Breakfast Sweet Potato

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Andrea

Meet my new breakfast, a sweet potato!

I’ve been sort of in a breakfast slump lately. I’m not really digging on oatmeal anymore.

Well let me clarify that a bit. I love oatmeal but I just don’t want it everyday.

I stumbled across Rachel’s blog, Two Healthy Plates, and saw that she posted about having sweet potatoes for breakfast.

Genius!

This was right up my alley and I immediately tried it out the following week.

I am in love with the breakfast sweet potato!

I top it with a little butter, yogurt (vanilla or Greek, your choice) and homemade granola.

Sometimes I’ll add on some sliced up banana as well and a drizzle of maple syrup.

Half a sweet potato with toppings is plenty of breakfast for me and it gets me through the entire morning.

The best thing about this breakfast is that it can be made ahead saving me time in the kitchen in the mornings.

Memorial Weekend Eats

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Andrea

Memorial Day weekend is coming up and it’s time to start planning all the grub that you’re going to put out! If you are in need of some ideas, I’ve got some coming your way!

Tequila Brined Chicken can easily be made on the grill. Either go the beer can route or you can quarter it up and grill it in pieces.

Got leftover chicken? Use it to make some mayo-less chicken salad!

Want a veggie dish that can stand up next to all the potato salads and baked beans? Bring something a little different to the table with some Asian Noodles in a Coconut Peanut Sauce.

And don’t think I forgot the dips because that would be crazy talk.

Horseradish Onion Dip better than anything that requires you to use dehydrated onions from a packet.

And just for fun:

Beer Mustard Dip, cheesy creamy goodness.

Have fun this holiday weekend! Stay safe, drink some beer, and eat a little too much!

Horseradish Onion Dip

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Andrea

One of my favorite dips is French Onion dip! I loved it with all of it’s spice and tang along with the intense flavor of onions.

Growing up it was always made with soup mix, you know that stuff that doubles as meatloaf and pot roast flavoring? When I was on my own and responsible for providing my own food, I would purchase premade dip.

That’s alright and it got the job done, of course, but there comes a point when you have to move away from the pre-made stuff.

Once I started cooking more and making my own versions of things, French Onion dip was something I tackled right away.

And failed at.

Oh the dip was tasty but it was way too sweet. Caramelized onions are intense and super sweet! I was having trouble combating this and finally I put this idea up on the shelf to be revisited at another time.

Roasted Veggie Dip

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Andrea

Dip was something that my family had at every party and every kind of gathering. We are a dip loving folk and when I started dating Scott, he discovered he is a dip loving person as well.

Then dips kind of got pushed aside for a while here at the HQ, and now I’m looking to bring them back. I’ve been recreating a lot of my favorite flavors of dip and using Greek yogurt instead of sour cream.

So far I’ve been successful! The first dip I made was a roasted veggie dip that’s creamy, full of dill punch, and roasted veggie goodness.

Andrea’s Roasted Veggie Dip

1/4 Small or Medium Red Onion, chunked

1/2 Red or Green Pepper, chunked

1 Small or Medium Size Carrot, peeled and chunked

2 Cloves of Garlic

1 1/2C Greek Yogurt

1 1/2TBSP Dried Dill

Pinch of Cayenne Pepper

Salt and Ground Black Pepper

1/4tsp Garlic Powder

1/4tsp Onion Powder

Review: Traderspoint Creamery Yogurt

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Andrea

Let me start off by saying that this was the most difficult thing I have tried to take a picture of so far. I could not get a straight picture and was about to lose my cool while stomping off to get the tripod. Then I realized that the sticker on the bottle was crooked and not my picture taking.

Whew!

So I apologize for the crooked picture but it’s not my fault and I’m okay with that.

I stumbled upon this yogurt from Traderspoint Creamery, while I was picking up some Snowville half and half for Scott’s coffee. I thought this was just a milk company and then I noticed that this bottle said yogurt on it.

Oh?

I’ve been looking around for a new yogurt for a little while now. I still love Fage but sometimes I want something a little sweeter and not so thick. I’ve been displeased with yogurts lately and all about abandoned my mission. Then the florescent store lights shined down up this gem.

