Crispy Baked Sweet Potato Fries

I have been trying to find an amazing recipe for sweet potato fries for YEARS and finally found one that I absolutely LOVE thanks to Pinterest! Y'all have no idea how excited this girl is! Guilt free snacking? Yes, please!

Ingredients:

- 2 sweet potatoes (I used 3 to feed my family of 5)

- 1 tbsps olive oil (plus a little more for brushing the parchment paper)

- Sea salt to taste

- Black pepper to taste

- Garlic powder to taste

Directions:

- Pre-heat oven to 450.

- Put baking sheet in the oven to heat up by itself for about 10 minutes. This is a necessary step in getting them crispy.

- Cut sweet potatoes into thin sticks.

- Whisk together egg white, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic powder in a bowl. Put sliced potatoes in the bowl and coat well with mixture.

- Brush a piece of parchment paper (large enough to cover the baking sheet) with olive oil.

- Put the parchment paper on top of the already-hot baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes and then flip the fries oven with a spatula and bake for another 12 minutes (or until desired crispiness is attained).

Picture and recipe found here: http://healthycrush.com/crispy-baked-sweet-potato-fries/

Double Chocolate Chunk Muffins

These are seriously the absolute BEST chocolate muffins I have EVER had in my entire life. I'm talking slap-your-Grandma good! No sugar, no flour AND my kids gobbled them up? Heck yes, buddy!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cup oats (I used Quick Oats)

3 egg whites

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup plain lowfat Greek yogurt

1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar (or 2 tsp. vinegar)

1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup hot water

1 cup sugar substitute (I used 2/3 C Agave Nectar)

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (OR you could use white chocolate OR peanut butter chips!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Line a 12-cup muffin pans with cupcake liners, or spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
3. In a blender, (or food processor), mix all of the ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips. Blend until oats are ground and mixture is smooth.
4. Stir in HALF of the chocolate chips (set the rest aside). Pour straight from the blender (it will be very pourable!) into prepared muffin pan. Your muffin cups will be SO full, but shouldn't spill over while baking.
5. Place muffin pan in the oven, and after TEN minutes, remove muffins from the oven (but don’t shut oven off), and top each muffin with the remaining chocolate chips.
6. Place the muffins back in the oven and bake for an additional 5-7 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Cool muffins before removing from pan.

Recipe and picture found here: http://shrinkingkitchen.com/double-chocolate-chunk-muffins/

german pancakes or dutch babies?

As a kid my mom would make these a ton. I loved looking in the oven and watching it puff up into a gorgeous golden brown pillow of goodness. German pancakes have been my very favorite breakfast food, or like last night we have them for dinner. Fluffy, buttery, slightly crunchy german pancakes. These are my comfort food.

I know them as german pancakes, some people only recognize them as dutch babies. But whatever you call them, I can never say no.

German Pancakes

3 eggs
2 T butter
1/2 c milk
1/2 c flour
1/2 t sugar
1/2 t salt

*Optional: My mom has graded an apple in the batter to add a little special flavor. So good!

Preheat oven to 450. Place baking dish with butter in pre-heated oven until butter is melted and starting to brown. While butter is melting, whisk eggs and mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Whisk milk and dry ingredients into eggs alternately. Once butter is browned remove baking dish from oven and pour batter into the dish. Reduce heat to 425 and bake for 18-20 minutes. Serve immediately. Serve with, syrup, jam, powdered sugar, lemon, fresh fruit.

Enjoy!