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How to Make Homemade Kale Chips

8/27/2012

Kale chips seems to be a hot ticket item these days in the health food scene. And why not, they are a delicious snack alternative that is low in carb and full of great vitamins. Unfortunately if you go to the store looking for pre-made kale chips you may find yourself in a tight spot. We saw some sold in a store at eight dollars for a tiny little bag. Why not cut out the middle man and make it yourself. It's delicious and you can even get a little creative with it. Heres what you do:

1. Get yourself some fresh Kale and give it a good rinse.
2. Remove the stems and tear the leaves into smaller chip size pieces.
3. Spread the Kale out on a metal cookie sheet pan and give it a light spray with some olive oil. We use the Pam variety.
4. Dust the kale with salt. Don't be afraid to get a little salty, remember these are an alternative for chips, so the salt is gonna bring out some flavor.
5. Place it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until kale is light and crispy.
6. Remove and enjoy. Best when fresh.

It's the easiest thing to make and requires only a few minutes of prep. If you are feeling adventurous you can dust them with some other seasonings like garlic salt, cajun, or even something crazy like Caribbean jerk. Get creative and you may like what you find.

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Delicious Low Carb Buffalo Chicken Dip

8/23/2012

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We went to a party a while back and an acquaintance brought a dip that knocked my socks off. It was so delicious I had to get the recipe. She gave me the name so I searched the internets for it. After checking out the ingredients it was clear to me that this was a recipe that had potential to be a pretty low carb snack. So of course I went out and got what I needed to make up my own batch.

Hungry Girl Buffalo Chicken Dip Recipe

2 (10 ounce) cans chicken breasts
1 (8 ounce) package fat free cream cheese, softened-
1/2 cup frank's redhot original cayenne pepper sauce
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup fat free ranch dressing
1/4 cup fat-free Greek yogurt

Directions:
1 Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2 Place cream cheese in a medium bowl and stir until smooth. Mix in Frank's RedHot, mozzarella cheese, ranch dressing, and yogurt. Stir in chicken until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture evenly into a deep 8-inch by 8-inch baking dish.
3 Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until mixture is heated through. Stir well and enjoy!
4 P.S. We love dipping carrot sticks and red bell pepper chunks into this dip, but we've also dunked baked tortilla chips into it and used it as a sandwich spread!
5 HG Alternative! To make this dish FAST, skip the oven altogether. Prepare dip according to the directions, but in a microwave-safe dish. Then microwave uncovered on high for 5 minutes (stopping and stirring halfway through cooking), or until hot.

This stuff is super easy to make and required less than 10 minutes to do it. We chopped up some fresh celery and peppers to dip into it which worked great. Your carb friendly fans could use tortilla chips if they wanted, but we opted out to keep it low carb. Anyway, its full of flavor, not to spicy, and a great choice to bring to a party or for watching the game. At the party I went to, it was one of the first things to go. I can't say for sure, but I would guess that the carb count is pretty low, so try it out.

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Atkins Peanut Butter Cups Review

8/21/2012

4 Comments

I will keep this one short. Here's the scoop on the Atkins Peanut Butter Cups.

Upside: They are delicious, Low carb, and very creamy. Taste just like Reese's only not as oily. I loved em. Great treat to bring in a movie.

Downside: They are small, about 1/3 smaller than normal peanut butter cups and kind of expensive. Reese's makes sugar free cups you can get in a bag but you can't eat that many of them. They are a little cheaper though.

Still, if you want a treat and need to fill a sweet spot this is dead on impersonation of the real thing. You can't go wrong.

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Low Carb Cheesecake Recipe

8/19/2012

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My first attempt was a success.

Well I decided my time had come. It's amazing that I have eaten low carb this long and never had tried to make a low carb cheesecake recipe. Don't know why, seems like its one of those things that most low carb people go nuts for. I guess it's a mix of having had the Cheesecake Factories cake recently and also visiting my family where we have a kitchen we could cook in that inspired me to try it. I did some research on some recipes. For me it's all about simple. Few ingrediants and little effort is what I go by. I like food but I don't want to spend my entire day in the kitchen. That's why I went for this recipe on About.com:

Low Carb Cheesecake Recipe

It was pretty simple and didn't take me much time to make at all. The actual cheesecake is very smooth and creamy and was very yummy. It's rich, but not as rich as some others. My only disappointment was with the crust. It wasn't as crunchy as I would have liked. It started that way when it was baked, but got soft with the cake added to to it. I might try using walnuts or pecans to see if they create a different texture. Might not be as low carb, but may have a consistency I like more.

