Sweet Potato Fries

Sweet Potato Fries are a favorite in my house.  Here is a quick, easy and healthy recipe.

Ingredients 
Sweet potato(s)
Salt
Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil
Grated Parmesan Cheese (Optional)


Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2.  Peel and slice sweet potato (s) into fry size pieces.

3.  Place fries in bowl, add salt and pepper as desired.  Drizzle with small amount of olive oil (just enough to provide a light coat).  Mix together.

4.  Place fries in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

5.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until cooked through and lightly browned.

6.  Remove from oven,  sprinkle with cheese and enjoy.

Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna is one of my favorite dinners.  Although it is simple to make, I don't always n have the time or need to make a full lasagna.  I make semi home-made lasagna Rolls As a quick, easy and delicious dinner.

Ingredients
Lasagna Noodles (cooked per the box directions)
Pasta Sauce (canned or homemade)
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Ricotta Cheese
Ground Turkey (cooked and drained)
Salt
Pepper

1.  Lay lasagna noodles on counter or cutting board. I layout a few pieces out at a tome.
2.  Spread some such onto  the noodles as desired.
3.  Spread some ricotta cheese onto each noodle.  Repeat with ground turkey.
4.  Roll up lasagna noodles.  Carefully pick up and add to baking pan with sauce lining bottom.
5.  Repeat until you have made as many lasagna Rolls As desired.
6.  Top with sauce and mozzarella cheese.
7.  Bake at 375 until warm throughout.
8.  Remove from oven cool briefly.  Enjoy.

How to Freeze Bell Peppers

I love buying fresh fruit and veggies at Costco Wholesale.  The down side of that is sometimes I don't have a chance to use all of the fruits and veggies that I purchase.  This week for instance I didn't want to waste the Red Bell Peppers I had purchased; I had purchased a package of six (6) Red Bell Peppers but only had the chance to use 2 of them, so I froze the leftover peppers.

Here's how I did it.

1.  Take out clean cutting board, knife and peppers.

 2.  Cut open peppers, save tops.  Remove seeds, veins and stems.  Rinse thoroughly, allow to air dry for approximately 20 minutes.

 3.  Discard the seeds and stems.

4.  Slice peppers to desired thickness and place on parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Cover with Aluminum foil and place in freezer.

4.  Peppers should be frozen in about 2-3 hours, but i left mine in the freezer overnight.  Remove from freezer.

 

5.  Place frozen peppers in labeled plastic freezer bag and put back in freezer.

Now, these frozen peppers will be ready to cook into your favorite recipe whenever you need them.

Busy Year of Running

Winters in New England can be hard, especially if you are a runner. Due to the extreme cold and enormous amounts of snow this winter running outside has been near impossible.  I started off the year  running a 10k and a Half Marathon and since then I have logged many many miles on the treadmill.  What i wouldnt give for a nice easy and warm Sunday morning jog......outside.  Right now Sundays are my rest days and even though I did do 25 minutes of stretching/yoga I don't feel like I got a workout in.  I tend to only feel accomplished when I work up a good sweat.

I have a number of races I would like to run this year.  Including 4 more half marathons.  If I complete all of them I believe I will be well on my way to completing over 1000 milesthis year. Thankfully I an looking forward to my week ahead and another week of 2-a-day workouts with T25 in the morning and between 3 and 6 miles at night.  If you are a runner, do you have long term plans for your race year?

Easy Chicken Salad

I love Chicken Salad.  I always see it in the Deli case at the grocery store but never pick it up there because it tends to be heavy on the mayonnaise and fat.  For some reason I never end up making my own.  This past weekend I decided to make the best of being stuck inside on another snowy Sunday in New England and made some chicken salad.

Ingredients:

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Cooked, Cooled and Chopped

1/3 Cup Red Seedless Grapes

1/3 Cup Sliced Almonds

1 Stalk (Rib) Celery

Mayonnaise (I used Miracle Whip Light) 

Whole Wheat Pita Pockets

Directions:

Combine Chicken, Grapes, Almonds and Celery in mixing bowl.  Add mayonnaise, start with 2 tablespoons and add as desired.

Place Chicken Salad in Pita Pocket.  I added some Spinach in my Pita Pocket.

Enjoy!

Awesome Brownies

Over the years I have made my fair share of brownies both boxed mix and from scratch.  This is by far my favorite brownie recipe.  It is easy,  stays fresh for at least a week (if covered) and they have the perfect amount of sweetness. Simple chocolate perfection .

Ingredients

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 cup butter, melted & divided (1/3 cup + 1/3 cup)

1/2 cup boiling water

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/3 cup flour

 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions

Set oven to 350ºF. Grease a 9x13" baking dish and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the cocoa and baking soda. Stir in 1/3 cup of the melted butter until smooth then stir in the boiling water until the mixture is again smooth.

Stir in the sugar and eggs with the remaining melted butter. Stir in the vanilla and salt.

Add in the flour and chocolate chips, then stir until combined.

Spread the batter into greased baking pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the pan.  Do not over bake!

Cool completely in the pan.

Yummy Turkey Meatballs

I was feeling adventurous while cooking last night.  I always try to make new recipes but hadn't found just the right recipe for Turkey Meatballs. I wanted a meatball that included veggies in them..so I took to the fridge.  I had a couple o6f veggies that needed to be eaten so I included the zucchini, carrots and onion in my recipe.   Quick,  and tasty I am glad I took the leap to go outside of the box.   Here is my Turkey Meatball Recipe.

Turkey  Meatballs

1lb. 3 oz.  Lean Ground Turkey
1/2 cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1/2 cup Italian Breadcrumbs
1/2 Zucchini  (Finely Grated)
1 carrot (Peeled and Finely Grated)
1/4 Onion (Finely Chopped)
1 Tbsp.  Catsup
2 Eggs
Salt
Pepper
Fat Free/Low Sodium Chicken Broth
Olive Oil

Directions
1.  In a large bowl mix: Turkey,  Breadcrumbs, Zucchini, Carrot, Onion, Catsup and egg.  Once mixed for into balls approximately 1" or as desired
2.  Heat approximately 1 tablespoon Olive Oil in frying pan.  Once hot add meatballs and cook for approximately 7-10   minutes depending on size.
3.  Add Chicken Broth to the frying pan with meatballs.  Use enough to cover the pan about 1" deep.  Bring to boil  once broth has come to a boil lower heat and simmer until cooked through.
4.  I added my sauce to meatballs and stored in fridge.