Whole Wheat Cheez-Its

A few weeks back I was blown away by my girl Ann's recipe for Homemade Cheez-Itz! They looked so super delicious and easy I knew I just had to try making some ASAP. If you're not reading Ann's blog, Cooking Healthy for Me, then you MUST start immediately because it's amazing and full of super yummy healthy recipes.

So. I decided to give cheez-its a try. But I figured I would try and Dara them up a bit. So, I made some tweaks, tried out a few different versions and came up with a recipe that incorporates some healthy elements into the cheez-it. First, I used whole wheat flour and added some healthy ground flaxseed for extra fiber and omega-3s. Then, I decided to use olive oil instead of butter. The result was a crunchy, cheesy cracker that was totally reminiscent of my favorite childhood snack.

Full disclosure: this was actually the second batch of this version I had to make because Craig at the ENTIRE first batch before I could even take one photo! They are that good. No seriously. I sent him back to the store for another block of cheese so I could make more. I had to put up Archer's baby gate to keep Craig out of the kitchen while I took photos of this batch.

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Kale, Bacon and Caramelized Onion Calzones

Had another clean out the fridge style cooking dilemma last night. So I decided to use one of my Christmas gifts. My brother Jeff bought me a calzone press, so I decided to make some tasty calzones using some multigrain pizza dough I had just bought. Calzone is such an underrated pizza alternative, especially since I always fold my pizza anyway. Using a little bit of bacon and some tasty caramelized onion for flavor, I also added kale to pack in some healthy vitamins. The combination of these ingredients yielded a flavorful and tasty calzone that wasn't overloaded with calories and salt. These made a fabulous dinner and I loved using the press, which made rolling, measuring and filling the dough a snap! Paired with some zesty homemade pizza sauce for dipping, it was a great meal that made some fabulous leftovers.

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