Sweet Potato Fries!

My friend Meghan posted about these fries and I completely forgot about them until I discovered my son LOVES sweet potatoes in any form but especially french fries.  These are now a regular in my household.  And Meghan that fantastic, wonderful friend she is, allowed me to steal her photo from her blog!


Sweet Potato Fries

2-4 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and patted dry

olive oil

salt

sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. Peel sweet potatoes with potato peeler and slice into then strips, equal in thickness.  (I have a handly gadget for this!) The more thin the strips, the more quickly they will cook!

Place potato strips on large baking sheet so no fries are overlapping. Drizzle with olive oil and salt (and maybe sugar too, we really like them this way); shake the pan to coat evenly. Meghan suggested using a spray and I tried it with olive oil spray and it works perfectly!

Bake for 20 minutes, and flip the fries. Bake another 20 minutes. Test for tenderness somewhere along there - if you like them, you can remove them early. If you want crunchy, let them go longer.

Source: Meghan in the Kitchen 

Walking Tacos

So, my mom LOVES auctions.  I mean loves.  When the weather is nice, I think they go to one or two each weekend.  I, on the otherhand, am not the biggest fan of auctions but I go to spend time with my parents and to get out and give me something to do.  And secretly, I'm becoming a BIG fan of the antique cooking stuff! Especially, the OLD cookbooks, not the ones that were purchased, but the ones in old-school grandma handwriting that are like a million years old.  They have some amazing stuff in those, as long as you skip the ones containing lemon jello, olives, cheese in one recipe. Disgusting! (Sorry great-grandma!) Anyway, I was starving to death at this auction with my mom, dad, grandma and my son and they had a little concession stand.  Another of my secret addictions is concession stand food...not the kind at professional games but the kind at your local soccer or football field that the school groups work at to raise money for their club. I'm pretty sure it was 4-H at this auction and they had walking tacos.  First I asked what the heck a walking taco was...when they told me, I was skeptical but tried it anyway....AMAZING!!!

Walking Tacos

1 lb ground beef, cooked and seasoned with taco seasoning
6 individual sized bags of nacho cheese doritos, fritos or tortillas
shredded lettuce, shredded cheese, diced tomatoes, chopped onions, diced avacados, sour cream, taco sauce
anything else you would normally put on tacos

Take each bag and gently crush the chips then turn the bag sideways and slice open. Spoon in taco meat and top with your choice of favorite toppings.  Take a spoon and mix it all together.  Ta-da!! Done!

These are so handy for picnics or for lots of little ones running around.  They surprisingly taste awesome too!!

Chicken & Vegetable Alfredo Soup

My sister-in-laws hosted a pampered chef party where we got to view lots of goodies (My mom came with me and bought me a pastry press, which I'm SO excited to use to make those little uncrustables PB&J's!) Anyway, it was my first pampered chef party and I didn't know they make you food! We had lots of little goodies but I really loved this soup.  It's one of the most simple things to make!! I changed a few little things but it's basically the same soup.  Hope you enjoy!

Chicken & Vegetable Alfredo Soup

1 c. chopped broccoli
1/2 c. chopped carrot
1/2 c. chopped onion (I use yellow or vidalia for a mild flavor)
1 clove garlic, minced
14 1/2 oz. chicken broth
2 c. cooked chicken, diced
16 oz. alfredo sauce
Grated parmesan cheese

Place broccoli, carrots, onion and garlic in saucepan. Add broth, bring to a boil; cover and reduce heat and simer until vegetables are tender.  Add chicken and alfredo sauce to broth, simmer 5 minutes or until heated through. Ladle into bowls and serve with parmesan cheese.

Oreo Truffles

Hi All! Sorry I've been away for a couple weeks...the holidays were stressful and then we had a minor emergency with the kiddo that kept my mind going at 100 miles a minute for a week.  I'm back though (still with no pictures, yet!) and looking forward to the new year with lots of yummy new food!!

Today I'm posting for Oreo Truffles.  I had these at a Christmas party once and they were amazing.  I just got a hand written recipe on the back of a business card, but I also looked one up to fill in a few gaps to give me ideas.  The link is provided below. I usually make these in bulk because they go so fast! Hope you enjoy these SUPER RICH treats!


Oreo Truffles

1 pkg Oreo cookies (hold back 8 or so for decorating at the end)
1 pkg Cream Cheese
2 (8oz) pkgs Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted

Crush cookies into fine pieces with a food processor.  Add to a bowl with softened creem cheese and mix until thoroughly.  I just use my kitchenaid and it's done in a flash! Roll mixture into 1 inch balls. Place on a cookie sheet or plate covered in wax paper and put in the freezer for at least an hour.  This eliminates them falling apart or becoming too soft to use when dipping them in the hot, melted chocolate.  After frozen, dip in melted chocolate, I use 2 spoons so I can drain the extra chocolate off the ball.  Place coated balls on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle the balls with reserved cookie crumbs before the chocolate begins to harden.  Place back in the freezer to fully harden.  After that you can keep in the refrigerator until ready to be eaten.  Store leftovers back in the refridgerator (or freezer if you have a lot!)

You can make a million variations of this using different cookies and almond bark to replace the baking chocolate, and adding vanilla extract or another flavor.  One of my favorites is nutterbutters and for the topping to decorate, use butterfingers crushed in the food processor.  YUM!

Source & Adapted from:  Food.com

Chicken Quesadillas

Pretty soon (fingers crossed) I will be adding photos to these recipes! It's honestly the last thing on my mind as I'm trying to get a 2 year old fed while making plates for daddy and then mommy is the last one to eat, by then I'm usually starved and snarf everything down before I think "Crap! I forgot to take a picture!!"  I think I will make it my New Year's resolution to try to take photos of the food!

Last night, I made chicken quesadillas which Charlie loves.  They are oh so very simple!  You can pretty much toss anything in there that you want but here is how I make them:

Charlie's Version:
Chicken, fried in a pan of butter, seasoned with salt, garlic salt, and pepper then chopped up into smallish pieces
Onions (I use yellow)
Black Olives
Monterey Jack Cheese
Salsa, hot sauce, taco sauce, or whatever he feels like dipping it in

My version:
Chicken, prepared same as above
Bacon, pieces or in a pinch I use bacon bits
Fresh Tomatoes, cut into smallish chunks
Monterey Jack Cheese
Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Tommy's version:
Chicken or turkey (he likes lunch meat better than the chunks)
Cheddar Cheese
Bacon or bacon bits

Sauté the harder ingredients like onions and black olives in a bit of butter, add the chicken at the end just so its warmed.  Heat a griddle to medium high and spray with Pam.  Fill one side of a flour tortilla (we use 10 inch tortillas) with stuffing mixture top with cheese and fold over.  (Sometimes I heat these in the microwave for 10 seconds or so just to get the cheese good and melty!) Heat on the griddle until nice and crispy on both sides.  Slice it up with a pizza cutter, serve with dipping sauce and viola! Simple, quick, yummy meal!