Food

What’s up Guys!

Happy Monday:) Valentine’s Day is right around the corner. Any special plans? My day will be packed with research meetings and a workshop, so I thought it would be nice to have something simple, sweet, and healthy to snack on. Enter these Blueberry Bliss Bites made with heart healthy ingredients. The ingredient list is so short for this one that you probably don’t even need to write it down. And dollars to donuts if you like to bake, you probably already have a few of these ingredients on hand.

Speaking of baking, these bites require no baking and no chilling. Once you’ve finished pulsing the ingredients and rolling them into balls you can sit down and snack away.  The bonus for me is that after I eat these on Tuesday, I won’t feel so guilty about buying heavily discounted Valentines Day candy on Wednesday.

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Happy Monday Guys!

I’m really excited about this week’s post because I’m sharing one of the best meals I’ve made in a long time. Incredibly delicious – check, satisfying – check, and healthy – check. You get your lean protein, your whole grains, and your veggies.

Mom would be so proud. Bonus: It’s perfect for meal prep, which means you’ll be eating good for the whole week. I’ll give you a second to grab a notepad/ipad because I know you’re going to want to make this one.

Okay, you ready? Let’s hit it.

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Hi Guys! Happy Monday and Happy MLK Day:)

It’s been a few months since I’ve done a Snack Easy roundup so I think we’re long overdue for one.

I didn’t realize it until I had all of the snacks together, but clearly I was going for some kind of tropical theme. I think my subconscious is telling me I need a vacation. Until that time, these tropical treats will have to do. Lucky for me they’re delicious. Read on to find out my thoughts about each one.

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Hi Guys! It’s an extra happy Monday because Thanksgiving is only a few days away. Who all’s excited?! I’ve been feeling really stressed as of late trying to balance dissertation research with job hunting, working on some other research projects, and trying to get some manuscripts submitted. This will be my time to recharge with some amazing food and even better company. Now many of you may already have the Thanksgiving dessert menu finalized, but for those of you who do not, you’re going to want to grab a pencil and add these cookies to your list.

A Few Reasons You Should Make These:

They’re very easy to make.

Sweet potatoes are super cheap this time of the year. If you live in NC like me Wamart is selling huge ones for 33 cents a pound.

I shared some with one of my cohort members and she told me she couldn’t stop eating them because they were “AMAZING!”

What more motivation do you need?? I’ll wait. *Silence.*

Exactly! Check out the recipe below:

Ingredients:

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes

1 large egg room temperature

6 tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature

1 teaspoon of cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/4 teaspoon of sea salt

1 teaspoon of maple extract

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Spice Mix:

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon of ginger

1/4 teaspoon of allspice

1/4 teaspoon cloves

Fold Ins’

1/2 cup of white chocolate chips

1/2 cup of salted toasted pecans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and lightly spray it with cooking spray. Spread the pecans flat on the parchment paper. Lightly coat the pecans with cooking spray and sprinkle with sea salt.

Toast the pecans for approx. 5 minutes. Stay close by because the nuts go from perfectly toasted to burnt very quickly!

With a handheld or stand mixer cream the butter and sugars (brown and granulated) on a medium speed in a large bowl. Next add the egg, extracts (vanilla and maple), and sweet potatoes. Set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl combine the flour, cornstarch, baking soda, salt, and spices.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Combine until no dry pockets of flour remain but take this step slowly as to not overmix the ingredients.

Fold in 1/3 cup of white chocolate chips and 1/3 cup of toasted pecans. Set aside the leftovers.

Cover the cookie dough with saran wrap and let chill in the refrigerator for 3 hours.

Once your cookie dough is almost done chilling, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Take two baking sheets and line with fresh parchment paper. Lightly coat with cooking spray.

Once your cookie dough is done chilling, take about 2 tablespoons of dough and roll into balls.

With the back of a spoon press down on the balls to flatten them. Add the remaining white chocolate chips and pecans left on top.

Bake for approximately 10-12 minutes.

You should have approx. 16-18 medium-sized cookies.

Enjoy!

Keep these in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 5 days, if they last that long.

Bonus: Even on Day 3 these tasted amazing. Just pop them in the microwave to warm them up. Happy Monday and an even Happier Thanksgiving in advance!

Hi Guys! Happiest of Mondays to you. I like to be upfront here so I have to admit that I struggled with how to start this post. I could jump right into the fabulous sweet potato pancake recipe that I have for you but I felt like I needed to, if only briefly, touch on what happened last Tuesday. I like many people expected that Hilary Clinton was as good as our 45th president. That did not happen.

