Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Sweet Potato Gnocchi 

So I got a wild hair and decided to make homemade Gnocchi.I followed the recipe I found here: http://www.vanillagarlic.com/2009/10/scratch-another-new-years-resolution.html 

BUT I changed the recipe a bit.  I omitted the russet potatoes completely, along with the maple syrup.  Really I was looking for a basic recipe, and had a difficult time finding one.

 His basic recipe is grand and I really followed it

Roll it out, chop into uniform pieces and boil for a few minutes                                                    (over boiling will result in TOUGH Gnocchi.  I promise. It's not good. Really.)

My modified version:

To be completely honest, I microwaved the sweet potatoes (about 4 minutes for the first, add 1 minute for each extra potato) Check for doneness when you take them out.

Mash the hell out of the potatoes. (after you remove the skin) 

Then add all of the other ingredients to the bowl.

Knead the dough until ingredients are mixed. (don't go crazy)

Flour your counter (or "surface") take a hunk of dough roll it into a snake shape (as pictured above) I placed my cut Gnocchi on a cookie sheet as I cut them.  For no reason, quite frankly.

2 pounds of unpeeled sweet potatoes

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 egg

1/4 cup cottage cheese

1 teaspoon of kosher salt

Boil water, add gnocchi, when it rises to the top, turn off the stove, and grab a utensil to extract from the water.

If you boil these too long, man, they are tough!  

We topped them with Parmesan Cheese, and sauce for the boys, I added Shredded chicken, cilantro, and just a bit of sauce for me.

Enjoy!

Half HamBurger / Half VegBurger

 Be Sneaky!

I was craving a black bean burger, but there is NO way my husband and kids would go for that.

At first I thought I'd sneak in some finely chopped veggies.  Then it became a full on Veggie Burger Invasion.

I chopped up some mini peppers (orange, yellow and red)
Then I added 2 tablespoons of Taco Seasoning.
I used the food processor to chop up half a can of black beans (after I rinsed them)

add it all to half a pound of super lean ground beef.
make into sliders.
Cook in olive oil over medium high heat until crisp (see above)

Then ~ oh then ~ 

wrap them up in a nice little package of Crescent Rolls.

It's such a nice package.

**It is so exciting when a recipe is perfection.**

Bake according to the crescent roll package.

Enjoy a tasty tasty treat. Everyone in my family gobbled these down!

Recipe

1/2 Pound Ground Beef

1/2 Can black beans (rinsed)

3-4 mini peppers

2 tbsp taco seasoning

use food processor to mince peppers, move to bowl, add seasoning. use food processor again for black beans - 2-3 pulses only. Mix with ground beef and peppers and form into palm size or slider size burgers pinch centers to prevent puffing.

2 tablespoons olive oil for cooking burgers

cook burgers 2 - 3 minutes on each side until slightly crisp.  Try one, but stop at one!  :)

1 can of Crescent Rolls

Wrap cooked burgers in crescent rolls in desired shape.  Bake according to package directions.

Serve.  

Have for breakfast the next day.

Then for lunch.

Then wish you had made many many more.

Home made pizza night (yes scratch dough)

I purchased a big bag of fresh spinach from Sprouts on Sunday.

I tossed it in Olive oil and some Italian seasoning and steamed it for a few minutes... Just to soften it.

My 6 year old sang Popeye The Sailor man with me as we ate it. 3 year old wouldn't even taste it. 

While the boys played in their room, I threw pizza yeast, just under 2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 1/2 tsp sugar 4 tbsp canola oil, and quite a few seasonings (Pensky Italian, oregano, garlic and herb...) whisked that all together and poured 2/3 cup water that I'd microwaved 1 minute.

Kneaded the dough for 4 minutes (ok, I didn't time it, but it seemed like 3 minutes minimum)

Then stretched the dough out pretty thin. Used my pizza cutter, divided it into 3 parts. I reshaped the boys pizzas into circles.. God forbid they aren't round, then it isn't pizza, of course.

They put the sauce and toppings onto theirs and I did for mine (meanwhile the ovens getting to 425’)

11 minutes, bam - dinner is ready

Maybe 30 minutes in all to have a completely fresh, homemade, everyone is happy - meal.

 Mine is a combo of yellow peppers, fresh spinach, cheese, olive oil and sauce.

Perhaps less corn meal on the pans or more olive oil on the crust... Other than that.. Tasty!!

1/2 of my pizza is left over, bet my husband eats it before I can get to it.