Mashed Sweet Potatoes

This recipe was fairly easy to make, although it ended up taking longer than I thought. My vegetable peeler was no good for peeling the sweet potatoes (maybe I need a new one...) so I ended up having to peel them with a knife which took a little longer. Also, for some reason the water & potatoes took forever to boil. Aside from that the process went pretty well. I doubled the recipe because I happened to have 4 sweet pototaoes. I used pre-minced ginger and cilantro to save time (the kind you buy in a tube in the refrigerator section of the produce department). I thought the cilantro was a bit strange with sweet potato, I don't know if I would add it the next time I make it. I served the mashed sweet potato as a side dish with baked chicken & sauteed squash, yum!

Sweet Potato Mash

I made this and it was amazing! No photos, but trust me- you will love this as a side dish!

 

Makes: 2 servings

Time: 10 mins 

 

Ingredients:

 

2 Sweet potato, peeled and chopped
2 tbsp Fresh ginger, shredded
2 tbsp Butter
1 tbsp Honey
As needed Milk
2 tbsp Fresh Cilantro or Basil, chopped
To taste Salt

Notes / Directions:

 

Cook sweet potatoes and ginger in saucepan of boiling water for 5-7 minutes or until tender; drain. Transfer to bowl; mash potato with butter, honey and enough milk for smooth consistency. Stir in cilantro or basil and salt to taste.

Chili Review

 I was impressed with this recipe. I made two batches, one with ground beef and the other without and one in the crock pot and the other on the stove. I bought multiple kinds of canned beans to add variety- black, pinto and an accidental re-fried! The crock pot needed some thickening so I added a small can of tomato paste which seemed to help. I also added some cornstarch water to thicken it up.

This was good with corn bread on the side with 

cheese and sour cream on top. Pretty easy. I would make it again.

Chili

This recipe was easy to make & very flavorful. I made the following alterations to the recipe: I used spicy italian sausage insead of kielbasa (because we already had a bunch of spicy italian sausage at home), and I used 2 cans of kidney beans + 2 cans of black beans (instead of only using black beans). It came out a little spicy, so the sour cream on top was a must for me. I served the chili over rice with cheddar cheese & sour cream on top. Very tasty! I would definitely make it again.

Chili

Ingredients

 

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lbs kielbasa, quartered lengthwise, then cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 onions, chopped (about two cups or so)
1 red bell pepper, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
4 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained
1 (14 ounce) can low sodium chicken broth
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 small bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin

 

Directions

 

Heat olive oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add kielbasa; sauté until beginning to brown, about 12 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer kielbasa to bowl. If necessary, add enough oil to pot to measure 2 tablespoons (or discard all but 2 tablespoons drippings).

Add onions, both bell peppers, and garlic. Sauté until beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.

Add beans, broth, tomatoes with juice, chili powder, sugar, vinegar, bay leaves, oregano, and cumin.

Bring chili to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium, cover, and simmer 30 minutes. Return kielbasa to pot.

Reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, until chili is thick, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool slightly; cover and chill. Rewarm before serving.).

Ladle chili into bowls. Top with sour cream and green onions if desired.

Orange Brocolli Beef with rice

This recipe took longer than I thought it would to make, it ended up taking me about an hour and a half to do all the prep, cook & serve. I used 2 small hot red peppers which gave it some kick. To save some prep time I used pre-minced ginger available from the produce section at the grocery store. I also used clementines instead of oranges. I particularly liked how the beef turned out, it was simple to coat the beef with the cornstarch & it fried up nicely.

Things I would do differently next time: I would add bell peppers to the veggie stir fry. The broccoli got too soggy the way that the recipe said to cook it, next time I would briefly steam the broccoli, set it aside & then mix it in at the very end so that it still retains some crispness. I would also make this dish when citrus fruit is more in season, the clementines were not as sweet as usual & I suspect this is because they are not in season.

Overall this recipe was very tasty. The fusion of citrus and spice worked well in this dish and added a lot of flavor. The fried orange peel provided interesting texture to the meal too. I thoroughly enjoyed this dish and would make it again.

Orange Beef

This recipe was tasty! I was nervous about it being too spicy but took the chance and put as much in as they told me. I was disappointed to find that it didn't have any heat at all. would go so far as to call it mild. So if you want the heat, I might double the red pepper.

I bought pre-cut broccoli to save myself at least one step, but the chopping of the fresh garlic and ginger ate up a lot of time. I think I am going to buy the stuff that is pre-chopped to save myself 20 minutes! 

I used a wok, and I really should have used the pan they suggested because it all blobbed together and I ended up over cooking the meat.

The oranges were juicy, but we ended up supplementing with juice from the carton. If only I had bought the extra orange! (Also, I peeled the orange after getting the rind- which was a mistake and we had to squish the orange to the the juice...)

I think I will make this again, it was fairly easy and good.