Girl Scout COOKIE time....

A fun way to increase the nutrition value and stretch that Girl Scout Cookie flavor?  SURE
I crumbled up 3 of the Lemonades (Lemon Shortbread) cookies, divided that up evenly...and layered it with low fat greek yogurt and fresh blueberries!  I added the pretty 'lemon slice' cookie as a garnish on the top!
Why GREEK yogurt?
Greek yogurt is strained 3 times instead of the regular 2 with traditional yogurt.  This results in a product that is higher in protein and a creamier consistency. You can utilize the plain version to make dips, mix it with fruit or cereal or make a sauce with it!

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Kale for Kids?!?...yes, really

Since I’m a Registered Dietitian, I know many (not all) of the tricks to entice kids to try healthy foods.  Well, today I tried a new recipe that truthfully seemed too good to be true…

Kale Chips! ?!
(p.s. I LOVED them, too!)

(original version on shape.com)

• 2 heads of fresh kale
• olive oil spray
• salt

v    Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

v    Wash the kale and remove ALL of the stems

v    Tear the kale into small pieces

v    Spray the bottom of a perforated pizza pan (pan with holes) with olive oil spray

§       Or a regular pan will work…

v    Lay the kale out in a single layer and spray with more olive oil

v    Sprinkle with sea salt

v    Bake for 10-14 minutes- depending on how crisp you want them

§       My son liked them crispy—so 14 minutes was our vote.

§       This took us two rounds of baking to make sure we didn’t have any double layers

I took photos of my son chomping down on what we’ll call… KALE KRISPIES!

Note:  I did a small search and saw several different versions of these.  One even had the oven at 250 degrees F for up to 30 minutes utilizing WHOLE leaves.  I might try that next…but, we ate all our kale…so stay tuned.

IF ANY OF you readers try a different recipe... or this one—post the recipe and your review—a photo would be great, too!

As an RD, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention what a nutrition powerhouse kale is…

Kale is considered a super food with an amazing high nutrition benefit per calorie.

Kale--one single fresh cup (& if you eat a cup of baked/dried kale—it is WAY more than a fresh cup)

provides:

*almost twice the daily requirement of vitamin A,

*almost all of the vitamin C required for the day, and

* 1,300% of the daily requirement of vitamin K. 

*and an excellent source of:

Manganese

Iron

Copper

Calcium

Dietary Fiber

Vitamin B1, B2, B6

Vitamin E

Traci's Texas Caviar ...1-1-11

My grandaddy always made me eat one black eyed pea on New Years Day every year.  I didn't like them much, and still don't just as a plain side dish.
Yet, using fresh black eyed peas, avocados, tomatoes, rotel and a little cilantro....THAT is a great and SIMPLE way to eat them...and better for you.


SIMPLE is one of the key aspects to success.
Many make resolutions that are too general
Goals should also be:
SPECIFIC 
ACHIEVABLE 
MEASURABLE


Goal example
Version 1- "I will eat healthier this year."
Goal MAKEOVER 
"I will eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables at least 5 days out of week."


Cheers to you making 2011 all it can be and more... it is all up to YOU!