Sweet Potato Pancakes

- by The Oven Mits

For my birthday, the Health Nut and the Vegan made wheat chocolate chip pancakes for me from scratch! They are so much better than the regular old Bisquik kind, so I figured I would look a recipe for another type of pancake from scratch! It's pretty simple and really good! Check it outtt

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16 ounces orange-flesh sweet potato (about 2 medium sweet potatoes)
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain soy milk

1. Cook the sweet potatoes
2. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, sift together in a large mixing bowl the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Set aside.
3. When the potatoes have cooled slightly, add the butter, and mash until relatively smooth. Add the eggs, molasses, and vanilla extract and blend. Finally, mix in the soymilk.
4. Add the sweet potato mixture to the dry ingredients and mix with a spoon until just moistened (the batter will be lumpy), about 50 strokes. Set aside to rest.
5. Preheat a lightly greased skillet or griddle over medium heat. Using a 1/4 cup measure, pour the batter onto the preheated skillet or griddle. Turn the pancakes once with a spatula when the surface begins to bubble. Cook until golden brown.  Serve hot with your favorite pancake toppings.

(http://www.lafujimama.com/2011/02/sweet-potato-pancakes-buttermilk-syrup/)
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I didn't have molasses, so I just omitted it. Also, I substituted skim milk for soy milk. These were great and I will be making them again soon :)

Cinnamon Apple Banana Oat Bread with Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Butter

- by The Oven Mits

For one of my small group classes a couple weeks ago, this kid brought in some Cinnamon Apple Banana Oat Bread. It was super fancy with oats on top, apple slices around the plate, and cinnamon butter on the side. It was the BEST bread I have ever had. Like seriously... I am currently salivating just thinking about it again. I asked him for the recipe. But he was lameeeeee and said it was a family secret! So I went home that night and searched for the best recipe I could find. I settled on this one...

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Cinnamon Apple Banana Oat Bread
Makes 1 loaf.

Ingredients
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (I don't have applesauce so I added 1.5 bananas instead)
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1/3 cup quick oats, plus more for sprinkling on top
2 large eggs
1/2 apple, grated (I actually just diced the apple because I like the fruit chunks!)
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour, white or traditional
1-1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 cup raisins (I dislike raisins in desserts so I just didn't put this in)
cinnamon sugar mixture (this is just 1/8 cup sugar with 1/4 tbsp cinnamon)

Preparation
1. Place the oven rack in the middle and preheat the oven to 350° F
2. In bowl of the stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in the applesauce, cinnamon, and quick oats. Mix in the eggs one at a time, beating well each time, then mix in the grated apple.

3. In the medium mixing bowl, whisk together the unbleached all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, and baking soda. Take the mixing bowl off the stand and fold in the flour mixture just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Add the raisins, folding gently. Pour batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar and more quick oats on top.

Cinnamon sugar mixture

....I really like my sugar on top

4. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan about 10 minutes, then cool on a wire rack before serving. Keep leftovers wrapped in plastic wrap for up to 3 days.

(http://andreasrecipes.com/2007/05/27/apple-cinnamon-oatmeal-bread/)

Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Butter

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup butter, softened
4 teaspoons packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Preparation:

Beat all ingredients until fluffy. Store in refrigerator.

(http://baking.about.com/od/flavoredbutters/r/brownsugcin.htm)

 

 

And mix it all together to get.........................

Yuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm :D

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This was so fantastic. No, it was not as good as the kid's from class, but still sooooo delicious! I put out the whole loaf for game night and it was gone within the first two hours! I will definitely make this again soon so I can eat it all for myself ;)

Roasted Red Pepper Carrot Pesto

- by The Oven Mits

I have been running out of ideas for food lately and have been eating a lot of burritos and pasta. Then I thought, if I'm having pasta, I guess I could at least make a cool sauce to with it! I first thought of that roasted red pepper sauce we usually make, but I don't have any cashews. (Also, side note, I made it once without the cashew cream and it was gross). So I looked up another sauce recipe and this is what I found!

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Ingredients:

• 6 Carmen Peppers, seeded and halved (I just used normal red peppers)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced and cooked
• 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Toss the seeded and halved peppers with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a pinch of salt.
3. Arrange peppers on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in a single layer.
4. Roast peppers until tender and skin is blistered, about 20-25 minutes.
5. Place peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
6. Allow peppers to cool; peel skins off.
7. Heat remaining 1/4 cup olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add chopped garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
8. Put all ingredients, except parsley, in a food processor bowl. Pulse until a smooth paste forms.
9. Transfer to a bowl and stir in parsley.
10. Season to taste with salt and pepper

http://jeanetteshealthyliving.com/2011/09/roasted-red-pepper-carrot-pesto-magnoodles-pasta-giveaway.html

Sorry, I went a little overboard with the cilantro and you can barely see the sauce, but it really is there!

