Baked Vegetable Chips

I love this recipe because it allows me to eat chips without feeling quite so guilty. You can take just about any root vegetable, slice it thin, and then bake it until it's crispy! 

Pick one or more of the following:

• BEET
• BUTTERNUT SQUASH (my second favorite!)
• KALE
• PARSNIP
• POTATO
• SWEET POTATO (my favorite!)

You will also need:

• OLIVE OIL
• SALT

Start off by peeling your vegetables. Then, use a mandolin or a sharp knife to cut your vegetable of choice into 1/8th to 1/16th inch thick slices (or as thin as you can get them). 

Next, soak the slices in a bowl of water for about an hour. This will help the chips crisp up by removing some of the excess starch. 

Sweet Potato

After an hour, drain the water...

Beets & Butternut Squash

...and lay the slices out on a paper towel to dry. Sprinkle some salt onto the slices while they dry to help pull the water out. Pat dry with another paper towel. While the chips are drying, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. 

Once the chips are relatively dry place them onto a baking sheet and drizzle on some of the olive oil. Make sure that none of the chips are touching. (I sprinkled a little cinnamon on the sweet potato chips)

Sweet Potato

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the chips are crispy. How thin you slice the chips will determine how long they will need to actually bake.

Butternut Squash

Once the chips are out of the oven, sprinkle with a little bit of salt or other spices and eat up!

Butternut Squash & Parsnips

These chips are best eaten fresh. You could prepare them ahead of time, but make sure not to bake them until the day you plan to eat them!

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Baked Vegetable Chips

Ingredients:

Pick one or more of the following:

• BEET
• BUTTERNUT SQUASH (my second favorite!)
• KALE
• PARSNIP
• POTATO
• SWEET POTATO (my favorite!)

You will also need:

• OLIVE OIL
• SALT

Directions:

1. Start off by peeling your vegetables. 
2. Use a mandolin or a sharp knife to cut your vegetable of choice into 1/8th to 1/16th inch thick slices (or as thin as you can get them). 
3. Soak the slices in a bowl of water for about an hour. This will help the chips crisp up by removing some of the excess starch. 
4. After an hour, drain the water and lay the slices out on a paper towel to dry. Sprinkle some salt onto the slices while they dry to help pull the water out. Pat dry with another paper towel. While the chips are drying, preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. 
5. Once the chips are relatively dry place them onto a baking sheet and drizzle on some of the olive oil. Make sure that none of the chips are touching. 
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the chips are crispy. How thin you slice the chips will determine how long they will need to actually bake. 
7. Once the chips are out of the oven, sprinkle with a little bit of salt or other spices and eat up! 
• Note: These chips are best eaten fresh. You could prepare them ahead of time, but make sure not to bake them until the day you plan to eat them!

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Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I love sweet potato fries! I would choose sweet potato fries over regular fries almost any day! This recipe is very easy and tastes delicious!

To make these fries you will need:

• SWEET POTATO
• CORNSTARCH
• OLIVE OIL

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Peel the sweet potato and then cut it into strips the size that you want your fries to be. 

Soak the strips in water for 30 minutes. 

Take the strips out of the water and lightly toss the strips in cornstarch. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and then place the sweet potato strips onto the sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes and then flip the fries. Bake another 10 to 15 minutes until the fries get crispy. Let them cool and then eat them!

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Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Ingredients:

• SWEET POTATO
• CORNSTARCH
• OLIVE OIL

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Peel the sweet potato and then cut it into strips the size that you want your fries to be. 
2. Soak the strips in water for 30 minutes. 
3. Take the strips out of the water and lightly toss the strips in cornstarch. 
4. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and then place the sweet potato strips onto the sheet. Drizzle with olive oil.
5. Bake for 15 minutes and then flip the fries. Bake another 10 to 15 minutes until the fries get crispy. Let them cool and then eat them!

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Jamba Juice Copycat: Strawberry Surf Rider (Strawberry Tsunami)

My favorite Jamba Juice smoothie is the Strawberry Surf Rider, formerly known as the Strawberry Tsunami. It is sweet and tart and creamy and wonderful! I had trouble getting my smoothie as tart as Jamba Juice's so after everything was blended together, I spiked it with a little bit of lime juice to kick it up a notch!

To make this delicious smooth you will need:

• 1/4 cup FROZEN PEACHES (about 3 slices)
• 1/2 cup FROZEN STRAWBERRIES (about 5-6 berries)
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup LEMONADE
• 1/4 cup LIME SHERBET
• 1/2 cup ICE (about 6-8 cubes)
• LIME JUICE, to taste

Start off by measuring out your ingredients... or just eye ball it! It's kind of difficult to measure frozen fruit in a 1/4 cup measuring cup. Below you can see my attempt measure how much I was using....

Throw ALL of the ingredients into a blender. I started by only adding 1/2 cup of the lemonade, but then added an extra 1/4 cup to get it to the consistency I wanted. Just keep adding thing until it tastes good!

Blend until smooth! This is where I added some lime juice. I added about 2-3 tsp, but if you like it the way it is, then skip the lime juice!

