Candied Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows

Sadly, the only time I get to come back to my hometown in Texas is during the holidays. With that being said, for the past few years, this dish has become synonymous with family dinners at home. I'd highly recommend it for any gathering of friends or family -- and with only 15 minutes of hands-on time, it's a comfort food that speaks for itself.

Servings: enough for 8 people

What You'll Need:

• 4 large sweet potatoes
• 1/3 cup maple syrup (two tablespoons of honey will work too)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• Cooking spray (or olive oil)
• Couple handfuls of mini-marshmallows
• Oven

The Step-by-Step:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Rinse the potatoes in running water, and use your hands to make sure all the dirt is off. Using a good knife, slice potatoes into circles, then the circles in 4 pieces each to make chunks.
3. Spray a good sized oven pan  with cooking spray. (I used one of my mom's circular pans, but if I was at home, I'd use a standard-sized brownie pan)
4. Place the potato chunks in the pan, and in a small bowl, mix the syrup and the sugar together.
5. Pour the syrup mixture onto the potatoes and toss with your (washed) hands.
6. Bake for about 40 minutes.
7. Remove from the oven, and use a fork to see if the potatoes are soft (if you have a hard time inserting the fork, it needs to bake more.) If soft, sprinkle the marshmallows over the potatoes and place back into the oven for 5 more minutes.
8. Remove from the oven. The marshmallows should be melted.
9. Eat up!

 

xoxo n

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For the record

Brown sugar and maple syrup may not be super nutritious, but sweet potatoes are commonly called the most nutritious vegetable there is (not to mention one of the cheapest ever.) As far as nutrients, it's probably the best bang for your buck you can get.Many recipes you will find on the internet for a marshmallow/sweet potato caserole dish will have way more sugar and fat than this one. I would know -- I used to make it by mashing the potatoes and adding about a cup of sweetened coffee creamer (on top of everything listed above)! YIKES! So I decided to lighten it up, and to this day, everyone still eats it up, even those who aren't as healthy as I try to be. If you keep the portions on this dish in check, this dish is a perfectly good way to celebrate, whether at a dinner party, or just on a Tuesday.

 

Leftover Cranberry Sauce Cupcakes



Part of being healthy is being resourceful. The holidays have just finished, and maybe Grandpa Ted didn't eat all the cranberry sauce you wanted him to. Or perhaps, you made too much because its so delicious and you felt like eating from the tub with a spoon during a Netflix binge. Since it keeps in the fridge for two weeks, feel free to be the star of your New Year's party (sauce recipe here). There's no substitute for homemade sauce, and it makes the perfect co-star for the sweet cupcake and creamy frosting. This would also make an incredible middle layer to a two-tiered cake.

Servings: 24 cupcakes

What You'll Need:

• 1 box (yes, box -- pick your battles) Vanilla Cake mix
• Egg, Oil, and Water required (listed on cake box)
• 1 tub vanilla frosting (again, pick your battles. If you want to make your own, mix 1/2 a cup of powdered sugar with a tablespoon of softened butter and a spoonful of milk at a time until it's the thickness you want.)
• 1/2 cup cranberry sauce for frosting
• 1 and a 1/2 cups cranberry sauce (for filling)
• 24 cupcake papers & an Oven
• Optional: 24 fresh cranberries
• Optional: Clear sprinkles

The Step-by-Step:

1. Preheat oven to degree listed on cake mix box (usually 350 or 375 degrees F)
2. Mix cake mix, eggs, oil, and water in a small bowl (based on the cake mix's directions).
3. Place cupcake papers in your cupcake pan, and fill each halfway.
4. Bake for the instructed amount of minutes, and repeat this process until all of the cupcake batter has been used up.
5. While the cupcakes are baking and you have some downtime, mix the frosting and the cranberry sauce (a little at a time until its "cranberry enough" for you), and place the mixture in the fridge to cool a bit.
6. Let the cupcakes cool off (about 30 minutes).
7. With a small spoon, (or even your finger!) scoop (or poke) a hole straight down about halfway through each cupcake.
8. Place 1 cup cranberry sauce in a ziploc bag. Use your hands to get all the sauce towards one side of the bag. Using a scissors, cut a small snip of the bottom corner off.
9. Holding the ziploc like a cone, place the snipped corner in the hole of a cupcake. Squeeze until the cupcake is filled (just to the top of the hole!), and repeat with each cupcake. You may have to pause and wiggle some sauce down towards the bottom of the bag (Stop and adjust -- this is perfectly okay!)
10. Fill a new ziploc bag with the frosting mixture. Snip the corner like before, and squeeze the frosting onto a cupcake, in a circle -- starting with the cupcake's edges and working your way to the center, like a spiral. When you get to the middle, stop. Repeat until all cupcakes are frosted.
11. Optional: If you have some fresh cranberries and sprinkles like I did, feel free to put them to good use.

xoxo n

A side note:

Even though I would hope you are using my recipe for homemade cranberry sauce, you don't have to. If you have a spare can lying around, you can use that -- but since canned sauce is kind of Jello-like, empty the can in a bowl and add 1/3 of a cup of orange juice. Mash and mix together until it is a nicer consistency. Then you can measure it out like in the recipe above.

