Craft Time - Vegetable Art

How about something a little different today?  I don't know about you, but where I live the snows coming down hard and school is closed for the day.

Pefect craft weather!

Lately I've been getting more into DIY projects.  I think they're really fun for the winter and I've been pinning craft projects like crazy over on Pinterest.

I finally decided to actually try something out (yes, I have the dreaded pin and then never try syndrome), and it came out pretty well if I do say so myself.

I call this Vegetable Art.  And yes, vegetables are necessary in the creation of the piece.  I don't call myself a food blogger for nothing ;)

Basically, it's a super fun and easy way to create unique and fun wall art.  I made mine for my room, so it's fit for a teenage girl, but you could easily change the feel of the painting based on colors and how you decide to polka-dot your canvas.

Inspiration for the project came from from this pin.

What Do You Need?

• 1 blank canvas of any size
• 4 paint colors of your choice (I went to a pain store, picked out a color swatch that I liked, and asked for a sample in each other.  It's cheap and gives you a lot of paint; enough for many more projects than this)
• Potatoes, carrots, and any other root vegetable of your choice

How Do You Make It?

1. Prepare a clean work place.  Set down your canvas and prepare your paints by pouring each one into a shallow container with a large surface area.  I used the lid of the paint containers  (see first picture)
2. Slice your vegetables into round disks.  Try to be mindful of how the shape will come out after you cut it.  Your painting will come out best if there are multiple sizes and shapes of your circles.
3. Start painting!  It's your choice as to whether you want to paint with any design in mind or just go crazy.  At first I tried to do big circles to small, but then I gave up and polka-dotted in random places.  I think it'll look pretty good no matter what you do.  The important thing to remember is not to use too much paint.  You want each stamp not to be solid, because that what makes it so cool to look at.
4. Let it dry and hang it up.  Currently, mine is sitting on my dresser, but I hope to have it up on the wall soon.  Maybe I'll post a picture once it's up.

I'll be back with the usual recipe post in a couple days.  Happy new year everyone, and here's to an awesome 2014!

Asian Sweet Potato Wedges

This is gonna be a short and sweet post; just like the recipe!

I've made these Sweet Potato Wedges three times in the past week.  They are incredible, and super duper easy.

Basically, you cover sweet potatoes in soy sauce, maple syrup, and sesame oil and then bake 'em to perfection.  I'm telling you, something magical happens in the oven.

These wedges are delicious on their own, there's not doubt about that, but if you want them to taste like absolute heaven, I have two words for you: Peanut Sauce.  I've said it before and I'll say it again; Peanut Sauce makes everything better.  These are no exception.

Make them and you just might eat the entire batch in one sitting.

Asian Sweet Potato Wedges

• 4 sweet potatoes, cut into wedges
• 3 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp sesame oil

Preheat oven to 350F.  Place cut sweet potatoes in a large bowl.  A soy sauce, maple syrup, and sesame oil, and toss to coat all sweet potato pieces.  Spread wedges into as even a layer as possible on a baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until soft.  Serve warm and with peanut sauce, if desired.  Store any leftovers in fridge for up to one week.  They probably won't last that long though.

Spicy Roasted Pineapple Sweet Potatoes

What do I make that doesn't contain chocolate?

Well, to be quite honest, not much.  My mom takes care of most of the actual cooking in the house.  I'm bake dessert, she makes dinner.  That's just the way it is.

But sometimes it's good to switch things up.

I made this sweet potato dish all by myself.  I didn't look at any recipes, didn't ask Mom for help, and didn't burn the house down either.  Oh yeah, and it tasted really good too.

Success.

Spicy Roasted Pineapple Sweet Potatoes

• 3 large/5 small sweet potatoes
• 1 20 oz can pineapple chunks in pineapple juice (no sugar added)
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice, taken from can
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp cayenne (if you like things really spicy you can add more)

Preheat oven to 400F.  Peel and chop sweet potatoes.  Remove pineapple chunks from can, making sure not to discard the juice in the can.  Place sweet potatoes and pineapple chunks on a baking sheet.  Add pineapple juice (from can), olive oil, and cayenne on top.  Toss to coat.  Bake for 30 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender.  Remove from oven to toss every 10 minutes while then roast.  Serves 4 as a side dish/

My whole family gobbled these potatoes + pineapple chunks up.  It's a simple, but incredibly delicious dish.  Enjoy!

