Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

There are a few foods that I claim not to like... even though I've never had them. Brussels sprouts has been at the top of that list for many years. I've heard Paul talk highly about them (and even recall him eating them for a snack when we visited his parents for Christmas). One thing I adore about my husband is how he eats whatever I make-- even if he doesn't like some of the ingredients i.e. tomatoes and green beans.  Since he's always eating what I want, I decided to go out on a limb and try fixing up some of these weird tiny cabbages on his behalf. To ensure the whole meal wasn't a bust, I picked a recipe with a staple that I'm mildly addicted to: sweet potatoes. The recipe was meant to be served as a side but I didn't want leftovers so we ate it as the main dish.

The verdict: Simple to make and actually tasty! I was prepared to gag throughout dinner but I truly liked it. I will say, it's best hot. The more it cooled the more I began to think"... maybe this is a little weird." Even Vince said, "Hey, I like this, Mom!" 

We won't eat this all the time, but when I'm feeling wild I'll throw it into the meal rotation for sure.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

Yield: Serves 6-8

Recipe by The Food Charlatan

Ingredients

• 1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed
• 1 large sweet potato (1 pound)
• 2 cloves garlic, smashed (I used 2 cloves minced garlic)
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1 teaspoon salt
• pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• fresh thyme, to garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Trim your Brussels by cutting off the little brown end. If there are any yellow leaves, pull them off. Cut any large ones in half. Add to a large bowl.
3. Peel your sweet potato and chop into 1-2 inch pieces. Add to the large bowl.
4. Smash 2 cloves of garlic and add it to the bowl.
5. Pour 1/3 cup olive oil over the vegetables.
6. Add cumin, garlic salt, salt, and pepper to taste. Stir to coat.
7. (Line a large sheet pan with foil if you want super easy cleanup)
8. Drizzle a little olive oil onto the sheet pan and rub it all over the pan (or foil) with your hand. Or you could spray it really well with nonstick spray.
9. Pour the veggies onto the pan.
10. Roast at 400 for about 40-45 minutes. The veggies are done when they are brown and a fork slides into them easily.
11. Place the veggies in a serving bowl and toss with 1-2 tablespoons red wine vinegar to taste. Garnish with fresh thyme if you want. Eat hot!

Notes

The garlic is there to add flavor, not necessarily to be eaten, although I do think it's quite tasty.

If you want to reheat these, take them out of the oven and let cool. (Skip adding the red wine vinegar.) Store in a tupperware in the fridge for up to 2 days. When you are ready to eat, spread the veggies on a greased pan and roast at 400 for about 5-10 minutes until you can hear them sizzling and they are hot. Remove from the oven, add a little red wine vinegar, and serve!

http://thefoodcharlatan.stfi.re/2015/11/23/roasted-sweet-potatoes-and-brussels-sprouts-recipe/

A post mostly about food.

As I uploaded pictures from the first half of August I let out a huge laugh when I realized most of them were of food. I love food, a lot. It's delicious. Too delicious, in fact. I'm trying to have a better relationship with food. You could almost say I've been on a sort of quest to break my food habits. And really, isn't that what it is? I tell myself that it's lunch time because it's noon, not because my tummy is rumbling. And that's wrong. So here's to listening to our bodies and eating mindfully because we need to, not just because we want to or think it's "time" to eat.

 Trying my hand at juicing and then overcompensating with cinnamon sugar popcorn. What? I never said I was perfect.

 The veggie portion to the Zucchini Stir Fry Recipe my sister Ruth invented. Delish.

 Intermission to show you my handsome man. He's learning how to put his clothes on and he adores being upside down.

 Another go-to recipe of mine is Potato, Sausage, Kale and Black Bean soup. I always add more and more veggies and there's never enough "juice" to cover all the goods. Filling and oh so tasty.

 The cutesies are at it again.

 A filling snack for under 100 calories? Don't mind if I do!

 Any pasta salad that calls for feta deserves an A+ in my book. And do you see all that produce?! I'm in heaven.

 I'm sorry, I can't stop.

Homemade Pizza Night!

Recipes will be forthcoming. I love pinterest but sometimes things just get lost on there. For security's sake, I'll post them on my blog. I want them for keeps!

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Believe it or not-- I cooked another meal!

This week I wanted to find a recipe that used ingredients I already had.

I flipped through the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook again and...

Tuna Noodle Casserole was the winner!

I don't care for fish, but I know it can be really good for you.

I am pleased to announce that I really enjoyed this meal and I didn't mind the tuna one bit.

This meal was cheap, easy and filling.

Hope this inspires you fish-haters to try something new!

Prep: 30 minutes   Bake: 25 minutes

Stand: 5 minutes     Oven: 375 degrees

Makes: 4 to 6 servings

(We split it into 4 servings which worked out to 495 calories)

Ingredients:

3 cups packaged dried wide noodles (about 5 oz)

3/4 cup chopped sweet red pepper (1 medium)

1 cup chopped celery (2-3 stalks)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 to 2 Tbsp Dijon-style mustard

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2.25 cups milk

1 12 oz can chunk white tuna (water pack) drained and broken into chunks; two 5 oz pouches chunk light tuna in water, drained; or two 6 oz cans skinless, boneless salmon, drained.

1/2 cup panko or soft bread crumbs 

(I used some Italian style bread crumbs because it's what I had on hand)

1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp snipped fresh parsley

(I skipped the parsley because there was already some in the bread crumbs)

1 Tbsp butter, melted

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 1.25 qt casserole (As with the last recipe, this was NOT big enough to hold all of the food without overflowing), set aside. In a large saucepan cook noodles according to package directions. Drain; return noodles to pan.

