Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Chips

Life after spring time change has been pretty neat. Madi is loving the extra sunlight and I'm loving that I can take her on a long walk or run after I get home from work around 5:30pm. The other day I caught Madi and Lily cuddling and playing together on the roof of the pump house. They're two peas in a pod.

I posted a picture of these sweet potato chips when I blogged the recipe for stuffed portabellas. These things are super easy and quick. The one kitchen gadget that makes these things a total breeze is a mandoline. You could do without the fancy tool by slicing the potatoes by hand very thinly or by using the slicing side of a stand up cheese grater. Some food processors have an attachment that does this same thing as well.

Once the sweet potatoes are sliced (I didn't even peel mine, but you are more than welcome to peel yours if you think the potato skin in gross), they just need some oil, salt, and a hot oven.

Cook them until they're crispy on the edges. I left these guys in juuustttt a little too long and a few got burned, but I just threw those ones out.

 

Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Chips Recipe:
- 2-3 large sweet potatoes, washed
- 2 tbsp olive or canola oil
- 1 tsp sea salt

Directions:
- Slice the potatoes using one of the methods listed above.
- Toss the slices with oil and salt.

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Place potato slices on a parchment lined baking sheet (parchment really works the best for this, foil or plain oil will likely leave you with chips stuck to the pan).
- Bake for 10-15 minutes, watch closely for the edges of the chips to get crispy!

These chips would be awesome served with a sour cream curry dip (sour cream, curry powder, pinch of salt). Try it out and let me know how it tastes!

Mud Room Remodel

Well hello, friends! It's been a while. We've been suffering through the winter months over here. Luckily, March has arrived and this week we're several 60+ degree days. I'm sure we'll see a little more snow and some cold days, but the end is near! Jacob and I did manage to sneak off to Florida last week for a 48 hour adventure to pick up a car that my parents had bought. We had a blast and savored every moment of sunshine we had. 

Other than our short trip down south, we've been eating good food (as always), and working on the house.

The old mud room had wood floors and large cabinets. The wood floors were very old, and while they had a very "antique" look, they were falling apart. The cabinets had some charm, but they were also very old and oddly designed. Here are a few of the "before" pictures. This was while we were tearing down the cabinets and getting the room prepped for tile.

We spent my birthday weekend laying tile. It was a party with Jacob's parents and my parents both helping at some point over the long weekend.

Several weeks later, we got some storage units form Ikea and moved everything back into the room. It was a long process, but we are so happy with how it looks!

Madi likes her new space.

Until next time!

Tempeh and Quinoa Stuffed Portabellas

It's been cold 'round these parts. Really cold. This morning, the pipe coming out of our well froze, and Jacob's diesel engine wouldn't run because it was around -12 at our house. Winter is not easy, but we still eat well despite the frigid temps. In fact, since it's dark so early, eating a nice dinner at home is one of the few things that is truly exciting during this time of year. That, and keeping up with the latest episodes of some of our favorite Netflix originals. Orange is the New Black? House of Cards? When are the second seasons coming out??

So, we're tired of the cold. But, this recipe helped us to cope, and maybe it will help you too.

Quinoa is one of those things that just adds texture and some awesome nutrients to just about anything. I like it by itself, as a pudding, in a soup, or made into burgers. This time around is served as the base for the stuffed mushrooms. I cooked 3/4 cup dry (yields around 1.5 cups cooked). I always rinse the quinoa (a flour sifter works well for this since the quinoa will most likely fall through the cracks of a normal strainer). It takes any bit of bitterness away.

Other stuffing ingredients ready to be prepped.

I like to get the pan/oil nice and hot before I add the tempeh to it. That way it gets crispy on the outside.

Tempeh takes on whatever flavor you season it with. A favorite of ours is soy sauce. It's easy and give the tempeh an awesome taste!

Post soy sauce and veggie additions. See that nice browning action going on there? That's what makes it tasty!

The portabellas were wiped with a damp paper towel to remove any dirt. Then, the stems were trimmed, they were seasoned with salt and pepper, and each got a couple of small pats of butter.

Feta and Cheddar. The feta for the filling, the cheddar to go on top of the mushrooms before they go in the oven.

 All the filling ingredients in a bowl! If you have any leftovers, this goes great by itself as a cold salad or on top of a big bed of greens. Yum!

Mushrooms have been over stuffed and topped with cheddar - ready for baking.

And the final product...

Along side some sweet potato chips (home made - coming soon to the blog!) and steamed broccoli. This meal was a big hit.

