Sweet potato casserole

Sweet Potato Casserole:
Active prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 2 hours 10 minutes
Serves: 16

Sweet potato filling:

• 5 sweet potatoes
• 1/4 C vegetable oil
• 1/4 C white granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 t salt
• 4 T unsalted butter, softened
• 1 t vanilla extract

Pecan topping:

• 1 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/2 C flour
• 3/8 t baking powder
• 1/4 t salt
• 1 1/2 C chopped pecans
• 3/4 C butter, melted

For the sweet potato filling: Preheat oven to 350º. Pierce sweet potatoes with a fork, brush with vegetable oil and wrap in foil. Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until soft. Remove sweet potatoes from oven and allow them to cool. Peel sweet potatoes and combine with sugar, eggs, salt, butter and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Transfer sweet potato mixture into a 9x13 pan. 

For the pecan topping: Combine the brown sugar, flour, baking powder, salt, pecans and butter and stir. Spread over the top of sweet potato mixture. 

Bake casserole at 350º for 40 minutes. Casserole should be bubbling. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 92 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  333 Calories from Fat  206

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  22.9g 35%

Saturated Fat  8.8g 44%

Cholesterol  51mg 17%

Sodium  205mg 9%

Total Carbohydrates  31.4g 10%

Dietary Fiber  2.6g 10%

Sugars  17.0g

Protein  2.7g

Vitamin A 9% • Vitamin C 11% Calcium 4% • Iron 5%

Nutrition Grade D

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Bad points

• High in saturated fat
• High in sugar

Homemade Soft Pretzels

If there is one concession stand/mall food I'm a sucker for, it's soft pretzels. Cinnamon with cream cheese frosting. Salted with spicy cheddar. Garlic and Parmesan. It doesn't matter the flavor ... Pretzels are delicious. And now I can make them at home. And you can too =)

Cheese sauce recipe below.

Homemade Soft Pretzels (courtesy of Alton Brown, foodnetwork.com) 

• 1 1/2 C warm (110 to 115° F) water
• 1 T sugar
• 2 t kosher salt
• 1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 t)
• 22 oz all-purpose flour, approximately 4 1/2 C
• 2 oz unsalted butter, melted
• Vegetable oil, for pan
• 10 C water
• 2/3 C baking soda
• 1 large egg yolk beaten with 1 T water
• Pretzel salt or cinnamon and sugar (or both =)

Combine the water, sugar and kosher salt in the bowl of a stand mixer (or bread machine*) and sprinkle the yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add the flour and butter and, using the dough hook attachment, mix on low speed until well combined. Change to medium speed and knead until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the side of the bowl, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the dough from the bowl, clean the bowl and then oil it well with vegetable oil. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with plastic wrap and sit in a warm place for approximately 50 to 55 minutes or until the dough has doubled in size.

*I used a bread machine and made the following adjustments: (1) combine the water, sugar and salt in the bread machine pan and sprinkle yeast on top. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until the mixture begins to foam. Add flour and butter and begin dough cycle. Once the dough is in a smooth ball, and the machine is resting, remove the dough, clean the pan and oil it with vegetable oil. Let the machine complete the dough cycle. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment paper (this part is important. I thought "meh, I'll be fine without parchment paper" and I still have pretzel outlines on my pan and it's been 2 months! The baking soda will stain your pan) and lightly brush with the vegetable oil. Set aside.

Bring the 10 C of water and the baking soda to a rolling boil in an 8-quart saucepan or roasting pan.

In the meantime, turn the dough out onto a slightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece of dough into a 24-inch rope. Make a U-shape with the rope, holding the ends of the rope, cross them over each other and press onto the bottom of the U in order to form the shape of a pretzel. Place onto the parchment-lined half sheet pan.

