Tag Archives: sweet potato

10May/17

My New Favorite Snack…

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I have to confess…I have made these tasty little treats the past two days. Don’t worry, I didn’t eat them all myself. In fact, I barely ate any and gave them all away. Let’s just say, they are a big hit with all!!! Everyone loves these so much, that I decided to share the recipe with you. What are they, you ask? Sweet Potato Oatmeal Muffins. Mmmmmmm. Not only are there minimal ingredients in these “sweet” little treats, but they are super easy to throw together. So, let’s not waste anymore time, here is the recipe. As always, I don’t really measure and often stray slightly from the actual recipe, but I will give you the base along with some of my adaptations, and you can make whichever version you wish. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!! As always, eat well and be merry:)

Sweet Potato Oatmeal Muffins (Adapted from Slimming Eats)

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup oats
  • 1 large sweet potato, about 1 cup mashed
  • pumpkin puree*
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 8-10 dates, pits removed
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 banana*
  • 1 Tablespoon coconut oil, melted
  • 1 Tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 3 eggs
  • mini chocolate chips*
  • shredded coconut, unsweetened*

*These are optional.
**If you add in pumpkin, just make that combined with sweet potato equal about a cup or a little more

Instructions:

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
    2. Cook sweet potato in microwave until soft and cooked through. Remove, cut open and allow to cool slightly.
    3. Place oats, spices, baking powder, baking soda in a food processor (I use the NutriBullet) and pulse a few times. Pour in a mixing bowl.
    4. Use a spoon to scoop out the inside of the sweet potato and stir into the oat mixture.
    5. Add water and dates to the food processor and pulse a few times. Add in banana, coconut oil, maple syrup, vanilla and eggs, and pulse to combine mixture. Stir into the oat and sweet potato mixture until combined.
    6. Evenly spoon the mixture into a 24 mini muffin baking pan. Top with mini chocolate chips and/or coconut (or toppings of choice). Bake about 35 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
    7. Enjoy
17Dec/16

Thanksgiving Leftovers…

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Thanskgiving is a feast of all feasts at my house.  This year, we had a 22 lb. turkey and many other dishes to feed the crew.  Needless to say, there were quite a few leftovers to feast on over the next few days.  I’m going to share with you two of my favorite meals to eat over those next days.  These are both very big hits with the crowd, and they are both super easy to prepare.  Here are the leftovers you will need for these: Turkey, Cranberry Relish, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Gravy, Veggies.

Open Faced Turkey Salad Sandwich topped with Brie and Cranberry Relish
Ingredients:
2 cups Turkey, shredded or roughly chopped
1 cup Greek Yogurt
1 heaping Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 Lemon Juiced
2 Tbsp Fresh Parsley
Bread
Brie
Cranberry Relish
*You can add diced apple, but my relish has that, so I do not*

1.  Mix first 5 ingredients together in a bowl.
2.  Lightly toast 1-2 slices of bread
3.  Top each slice of toast with a scoop or two of the turkey mixture.  Be sure to spread it around and cover as much of the bread as possible.
4.  Top each slice of toast with some slices of Brie
5.  Put under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese.  Keep a close eye on this, as it does not take long to melt everywhere and/or burn.
6.  Top with a scoop of the cranberry relish.
7.  Enjoy

Turkey Shepherd’s Pie
Ingredients:
Turkey, shredded or cubed
Onion, chopped
Green Beans
Corn
Carrots
Peas
Gravy
Mashed Potatoes
Mashed Sweet potatoes

1.  Mix everything but the mashed potatoes/sweet potatoes together in a bowl.  Be sure to use enough gravy that everything is coated well and will not be dry once cooked.
2.  Pour into 2 square dishes, coated in cooking spray.
3.  Top one dish with a layer of the mashed potatoes.  Top the other with a layer of mashed sweet potatoes.
4.  Bake at 350 degrees until everything is heated through and bubbly.  If you want to broil them for the last few minutes to brown the tops you can.
5.  Serve and enjoy.

I don’t really measure any of this.  You just have to eyeball it all to get the ratios you want.  Sorry, there are no pictures to share either.  Once they are made, they are gone before you can even grab the camera.  Try these out when you get  a chance and let me know what you think.  As always, eat well and be merry!