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chips

Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chips

Cinnamon and sweet potatoes.

A match made in heaven, no?

Though I love sweet potatoes, I've never been a fan of the classic brown sugar, marshmallow, and butter combinations.  Honestly, the thought of marshmallows and sweet potatoes just makes me want to puke.

But cinnamon, oh cinnamon, well that's a different story.  I absolutely adore cinnamon and sweet potatoes together.  Whether it's sweet, savory, or something in the middle, it disappears into my belly right away.

Last weekend I had some free time and a bunch of sweet potatoes.  Insert sweet potato chips.

I didn't want plain old sweet potato chips, though.  Nope, I wanted something special.  So I added cinnamon.

And can I just say: YUM.

This cinnamon added just the right of sweetness to the already sweet sweet potato, and the sprinkle of salt I also added balanced out everything with just a touch of savoury.

Perfection in a chip.

Cinnamon Sweet Potato Chips

• 2 sweet potatoes, washed and dried
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt per baking sheet
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon per baking sheet

Preheat oven to 300 F.  Slice potatoes thinly with a mandolin slicer or a knife.  I used a mandolin slicer.  Grease 2-3 baking sheets.  Lay potato slices in a single layer on baking sheets.  Drizzle with just a bit of oilve oil.  Flip over slices so that both sides are thinly coated in oil.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and salt (1/4 tsp of each for every baking sheet).  Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, flipping chips over every 20 minutes or so.  Take chips out while they're still a bit chewy, they will harden up with time.  Store in an airtight container.

Oh, and one more thing.  These chips are baked not fried, which means they're not nearly as bad for you as most chips.  Which means you can eat more.  Which means you'll probably want to double the recipe.  Just saying.

Enjoy!

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Cinnamon Sugar Muffins

Maple Sweet Potatoes with Bacon and Cranberries (My Second Recipe ReDux)

Sometimes I forget how great a good challenge is.

It makes you think, it makes you try, and it makes you cook extremely delicious things.

This months Recipe ReDux theme was "Vintage Side Dishes" - either favorite family sides, or a "healthified" version of an old recipe. Honestly, I found it to be a pretty tricky theme to come up with a recipe for.

This probably had to do with that fact that I don't really have any old favorites when it comes to side dishes.  Instead, I prefer to try something new whenever possible.  But, of course, trying something new wasn't exactly the point, unless it was the new version of an older recipe.

With no ideas and the 21st of the month (reveal day) approaching fast, I turned to others, in hopes that they would have a recipe to share that I could temporarily "borrow".  It was my Mom who came to my rescue in the end, recalling that growing up, Potatoes Roasted in Pork Fat were served often.

It wasn't the perfect starting point, but it was something, and I got to "healthifing" it right away.

That was when the second challenge started.  It turned out that making the above dish healthy (or at least healthier) was not easy in the slightest.  In fact, it was very hard.

My goal was the replace each ingredient in the original recipe with a better-for-you ingredient... and have the end result still taste good.  The first switch was subbing sweet potatoes for white potatoes.  That was an easy choice, as I adore sweet potatoes.  Then came the hard part.  What on earth was I supposed to replace pork fat with?

I thought long and hard about what to use.  Long and hard, I tell you. And in the end I came up with... olive oil.  It's sounds boring, yes, but I also added maple syrup.  And bacon.  Bacon istantly makes this dish awesome, right?  Just in case it doesn't, I added dried cranberries too.

All together, it made for one fantastic "Vintage Side Dish" that I am so happy to share today.  I don't know about you all, but I'd prefer it over potatoes and pork fat any day!