The Perfect Cranberry Sauce

I have to admit -- growing up, I wasn't a big fan of "the sauce." However, cranberry sauce is Austin's favorite food group (besides egg nog; so let's just establish now that in December he's a very happy camper.) Anyways, having that information, I set out to find the easiest, most natural recipe, and after a little tweaking, this recipe is what tastes the best (and is the best.) I'm now a believer.

Servings: About 3 cups

What You'll Need:

• 1 package fresh cranberries (you can easily find them at any grocery store during the holidays)
• 1 orange, cut in half
• 1 cup brown sugar

The 3 Steps (yes, three):

1. In a medium pot (one you would use to heat up soup,) squeeze the orange until all the juice is in the pot, and put on the stove to heat.
2. Stir in the sugar until it is all dissolved.
3. Add in the fresh cranberries and turn down the heat to low. You'll hear popping as they cook. Stir often. After about 20 minutes, the cranberry sauce should be ready. 

Besides placing a bowl of it at your family table, feel free to also spread it on a leftover-turkey sandwich, or use it as a tangy filling for cupcakes or a cake! This version is so very easy and cheap. Bottom line: Ditch the can and impress everyone this holiday.

xoxo n

Beef Egg Rolls w/ Ginger Carrots and Coconut Oil

Surprise, Surprise -- because I love a good challenge (and because I already eat lots of vegetables so I figured this couldn't be too difficult) I decided to go VEGAN for the month of December. No worries, as I have a very carnivorous boyfriend, expect some of the same meat-friendly recipes (in moderation, of course.) But, on the contrary, I'm excited to share with you all some of my "get creative" meals here and there in the great big mix of holiday classics and boyfriend-friendly meals. Starting with these awesome egg rolls. Make them in large numbers for a party, or just a few for your dinner.

Servings: 2 (3 egg rolls make one full meal)

What You'll Need:

• 1 package egg roll wrappers (I found a brand named Nasoya that makes a pack of 20 wraps for $3.99 -- plus you can refrigerate the ones you don't immediately use -- win!)
• 1/2 package meatless crumbles (vegan fake meat; but feel free to use half a pack of ground beef if you're not down for the cause)
• 1 tablespoon chopped ginger 
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic (they make these awesome squeezie tubes now for both ginger and garlic; find them in the salad area of the grocery store)
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 large carrot
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

The Step-by-Step:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium pan, spray some cooking spray. Heat the meat with the garlic and stir until combined (if using ground beef, stir until the meat is no longer pink.)
3. Turn the heat down to low, and with the spoon, scoot the meat to the side of the pan, and respray the open space. Using a grater, grate the carrot into small shreds right in the open space. Add the ginger and coconut oil to the carrots, and stir. After about 5 minutes, turn off the heat.
4. Take a egg roll wrapper and spoon a little bit of the meat in a line down the middle of the wrapper. Repeat with some of the carrots, but on top of the meat. Use your fingers to make the line as neat as you can.
5. Wet your fingertips with a little water, and fold up the egg rolls (see pictures below.)
6. After you've wrapped all the egg rolls and placed them on the pan, use your fingers to wipe a little olive oil on each of them. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Optional tips: Serve with chopped green onion and teriyaki sauce.

xoxo n

And for the record -- I was mistaken, being vegan is difficult.

Garlic Lime Shrimp & Kale Salad

The perfect salad that even the kitchen-challenged can make.
Take a swing at it!

Servings: 2 (tuppleware the extras and put the dressing in a plastic baggie! lunch tomorrow!)

What You'll Need:

• 1 lb raw shrimp (about $8.00 at the grocery store)
• Mrs. Dash -- Garlic Chili Lime seasoning
• 4 cups fresh kale (easy sub: fresh baby spinach!)
• Dressing of Choice (I used Cranberry Gorgonzola dressing from Trader Joe's!)
• Cooking Spray
• Oven/Baking Sheet

The Step-by-Step:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place the shrimp in a small bowl and lightly spray with cooking spray.
3. Use your (clean) hands to lightly toss the shrimp.
4. Sprinkle some of the Mrs. Dash seasoning (about 2 tablespoons) and toss again until each shrimp is seasoned. If you don't have this garlic chili lime seasoning, try salt, pepper, squeezing a fresh lime, and adding some fresh chopped garlic. I like this Mrs. Dash seasoning because it is salt-free, but Get creative!
5. Spray the baking sheet with cooking spray, and place the shrimp on the pan.
6. Bake the shrimp for 15 minutes.
7. Place kale in two bowls and top with cooked shrimp.
8. Drizzle on some dressing of your choice!

xoxo n

Sweet: A Thanksgiving in Sugar Land

With all of the travel that I've been doing for work and the holiday season, I'm now back in action. And the good news is, that means more recipes! But first, I thought that I would share some personal photos of my sweet sweet Thanksgiving in my hometown of Sugar Land, TX -- with those I love.

Spent some quality time (& dance moves!) with my mom....

Drove to Austin....

Oh, and we ate....

Visited the State Capitol (my Austin had a blast!)....

Helped my brother organize his college planning (let's go Howard!)....

Ate some more...

Saw some great Dulles High School basketball (go Vikes!)....

...and ate some more

So readers -- happy holidays from my family to yours.

xoxo n