Biggest Loser Sweet Potato Skins

Fall Sundays = Football. Football = Snacks. Snacks = High Calorie Yumminess.

I love to snack. I love to pick out what Im going to make, prep it, whip it up and sit back and enjoy it. Any time of sport is the perfect excuse for eating snacks. All day. I dont care what sport it is, just let me eat while I watch and it'll all be ok. Of course, if you care at all about what you're putting into your body then you probably have a guilty feeling after the day is over and you go to tally your calories.

So, I've turned to pinterest for my spruced up versions of typical snacks. For example - potato skins. You love them loaded with gooey, stringy cheese and bacon, sour cream and chives. I promise you that this skinny version tastes just as fantastic. The spices give it a kick and a flavor that just mixes really well with the sweetness of the potato. Try this and I promise it won't disappoint. It would even be perfect for your holiday party since it's in and out of the oven then onto the table.

Biggest Loser Sweet Potato Skins (slightly adapted from prevention.com)
16 ounces, 1/2"-thick sweet potatoes (I have no clue how many ounces I used but I did about 2 medium sized potatoes)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
2 ounces shredded  low-fat Cheddar cheese
3 strips Turkey Bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 tbs finely chopped scallions (i personally don't think you can ever have enough green onion so I load it on)
2 tablespoons Fat Free Sour Cream

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with foil.

In a large bowl, toss the potatoes and oil together until the potatoes are well coated.

Place the potato rounds in a single layer on the prepared pan so they do not touch. Sprinkle the salt, garlic powder, and cayenne evenly over the top of the potatoes. Bake them for 10 minutes. Flip them and bake for 7 to 9 minutes longer, or until they are tender inside and starting to brown lightly on the outside.

Push the potato rounds together so that they touch and you can easily top them in a single, even layer. First place the Cheddar, then the bacon, and then the scallions over the rounds. Bake for 2 to 3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

Serve immediately with sour cream.

Thanksgiving Weekend!

Welcome Back! I hope that everyone had a lovely long holiday weekend. Ours was pretty busy with Adams family in town for a week, but I am happy that I successfully pulled off the big meal! I was able to keep up my family tradition of Thanksgiving breakfast: polish sausage (we used to home make this with my grandmother but now we get it from a polish deli and my sister so kindly brought it up to me on dry ice on her last visit), eggs, rye bread and bagels. And I made a full dinner with twice baked potatoes, stuffing, green bean casserole, green beans wrapped in bacon, mushrooms and of course the bird. Heres a photo recap of the rest of the weekend:

 The Thanksgiving Turkey, The Bird, the Big Cheese! We brined this guy (although not long enough because we accidently forgot to defrost it up until the day before) in vegetable stock, herbs, salt - I topped the skin off with salt and pepper and then Stuffed it and baked for 6 hours at 325, removing the foil tent only at the last hour or so.

 Twice Baked Potatoes - I have always loved potatoes and this year I made it easy by prepping them the day before. I peeled them, keeping a little skin on, and chopped them into small chunks, all the same size. Soak them in a large bowl of ice water until the next day so that they dont brown. Then I boiled for 30 minutes, drained, put back into the pot with 1 or 2 tbsp butter and cover on low for 15 minutes. Add some milk and sour cream and blend with your hand mixer, or potato smasher if you like it chunkier. Pour into a casserole dish and top with cheddar slices -  bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

 Bacon Wrapped Green Beans - I liked the idea of this recipe - boil green beans and cook bacon until it just starts to cook but does not get stiff. Cut bacon in half and wrap 7 green beans into each strip and secure with a toothpick. The part that I didnt like was the glaze - butter, brown sugar, soy and garlic. I would have just done a butter overtop, or butter and brown sugar but no garlic and soy. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

 Pumpkin Pie! So easy I dont know why I don't make it every year. Store bought crust, pumpkin puree, sweetened condensed milk and some spices. Bake it the day before and take out of the fridge when yo userve dinner so that it comes to room temperature.

