Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Welcome!! 

I've always wanted to perfect a gnocchi recipe and I think we did it here! This is a very SWEET gnocchi with cinnamon and maple syrup!  This recipe takes some time, but is actually really fun as a  change in your cooking.  I hardly ever make anything like this, and it was a welcome change in the kitchen!  Also, Derek hates gnocchi, so I thought it would be a good time to try it while I was at home cooking with Jess!



Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cup fine while wheat flour
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 cup maple syrup
10-15 sage leaves

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Pierce sweet potatoes with a fork and cook for 50-55 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are cooked through.  Let them cool  and remove from their skin.  Mash in a large bowl until smooth.  Add the ricotta cheese, along with the cinnamon, salt and pepper to the bowl and mix thoroughly.  Then, add the flour and combine until ingredients form into a soft dough.  NOTE: The dough should not be a sticky mess.  You may need to add more flour to the batter if it is too sticky.  Wrap dough in a paper towl and refrigerate for an hour. 

Sprinkle counter with flour and cut dough into four sections.  Roll each section out into long snakes, just under an inch thick.  Using a knife, cut the gnocchi into one inch pieces.  Boil a large pot of water and season generously with salt.  Add the snocchi in two batches and cook about 6-7 minutes.  Test one before removing batch to make sure they are sfot and cooked through. 

While they are boiling, add olive oil to a large sauce pan on medium heat.  Once oil is hot, add the sage leaves. Cook sage leaves for a couple of minutes, remove and set aside for later.  Add the maple syrup to the pan, and heat gently for a minute or so.  Once the gnocchi are cook, add them to the sauce.  Let them crisp up a little on both sides.  Do not overcook. You want the insides soft.  Remove from heat and sprinkle with cinnamon, maple syrup and the crunched sage leaves. 



Enjoy!
Recipe found on www.ahealthfoodie.com

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Grandma Knows Best!

Welcome! 

As I spend the week up north with my family's dogs and my best friend I decided to see if my lovely grandma would like to come over and color some Easter eggs! I picked her up yesterday and we proceeded to color eggs with Jess and my sister Jamie.  I decided to be creative this year and we went ahead and tried coloring the eggs with a tea stain.  I think they would have worked but everyone was getting a little impatient and we ended up taking all the eggs out too early and just dripping food coloring on them.  Not what we were going for exactly, but they actually turned out pretty cute!!

While grandma was over she started snacking on the kale chips Jess and I made the other day, and she LOVED them.  We sent her home with the rest of them!  Here is the recipe if you would like to try your own kale chips!!


Ingredients:
1 bunch kale
salt
pepper
paprika
olive oil



Directions:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees, or the lowest setting your oven has. 

Wash kale and break off leafy parts and stems.  Place leafs on an ungreased baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  If it's too dry, it wil burn, but if you put too much oil on it, it will stay oily.  I would say all together you should use about a 1/4 a cup.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and paprika.  Bake for 2 hours or until the kale gets crispy.  DO NOT turn up the oven.  Be patient! They burn easy. 

Enjoy!!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Lunch Amongst Friends

Along with our Lean Green Machine smoothies (see below)  we also made some "brinner" open faced sandwiches for Jessica before she had to head to work! 

South of the Border Open Faced Sandwich

Cooking Time: 25 mins
Serving Size: 8-10 sandwiches


Ingredients:
1 Loaf French Bread, cut into 3/4" thick slices

1/2 Cup Olives Diced (your choice, we did green cause they are healthier)
1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/3 Cup Lite Mayonnaise
1/3 Cup Nonfat Sour Cream
1/4 Cup Green Onions, Chopped
1 lb. Sliced Turkey
2 Medium Tomatoes, thinley sliced
2 Ripe Avocados, sliced
1 Cup Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a bolw, combine olives, chili powder, cumin and salt; set aside 2 Tablespoons of this mixture.   Add the mayonnaise, sour cream and green onions to the remaining olive mixture. 

Place sliced bread on an ungreased baking sheet and spread 1 Tablespoon of mayonnaise mixture on each slice.  Top with slices of turkey and tomatoes.  Spread antoher Tablespoon of mixture on the tomato and top with avocados and cheese.  Sprinkle the reserved 2 Tablespoons of olive mixture.  Bake for 15 mins. 

Enjoy!!

Another Kind of Love!

Welcome! This week I am going up to the cities to watch my families pets while they are in Florida.  The best part?! I get to see my best friend while I am up there!  She will be spending the week with me at the house we will be making all kinds of fun and yummy things!

The first thing we wanted to try was a recipe she found on a friends website www.ahealthfoodie.com .  We are calling it the Lean Green Machine.  It is a green smoothie that is full of antioxidents and tastes so refreshing!



INGREDIENTS
5 cups organic spinach
3-4 inch piece organic cucumber
Handfull of organic flat-leaf italian parsley (optional)
1/2 organic green apple
1/2 organic pear
1 banana
Juice of 1/2 lemon or 1 lime
2-3 cups of water


DIRECTIONS
Add spinach, cucumber, flat leaf parsley and water to a high speed blender. Blend together for 30 seconds. Add the apple, pear, banana and lemon. Blend for another minute. If the smoothie is too thick for you, add more water 1/2 cup at a time. You can keep this in a pitcher in the fridge as well!

Enjoy!!
<>