Place the pretzels into the boiling water, one by one, for 30 seconds. Remove them from the water using a large flat spatula. Return to the half sheet pan, brush the top of each pretzel with the beaten egg yolk and water mixture and sprinkle with the pretzel salt or cinnamon and sugar. Bake until dark golden brown in color, approximately 12 to 14 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/homemade-soft-pretzels-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Cheese Dipping Sauce (courtesy of Smells like Home)

• 2 T unsalted butter
• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1 C milk
• 8 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (not package pre-shredded cheese - shred your own)

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for 30 seconds, whisking constantly.

Slowly whisk in the milk until no lumps of flour remain. Stirring constantly, bring the milk to a simmer over medium-low heat until mixture thickens (about 3-5 minutes). Remove the pan from the stove and stir in the shredded cheese until all of the cheese has melted. Serve warm. 

Reheat in microwave at medium power for 30 second intervals, stirring between, if needed. 

Tips & Tricks: Keeping fresh herbs fresh

I can never go back to dried herbs. The incredible flavor fresh herbs add to a dish is impossible to match -- that's just the truth of the matter. Dried herbs are great and they serve a purpose, but fresh herbs ... well ... there's just no comparison.

But fresh herbs cost more and they usually go bad -- fast.

So how would a money-conscious, conscientious cooker go about incorporating fresh herbs into their everyday cooking (try saying that 3 times, fast)?

Allow me to demonstrate.

I can't remember where I learned this trick, but it really, truly works. I use it mostly for my parsley, cilantro and asparagus (I know asparagus is not an herb). Basil and green onions apply the same principle, but they do better outside the fridge and in the sun. I kid you not -- with this method I can get two weeks out of my parsley and cilantro. Basil and green onions will last nearly indefinitely.

So here's the magic:

1. Take your fresh herbs and cut off the very end of the stems. Remove any rubber bands or twist-ties.

2. Fill a small cup or container with cool water and place the herbs stem-down in the container, just like a flower in a vase.

3. For cilantro or parsley, lightly cover the cup or container with a plastic produce bag (use the one you brought the herbs home in) and put herbs in the least cold part of your fridge.

For asparagus, you don't need to cover with a produce bag. Step 2 is all you need to do before putting it in the fridge.

For basil and green onions*, put the container on a sunlit windowsill or counter. Check every other day or so to make sure the water isn't gone.

*I buy my green onions at the grocery store. When I initially use them, I cut them down to where it starts to get white. I put the remaining little white bulbs in the water and the green onions regenerate. Yes, they grow back and in about a week, you can cut them down again! 

It's really that simple, folks.

Go.

Live your dreams of fresh herbs in every meal.

Black bean soup

Can't go wrong with Our Best Bites. Original found HERE.



Prep & cook time: 40 mins
Servings: 4-6

Black bean soup

• 1 T olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 3 carrots, diced
• 3 stalks celery, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2-15 oz cans reduced sodium black beans
• 1-7 oz can diced green chilis
• 4 C vegetable stock
• 1/4 t fresh ground pepper
• 1/2 t chili powder
• 1/4 t cumin
• 1/2 T fresh oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 limes

Saute carrots, celery, onion and garlic in olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat, 4-5 minutes. 

Add black beans, chilis and vegetable stock. Stir to combine and add chili powder, cumin, oregano and bay leaf. 

Simmer uncovered 20-25 minutes (until vegetables are tender). Remove from heat and remove bay leaf. Blend soup with immersion blender or in blender with the ventilation cap removed and the hole covered with a paper towel. Squeeze in juice of one lime. 

Serve garnished with cilantro, lime, cheese or sour cream, and avocado. Or eat it plain ... either way, it's delicious!  

