Sweet Potato Salad Recipe

It's Friday people! Rock On!

Today is OFFICIALLY the first day of summer for us. In true summer fashion, we slept in (7:30 am), cooked breakfast, and just hung out. Then we decided to not be lazy bums, although I'm sure there will be a many lazy days this summer, and planned a little park date with our besties Alisha and Harper! It's just the beginning and summer is looking good. :)

Also in summer fashion, today I'm sharing a potato salad! Perfect for the many BBQ's and parties everyone loves to throw during summer. 

We made this on Tuesday night and have enjoyed it as a side dish for the past three nights! It's wonderful to eat immediately after cooking AND after sitting over night. 

You could make it a spicy salad but adding different peppers, but since I have two youngins in the house, I kept it very mild with just the green chilies. 

(This recipe was originally found on PopSugar, and adapted to my liking)
Gluten Free, Vegan, and Paleo
Sweet Potato Salad

What you’ll need:

4 large sweet potatoes
1/2 cup EVOO, take out 2 tbsp and put to side
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
1 medium red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and quartered
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/2 cup sliced scallion
1/2 cup minced fresh mint leaves
1 (4.5oz) can chopped green chiles
1/4 cup golden raisins

Salt and pepper

What you do:

Preheat the oven to 400˚F. 

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into bite size pieces. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with 2 tbsp EVOO. Toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Put in oven and roast, turning occasionally for about 30 minutes, or until browned.

While sweet potatoes are cooking, combine rest of EVOO, vinegar, bell pepper, and cumin in a food processor or blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into large bowl.

When sweet potato are crispy and brown, remove from oven and place in large bowl with dressing. 

Add scallions, mint leaves, chilies, and raisins. 
Toss everything together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve and Enjoy!

XOXO

RECIPE: Sweet Potato, Chicken Sausage, and Kale Bake

Hey guys! I hope this Tuesday morning finds you terrific! 

I made this recipe 2 (TWO!!!) weeks ago and just now getting to post the recipe. I kept meaning to write it down, but time slips away from my butterfingers...mmmm butterfingers... :)

This recipe is pretty saucy. If you don't want it too saucy, don't add all the sauce into the baking dish. My dad asked if there was rice or something to put under it. I didn't even think to cook anything else, but since it's so saucy, I would recommend serving over rice or quinoa. If you're eating by itself (like me), half the sauce amount. 

Sweet Potato, Chicken Sausage, and Kale Bake

What you’ll need:

1 tbsp EVOO
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 lb chicken sausage, sliced

2 cups kale, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
¾ cup almond milk¼ cup flour of choice
¾ shredded Gruyere cheese or white cheddar
What you do:

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat EVOO and garlic in a large saucepan over medium high heat.

Add sweet potatoes and cook for 3-5 minutes. Let sit a few minutes to brown.

Add chicken sausage and stir to combine. Cook until both are browned.
Pour into a baking dish.

Bring the broth and milk to a low boil. Whisk in the flour and ¼ cup of cheese to form a slightly thicker sauce. Keep whisking to until sauce is smooth.

Pour sauce over the sweet potatoes, sausage, and kale in the baking dish.

Top with remaining ½ cup cheese.

Bake for 10 minutes until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.

Enjoy!

XOXO

Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

TGIF! (Am.I.right?!) 

This week has been booked solid with activities, pampering, twerkin', and workin'! (JK on the twerkin' part) And it doesn't look like there's any slowing down for the next two months. Why, calendar,why?!

In the midst of the chaos, I managed to whipped up these delicious stuffed sweet potatoes on Wednesday night. There were leftovers,so I ate one for lunch yesterday. At first I didn't think to share the recipe because it was one of those things when you just throw a bunch of stuff into a pan and dinner's served. But while I devoured one for lunch I thought, "YES! I must share this!" 

On Tuesday we had tacos, and I used the left over ground turkey to make these stuffed potatoes. So, before you start this recipe, go cook up some ground turkey. 

Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

What you’ll need:

3 medium sweet potatoes
1 lb ground turkey, cooked and seasoned with taco seasoning
1 tsp EVOO
1 clove garlic, minced
1 can black beans
1 12oz package Birds Eye Southwestern Corn, cooked

½ cup cheddar cheese
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro

Salt & Pepper

What you do:

Preheat oven to 400
Wash sweet potatoes, prick with a fork or knife, and place on baking sheet lined with foil.

Bake for 1 hour or until tender.

While the sweet potatoes are baking, make the filling:

Heat a skillet over medium heat.

Add EVOO and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add the beans, ground turkey, and corn. Stir to combine.
Add cilantro & salt and pepper to taste.