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This recipe was good and pretty simple and made a lot of sauce to be used in other stuff!

Mexican Stuffed Bell Pepper

- by The Health Nut

I don't get home until 9/9:30 pm nowdays after work so I need really quick, but yummy, things to make for lunch the next day. Last night, I decided to use some things that were in the fridge and turn them into something yummy. We had a whole lot of bell peppers, beans & veggies so I decided to make a stuffed bell pepper.

I didn't follow a recipe but here's what I did:

- Cut pepper in half and scoop out the seeds. Place pepper in a preheated oven at 450 degrees.

- Meanwhile, stir-fry onions, chopped peppers, green onions or whatever other vegetable you want. Add refried beans and a little bit of salsa to the veggies.

- Take pepper out of the oven (careful), stuff with the beans & veggies, top with desired amount of cheese & place back in the oven until cheese is melted.

I was making this for lunch the next day (& didn't have much time) so I just baked until the cheese had melted. But if making this to eat right away, keep in the oven for a little bit longer.

It was quick to make & easy to take to work. I heated it up for lunch & thoroughly enjoyed it :)

Spinach Tofu Lasagna Rolls

- by The Health Nut

I was Pinteresting recently (is Pinteresting the new JFGI-ing?) and came across this recipe for lasagna rolls, which I thought was genius. It would make automatic portions & would be easy to transport. The recipe I found was for cheese & spinach, however, I wanted to be healthier and use tofu so I found this: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/lasagna_rolls.html

Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

- by The Health Nut

I really wanted to make cheesecake but didn't have a good enough reason to make an entire complicated cheesecake so I settled for these bars instead (definitely gonna make cheesecake someday though- somebody give me a reason!). I made them for a Super Bowl party and I think everyone really liked them.

Nutella Cheesecake Bites

- by The Oven Mits

February 5th this year was World Nutella Day! In honor of it, we all decided to make something super mouth-watering to show each other over webcam!! I decided to make nutella cheesecake bites! This worked out very well actually because The Dark Chocolate's birthday was the week before and I was able to make these to send to him as a surprise! He loves cheesecake and, let's be honest, who DOESN'T love nutella, so this was perfect!

Sweet Potato Leek Hash Browns

- by The Oven Mits

I thoroughly agree with Turk (from Scrubs). Brinner... that is, breakfast for dinner... is by far the best meal ever (also, obviously, is brunch!)! So I decided to make these hash browns with a fried egg for dinner! It was super easy and you can change it up quite a bit, so think of the recipe as more of a baseline.

Mint Oreo Truffles

By The Vegan

I've been meaning to post this recipe for a while. Before classes started The Dark Chocolate and I made Mint Oreo Truffles (vegan of course). These are super-dee-duper easy and delectable (thank you, thesaurus.com).

Sweet Potato Burgers

by The Vegan

Sigh I know, I haven't posted in forever! I'll try to keep up. Today, for lunch, The Cookie Monster and I made sweet potato burgers. What can I say, cooking for yourself isn't nearly as fun.

Festive Grilled Zucchini and Sweet Potato Salad

- by The Oven Mits

More sweet potato recipes! I liked this because it pretty much just had a million vegetable. Anddd I got to use my George Foreman!

Crustless Spinach Quiche

- by The Oven Mits

When I went grocery shopping the other day, I walked by the cheese aisle and was instantly drawn to the block of muenster cheese! So I made this quiche especially for the cheese :)

Apple Cinnamon Muffin

-by The Oven Mits

For one of my weekly classes, we get designated roles. The designated leader during that session is responsible for bringing everyone food. This is what I brought in! They are really easy to make and really good! Also, since it has apples, I was able to fool myself that this was actually healthy ;)

Candy Bar Cake

- by The Health Nut

I had a special birthday to celebrate so I wanted to make a cake that would be delicious, yet be easy to make in a not-very-well-stocked kitchen. Therefore, I decided to make the candy bar cake that I had once found while FGing. The good thing about this cake is that you can be very creative with it- I didn't follow an exact recipe, I just did what I wanted to.

Coconut Cookies

- by the Coco Nut

So earlier this week I was really craving some cookies and had a lot of time to waste (actually, I should have been studying). I decided to make some coconut cookies. I originally wanted to make Coconut Nutella cookies, but decided to save my Nutella to eat with a spoon. :)