This soup is freezer friendly. To thaw, run freezer bag under warm water until you can break the contents into chunks. Finish reheating in a covered soup pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 411 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  556 Calories from Fat  42

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  4.7g 7%

Saturated Fat  0.9g 4%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  239mg 10%

Total Carbohydrates  100.1g 33%

Dietary Fiber  24.6g 98%

Sugars  7.9g

Protein  32.1g

Vitamin A 105% • Vitamin C 45% Calcium 21% • Iron 43%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Low in saturated fat
• No cholesterol
• Low in sodium
• High in dietary fiber
• High in magnesium
• High in potassium
• High in thiamin
• High in vitamin A
• Very high in vitamin B6

Tips & Tricks: Wanna eat more produce? Try this.

I am a creature of convenience. I'm sure most of us are, in some way or another.

But there's this thing about convenience -- in most cases, it will cost ya. Because convenience costs. Whether it's pre-packaged, pre-washed, pre-cooked, pre-cut, pre-served or preserved, it's gonna cost you extra. Convenience costs because someone, somewhere, is taking on part of your work. Just because you don't have to do the washing and chopping, doesn't mean those things magically pop out of the ground or off a tree that way. Nope. Somebody grew those carrots. Somebody plucked them out of the dirt. Somebody drove them to a baby carrot making place. Somebody ran those carrots through a machine that washes, peels, cuts and baby-fies them (seriously, though. I toured the central kitchen for BYU once while writing an article for the Daily Universe -- there are such machines). Then somebody gathered and packaged those baby-fied carrots. Somebody loaded them onto a truck. Somebody drove that truck to the store. You get where I'm going with this? All of those steps toward "convenience" cost something. And guess who's paying for it? You and me, baby.

Convenience can also interfere with healthier choices. I'm speaking from personal experience. Most of the time when I open the fridge or pantry and decide there's nothing to eat but granola bars (so I choose the granola bar), it isn't because there isn't anything to eat. It's because there's nothing easier to eat than a granola bar. Granola bars are a great snack when you're on the go. When you don't have other options. But let's be honest here -- granola bars are sugar (or corn syrup) and oats. Not very filling. Not incredibly nutritious. Not horrible for you, but an apple would be a lot better.

So this is something I struggle with: forgoing convenience in favor of healthful eating options.

Here's how I deal with it: I take a little extra time in the BEGINNING to make healthier options the more convenient choice.

Before I go grocery shopping, I clean out my fridge. Discard expired items. Wipe up spills. Make sure there's space for your new haul. I realized how much I appreciate a post-shopping clean fridge when I read some tips my friend Nicole posted over at First Comes Love.

When I get home from the grocery store, I put everything away except [most of] the fresh produce. Then I do a vinegar soak.

Vinegar soak for produce

• Begin by cleaning the sink and surrounding area. For a food-safe clean, use vinegar. 
• Fill one sink 1/2 way full of lukewarm water.
• Add 1 C white vinegar while sink is filling. 
• Remove any stickers from produce.
• Place produce in vinegar and water solution. 
• Soak produce for 10 minutes.
• Remove produce from sink and rinse under cool water. 
• Set produce on paper towel laid over a clean surface and allow produce to dry. 
• Cut up or divide "snack" produce into plastic bags or containers. 

Not only does this soak keep your produce fresh for (in my experience) up to two weeks, it makes produce the convenient choice. 

There is NO vinegar taste. Just fresh, clean, ready-to-eat produce. 

I've used this rinse on squash, melons, berries, grapes, cherries, apples, oranges, lemons, limes, pears, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers, celery, carrots, lettuce,  bell peppers, and more. 

I have not tried it with broccoli or cauliflower (or similar items), because I'm not sure how I would rinse it well enough (although some sources say it's fine). 

This will keep your berries from molding for over a week. It's amazing. I've had strawberries in the fridge for two weeks without the slightest hint of mold.

Refried beans without the refry

This is one of my favorite sides to make with fajitas, enchiladas, tacos, taquitos -- any tex-mex. I also use it for bean & cheese burritos for those busy nights.