Do you have a cheesecake recipe that is low carb that you like? Share it in the comments. Let's crack the code of deliciousness. Together we can!

Making the almond crust. I hand to make 50% more cause my pan was so big.

Basic recipe = Basic ingredients

Making the cheesecake guts.

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Fargo, We Have Arrived

8/16/2012

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Historic Fargo Theater

Well the first leg of our tour is over and we arrived in my home town of Fargo, ND. We are crashing with my parents for the next few weeks and doing some odd jobs it town. We are really excited to be here as it's a chance to spend some quality time with the family and do some fun things without the rush of the usual holiday visits.

BBQ fun with the fam.

One of the first days we were here my brother had a BBQ with a bunch of people. That was fun. BBQs are great because there's always meat and usually a fruit and veggie tray. It's easy to be good there with those. Sometimes I feel guilty though for grabbing an extra hotdog. I get over it quickly.

Me and my nephew Charlie.

Remains of the day. Ewww.

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Sizzler and you

8/14/2012

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This is a little video I made several years ago with the sketch comedy team I am on. I still think its funny. It's pre weight loss, but the chubbiness makes it funnier right? Right?!

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Atkins Cookies n Cream Bar Review

8/14/2012

2 Comments

    Chocolate lovers unite!

    One of the latest Atkin's bars that I've had the privilege to do a review on is the Atkin's Cookies and Cream Bar. Don't let the name fool you, there's not much cookies and not much cream in this bar. The cookie portion is a crunchy type of chocolate material that you'll find in a lot of the chocolate bars from the Atkin's company. It's not nougat and it's not cookie, it's some sort of chocolatey crunchy material. Don't get me wrong it's not bad, I just don't know how else to describe it. Like a brownie that dried out too much. The cream in this cookies and cream bar is nothing quite like what you would find an Oreo either, which is more of a frosting. The cream in this bar is a lot more like a chewy vanilla taffy. It does have that cookies and cream taste to it, and it's coated in chocolate which is nice, but I was kind of expecting more of a creaminess from the cream part of the bar. Still if chocolate taste is what you're after, this is one of the bars that is going to fill that need more than any of the other Atkin's bars out there.

    I will say this, Its chewy so I am forced to savor it. I like that. And again, the flavor is there. I guess if I am going to pick a chocolate bar by Atkins this is the one I'm probably going to go with.

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PMA On Tour: Bab's in Atlanta

8/11/2012

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We ate breakfast today at a local place called Bab's. Breakfast and Brunch is what it stands for I think. Most of our breakfasts here in Atlanta have been either on the unhealthy side, a simple Atkins bar, or we just eat at the hotel buffet. Now near the end of out stay we finally found a place that looked like it had some nice fresh options.

I got the ham and swiss omelette with dice tomatoes. It came with potatoes and toast which I avoided. The menu said there would be fresh fruit with it but it was really just an orange slice. Still the omelette was very filling and had big chunks of meat in it so I definitely left feeling satisfied. Not a bad place, and seems like to locals like it. Check em out.

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I Need a Nap

8/10/2012

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Tired blogging means short blogging.

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PMA On Tour: Atlanta Thoughts

8/9/2012

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Currently the tour my wife and I are on has landed us in Atlanta, Georgia. We have been here for a couple days now as our show is performing at the Fox theater in midtown.

In case you were wondering why I haven't posted any of the local food from this stop, and why I may not, it's because all the local spots we have visited been extremely unhealthy eats. Not the kind of places you would want on this website and certainly not too encouraging of pictures to look at. The city has been really nice and we have had fun here, but it for some reason it feels like we are only surrounded by burger joints, fried chicken and waffles, and comfort food. All of which I am sure is delicious, but certainly not low carb.

It's been difficult to eat as healthy as I would like here but I know that every day is new and that I am learning the important lesson of finding balance in what I eat and allowing myself a little more freedom. It's hard to do sometimes, but in the long run its a good thing to learn.

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