homemade kale chips and cheese sticks

the kitchen is usually my solo domain, but i never pass up the chance to share what i love with the one i love. however, these snacks are so easy to make, i let Sonny do all the work this time.

he tore 1 big bunch of kale from its stems. they shrink after baking, so it's cool to keep them kinda large.

washed and dried.

he then showed the kale some love and gave it an olive oil massage. no dirty talk needed though.

i went ahead and lined the baking pan with wax paper since his hands were oily.

last thing; he sprinkled the kale with sea salt and popped them in a 350 deg oven for 12-15 min. you gotta watch them cause they burn EASILY.

again, they'll shrink, but don't overcrowd the pan.

done.

light, crispy, easy-peasy.

next, baked cheese sticks. i LOVE cheese; i was extremely anxious to make and eat these.

the stuff:

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
tony c's and fresh cracked black pepper to taste
1 beaten egg white
5 sticks of light mozzarella string cheese

do this:

we halved 5 light string cheese sticks for a total of 10. no deep-frying or high fat cheese needed and they still came out tasting like a restaurant appetizer.

flour first, then egg wash, then panko. i sprayed some no-stick cooking spray on them so the flour would stick though.

sonny got restless real quick and dumped them all in at once. men. lol

if you have left over ingredients, make more and minimize waste.

bake for 10 min in the oven or just until the cheese starts to melt. you gotta watch these too, but i wanted mine to burn a little cause burnt cheese tastes darn good. each stick is only 40 calories!

the marinara sauce was perfect- made it feel like we were eating pizza! you have to eat them quick else they will be a melty mess. that wasn't a problem though.