Baked Sweet Potato Fries with Fresh Avocado Dip!

Sweet Potatoes!  Baked with lots of herbs and spices!   This is the first time that I've ever made sweet potatoes in a healthy way that is still delicious!  Usually these taters appear on our Thanksgiving table loaded with brown sugar, pineapples, and marshmallows . . . and calories.  Well not this time!

For this month's Secret Recipe Club I selected a healthy yet tasty side dish recipe from Jenna of the blog "The Newlyweds".   I love everything about this recipe and so did my husband!  Lots of flavor, lots of healthy goodness, and an interesting avocado based dipping sauce to top it off.

The avocado dip was SO good with a few minor adjustments.  We were eating it straight out of the bowl by the spoonful!  Even my husband who doesn't care for avocados thought it was delicious!  And that's saying something!  I added freshly chopped cilantro and fresh minced garlic to jazz it up with more flavor.  Mmmmm!  We grilled chicken breasts that had been marinaded in our favorite Mojo sauce to pair with the potatoes.  It was a great combination!  I'll most definitely prepare these spicy, baked sweet potatoes and avocado dip again!

One other plus:  The avocado dip would be a superb spread for a hamburger or taco!  Spread on thick of course!  Thanks Jenna!

Sweet Potato Oven Fries with Avocado Dip
(adapted from The Newlyweds)

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled or unpeeled, cut into 4-inch long and 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick fries
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/2 tsp. Mrs. Dash Southwestern Spice blend 
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
Place sweet potatoes in large bowl.
Toss with olive oil until sweet potatoes are coated.
Add paprika, chili powder, coriander, salt, and pepper; toss to distribute evenly.
Arrange the coated fries in a single layer on the prepared pan.
Bake for 20 minutes on the lower rack until sweet potatoes soften.
Transfer pan to the upper rack of the oven.
Bake 10 minutes longer, until fries are crispy.
Serve with Avocado Dip.

Avocado Dip

1 Haas avocado
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup cream cheese
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped.
6 scallions, white and light green part only, chopped (increased from 2)
1 lime, juiced
4 Tbsp. chopped, fresh cilantro (added)

2 tsps. freshly minced garlic (added)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the avocado, mayonnaise, cream cheese, jalapeno, scallions, cilantro, garlic, and lime juice into a blender or small food processor and blend briefly.
For a chunkier version the way that we like avocados, use a fork and mash everything together to your chunkiness preference.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve as a dip for the baked Sweet Potato Fries.

Enjoy!

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Mardi Gras Bananas Foster Muffins!

“Laissez les bon temps rouler”

Let the good times roll!  

It's Fat Tuesday, the traditional day to feast to the max before the period of Lent when many of us give up something as well as spend time giving to others through 'good works'.  This is also the week of Mardi Gras in the U.S. and Carnival in Italy, Brazil, and other countries.

Now I've only been to one Mardi Gras party in my entire life and it was a huge hoot of fun!  The host of the party was a Louisiana native and had fresh crawfish flown in for a gumbo.  However, before those little critters met their stew, we held a crawfish race!

It was ridiculous and lasted quite a long time, if you can imagine.  All the more time to drink more bourbon and rum-based concoctions.

At the end of the evening I enjoyed my first taste of the traditional Mardi Gras King Cake and was also the lucky winner of the piece of cake that had the baby Jesus figurine inside!  The cake was superb and someday I'll get my hands on a great recipe (there's 100's out there) and scratch it off my cooking and baking 'bucket list'.

I've just joined another foodie blog group, the Holiday Recipe Club and we're currently celebrating . . . you got it:   Mardi Gras!  This group obviously focuses on cooking for holidays, but each time we come together, we are given 3 ingredients that everyone must select from for their recipe while embracing the holiday theme.  Bourbon, bananas, and andouille sausage were the options and I chose to do something new with bananas.

Bananas and New Orleans just scream Bananas Foster, a traditional flaming dessert.  After googling this theme, I found some wonderful Mardi Gras Bananas Foster Muffins!  Except for a few changes, I prepared the muffins according to the recipe, but used my own cream cheese frosting recipe.  The addition of more butter flavoring to the frosting really adds some New Orleans 'bam' to ordinary cream cheese frosting.