Fancy Tuna Salad

Posted on September 28, 2011 by Andrea

We didn’t go out to eat a lot when I was growing up. Occasionally we would get hoagies or pizza out. Sometimes hitting up the golden arches but that was rare and my mom really really really didn’t feel like cooking on those instances.

On the off chance that I was out at a restaurant some place, I noticed that the chicken salad and tuna salad sandwichs were always on croissants.

Being at a restaurant and seeing a croissant instantly equaled fancy in my mind. Dining out was a privilege and meant for special occasions. Croissants were exotic and Parisian, automatically labeling them as decadent.

I never ordered those sandwiches though, always admiring them but not connecting.

On a recent grocery trip, Scott noticed that the croissants were on sale and suggested picking some up. The thing to know about Scott is that he doesn’t often suggest getting food. The only requests are that he will on occasion ask me to prepare a specific dish but otherwise not a peep out of him.

Loaded Baked Sweet Potato

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Andrea

This is my newest obsession, the loaded baked sweet potato. A little while back I wanted to try creating a loaded baked sweet potato.

I love sweet potato and pumpkin as savory items more than I do sweet. Hence why I put pumpkin in just about every chili I make now and why I think sweet potato fries should contain chili powder.

Previous meals, I had a little bit of cheese mixed in with my baked sweet potato and it was glorious. I decided at some point I was going to jump in with both feet and make a savory baked sweet potato.

Last week I tried it out and will never go back to butter and cinnamon on a sweet potato again.

Andrea’s Loaded Baked Sweet Potato

Sweet Potato

Pepperjack Cheese

Sour Cream (I use Greek Yogurt)

Hot Sauce of Choice

Chopped Green Onions

Bake sweet potato in oven at 400 for about 1.5 hours. How long will depend on how big your potato is. Baking a sweet potato is similar to baking a regular potato. Poke holes in it first. I do not put anything on the skin of the sweet potato. I line a baking sheet with foil, spray with oil and bake the sweet potato as is.

Read more on Loaded Baked Sweet Potato…

Leftover Idea: Fish Po’ Boys

Posted on July 29, 2011 by Andrea

Crispy breaded fish is something that I really enjoy having on occasion. By making my own breadcrumbs, using local eggs, along with sauteeing the fish in olive oil and a smidge of butter, I can feel good about serving this to my family.

Even though I love it, sometimes leftovers need a little dolling up and superstar treatment.

Enter in the Fish Po’ Boy!

The Po’ Boy is a sandwich popular in New Orleans and consists of a toasty roll with a fried fish fillet and a sauce on top. That’s the basics of the dish anyway. So to create a fish po’ boy at home, you just need a few simple things on hand.

Andrea’s Fish Po’ Boy:

Leftover crispy fish

Crusty Bread of your Choice

Lettuce

Tomato

Red Onion

Dressing (Below)

Put together sandwich by layering the lettuce, tomato, onion, and then the fish on top of that.

Andrea’s Fish Dipping Sauce:

2TBSP Greek Yogurt (We like Fage)

Baked Potato Bar

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Andrea

We’ve talked about my love for potatoes, right? I have so many great memories of potato dishes that I could never give them up. I also have a soft spot in my heart for the potato since it gets such a bad rap from the low-carb crowd.

Let’s keep things real, a white potato is not evil. It’s a vegetable and has a lot to offer us in terms of nutrition. Let’s embrace the potato!

One of my many favorite ways to eat a potato is by loading up a baked potato. Whenever I got a chance to get a loaded potato out at a restaurant, I always ordered it as a side. My high school alternated between a salad bar and a baked potato bar during the week, which I loved. A huge baked potato for lunch? Yes please!

Because of how much I adore loaded baked potatoes, I’ve taken to recreating the experience at home.

Weekend Grilling Recipes

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Andrea

Are you grilling this weekend? Looking for something a little different to the standard hot dogs and burgers? Want to shake up the summer grilling season for 2011?

Let Food Embrace help! Here’s a few recipes that you can try out this grilling season:

Chardonnay Chicken Burgers

Cranapple Turkey Burgers

Grilling steaks? Try giving those babies a little rub down.

Rather have pork? Beer Brined Pork Chops can be grilled.

Get funky with some chicken, yogurt curry chicken or cocoa-chili rubbed chicken will do the trick nicely.

Then you can wash it down with some super special iced tea.

Have fun this summer and get your grill on!