By Hallie Schuster

If you know me, you know I am a health fanatic and love exploring new, healthy food trends. I have a passion for nutrition, and I am always researching the benefits of eating clean. I’m not going to tell you to eat kale for every meal, but I will promise you that not all healthy food is unappetizing. I always love to play around with interesting recipes in the kitchen that incorporate healthy foods. Not all of my attempts are successes, but here are a few of my favorite recipes that are easy, healthy, and yummy!

Are you a chocolate fanatic? If so, you must try these delicious Chocolate Pomegranate Bars.

Chocolate Pomegranate Bars

Ingredients:

Melting dark chocolate (Hack #1 – I suggest using Whole Foods 365 dark chocolate chips)

Coconut oil

Pomegranate seeds

Ice cube tray

Directions:

– Pour all of the chocolate into a pot on the stove over medium heat and stir around to prevent burning.

– When the chocolate is almost completely melted mix in a heaping tablespoon of coconut oil (don’t worry if you don’t like coconut you won’t taste it).

– Continue to stir until all of the chocolate is completely melted. It should be very smooth and thin.

– This part might get a little messy! Using a spoon pour the chocolate about a quarter of the way in each ice cube section.

– Place 5-6 pomegranate seeds on top of the chocolate or until there is a layer of seeds covering the top of the chocolate.

– Pour more chocolate into the tray until the seeds are just covered.

– Store the tray in the freezer for about 45 minutes to an hour or until the chocolate hardens. Make sure not to over freeze it because you don’t want the seeds to freeze.

– Remove from the tray and enjoy! If you have left over I recommend storing them in a closed container in the refrigerator.

If you’re ever have a craving for potato chips, try making a big batch of crispy Kale Chips with a slightly spicy kick. You’ll be feeling a lot less guilty if you ate a bag of Kale Chips than a heavy-caloric bag of potato chips.

Slightly Spicy Kale Chips

Ingredients:

Large bush of dinosaur kale (Hack #2 – make sure the kale is completely dry before you begin)

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Smoked paprika

Directions:

– Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

– Wash and completely dry the bush of kale

– Remove the ribs and woody stems of the kale and chop the leaves up into bite size pieces

– Toss the leaves in a tablespoon of olive oil, a generous pinch of salt, pepper and smoked paprika

– Spread the leaves out on parchment paper and bake at 400 degrees for 3-5 minutes or until crisp (watch carefully they easily burn!)

Ever heard of a chip that is made out of fruit? It doesn’t taste as bad as it seems. Try these melt in your mouth Cinnamon Apple Chips that are the perfect healthy snack.

Apple Chips

Ingredients:

2 Honeycrisp apples

Cinnamon

White sugar (optional for taste)

Directions:

– Preheat the oven to 200 degrees (Hack #3 – The secret is baking at a very low temperature for a long time, which dehydrates the apples)

– If you are using sugar, in a small bowl combine 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of sugar

– Use a sharp knife to slice the apples as thin as possible

– Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay the apple slices out so that none are overlapping

– Sprinkle the cinnamon (and sugar if used) over the apples on both sides

– Bake for about an hour and then flip for about another hour. They can bake once flipped between 1-2 hours flipping a few times until the apples aren’t moist anymore

– Let them cool and crisp up…enjoy!

Photo Courtesy of foodmatters.tv