Fall Potatoes & Carrots

We love sweet potatoes in our house. And I love cooked carrots. I usually forget about them unless I'm making a roast, but this recipe has the best of both worlds! It's delicious, healthy, and cheap!

Don't be disturbed that there isn't much sauce for these veggies. With a minimum of sauce, you can really taste the actually flavor of the veggies! It's heavenly! Every time I make this the whole family eats way too much. It's so good, you don't even need to serve it with meat. But we usually have a little side of chicken. And how often can you say your main dish is veggies and potatoes?

Fall Potatoes & Carrots

1 lb carrots (I use baby carrots)
1 lb sweet potatoes (peeled and cubed)
1 lb idaho potatoes (peeled and cubed)
1/2 large red onion (peeled and cubed)
16 oz can chick peas (drained)
6 cloves of garlic (minced)
3 T olive oil
1 t dried rosemary
1 t brown sugar
1/2 t salt
1/2 t black pepper

Mix garlic, olive oil, rosemary, sugar, salt, and black pepper in a glass measuring cup. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Pour potatoes, carrots, onion and chick peas onto a large cooking pan (I use our cookie sheet lined with the silicone mat). Stir around so everything is evenly distributed. Drizzle with sauce and gently stir around. Cook for 45 minutes, or until the carrots have softened.

Yeilds: 8 servings (or 6 if you're eating it as a main dish)

Thai Stir-fry & Zucchini Noodles

For the past 2 months I've been tempted every time I went to Walmart by the Veggeti. Way cheesie, I know! But I've wanted a device to make veggies into noodles for about a year, and they're usually $40. But this one is only $15. So I broke down and bought one. And now that it's zucchini season, I'm so glad I did!

We've tried zucchini and yellow squash so far. I like the thick noodles better than the thin ones. I love it in Asian dishes, with white sauce, and with red sauce. I didn't love it with pesto for some reason (not sure why, it just didn't taste as good). But this has been my favorite recipe hands down!

Also, I found you want to cook these noodles the day you eat them, and they're just as good cooked in the microwave as boiled. So it only takes two minutes to cook if you want to heat up the sauce and veggies for the next day. 1 small zucchini is about 1 serving.

Thai Stir-fry & Zucchini Noodles

6 small zucchinis (made into noodles)
1/4 c veggie oil
1 garlic clove (chopped)
1/4 c soy sauce*
1/4 c rice vinegar
2 t Pad Thai Sauce
2 T honey
1 chicken breast (cubed)
1/2 c carrots (julienned)
1 red bell pepper (sliced thinly
1/2 lb mushrooms

Place oil, garlic, soy sauce, rice vinegar, pad thai sauce, and honey in a wok. Heat to a simmer, add chicken and carrots. Let simmer for 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked. Cook noodles in the microwave for 2 minutes. While  noodles are cooking add remaining ingredients to the wok and cook. Add noodles to the wok and stir until fully covered with sauce. Enjoy!

Yeilds: 6 servings


* Make sure your soy sauce is gluten free. La Choy brad is.

Volcano Cookies

I've made these cookies twice. The first time they were so rich and chocolate-ly, but the batter ran across the pan. The second time they set up, and turned out fabulous! Well worth the trial and error of the first batch!

Volcano Cookies

1 lb powdered sugar
3/4 c cocoa powder
1/2 t salt
5 medium egg whites (beat to soft peaks)
1 T valilla extract
1 1/2 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, cocoa, and salt in a large mixing bowl. Add the egg whites, vanilla, and mix until smooth. Gently stir in the chocolate chips. Set the dough in the fridge for 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened.

Using a tablespoon, place on a baking pan covered with a silicone mat lightly sprayed (or wax paper lightly sprayed). Bake 15 minutes or until the top starts to crackle. Leave on the cookie sheet for a few minutes before transferring to a wire wrack to cool completely.

Yields: 24 cookies