Sweet Potato Stir-fry

My good friend Erin shared this recipe with me. I was definitely intrigued. I'll admit I'm not really familiar with Asian cuisine. I like to eat it though, so that's something. The original recipe called for Thai chilies, which I omitted. I'm not sure if Thai chilies are hot or not, but I'm pretty sure if Josie (3) had seen me bring the chilies into the house she would have refused to eat dinner for a week. The kid hates spice. 

4 Tbsp. peanut oil 

2-4 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. fresh ginger, minced

3 sweet potatoes, peeled and grated (I used the shredding attachment on my Cuisinart)

1/2 cup sliced green onion

2-3 Tbsp. soy sauce

1/4 - 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Splash of rice wine vinegar

3 cups cooked brown rice

1. Heat oil in frying pan or wok over medium-high. Saute garlic and ginger until fragrant. Add sweet potato and green onions. Cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Cook 5-10 minutes more or until sweet potatoes start to brown a little. Add a splash of rice wine vinegar. Serve over brown rice. 

Baby tested.

Baby approved. Oh and for the record, I served him dinner in a little bowl. He just didn't waste any time dumping it out and spreading his food all over the table. We're casual but we're not THAT casual.

Review - I'm actually surprised that the kids ate this because it turned out spicier than I thought it was going to be. It was really good though. We all enjoyed it. I'd like to add some more vegetables next time. Maybe only use two sweet potatoes and then bulk it up with other veggies (snow peas, broccoli, bell peppers). Or maybe I should just leave it alone as it was pretty darn good just the way it is.

Pasta Puttanesca

This is an easy weeknight pasta dish. It's a nice change from boring jarred pasta sauce and it doesn't take long to prepare at all. You can have all your chopping done by the time your water is boiling.

8 ounces uncooked spaghetti

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 - 4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup pitted chopped Kalamata olives

2 tablespoons capers, drained and rinsed
1 teaspoon anchovy paste
1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 (14-ounce) can diced or crushed tomatoes

1 large handful of fresh spinach, roughly chopped

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to directions. 

2. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic until fragrant. Add parsley through red pepper flakes. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer 5-10 minutes. Stir in spinach and allow greens to wilt, 1-2 minutes. Toss cooked pasta with the sauce. Top with Parmesan cheese. 

Review - Easy, delicious, everyone loved it. Really though, how can you go wrong with spaghetti? Adults love it. Kids love it. Serve with a green salad and you've got yourself a healthy meal.

Lemon Ricotta Pasta

I don't think I like ricotta. Or maybe I didn't buy a good brand. I don't know, but this dish was bland. Had I followed the original recipe it would have been even more tasteless. I added a couple large cloves of crushed garlic and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan and it still didn't have enough flavor. Jay suggested adding fresh basil, which would have helped. It definitely needed something extra.

8 oz. pasta, any shape

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

15 oz. ricotta

1 Tbsp. butter, softened

1 lemon

2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

Salt and Pepper

1. Boil water for pasta. 

2. Grate the zest of the lemon and squeeze out all of the juice. Add both juice and zest to medium mixing bowl. Add to it the ricotta, butter, garlic and Parmesan.

3. Cook pasta. When pasta is almost finished throw in the peas. Ladle out about 1/3 cup of hot pasta water and pour into ricotta mixture. Whisk until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Strain pasta and peas. Pour back into saucepan. Pour ricotta sauce over the top. Stir until pasta and peas are coated. 

Review - This wasn't horrible, but I don't think I'll make it again, unless I change up the recipe. A lot. We all ate it, but it was just an 'eh' recipe.

Chewy Chocolate Cookies

I've discovered my new goal in life, ok maybe not life, maybe just this month. Perfect. These. Cookies. They are inches away from mind-blowing. I'm not exaggerating. Part of it is the fact that you can whip these up in a matter of minutes and you probably have the 5 main ingredients in your pantry right now. 

I just baked my second batch of these in three days. They were only half batches, don't judge. I had to shove a stick of gum in my mouth so that I'd stop eating them. That's how good they are. 

The first time I made these I used walnuts, like the original recipe calls for, and they were good, but I knew they could be better. Today I decided to try almonds. I had a bag of almonds, dried cherries and dark chocolate covered almonds from Back to Nature (love that brand), so I decided to chop everything up and throw it in the batter. I usually don't like fruit and chocolate together in my cookies, but the zing from the cherries was nice. The almonds were a little chewy, so think I need to toss them into the food processor next time and pulse them to get a finer result.

This recipe yielded 12 cookies. I wouldn't trust myself with 24 of these chocolate pieces of heaven, but go right on ahead and double it up if you dare.

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder (I used a combination of dark cocoa and regular cocoa)

pinch of salt (omit if you're using salted nuts)

1 cup nuts, dried fruit, chopped

2 egg whites

1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 320.

2. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper. Do not skip either of these steps.

3. Whisk together sugar, cocoa, salt and nuts. Pour in egg whites and vanilla. Mix with wooden spoon until blended. Batter should be wet, but not runny. Let batter sit at room temperature for 15-20 minutes. I'm not sure what this does, but it gave me a thicker cookie that didn't spread as much.

