Sweet Potato Casserole

I guess you can sense a theme to the past few posts: Orange Autumn-inspired dishes!  'Tis the season for me to go overboard with wonderfully comforting vegetables such as butternut squash and pumpkin.  Another favorite is sweet potatoes, especially when they've been baking in the oven to the point that they are super sweet and need no butter (yet I still must use butter!).

I was a little bit too excited when I stumbled upon roasted, mashed sweet potatoes in the freezer section at Trader Joe's.  I was even more excited after reading the ingredients - Sweet potatoes and nothing else.  I was expecting them to be sweetened, but they weren't.  As much as I love baking a sweet potato, I don't always have time.  And let's face it, a potato "baked" in the microwave just never tastes as good as the real deal.  Baking the potato makes it so caramelized and there isn't much that comes close to that rich flavor!

This dish came together really easily (mainly because of the frozen potatoes).  I was roasting a chicken for dinner, so I just put the potatoes in the oven at the same time.  These potatoes are also a lighter alternative to some other sweet potato casseroles that are full of butter and sugar.  Not that there's anything wrong with that!

I would definitely make this dish again and I will be sure to stock up on a few bags of these potatoes next time I'm at Trader Joe's!

Sweet Potato Casserole

Serves 4-6

1 bag Trader Joe's frozen roasted mashed potatoes

1-2 T maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like your potatoes)

Handful dried cranberries

Handful pecans

Cinnamon

Salt & pepper

The lineup: Dried cranberries, maple syrup, sweet potatoes, pepper, cinnamon, and salt.  Missing from the photo: pecans 

Sweet potato "puck"

Preheat oven to 450.  Spray a 9x13 casserole dish with nonstick spray.  Place the potatoes in a single layer in the prepared casserole dish.  Sprinkle with cinnamon, salt, and pepper (all to taste).  Sprinkle the cranberries and pecans (I just broke up the pecans in my hand) over the potatoes.  Drizzle with syrup.  Cover the dish with foil and bake for about an hour or until the potatoes are cooked through (should easily squish when you gently touch them).  You can serve as is, or stir to combine like I did.

Stovetop Butternut Squash Macaroni & Cheese

To me, macaroni and cheese is one of the most comforting foods ever.  I can (and do) eat it year round.  I try and switch it up a bit by adding different spices to the sauce or using different cheeses.  Since it's fall and there is an abundance of butternut squash, I decided to add some to my mac 'n cheese.  Also, I made this on a weeknight and I had dinner on the table in about 20 minutes.

Since I don't have the actual recipe that I used (I pretty much wing it when I make macaroni and cheese), I provided a recipe I found on Pinterest (shocker!).  This recipe inspired me to go home and make this dish immediately!  Here are some things I did differently from the recipe:

I omitted the cream cheese
I used half milk and half chicken broth
I used Parmesan and cheddar cheese
I added sage
I used butternut squash puree in place of pumpkin
I used Trader Joe's pre-cooked frozen pasta (which is how I had this meal done in around 20 minutes!)
I also served mine with a few dried cranberries sprinkled on top for a nice touch of sweetness

This recipe is so simple and delicious!  If you like your macaroni and cheese a little less soupy, place the mixture in a greased baking dish and sprinkle with a handful of cheese.  Bake at 375 for about 20-25 minutes, or until the top has browned and the edges are bubbling.

This dish pairs nicely with a spinach salad.  We all know that spinach makes anything healthy, so you don't have to worry about carbs and fat since the spinach cancels that out!  :)

The recipe can be found here.

Enjoy!

Quick (and delicious) Stuffing

I don't know about you, but this cool weather creeped up on me out of nowhere! It makes me want to stay in my footy pajamas all day and eat comfort foods!

Last night, I threw together a fall inspired meal that came together in around 45 minutes. In the morning, I had set out turkey tenderloins and all day I thought about how good stuffing would taste with the turkey! After a quick stop at Whole Foods, I had all I needed to get started on the stuffing.

One of my favorite things about stuffing is you can add so many different ingredients to change up the flavor - sausage, apples, nuts... Just about anything goes! I decided to add apples, dried cranberries and pecans to mine and it was delicious! It paired nicely with the turkey and some leftover Brussels sprouts. Yum! I can't wait to have some leftovers for lunch!


