"Clean Eating" French Toast Sticks

Cali is getting to SUCH A FUN AGE. She'll be 2 in less than two months and she is such a firecracker. Watching her enjoy the little things and figure out the unknown is my favorite part of our days.

One of the things that we've begun to make kind of "our thing" is cooking breakfast together. She loves to get out her mini kitchen utensils and stir up the pancake batter or roll out our biscuits, etc. So I thought it would be fun to make a family favorite, french toast, and healthy it up a bit while also making it kid friendly. Hence, making them into sticks.

Also, I whipped up some quick and easy peanut butter syrup to dip them in and I added the recipe to that as well.

Better for those cute, chubby, little fingers to grasp.

She's so stinking cute.

Anyways, onward and forward and to the recipe we go!

I used Ezekiel Bread Cinnamon and Raisin because I feel like the health benefits of it are better than any other bread but feel free to use whatever kind of bread you like. 

Ingredients for the french toast

4 slices of Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin bread

2 eggs (for vegans, you can use a flax egg)

1/4 c almond milk

dash of cinnamon

Set oven to 425. Cut the bread into long slices. I got 4 out of each slice of bread. Mix the eggs and milk and cinnamon together and dip each stick into the mixture. Once you've covered the sticks, lay them on a greased baking dish and bake for 8-10 minutes or until browning.

Then you can dip into this super easy peanut butter syrup! Simply mix equal parts of any nut butter and almond milk. Top with a dash of real maple syrup and mix until it's blended well. I used 3 tbsp of each and it was enough for this recipe for our family but if you like a lot of syrup, feel free to make more!

If you make the recipe, let me know if you enjoyed it!

Hope you like it as much as my husband did.

:)

Paleo Pumpkin Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Whew. That's a long title. 

Oh well.

It's also a strange combination but trust me when I say "They're delicious". Because that's what I'm saying. 

Don't knock it 'till you try it.

I'm gearing up for my second Whole30 and am trying out some new recipes to get ready. I looooove tacos but since tortillas aren't on the list of approved foods, I substituted some lettuce.

Now, I know pumpkin isn't your usual taco ingredient but paired with a bit of spice and ground chicken, it turns ordinary into extraordinary.

Geez. That was cheesy. Ignore I said it.

Except, don't. Because it's true.

Moving along...

To be honest, I originally mixed the pumpkin in so that the meat would be soft enough for Cali to eat but I ended up liking it so much, I made my own batch.

Here we go.

Ingredients

1 lb. ground chicken

1/2 can PURE pumpkin

1 small cooked sweet potato

1/2 tbs. coconut oil  (or other compliant cooking oil)

1tbs. garlic

1 tsp. red pepper flakes

1 tbs. Mrs. Dash original

1 tsp. onion powder

Salt to taste

Iceberg lettuce leaves

Avocado (optional)

Instructions

Heat oil in large skillet and add in garlic. Once garlic is soft, add the ground chicken. While chicken is still raw add in pumpkin and cooked sweet potato (this ensures that meat stays nice and soft). Cook until the meat is slightly brown.

*Just a note: with the pumpkin and sweet potato added it makes it hard to tell when the chicken is fully cooked. Be sure to check carefully!*

When the chicken is fully cooked, simply wrap in the lettuce leaves and top with avocado (if desired) and EAT. 

It's really such a simple recipe but oh, so good! If you try it, let me know how you like it!

I hope you enjoy!

Massaged Avocado Kale Salad & Kale Chips

Oh, well hello there.

I have two - read that: TWO - recipes for you today!I've talked before about the benefits of kale but it never hurts to mention them again.

But don't take my word for it. Read about some of them here  and here.

The first recipe is a massaged kale salad. I know, it sounds a little strange but just try it for me. I love it. Even my kale-hating husband loves it.

I mean, he's strange because WHO CAN HATE KALE???? But he does. So if you think you're not a kale fan either, take his word for it.

Even though I think all of you kale-hating people are weirdos. 

Just kidding.

BUT really. It's a miracle food. Did you know that?

You can read about 6 MORE benefits of kale here. 

The best part of these recipes is that they're easy, easy, easy. And they can be made in bulk. Perfection.

So here we go

Ingredients

 1 bunch of Kale (duh)

1/2 avocado

1tbs olive oil (garlic infused is ah-mazing)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

salt to taste

Seasoning of choice to taste (my favorite is Mrs. Dash Onion & Herb)

Directions

Pull kale off of stem and chop. Add the rest of ingredients and "massage" together for 1-2 minutes. Let stand about 5 minutes and EAT. See? I told you it was easy. The "massaging" and lemon work together to soften the kale and make it easier to chew.

Delicious.

Next up are kale chips. These are so good that T won't eat them because…

Get this…

They taste too much like potato chips. See? Strange bird. Let's get to it.

Ingredients

1 bunch of kale

Olive oil

Salt & seasoning to taste

Directions

Cut kale off stem and chop into pieces. Drizzle lightly with the olive oil and sprinkle seasonings on it. Toss to mix and bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until crispy.

You're done.

Both of these recipes are so versatile. You can literally put most anything on them and they'll turn out great. One variation I like is to sprinkle yeast seasoning on the chips and it gives it a (vegan!) cheesy flavor. 

If you cook either of these, let me know how you liked them!