Sweet Potato Wedges with Roasted Garlic Aioli

    Now that the holidays are over, I am back on a health kick. I really let the holidays get out of hand and now I am paying for it! Let's just say, I may have gained a few lost pounds back. Oops! So in order to detox from all of the eating and drinking I did over the past couple of months, I decided to start with cutting refined sugar and carbs from my diet again. Obviously, I didn't cut carbs completely, I am still eating fruit and beans and sweet potatoes. I think some foods are just too nutrition packed to avoid completely and that's why I am enjoying them in moderation.
   I made these last week to go with cheese burgers(no bun). I whipped up a quick and delicious garlic aioli to dip them in. I have since cut back on my fat intake also. (Baby steps.) But even with the dipping sauce, this is still pretty healthy. Everything in moderation, right?

 

 

Sweet Potato Wedges with Roasted Garlic Aioli
serves 4

 

For the potatoes:

2 sweet potatoes, each cut into 8 wedges
Olive oil
Rosemary, chopped
Salt&pepper

 

For the aioli:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 head roasted garlic
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp horseradish
Juice of one lemon

 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Toss sweet potato wedges with olive oil, rosemary, and salt&pepper. Evenly place wedges on a baking sheet and roast for 25-30 until done.

 

For the aioli:
To roast the garlic, cut off the end of the bulb so the tops of the cloves are exposed. Place in a small dish and pour olive oil over the top and season with salt&pepper. Cover with foil and roast on 350 for 45-60 minutes until very soft when poked with a fork.
Once cooled, squeeze the cloves out of the head and mash with a fork. Combine the mashed roasted garlic with the remaining ingredients.

 

Dip the sweet potatoes in the aioli and Enjoy!

 

Weight Loss and Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes

  You may have noticed I haven't made any new blog posts in over a month. I have been on a brief hiatus to focus on my health. I am proud to say after 15 months I am finally at my pre-pregnancy weight! Getting healthy has been quite a journey for me. My weight has yo-yoed for years and I have always struggled to lose weight and keep it off. I lost 30 lbs before getting pregnant, only to gain close to 50 throughout my pregnancy with Ethan. Diabetes and heart disease are serious issues in my family so I knew how important it was for me to start living a healthy lifestyle now, before I started having issues of my own.
   I have begrudgingly tried so many diets and forms of exercise in the past; some worked, some didn't. But I never once enjoyed it enough to turn it into a lifestyle. This time has been different. I am enjoying eating clean, healthy foods and I am loving the way exercising makes me feel. I worked with a weight loss clinic for the first month, doing a complete overhaul of my diet and taking HCG injections to help me along. I drank a gallon of water everyday and lived off of only chicken breast, green veggies, and a handful of fruits. It was tough, but I felt better and better everyday knowing I was becoming healthier and cleaning all of the toxins, from the junk I had been eating the past 26 years, out of my body. Now, I am on my own, but remain eating a low calorie diet made up of lean protein, vegetables, fruit, and whole grains. I love the way real food tastes now. I love feeling satisfied after a small portion without feeling like I'm going to burst because I ate so much food. I love my body again and I love having nothing to wear because all of my clothes are falling off of me!
   Of course, eating nothing but plain chicken and steamed vegetables, I had nothing interesting to add to the blogosphere last month. But fear not, I have started cooking again and look forward to sharing some delicious, healthy recipes with you!

   Tonight for dinner we had a turkey breast tenderloin I rubbed with a salt-free blackening seasoning from a local company, Dak's Bistro. I served it with a green bean salad and Crash hot sweet potatoes. I have made these sweet potatoes several times, I just changed the recipe up a little bit to lower the calories per serving. They weren't really unhealthy before, so I only made a few small changes. You can find the original recipe here .

Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes
Serves 4 (110 calories per serving)

2 small to medium sweet potatoes, peeled
cooking spray
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cut peeled potatoes about 1- 1 1/2 inches thick. Cook in boiling water for about 10 minutes, until just tender. Drain potatoes and let cool about 10 minutes. Place the potatoes on a baking sheet lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Use a fork to slightly smash each potato disk. Spray tops with cooking spray.
Combine sugar, salt, and spices. Distribute spice  mixture evenly amongst potato slices.
Bake on 375 for about 20 minutes. Broil last few minutes for sugars to caramelize.

In the original recipe, both sides are coated with sugar/spices and a butter/olive oil mixture is used to aid in caramelization. These have much less fat and sugar, but still taste delicious.

Enjoy!

Potatoes Au Gratin with Gruyere and Caramelized Onions

   This dish is pure indulgence! It isn't light or healthy in any way, shape, or form. But, it is utterly delicious! This is strictly for special occasions and it is sure to impress your guests. I made this last Sunday along with Beer-Can Chicken for my birthday dinner. I knew we needed some kind of potato dish, and while my mind was telling me to healthfully roast some potatoes in olive oil, my belly was telling me to smother them in cream and cheese. Of course, as usual, my stomach growled louder than my brain. Happy Birthday to me!