I’ve gone through a series of emotions since the winner of the presidential election was announced, none of them positive. I’ve wondered how a human being that has managed to denounce and degrade so many different sects of the U.S. population, has managed to secure a position as the next leader of this country. It’s disheartening to say the least. Through it all I’ve been reminded that now more than ever it’s imperative to put in work. Work that leads to building a legacy. This election was a call to action to create things and build businesses that will do just that. And not just for me, but for the communities that I represent and those that support me.

On to a lighter and fluffier note, I come bearing gifts. To be more specific it’s a stack of pillowy, fluffy, sweet and spicy gifts. These pancakes are literally fall on a plate. From the sweet potatoes to the toasted pecans and the mix of warm aromatic spices, they could be the poster child for fall.

Ingredients:

1.5 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup mashed sweet potatoes

2 large eggs

1 tbsp melted and cooled butter

3/4 cup of toasted chopped pecans

1 tsp maple extract

1 tsp vanilla extract

1.5 cup low fat buttermilk

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 tbsp granulated sugar

Spice Mix:

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp cardamom

Optional (for tossing the pecans):

1/2 tsp of cinnamon

1/2 tsp of granulated sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

While the oven is preheating combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and spices in a large bowl.

In a separate medium bowl mix the eggs, sugars (light brown and granulated), buttermilk, extracts (vanilla and maple), water, and butter.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.

By now the oven should be done preheating. Lightly spray your chopped pecans with cooking spray and toss your pecans in the cinnamon sugar combo if so desired. Lay them flat on a baking sheet and cook for 5-7 minutes. Keep a close eye on them as nuts burn easily.

Take the pecans out of the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes before adding them to the pancake batter.

Bring the oven back down to a temperature of 200 degrees. You’ll use it to keep the pancakes warm as you’re flipping:)

Put a pan on the stove at medium heat and coat with cooking spray. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to pour your pancake batter.

You should end up with about 12 medium-sized pancakes.

Enjoy!

Now as promised there will be a part two in this ode to the sweet potato mini series. The best part is that the second recipe calls for a lot of the same ingredients that were used in this one. Any guesses for what it is??

Let me know in the comments!

Hi Guys! I hope you’re enjoying the extra hour we were gifted this weekend. Whether you spent it catching up on sleep or knocking a couple items off your to do list, I hope it left you feeling refreshed for the week ahead. This past Saturday was my 2?th birthday. I put a question mark there because I’m not sure if I’m at the age where I should just start saying I’m 25 lol. At this point I’m only a couple years off, so it’s still just a white lie. Anyways, I kept things pretty chill. Between working to finish my proposal and prepping for my defense I didn’t have time to plan anything elaborate. On Friday I got a gel mani and tried to do a little pre bday shopping. “Tried” being the operative word because I didn’t end up getting anything. I found this beautiful romper at Nordstrom but I wasn’t willing to pay retail for it. Another perk of getting older. My shopping/spending habits have considerably improved.

On Saturday I ended up exploring some local shops that had been on my “NC Places to Check Out” list for a while, tried a sushi restaurant in Raleigh, and saw a new exhibit at the NC Museum of Art. I also bought some heavily discounted Halloween candy. Don’t judge me. At 70% off Target was basically giving it away.

Aren’t the flowers beautiful?? I love getting fresh flowers for my birthday. Much like a good mani they’re pretty to look at and they make me smile. For the first time ever I ended up trying sushi with “not cooked” seafood. I must admit that I liked it. If you’re looking for a sushi spot in the triangle I’d recommend giving Kai a try. They have 3 for $24 and 5 for $37 roll specials. Clearly you can see I went with the latter. Hey, you only turn 25 three or four times.

Now it’s time to really get in it. The celebratory period has ended (insert sad emoji face here). This week I’ll be conducting some focus groups about campus composting initiatives, continuing the job/postdoc hunt, and trying to get a better sense of sample size for my dissertation research. Sounds super exciting, huh?! What have you guys got planned for the week? Drop me a note below so we can commiserate about our super exciting week together!

Come fall we turn into a nation of diehard, stark raving mad, pumpkin-obsessed fanatics. We’ve got pumpkin spice lattes & mochas, cookies, muffins, bagels, and breads, ice cream, cheesecake, yogurt, and cinnamon rolls. The list is quite literally endless.

