:: hale to kale ::

Our friends/neighbor gave us a bunch of kale from her garden {awesome, I know} and I had been wanting to try the 'green machine'/kale smoothie so I was excited to finally make it!  I know it might look scary, but it's actually pretty good... I'm not a huge fan of the taste of straight up kale, so I was a little worried I would be choking down the drink and was pleasantly surprised.  Izzy girl even slurped her's down!  The bonus is that there are so many ingredients in it that are great for you!

 Blend:

A few stalks of kale {I threw in most of the stems too}, rip into pieces

1 frozen banana, broken into pieces

A little less than a scoop of vanilla JP+ protein powder {you can obviously use any kind or leave it out}

1 tsp flax seeds or whole ground flax meal {I honestly don't measure this, but that's about the right amount}

1 dash of cinnamon, or more to taste {if you want, I just thought it was a good addition}

1 coconut water {I have been using Zico, it's about 11 oz}

We had so much kale that I was able to make kale chips and they are pretty good as well!

You just wash the kale, tear it up into smaller pieces and remove most of the stems {like above}, toss them in a bowl with 2 T of olive oil, some shakes of sea salt and chili powder {if you want the extra spice} and spread them on a cookie sheet.  I didn't line the cookie sheet with parchment paper, but some recipes tell you to do that, so it's up to you.

Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes or until edges are brown.

They end up being a very thin, almost papery type feel, but crunch in your mouth.  I know it might sound unappetizing, but they really are good and too easy not to try!

Izzy girl loves to play in this car at Gigi's!

Look at that happy face - she really likes to play with the radio and push all the noise buttons!

Just driving and changing the station.. looks like a natural!

We got a watering can!  Isabelle is my little gardening partner now!

Oh man, this child!  I couldn't find her and then I heard a noise from the kennel, lifted up the flap and there she was!  How can you be mad at that face!  She just cracks me up!