Once you are happy with the consistency and flavor, serve it up in a glass with a straw! I ended up with about a glass and a half of smoothie. That was probably about 3 cups or 24 oz. of smoothie...

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Jamba Juice Copycat: Strawberry Surf Rider (Strawberry Tsunami)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup FROZEN PEACHES (about 3 slices)
• 1/2 cup FROZEN STRAWBERRIES (about 5-6 berries)
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup LEMONADE
• 1/4 cup LIME SHERBET
• 1/2 cup ICE (about 6-8 cubes)
• LIME JUICE, to taste

Directions:

1. Start off by measuring out your ingredients... or just eye ball it! It's kind of difficult to measure frozen fruit in a 1/4 cup measuring cup. 
2. Throw ALL of the ingredients into a blender. Note: I started by only adding 1/2 cup of the lemonade, but then added an extra 1/4 cup to get it to the consistency I wanted. Just keep adding thing until it tastes good!
3. Blend until smooth! I then added about 2-3 tsp of lime juice, but if you like it the way it is, then skip the lime juice!
4. Once you are happy with the consistency and flavor, serve it up in a glass with a straw! 
5. I ended up with about a glass and a half of smoothie. (That was probably about 3 cups or 24 oz. of smoothie...)

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To find this recipe and other Jamba Juice copycats follow this link: http://www.makedrinks.org/jamba-juice-recipes/ 

Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

These spicy roasted chickpeas are a fun and different way to eat chickpeas! They are crunchy, spicy, and even pretty healthy!

To make this healthy snack you will need:

• 2 (15 oz.) cans CHICKPEAS (GARBANZO BEANS)
• 2 Tbs OLIVE OIL
• 1/2 tsp PAPRIKA
• 1/4 tsp CAYENNE PEPPER
• 1/4 tsp CUMIN
• 1/4 tsp SALT
• 1/8 tsp CORIANDER

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Then rinse and dry the chickpeas.



Toss the chickpeas in the olive oil and spices.



Bake the chickpeas on a cookie sheet for about 40 minutes.



Then eat up!

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Spicy Roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients:

• 2 (15 oz.) cans CHICKPEAS (GARBANZO BEANS)
• 2 Tbs OLIVE OIL
• 1/2 tsp PAPRIKA
• 1/4 tsp CAYENNE PEPPER
• 1/4 tsp CUMIN
• 1/4 tsp SALT
• 1/8 tsp CORIANDER

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Rinse and dry the chickpeas.
3. Toss the chickpeas in the olive oil and spices.
4. Bake the chickpeas on a cookie sheet for about 40 minutes. Then eat up!

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I found this recipe on the following blog: http://www.fifteenspatulas.com/crispy-oven-roasted-chickpeas/

Buffalo Chicken Bites

These buffalo chicken bites are great for parties and get-togethers! Each bite has spicy buffalo chicken and tangy blue cheese wrapped in a little bit of dough. You can either dip them in some more buffalo sauce, or a dressing such as ranch or blue cheese!

To make about 48 of these buffalo chicken bites you will need:

• 2 & 1/4 tsp (1 packet) RAPID RISE YEAST
• 2 Tbs BROWN SUGAR
• 1 cup MILK, warm
• 2 & 1/2 cups FLOUR
• 1 cup CHICKEN, cook and then either diced or shredded
• 1/2 cup CRUMBLED BLUE CHEESE
• 2 Tbs SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE
• 1/4 cup BUFFALO SAUCE (I used Ott's)
• 4 Tbs UNSALTED BUTTER, melted

Ok, start off by preparing the dough. Dissolve the brown sugar into the warm milk. Then pour this mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Slowly mix in the flour and yeast, a ball of dough should start to form. If necessary add an extra 1/2 cup of flour to get the dough to come together. Let the mixer continue to kneed the dough on low speed for another 5-7 minutes. 

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed a few more time just to form the dough into a smooth ball. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise. This will probably take 2-3 hours, the dough should double in size. 

While the dough is rising, mix up filling! In a medium sized bowl, mix together the chicken, blue cheese, cheddar cheese, buffalo sauce, and melted butter. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to make the bites!

Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and separate the dough into four equal 'chunks.'

Take one of the 'chunks' of dough and gently stretch it out into a 'rope' that is roughly 12 inches long. 

Then, using a rolling pin, roll out the rope so that the dough makes a 12 inch x 4 inch rectangle. 

Next, spoon 1/4 of the chicken mixture on the bottom third of the dough (try to leave about a 1/2 inch boarder along the bottom though). 

Then, take the bottom edge of the dough and stretch it over the top of the chicken and press to seal.

Roll the chicken up tightly in the dough and then cut the rope into about 12 pieces.  Repeat this process with the other 3 chunks of dough and the rest of the chicken.

Place all of the buffalo bites onto a greased cookie sheet (or two) and let them rest for about 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to rise a little bit more.

Then bake them for 5-7 minutes! When they come out of the oven you can brush them with a little bit of butter if you are feeling extra indulgent!