Refried beans without the refry
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 6-8 hours
Servings: 15

• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 3 C dry pinto beans, rinsed and picked
• 1 fresh jalapeno, seeded and chopped
• 2 T garlic, minced
• 5 t chicken bouillon
• 1 3/4 t fresh ground pepper
• 1/8 t cumin
• 9 C water

Place onion, rinsed beans, jalapeno, garlic, bouillon, pepper and cumin into a slow cooker. Pour in water and stir to combine. Cook on high for 6 or more hours, adding more water as needed (shouldn't need any more). Once beans have cooked, strain and reserve liquid. mash, adding reserved liquid to reach desired consistency. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 191 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  140 Calories from Fat  5

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  0.5g 1%

Cholesterol  0mg 0%

Sodium  19mg 1%

Total Carbohydrates  25.4g 8%

Dietary Fiber  6.3g 25%

Sugars  1.2g

Protein  8.5g

Vitamin A 0% • Vitamin C 7% Calcium 5% • Iron 12%

Nutrition Grade A

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• Very low in saturated fat
• Very low in cholesterol
• Very low in sodium
• Low in sugar
• High in dietary fiber
• High in manganese
• High in magnesium
• High in phosphorus
• High in potassium
• High in selenium
• High in thiamin
• Very high in vitamin B6

Pumpkin pancakes

I love the flavors of fall. Last week, I craved the flavors of fall. And brinner. So what did I make? Pumpkin pancakes. Indulge your tastebuds and make your own fall-inspired brinner. Your tummy will thank you.

Pumpkin pancakes

Prep & cook time: 40 mins
Servings: 6

• 1 1/2 C milk
• 1 C pumpkin puree
• 1 egg
• 2 T vegetable oil
• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 2 T vinegar
• 3 T brown sugar
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t ground allspice
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t ginger
• 1/2 t salt

Mix wet ingredients together in a bowl. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Stir the pumpkin mixture into the dry ingredients just enough to combine. 

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium-high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 C for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot with real maple syrup and fresh whipped cream. They're great plain, too! Nutrition info is for plain pancakes. 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 169 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories  269 Calories from Fat  63

% Daily Value*

Total Fat  7.0g 11%

Saturated Fat  2.0g 10%

Trans Fat  0.0g

Cholesterol  32mg 11%

Sodium  446mg 19%

Total Carbohydrates  43.9g 15%

Dietary Fiber  2.6g 11%

Sugars  9.0g

Protein  7.8g

Vitamin A 128% • Vitamin C 4% Calcium 11% • Iron 16%

Nutrition Grade A-

* Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

• High in selenium
• Very high in vitamin A
• Very high in vitamin B6
• Very high in vitamin B12

Deconstructables

I love my boys. My boys love food (and me, of course). But they don't love ALL food (actually, pretty sure one of them does love ALL food. Can you guess which?).

Honestly, cooking for kiddos is a bit of a rollercoaster ride (anyone out there who can relate?!). One day, they love everything they can get in their little mouths. The next, they won't touch anything you offer them.

Here's how I try to avoid mealtime mayhem and/or monotony: Deconstructables.

(Don't mind my super cheesy Paint rendition)

What are deconstructables? Exactly what it sounds like -- things that are able to be deconstructed.

When I was a freshman in college I took a nutrition class. It had nothing to do with my [undecided] major, I just thought it would be fun. And it was. One thing about children's nutrition that stuck out to me most was this concept:

Don't force your kid to eat foods he or she doesn't want to eat. Encourage them to try everything, but don't get mad if they don't. Provide several options at each meal, but make sure you include at least one thing you know they'll eat. If they don't like something, don't force it on them -- but reintroduce the food after a few days. Eventually, they'll try it and/or like it. 

Makes sense, right? But it also sounds like a lot of work. How am I supposed to provide several options when I'm only making one meal?

The answer? Deconstructables.