Maple Sweet Potatoes with Bacon and Cranberries

• 3 pieces bacon
• 4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes/pieces
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries
• 3 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375F.  Cook bacon on stovetop over medium heat until some fat has been released, but becon is not yet crispy, about 4 minutes.  Chop bacon into small pieces.  Add chopped bacon, sweet potatoes, and dried cranberries to a deep baking dish.  Drizzle maple syrup and olive oil over top, and toss to coat everything.  Roast 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender, taking out halfway through to mix.  Serve warm, or cover and refridgerate until serving time.  If doing the latter, reheat before serving.  Store leftovers in fridge.

Now that you know how to make this delicious side dish, I've but one more thing to say.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope your holiday celebrations tommorow are filled with family gatherings, fun times with friends, and of course, tons of delicious food!

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Isreali Couscous with Brussel Sprouts and Cranberries

Sweet Potato Apple Mash

Warning:  Highly Addictive Thanksgiving Side Dish Below

Made 10x more addictive by the fact that it's super duper easy.

Four ingredients easy.  Three steps easy.  One pan only easy.

So easy, whipping up a second batch shoudn't be a problem at all.  Which is good, because with the addictive-ness level so high, you may need to do just that... before your Thanksgiving guests even arrive!

In case you didn't quite catch on yet, this Sweet Potato Apple Mash is downright simple, but also completely delicious.

If you're hosting Thanksgiving at your house this year, and want a stress-free side dish to prepare, this could be exactly what you're looking for.  Just be sure to double the recipe if you're serving a large crowd.  Being able to make more during dinner doesn't necessarily mean you want to :)

Sweet Potato Apple Mash - greatly inspired by this recipe

• 4 large sweet potatoes
• 3 medium apples (just use your favorite type)
• 3 tbsp oil
• Spices: cinnamon, ginger, salt, and pepper all to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut sweet potatoes and apples into cubes.  Place in a deep baking dish and toss with olive oil (you don't have to measure it, just make sure everything in coated).  Spread out potatoes and apples in dish evenly, in only one layer if possible.  Roast for approximately 35 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool a bit.  Sprinkle with spices.  Then take a potato masher, or whatever other tool you have on hand that may work, and mash the mixture until it reaches desired consistancy.  I like to mash it until it's mostly broken down, but still has a bit of texture to it.  Serve immidiatley, or refridgerate until serving time.

What to do with your super addicting Sweet Potato Apple Mash:

• Make a gigantic batch and serve it as a (healthier) side dish on your Thanksgiving table.
• Spread it on a pizza (just an idea: this stuff, spinach, caramalized onions, and mozzarella.  Yummmm!)
• Make a sandwich (something along the lines of this, maybe?)
• Eat it by the spoonful when the midnight munchies strike
• Put it on toast for breakfast

And those are just a couple of my ideas.  Seriously, this stuff is worth making.  On a weeknight or for Thankgiving.  Or both!  Yeah, that could work...

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Roasted Balsamic Sweet Potatoes and Tofu

I'm starting to think that I should just make a list of all the foods that I'm obsessed with so that you guys won't be surprised every time one ingredients starts to pop up again and again and again.

But then I think about how long that list would be and decide it's just not worth my time.  I'd much rather be creating delicious recipes using those foods than writing them all down on paper.  There's also the fact that I'm just a tad bit lazy... but that's not really important.

Anyways, if I ever did write that list, sweet potatoes would surely be one of the first foods on it.  To put it shortly, I adore them.  The color, the texture, the taste.  It's just all so amazing!

This weekend, I had a couple of sweet potatoes just begging to be used.  I was going to just roast them and serve with some stir-fried tofu, but then that previously mentioned lazy part of me got to thinking, "Why not just roast the tofu with the potatoes?"  It was an interesting thought.  Partly because I'd never seen any recipes for roasted tofu, and partly because the idea of combining 2 dinner recipes into only one (and therefore cutting off a big chunk of work) was very appealing.

I decided to wing it and see what would happen.  The result was easily 5x as good as I thought it would be.  Roasting the tofu worked great, eliminating the texture that most people don't enjoy, and also creating a crispy shell on the outside.  The taste was spectacular,too, thanks to the balsamic vinegar.

