ith iron, calcium, fiber, and vitamins K, A, C and B, and only 36 calories per cup in its raw state, there is no wonder the cruciferous vegetable has everyone talking.

When I was home in Australia earlier this month it became apparent to me that kale wasn’t as popular down under as it is here in the U.S. This sparked me to re-visit kale as a potential food to add to my diet. I say “potential” because kale and I didn’t have the smoothest beginning, we kind of got off on the wrong foot if you will. It seemed like every blog I read and every tweet that came through on my twitter feed all mentioned kale, more specifically kale chips. Heck, even Gwyneth Paltrow appeared on The Ellen Show whipping up a bunch of kale from her own cookbook. I thought if everyone including Gwyneth can make these, surely I can too.

Oh, how I was wrong. Let’s just say the ‘kale experiment’ as I know refer to it ended in burnt crisps on a baking pan resembling nothing I would deem edible, let alone a leafy green chip. And because I was on the rollercoaster ride of my internship, tears followed. I’ll admit it. I cried over burnt kale chips! Kevin laughed. I cried more! Yes, I can be a real treat to date sometimes He then reassured me that it was all ok, we will just try again later (part of me thinks that was his way

of avoiding another of my kitchen experiments, and with the sight that stood before us, I don’t blame him).

My second encounter with kale came during another internship rotation where a self-proclaimed foodie told me the mistake I had made was that I didn’t massage the kale first. Massage the kale?!? What on earth is she talking about? So my caution of all things kale began.

6 months later, I finally decided to give the 2012 “it” food another go. I followed the recipe of a friend from college and…success! I can make kale chips! I love kale! I love them so much that they barely make it onto my plate but are instead eaten right off the baking pan.

Kale Chips

Recipe from Megan @ The Collegiate Cook

• 1 bunch of kale
• 3/4 Tbsp Olive oil
• Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 350F

Tear the kale leaves off the stem and tear into chip-sized pieces. Put leaves in a bowl, pour olive oil over kale and gently shake, making sure every leaf is coated.

Cover a baking tray with tinfoil and spread leaves over tray, making sure the leaves aren’t too bundled

or overlapping**.

Sprinkle lightly with salt.

Bake for 6-7 mins, being careful not to overcook (this is the crucial part of the process, trust me I know from experience!).

Remove from oven, let cool on pan and enjoy

**Megan notes in her blog post that if you prefer flatter chips, try flattening the kale leaves out before putting in the oven, again making sure no leaves are overlapping. Even though I didn’t flatten mine, they were still crunchy and crisp.

After a rocky start, I am now proclaiming my love for kale!

What are your thoughts on kale? Yay or nay?

Have you ever had a major kitchen flop? And an emotional one to go with it?!

.

ANZAC biscuits (Americans may call them more cookie-like, but in Australia we call them biscuits) have always been associated with the Australian and New Zealand soldiers fighting in the war. It is said that the soldiers’ mothers, wives and girlfriends back in their homeland would bake batches of the biscuits and send them overseas knowing they would keep for a long period of time until they reached their loved ones fighting the war. The women back home also knew that their men would not be receiving any food of nutritional value so would bake up treats such as these biscuits to help with energy levels.

ANZAC Biscuits 

(Recipe from the Australian

Women’s Weekly Biscuits and Slices recipe book)

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 cup plain flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup coconut
• 4oz butter
• 2 Tbsp golden syrup (or honey)
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbsp boiling water

1. Combine oats, sifted flour, sugar and coconut in a large mixing bowl.
2. Combine butter and golden syrup in a small saucepan and stir gently over low heat until butter is melted
3. Mix baking soda with boiling water, add to melted butter mixture and stir into dry ingredients.
4. Place tablespoonfuls of mixture on lightly greased baking trays, allow room for spreading.
5. Cook for 20 minutes at 350F. Loosen on tray and let cool.

The biscuits will be hard and crunchy. For a softer result, decrease cooking time and remove from tray immediately after baking.

