Recipe: Sweet Potato Bread

One of the Thanksgiving sides seems to traditionally be a sweet potato dish. This year we boiled and mashed sweet potatoes instead of baking them and were left with quite some leftovers.

Since I made the mashed potatoes into gnocchi, I figured I'd change the sweet potatoes into something as well. The same evening after I made the gnocchi, I made sweet potato bread for the next day's breakfast.


There was apple sauce in the refrigerator which is a perfect replacement for oil in these mix and pour recipes to make it low fat. Try to use unsweetened apple sauce when replacing the oil in recipes otherwise your end result will be too sweet.


Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 4 tablespoons milk
• 1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F
   
2. Use a spray oil to grease a 9"x5"x3" loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
   
4. Stir in the sugar, pecans, and raisins.
5. In another bowl, combine the eggs, applesauce, milk, and mashed sweet potatoes. Mix well.
6. Add the sweet potato mixture to the flour mixture and mix with a large spoon until combined.
7. Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Allow to cool for 15 minutes and then remove from pan.

Recipe: Banana Nut Bread

Bought a bunch of bananas and they ripened too fast? Don't throw them out! A banana that is turning black is actually very ripe and perfect for making banana bread.
Banana bread became a standard of American cooking books in the 1930s and gained popularity in the 1950s.

This recipe is adapted from one by Milliken & Feniger.

Ingredients

• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 4 ripe bananas
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.

Fold in the chopped walnuts.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Recipe: Omelet and Breakfast Sandwiches

In this week's Pathmark supermarket circular, I noticed that a carton of 18 large eggs is selling for $1.69, Banquet Brown 'N Serve Sausage Links or Patties is $1, and Pillsbury Grands Biscuits are $2 (use the $1 off 2 coupon here and get the cans for $1.50 each).

Putting them all together, I can make my own breakfast sandwiches just like the famous "Golden Arches" and save!
Total cost for all the ingredients: $4.19 and makes 8 breakfast sandwiches.

Before we start, we must first learn the technique of how to make a basic omelet.
Here is a video of Julia Child showing us just how it is done:



Ingredients

• 1 box of Banquet Brown 'N Serve Sausage Patties
• 1 can Pillsbury Grands Biscuits (I prefer Southern Style)
  
• 8 eggs
• butter or oil to cook the eggs
  

Directions

1. Prepare and bake biscuits as per manufacturer's instructions on can.
2. While biscuits are baking, prepare and cook sausage patties as per manufacturer's instructions on box.
3. Using an 8 inch non-stick pan, cook the eggs omelet style 2 at a time.
4. Flip the omelet in half and then cut in half with a spatula.
   
5. To assemble the sandwich, cut a biscuit in half sideways and lay half the omelet and then a sausage patty and then top with other biscuit.
6. Continue cooking the rest of the eggs the same way.
   

This is a recipe to make all the breakfast sandwiches at once (great for a family) but you can just bake the biscuits and then prepare the eggs and patty on the day that you are going to eat one (or two).

I don't season my omelet with salt & pepper as the biscuit and sausage have salt and seasonings already.

Recipe: Cranberry Walnut Granola

I still have Ocean Spray dried cranberries and walnuts from a previous trip to Costco. A large 10 pound box of oats was on sale last month and I had also bought a bottle of honey from Costco all using their coupons. After getting a bit tired of eating oatmeal everyday, I decided to attempt making my own granola for use in yogurt parfaits after seeing how expensive they are in the local delis.

You can use any type of raw oats but "Instant" just means that the oats were pressed thinner during processing to cook faster. I like "Old Fashioned" style which is thicker and give more crunchy texture to the finished product.

Ingredients

• 3-1/2 cups uncooked oats
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup honey (*check out my tip below)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (optional)
• 1 cup dried cranberries

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats and walnuts.
3. In a small bowl, combine oil, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. Mix well!
4. Pour over the oats & nuts. Mix until oats are totally covered in the honey mixture.
5. Spread mixture evenly on a aluminum foil lined jelly roll pan or on rimmed baking sheet.
6. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown, stirring every 10 minutes so that granola bakes evenly. Watch to prevent burning!
7. Cool granola completely.
8. Stir in dried cranberries and store in an airtight container.

Since there are no preservatives, the granola can store tightly covered up to 1 week.

Makes about 12 half cups servings.

*TIP I measured the oil first with a tablespoon so that when I measured the honey, it wouldn't stick to the spoon. 8 tablespoons = 1/2 cup liquid

Recipe: Arroz Caldo : Filipino Chicken Rice Soup

I made White Cut Chicken (Bak Chit Gai) the night before (recipe here) and have this lovely chicken stock left over. It's quite chilly and sleeting outside and I started craving Arroz Caldo, a thick Filipino rice soup that is inspired by the Chinese rice congee. Arroz Caldo means "Hot Rice" in Spanish and was probably given that name by the Spanish settlers in the Philippines when they discovered Chinese congee.

Since the stock is already flavored with ginger and garlic, I found it perfect for this comforting dish. I used some left-over cooked chicken to make this and sped up the process.

