Apple Chips and Chocolate-Dipped Clementines

Since I have been into eating all-natural lately (which is turning into a lifestyle that I love….more on that later), I have been experimenting a lot with food and snacks. The only “trick” that helps you eat this way is being prepared. Since I have discovered this time and time again, I have been starting to prepare a lot more snacks in the evenings to bring to work the next day. Two delicious snacks that I have been making at night are apple chips and chocolate dipped clementines. They are surprisingly easy, but I have to be cautious of the quantity that I am eating, as to not completely overeat: yesterday I ate two apples in the matter of minutes while having a conversation at my desk. All of a sudden I looked into my tupperware, and the apples were all gone!

Ingredients: Apples  (that’s it!)

Preheat the oven to 225 degrees.  Dice the apples into thin slices (below is two apples).  On the first try, I made them as thin as I could possibly get them, but that is not necessary since they shrivel and flatten as they cook.  If you have a mandolin slicer, I envy you

Next, spread the slices onto two cookies sheets while making sure to not overlap.  I actually prefer my apple chips to be plain, however you can always sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over them if you want.

Pop them in the oven!  After 1 hour, flip all the apple slices to cook both sides.  Once you flip them, you will need to cook for another 30 minutes to an hour depending on how thin the slices are.  After 1.5 hours, I would begin to frequently check them; apples can burn.


And the clementine treat is even more simple!

Ingredients:  Chocolate chips (about 1/2 cup) and clementines (about 6 clementines)

Melt the chocolate chips in a microwave save bowl for about 1.5 minutes.  Stir the chocolate and dip one end of the clementine, refrigerate over night.  TIP: place the dipped clementines on wax paper; if you place them directly on a plate, the melted chocolate will stick to the plate and not the clementine.  However, I prefer to only dip 1/4 of the clementine with chocolate, as I find that both sides of the half is too much chocolate (for example, what you see below is where the chocolate is; chocolate is not sticking to the plate so it’s only  on “1/4″ of the clementines).

Beware: these are delicious and easy to eat quickly!