The recipe above calls for golden syrup. Only recently, after living in the U.S for almost 5 years have I been able to track down real golden syrup at the store. I actually found it in the British section at Fresh & Easy! In the past I have substituted honey for the golden syrup and that has worked well too, the end result will just be a little lighter in color and not so ‘golden’

My Mum has used this recipe for as long as I can remember. ANZAC biscuits were usually a staple snack (and a popular one at that) for basketball roadtrips and camps. One reason I would take a big container to week-long camps? My Mum knew they would keep well without needing special storage instructions

g super quick and easy to prepare, another thing I like about this recipe is how simple it is to swap out any of the ingredients and substitute for whatever it is you have at buy cheap cialis online the time.

Antioxidant Oat Slice

• 2 cups oats
• 1/2 cup chopped dates
• 1/2 cup chopped pistachios (or any nuts)
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (or any dried fruit)
• 2 Tbsp Chia seeds
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup honey (can be reduced if a more savory over sweet slice is desired)

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
2. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or lightly coat with cooking spray
3. Evenly spread mixture throughout baking tray, packing down firmly
4. Bake at 350F (180C) for 25 mins or until golden brown and crisp on top
5. Remove from oven and immediately cut into 2” squares
6. Let the squares cool completely before removing from baking tray. This will allow squares to harden slightly.

These bars freeze well if wrapped in cling wrap and make for a perfect on-the-go, satisfying snack. 

y parents were both working yesterday, so I volunteered to cook dinner.

I have always loved Shepherd’s Pie, so decided to put a simple but delicious twist on the classic dish using sweet potato.

Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1 large
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  onion, grated

• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 lb sweet potato, cut into cubes
• 1/4 cup plain yogurt
• 1 tsp dried rosemary
• 1 tsp olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 F ( or 185 C)
2. Peel the sweet potato and cut into cubes, about 1” in size. Steam the potatoes to soften
3. Place steamed potatoes, yogurt and dried rosemary in a food processor and blend until stiff but creamy
4. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and brown ground turkey. Drain the meat and return to the skillet
5. Add peas, carrot and onion to the skillet and combine with meat, stirring for about 2 mins.
6. Lightly coat a casserole dish or deep-dish pie dish with cooking spray and pour the meat mixture in, Pack the mixture fairly firmly into the dish
7. Pour potato mixture over meat, spreading out evenly
8. Bake for 40 mins or until potatoes are slightly browned

This dish received two thumbs up from both Mum and Dad, making it a sure pleaser!

I’m off to have my annual optometrist appointment this afternoon, luckily I had lots of beta-carotene for dinner last night

times I really miss outdoor running in an area I am comfortable running alone around and familiar with.

While I haven’t had too much trouble with jetlag or adjusting my body clock to Australian time, I have been waking up between 5-6am since my arrival. This morning I woke up rather sore after doing a circuit workout yesterday so decided to  take an easy walk around the river to stretch out my legs before heading off to Church with my parents.

My early morning walk was timed perfectly with the sun rising over the water.

Such a peaceful way to start my Sunday

After church my parents and I headed down to The Strand, a popular waterfront strip with lots of grass areas and BBQ’s for public use. Some of my favorite restaurants are also along the strand that offer outside oceanfront seating to enjoy the views – and that’s exactly what we did!

We tried a new restaurant that recently opened called Longboard Bar and Grill and grabbed a patio table to catch the the sea breeze

We were all super hungry so started off with the rustic oven potato wedges with a side of sweet chilli sauce and sour cream

For our main meals, my parents opted for burgers and chips…

…while I tried the homemade cannelloni

“Sweet potato, ricotta, baby spinach finished with a tomato sauce and topped with rocket parmesan salad”

Holy yum! It was definitely satisfying and just the right size. One thing that I always notice when I come back to Australia is the portion sizes at restaurants here compared to the U.S. When I was ordering this meal I

asked the waitress what she thought of the dish. She stated it was delicious but emphasized how big the meal was. I guess subconsciously I was expecting a huge pasta dish similar to something you would get at The Olive Garden or Buca di Beppo but that is certainly not what I got. I wasn’t disappointed however, as the meal was a perfect size for one person. Guess it was a great reminder for portion distortion and portion control

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I know what you’re thinking…umm avocado popsicles? Weird! But trust me on this one, they will surprise you

A few weeks ago some interns I was working with at a community center were presenting a cooking demonstration to a group of adults and their children. One of the recipes they chose to make and serve was avocado popsicles. Even the parents in the class expressed that they really didn’t think their kids would like them, and guess what? All the kids wanted seconds!

