Spicy Sweet Potato Home Fries

I've been a bit obsessed with sweet potatoes lately, but with all of these benefits, can you blame me?

[source]

This is the perfect side to any lunch, especially a lunch that you would usually eat chips or fries.

Spicy Sweet Potato Home Fries

Make this wrap! 1 tortilla [120 cals], 1 wedge laughing cow cheese [35 cals], 4 slices deli style lunch meat 

[56 cal], shredded lettuce [10 cal], sweet potato home fries [54 cal]

total for the whole lunch: 275 calories!

1 small sweet potato, peeled & cubed [54 cals]

1/2 teaspoon Lawry's low sodium seasoned salt

Red pepper flakes, to taste

Spray olive oil in a skillet on medium heat. Meanwhile, put potato cubes in a bowl and toss with seasoning. Add seasoned potatoes to the skillet and cook for 10-15 minutes [depending on how 'done' you want them, I like mine to have a slight crunch to them]. And Voila! There you have your spicy sweet potato home fries. Eat these plain [no ketchup!] or, if you must have something to dip them in, try 1 tbsp fage nonfat greek yogurt [14 cals] with a squirt of horse radish sauce. So good! 

Tot Food::Zucchini Tots

Adelei has been eating what I like to call Big Girl food for quite a while now.

I'm not going to lie, sometimes it gets boring.

And sometimes I can tell she gets tired of the same ol' same ol'.

So I've been on a mission to expose her to more variety.

Thanks to pinterest, this hasn't been hard at all.

Today we tried our first toddler recipe.

Not only was it super easy [prep work was less than 5 minutes!], Adelei loved it, and I did, too!

I will definitely be making these more often.

Zucchini Tots

1 cup zucchini, grated
1 egg
1/4 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup cheese (cheddar or Parmesan work the best)
1/4 cup bread crumbs - I used Italian style
Salt and Pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Spray a mini-muffin tin with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. Grate the zucchini and then place in a dish towel to squeeze out the excess water- like when using frozen spinach; if you skip this part, the middle of the zucchini tots will be really soggy while the outside gets crispy and no one wants that.
3. In a bowl combine, the egg, onion, cheese, bread crumbs, zucchini, salt and pepper.
4. Using a spoon or a cookie scoop, fill the muffin cups to the top. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top is browned and set.


Note: I didn't use onion. Also, I used Panko bread crumbs, and that helped with the crispness. I substituted Mozzarella in place of the cheddar bc it's what I had on hand. It worked perfectly.

Yummy, Mommy!

 And I know this is very unlady like, but I guess because I've been taking so many pictures of her eating, she thinks she has to show me the food in her mouth now. At every meal. And when I say no, no! She laughs. Silly Girl!

Do you have any interesting tot food ideas? If so, I'd love to see them. Link up here!

The Best French Bread Pizza...Ever.

French Bread pizza is one of my absolute favs.

My love for it started a long, long time ago when I was having a sleep over at a friends' house.

Her mom made us French Bread pizza pretty much every time, but I wasn't complaining because it was good.

Fast forward to today. Hubby said he wanted pizza for dinner, only it's Monday, and I hate starting out my week not cooking [I know I'm so, so weird].

Anyway, so while I'm making my rounds at the commissary, I smell the fresh baking bread as soon as I walk in. I immediately think of French Bread pizza.

I stroll over to the racks to see tons of fresh french bread, and just a few loaves left of fresh garlic bread.

My mouth starts watering immediately. This is how I knew it was a great idea.

I finish my shopping, getting enough food for the rest of the week, and head home.

I'm literally thinking about this pizza all day long.

Even to the point where I exercised for longer than normal, just so I would feel less guilty about it.

And then I get a call from Aaron saying he was on his way home.

AKA time to start dinner.

Look at this perfection:

I swear this picture doesn't even do it justice.

 There are not enough words in the English language for me to describe how amazing this was [delicious + cheap + easy, what more can you ask for?]. In fact, we're most likely not going to be getting delivery any time soon.

The best pepperoni, ever.

We paired it with a salad, and I know I've used this phrase do describe pretty much everything in this post, but this is seriously the best dressing....ever.

Are you drooling yet?

Here's how you can make you're own. You're welcome.

1 loaf of fresh French Garlic Bread

1 can [or jar] of Pizza Sauce

1 8 oz bag of Mozzarella Provolone Blend Cheese

1 bag Pepperoni [I chose the kind made for sandwiches, bc I like it better]

Other toppings optional [I prefer my pizza 'plain' i.e. sauce, pepperoni, cheese. The Hubs likes his loaded..
olives, mushrooms, jalapenos. You name it, he will eat in on his pizza.]

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. It's very important that you do this first so it will be very hot when you put the pizza in [unless you like soggy bread]. The bread should already be cut in half length wise, so just cut it in half width wise. Spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray & place the bread crust side down. Spread as much [or as little!] of the pizza sauce on the bread. Cover with as much cheese as you like. Add as many pepperoni slices as you want [I used 3 per piece, using a total of 12]. Add any other toppings & then sprinkle just a tad more cheese on top to hold everything in place. Stick it in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

This easily feeds 4 people. Possibly more if you also fill them up with salad!

If you try this, and I know you will, let me know how it works out for you!

Enjoy!

One Last Beach Trip

With less than a week left here, we decided to make a last minute trip to the beach. It's only an hour & a half away, and that's something that we won't be able to do in Oklahoma.

It was Adelei's first time. My rationale of 'she loves the pool, so she'll love the ocean' was insanely incorrect.

She hated it.

The water, the sand......all of it made her cry. hysterically.

I felt so defeated.

All of my expectations were crushed & I honestly just felt like a bad mom for even thinking that it was a good idea.

The only pic I got of her being calm.

After only spending 20 minutes on the beach, we left. Went to the local outdoor mall, found bathrooms to change in, and spent the rest of the day shopping, eating, and just enjoying ourselves.

Proud Wife

And now, folks, the moment we've been waiting for....

Our little ham, keeping us entertained

Not only did my husband graduate on Friday, but he also commissioned as a 2LT.

I was so, so proud as he walked across that stage to get his diploma, and even MORE proud as he stood on the stage and took his oath of office!

Here is a short [and VERY blurry] video of him and the other cadets giving their FIRST salutes! My hubby is on the very left!

So, it's official. We have closed the college chapter of our lives & we're moving on to the 'real world' section. Wish us luck!!