I decided to drizzle the rum-sugar-cinnamon glaze on only 3 muffins and left the rest of the batch un-glazed.  Both Mr. M. and P. and I were glad because we didn't care for the overpowering rum flavor that dominated the deliciously light and flavorful muffins.  The glaze idea was fine, but the dark rum is something I'll leave out in the future.  I'll certainly make these muffins again . . . guaranteed!  They rival a family recipe and quite honestly, I like these banana muffins much better than the recipe we've always made!

There's a bit of rum flavor in the muffins too, but since they've were baked, the flavor is very, very subtle with the alcohol evaporating out.  I imagine that one could also simply add rum flavoring if they are opposed to alcohol.


I couldn't find any sugar crystals/glitter to sprinkle on top of the cream cheese, but found some tiny little sugar balls that fit the bill of the traditional purple, yellow, and green colors of Mardi Gras.  Their delicacy mirrors the taste of these muffins!

Mardi Gras Bananas Foster Muffins
adapted from Fifty-Two Cakes

1 1/2 cups white flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons dark rum
1 large egg, room temperature

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and fill two muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into one bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine mashed bananas, brown sugar, sugar, butter, milk rum and egg and blend completely.
Add the dry ingredients a bit at a time and blend completely after each addition.
Fill the muffin cups about 3/4 full.
Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until the muffins have a rich golden color and spring back when pressed gently.

Rum Glaze - optional

3 tablespoons dark rum
1 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

While the muffins are baking prepare the rum glaze.
Mix the three rum glaze ingredients until the sugar is dissolve.
Brush over the bananas foster muffins while they’re still warm from the oven.
Garnish with a dollop of cream cheese frosting and coarse purple sugar and coarse green sugar.

Roz's Cream Cheese Frosting
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4 cups powdered sugar
1 stick of butter, softened to room temperature
1 8-oz. package cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 tsp. butter flavoring

(Note:  This makes twice as much frosting as you'll need to for the muffins, so you may want to double the muffin recipe or reduce this frosting recipe in half)
With a hand-mixer, mix all of the ingredients together, pouring in a little of the powdered sugar at a time, mixing well after each addition of sugar.

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Our Super Bowl Spicy Chili!

Are you ready for some football?  For the Super Bowl today, we're about as ready as possible (mostly ready for all the hype to be over).  Oh yes, we'll watch the game alright, and most importantly, we'll enjoy noshing on some good eats the entire time!   On the menu is a pot of hot n' spicy chili, perfect for not only the big game, but also for a February Sunday afternoon even though the sun is shining brightly and the temperature is a spring-like 60 degrees.  So it's not as though we needed some chili to warm up our innards, but rather to just keep with our Super Bowl game tradition!  This chili recipe is a combination of a variety of recipes that I have married together throughout the years.  It is though, fairly spicy in heat and includes three varieties of beans plus some corn.  We just love it and I hope that you enjoy it too.

