Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Sweet Potato Gnocchi
Originally found at All About Gluten Free Cooking and Living

1 sweet potato, rinsed and pierced with a fork
1 Tbsp brown sugar or maple syrup
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2-3 cups flour

Wrap the sweet potato in foil and bake in a 350F oven until done, about an hour. Allow to cool slightly, then peel and mash. Mix in brown sugar and nutmeg, then slowly incorporate flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until a dough ball forms. It will be slightly sticky, but should be able to hold some shape. Place a pot of water on medium-high heat to boil.

Place on a floured surface and roll into a snake about 1 inch wide. Cut the snake into chunks about 1/2 inch wide. If desired, you can roll the gnocchi on the tines of a fork; this will allow it to soak up more sauce.

Working in small batches, drop the gnocchi into the boiling water. Stir it a bit after dropping them in, as sometimes they can stick to the bottom of the pan. When they start to float, remove them with a slotted spoon.

Top with your favorite sauce, and enjoy while warm! If desired, you can freeze them in a single layer and reheat later with the sauce.

My Notes:
I'm not entirely sure how much flour I used. I kept adding small amounts until I got the right consistency, and it took a little bit of time. But, I had three people try it, and they all enjoyed the gnocchi itself. Perfect consistency and just a bit of sweetness. I made the sage sauce recommended at the link above, but wasn't overly impressed with it... it just needed more flavor. I think I'll try it with pesto at some future point. The recipe was easy enough that I'll probably make it again, and may not be so inclined to buy regular gnocchi at the store from now on. It's just so easy to go ahead and make it yourself!

Buffalo Fries

I did my Surgery rotation at a different hospital than my home hospital a few months ago. Because they had us stay in a wing of the hospital, they had to provide us some sort of food, so we got a daily stipend to use in the cafeteria. It wasn't something I recommend, eating in the cafeteria for every meal for a month straight, but they did have some pretty awesome foods.

One in particular I enjoyed was their buffalo fries. Really simple to make, but really, really good. I had forgotten about them until I was on a rotation with one of my classmates who eats terribly. As in, he eats out at every single meal, and somehow is not the size of a house. I don't understand how he isn't broke either, but that's a whole other discussion. Anyway, he mentioned he had rotated at this hospital for something else (I think it was Internal Medicine), and how he was obsessed with these fries.

So, naturally, I had to experience them again.



Apologies for the poor picture quality. This is what happens when you use your phone to take pictures and can't figure out if it's focused or not before the snapshot. One of these days I'll try a whole lot harder to make my pictures look more appetizing.

Buffalo Fries
More or less Original Recipe

Fries
Frank's Wing Sauce
Ranch Dressing

Cook the fries to desired crispness*. Allow to cool slightly, then toss in generous amount of wing sauce. The spiciness of the fries will be determined by how much sauce you throw on, so adjust according to your own tastes. Drizzle with Ranch dressing to cool the heat a bit. Serve immediately.

My Notes:
*You can either get pre-packaged fries, as I clearly did, or you can make your own by slicing up some potatoes and tossing them with a bit of cornstarch, then baking them at 350 until they're cooked through and crispy, about 20 minutes.

Amazing, and just like I remember. I may be a bit obsessed with this recipe right now. Maybe it'll stop when I run out of the wing sauce :)

Mexican Lasagne

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and immediately jumped at the opportunity to make it. Not only did I basically have everything I needed on hand (going along with my goal to clean out my pantry), but it also sounded delicious, and the typical thing I would make.

Mexican Lasagne
Originally found at Sugar and Spice by Celeste

2 Tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 Tbsp chipotle en adobo*
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 Tbsp ketchup
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can corn, drained
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
8-10 soft corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a skillet, heat oil. Add garlic and onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until onion becomes slightly translucent, and add bell pepper. Cook 2-3 minutes, until the peppers become slightly soft. Add chipotle, diced tomatoes and ketchup. Stir and heat through.

In a separate bowl, combine corn and black beans.

To assemble the lasagne, lay down 3-4 tortillas in an 8 x 8 square pan to cover the bottom. Add 1/3-1/2 sauce, followed by a layer of corn and black beans, and then a layer of cheese. Repeat layers. Tear up one tortilla and sprinkle over the top. Add another layer of cheese. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, until top is golden brown and the lasagne is heated through.

Let rest for 5-10 minutes, then serve.