Here's a simple example: I want a Greek-inspired cucumber salad for lunch. My salad includes cucumber, cherry tomatoes, sliced red onion, feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. I assemble my salad and deconstruct the kids'. I get a scrumptious and beautiful cucumber salad, the kids get a little stack of diced cucumbers, a few cherry tomato halves, a sliver of sliced red onion (in case they're in a palate-expanding-mood [and I don't mean braces]), a pile of crumbled feta, and some dressing on the side. Throw in a piece of fruit and you have a meal. I get my salad, and the kids get a variety of foods to pick and choose from.

If it's something the kids haven't tried before, I start with a small amount of everything and encourage the kids to try the new foods, using the additional "liked" foods as bribery. I can almost always get them to taste everything this way. If they don't like it, they're allowed to spit it out and they still get the other "liked" foods for trying. Most of the time, they don't spit it out.

On a larger, dinner scale: I'm making Vegetarian Chili with a side of cornbread. I know the kids will eat the cornbread, but the chili might have too much kick for the little guy (actually, the bigger little guy. Little guy is a Texan and can handle the heat. Bigger little guy spent his formative first four months in Utah and hasn't finished acclimating to spicy foods). If I'm worried about the spice, I'll (a) set aside a couple pieces of each vegetable as I'm chopping and nuke it with a little water in a bowl with a vented lid, or (b) spoon some chili into the colander and rinse it with cool water, effectively cooling the food in more ways than one.

And that's that: Chili deconstructed. Kiddos get to try beans, squash, zucchini, corn, onion, red and green peppers, and tomatoes -- all in one go. I usually give them a little bit of the cooked meal, too, so they can try it and eventually be okay with just eating the cooked chili.

There you have it. Deconstructables. Just about any meal can be deconstructed to give your kid plenty of options and broaden his or her palate.

What I love about Sundays: Family dinners & resilience

A few years ago, I took a PR class called, "Communications 416: Media Advocacy and Social Change." Part of the class required us to complete a social advocacy project. My group chose to focus on the benefits of family mealtime and it's accompanying movement, and as part of the project I wrote several blog entries on the subject:

Cooking with the Condies : Resources Everywhere
Cooking with the Condies : Why I Love Family Meals
Cooking with the Condies : Family Day
Cooking with the Condies : The Benefits of Family Dinners

When I started this project I had been married for about 8 months. I was very-soon-to-be pregnant with Peyton. And I had no idea how impactful this project would be on my life.

One of many benefits family dinners offer is a greater sense of resilience (The Family Dinner Project).

Resilience: an ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

Resilience is something I've thought a lot about recently. It's also something I've had to work hard at, even as an adult.

In the Ensign article entitled, "Raising Resilient Children" (which I encourage EVERYONE to read. It's amazing), Lyle J. Burrup writes:

We know two things about adversity and resilience: First, there is “an opposition in all things” (2 Nephi 2:11). Second, obtaining anything of great worth often requires great sacrifice. 

As children become resilient, they understand and accept these two facts. They see life as challenging and ever changing, but they believe they can cope with those challenges and changes. They view mistakes and weaknesses as opportunities to learn, and they accept that losing may precede winning. 

As children develop resilience, they believe they can influence and even control outcomes in their lives through effort, imagination, knowledge, and skill. With this attitude, they focus on what they can do rather than on what is outside their control.

Couldn't we all use a little (or a lot) of resilience? Can you imagine having the ability to look at every mistake and weakness and say, "I can really learn from this! I might misstep a few times, but sometimes you have to lose before you can win."

Sometimes I focus on the things I can't change, when I should be focusing and working toward changing the things that I CAN control.

One thing that hinders the development of resilience is a misunderstanding of the commandment to be perfect (see Matthew 5:48) ...

This misunderstanding may also stem from what society teaches our youth: that their worth depends on talent and performance. In schools and communities, sometimes even at church or at home, youth see their peers get acceptance, admiration, approval, and praise for being talented at something. So they try to measure up. As they do so, they start to fear failure and mistakes. They choose what to do based on how successful they think they will be. They procrastinate when they do not feel confident. They worry about what others will think if they make mistakes. They fear loss of approval. They view their performance as the measure of their worth. Their perfectionism becomes a mean taskmaster, and it wears down their resilience.