Favorite Spicy Hot Chili

4 Tbsp. olive oil
8 large garlic cloves, minced through a garlic press
2 - 3 cups finely chopped celery, including the leaves
2 onions, finely chopped
2 large green peppers, chopped
1 can of corn, drained
2 lbs. ground pork
4 - 5 lbs. ground lean ground round
1/2 can chopped jalapeno peppers . . . or better yet, 1/2 of one chopped fresh jalapeno pepper with seeds removed ~ ~ note that using the fresh option increases the level of heat (spiciness).
1/2 cup chili powder
1/3 cup cumin
2 tsp. oregano
2 Tbsp. red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. paprika
2 28-oz. cans peeled, whole or diced Italian tomatoes
3 6-oz. cans tomato paste
1 28-oz.  can tomato sauce
4 cups water
Louisiana Hot Sauce - - generously sprinkle as much as you like (and we like our chili HOT!)
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Garnish:
Sour cream
Finely shredded 4-cheese Mexican cheese blend
Chopped green onion stems
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Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pan.
Add the garlic, chopped onion, celery, and green pepper to saute'.
Add the pork and beef.  Cook while constantly stirring and breaking down the chunks of meat, cooking until the meat is browned nicely.
Add all of the spices and stir until well blended.
Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce and water.
Add the corn (really this is optional).
Add the jalapenos (use the amount you prefer for heat level).
Heat up the spiciness by adding Louisiana Hot Sauce, about 5 shots to begin with.
Adjust seasonings by adding more where desired, especially the cumin, chili powder, and red pepper flakes!
Cook on low heat for about an hour to allow all of the flavors to blend, adding more water if the chili becomes to thick.  Add a little water at a time until your preference of thickness is reached.
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Garnish with sour cream, Mexican cheese, and chopped green onion stems.
Serve with fresh cornbread and/or tortilla chips.
Also have small bowls of sour cream and Mexican cheese to pass around to your guests.
** This chili freezes very nicely too, since this is a big batch of chili!
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Steaks with Mushroom Sauce & Chive~Garlic Potatoes, Lightened Up!

Yes, you read the name of the recipe correctly!  Did I blow my healthy nutrition path that I've been on for a month now?  Not at all!  This is comfort food at it's best:  Lightened up!  This entree is also light in calories, coming in at about 326 calories for a 4-ounce portion.  This month of February when the winds blow cold and we yearn for foods that keep us more warm and cozy inside, the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club prepared healthier versions for a wintery "Comfort Food" theme.  Normally when I think of comfort foods, I think fattening, rib-sticking foods that are heavy enough to make me fall asleep on the spot.  So I was really shocked to find so many lightened up recipes for comfy food on the Cooking Light web-site.

As the web-site states, "It doesn't get any heartier then a big piece of steak topped with savory mushroom gravy and paired with creamy mashed potatoes."  So true!  And here it is with reduced calories and fat for us.  Yummo, it was comforting alright!

Trimming the fat off the beef helps reduce the calories, as well as sautéing the mushrooms in olive oil and red wine instead of butter.  All that I can say is that I was totally fooled that this dish is lighter in calories.  What a winner!  It was even raved about by my picky, picky skinny, meta-high metabolism husband, Mr. M. and P.!

I was concerned that I'd gain weight from this entree, but in fact, my weight loss remained steady.  However, you have to remember that I'm also working everything that I put into my mouth into the Weight Watchers program that I'm on as well.  So here's another recipe for you to try.  This really is delicious and I'd recommend it to anyone!

Don't forget to stop over to Val's "More Than Burnt Toast" blog, where she hosts this monthly gathering of healthy recipes from Cooking Light.  I'm heading over there right now to see what everyone else prepared for this comfort food-focused winter season!

Steaks with Mushroom Sauce and Chive-Garlic Potatoes

4 (4-ounce) boneless rib-eye steaks, trimmed (about 1 inch thick)
Season with Nature's Seasons, Mrs. Dash, and any other that you prefer
3/8 teaspoon black pepper, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (8-ounce) package sliced cremini mushrooms
1/4 to 1/2 cup dry red wine
1/4 cup water
1 - 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
2 Idaho russet potatoes
1/3 cup chopped chives
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Cook potatoes until done (either by microwaved, boiled, or baked in oven) and then set aside and keep warm.
Sprinkle steaks evenly with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1/8 teaspoon salt and any of your favorite herbs and spices.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat to medium.
Add steaks to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove from pan; keep warm.
Add mushrooms to pan; cook 5 minutes or until tender and beginning to brown, stirring frequently.
Combine wine, 1/2 cup water, flour, 1/8 teaspoon pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon salt; stir well with a whisk.
Add wine mixture to pan; bring to a boil.
Cook 2 minutes or until thick; stir constantly. Remove from heat.
Mash the warm potatoes.
Stir in chives and garlic powder.
Place small mounds of potatoes on each plate.
Top each mound of mashed potatoes with 1 steak and about 1/4 cup mushroom sauce.
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