Kale Chips

While searching for some new ideas for healthy snacks a couple years ago, I came across this recipe to make chips out of kale leaves on a vegan site. It stated that they taste just like Lays potato chips. Yeah right.....I thought. Well you know what? THEY DO! I'm completely obsessed with these light, crisp little chips. I can't make a batch to last me a few days because I end up eating the whole thing in one sitting. Not only is it completely delicious and addictive, kale is a "superfood" and provides a high amount of calcium, vitamin C, vitamin A, and manganese. You can experiment with different seasonings, like curry, cayenne, soy sauce, whatever floats your boat. Whatever you make like, there are 3 main ingredients that give the chips their distinct Lays flavor: apple cider vinegar, oil and salt.

Preheat your oven to 350F. Wash and dry several (about 3) leaves of kale, then tear off pieces of the leaf about the size of a small chip and place them in a bowl. Drizzle over about a tsp. of olive or canola oil, a cap full of apple cider vinegar and a little salt. Generously mix the kale so that each piece is evenly coated, then arrange in a single layer on a large cookie sheet. Place it in the oven, and let it sit about 4 minutes. You need to tend to it from here on out, flipping the pieces and making sure nothing burns. The chips may start to turn brown, that is not your goal. Try to keep them as green as you can, yet crisp. Some chips crisp faster than others so I like to keep an eye on them, removing the crisp pieces one at a time. It's a recipe that takes some getting used to, it can be pretty easy to burn them if you aren't paying attention. Once you master the art of kale chips, it's pretty fun making different flavors. Although, my favorite will always be the good ol' standby recipe with the addition of garlic powder. And yes, I did just eat a huge mound of it.

Oil Cleansing Update

It has officially been 2 months since I have not washed my face. Not with soap, that is. I have been following the Oil Cleansing Method that I wrote about in an earlier post, and I have to say, I'm very pleased with the results! I was nervous, especially since I'm no stranger to zits; on an average day you could fry bacon with all the oil on my face. So how could washing with oil decrease my oily mess?

I had a boyfriend that had a pretty good complexion. I would never have guessed that he suffered acne when we was younger. We were taking a shower once (oooo, sexy talk!) and I playfully wanted to wash his face. He refused to let me and said that his skin would break out if I did. Later he explained that he did have acne pretty bad as a teen and young adult, and would routinely wash his face twice a day with the Neutrogena Acne Oil Wash. It never helped- so for some reason, he just quit washing his face, and his skin cleared up. Strange, huh?

There are many reasons to explain zits. Hormones, stress, diet, etc. From what I have read several times, one of the major reasons for poor complexion (especially in adults) is that we simply over clean our face. We naturally produce sebum in our pores, and if you constantly are washing it away, more of it is produced causing breakouts. Apparently by cleansing with oil you are just loosening the excess amounts of oil that your skin doesn't need and helping it keep a healthy balance. Therefore your skin doesn't feel the need to produce extra oil that clogs pores and makes your skin shiny. Makes sense when you think of it that way.

I'm going to continue washing the oil. Since I have an oily complexion, I use the 70% sunflower seed and 30% Castor oil combination. Also, since I wear eye make-up, I use just a little bit of the oil cleanser from DHS that is specifically designed to remove make-up (the other oil does remove it, but not as well). I have discontinued using toner, as well as face lotion. I simply use a drop or two of the oil after I'm done cleansing and that is enough to keep my skin lightly moisturized.

I'm sure that my results are not completely due to the oil, though. I'm sure it helps that I am washing my face every night with a hot wash cloth, which I never did before. It's like giving yourself a mini-facial every night. But don't get me wrong, I don't have the greatest complexion because of this. It has simply improved the balance of oil production on my face, and decreased the amount of pimples I get. I still get them, but not nearly as bad, and I don't feel as oily as I usually do. My skin also shows the scars of many past pimples too, so I probably will never have great skin. Those are not going to go away without some type of cosmetic treatment like microdermabrasion.

Otherwise, I support the oil cleansing method!