This is a super easy recipe that adds some nutrients (healthy fats) to the standard popsicle.

Avocado Popsicles

(recipe from popsicle cookbook “Paletas: Authentic Recipes for Mexican Ice Pops, Shaved Ice, and Aguas Frescas” by Fany Gerson

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Pinch
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  of salt

• 2 small ripe avocados
• 2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

In a small saucepan, combine water and sugar. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil and sugar is completely dissolved. Let cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, scoop avocado flesh into a bowl. Add salt and sugar/water mix. Mash and stir/blend until smooth. Add lime juice.

Divide mixtures into popsicle molds and freeze.

The frozen avocado provides a creamy, ice-cream like texture and the hint of lime juice sweetened with the sugar is the perfect combination. These popsicles are definitely going to be a summer staple!

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…and also possibly invented by a woman??

I am a big fan of the slow cooker, but this has only come about in the last year and a half or so. Before that, I had my slow cooker and used it quite sparingly for the very reason that I hated soaking it and scrubbing it out after each use. One day Kevin’s Mom and I were talking in the kitchen while she was putting some chili in the slow cooker. I told her how I felt about the cleaning up part and she pulled out some slow cooker liners which I had never heard of before. I felt like she had just performed some kind of magic trick!!

These liners simply go into the bowl part of the slow cooker and all ingredients are then placed into the liner.

The bag doesn’t stick or melt onto the ceramic bowl during the cooking process at all.

Once you have emptied out the contents, you simply lift the bag out, throw it away and wipe out the ceramic bowl.

Pretty easy, right?!

When I first told my Mum back in Australia about the liners she laughed at me saying it was one of the laziest things she had heard of. It was only when she came to visit me and made some soup in the slow cooker that she was very easily convinced how great the bags were. She left the U.S with 4

boxes of the liners and continues to stock up on each trip she makes over here, taking some back for friends too.

I totally believe that a woman had to come up with such a brilliant idea as this one

In case you are wondering, the bags are sold in the same section as freezer/zip-lock bags in most grocery stores.

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I feel like everyone is talking about Chia seeds lately, and there is good reason for it. For the last few months I have been meaning to pick up a bag to try but it always seemed to slip my mind while at the store. Well, this weekend when I was at Sprouts they had a big display of Spectrum Chia Seeds that caught my eye and I quickly grabbed

a bag and threw them in my cart, excited to try them out.

It was only when I got home that I realized I wasn’t exactly sure how I should eat the seeds! For my first attempt, I simply sprinkled some on one of my go-to morning bowl of oats combos (oats, banana and almond butter) and was satisfied with how it turned out. The seeds have a very slight nutty flavor and are odorless so I could barely notice the addition in my breakfast.

A call out to twitter asking how everyone else liked to eat Chia seeds also gave me some great ideas that I am eager to try. As I experiment with them, I’ll be sure to share the results.

Here are some facts explaining why Chia seeds are such a great addition to a your diet:

• Chia seeds have more Omega-3 fatty acids than any other plant food, including flax seeds. I am not a fan of eating fish and seafood in general at all, so am very conscious about eating other foods (nuts, oils etc) with natural sources of Omega-3′s.
• They are about 20% protein with all essential amino acids (amino acids not produced by the body).
• When soaked in water for 30 mins, the seeds form a thick gel. This change in state also happens in the stomach which can help increase satiety and the feeling of fullness.
• Chia seeds contain six times more calcium than milk
• They are 40% fiber, with about 5% of this being soluble fiber.  

Have you tried Chia Seeds? Let me know if you have any great recipes!

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