Happy Insides

Last night we hosted a Halloween party for a few of our closest friends.  It was a great time and we had a lot of fun planning and preparing for the party.  We had a bit of a Hellraiser theme to the party, especially in the decorations.  We had planned to watch Hellraiser, but we ended not ever putting in the movie.  It was fun regardless and we wanted to share both some photos of the party and our menu.  To check out some of the crafts in more detail visit Cassie's craft blog.


There will be additional recipes posted later in the week to fill out the rest of the menu so please check back.

Other than that we will leave you with just a few photos from the party.

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Picadillo is a traditional Latin American dish using ground meat.  It has some wonderful spices and excellent flavor combinations in the dish.  We discovered it several months ago and since it has become a staple meal in our house.  We tend to make picadillo tacos rather than "normal" ground beef tacos with spice packets.  This way we have a lot more control about what spices we use and how much sodium goes into the dish.  Also the flavors just beat any taco seasoning packet hands down.  The sweetness of the raisins and the cinnamon mixed with the spice of the chili powder and cayenne are perfect.  As always we opted to up the amount of cayenne that we use in the picadillo.  What can we say?  We like spicy food. 

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When we were on vacation in Texas this summer we were staying at a friend's house.  One night while we were sitting around talking he had an episode of Grill It with Bobby Flay playing in the background.  Cassie always has an issue of paying full attention to either a conversation or the show playing when the T.V. is on, so her focus was swinging randomly between the two.  When Bobby Flay started talking about some sweet potato fries her attention was caught for the time being and she watched the recipe.  That night we ran to the grocery store and got the ingredients to make these fries for dinner.

Now months and months later armed with only a faint memory of the recipe we decided to go ahead and try to recreate them at home using our oven rather than the grill.  The grill would have been great, but we only have a cast iron grill pan and no large outdoor grill.  We were not up to trying to grill these.  We would have had to work in small batches and it would have taken WAY too long.  So we adapted this recipe for the oven and I think we did a pretty good job recreating it.  The flavors that caught us the first time around were all there again and it was much easier to do. 

Honey Mustard Glazed Oven Fries
Adapted from Grill It with Bobby Flay

2 medium sweet potatoes scrubbed and cut into thin wedges
1 T. canola oil
1-2 T. McCormick Grill Mates Cinnamon Chipotle Rub (or any other chipotle cinnamon mixture you can find/make)
4 T. dijon mustard
2 T. honey

1) Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly brush the sweet potatoes with canola oil and line them up on a baking sheet.  Sprinkle the cinnamon chipotle rub over the fries, making sure they have a nice thin coat.

2) Bake the fries in the oven for 15 minutes.  Meanwhile in a small bowl mix the dijon mustard and the honey.  Remove from the fries from the oven and brush both sides of the fries with the mustard mixture.  Return to the oven to bake approximately another 15 minutes until slightly crispy and the glaze is nicely browned.

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Snickerdoodles are one of those cookies that are easily forgotten about.  They aren't super fancy or chocolatey, but they are just down right good.  Nothing is more satisfying and nostalgic than eating a warm and buttery snickerdoodle.  Plus who doesn't like cookies that are coated in cinnamon and sugar.

Snickerdoodles
Adapted From The Novice Chef
2 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 t. salt
2 t. baking soda
1 c.. unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 c. evaporated cane juice
2 large eggs
1 T. vanilla extract

For the topping:
1/2 c. evaporated cane juice
3 T. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Cream the evaporated cane juice and butter until they are smooth.  Add the eggs and the vanilla paste.  Add the baking powder, salt and whole wheat pastry flour.

3) Roll the dough into 1.5-2 inch balls.  Mix all topping ingredients in a small bowl and roll each dough ball into the topping mixture.  Place the balls on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper.  Use the bottom of a glass to press each ball flat.  Press the cookies thinner if you like them crispier or leave them about 1/4 inch thick for thicker softer cookies.  Bake for 8-9 minutes.

