Sweet Potatoes

Sweet, sweet potatoes

http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20600272,00.html?xid=healthyliving09292016

It's no surprise that sweet potatoes are at the top of nearly everyone's healthiest foods list. One baked, medium-sized sweet potato contains 438% of your daily value of vitamin A (a white potato contains 1%), 37% of your vitamin C, and some calcium, potassium, and iron too. All this at just 105 calories!

What's more, they also deliver 4 grams of dietary fiber—16% of the daily value—and absolutely zip in terms of fat.

Here are a few recipes to help you get your sweet potato fill!

Curried Carrot, Sweet Potato, and Ginger Soup

Rita Maas

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 3 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled sweet potato
• 1 1/2 cups (1/4-inch) sliced peeled carrots
• 1 tablespoon grated ginger
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
   

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots; saute 3 minutes or until tender. Add potato, carrots, ginger, and curry; cook 2 minutes. Add broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until vegetables are tender; stir in salt.

Pour half of soup in a food processor; pulse until smooth. Repeat procedure with remaining soup.

Spicy Sweet Potato Oven Fries

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided 
  
  
• 4 small sweet potatoes, each cut lengthwise into 8 wedges (about 1 3/4 pounds)
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 
  

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425°.

Brush a large shallow pan with 1 teaspoon oil. Place pan in oven.

Combine 2 teaspoons oil and remaining ingredients in a large bowl; toss well. Carefully remove pan from oven; spread potato mixture in pan. Bake at 425° for 35 minutes or until crisp, stirring occasionally.

Red Beans and Rice

This summer while on vacation in Colorado we spent a day at a Renaissance Festival. There were lots of great food options to choose from so when it came time for lunch I spent some time weighing my options. Being gluten free I don't always have a lot of choices when it comes to lunch selections but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that they had red beans and rice. I very rarely eat red beans and rice but decided to try it. My oldest son decided that my meal looked pretty tasty and wanted one of his own. He ended up loving it and ever since then has been asking me when I was going to make red beans and rice for dinner. Since this is a meal I have never made I was hesitant as to how it would turn out and whether it would be well received by my family. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the recipe was easy AND my family loved it, so much so that two of my three kids wanted to take the leftovers for lunch the next day! I know that finding easy meals that the whole family will eat is difficult so I had to share this with you all. I hope your family enjoys it!

http://www.food.com/recipe/weeknight-red-beans-and-rice-37087

Rice Cooker Mac And Cheese

A few months ago I came across a super easy and yummy Mac and Cheese recipe that my whole family loves. This is a versatile recipe that can be used as a side dish or as a main dish. I use this recipe as a main dish by adding fully cooked chicken sausage and broccoli to make a complete meal. You could also add cooked ground beef or cooked ground turkey and other vegetables like peas or cauliflower. The best part is that it is fast and only takes about 30 minutes in a rice cooker. I hope your family will enjoy it as much as mine does!

Rice Cooker Mac & Cheese  (Serves 4-6)

• Prep Time: 5 mins,
 
• Cook Time: 35 mins,
 
• Rating: 

I don't know many kids who don't like macaroni and cheese. Come on, cheese and pasta, what's not to like? I love making my own mac and cheese, but even for someone like me who wants to make everything homemade, it's not always easy. Between cooking the...

Ingredients

• 2 cups pasta (any bite size pasta is fine. You can also use Gluten Free pasta)
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese (Cheddar or Colby work great)

Preparation

1. 1. Place the first 3 ingredients in the rice cooker and cook for 15 minutes.
2. 2. Open the lid, add the milk and cheese, stir to combine, close the lid and cook for an additional 20 minutes (25 minutes if you want it to have a crust on the bottom).
3. *Rice cookers can cook at different heats, so make sure to check the mac & cheese after if cooks for 30 minutes once or twice.
4. 3. Serve.
6. * Option: If you want to add cooked meat or vegetables (can be uncooked) you will do so in Step 2. 

Crape Myrtle 5K Run

If you are looking for a fun way to get your whole family out and active here's the event for you! The Crape Myrtle 5K Walk/Run will take place on Saturday September 24th at Boyd High School. Here is the link for further details. crapemyrtletrails.org

Hope to see you there!

How to Get Your Kids to Eat More Fruits and Veggies

If your kids turn up their noses to the fruits and veggies that you put on their plates this article might be just what you need. Hope it provides some helpful ideas!

http://weelicious.com/2016/09/09/eat-more-fruits-and-veggies/

Snack Attack

Our kids get home from school and within minutes it can look like a tornado has hit the pantry. Boxes are pulled off of shelves and wrappers are all over the kitchen table. Yes, these kids are hungry when they get home from a day of learning! As parents we can often get in a rut with snacks. Whether it's for after school or even for them to munch on during the day snack time can be challenging. Here are some ideas to help you when you just can't think of something new.

1. Fruit and Chocolate
Okay, you can't get much better than this. By melting some chocolate, preferably dark chocolate,  with a small amount of coconut oil (this varies depending on how much chocolate you are using but start out with just a few drops) you can melt up the perfect pairing for some fruit. My favorite fruit and chocolate combos are bananas, strawberries, pineapple and apples. The coconut oil keeps the chocolate from clumping and can be omitted if you don't have any or have an allergy.

2. Mix It Up
Most kids love snack mixes. By mixing together some cheese crackers or pretzels with nuts, raisins, seeds and chocolate chips you have a great snack that's perfect for busy afternoons. This one is so easy because you can make it just the way your child likes it and they can even help grab their favorite ingredients.

3. Whip It Up
No child can resist whipped cream, many adults can't either! There is no need to save the homemade whipped cream for Thanksgiving. Whip up your own batch and grab some fruit for dipping. Here is a simple recipe that can be made in minutes. This recipe calls for Promised Land Heavy Whipping Cream but I have used it with other brands.

http://www.promisedlanddairy.com/recipe_items/promised-land-dairy-homemade-whipped-cream/

4. Go Nuts
One of my favorite snacks is an apple cut in half (seeds removed) spread with peanut butter or almond butter and topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon. My kids also like dipping sliced apples in peanut butter but this would work with any nut butter.

5. Kabobs
Fruit and cheese kabobs are a great way to fill kids up after school. With a few wooden skewers, some cheese and fruits of your choice you can create a snack on a stick that is sure to please even picky eaters.

Happy Snacking!

Pancake Recipe

Weekends are normally the time when I like to make a big breakfast for my family. As we approach a long weekend, I thought I would share one of my favorite pancake recipes. Enjoy!

Pancake Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour (you can use regular flour, wheat flour or a cup for cup Gluten Free flour)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup milk or almond milk
1 egg

Preheat pancake griddle to 350 degrees or stove top griddle to medium heat. Grease pan with butter to prevent sticking.

In a bowl, mix flour, sugar and baking powder. In a separate bowl, combine milk and egg. Whisk milk mixture into flour mixture until blended. 

Spoon batter on to griddle flipping only when bubbles appear on the tops of the pancakes. Serve with real maple syrup. 

Add Ins:
This recipe is super yummy with chocolate chips or white chocolate chips!
Blueberries would also work well in this recipe. 

Note: I always double this recipe. If we have leftovers I use them for breakfast the next day!