Hey everyone! This weekend was fairly tame around here. Not that we have had much that wasn't since this past March, or like we had much excitement even before all of that, but still. That does not mean we just sat around and did nothing though. Saturday had my daughter's BFF come over for the day and stay for a sleepover. I helped them learn how to roast hot dogs over the stove. Who knew that they would have so much fun holding a skewered hot dog over an open flame indoors?
Then on Sunday I hosted a Park Lane Jewelry party in my home. Only a few ladies came by but it was still a lot of fun. We had a ton of food and I will be eating those leftovers all this week. It is always nice though to have an excuse to visit with friends. This seems to be especially true since those type of gatherings have been so limited since early this year. I will give a bit of a shameless plug for my man Tommy. If you have never heard of Park Lane you should check out his website and see all the awesome pieces at myparklane.com/tommysosebee. I had a chance to wear my set of Bamboo Necklace and Earrings on party day. But then we had to go back to reality of working and spending our time at home alone.
However, before we got to the weekend I had one of those moments. Have you ever just been alone or with only one friend and wanted something like a hot spinach artichoke dip or a hot crab dip? Something that is hot and warm and so good with crackers or bread.... and then realize that making something like that is going to have you completely falling off the wagon for your healthier you. That is one of the worst things. I had that moment this week. I was looking at a menu for a nearby restaurant and seriously considering ordering the hot spinach dip and pita appetizer just for myself. Then I pulled myself back and thought about if it was really worth throwing my hard work away for that one thing.... especially with party day only a few days away.
It was at that point I started looking through my freezer and refrigerator to find what ingredients I had on hand for this craving. I was out of spinach but I had some frozen kale. I had nonfat Greek yogurt, whipped cream cheese, parmesan cheese, garlic and frozen chopped onions. I could totally make this work. And born from that moment of nearly caving in we have a single serving of Hot Kale Dip. This was also SUPER simple and in minutes I had the perfect little snack. Also, I see no reason why you couldn't make a larger amount for a party or event.
First, I know that when you buy spinach or kale in the freezer section of the store it rarely looks like my ziploc bag of kale pictured. That is because I had actually received a huge bunch of kale earlier in the year and did not have a chance to eat it all before it would have gone bad. Therefore, I washed the greens and stored them in a ziploc freezer bag. I really like this method because when I make a protein shake or smoothie I can also just grab a little handful of the frozen greens and add them easily. I have done this with spinach and kale most often and once or twice with collards as well.
Also, my bag of Pictsweet Seasoning Blend vegetables had ripped and so those are also now in a Ziploc freezer bag. I promise that not everything I freeze is transferred to plastic bags but sometimes a plastic freezer bag is your absolute best friend. Seriously, whoever invented the freezer bag deserves a medal in my book.
I chopped the kale, garlic and seasoning blend very fine using my Pampered Chef food chopper. This is a favorite of mine that I have had for about 16 or 17 years. My daughter also loves to help chop things using this tool as it keeps the sharp blades from her little fingers and allows her to beat whatever is being chopped into submission. If you do not have a food chopper just chop with your knife as finely as you are able.
Now the fun part.... Making some dip!
You will need:
1/2 cup kale
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoons onion (or frozen seasoning blend)
1 teaspoon oil (I used grapeseed oil)
dash of salt and pepper
2 tablespoons nonfat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons whipped cream cheese
1 tablespoon shredded parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 400°
Finely chop and mix together your kale, garlic & onion.
In a small nonstick skillet heat oil and then saute your vegetables for about a minute. The greens should become brighter.
Sprinkle with salt & pepper while cooking.
Move vegetable mixture to an ovensafe ramkin and mix in the yogurt, cream cheese & parmesan cheese.
Bake the dip for approximately 10 to 15 minutes.
I served this with Crunchmaster Multiseed Crackers. These are a current favorite of mine for the crunch factor and because I have not had any issues with my blood sugar spiking when eating a few of these. Approximately 14 crackers is 140 calories.
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