Sweet Potato Fries

Yams and sweet potatoes have more to them then your classic russet potato. Though all of them are generally pretty good for you when you leave the skins on and bake them in the oven. Given you leave the skins on when you chop them into your fry shape if you eat 1 medium size potato (of either kind) you get 30-50% of your daily recomended fiber intake. They are also packed with potassium. What ever way you go here is a good way to bake them

wash your vegetable and scrub clean with you hands.
slice into long fry shape. Toss with a little extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and maybe a little chili powder bake at 375 for about 30 minutes. If you're using russet potatoes throw on a little shredded cheese and bake another 5-10 minutes for aome extra yummy-ness.

Grilled corn on the Cob

Heres a quick tip if your bbq-ing, skip the pot and grill the corn, it's SO much better that way. Of course there is more than one way to skin a cat. You could leave the husk on and grill it for about 25 minutes (rotating every 5 minutes or so) OR you could do it my way,

Remove the husks and get out a large bowl.
Fill the bowl with enough water to cover the corn
add 1/2 cup of salt and 1/2 cup of sugar
stir until the salt and sugar have desolved completely
let the corn soak for 1-3 hours

Then grill your corn for about 16 minutes turning every 4 minutes so you get a nice grill on all 4 sides.

I promise if you do it this way you will ALWays end up with perfectly sweet corn and that girll flavor is fan-tas-tic!

Cranberry Banana cookies

These cookies are moist and delicious. If you want some yummy oatmeal cookies that are a bit different than the classic chocolate chip or raisin ones give these a try and you wont be disappointed.

1/2 cup chopped dried cranberries
1 med ripe banana
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup apple juice
1 egg 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup oats
1/2 cup flour
1/4 c brown sugar
1 t baking soda

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes.

Baked Oatmeal

In my effort to eat more healthy I've been eating less processed food and that includes those packages of oatmeal. Here is an tastier way to eat oatmeal and it keeps well in the fridge so you can just make it once and eat it all week. Just put some in a bowl and microwave it for about a minute. That's even less time than the packets *wink wink*
Since it's already baked you could just cover it an leave it on the counter but it'll last longer in the fridge.

Baked Oatmeal
Ingredients:

2  cups  uncooked quick-cooking oats
1/4 to 1/2  cup  packed brown sugar
1-1/2 to 2 teaspoon  cinnamon
1/3  cup  dried cranberries ( if you decide to skip tht craisins I would add more apple peices)
2  tablespoons  chopped walnuts (optional)
1  teaspoon  baking powder
1 1/2  cups milk
1 teaspoon  vanilla extract
1 large apple, grated using the large holes of a cheese grater or chopped into really small pieces
2  tablespoons  butter, melted
1  large egg, beaten
Real maple syrup
Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, cranberries, walnuts, and baking powder; set aside.
3. In a small bowl, combine the milk, vanilla, grated apple, butter, and egg. Add milk mixture to oat mixture; stir well. Pour oat mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray.
4. Bake at 375° for 20 minutes.
5. After if you went light on the brown sugar drizzle a couple tablespoons worth of maple syrup on top to amp up the sweetness with a natural sweetner. (Please Please get the REAL maple syrup, it tastes SOO much better. I know it's more expensive, at walmart i get it for 6.75 instead of buying the fake crap for like 1.50, but it's definently worth it. It's sweeter and has better flavor, you use less than half of what you would on your breakfast foods than you do with imitation. Plus it's natural and there in no denying that too much processing isn't good for you long term)

Pancakes vs Waffles

Have you ever had the frozen pancakes from the grocory store? We used to get them when my hubs and I were first living together before I started making my own. After having the baby I bought them again for some easy breakfasts but man was that a MISTAKE! They were SO much worse than I remember. Our babe is 7 months old now and they are still in the freezer. I've never been a huge fan of the Bisquick pancakes either. Cooking pancakes is like an art, they have to been perfectly golden on the outside and not at all gooey on the inside for me to really enjoy them. That's why I prefer waffles :) But our waffle maker was crappy and broke and I haven't felt the need to replace it. This recipe works Great for either one. I actually LIKE pancakes with this recipe.

2-1/4 cup flour
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla

Use a whisk to combine all the ingredients until smooth. (Idealy you'll always combine the wet and dry separately and then mix them together. But truthfully I hate having to wash out two bowls so I just combine all the wet ingredients and then try and spread out all the dry ingredients evenly over the top.)
using a 1/4 measuring cup spoon the mixture onto a skillet and cook for about 2 minutes on each side over medium-high heat (like between 6 and 7) When bubbles start for form on the top it should be ready to flip without oozing all over.

These work Fantastic to make ahead of time. Just make a whole batch and allow to cool completely, then place 3 or 4 in each plastic baggie and put it in the freezer. When you need it in the morning just pull it out of the baggie and microwave for 1 minute, rearrange the order of the pancakes and microwave for 30 more seconds. Sometimes I will fold in 1/2 cup blueberries or chocolate chips when i make them and then when I re-heat them in the morning I can just grab and go cuz they don't need syrup.

(I've eaten my own pancakes from the freezer up to about 2 months after being made and they were still good, not sure what the upper limit is on them though)

On a related note, if you are still using imitation syrup you should really try the real maple syrup. I know it's only like $1 for the fake stuff and like $6 for the real stuff but i PROMISE you it is totally worth it. Your pancakes will taste SO much better and you don't have to use as much syrup either. So it's really not the 6 to 1 price difference you thought it was.. more like 3 to 1 :) :)