Food Rule 45 and Crispy Sweet Potato Fries

This has got to be my one of favorite rules in the entire book:

Uh, hello!  I love to cook, and who doesn't love to indulge in fatty, salty, or sweet foods?  This is pretty much a done deal for me!

This recipe for Sweet Potato Fries deviates from your standard slice-em-and-bake-em recipe in that it turns out Crispy.  Giving the sweet potato sticks a light coating of corn starch allows them to bake up with a barely-there coating (similar to the way that our Baked Coconut Shrimp crisp up).  And, there are definitely no deep fryers involved here!  Go on, and zoom in on a photo or two, if it's not too early to be scoping out french fries.  No steamy, slimy outer layers in sight!  Just a slight crisp without a greasy mess.

Ok, so I didn't go full blown junky junk food on you with this recipe (I honestly can't bring myself to deep fry anything at home), but these are still very much in the delicious category.  As I was editing the photos last night, Bo commented, "Yeah, those were good." 

We ate them dipped in a spicy mayo: About 1/2 cup mayo mixed with a teaspoon of chili sauce, 1/4 tsp. cayenne, and a pinch of salt.  Feel free to change up the amounts to your liking.  I just threw things into a bowl and tasted as I went.

Enjoy!

         

Crispy Sweet Potato Fries
adapted from The Art of Doing Stuff

1 large sweet potato
1/3 c. corn starch
seasoning salt
2 Tbsp. canola oil

Cut the sweet potato into even sticks.  (No need to peel the potato first, because you can trim the skin as you cut the potato into sticks).  Soak the sticks in water for an hour or more.  Drain the potato sticks, but do not blot dry.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place a baking rack onto a cookie sheet and lightly spray the rack with oil.  (Note: You can skip the rack and just use a cookie sheet, but you'll need to flip the fries over midway through cooking in order to get all sides crisped.)

Working in batches, add a tablespoon of corn starch and a shake of seasoning salt to a plastic bag.    Add in a small handful of sweet potato sticks (about 6 or 7) and close the top of the bag, making sure there is air inside to create a balloon shape.  Shake the bag to completely coat the sweet potato sticks.  Remove the sweet potatoes, shaking the excess corn starch off, and set aside.  After all sticks have been lightly coated with corn starch, drizzle oil over all the sticks and use your hands to make sure the sticks have a light coating and then place onto prepared baking rack.

Bake for 20 minutes, or until sweet potato sticks are fork-tender.  Increase oven temperature to Low Broil and continue baking for a few more minutes, until fries begin to crisp.  Makes 2 servings.

         

Ingredient Lineup:

Food Rule 25 and Green Eggs, No Ham

Drum roll, please!  Introducing, our next Food Rule:

One of the things I love about this food rule is that it instantly makes you start mentally scrolling through all the fruits and vegetables you can think of that might have leaves worth eating.  Here's an easy and delicious idea - Greens!*  As you remember, I've already raved about kale and two of my favorite soup recipes call for collards or other greens.  And I'm forever tossing collards and kale into stir fries and anywhere else that could use some extra vitamins.  I'm learning that they're way more versatile than the typical way people serve them here in the South (stewed all day with bacon fat and served as a faded green soppy pile with hot sauce - delicious, but not terribly nutritious).

This recipe is yet another way you can toss greens into something basic and give yourself an extra punch of antioxidants, vitamins, and fiber.  And what better time than at breakfast?  This recipe has absolutely made its way into my morning routine, and I'm so excited to have found another way to cook with such a healthy vegetable.

Your turn - Have you tried out any new ways to get more green into your diet?  We'd all love to hear!

Green Machine,


p.s.  Everyone talks about how bitter greens are, and I was afraid to try them for that very reason.  But I was totally surprised to find that they really aren't bitter at all.  In fact, I think that both kale and collards are way less bitter than spinach!  Greens just need a little broth for cooking and some salt to finish.  Mmmmm... tasty.


* AKA: Collards, Kale, Spinach, Mustard Greens, Swiss Chard, Arugula, Dandelion Greens, or any of the family of green, leafy vegetables used for salad!

          

Green Eggs, No Ham
adapted from Cookus Interruptus

3 handfuls rinsed and chopped collards or kale
approx. 1/3 c. low-sodium broth or water
3 eggs
3 Tbsp. milk
1 Tbsp. oil or butter
your favorite seasoning salt, to taste
3 tsp. grated cheese, like Romano or Parmesan

Heat skillet over medium-high heat.  Add enough broth or water to cover the bottom of the skillet and add the greens.  Let greens cook down until wilted and moisture is absorbed, stirring occasionally.  Continue cooking until greens start to toast, then remove greens from skillet and set aside.

Lower heat to medium.  Add oil or butter to skillet.  Whisk eggs and milk in a bowl until combined, then pour into skillet over hot butter.  Gently stir eggs as they cook, lifting egg layer up from the bottom of the pan.  When eggs are nearly cooked, add the greens to the pan and season with your favorite seasoning salt (I used Old Bay).  Remove the pan from heat when eggs appear light and fluffy, but still shiny and wet.  Serve immediately, sprinkling grated cheese over the top.  Serves 2.

         

Add enough broth or water to a skillet over medium-high heat to cover the bottom of the pan.

Toss in greens and let cook down until wilted, stirring occasionally.

Continue cooking greens until moisture is absorbed and greens are soft and just starting to toast.

Serve with a sprinkling of grated Romano or Parmesan and a thick slice of toasted wheat bread.