 Anyone go black friday shopping?! I went out at 12am and couldn't believe the lines. I have never seens anyhting like it - the approximate time to get into target or best buy was at l east an hour. No thanks! I went to Old Navy and then hit up target later in the day. I love this Santa shirt that I got!

 Baby was ready to start getting the house all ready for the Holidays

 We added lights to our staircase garland and put everything up outside - Ill need to get a picture to post because Adam really did a nice job on it!

And we got our tree!!! It's a tall and bushy one, I love it! There is just nothing like a lit tree to look at, and ours already has lots of present underneath :)

So excited that its the Christmas Season, officially!, and that my family will be here next week!!! Ill be back tomorrow with a weekly bump post - lets just say the sickness is not subsiding and I can hardly find anything to eat!!

Loaded Red Potato Stromboli

This recipe is inspired by the Red Skin Potato Pie at one of my favorite pizza places, Mellow Mushroom. Their pizza is so good, mainly because of the crust which I would love to learn the trick to, but also because of the different toppings. Adam and I went a couple months back and I really wanted to try this potato pizza, while I think he was pretty skeptical. It turned out to be amazing and something I would highly recommend to anyone looking for something different. We were looking to make dinner with ingredients that we had on hand, and we happened to have everything to turn this pizza into a stromboli (the oven is broke so we needed something that would fit into a toaster oven to bake). This recipe is obviously not conducive to any kind of diet, but you will not regret eating one bite of it. Feel free to add bacon to this - we would have but didn't have any on hand.

Loaded Red Potato Stromboli
1 lb Pizza Dough
3 Medium Red Potatoes, sliced thin and quartered
1/4 White Onion, sliced
3 Green Onions, chopped
4-5 tbsp Spicy Ranch Dressing (enough to cover the base of the pizza dough)
4-5 tbsp Fat Free Sour Cream
1/4 cup Cheddar Cheese
1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tsp Kosher Salt

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

In a large skillet, add 1 tbsp olive oil and potatoes. Cook on medium heat until tender, stirring to make sure they don't stick to the pan. In another skillet, add 1 tbsp olive oil and the sliced white onion. Cook on low until soft.

Roll out your pizza dough and place the spicy ranch and sour cream on the bottom as your base. Add green onion, cheese, potato and white onion. Sprinkle 1 tbsp olive oil and salt on top.

Roll up almost like a burrito, tucking the sides in to make sure nothing escapes. Use a sharp knife to make a few slits across the top (also, feel free to bush some olive oil or egg yolks on top to brown the dough). Toss in the oven until heated through, about 25 minutes.

Lobster Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes definitely top my list of favorite foods. I have always loved them mashed, but I also love them roasted, fried, baked and scalloped. Publix had lobster and red potatoes on sale, and I wanted to cook a nice dinner for our day off, so my mind went immediately to the thought of lobster mashed potatoes. I love mashed potatoes because they are so easy to create; just eyeball your ingredients and add what you want. Butter, sour cream, milk, yogurt - whatever. So simple! I am also going to try to make smaller portions of foods, so that we don't have a million leftovers to eat of unhealthy things, and it is easy to do with this kind of recipe. This serves 2-4 as a side dish, using the portions below.

Lobster Mashed Potatoes

4 Medium Red Potatoes

5 oz Lobster Tail

3-4 oz Gouda Cheese

3 Green Onions, chopped

2 tbsp Butter

1/4 cup Heavy Cream

1/4 cup Skim Milk

Pinch Cayenne Pepper

S&P

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. While the water is heating, wash and quarter your potatoes. Once water is at a boil, add the potatoes and cook until tender, about 30 minutes.

When the potatoes are still a little firm, add butter to a saucepan on medium/low heat. Cut lobster meat into small, but still chunky, pieces and add to melted butter. Saute until cooked through and no longer translucent.

Add cream and milk to a small sauce pan and place on medium heat, stirring until warmed.