*If you'll remember, I blend an entire can of chipotle en adobo, then add the puree to dishes as needed.

My Notes:
Not bad. The chipotle offers a bit of a kick, and the tortilla layer really does disappear into the layers. The shredded tortilla and cheese in the top layer offers a bit of a crunch as well. It's definitely something I'll make again. I did have a bit of a problem with the ingredients--I realized after I laid down my second layer of tortillas that I was already more than halfway up the dish, so I hurried to use the rest of the ingredients. I ended up with extra black beans and corn, which I certainly don't mind since I use the combination enough anyway.

Skinny Girl Cupcakes with Pomegranate Tea Frosting

So I got a really bad craving the other night for something sweet. I've already gone through my chocolate chips (as part of my clean-out-the-pantry month), so that was out. I did, however, have a bottle of Sprite Zero and a box of cake mix. So, cupcakes were born.

Skinny Girl Cupcakes
Originally found at Six Sisters' Stuff

1 box cake mix, any flavor
12 oz Sprite Zero

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the box of cake mix and the Sprite Zero until well combined. Fill cupcake holders to 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the center springs back after a light touch or a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely, then frost.

Pomegranate Tea Frosting
Adapted from Ellebug

1 stick (8 Tbsp) butter, softened.
2 cups powdered sugar
2 bags Pomegranate Tea
4 Tbsp boiling water

Place teabags in boiling water and allow to steep for 10 minutes, then allow to cool slightly. Meanwhile, beat together powdered sugar and butter until fluffy. Add in the tea, mixing well. Chill for 10 minutes prior to frosting the cupcakes.

My Notes:
This was my first time making my own frosting. I don't think I'll do a buttercream again. It's just too... I dunno. Super sweet, I guess. The frosting is definitely something that takes a certain palate to appreciate, but my friends certainly enjoyed it. I have another recipe for a basic frosting that sounds like it'll be slightly less sweet. I think I'll try that one next time.

Still, this wasn't a bad attempt, considering I happened to have everything on hand. I'll definitely be playing with the skinny girl cake recipe, maybe try to adapt it so that I don't need the mix anymore. I'm not quite good enough with cakes to do that yet... I mostly stick to brownies and cookies from scratch.

Coconut Curry Popcorn Seasoning

You can't really see it in the above picture, but the popcorn is a beautiful golden color. It tastes pretty yummy too. I promise, I'll work on my photography skills, but with only an iPhone and a point-and-shoot camera at my disposal, it makes things a little more difficult.

Coconut Curry Popcorn Seasoning
Originally found at Fearless Homemaker

1/4 cup shredded coconut
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp cinnamon
dash cayenne pepper
dash garlic powder

Blend together ingredients in a food processor. Pour over slightly oiled/buttered popcorn, to taste.*

*If you make popcorn in the air popper or by steaming, you will need to add some oil or butter to get the seasoning to stick. If you make it on the stove using oil or butter, the addition of extra is unnecessary. If you add it to store-bought popcorn in the bag, you shouldn't need anything else, so long as you pour the seasoning quickly after removing from the microwave.

My Notes:
So, I'm currently on a mission to clean out my pantry before I move. Part of that is only going to the grocery store when I absolutely need to, and only for staples. Which is proving to be a little more difficult than I initially anticipated, but I did manage to cut my food budget in half this month by doing so. Next month I'll save even more on my food bill, because I'm going to be at camp for 2 weeks out of the month and thus don't have to make anything.

At any rate, I bought a bag of popcorn kernels a long time ago for something. My friend then invited us all over for movie night, and commented about how she had all these veggies and snacks, but no popcorn. Whatever is a girl to do? I figured that since it wasn't popcorn in a bag, that it would need some sort of seasoning on it, and plain old salt just wasn't going to do. So Pinterest came to my rescue, and provided me with this recipe.

I actually adapted it from a much larger recipe (designed for giving out as gifts), but as I just wanted this for myself, I cut it down by 7. It actually produces a fair amount, probably a 1/2 cup of loosely packed seasoning. It's a bit weird tasting at first, mostly because you're not quite expecting this taste on popcorn, but it's good. Definitely something I'll make again. Maybe I can get away with getting my sister a movie themed gift for her birthday this year with various homemade seasonings. I'm usually broke around her birthday, because financial aid takes forever to be dispersed, so it'll be a good option, I think.