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For about 3 or 4 years now we have been eating roughly the same breakfast every weekday.  Toast with peanut butter.  There have been a few times where we have experimented, but it always comes back to toast with peanut butter.  We decided recently to start playing around with some different breakfast recipes that were easy, tasty and healthy.  We found these protein waffles and they are great to make ahead of time and put in the freezer.  Every morning we can just pop one into the toaster and TADA, waffles for breakfast.  You can top them with whatever you want, but of course we have taken to topping them with peanut butter and just a drizzle of honey.  What can we say?  We are creatures of habit (that and we are pretty giant peanut butter fans).  This recipe makes 10 4" waffles.  We usually just double the batch and we have enough to get us through 2 weeks.  The waffles are made using a base of beans and oats.  You would never know though.  They taste great and are very hearty.  They aren't a whole lot different than regular waffles.

High Protein Waffles
Adapted from  NutritionMD.org
1/2 c. dry cannellini, white kidney, or great Northern beans
2 1/4 c. water
1 3/4 c. old-fashioned oats
2 T. sugar or 1 T. agave nectar
3/4 t. whole flaxseeds
1 T. baking powder
1 1/2 t. vanilla extract
1 t. salt
5 scoops of plain protein powder
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
non-stick spray

1) The night before you make the waffles soak beans in cold water so that it covers the beans completely. 

2) Drain the beans and discard the soaking water.  Place all ingredients through the whole wheat pastry flour in a blender or a food processor and blend until the beans and the oats are smooth. 

3) Heat waffle iron.  Once it is heated spray the iron with non stick spray and then add 1/3 c. of batter to each 4" waffle spot in the iron.  Let cook for 8-9 minutes until fully cooked.  If the waffle iron is difficult to open then let the waffles cook for another minute or too.

Note:  If you plan on freezing the waffles let them cool completely then place them in a zippered freezer bag to freeze.  They need to be cooked at a medium setting in the toaster. 

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A few months ago Cassie participated in a swap with some online friends.  You were supposed to pick some local stuff from your area and send it out to your swap partner so they could learn about and get a feel for where you live.  Cassie's swap buddy was from Cincinnati.  We received a lot of really great stuff, but one of the things that we enjoyed most was a few cans of Skyline Chili.  We are both really big chili fans and we really enjoyed the twist of seasonings in the chili.  After some hunting on the internet we were able to find a good copycat recipe and with some more tweaking of our own we were able to make it easier and a little healthier, but still really delicious.  We decided to make this meal for the first time to break our fast on Yom Kippur.  We didn't want something that was going to be really involved while we were really hungry.  We figured something we could just throw in the crockpot in the morning when we weren't too incredibly hungry yet would be ideal.  This chili was very easy to adapt to the crockpot.   

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We found this recipe one day when browsing on Annie Eats.  It looked like such a hearty and warming meal perfect for the cooling fall weather.  It is full of delicious and healthy ingredients and really leaves you feeling satisfied after the meal.  As always we added a little extra spice to this.  We forgot to buy the green chilis and the flavor of the stew was still amazing, but we still included them in the recipe because we feel they would still be a good addition and add even more flavor.

Black Bean, Chicken and Roasted Pepper Stew
From Kayln's Kitchen found via Annie Eats

2 T. olive oil, divided
2-3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 15 oz. cans black beans drained
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
2-3 bell peppers, roasted and cut into strips (we used yellow) 
1 4oz. can diced green chilis
2 c. reduced sodium chicken stock
2 T. cumin
1 t. cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 c. fresh cilantro, chopped

1)In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, heat 1 T. of the olive oil over medium high heat.  Add the chicken and cook stirring until browned and cooked through.  Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon and set aside.

2) Heat the remaining T. of olive oil.  Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook for another minute. 

3)Mix in the black beans, diced tomatoes, bell peppers, green chilis, stock, cumin, and cayenne.  Return the chicken to the pot.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Allow to simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. 

4) Remove from heat.  Season with salt and pepper and stir in the fresh cilantro. 

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