Homemade Honey-Roasted Nuts!

One of the things I miss about gluten-free/no processed food living is the ability to pick up something sweet (and reasonably healthy) on the road. Sure there are always fruits - but it's really hard to satisfy a sweet tooth on fruits without going off the deep end with carbs.

Enter Costco's baking section - NUTS! What's good with Nuts? Cinnamon!

Honey Roasted Nuts with Cinnamon:

Ingredients:

1 cup raw almonds

1 cup raw pecan halves

1 cup halved walnuts

1/8 cup honey

1/8 cup water

1.5 teaspoon cinnamon (or to taste)

1.5 teaspoon vanilla extract - the real stuff.

sprinkle kosher or sea salt

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees. Line half-sheet pan with wax paper. Add honey, water, cinnamon and vanilla to large sauce pan over low heat, stirring until honey is completely incorporated. Remove from heat,  add nuts and fold until completely covered.

Spread onto wax paper in single layer taking care to break up any clusters leaving any reserve liquid in pan (not on baking sheet).

Bake at 300 for 45-50 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, breaking up any clumps. Take care not to burn. Remove wax paper from baking sheets onto rack. Cool completely and pack into air-tight containers. Makes approximately 8 servings.

Nutrition:

Calories	325
Fat	27g
Saturated Fat	2g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	1mg
Carbohydrates	17g
Fiber	5g
Sugars	10g
Protein	7g

And at the intersection of WOW and OMG....

Honey Roasted Nuts with Cinnamon and Cocoa:

Ingredients:

Same as above. Omit vanilla and replace with 2 tablespoons of your favorite really good baking cocoa. I love Ghirardelli's variety in part because they label their cocoa gluten-free. Also, it's way better than the cheap stuff.

Method:

As above omitting the vanilla. Add nuts, making sure complete coating. Add cocoa just before spreading onto baking sheets.

Nutrition:

Calories	324
Fat	28g
Saturated Fat	2g
Cholesterol	0mg
Sodium	1mg
Carbohydrates	18g
Fiber	5g
Sugars	10g
Protein	7g

Recipe: Kale and Sausage

Kale and chicken sausage!

It's been a project weekend here around the house. Fall cleaning, sorting out the closets (and the laundry room), tidying up the garage in hopes of fitting both a van and agility equipment in there this winter. Today was non-stop go from 10am through dinnertime. I had grabbed a protein shake for breakfast and another for lunch but by 5pm I was famished and I really wanted something 'hearty' for supper!

I took a quick inventory of my fridge: Kale, squash, peppers...hummm. Need something else to go with it, but don't feel like thawing (and cooking) any of the beef or chicken that are cryo-packed in the freezer. So I decided to walk over to the grocery store (1 mile each way) in search of something compatible with squash and Kale. The result was one of the prettier meals I've had in a long while!

Kale and Sausage 
Ingredients:
5-6 cups of kale (washed, chopped and blanched)
2 small summer squash (rough chopped)
1 medium red pepper (I used half red and half yellow)
2 chicken sausages (I chose chipolte chorizo)
3-4 tablespoons feta cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Preparation

I blanched the kale for 3-4 minutes in boiling water, then drained while I browned the sausage and cooked the squash and bell pepper. When squash was fork tender I added the kale to the wok, tossed and covered for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and toss feta to combine.




Nutrition
The recipe above makes two servings, but it's very easily doubled.

Calories	293
Fat	12.9g
Saturated Fat	4.4g
Cholesterol	77.5mg
Sodium	635mg
Carbohydrates	25g
Fiber	10g
Sugars	11g
Protein	25g