11Dec/16

A Healthy, Gluten Free Thanksgiving…

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I host my family for Thanksgiving at my cabin.  We have been doing this for several years now, and  I love it for many reasons:
 
1.  I get to spend some quality time at my cabin, where it is so quiet and peaceful and a nice way to get away from the busy pace of life I am used to.
2.  All of my family is there.
3.  I make the menu and prepare the food.
All of these are wonderful things to be thankful for, but I think my favorite is the fact that I can prepare such a healthy menu for my family, and everybody enjoys it just as much as a traditional menu.  I love knowing that my family is getting a great meal, one that is healthy and represents what I stand for.  Mind you, there is a lot of hard work that goes in to me preparing this feast, as I make everything homemade, but in the end, it is so worth it.
Typically, I will chop and prepare as much as possible the night before (with the help of my sister), that way on Thanksgiving morning, it cuts back on time, and is mostly just putting everything together and cooking it.
The menu pretty much stays the same every year, with some minimal changes.  This year’s menu was:

Curried Butternut Squash Soup
Shaved Brussels Sprouts w/Manchego and Almonds
Fresh Cranberry Relish
Apple Shallot Roasted Turkey
Cider Gravy
Mashed Potatoes w/Parsnips & Chives
Wild Rice, Italian Sausage and Shiitake Stuffing
Coconut Cardamom Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans
Pumpkin Bread

Check back soon and I will tell you my favorite thing to do with my leftovers.  You will not want to miss these, as they may even be more delicious than the actual Thanksgiving meal.

Check out the Thanksgiving menu photos below.

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17Oct/16

Sweet Potato ‘Toast’…

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First off, it’s been way too long!  Sadly, I have been super busy, traveling and on the road a lot lately for coaching, and have not been able to spend much time cooking and preparing meals on my own. Being on the road means a lot of meals in the hotel and out at restaurants, neither of which I am a big fan.  As I’ve mentioned before, I like to know exactly what I am eating and putting in my body, I prefer foods to be minimally processed, and on top of that, I eat gluten-free which makes it challenging at times and often leads to a lot of salads (I’ve learned to be very creative with these).
Needless to say, I was very excited to finally return to KC and be able to start cooking my own food again.  My love for food and trying to encourage others to really think about what they are eating often leads to really great conversations where I share some easy tips and recipes.  This time, however, I was fortunate to have a fellow coach share something new with me, and I wanted to share this with you, as it is super easy and delicious.
To make sweet potato toast:  slice a sweet potato in about 1/4″ pieces, toast on high in toaster until ‘cooked’ to desired doneness (it took me about 3 toasts), top with favorite ingredients. You can leave the skin on and should be certain that the slices are a uniform thickness for even toasting.  You will know it is ‘toasted’ when the outside starts to lightly brown and the center is soft when pierced with a fork.   I like mine to have a slight crunch to them, so I do not toast mine quite that long.  This time, I topped mine with an egg, some fresh spinach and a small sprinkle of cheese.  I had meant to add avocado, but never did, which I think would make it even more yummy.  Some other ideas would be to top with butter, a little butter and cinnamon, cream cheese, peanut butter, peanut butter and jelly, butter and jam or anything else you would put on regular toast.
You might be asking yourself, why would I want to eat this when I can just have a piece of bread?  Well, unlike most bread, sweet potatoes are gluten-free, high in fiber, and are packed with many healthy micronutrients. Want to know more about the possible health benefits and nutritional value of a sweet potato? Click here to read a great article on Medical News Today.
Go ahead, give it a try and let me know what you think.  Please share some of your favorite creations you make using sweet potato toast.  Until next time…eat well and be merry!!

 

 

Sweet Potato 'Toast'

Sweet Potato ‘Toast’

23Jul/16

Everyone Should Spiralize…

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Several weeks ago, while visiting with my sister, I noticed she had a spiralizer in her drawer.  I’ve been hearing all the craze about this new gadget, and have always been wanting to try it out.  I mean why not?  Using different veggies instead of pasta, it fits right into my eating style.  And on top of that the options and ways to prep seemed endless in my mind.   Thus, I was inspired to go on one of my favorite sites, Amazon, where I did a bunch of research before finally deciding on one to buy.  After sorting through many different options, I narrowed it down and purchased this one from DEMKO.  I have already used it many times, and have not been disappointed one bit.  For instance, I threw together a delicious lunch in under 5 minutes:  I spiralized a small sweet potato, heated up some leftover Greek Marinated Chicken and diced it up, tossed on some leftover homemade slaw and topped it with some peanut sauce and cilantro (pictured).  It was the simplest of meals, but very tasty. Even if you do not consider yourself a good cook, I think this may be the way to prepare meals for you.  I don’t even normally cook my veggies, because I prefer them nice and crisp, but you could get a little more fancy and saute them up in a pan with a little garlic and oil and spices.  Honestly, I think this is a great idea for someone looking to be a little creative with meals, because you can almost throw anything together and make a meal of it. Another delicious spiralized meal I’ve made with the Cultivating Cooking Queens is Mediterranean Zucchini Noodles.  The spiralizer is so quick and easy to use and clean, you may want to consider getting one.  I cannot wait to experiment with other veggies. Go out and see what you think, and as always, eat well and be merry!