Foodie Friday: Drink green. Eat sweet.

Green(ish) Smoothie

• 1 organic frozen banana
• 4-5 organic frozen strawberries
• Juice from 2 organic oranges
• Local whole milk (maybe 1/2 cup)
• 4-5 big leaves organic kale
• 1 T organic coconut oil; melted and drizzled in while blender is running
• 1 local, organic egg yolk

Japanese Sweet Potato

• 1 organic Japanese sweet potato
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Wash sweet potato
• Prick skin with fork several times
• Bake on foil-lined baking sheet until fork pierces easily into potato - this really depends on size... but maybe averages 30-45 minutes?
• I LOVE these - without anything on them. Baked. Eaten. Yum.

Whole-Lotta-Enchilada!

It's summertime. It's hot. And I'm boycotting use of the oven, except before 9:00am or on a cloudy day. No, I did not fix enchiladas for breakfast. It was, however, cloudy and cooler on Monday. I think John was pleasantly surprised to come home and smell dinner cooking in the oven! Nothing but the best for my man!

Sweet Potato, Chicken, and Black Bean Enchiladas:

• 2 local, antibiotic-free, free-range, chicken breasts
• I tossed these into the crockpot with a small can of green chilies and some olive oil around 2:30 (I think). Cranked the crockpot to high for about 30 minutes, then down to low for 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Shredded the chicken and it was ready to go.
• 1 organic sweet potato - chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 organic onion - diced
• 1 can organic low-sodium black beans (drained and rinsed)
• 1 can green enchilada sauce (again, make sure it has no MSG)
• 1/2 C sour cream
• Shredded cheese
• Whole wheat tortillas
• Saute onion in olive oil
• Add sweet potato, cover and cook until tender
• Uncover and let sweet potato brown a bit
• Add black beans until heated through
• Butter the bottom/sides of a 9x9 oven-safe pan and pour 1/3 can enchilada sauce in bottom
• Mix remaining sauce with sour cream
• Assemble enchiladas - fill with black bean/sweet potato mix, add shredded chicken, sprinkle some cheese, pour in a bit of enchilada sauce/sour cream 
• Once enchiladas are rolled in the pan (I think I filled 4-5), top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese
• Bake uncovered at 350° for 25-30 minutes

Then, as soon as dinner is done, run immediately to the bedroom, strip off your current outfit, and return decked out in glitter, frills, glass slippers, and crowns. That's what these enchiladas will do for you. Now get cookin'!

Roasted 'Tators and Beets

Side dishes are my weakness. I can put together a well-rounded, hearty, palate-pleasing main dish but then I look around thinking "what can I serve with this?". And, since I often put most of my effort into the bulk of the meal, the most appealing side dishes are the simplest.

Enter beets. I like beets, especially the pickled ones on a Wheatfield's salad. I've never bought, prepared, or served a beet... until this week. I found the color to be awesome, the taste was of high enough quality that I look forward to making beets again, and the simplicity was a bonus.

Oven-roasted Potatoes and Beets:

• 1 large organic sweet potato
• 2-3 medium sized organic purple potatoes
• 1 medium sized organic beet
• Wash, peel, and chop everything
• Coat with olive oil; sprinkle with kosher salt, pepper
• Roast at 400° until done (I completely spaced out watching the clock... maybe 25-30 minutes?)

Today was snow day #5 (total this winter, not in a row) and it was a good day to be home. The girlies are feeling a little under-the-weather, hence no grand sledding pics from the blizzard. They requested "porgie" ("porridge") for dinner, with blueberries, and got to see the big plow go up and down our street. Surely the porgie and plow-excitement will provide for a perked-up Thursday. 

Potato chips

Hello! Let me tell you - a hobbyist like myself just doesn't have enough hours in the day! I haven't blogged in a week, but I have made another hat, an awesome wreath (pics to come), and fed the fam some new and some old recipes. But, as I've said before, when blogging is another hobby, it sometimes has to take the back seat..

Potato chips. I am obsessed with homemade baked potato chips. They are so easy, so tasty, and are a perfect accompaniment to soup, which the weather has turned and soup season is upon us. Get slicing and baking:

Sweet Potato Chips

• 1 large organic sweet potato
• olive oil
• kosher salt
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Peel sweet potato and thinly slice (maybe 1/4th - 1/8th of an inch)
• Coat with approx. 1 T olive oil
• Sprinkle with kosher salt
• Spread in single layer on cookie sheet
• Bake for 15 minutes; flip chips over; increase oven temp to 400 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes, or so
• Baking time varies - approx 25 minutes total, but depends on oven and thickness of chips

Served with an organic kiwi and a gouda and apple grilled sandwich! 

We made these again last night with a little chicken and rice soup. The girls caught a little cold and I needed something hearty and full of goodness in their bellies last night. I don't have pics of the soup, but here's the simplicity of it:

Chicken and Rice soup

• Cook brown rice separately 
• Saute onions, carrots, celery in olive oil
• Push veggies to side of pot and make room to melt some butter
• Add 1-2 T. flour, whisk until thickens
• Pour in chicken broth (I used 2 C. homemade broth and 1 C. water)
• Add shredded, cooked chicken 
• Salt/Pepper
• Stir in cooked rice 

Gran saved the day yesterday - she had fresh homemade chicken broth as well as the meat off of the whole chicken she had cooked while making the broth. John and I both commented at dinner what a difference homemade broth makes. I think it will be on my list for the weekend, so I'll get the camera ready!

Hopefully another good night's sleep and leftover soup for dinner, and we'll have these faces back in no time:

Riding hand-me-down horses from the neighbor named
"Dapple-gray" and "Moo-choo" wearing "helmeys"

Black bean, spinach, and sweet potato enchiladas (#17)

I love sweet potatoes. Beans are a staple. Spinach kept Popeye strong. All together now: Black bean, spinach, and sweet potato enchiladas!

This was an insanely quick meal to put together - I made brown rice ahead of time so there wasn't the "Shoot! I've waited too long to start dinner, brown rice takes 40 minutes, what will eat on the side" debacle. And, as I typed that, I was reminded yet again why, whenever the girls drop something, they say "Oh shoot! Bummer!". Here you have it:

• Saute finely chopped onion in olive oil; add small chunks of sweet potato; cover until sweet potatoes are tender
• Add 1 can rinsed black beans
• Add 2 cups chopped fresh spinach; cover until spinach starts to wilt
• Season filling with salt, pepper, fresh herbs, salsa
• Sauce: Store-bought mild green enchilada sauce (make sure it's a brand with no MSG - they sneak that into some enchilada sauces)
• Pour 1/3 can sauce straight into bottom of dish (I used a casserole dish with a lid)
• Combine remaining sauce with 1/2 cup (or so) plain Greek yogurt
• Fill whole wheat tortillas with a scoop of black bean filling and a couple spoonfuls of sauce/yogurt mixture
• Pour remaining sauce/yogurt mixture over top of all assembled enchiladas
• Cover and back at 375 degrees for 20 minutes

Serve with brown rice and a fresh tomato and avocado salad!