Ingredients

• 1 small onion (chopped)
• 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 2 inch piece of ginger (thinly sliced)
• 2 tbs vegetable oil
• 1 cup rice (either sweet rice or long grain or a combo of each)
• 1 pound boneless chicken meat (chopped: your choice of chicken breast or thigh)
• 6 cups water or chicken stock
• 2 tbs fish sauce (you can use salt or chicken bouillon if you don't have)
• 2 scallions (white and green part finely sliced for garnish)

Directions

1. In a medium sized pot, heat oil and cook the onion, garlic, and ginger for a minute until fragrant.
2. Add fish sauce and the chicken pieces and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the rice and stir until coated with the flavored oil.
4. Add the water or stock and cover.
5. Bring to a boil over high heat and then lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes stirring occasionally to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
6. When done, turn off heat. You may need to add a little water to adjust thickness to your preference.
7. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with the sliced scallions.

What's for dinner?

I know, I know... It's been a while since I blogged... Please forgive me.

So hopefully you've been using your computer to peruse the supermarket circulars of ALL the supermarkets in your neighborhood, looking online for printable manufacturer's coupons and making a shopping list of items that are on sale. If you have a membership or know of a friend who belongs to Costco you've been buying bulk and splitting the cost. Your pantry, refrigerator, and freezer are well stocked with your sale purchases.

Now what?

If you are tired of your favorite recipes (sometimes it happens) just use the search engine on your computer or websites like Food Network, Gourmet, Epicurious, All Recipes, etc... and enter in a vegetable, protein, and/or starch that you have and a few recipes will show up. Pick one that interests you and your taste buds. If you have basic cooking skills this shouldn't be so daunting to take on a new recipe. Just make sure that you follow instructions or videos provided. Don't be afraid to experiment. You might find a new favorite.

Tip: I keep my flour and sugar in airtight zip lock bags to maintain freshness and keep little buggers from getting into them. Fresh vegetables and fruits should not be left sitting in the refrigerator in the plastic bags that you put them in when you bought them at the supermarket. Moisture gets trapped in there and they could spoil faster. Put them into the crisper or drawer marked for them or in an airy plastic basket lined with paper toweling.

Recipe: Banana Bread

I always buy a large bunch of bananas for my smoothies but when they start to ripen faster than I can use them, I make banana bread. Here is a simple and fast recipe. If you have a stand mixer, it makes it all the faster to prepare.





Ingredients

* 2 cups flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup sugar
* 4 very ripe bananas (the blacker they are the sweeter)
* 1 teaspoon vanilla
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

In a large bowl cream together eggs and sugar then stir in mashed bananas, vanilla, oil and cinnamon.

Carefully add and stir in the flour mixture, a third at a time, until just combined.

Pour batter into a 9x5 loaf pan.

Bake for about 1 hour.


Use can serve this as a nice dessert. A toasted slice of banana bread with a scoop of vanilla or butter pecan ice cream on top. Add a drizzle of maple syrup for decadence!

Sausage, Egg, and Cheese Breakfast Sandwich

Just made a sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. Bought the sausage patties from Walmart and English muffins when on sale. They keep nicely in the freezer until needed. A large cookie cutter sprayed with PAM makes a nice egg mold and prevents sticking.

I was so hungry that I forgot to take a pic of it and ate it voraciously. It was SO good!

Ingredients

1 egg
1 English muffin
1 sausage patty
1 slice American cheese

1. Spray a small saute pan and the cookie cutter with spray oil (I used PAM)
2. Heat pan over medium heat.
3. Break the egg into a cup and gently pour it into the cookie cutter. Cook until white sets.
   
4. Lightly toast the English muffin
5. Microwave the frozen sausage patty according to package directions
6. Gently remove cookie cutter and flip egg over to other side and cook until done.
7. Assemble sandwich with English muffin, sausage, egg, and layer cheese slice. Top with English muffin.
8. Enjoy!

I used maple flavored sausage patties for a slight sweet taste against the salty sharp tang of the American cheese.

Recipe: Banana Berry Smoothie

At my local supermarkets this week, bananas are 50¢ a pound, yogurt is $1.99 a 32 oz. container and orange juice is $2.50 a half gallon. Since I always keep a bag of frozen strawberries and blue berries in my freezer, I can make a refreshing fruit smoothie for much less than it costs at a store!






Banana Berry Smoothie

Ingredients

1 banana
1 cup (6-8oz.) vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup orange juice (you can also use soy milk or skim milk)
1/2 cup frozen wild blueberries
1 1/2 cup frozen strawberries

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Makes about 4 cups (depending on the size of the banana and strawberries)

Recipe: Crepe Suzette

Here is a video that I found to show you how to make the French dessert, Crepe Suzette with the crepes that you made from my earlier blog.
BE VERY CAREFUL when pouring in any liquor into a skillet on a hot stove as the flames will cause the alcohol fumes to ignite! Best to remove the skillet from the open flame and then add the liquor then place back onto the stove.