Potatoes Au Gratin with Gruyere and Caramelized Onions

2lbs Russet potatoes
5 sweet onions
3 Tbsp + 1Tbsp butter
olive oil
8oz shredded Gruyere
3 cloves garlic
fresh thyme
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup panko
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt&pepper

For the onions:

Thinly slice onions. Heat 3 tablespoons butter in large skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and season with salt.
Let onions cook for 30 minutes to an hour, stirring occasionally, so they caramelize but don't burn. If they start to get dry, or burn, add a little olive oil to the pan. You can also add a small amount of sugar to help with the caramelization process, but I find this step unnecessary.
Set onions aside. 

For the potatoes:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Place garlic and a few sprigs thyme in a small saucepan with heavy cream. Let simmer.
Slice the potatoes very thin (about 1/8 inch thick). Place a single layer of potato slices in the bottom of a large casserole dish, slightly overlapping. Top with 1/3 of the Gruyere and 1/3 onions. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat with 2 more layers finishing with Gruyere and onions.
Remove cream from heat and discard herbs and garlic. Pour over potatoes.
Combine panko, Parmesan, and 1 tablespoon melted butter. Spread evenly over top of casserole. Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45-50 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is golden brown and potatoes are tender.
Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

Find the recipe for Beer-Can Chicken with White BBQ Sauce here.

Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes

    This is a great side dish! It's creamy and delicious, but doesn't make you feel heavy. It is also quick and easy to put together. I served this the other night alongside my Creamy Chicken Marsala, but was just as good the next day as a light lunch. I think this would be the perfect summer side dish for a cookout. Oh wow, how good would these be cooked on the grill with a nice juicy ribeye? yumm! I can't wait for the farmer's market this summer. I have so many dishes I would like to recreate once the vegetables are at their best. Or.....how about adding sausage or chicken and making this a main dish? Sorry, I think I'm a little scatterbrained today! Enjoy!

 Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes
 ( Proud Italian Cook )
2 tomatoes
1 cup part skim ricotta
1/3 cup shredded Parmesan
small bunch chopped fresh basil
small bunch chopped fresh parsley
salt&pepper
panko breadcrumbs for topping
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Halve tomatoes and scoop out the seeds. Salt the tomatoes and turn upside down on paper towels to draw out moisture.

In a small bowl, mix ricotta, Parmesan, and herbs. Season with salt&pepper to taste. Fill the tomato halves with cheese mixture.

Top each tomato with panko and spray with cooking spray. Bake on 400F for 25 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.


yumm!

Rosemary-Balsamic Butternut Squash

   It's been a few days since my last post. Lots of things have been going on around here! I started working on a lot of crafts for Ethan's 1st birthday party coming up in March.  After spending about three hours working on it the first night, I felt very accomplished to have started a few things and even completely finished one project! I was so proud of how great it looked, I took a few pictures to show the girls at work. I left everything on my craft table when I went to bed, knowing I would pick it back up the next night. In the morning, Ethan got up and we followed our normal routine; bottle for him, coffee for me. I went to turn on Good Morning America and....wait, did I mention Ethan is going through this stage where he likes to shake and rock things? Yeah, well, my craft table with my cup of coffee sitting on it was his latest victim. Needless to say, I had to start over on my one beautiful finished project!  At least I have pictures to remember the original.

    That was only the beginning to my week.  It has been crazy busy at work, Ethan is cutting yet another tooth and oh yeah, he started walking! I foresee all of my weeks in the future being just as busy and exhausting as this one. Pray for me and my sanity now that my little climbing, rocking, banging, wild child can get around on two feet!

  Through all this, I did find some time to cook. I have made this butternut squash recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen several times now. It has become a regular side dish in our house. Every time I make it, it seems better than the last. This time, I served it with grilled pork tenderloin and grilled asparagus. Yummm!

  Rosemary-Balsamic Butternut Squash

2 lbs. butternut squash cubes (one large squash)

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp + 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss squash cubes with olive oil, 1 Tbsp vinegar, rosemary, and salt&pepper. Arrange on baking sheet in a single layer. Roast for 20 minutes, turn and roast about 20 more minutes.

Remove from oven and toss with additional vinegar ans salt&pepper.

(note: As with most dishes, I have never measured any of these ingredients. These are the measurements she gives in her recipe)

   For the pork tenderloin, I used some of the same flavors. The night before, I made a marinade with balsamic vinegar, chopped rosemary, garlic, crushed red pepper, and olive oil. I poked holes all over the tenderloin so the marinade could really sink in and marinated it overnight. I took it out of the fridge when Brian started the grill so it could come to room temp before cooking. He grilled it for about 30-40 minutes.

    

    

Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan

This is the best broccoli you will ever eat. People who don't like broccoli, like this broccoli. I swear, just try it. I made this one time when my vegetable hating brother-in-law had dinner with us. He didn't want to try it, but I made him. He ate every bite. The next day, my mother-in-law called asking for the recipe "that made Tyler eat broccoli". Yes, it's that delicious. I think I got this from Food Network Magazine , but I can't be sure because I clip out tons of recipes and put them in my own book.



Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan


head of broccoli, chopped
garlic, sliced
parmesan cheese
panko breadcrumbs

Preheat a foil-lined baking sheet in a 450 degree oven. Blanch the broccoli and garlic; drain.

Toss the broccoli and garlic with olive oil, salt and pepper, parmesan cheese, and panko. Arrange on baking sheet and cover with more cheese and breadcrumbs.

Roast until browned, about 15 minutes.



Simple, easy, and tasty! (even for non-vegetable lovers!)