Remove sweet potatoes from oven. Slice down the middle and season lightly with salt. Spoon the filling with a slotted spoon into the cooked sweet potatoes.
Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top and serve!

For an extra kick, serve with sriracha.

Enjoy!

XOXO

Perfectly Crisp Sweet Potato Fries

Have you ever made sweet potato fries at home, only to totally fail and shamefully serve soggy fries to your family? I know the feeling all to well. 

I love making homemade fries with sweet potatoes or butternut squash because my girls love them! Sometimes, when I'm in a hurry and don't have time to soak, dry, bake, and flip, I have no choice but to serve soggy fries. That's just life and soggy fries happen. 

BUT, on other occasions, I make the perfect sweet potato fries and they create fights! Literally! When there are 10 fries left on the plate, Sophia starts hoarding them and quickly shoves the last  fries in her mouth before anyone can get their hands on them. We are usually eating the left over food on our kid's plates after dinner, but not when momma makes these!

Perfectly Crisp Sweet Potato Fries

What you’ll need:

2 medium/large sweet potatoes
1 egg white
Salt
Garlic salt, paprika,or any other herb/spice)

What you do:

Peel and cut potatoes into even strips. To make sure they cook evenly, try to make the slices as even as possible.

Soak potato strips in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes. Drain and pat completely dry.

Preheat oven to 425 F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, add egg white and beat until foamy.
Add potatoes, salt, and other spices. Toss around to coat.
Spread potato slices onto baking sheet, making sure they are not overlapping or over crowded.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Take out and flip the fries over.

Bake for another 15 minutes or until completely cooked.
Reduce temperature to 200F and dry/crisp fries for 15 minutes. 

***Occasionally vent the oven to allow the steam to escape. This will help crisp up the fries more. ***

ENJOY!

XOXO

Sweet Potato Kale Soup

Soup is a major part of Fall. Once that cooler weather comes rolling in, I get the itch to make soup. A couple weeks ago I posted a Sweet Potato chili (which is amazing and you must make it!!) and last week I made another soup with sweet potatoes. I don't know what it is about sweet potatoes, they're delicious and don't ever need to be left out of a soup! Let that be a tip to every cook in the world! :) 

This soup is one of my favorite and super easy to make! Sophia and Nelps even eat it! Score! Packed with kale and sweet potatoes, it should be renamed Super Food Soup!

Sweet Potato Kale Soup

What you’ll need:
EVOO
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 sweet onion, chopped
4 Chicken sausage links, sliced into ½ inch pieces
5 cups chopped Kale
4 cups chicken broth

What you do:

In a large pot, heat EVOO over medium high heat.
Add in chicken sausage and stir around a couple minutes until browned.
Add in sweet potato and onion. Sauté until onion softens (about 5 minutes)
Stir in garlic. Sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
Add in chopped kale and chicken broth.
Bring to boil and then turn down heat to simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes  - 1 hour.
Season with salt & pepper as desired.
ENJOY!

XOXO

Sweet Potato Chili

The weather has finally cooled down a bit here on this side of Florida. It'll be in the low 70s in the morning, but then jump up to high 80s by afternoon. (Just because I wrote that, it will probably be back in the 90s tomorrow.)

It's not THAT much cooler, but that little tease of cool weather makes me want to make some good ol' soup, curl up next to a fire in a big sweatshirt. But since I don't see any bonfires in my future for another month or two, I'll settle with a big bowl of chili.

This chili was exactly what I was hungry for. Warm comfort food with a hint of sweetness from the potatoes. 

I don't really like to add much spicy seasonings to my cooking these days since I have little mouths to feed. If you wanted the chili more spicy, you could definitely add a little bit of cayenne pepper to it. 

Sweet Potato Chili

What you’ll need:
1 lb ground turkey
EVOO
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 can Rotel (Diced tomatoes with green chilies) Do not drain
1 can black beans (drained and rinsed)
3 cups chicken broth

What you do:
Cook ground turkey on skillet over medium high heat. Set aside.
In a large pot, heat EVOO over medium high heat. Add in sweet potato, onion, and green pepper.
Sauté until onion softens (about 7 minutes)
Stir in garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano. Sauté for another 1-2 minutes.
Add in rotel, black beans, ground turkey, and broth.
Bring to boil and then turn down heat to simmer. Let simmer for minimum 1 hour. (I let mine simmer for about 3 hours)
Top with choice of toppings.
ENJOY!

We topped ours with Greek yogurt and avocado.Other good toppings would be sour cream, cheese, green onions, and fritos!

XOXO