Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

“Chili powder brings life to any dish. It also is said to raise your metabolism slightly – perfect for those of you trying to stay slim.”    The Best of Clean Eating

I recently ordered “The Best of Clean Eating” cookbook and it is full of amazing, delicious, healthy and simple to prepare recipes. My kind of cookbook. Because I am constantly trying new recipes and making more of an effort to feed my family healthy meals, these recipes need to be up to the challenge of pleasing my husband and my girls. Luckily, neither party is too picky when it comes to food and both are generally adventurous in trying new things.

We tried the Roasted Sweet Potato Fries the other night.

Delicious!!!

Roasted Sweet Potato Fries

2 large sweet potatoes (I used 3)

1 Tbsp canola Oil

1 tsp chili powder

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.

2) Cut the sweet potatoes in half lengthwise and then cut each half into four wedges.

3) Toss with the oil and chili powder in a large bowl and then spread into an even layer on the baking sheet.

4) Bake for 30 minutes, turning wedges several times throughout the cooking time.

(Serves 4)

Recipe is from “The Best of Clean Eating” cookbook.

*I was afraid the sweet potatoes would be really spicy with all that chili powder. They were not too spicy at all. They had a lovely balance of flavor between the spice of the chili powder and the sweetness of the potatoes as they roasted. They were really tasty. Just so you know, mine did not have a crusty exterior, they were soft and very, very good! Try them with homemade burgers! You will not be disappointed!

I had the leftovers for lunch the next day and I reheated them in the toaster oven. They reheat beautifully.

Super Easy Egg Salad

This is my go to Egg Salad Recipe. It is from Katie Lee’s cookbook, The Comfort Table. This recipe is super easy, super tasty and super quick to prepare.

     

Ingredients: (Yields enough Egg Salad to fill 20 dinner rolls)

1 dozen large eggs

1/2 cup of Mayo (I use light mayo and I don’t use a full 1/2 cup)

1 Tablespoon prepared mustard

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1) Boil eggs. Bring the eggs to a boil in a medium pot with the lid on. When they start to boil, turn off the heat and set the timer for 10 minutes, you’ll get perfectly boiled eggs every time!

2. Drain the boiled eggs and let them sit in very cold water until cool enough to handle.

3. Peel the shells off the eggs and use an egg slicer to chop them uniformly for the egg salad.

4. Add mayo, mustard and salt and pepper. Mix well with a fork.

5. Serve over a green salad, as an open-faced sandwich on wheat or multi-grain, with crackers, or on your favorite bread.

Enjoy!

All packed up and ready to head to the courts.

Cooking Class and Birthday Swag

I attended my first cooking class ever this weekend at Whole Foods. It was called “Preserving Summer” and it was about canning. I had never canned before this class and was super excited to learn the process. There were only four students in the class so we paired up in teams of two. It was great because we got to take home a selection of everything we made! Hearing that little “tink, tink, tink” sound as the jars sealed after being removed from the boiling water was so exciting.

Here was the Menu:

Strawberry Jam

Peach Jam

Mango Chutney

Red Pepper Jelly

Bread and Butter Pickles

   

I brought home 1 jar of Mango Chutney, 2 jars of Peach Jam, 2 jars of Bread and Butter Pickles, 2 jars of Red Pepper Jelly, and 2 jars of Strawberry Jam! I can’t wait to enjoy them! I think so homemade scones or biscuits are definitely in order!

Our instructor, Chef Antonio was superb. I can’t wait to take another class! They even have cooking classes for kids! I asked Livie if it was something she might be interested in doing and she was so excited!!! Like mother like daughter!

Go here for canning recipes and tips.

Of course I couldn’t leave Whole Foods without buying some herbs to replenish my kitchen herb garden. Cooking with fresh herbs is so rewarding. I love walking over to my large pot of herbs and snipping a few for each recipe as needed. So fresh and they smell heavenly!

 

Lastly, September is my birthday month. I love all the fun little perks that come in the mail each year at this time. A gift card for free Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish, 15% off my total purchase at Anthropologie and a $15.00 dollar gift card to the Loft. I am one happy girl!

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Delicious and Fun!

On a recent trip to Publix I spied these delicious Publix Premium ice cream flavors in super cute packaging. How could I resist buying them? I had a coupon so they were practically a steal. These are so delicious though, I would have no problem paying full price for them.

Fun and frosty, straight from the freezer. Coconut Road Ice Cream and Caramel Coast Getaway. As if the names and the clever packaging weren’t enough, check out the flavor description for each one.

“Premium coconut ice cream, chocolate coated praline coconut, swirls of chocolate almond fudge and dulce de leche caramel. “

Yep. Delicious!

You had me at coconut…

Love the artwork on the carton… especially the back where she is eating a giant bowl of it at bedtime. That was me last night stealing a few spoonfuls before bed.

If you think Coconut Road looks good, then you need to check out Caramel Coast Getaway!

“Sea salt caramel, mini caramel cups, and caramel ice cream take you far from it all…”

Heck yeah!!!

Diggin’ the beach scene! So cute!

You had me at sea salt caramel!

Grab a shovel spoon and a bowl and dig in!