But wait. Is there another vegetable that’s like the pumpkin only heartier and much more flavorful. Why yes there is. It’s the sweet potato. And it doesn’t get any shine this time of year. That bothers me. So I’m doing something about it. This snack easy segment is my ode to the sweet potato. Read on my sweet potato loving friends!

Now for those of you who are thinking, “What is she talking about? There are plenty of sweet potato snacks out there,” I beg to differ. Case in point – trying to find snacks for this segment. It was a struggle to say the least. All the while as I’m feverishly scanning the aisles for sweet potato snacks, pumpkin products are nearly falling off the shelves. I did it though. That’s commitment.

Snack: Hi I’m Skinny Superfood Sweet Potato Sticks

Bought at: Fresh Market

Price: $3 (sale price; retail price $4)

Repeat Purchase: Yes

I enjoyed these sweet potato sticks. They’re not really sweet or salty but they do have a nice flavor to them. You can definitely detect the sweet potato. One serving is 26 sticks for 140 calories. The fiber and protein are negligible at 1 gram for each in one serving. Overall, I would buy these again (and have) when I want a crunchy snack that’s not very high in calories but tastes good. I wouldn’t buy it often though since it’s otherwise nutritionally neutral.

Snack: Curate Sweet Potato Pecan Pie Bar

Bought at: Target

Price: $5.99

Repeat Purchase: No

I was so excited when I saw these bars as I was headed to the checkout at Target. It’s like the heavens opened up. Primarily because, as I mentioned earlier, it was so hard for me to find sweet potato snacks. When I saw these I knew I had to get them. With ingredients like sweet potato, pecans, maple syrup, and cinnamon I thought this would be a shoe in to be my favorite snack of the roundup. I didn’t detect much of any of those flavors though. Also, the texture of the bar seemed tough to me, almost like it was past its prime. I guess when they mentioned “bark” on the packaging they weren’t kidding. Nutritionally, these aren’t bad but i would have expected much more fiber. There are 230 calories per bar with 4 grams of protein and 2 grams of fiber. Considering the taste wasn’t great, nutritionally they’re just okay, and they cost $6 for 4 bars, I’d pass on these.

Snack: Good Health Sweet Chipotle Sweet Potato Kettle Chips

Bought at: TJ Maxx

Price: $1.99

Repeat Purchase: Yes

These were my favorite snacks in the bunch. I really like the sweet chipotle on these kettle chips. They have a slight BBQ type of smokiness to them that I enjoyed. I also really liked the texture of the chip.  One serving has 150 calories, 2 grams of fiber, and 1 gram of protein so they’re not a super healthy snack but they’re also not unhealthy. They are really tasty though. At a price point of $1.99 I’d buy these again. Similar to the sweet potato sticks though, I wouldn’t buy these as often as I buy some of my other snacks.

Snack: Late July Sweet Potato Multigrain Tortilla Chips

Bought at: Publix

Price: $3 (sale price; retail price: $4)

Repeat Purchase: Yes

I thought these chips were pretty good. They were nicely salted – not too much, not too little. They’ve got a good flavor on their own but they would also be really good with a dip. I’ve found that with a lot chips it’s easy to keep popping back in the bag for more. Fortunately with these, the denseness you get from the multigrain makes them heartier. That means a single serving is more satisfying than it would be if you were having Doritos or Lays. One serving has 130 calories with 2 grams of fiber and protein. Overall if you’re looking for a heartier and healthier chip, I’d give these a try.

Snack: Kashi Organic Sweet Potato Sunshine Cereal

Bought at: Harris Teeter

Price: $3 (sale price, retail price: $4)

Repeat Purchase: Not any more

Nutritionally this cereal has 190 calories in a one cup serving with 4 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein. Full disclosure: I’ve bought this cereal many times in the past so I was certain that I’d be recommending it for a repeat purchase. Well as I was taking the pics for this post I popped a couple in my mouth and I noticed something was different. I think Kashi changed the formula and to be honest I’m not really digging it that much. The cereal is just okay to me whereas before I actually quite enjoyed it. Bummer. I’ll be passing on this one from here on out. I’ve got other cereals, some from Kashi, that not only have much more fiber and protein, but also taste better. I’ll stick to those.

So that’s it guys. I discovered a couple extra sweet potato snacks to add to my roster. While some of the snacks I tried turned out to be a let down I still believe in the sweet potato’s ultimate superiority to the pumpkin. I hope you enjoyed this ode to the sweet potato.

In November I’ll continue this ode by sharing not one but two sweet potato recipes. Hope you all have a great week!