4. Spoon onto prepared baking sheet. Bake 14-16 minutes. Cookies should be glossy and slightly cracked. Transfer cookies, still on the parchment paper, onto wire rack. Cool completely. Enjoy.

I like this picture because it looks like a light from above is shining down on this cookie. It's fitting.

Pasta with broccoli, peppers, and Kalamata olives

Apparently I have no clue what a sauce is. This is another recipe from the "Sauces and Dips" chapter of Moosewood. The original recipe is called "Broccoli Sauce." I don't know how this qualifies as a sauce. There's nothing saucy about it, at all. It was really good though so I don't care what they want to call it. I'm changing the name though because "Broccoli Sauce" is misleading and I don't want ya'll to be disappointed when there's no lovely sauce to ladle over your pasta.

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 cup chopped onion

4-5 large garlic cloves, minced

1-1.5 lb. broccoli, cut into florets and then roughly chopped, about 4 cups

1 tsp. Kosher salt

1 small red or yellow bell pepper, diced

2 cups vegetable broth

2 Tbsp. flour

1/4 cup water

2 cups chopped tomatoes

1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved

1/2 - 3/4 lb. pasta (I had a hodgepodge mix of whole wheat macaroni and rotini)

Parmesan and black pepper

1. Boil water for pasta. 

2. Heat olive oil in a large, deep skillet. Add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until onion is translucent. Add the broccoli and salt and continue to cook another 10 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Add the bell pepper and saute 5 minutes longer.

3. Add broth and turn up heat until it boils. In small bowl, whisk flour and water together until flour is dissolved and there are no clumps. Pour into boiling broccoli mixture, stirring constantly. Sauce will thicken. Turn heat down and add tomatoes and olives. Keep on low while pasta cooks.

4. Cook pasta. Drain and add too broccoli mixture. Top with grated parmesan and freshly ground pepper. 

Do you see any sauce in this picture? No? Neither do I.

Sauce or no sauce it was pretty tasty.

Review - The kids couldn't get enough of this pasta. Just the pasta. I couldn't get either of them to try the peppers or the tomatoes. Josie could not be convinced that the tomatoes were in fact tomatoes and not bell peppers. I really liked this dish. It was good cold the next day too.

Veggie Egg Casserole

Breakfast for dinner, yay! This was a super simple recipe. You could easily change up the veggies to your liking if you're not into spinach and tomatoes. I served this dish with whole wheat toast and apple slices.


1 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 large cloves of garlic, diced
4-5 Roma tomatoes, chopped
16 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed, squeeze out water
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar)
10 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2-4 slices bread, torn into small pieces
1/3 cup grated parmesan


Preheat oven to 375. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Set aside. 


Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent. Add tomatoes. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn off heat. Add Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Add spinach.


Crack eggs into bowl. Whisk slightly. Stir in milk. 

Spread bread pieces in prepared baking dish. Spread spinach mixture on top of bread. Sprinkle half the cheddar on top. Pour egg mixture. Sprinkle remaining cheeses (cheddar and parm) on top. Bake for 35 minutes or until top is slightly brown. Serve with a dollop of plain yogurt or sour cream and salsa.

Review - I really liked this dish. I'm hoping it reheats well tomorrow for breakfast because I have half a pan left. The kids both ate a few bites, but they were more interested in the toast and apple slices. Husband is on swing shift so I haven't heard his opinion yet, but he took a big piece so apparently he thought it was going to be good. You could add any extra veggies you want or substitute for the spinach and tomatoes if those don't float your boat. Sauteed peppers and mushrooms would be a nice addition.

Update - Leftovers tasted great. I actually preferred it cold the next morning. I'm kind of weird though. I don't like reheated leftovers. I think it stems back to my college days of eating cold pizza for breakfast after a long night of, um, studying.

Honey Baked Lentils

I have my dear friend Julie to thank for this recipe. Thank you Julie! I never would have thought the flavor combination would work, but it does. It's really wonderful. Don't let the name fool you, this isn't a sweet dish. The honey just adds a hint of sweetness. The cooking time is a little long, but it goes together in a matter of minutes. Once it's in the oven you don't have to do anything to it so you can do like I did and set the timer and then go entertain the kids and attempt to fold a load of laundry.

I halved the original recipe, but kept the spices the same. I also decreased the cooking time and apparently I should have decreased it a little more because my lentils were a tad overcooked.

1 1/4 cups lentils

1 bay leaf

3 cups water or stock, warmed

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp ground ginger

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup honey

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. In a dutch oven or covered casserole, combine lentils through onion. Stir. Drizzle honey over the top. Cover and bake for an hour or until lentils are desired consistency (check around 45 minutes) Serve with brown rice. 

Review - Excellent! Jay and I both really liked this, even though I over cooked it. The kids ate their portions, but weren't super excited. This is partly my fault. I've gotten into the habit of giving them too many snacks before dinner to keep them out of the kitchen. Eli has also entered the I-want-to-eat-with-a-fork-all-by-myself phase and it's pretty much impossible for an almost 15-month old to eat lentils and rice with a fork. I gave him an 'A' for effort though. 

Update - I made these again and didn't overcook them. Yay! I updated the instructions above.