Sweet Potato Fries from Ellen

Here is another of Ellen's recipes--her Pumpkin Bread is already a fan favorite around my house (I've eaten half the loaf personally)! Thanks Ellen! I miss and love you! I'm posting this just as a "side" because I don't know if a potato is a vegetable or not! Is it?

sweet potato fries

just take a sweet potato, and cut it into strips or your desired chunkiness for eating

spread some extra virgin olive oil on a cooking sheet, and throw the sweet potato strips on the sheet.

mix the potatoes around the oil with your fingers, you'll get messy!

sprinkle some sea salt or regular salt over them and pop in the oven 400 degrees for about 15 min, or your desired crispiness.

sweet potatoes are rich in fiber and antioxidants and loaded with vitamin A and have a tiny bit of calcium. - sorry i have to include the healthiness of why it's good for you :)

Apple Ice Cream Floats...OH baby

Hey--just made a great, EASY dessert! It would be good with Caramel Ice Cream topping if you had some, too!

Frosty Glasses
Vanilla Ice Cream
Apple Cider or Juice (I am so into "Simply Apple" Apple juice right now--it's by far the best Apple Juice I've ever had!)
Nutmeg

Put Ice Cream in the frosty mug and fill the glass the rest of the way up with Apple Juice. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

That's it! This recipe is out of Taste of Home November 2008.

Super Moist Pumpkin Bread

Thanks so much to Ellen for sending me this recipe! If anyone else would like to e-mail recipes, I'll be so glad to post them, as well. I can't wait to try this one!

1/2 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup nonfat, plain yogurt
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a bread pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together the butter and sugar on high speed until smooth. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg and combine. Add the pumpkin, yogurt, honey and vanilla and combine until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, ginger and allspice. Fold this mixture into the pumpkin mixture and combine until smooth.
4. Pour into the prepared pan and place in the center of the oven. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Serving Size: 1 slice of bread

Number of Servings: 8
Per Serving
Calories 170 Carbohydrate 33 g
Fat 4 g Fiber 1 g
Protein 3 g Saturated Fat 2 g
Sodium 77 mg

Chicken and Tomato Risotto

October is officially comfort food month. I've made this dish twice now, and while it's not something you can should make if you will be distracted in the kitchen, it is definitely worth the effort! Of course, I didn't have arborio rice (why can I never actually have all the ingredients?? ) but used Orzo pasta instead. It worked out just fine! This is from August/September 2008 issue of Taste of Home Magazine (love that magazine!).

1 Cup chicken broth
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 1/2 Cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
2 Tbs butter
1 Cup uncooked arborio rice
1 Cup Meatless spaghetti sauce
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

In a small saucepan, heat broth and keep warm. In a large skillet, saute chicken in oil until no longer pink. Remove and keep warm.

In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms onion and garlic in butter until crisp-tender. Add rice, cook and stir for about 3 minutes. Carefully stir in 1 cup warm broth. Cook and stir until all of the liquid is absorbed.

Add remaining broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring constantly. Allow the liquid to absorb between additions. Cook until risotto is creamy and rice is almost tender. (Cooking time is about 20 minutes).

Stir in the spaghetti sauce, cheese and reserved chicken; cook and stir until thickened. Serve immediately. (Yields 4 servings)

Healthy Sloppy Joe's???

I got this recipe from foodnetwork.com.  It's one of Ellie Krieger's recipes.  In true Katie Evans fashion, I didn't have all the ingredients when I started making it.  So, instead of Worcestershire sauce I used Soy sauce, and instead of molasses I used brown sugar.  Don't ask me how much brown sugar I added because, again, in typical Katie Evans fashion, I dumped a whole lot into the skillet accidentally.  It sure was good and sweet!  It was even better the 2nd day.  Don't be weirded out by the beans--it makes it go really far.  It would also be good served over pasta! Allie, you don't have to add beans, cause I know you wouldn't anyway.  

Ingredients:

1 pound extra-lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno, minced
1 red pepper, diced
1 can small red beans or pinto beans, preferably low sodium drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups no-salt-added tomato sauce
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
8 whole-wheat burger buns

Directions:

Brown the meat and the onion in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, breaking up the meat into crumbles as it cooks. Pour the drippings out of the pan and discard. Add the garlic, jalapeno, and red pepper and cook 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 5 minutes more. Place a half-cup scoop of the mixture onto each bun and serve.

Enjoy!

Ro-Tel Tomato Casserole

I fixed this recipe for dinner tonight--definitely NOT healthy, but perfect for a cool night and comfort food.  I made this before, and Brock loved it so much he requested it specially this week. This recipe is out of Grade A+ Recipes from Mount Pisgah Christian School.

4 Chicken breasts or 1 whole chicken, boiled and cut into pieces

12 oz spaghetti, cooked in chicken broth

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 C. celery, chopped

1.5 lb. Velveeta

1 can Ro-Tel (original)

1 can ripe black olives, sliced

1 stick butter (for sauteing)

Boil chicken until done.  Cook spaghetti in broth until done.  Drain.  Saute onion, bell pepper and celery until crisp in large saucepan.  Add Velveeta and stir until melted.  Add Ro-Tel tomatoes, chicken, spaghetti and olives.  Stir and serve.

In the Beginning...

OK--so everyone in the universe has a blog except me.  I get it.  The problem is, and continues to be, what in the world do I have going on in my life that is interesting?  Do people really care about things I have to say?  And the answer is--NO.  But, I do love to cook.  So I thought I would create a blog where I posted recipes I have used, and where readers can post thoughts and recipes as well.  Sort of like an online cookbook for my friends.  And, voila!  I am beginning one now.  So, please feel free to add your recent recipes as well.  I'm not too passionate about much--there are only a few things in life that really get me excited...but food is one of them.  Thanks in advance for your posts!