Apple Cranberry Pecan Stuffing

1 medium onion, diced
1 medium apple, diced
2 T butter (use unsalted if you have it. If not, go easy on the salt)
Olive oil
1 bag of stuffing mix (or the equivalent of stale, cubed bread)
1 - 2 cups of broth (veggie or chicken, preferably low sodium)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup pecans
Salt and pepper, to taste
Poultry seasoning (I used Bell's)

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray and set aside.

Place a skillet over medium heat. Add oil and 1 tablespoon of butter. Once the butter is melted, add the onions. Cook until soft, about five minutes. Add the apples and cook for a few minutes. Celery would be great in here too (celery and onions are my go to veggies for stuffing) but I forgot to buy it! Add salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning to taste. Add the bread to the pan and combine with the apple and onion mixture. Turn off the heat. Pour about 1/2 a cup of broth over the mixture and stir to combine. Continue adding broth until the bread has absorbed it but the mixture isn't too mushy*. Taste and add more seasoning if needed.

Put the mixture in the prepared casserole dish and dot with the remaining butter. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and continue to cook until the top has browned, about 10 minutes. Another great way to cook these is to spray a cupcake tin (or two) with nonstick spray and fill each cavity with stuffing. Bake for about 20 minutes and you have single servings of stuffing. They're great for freezing! Plus, most of the stuffing is crispy from being in the tins and that's the best part!

Enjoy!

* I like to have an extra bag of stuffing bread on hand in case I go a little heavy on the broth. If you do, simply add more bread to absorb the extra broth.

Happy National Peach Month!

Yes, yes I know.  We're already halfway through August and I'm just NOW getting around to celebrating National Peach month.  I think this may be my favorite month because peaches are one of my favorite fruits.  They're so versatile and can be enjoyed in both sweet and savory forms.

I had originally set out to make this pound cake, but when the time came to bake the cake, I suddenly became very lazy!  One of my favorite ways to enjoy peaches is in the form of a cobbler, so I Googled some cobbler recipes and came across one from Paula Deen.  I stopped my search right there - I mean, it's Paula Deen and I was looking for a Southern comfort food after all!

This recipe came together really quickly.  I modified the recipe slightly by adding some bourbon (!) and raspberries.  I would definitely make this recipe again and am really looking forward to dessert tonight!  :)


Peach Cobbler (slightly adapted from Paula Deen)

4 cups, peeled sliced peaches (I used about six medium sized peaches)*
1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup water
A good glug (1/4 cup) of bourbon (like Jim Beam)
8 tablespoons (1 stick, 1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (see here for a substitute)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk or milk
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of sea salt
1 pint raspberries

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine the peaches, 3/4 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla, salt, and bourbon.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 3/4 - 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter. Do not stir. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup. Sprinkle top with cinnamon.  Bake for 30 to 45 minutes; Batter will rise to top during baking.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with your choice of whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.  Or just face-plant the cobbler...  Once it's cooled, of course!

*Tip on peeling peaches: Boil water (I just use a tea kettle).  While water is boiling, score each peach by making an X on the bottom.  Place the peaches in a bowl and pour the boiling water over them.  Let the peaches sit in the water for a few minutes, until they are cool enough to handle.  You can also fill the bowl with some cold water to help make them cooler to handle.  Peel by starting at the X.  The peel should come off pretty easily.  This is a great trick for tomatoes too!

Here are some other great ideas for peaches:

Peach salsa

Peach BBQ sauce

Peach and gorgonzola pizza (SO good when grilled!)

Peach cobbler scones

Comfort Food 101: Spaghetti Sauce and Meatballs

For any Bostonians out there, you'll remember the icky, non-August like weather we experienced early last week.  It was cold and raining - RAIN two weekends in a row!  I don't know about you, but that kind of weather makes me want to flip it the bird stay in bed all day and eat high carb comfort foods!  I was at work and my mind kept wandering to homemade meatballs and sauce.  I decided I must have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner!  I stopped at the supermarket on my way home to pick up the necessary ingredients I didn't already have on hand.
I was a bit giddy when I got home and assembled all of the ingredients for the meatballs and sauce.  Both the meatballs and sauce came together fairly quickly and I was sitting down to a delicious, comforting meal in about an hour.  The recipe makes about 20 meatballs, so this is a great make ahead and freeze option.  I've already pulled out a few meatballs to slice and use for a pizza.  I've also had just the sauce with some pasta and leftover veggies.  Meatballs and spaghetti sauce are so versatile - I'm almost looking forward to a semi cool night soon so I can heat up a big bowl of pasta with sauce and meatballs!