Tomato Pie and Chocolate Cobbler

 What do you do when a dear friend drops off a huge bag of homegrown, garden fresh tomatoes? You make a tomato pie of course!

I actually had never made a tomato pie before, let alone tasted one, but it seemed like a good idea. When it comes to southern cooking, Paula Deen is the queen.

Paula Deen’s Tomato Pie

4 tomatoes

Slice your tomatoes. If you’re lucky enough to have a tomato knife, this step is a breeze.

Place the tomatoes in a colander and salt them. Let them drain for at least 10 minutes. This step is VERY important. If you don’t let them drain long enough, your pie will be soupy. You may also want to blot them with paper towel to get rid of any excess moisture.

10 Fresh Basil Leaves and 1/2 cup green onions

Chop the basil the green onions. (To chop the basil, I rolled several leaves together and slice them into a chiffonade)

Layer the tomato slices in the pie shell. (I used a frozen deep dish pie shell that I prebaked in the oven for 11 minutes. Just follow the directions on the pie crust package.)

Sprinkle the chopped basil over the tomatoes. (To chop the basil, I rolled several leaves together and slice them into a chiffonade)

   Sprinkle the sliced green onion on top of the basil.

  Mix 1 cup of grated cheddar, 1 cup of grated mozzarella and 1 cup of light mayonnaise.

*** I wonder how the recipe would hold up if I substituted half mayonnaise, half sour cream.***

Spread mayonnaise and cheese mixture over the top of the pie. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes.

When you take it out, check to make sure it’s baked through and not runny on the inside.

Serve with a side of greens for a nice light summer meal.

Of course we couldn’t end the meal without dessert. For those of you who have ever had the pleasure of dining at Barbara Jean’s, you know they have a dessert called The Chocolate Stuff that is positively sinful. I recently found this recipe that is very close. It’s delicious!

CHOCOLATE COBBLER

It’s delicious served warm with ice cream or whipped cream on top.

This recipe is featured in Christy Jordan’s new cookbook, Southern Plate. If you love southern cooking, you absolutely must check out this cookbook. It’s phenomenal!

Healthy, quick and tasty

I had been wanting to try Ellie Krieger’s Honey Roasted Sweet Potato recipe for quite some time. It looked simple, delicious and healthy so I gave them a whirl this week and they were exactly that. (Recipe can be found in Ellie Krieger’s “The Food You Crave”)

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
• Peel and chop  your sweet potatoes (I used two large ones but the recipe calls for three) into 1-inch  pieces.  
• Mix 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil with 2 Tablespoons of Honey and 1 teaspoon of fresh lemon juice
• Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pour the mixture over the sweet potatoes. Toss to coat
• Bake, stirring occasionally, until fork tender. (About one hour)
• Keep an eye on them, mine were ready before one hour, at around 50 minutes. I just checked their progress each time I stirred them.

Warning, these sweet potatoes are seriously delicious. Watch out. You many want to eat ALL OF THEM!

I seasoned one pound of tilapia with salt and pepper.  Place a steamer basket inside a large pot and add water, enough so that it doesn’t come through the basket. Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and add the fish and some lemon slices. Cover and let steam for about 4-6 minutes until the fish flakes easily. Keep an eye on it. You don’t want to over cook it.

Chop broccoli or if you are lazy like me, buy the already chopped kind in the steamer bag in the produce section. Add to a microwave safe dish, add 2 TBSP of water. Cover and cook on high for 4 minutes. Check for doneness and cook longer if necessary.

This dinner was sooooooooooooo good, not to mention healthy. It earned rave reviews from the whole family. It was a snap to prepare and took little time to cook.

Quick and Easy Steel Cut Oats

For those of you who are lucky enough to have a Trader Joe’s nearby, this recipe is for you!

Pick up a container of Quick Cook Steel Cut Oats and a bottle of Pear Cinnamon Cider.

You need 3/4 cup of liquid for every 1/4 cup of steel cut oats. (For four people that’s 3 cups of liquid, and one cup of steel cut oats.)

1. Bring 1 1/2 cups of Pear Cinnamon Cider and 1 1/2 cups of water to a boil.
2. Once boiling, add a cup of Steel Cut Oats, stir, cover and reduce heat. Cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Spoon into bowls and serve with fresh cut fruit and orange juice.

This is a quick and easy hot breakfast  that works great on cold and snowy mornings. (Not that we get many of those in Atlanta, but if you look outside the window behind Livie, you can see we most certainly have a lot of snow.)

It has a great flavor, especially when you make it with the cider and it is creamy and filling.

Once you finish eating, grab some boots, a coat, hat and mitts and head outside to play in the snow!

Sweets and Treats!

A few of things we’ve been eating way too much of this week.

After this picture was taken, these mints were never seen or heard from again. (I have no idea what happened to them…)

Chickpea Cakes and Chopped Mediterranean Salad

Meat and Cheese Lasagna, made with ground chicken instead of ground beef.

The girls loved the lasagna and the salad, but not the chickpea cakes… they were both delicious. Both recipes came from The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.  (It’s on sale right now in-store at Barnes and Noble for 50% off and if you are a BN Member, then it’s 60% off.) It is a fabulous cookbook and would make a great addition to your cookbook collection or a thoughtful gift for a loved one.