I'm not a child or even a youth, but I still feel this way. I still feel like my worth depends on my talent and performance. Just this week I was filling out my mormon.org profile, and I started to feel down.

"What can I possibly put that would make people want to read about me? I'm ordinary. I'm stereotypical. I haven't accomplished anything outstanding or incredible. I'm average."

This is NOT resilient thinking. This IS a misunderstanding of the commandment to be perfect. This is not how God views us, and it's certainly not how I should view myself.

I'm extraordinary. I'm a child of God. Daughter of a King.

Burrup provides several suggestions for teaching our children resilience. I read the suggestions twice -- once for my kids and once for myself.

• Pray to understand your children’s strengths and how to help them with their weaknesses.
• Be patient and realize that children need time to develop resilience.
• Strive to understand that mistakes and failures are opportunities to learn.
• Allow natural, logical consequences to serve as the disciplinarian.
• Respect children’s decisions, even if their poor choices lead to lost privileges.
• Refrain from berating children for breaking the rules.
• Do not discourage effort by criticizing harshly.
• Rather than praising accomplishment, encourage and praise effort.
• “Praise your children more than you correct them. Praise them for even their smallest achievement” (President Ezra Taft Benson [1899–1994], “The Honored Place of Woman,” Ensign, Nov. 1981, 107).

• Pray to understand your strengths and for help with your weaknesses.
• Be patient and realize that you need time to develop resilience.
• Strive to understand that mistakes and failures are opportunities to learn.
• Allow natural, logical consequences to serve as the disciplinarian.
• Don't dwell on your decisions, even if you make poor choices. Learn from them and don't make them again.
• Refrain from berating yourself or your worth when you make mistakes.
• Do not criticize yourself harshly.
• Rather than praising your accomplishments, encourage and praise your efforts.
• “Praise more than you correct yourself. Praise yourself for even your smallest achievement” (President Ezra Taft Benson [1899–1994], “The Honored Place of Woman,” Ensign, Nov. 1981, 107).

Now we can add, "eat dinner together as a family" to our building-resilience list. And we can use that mealtime as an opportunity to practice many of the above suggestions. 

A walk down memory [time-line] lane

Please join me for a walk down memory lane. And please don't mind my somewhat annoying timelines. I'm a nerd.

Let's rewind the clock a bit -- approximately 6.5 years -- and start there. Don't worry, I'll be brief. And I do have a point, which I'll get to eventually. 

I had several conversations with my mother that sounded a lot like this:

Mom: Whitney, you're about to leave home and live on your own. You should practice cooking. 
Me: I'm going to have a meal plan. I don't need to learn how to cook. 
Mom: Well, you won't live in the dorms after freshman year.
Me: I'll learn then. 
Mom: Nobody wants to marry a girl who can't cook. 
Me: Good. I don't plan on dating any RMs freshman year anyway. Besides, I'm going to marry a guy who will cook for ME. 
Mom: Whatever. Good luck with that. 
Me: Watch me. 

So here's the point (told you I'd get there eventually): I am not an expert cook. I'm not an expert mom. Really, I'm not an expert at anything. But I believe everyone has something he or she can bring to the table (pun intended). Learning to cook has been a years-in-the-making process for me. Once I finally felt like I had cooking pretty well mastered, my baby became a toddler and now I'm learning how to cook with and for kids -- which is a whole different ball game, let me tell ya. 

I'd like to share my culinary experiences, experiments, and extravagant fails from my past, present and future with ya'll. From cooking for two to cooking for kids to cooking for time to cooking for health. Hopefully some of my successes and failures will help you succeed more and fail less in the kitchen. Or at least provide a laugh for you "seasoned" chefs out there.