Meatballs and Sauce
Yields: ~20 meatballs and a whole lot of sauce
Servings: One About 8-10

Meatballs
1 1/4 pounds of lean ground beef (I used 97% lean since the pork would add some additional fat and moisture)
1/2 - 3/4 pounds of ground pork
Two eggs, slightly beaten
1/3 - 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs (I used a mix of unseasoned panko and whole wheat)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (I used the kind in a shaker can because I think it distributes better throughout the mixture than freshly grated)
1 T dried parsley
Salt & pepper
1/2 medium vidalia (or yellow) onion
1 T garlic (I used the pre-chopped garlic in oil because I forgot to buy fresh garlic.  You can also use 1 clove of fresh or 1 tsp. garlic powder)
Olive oil

Place the ground beef and pork in a bowl large enough to combine when all ingredients have been added.  Add in the eggs, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, parsley, salt and pepper.  Start out by adding only 1/3 cup of breadcrumbs.  You may need to add more if the mixture is too sticky or wet after all the ingredients have been added.
Finely chop or grate the onion and add to the bowl.  I find by grating the onion, you add better flavor and moisture that you wouldn't get from just finely chopping the onion.  If using fresh garlic, grate the clove into the bowl.  This way, you don't bite down into a large chunk of garlic and the flavor blends nicely into the mixture.
Preheat a skillet large enough to brown your meatballs as well as big enough to fit the sauce and meatballs.  Add a small amount of oil and keep the pan on medium heat.
Gently combine all the ingredients.  Don't over mix or the meatballs will end up being tough.  If the mixture is too wet, add more breadcrumbs.  If you added too many breadcrumbs, you can add in any of the following, 1 tablespoon at a time to moisten the mixture: unflavored seltzer, egg whites or broth.
Form the meatballs and place directly into the preheated skillet.  I used a spring-loaded cookie scoop to form evenly sized meatballs.  Brown the meatballs on all sides - This should take about 12 minutes.  Keep in mind that you will finish cooking the meatballs in the sauce, so you want to just brown them to add color and flavor.  Take the meatballs out of the pan and place on a dish.
NOTE: You can skip this step and just drop the meatballs directly into the sauce to cook.  They won't be browned but you will save a few calories and some fat by omitting this step.

Spaghetti Sauce
Olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 T garlic (about two cloves)
1 small can tomato paste (I used about 3/4 a tube because that is what I had in the pantry - More may be needed depending on how thick/thin you like your sauce)
1 magnum 1/2 cup red wine (I used Ravenswood Zin)
About 1 tablespoon each of: dried parsley, dried oregano and dried basil (If using fresh, add a bit more of each)
Salt & pepper
1 large can crushed tomatoes (I used San Marzano)
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce (preferably no salt added)
Water
1 T sugar (if needed)

In the same skillet you used to brown the meatballs, add a small amount of olive oil and preheat.  Once heated, add in the onions and saute on medium heat until translucent.  Add in garlic (good idea to grate here too!) and cook for about 30 seconds to bring out the flavor.  Make sure the heat isn't too high - There's not much worse than burned garlic to make a sauce bitter!  Add in the tomato paste and combine with the onions and garlic.  Add in the whole bottle wine and the spices and cook for about two minutes.  Add in the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce.  Fill the smaller can with water and add about 3/4 of the can to the pan to start.  You may need to add more later if the sauce is too thick.  Cover and let simmer for about five minutes.  Taste and add salt, pepper and sugar if needed.  Additional water and or tomato paste may need to be added at this time.  I prefer a thicker sauce, so I didn't add any water, but I did add some more tomato paste.  Cover and continue to simmer for another five minutes.  Once the sauce has the right seasoning, add in your browned meatballs.  Keeping the heat on medium-low, cover and cook for about 20 - 25 minutes.  Every 10 minutes or so, turn the meatballs to make sure they're cooking evenly.

Serve the sauce and meatballs with your favorite pasta or enjoy with a nice piece of fresh Italian bread!  I served mine with nice, hearty bucatini - No whole wheat pasta this time!  Throw a straw in the bottle Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy!