Kitchen Experiements: Kale Chips

Yummy!!

Fine, I'll admit it...I'm on a total kale kick. It is perfect to hide in foods for my little guy so he still gets his veggies. Plus, its nutritional facts are awesome. The most impressive fact I found was that per calorie, Kale has more Iron than beef (more benefits of eating kale). Alternate sources of iron is super important for my family since I don't eat red meat which spills over to the things I cook for Sawyer and John.
This week I decided to try Kale Chips and they are Oh My Word delicious, addictive and the best snack. I know I am a pretty adventurous eater so maybe I am over-hyping but I recommend trying them for a healthy snack. They remind me of flash fried spinach. I know they have to be good because John LOVED them...almost ate the whole bag. Sawyer hasn't tried them yet, he has issues with the way they look since it still looks like grass...

KALE CHIPS

INGREDIENTS

• 1 bunch kale (I use curly kale)
• Olive Oil (extra virgin oil oil)
• sea salt
• lemon juice - I added this for my flavor preference but feel free to leave out or use Parmesan

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. Wash Kale completely
3. dry completely. I laid mine out on paper towels in stacks and let sit for an hour

dry completely!

4. cut off stems and cut into desired size for chips
5. In a freezer bag, I added a bunch of the dried, cleaned kale and poured in olive oil and lemon juice, toss until all leaves are completely covered. May have to do a few time to get the whole bunch

Toss to cover all leaves

6. After Kale is covered in oil/lemon juice mix, lay out on nonstick baking sheets and dust with sea salt (as desired). I had to use 2 sheets for the whole bunch
7. Bake for 8-12 minutes, they cook fast so check often. Do not let them burn! As soon as they look rigid and crisp, take them out. I took mine out at 8 minutes and they were perfect.

Crispy and reading to snack

Enjoy!

Sawyer + Kaiden's Build-a-Bear Adventure

Sawyer's aunt Cindy, uncle Rob and cousin Kaiden gifted him a Build-a-Bear gift certificate for his 2nd Birthday. I think this was partially because John's sister Cindy knew John was totally against the idea of taking Sawyer there (that's what sisters are for, right?) but also because it was a chance to have a field trip with our little guys. 

John, Sawyer, Cindy, Kaiden, Grandma Donnetta and me met at the Branson Landing for Sawyer and Kaiden's first BAB experience. And to John's surprise, Sawyer loved it and I think he had some fun too. Of course, he picked out the most expensive item...a Tiger dressed as a hockey player.  He named him T.T Oshie (Truman the Tiger Oshie), for you non-Blues/ Mizzou fans that is a mix of T.J. Oshie (St. Louis Blues player) and Truman (Mizzou's mascot). Kaiden made a monkey that he let Sawyer name, he picked Truman....again. Sawyer even helped him fill and wash him. Thanks to Cindy & Rob for a great gift and a fun day!

Picking out his tiger

Filling him up 

Adding a heart

Hug test to make sure he is soft enough

Bath time

Now time to help Kaiden

Dad got him all dressed in his uniform 

Getting T.T. Oshie's and Truman's Birth Certificates

All set to bring our new friends home

KOL Show - KC

John and I got to take a short concert getaway Wednesday night to see Kings of Leon for our 6th time (might be 7th, I've lost track) at the Sprint Center in Kansas City. This was by far the largest venue we have seen them at  but was an excellent show. We got to meet up with Trina, Megan Weaver and her close friends Kerry and Cory for drinks/food at Johnny's Tavern prior to the show and a mean game of Cards Against Humanity at the hotel after.

Thanks Mom & Dad for keeping little man! 

Our tradition before the concert Hotel pic. 

A little pre-show bevs

Loved this chair!

One of our favorites:

http://youtu.be/cY-RX4D5A-Y

40 under 40

I am very honored to have been selected to the 16th Annual Springfield Business Journal's 40 under 40 -2014 class. It is pretty humbling to see the other recipients and even have my name mentioned with theirs. It makes me uncomfortable to toot my own horn and honestly, I was completely surprised I received this award! This post is really just to congratulate all of the winners and to thank my amazing support team! It was great to have a cheering section at the awards ceremony last night, comprised of my husband, parents, two best friends Megan & Trina and even the wonderful Lost & Found crew. It means so much to me and I love you guys!!

To read my bio and all of the candidates:  http://sbj.net/main.asp?SectionID=48&SubSectionID=108&ArticleID=96391