Strain potatoes and place in a bowl. Mash (use a whisk if you don't have a potato masher) and add lobster and butter mixture. Stir in cheese until melted, then slowly stir in milk mix. I only used half of the liquid to reach the consistency that I like. Add green onion, cayenne and s&p, the mix until combined.

Lime Cilantro Sweet Potatoes with Black Beans

Excuse my awful photo

When I saw this recipe come up in my google reader from Beantown Baker, I tagged it under my 'potatoes' folder and kind of forgot about it. When I was looking for some dinner ideas I stumbled upon it again and decided it would be perfect for this week. I made the whole batch on Monday night and now it will last me through Thursday. It was simple, fast and DELICIOUS. When I work out after 9 hours at work and a 45 minute commute home, I am hungry and not in the mood to wait 2 hours to eat. This is easily a go to side dish that requires little effort and time. It would also be a good addition to any BBQ or cook out in the summer months.

I love roasted sweet potatoes, I love cilantro and anything mexican-feeling. This went well with the cuban wrap that I made, and I will definitely pair it with anything from tacos and fajitas to enchiladas. Pop the potatoes in the oven while you get something done around the house, then mix everything together and youre good to go. I think it may just save you on a hectic night.

Lime Cilantro Sweet Potatoes with Black Beans (From Beantown Baker, originally Epicurious)

2 tbsp olive oil

3 medium Sweet Potatoes
1 large can of Black Beans, rinsed
Juice of 2 Limes
1 tsp Kosher Salt, divided
1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/4 cup Chopped Cilantro


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees
Toss the diced sweet potatoes with oil and 1/2 tsp of salt and spread evenly on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake about 20 minutes (time will depend on the size of the sweet potato pieces), or until tender. Remove and let cool.

Combine the lime juice, remaining salt, and cayenne together and mix well in a large bowl (big enough to fit all of the potatoes). Add the black beans and sweet potatoes and toss well. Sprinkle with cilantro and toss again.

Twice Baked Potato Cups

Tonight half of the family was out of town, so I cooked up dinner for Meaghy, my dad and Myself and Meaghy made the dessert. I did chicken and decided it was time to try out these Potato Cups from The Way The Cookie Crumbles. I made a few changes, but I loved how simple they were to throw together. The cayenne pepper gave it a really nice flavor without being overly spicy. Meaghy thought it was Old Bay when I was putting it all together, which made me think that Old Bay would be a really good taste to add too, so maybe next time! You can change the ingredients to suit your taste, and these would be great for a dinner party.

Twice Baked Potato Cups (adapted from The Way The Cookie Crumbles)
2 extra large russet potatoes, scrubbed
1 cup coarsely grated parmesan cheese + 1/4 cup
½ cup light sour cream
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 tablespoons butter
4 Green onions, chopped



1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce potatoes in several places with fork, then place potatoes directly on oven rack and bake until tender when pierced with fork, about 55 minutes. Cool potatoes slightly.

2. Cut off thin slice from both short ends of each potato and discard. Cut each potato crosswise in half; stand each half on its small flat end. Using teaspoon, scoop out cooked potato pulp from each half, leaving ⅓-inch-thick shell and forming potato cup. Place potato cups in 13x9x2-inch glass baking dish. Place potato pulp in medium bowl; add cheese, sour cream, onion, butter and cayenne. Using potato masher or fork, mash until well blended and almost smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Place some extra cheese at the bottom of the cup, then mound mashed potato mixture in potato cups. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top. For any extra filling, place in a ramekin and sprinkles cheese on top, then bake.

3. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake potato cups until heated through, about 20 minutes.

Baked Potato

I know that people think baked potatoes are the easiest thing to make, but I like to think that mine are better than average. This was confirmed when I made them the other week and got a big eyed look from Adam who proclaimed 'This is the best potato I've ever had at home!' I had to agree that these just came out perfect, we even baked one up the next night. I know that people will call potatoes baked in foil 'steamed' but they are still baking in the oven, and the foil really keeps in the flavor and texture and keeps the skin soft and moist. I loaded them up, since it was the weekend and all, but you could really eat this as a meal itself, and it wouldn't be too bad for you.

