Sweet Potato Fries

I had some chicken to make into baked tenders this evening, and I decided to have sweet potato fries with them.  However, they bake at different temperatures, so instead of trying to figure out how to sync them, I decided to fry the fries on the stove.

I poured an inch or so of vegetable oil into a dutch oven and heated it up.  Meanwhile, I chopped up 1/2 a sweet potato into thin shoestring fries. I coated the fries with just a bit of olive oil and rolled them in breadcrumbs.  Once the oil was hot, I dropped in all the fries and let them fry for roughly 10 minutes.  Because that's how much time the chicken tenders had left in the oven.  The fries seemed a bit limp when I took them out and laid them on paper towels, but they actually crisped up nicely when they dried.  And they were delicious.  Surely not quite as healthy as the baked variety, but that's ok with me for something tasty!

Dinner is complete.  With ketchup, ranch, and honey mustard.  Gotta have options!

New Year's Eve

This was the 3rd or 4th year in a row for my annual NYE dinner party.  I make all the food, and just ask that guests bring whatever they want to drink.  I've made guacamole and spinach dip every year, but those are probably the only menu items that have stayed consistent.  I feel like my kitchen expertise has grown by leaps and bounds in the last year, and I put a lot of thought into making this year's menu the most spectacular spread of food I have ever accomplished.  

Due to various conflicts, only a handful of people were able to make it this year, but those of us that were there had a great time and agreed that the food was amazing.  

Sweet Potato Cannelloni

filled with crab, onion, celery, cream cheese, alfredo

Cider-BBQ Pulled Pork

pork tenderloin rubbed with flour & cinnamon

slow-cooked in the crockpot for 9 hours

Slider Rolls

choice of plain or cider

Mini-Quiche

choice of bacon or mushroom

Quinoa Salad

with carrot, celery, broccoli, mushroom

olive oil/garlic/ginger 

Cole Slaw

choice of honey & mustard or mayo & ranch

Spinach-Artichoke Dip

spinach, artichoke, cream cheese, alfredo sauce

Guacamole

avocado, lime juice, salt, garlic powder, tomato

Pumpkin-Cheesecake Truffles

choice of dark chocolate or white chocolate

The biggest hit!

I'm told they "melt in your mouth"

I didn't eat any of the white chocolate ones, but I definitely devoured some of the dark.

I'm gonna have a tough time beating this menu next year!  

But I will find a way...of course.

As a side note: as far as I'm concerned, the year ends in June and starts in August.  Which means there are about 5 more months to get through before the year ends. 

But for those of you who go by the number you write at the end of the date...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Sweet Potato Cannelloni

Pulled-pork filled Sweet Potato Cannelloni

adapted from this recipe at Fifteen Spatulas

Slice a Sweet Potato as thinly as you can. (They should be thin enough to 

bend a bit without breaking) I'm pretty proud of my knife skills tonight...the 

Website I got the recipe from said you need a mandolin to get the slices 

thin enough.  I used my French Chef Knife.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, and then drop in your sweet potato slices. Boil them for 3-5 minutes.  You want them to be flexible, but not so soft that they break.  When you think they are done, remove them from the water and lay them out to cool/dry.

For my filling, I used some pulled-pork* salad that I made with some of the  I made last weekend: Pulled Pork, Granny Smith Apple, Mayo, Avocado.  

*1+ pound pork tenderloin, flour/cinnamon rub, 1/2 bottle raspberry wheat Shocktop Beer, c. 2 cups apple cider, and some Jack Daniel's Honey Smokehouse BBQ sauce

When the sweet potato slices are cool, spoon some pork salad onto a slice and carefully wrap it, placing it seam-side down on a plate.

My cannelloni looked so small and lonely on the plate, so I also made up a pasta dish to go with them.

I sauteed sweet potato slices and mushrooms, boiled some rotini, heated up some pulled pork, and made gravy out of the liquid I saved from the crock pot when I made the pulled pork.  Mixed it all together, and had a tasty pasta dish to go with my cannelloni.

deliciousness.

1 Pot Meal: Sweet Potatos and Shrimp

You need:
-1 medium sized pot w/lid
-2 sweet potatos, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
-1 1/2 c peas
-1 c chopped mushrooms
- mustard
-sun-dried tomato pesto
-olive oil
-garlic powder, onion powder
-shrimp (pre-cooked)

Put the potatos in the pot with a little bit of water  (not enough to cover), some olive oil, and some salt.  Cover and cook on medium heat until potatos are soft (but not mushy).  Add the peas, cook for a minute or two, add mushrooms, mustard, pesto, and seasoning. Stir well, cook until mushrooms are done.  Add shrimp.  Eat.

Picture time!

Back to School Breakfast

Time to go back to school.  Vacation has been very relaxing, but I have a feeling it might take me a few days to get back into school mode...doesn't help that everything is covered with the snow that fell last night, and it's a whopping 19 degrees out.  Brrrrrrr. It is definitely going to be a day to be thankful for wool sweaters and space heaters.  And I'm super glad I went to school yesterday to turn on my heaters!  Looks like winter has finally arrived!

I've been thinking lately that my chocolate-chip pancake obsession has gone on a little too long and I need to eat something different for breakfast once in awhile... So here's today's breakfast, complete with a homemade bagel.  I'll try to get around to posting about that experience later. 

Sweet Potato Hash Browns with Radish slices

Scrambled Eggs with Avocado

Homemade Whole Wheat-Cinnamon Bagel with Peanut Butter

Of course, since I srubbed the kitchen floor yesterday, I had to go and drop an egg on it this morning.  Didn't really want to start my morning out by re-scrubbing the floor...guess that woke me up pretty well.

Sweet Potato Fries

preheat oven to 450

peel 1 sweet potato

slice the potato into thin fries

put them in a bowl

sprinkle them with garlic powder, onion powder, and salt

pour some olive oil on top

mix it all up (the fries should be only very lightly coated with olive oil)

spread the fries on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for 12 minutes

turn the fries over and put them in for another 5 minutes

eat them

which will the fries go better with, the ketchup or the ranch?