This recipe really made me realize that sometimes a lazy side, is a very good thing to have.

Roasted Balsamic Sweet Potatoes and Tofu*

• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 package firm or extra firm tofu

Preheat oven to 400F.  Remove tofu from package and pat dry.  Cut into 3/4 inch cubes.  Cook vinegar and sugar in non-reactive saucepan over low heat until slightly thickened.  Place potatoes and tofu in a large bowl and coat with vinegar mixture.  Gently mix, making sure to coat everything evenly.  Spread potatoes and tofu onto a baking sheet in a single layer.  Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes, flipping halfway through.  Serve with a side of greens, rice, or anything else your heart desires.

I think I should also mention that this dish was not only enjoyed by me.  The rest of my family gobbled it up, too, and I've already had a request to make it again.  In fact, I'd say that this dish is something that I'll be enjoying at least a couple more times, and most likely much more than that, in only the next couple of months.

When something is easy, delicious, and, on top of it all, healthy, it's nothing something you want to stop eating.  You can definitely trust me on that one.

* By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by The Soyfoods Council and am
eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Vegetable and Tofu Pad Thai

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Let's face it, everyone loves french fries.

After all, it's hard not to when they're everything one wants in a snack. Crunchy, salty, crisp, and oh, so delicious. I could eat french fries by the bucketful they're so addicting.

But I don't.  Because, along with their extreme tastiness, fries are also pretty darn unhealthy.  In fact, usually when I have them at some restauran, I end up regretting it a couple hours later, when I start to feel like a big, heavy zombie.

However, that did not mean I was going to give up fries all together.  Heck no.  I was still going to enjoy my fries, just in a healthier way.

Sweet Potato Fries became that way.  I found a recipe that makes them in the oven without a drop of oil, so they're much better for you than most of the fries out there.

And the best part?  They're just as heavenly as the fast-food fries I love!  Crunchy and crisp and totally awesome.  Everything that makes a french fry, a french fry, minus the unhealthy factor.  Yum!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries - original recipe can be found here

• 2 medium sized sweet potaoes
• 1 egg white
• sea salt, to taste
• optional: herbs or other spices to season fries with (I actually only used salt when I made these)

Peel sweet potatoes and cut into strips of even thickness.  It doesn't matter how thick they are, but make sure each fry is around the same size, so none burn.
Soak your fries in a bowl of cold water for at least 30 minutes*.  Drain and pat totally dry.
Preheat oven to 425F and line 1 or 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, whisk egg white until slightly foamy.  Add potato pieces, and any seasonings you want on your fries.  Toss around, making sure to coat every piece.  Spread potato pieces onto prepared baking sheets in a single layer with as few as possible touching.
Bake for 15 minutes in preheated oven, venting the oven around every 5 minutes or so to let steam escape (you don't have to do this if you have a convection oven).
After 15 minutes, take out fries, flip them over, and return to oven to finish cooking.  This should take around 15 minutes, but it really depends on the thickness of your fries, so keep an eye on them (mine only took 10-12 minutes).
Once fries look ready, reduce heat to 200F and let crisp for 10-20 minutes (I only did it for 10 because I was short on time).  Season with more salt (or other seasonings), if desired, and serve fries as soon as possible so they don't loose their crisp.  If you have any leftovers, store them in an airtight container.

* The potatoes can soak for up to 2 days, so, if you want the fries to come together faster, you can peel and soak your potatoes the day (or morning) before and leave them in the fridge soaking until your ready to continue on with the recipe.

Believe me when I sat that being able to shove french fries into your mouth without feeling guilty is one of the best feelings in the world.

It's something you need to experience.

Lucky for you, these fries are super simple, and along with a few sweet potatoes, you probably have every ingredient needed to make them lying around your kitchen.  So, you see, a healthy french fry really isn't that hard to acheive.  I bet you could even make these in time for dinner tonight!

(P.S.  Don't forget about the giveaway!  It's coming soon, so stay tuned)

Revisited Recipe of the Day:

Cheesy Star Chips