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Buffalo Chicken Bites

Ingredients:

• 2 & 1/4 tsp (1 packet) RAPID RISE YEAST
• 2 Tbs BROWN SUGAR
• 1 cup MILK
• 2 & 1/2 cups FLOUR
• 1 cup CHICKEN, cook and then either diced or shredded
• 1/2 cup CRUMBLED BLUE CHEESE
• 2 Tbs SHREDDED CHEDDAR CHEESE
• 1/4 cup BUFFALO SAUCE (I used Ott's)
• 4 Tbs BUTTER, unsalted

Directions:

1. Start off by preparing the dough. Dissolve the brown sugar into the warm milk. Then pour this mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook.  Slowly mix in the flour and yeast, a ball of dough should start to form. If necessary add an extra 1/2 cup of flour to get the dough to come together. Let the mixer continue to kneed the dough on low speed for another 5-7 minutes. 
2. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed a few more time just to form the dough into a smooth ball. Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and allow the dough to rise. This will probably take 2-3 hours. The dough should double in size. 
3. While the dough is rising, mix up filling! In a medium sized bowl, mix together the chicken, blue cheese, cheddar cheese, buffalo sauce, and melted butter. Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to make the bites!
4. Once the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and separate the dough into four equal 'chunks.'
5. Take one of the 'chunks' of dough and gently stretch it out into a 'rope' that is roughly 12 inches long. 
6. Then, using a rolling pin, roll out the rope so that the dough makes a 12 inch x 4 inch rectangle. 
7. Next, spoon 1/4 of the chicken mixture on the bottom third of the dough (try to leave about a 1/2 inch boarder along the bottom though). 
8. Then, take the bottom edge of the dough and stretch it over the top of the chicken and press to seal. 
9. Roll the chicken up tightly in the dough and then cut the rope into about 12 pieces.  
10. Repeat this process with the other 3 chunks of dough and the rest of the chicken.
11. Place all of the buffalo bites onto a greased cookie sheet (or two) and let them rest for about 30 minutes. This will allow the dough to rise a little bit more. 
12. Then bake them for 5-7 minutes! When they come out of the oven you can brush them with a little bit of butter if you are feeling extra indulgent!

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I found this delightful snack on this website: http://joelens.blogspot.com/2010/06/buffalo-chicken-bites.html

Granola Trail Mix

This trail mix is a great snack! I found a recipe online for a simple granola and then added some of my favorite nuts and berries.

To make the granola you will need:

• 1/2 cup BROWN SUGAR
• 1/2 cup HONEY
• 1/4 cup CANOLA OIL
• 4 cups OLD FASHIONED OATS (not quick oats)
• 1/2 tsp CINNAMON
• 1/4 tsp SALT
• 1 cup NUTS (I used walnuts)

Start by preheating the oven to 250 degrees F. While the oven is preheating, add the brown sugar, honey, and canola oil to a saucepan on the stove and heat the mixture until the sugar has dissolved.

Combine the oats, cinnamon, salt, nuts, and sugar mixture from the stove in a bowl. Mix until the oats are evenly coated.

Next, spray a cookie sheet with PAM and spread the granola mixture all over the cookie sheet. Make sure to press the granola down onto the sheet before putting it into the oven.

Bake the granola for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. After it has baked for 1 hour let the granola cool completely and then break up it up and put the pieces into baggies (or an air tight container).

The granola is good to eat by itself or to sprinkle on top of yogurt, but this time I used it in trail mix. For my trail mix I got:

• YOGURT COVERED RAISINS
• DRIED CRANBERRIES

I divided the granola up into 8 baggies (approx. 3 oz./bag) and then divided the yogurt covered raisins (approx. 1 oz./bag) and dried cranberries (approx. 0.7 oz./bag) equally among the 8 bags. 

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Granola Trail Mix

Ingredients:

Granola:

• 1/2 cup BROWN SUGAR
• 1/2 cup HONEY
• 1/4 cup CANOLA OIL
• 4 cups OLD FASHIONED OATS (not quick oats)
• 1/2 tsp CINNAMON
• 1/4 tsp SALT
• 1 cup NUTS (I used walnuts)

Trail Mix:

• GRANOLA
• YOGURT COVERED RAISINS
• DRIED CRANBERRIES

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F. 
2. While the oven is preheating, add the brown sugar, honey, and canola oil to a saucepan on the stove and heat the mixture until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Combine the oats, cinnamon, salt, nuts, and sugar mixture from the stove in a bowl. Mix until the oats are evenly coated.
4. Next, spray a cookie sheet with PAM and spread the granola mixture all over the cookie sheet. Make sure to press the granola down onto the sheet before putting it into the oven.
5. Bake the granola for 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. After it has baked for 1 hour let the granola cool completely and then break up it up and put the pieces into baggies (or an air tight container).
6. I divided the granola up into 8 baggies (approx. 3 oz./bag) and then added some yogurt covered raisins (approx. 1 oz./bag) and dried cranberries (approx. 0.7 oz./bag). 

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This is the website where I found the granola recipe: http://lmld.org/2013/05/24/simple-granola/