6 ounces non-fat vanilla yogurt (I use plain sugar free greek yogurt)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
a few packets of splenda

Directions

Blend it all together, pour it up, and enjoy!

This week I'm going with the theme of very simple. So to go along with simple and stress free I whipped up one of my favorite and delicious green tea smoothie recipe!

Gather these ingredients:

• A few lemon slices
  
  
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
  
  
• 2 teaspoons green tea powder
  
  
• 3/4 cup hot water
  
  

• 1/2 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
  
  
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (or lime huice)
  
  
  
• 1 teaspoon of honey (or your favorite sugar substitute) 

What to do:

I personally fix this tea like any other tea. I boil the green tea then add all the other ingredients in then top it off by adding the lemon slices in at the end. This is a very simple recipe, but trust me it will really relax you!

Like I mentioned in my recent Food Blog post, this week I'm going to be giving out Healthy recipes that take a twist on tradition junk food. Today I'm going to give you this delicious recipe that I often make when I want to indulge in something sweet. I call it; "The Surprisingly Nutritious Chocolate Chip Cookie."

What you will need:

1 cup of whole wheat flour
3/4 cup of rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 cup of olive oil (or any healthy oil) 
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of your favorite sugar substitute (I use honey)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
A egg substitute for 1 large egg (I use egg whites or flaxseed)
1/3 cup of light brown sugar
1 cup of dark organic chocolate chips

         Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.
   
2. Grind your oats in a blender or food processor. Put the oats into a medium sized bowl and stir in flour, baking soda and salt. Add the oil, granulated sugar, light brown sugar, egg and vanilla; beat until the texture is smooth and creamy. With Add in the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined. Stir in dark chocolate chips.
3. Drop the dough by heaping teaspoonfuls, onto the prepared baking sheets making sure that they are at least one inch apart. Bake the cookies 1 sheet at a time, until firm around the edges and golden on top. This usually takes 15 minutes depending on your oven. Cool the cookies for 2 minutes on the baking sheets, then let cool before serving!

Calories Per serving: 156
Fat Per Serving: 9.2
Carbs: 22

Guacamole has been one of my favorite foods for a while now. However, I did not stat making it until recently. Making fresh homemade Guacamole can be challenging, but this is a very simple recipe that anyone can make. 

What you will need: 

3 Hass Avocados, halved, seeded, and peeled
1 Fresh Lime that has been juiced
1/2 an Onion peeled and diced
1 tablespoon of freshly chopped cilantro 
                                                                   1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper (optional)
                                                                   1/2 teaspoon of Sea Salt
                                                                   1 Diced Tomato

Directions:
In a large bowl combine the avocados and half of the lemon juice. Combine with cilantro, cayenne pepper, sea salt using a potato masher (or a spoon). Carefully fold the cilantro and tomato into the mixture making sure not to mash the tomatoes too much. Add the last of the lemon Juice, let it sit for a good half an hour before serving. 

Tips:

Choosing the perfect Avocado 

Determining when an Avocado is ripened can be difficult. It took me numerous amounts of attempts to find out when my avocados were perfect enough to eat. The trick to ripening the avocado is to let it sit in a brown paper bag for a day or too. Before using make sure that when you squeeze it that it's not too hard. If the avocado is too hard DO NOT PEEL IT. If you peel the avocado when it is hard you have just wasted it. Make sure you do not let the avocados sit too long because the inside will become a brown mushy mess and again, you have wasted an avocado. 

Make it your own!

All of my recipes have been tweaked from numerous amount of recipes that I have used before in the past. You may not like the way that I made this recipe and I understand that. Feel free to add whatever or take out whatever ingredients you want. You can also serve it with the traditional tortilla chips(I prefer whole grain), make a delicious Mexican dish, or eat it plain!  Remember the key to a healthy lifestyle is creativity!

If you have any more great tips, make sure to leave them in the comment box!