New Recipes

I really like to cook and missed doing it regularly when I was pregnant. So, here are a couple of my recent new favorites:

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes
We just had them as the main course, with some roasted asparagus on the side! A great vegetarian dinner, though they'd be a great complement to a meal, too.


Ingredients:

* 3 sweet potatoes, even in size and scrubbed
* 4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
* 2 tablespoons brown sugar
* 4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
* salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

* Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

*Place sweet potatoes on sheet tray and bake for 1 hour or until soft. Remove from oven and let stand until cool enough to handle.*

* Split potatoes and remove the flesh to a medium sized bowl, reserving skins. In another bowl add butter and cream cheese and the all of the spices and mash with a fork or rubber spatula.

* Add the butter and cream cheese mixture to the sweet potato flesh and fold in completely. Add the filling back to the potato skins and place on a half sheet tray. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

* During the last 5 minutes of baking, sprinkle the brown sugar on the top.

*I totally baked the sweet potatoes in the microwave! sooo much faster and didn't have to have the oven on as long in the summertime!


Roasted Cauliflower

Ingredients

* 1 head cauliflower (about 2 pounds), cut into bite-size florets (about 8 cups)
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
* 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 2 teaspoons kosher salt
* 2 teaspoons roughly chopped fresh thyme leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Toss the cauliflower with the olive oil, garlic, and red pepper on a baking sheet; sprinkle with the salt and thyme and toss again. Roast until golden and tender, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and serve.

*I used dried thyme and also generously sprinkled Parmesan cheese on the cauliflower before roasting!

Matt's the Best!

So, I'm nauseas again today, for the first time in awhile. But, Matt's just the absolute best, once again!

The only thing that sounded good to me was cornbread - so, he made it for me! From scratch! and, it's soooooo good!

What a great husband!

And, here's the recipe, if any one is interested! It's easy, and just sooo much better than the boxed mix.

Golden Corn Bread

* 1 cup yellow Corn Meal
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 2 to 4 tablespoons sugar
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup milk
* 1 egg
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil



1. Preheat oven to 425°F.
2. In large bowl, combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. Add milk, egg and oil. Beat until fairly smooth, about 1 minute.
4. Bake in greased or sprayed 8-inch square baking pan 20 to 23 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Farm Stand Salsa

Our first small group meeting was tonight, so of course we had to have snacks! I made homemade salsa and guacamole, and just had to share this salsa recipe! It's fabulous! You could eat it as a side dish, with chips like salsa, or toss it over a green salad with some grilled chicken as an entree!

I haven't figured out what the Weight Watcher points would be, but it's got to be pretty low. I used canned corn and added black beans!

From the Food Network's Tyler Florence:

Farm Stand Salsa

2 ears fresh, sweet corn, cut off the cob
1/2 medium red onion, diced
2 green onions, white and green parts, chopped
1 1/2 pints cherry tomatoes, halved
1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, and chopped in chunks
1 jalapeno, sliced
1/4 bunch fresh cilantro, leaves chopped
1 lemon, juiced
1 lime, juiced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl, tossing to coat.