Baked Potatoes
2 Large Baking Potatoes
4 tbsp Fat Free Sour Cream
2 tbsp Butter - I use Smart Taste with Flax Seed Oil
4 Green Onion, chopped
4 tbsp Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Aluminum Foil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While it is heating up, clean potatoes and puncture with a fork all the way around. Microwave both potatoes at once, for 5 minutes.

Drizzle olive oil on the potato and rub in so that the entire surface is covered. Sprinkle kosher salt and wrap tightly in aluminum foil. Place on center rack in oven and bake for 50 minutes, turning over half way through.

Remove from oven and foil. Make a slit in the top of the potato and carefully mash, with a knife, the inside of potato while keeping the skin intact, add cheese, butter, sourcream, s&p and green onion.

Sweet Potato Wedges

A little over a year ago Adam introduced me to something that would seriously change my life: roasted sweet potato wedges. I wasn't a big SP person before, and once I took my first bite I was hooked. I'm sure he regretted it, because everytime he asked what we were making for dinner/snack/lunch I offered up the suggestion of 'SWEET POTATO WEDGES!!' I made minor changes, to make them my 'own,' but they are pretty basic. I can literally eat a whole bowl of these by myself. In fact, I made them 3 times over the weekend!

Sweet Potato Wedges
Large Sweet Potaotoes
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Kosher Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Dried Oregano

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Cut Potatoes in half, and keep halving until you have wedges that are about half an inch thick on the bottom. Place on a baking sheet and drizzle with Olive Oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano. Flip potatoes to the other side, using a spatula, and repeat.

Baking time will depend on how many potatoes you have. When I do a whole baking sheet, I usually bake for 20 minutes, flip potatoes, and bake for 20 more. The potatoes will brown on the bottom when it is time to be flipped.

Crash Red Potatoes

It is not a secret that I love potatoes. Mashed potatoes were one of my top foods growing up, and everywhere I go I like to get a side of them with my meal. I can make a mean baked potato, and most recently I've become addicted to roasted sweet potatoe wedges. I was wanting to do soemthing a little different, so I did crash potatoes the other night. They are simple and when you have a dinner that takes a while to make, its nice to be able to throw these in some water then into the oven.

Crash Red Potatoes
Red Potatoes
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Oregano

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Place potatoes in a pot of boiling water, for about 40 minutes, depending on how many potatoes you are making. When they are fork tender, they are ready to be taken out.

Place on a baking sheet and using a potato masher, or the top of a meat pounder like me, smash down the potatoes so that the inside is exposed.

Drizzle with olive oil and top with salt, pepper and oregano. Bake in the over for about 15 minutes, or unti lcooked all the way through and the skin is crisp.

Cool weather makes me want warm food!

Well, its already Thursday again, Im trying to think up next weeks dinners. As well as tonights! Since it was a cool 62 degrees this morning, and should be about the same tonight, I am really wanting some nice fall foods. Im thinking chili and baked potatoes, stuffed shells, something that is just warm and comforting. It would have been a great day to attempt using a crockpot, if only I had prepared for it.

I am thinking of doing an around the world theme for dinner next week. I got some great light chinese food recipes (I have been craving it like nothing else lately!) and may attempt fish tacos and some sort of pasta. I have come around on the ronzoni smart pastas! Although I guess none of these would follow Erins suggestion of cutting crabs out at night, but it's not like Im eating them all day so one serving should be allowed. At least Im not going for Adams amazing grilled potatoes! Those things are so great, definitely a bad carb though. Mmmmm. (It is great to have someone to play sous chef to).Off to the blogs for more ideas!

Grilled Potatoes

2 sweet potatoes

2 large baking potatoes

Sweet Onion

Mushrooms

Olive Oil

Butter Pads

S&P

Garlic

Mix all together in foil, place butter pads on top and add another layer of foil on top. Put on grill for 40 minutes, shaking about half way through.