Step 2: Meanwhile, for sauce, in a medium sauce pan cook sweet pepper, celery and onion in 1/4 cup hot butter over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until tender. Stir in flour, mustard, salt, pepper. Add milk all at once; cook and stir until slightly thick and bubbly. Gently fold sauce and tuna into cooked noodles. Transfer noodle mixture to prepared casserole dish.

Step 3: In a small bowl combine bread crumbs, cheese, parsley, and melted butter. Sprinkle crumb mixture over noodle mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes or until heated through. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Ingredients

Ready to bake!

Bon appetit!

Potato Ham Bake.

This summer I am trying to kill two birds with one stone:

Eat healthy

and

Learn how to cook.

As I was flipping through my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, I got really excited when I saw this healthy, yet tasty looking recipe. It only has 346 calories per serving! It was super easy and made generous servings. I'll definitely be making it again.

Prep: 25 minutes     Bake: 30 minutes

Stand: 5 minutes     Oven: 400 degrees

Makes: 4 servings     Calories: 346

Ingredients:

1 pound Yukon gold potatoes, sliced

1 8-ounce tub of light cream cheese spread w/chive & onion

3/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 Tbsp snipped fresh tarragon, crushed (1/2 tsp dried)

8 ounces cooked boneless ham, cut into bite-size cubes

1 pound fresh asparagus spears, trimmed and cut into 2- to 3-inch pieces

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a 1.5 qt baking dish (I found I need a bigger dish); set aside. In a medium saucepan cook potatoes, covered, in a small amount of lightly salted boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes or just until tender. Drain; transfer potatoes to a medium bowl and set aside.

Step 2: For cheese sauce, in same saucepan combine cream cheese, milk, 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan, and the pepper. Heat and whisk cream cheese mixture until smooth and cheese melts. Remove from heat and stir in tarragon.

Step 3: Layer half of the potatoes, ham, asparagus and cheese sauce in prepared baking dish. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients. Cover with foil.

Step 4: Bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, for 10 to 12 minutes more or until heated through. Let stand for 5 minutes.

 

The Ingredients

After baking

 

 

Served!

Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

One of our Resolutions for this year was to stick within a budget.

But, we always seem to go over our budget in the "restaurants" category.

Thing have calmed down a little bit for the semester, so I decided to use some of my extra time to try a new recipe with Paul.

I cracked open "Our Best Bites" Cookbook (Thanks Annette!)

and found a yummy and reasonably easy recipe:

Pesto Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes:

 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes

8 oz mushrooms, sliced (about 3 cups)

3-4 Tbsp EVOO

Kosher Salt & Ground Black Pepper

8 oz farfalle or bowtie pasta

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/2 cup pesto

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 425 degees. Bring a large pot of water to boil.

2. Place tomatoes and mushrooms on a foil-lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Toss with your fingers, making sure everything is coated with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Cook for 12-15 min or until tomatoes look plump and some of the skins just start to split.

3. When the water comes to a boil, add 2 tsp salt and pasta to the water and cook according to package directions

4. While the pasta is cooking, place the pine nuts in a small skillet over medium heat. Stir frequently until the nuts turn golden brown and look slightly glossy, about 7-9 minutes

5. To assemble, toss the hot drained pasta with pesto and Parmesan cheese. Top with tomatoes and mushrooms and sprinkle with toasted pine nuts and additional Parmesan cheese if desired.

Makes 4 main dish servings or 6 side dish servings

If I can do this, anyone can.

We would have loved the pine nuts, but due to cost, we left them out.

I also think we should have left our tomatoes/mushrooms in the oven a little bit longer. They were warm and delicious, but not all of them got wrinkled and split like they were supposed to.

We served ours with garlic seasoned chicken and homemade rolls.

We'll definitely be having this again.

I wish all of the tomatoes were like the one on the bottom right!

We also did a poor job when we split up the tomatoes and mushrooms between the pasta.

We used 1/2 the tomatoes and mushrooms on 1/3 of the pasta. 

That's why there are SO many on my serving. Whoops!

Easily makes 6 servings of the above size.

Santa Fe Chicken

During my Sophomore year in college, 

an apartment full of the cutest girls invited me and my roommates over for dinner.

That is when I was introduced to Santa Fe Chicken.

It is by far my favorite, most delicious and EASIEST crock pot meals.

I make it all the time.

In fact, I'm making it right now.

Santa Fe Chicken:

5 or so chicken breasts

(Since I'm poor I never use that much chicken)
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cans corn
1 cup (or more) of salsa
*1 8 oz. package cream cheese

Cook all except the cream cheese in a crock pot for several hrs until chicken is done. Remove chicken and cut up (I shred it right in the crock pot). Add the 8 oz. cream cheese ( cut up, or pulled apart) to crock pot mixture. Return the chicken to the crock pot and heat until cream cheese melts. Serve over rice

Peanut Butter - Banana Smoothies

Need to take a break from studying to grab a snack?

I vote you try this smoothie.

Paul and I tried out this recipe that my sister gave to me.

It was pretty yummy and it's not entirely bad for you.

Ingredients
1/2 cup milk
1 small ripe banana 

(If you double the recipe, one large banana would suffice)
1/4 cup Jif® Natural Creamy Peanut Butter Spread
2 tablespoons honey

(We substituted chocolate syrup... be generous)
6 ice cubes
Whipped cream (optional)
Chocolate sprinkles (optional)

Directions
Combine milk, banana, peanut butter, honey/chocolate syrup and ice cubes in blender container. Cover and process until smooth.
Makes enough for one smoothie. Add whipped cream and sprinkles, if desired. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!