Tempeh and Quinoa Stuffed Portabellas Recipe:
Yields two large stuffed portabellas (two main courses or 4 side dishes when cut in half)
- Two large portabella caps, cleaned with a damp paper towel
- 3/4 cup dry quinoa cooked according to package directions (1.5 cups cooked)
- 1 package tempeh, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 roma tomatoes, diced
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 tbsp butter
- Salt/Pepper to taste

Directions:
- Once the portabella caps are cleaned, cut off the stem so the inside of the cap has more room for stuffing.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the caps in a baking dish and season with salt and pepper and 1/2 tbsp butter (see picture for reference)
- Saute' the tempeh, onion, celery, and carrot in the olive oil over medium/high heat.
- Once the tempeh starts to brown (5 minutes), add soy sauce and cook an addition 2-3 minutes until veggies are tender.
- Mix the tempeh/veggie mixture with the cooked quinoa.
- Add diced tomatoes and feta. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Pile the stuffing into the portabella caps. Top with shredded cheddar cheese.
- Bake the stuffed caps at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is golden and the caps are tender.

Curried Lentil Soup

The past few weeks have been filled with laughter, food, family, and holidays. I'm sad that the 2013 holidays have come to a close, but excited for what 2014 will bring us. I can honestly say that I have no idea what Jacob and I will be doing or where we will be living this time next year. I think this is the first time our future plans have been so blurry, but it's kind of exciting.

We spent Christmas week between our two families. I was horrible at taking pictures while we were home, in fact, I didn't take any. A friend of ours did take some snapshots while we were all out shooting at Jacob's parent's farm. Here's one of me missing a clay pigeon. Ow, my shoulder was sore after that.

We also spent some time with Jacob's family the weekend before Christmas festivities started when Andrew graduated from the best university in the state - Appalachian. Here we are pictured with the former mascot himself (hence, the shoes), plus his beautiful girlfriend and my sister in law.

Ok, enough of that. On to the food. Curried lentil soup! Now you may be asking yourself, "why should I eat lentils"? Yeah, I though so. Well, lucky for you - I have the answer. Lentils are very high in folate, fiber, protein, iron, and many other awesome things. They're ridiculously cheap, too. A bag of lentils (usually around 1 lb) costs around $1.50-$2.00. And a pound of lentils is a LOT of lentils.

This soup is a one pot wonder. It's packed with veggies, spices, barley, and (previously noted) lentils. Serve it up with a dollop of sour cream and come corn bread for a full meal, or eat it by itself. It only gets better with time!

Start by soaking the lentils in very hot water. When you cover them with water and let them sit for 15-20 minutes they'll double in size. Then, drain, and they're ready for use!

Chop up whatever veggies you have on hand. I used cabbage, carrots, onion, celery, garlic, and mushrooms.

Saute. 

Add salt.

Once the veggies are tender, add the pre-soaked lentils.

Some tomatoes go in next.

And plenty of curry! I love curry. It has such a rich color and flavor. It's a powerful spice, so don't use it unless you plan to flavor your whole dish with it. But when it is used with intention, it's amazing.

Finally, pearled barley.

Simmer for 45 minutes or 6 hours! 

We had skillet cornbread on the side. The key to making the best skillet cornbread is to heat up some oil in the pan before your pour the batter in. 

Dinner is served! Perfect dish for a cold winter night. Best served alongside one you love and an episode of parenthood (LOVE that show).

Curried Lentil Soup Recipe:

Makes enough soup for 6 main courses

- 2 cups dry lentils (4 cups once re-hydrated)

- 1 and 1/2 cups roughly chopped cabbage

- 1 cup chopped onion

- 1 cup chopped mushrooms

- 1/2 cup chopped carrots

- 1/2 cup chopped celery

- 4 cloves minced garlic

- 2 tbsp olive oil

- 1 can (2 cups) diced tomatoes

- 1-2 tsp salt

- 2 tsp curry powder

- 3/4 cup pearled barley

- 2-3 cups water

Directions:

- Boil water and pour enough over dried lentils in a ceramic bowl or a pan to cover completely. Let the lentils sit for 15-20 minutes.

- Chop the vegetables, heat the olive oil over medium/high heat and cook in a large soup pot until tender.

- Add salt, curry powder, hydrated lentils, and tomatoes.

- Add enough water to make the soup the consistency you like. I added 3 cups of water to this batch.

- Stir in pearled barley.

- Simmer on low/medium heat for at least 45 minutes, and up to 4 hours (if cooking for a long time, simmer on low heat).

- Serve with sour cream and corn bread!