Smashed Hot Sweet Potatoes

There are two types of people in this world.

People that actually try out recipes that they pin on Pinterest...and those who don't.

I was totally in the latter category for a while and then I decided I couldn't be that person anymore. I needed to make some changes in my life, starting with cooking things I pin. (Being a little over dramatic here, I know.)

These Smashed Hot Sweet Potatoes were one of the first things I tried and they were a hit! Super easy, flavorful and a nice change from sweet potato fries. Not that I really needed a change from sweet potato fries, those are my fav.

Crispy, sweet and spicy outside, soft, fluffy inside. A match made in heaven...or in your own kitchen!

 

Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes

Prep Time: 30 min. Total Time: 1 hour

Recipe from The Creekside Cook (lots of great recipes!)

 

Ingredients:

1 & ½ tablespoons light brown sugar

½ teaspoon kosher salt

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon New Mexico chili powder

½ teaspoon smoked sweet paprika

¼ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder

⅛ teaspoon granulated garlic

10 coarse grinds of black pepper

2 medium to large sweet potatoes

2 tablespoons melted butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

 

Directions:

1. Set a large pan of water with a teaspoon of kosher salt over medium heat until simmers.
2. Cover a large baking sheet with foil.
3. In a small bowl, mix together all of the dry spices, and set aside
4. Peel the sweet potatoes, and cut into 1 & ½ inch thick slices.
5. When the water is simmering, add the potato slices and cook for around 10 minutes, until the slices are getting a little soft. (Make sure they are soft enough to mash!)
6. Remove the slices to a cooling rack. You can leave them on the rack until they cool off and the outsides are dry, or if you are in a hurry, blot all of the moisture from the surface of the slices. This is important – they have to be dry on the outside or they won’t get crispy.
7. Start the oven preheating to 400º
8. Lay the slices of sweet potato on the prepared pan, and use a water glass to gently compress each slice – you want them to flatten out and the edges should get kind of ruffly.
9. Mix the butter and oil together.
10. Using a pastry brush or the back of a spoon, spread a thin layer of the oil and butter mixture on each slice.
11. Sprinkle some of the spice mixture over each slice, and press onto the surface lightly so that it sticks to the potato slices.
12. Gently turn oven each slice, and repeat the oil/butter and dry spice application as you did on the first side.
13. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes, until the bottom of the slices is getting caramelized and crispy.
14. Carefully flip over each slice and roast another 10 minutes or so, until both sides are crispy and the spice mixture has melted together and turned all nicely brown.
15. Serve!

Enjoy!

 

Now to start trying out my work-out pins...

Laura

 





Friday Funny

Charlotte was about two weeks old when I called my mom and said, "Taking care of a baby is oddly similar to taking care of a drunk person. They constantly are drinking, they spit up all over themselves and poop and pee whenever."

Well, lo and behold, the internet world agrees with me.

Click here to see the 26 reasons kids are pretty much just tiny drunk adults.

#6, #7 and #18 are my favorites, what's yours?
Laura

Super Smoothie

You don't realize how loud the blender is until you have a baby and they look at that strange machine like, "What the heck is that thing and why is it so horribly loud?!"

Little does she know that she has the potential to be even LOUDER than a blender full of ice. And she has proved that fact, too.

Y'all know I've always been a fan of smoothies for breakfast, lunch, snack, really anytime of the day. After having a baby that didn't weigh the 23 pounds that I had somehow gained when I was pregnant, I'm an even bigger fan of smoothies. They're filling, nutritious and simple to throw together quickly and drink while I'm loving on my sweet girl....or changing a diaper, cleaning up spit-up or collapsing on the couch after she goes down for a nap. You get the idea.



This smoothie will not disappoint. Made creamy with a frozen banana, made sweet with mango and almond extract and packed with flax (great for nursing moms!) and fresh spinach!



I adapted this recipe from skinnytaste.com and she mentioned she saw it in a Superfood Smoothie book (see here) that has peaked my interest! I'm always looking for yummy, new smoothie recipes!

Mango Banana Spinach Smoothie

Adapted from SkinnyTaste.com

Makes 1 Smoothie

 

Ingredients:

1/2 frozen banana

1/4 c. frozen (or fresh) mango

1/2 c. fresh spinach

1 tbsp. ground flax seeds

1 small splash (approx. 1 tsp.) almond extract

1 c. milk

1/2 c. ice

 

Blend all ingredients together until smooth and creamy.

 

Enjoy!

Laura

Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese

Supposedly all you have to do is cut a spaghetti squash in half, drizzle it with EVOO, roast it in a 375 degree oven for about an hour and you can pull a fork through the guts and make little spaghetti that are actually SQUASH! Say whaaattttt?

Y'all, it's true! I've tried it and it couldn't be simpler!

You can toss it with pasta sauce and add a chicken breast but how blasé would that be! (Blasé aka bland, boring, beneath your taste buds). But, if you do want to do that some night, I'm totally not judging.

Once you make SkinnyTaste's Baked Spaghetti Squash and Cheese, though, you will understand how blasé the first option sounds.

Strings of spaghetti squash, mixed with onions, spinach and made creamy with cups of cheddar cheese and sprinkled with Parmesan. And baked until bubbly. The hardest part of this recipe is cutting the spaghetti squash. (Seriously, does anyone else struggle with this? It's a job for my hubby.)

 

It's a low-fat, veggie-rich dish that tastes so decadent you'd never know it was skinny!

 

Move over mac and cheese, there's a new dish in town.

Laura

(P.S. That last line re: the mac and cheese makes me giggle.)

I'm baaaaccckkkkk!

Y'all. I've been MIA for a while. I realize that. And, believe me, I have the most adorable, cuddly, precious, perfect excuse.




 Meet Charlotte. She was born November 1, 2012 and she has made our lives fun, busy, sometimes overwhelming but always joyful.

I'm not going to sugarcoat it- babies are a LOT of work. I know, I know, you already knew that...well take your expectation of how much work they are and then multiply that by, oh about, 185%. Then add 10. Whew. So, long story short, that's why I've been gone.

I've had so many encouraging comments from some of you that I was missed. You have no idea how much that meant to me. This little ol' blog started as a creative outlet for me and it felt really great to know that other people enjoy yummy food, fun crafts and funny Friday jokes as much as I do.

I've had urges the last six months to blog again but they quickly are distracted with a dirty diaper, a baby smile or giggle and usually rarely with the desire obligation to take a shower. (Yikes.)

I've been waiting to blog again until I really missed it. And I do. I miss sharing with y'all. Gosh, that's a good feeling.

I can't promise that I will blog daily. And I can't promise that I will take lots of food pictures. And I might just link you straight to the recipe and use their pictures (giving them credit, of course).

But, I can promise that your kitchen will be full of yummy dinners and sugar filled desserts again. I can promise that you might be inspired to get crafting on a Saturday afternoon. I can promise that you will laugh at silly videos, most likely of Sophia Grace and Rosie. Those are good promises that I plan to keep.

I also promise this won't turn into an all baby, all the time blog. But I can't promise that sometimes a picture or video of our sweet girl won't turn up on here. Y'all, she's just so stinkin' cute!

So, in summary, thanks for waiting for me. It feels good to be back.

Get your spatulas ready for scrumptious recipes comin' at ya next week.
Laura

(So, the post ends here. But for a cute bonus, keep scrolling...)