Friday Fun: Hangry. (And a winner!)

image via Pinterest

hangry
	A state of anger and irritability resulting from being hungry. Karen: What is up with you? You are being so annoying. Nini: Ugh. I didn't eat breakfast and I am starving. I am really hangry.

Tell me I'm not alone in this!  Even before I had issues with hypoglycemia, waiting too long to eat would put me in a state of simultaneous grumpy, tired, and sad.  I called it being wilty.  But now, it's progressed to straight up "hangry."

For whatever reason, I only know of this affecting women - are you men truly not affected by extended periods of not eating??  Is there some biological reason for this?

Lunchtime!

And our winner!!  Thanks to Random.org, lucky #14 won!




Wehaf, I'll email you right away, and as soon as I can get a shipping address from you, I'll get your winnings into the mail!  Congrats!!

Food Rule 5, No Sugar Oat Cookies, and a Giveaway!

(Giveaway details at the bottom of this post)

Good mooooooorning!

So.  After yesterday's chatter about these mysterious and vague "Food Rules," I bet you're ready for something to sink your teeth into - both literally and figuratively.  Behold!  Our first Food Rule:

Over the past few months, I've been trying to eliminate excess sugar from my diet.  And that includes the Splenda I once loved with all my heart.  I've been reading too many scary things about artificial sweeteners, and if it's such a hotly debated topic in the nutrition world, I really ought not to be eating it.  But, I can't bear the thought of using real sugar and adding all those calories back into my diet.  So I did the one thing that seemed to make the most sense: I started teaching my taste buds to be ok with foods that are less sweet.  Yep.  The same way I taught my taste buds to be ok with vegetables (and then like them and then crave them and then actually love them way more than the other things on my dinner plate).  I started with ditching the sugar in my morning coffee.  Then I started digging through my pantry to see if sweeteners were sneaking onto the labels in my other foods.  Did you know that a lot of canned soups have sugar?  And that whole/real/natural fruit popsicles have sugar, fructose, and corn syrup at the top of their ingredient lists?!  It's crazy town!

After really sticking to it (I'm a baker after all, and my favorite food is cake with frosting!), I discovered some things about sugar: When I don't eat it, I'm a lot nicer.  Like, a lot nicer.  And my skin looks better.  And I don't find myself filled with an overwhelming urge to cram forkfuls of dessert into my face, like before.  I'm not doing some crazy diet or counting carbs or using a new-fangled substitute.  I'm teaching my taste buds to like foods that aren't dialed up to Holy Sugary Sweet Explosion.

Today's cookie recipe definitely fits the bill!  I mean, it's got "No Sugar" straight up in the title, even.  And if you look at the ingredient list, there is also no dairy, no gluten, and only a scant amount of added fat.  The cookies bake up similar to a chewy bar, and I really, truly love them.  When Bo first took a bite, he was expecting a sugary blast similar to my regular cookie recipes.  But after I told him, "Dude, there's only fruit sugar in those things and almost zero fat," he paused to consider them and then promptly ate 4 cookies before I could yell at him to save some for me.  I love that these cookies have an ingredient list I feel zero guilt about, and they're a perfect little snack to keep the tummy grumblies at bay.

Enjoy!


p.s.  Don't forget to enter the giveaway!  Details at the very bottom of this post!

         

No Sugar Oat Cookies
adapted from Blueberry Girl

1 1/2 c. (128g) regular rolled oats
1 c. (60g) unsweetened coconut flakes
1/4 c. (30g) almond meal
1/2 c. (60g) nuts, finely chopped
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. (60g) dried fruit (I used blueberries and raisins)
4 (425g total) ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 c. canola oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together oats, coconut flakes, almond meal, nuts, cinnamon, and salt.  Stir in dried fruit, making sure that the pieces do not stick together.

In a separate medium bowl, combine mashed bananas, oil, and vanilla.  Pour wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir until well combined.

Press batter into cookie cutters and space 1" apart onto parchment paper.  (Or use a cookie scoop and flatten the balls to make them evenly thick.)  Bake for 20 minutes, or until edges and bottoms are golden brown.  Store in airtight container.  Makes about 20 cookies.

        

Ingredient Lineup:

GIVEAWAY!

To celebrate kicking off this Food Rules series, I'm sponsoring a giveaway!

What the winner will get:

- A copy of Michael Pollan's newly illustrated "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual"

- 2 bottles of my homemade vanilla extract

- 1 "Cookies for Kids Cancer" cookie spatula

There are three different ways you can enter.  That means that each person can enter up to 3 times!

1.  Post a comment here telling me one area in your food world where you're thinking of cutting back on sugar or sweeteners.  (Or post a comment telling me that cutting sweeteners is for the birds and that you really just want the pretty book, the pretty vanilla, and the pretty spatula.)

2.  Post a link to this recipe on Facebook and come back here to leave a comment telling me you did that.

3.  Post a link to this recipe on Pinterest and come back here to leave a comment telling me you did that.
     (If you need a Pinterest invite, email me: skeddy @ gmail .com)
     

Drawing will take place this Friday, 1/6 at noon EST.  And I'll email the winner right away!

Fine print: Giveaway open to US shipping addresses only, so if you live somewhere else, you'll need to regift these prizes to a best pal living in the US.  This giveaway isn't sponsored by anyone or any company.  It's all out of my pocket and, as my Dad used to say - the goodness of my pea pickin' little heart.