Sizzling Cinnamon Thyme Sweet Potato Fries

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For Cinco de Mayo I brought you a wonderful recipe for Grilled Cuban Flank Steak, and as a side dish we had Sizzling Cinnamon Thyme Sweet Potato Fries.

I completely forgot to post the recipe for the Sizzling Cinnamon Thyme Sweet Potato Fries so I'm sharing that here with you today!

These are a wonderful variation on sweet potato fries that combines both sweet (cinnamon) and savory (thyme) seasonings sprinkled over the cut sweet potatoes and baked to perfection.

What a great side dish!  Baking sweet potato fries is a healthier substitute to French fries and they taste fantastic!  Crispy edges on the outside and tender on the inside, these fries are taken up a notch with the cinnamon and thyme, so don't be surprised if you start eating them with abandon!

These are the perfect side dish, or a tasty snack.  Serve them all summer long with your grilled recipes.  30 minutes to the BADDEST sweet potato fries you've ever had!

Enjoy!






Sizzling Cinnamon Thyme Sweet Potato Fries

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled

3 tablespoons of olive

2 Tbls fresh thyme, chopped 

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and spray a large baking sheet with non stick spray

Slice your sweet potatoes into planks and then into sticks.  Then add them to a bowl.  Add the olive oil and the seasonings and toss well to coat.  

Add the potatoes to your baking sheets and spread them out so they don't overlap. 

Bake for 15-20 minutes tossing them 1 or 2 times until they are golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow to sit 2 minutes, then serve hot.

No Fuss Spicy Chicken Taco Meat

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It's Taco Tuesday and boy do I have a quick "No Fuss" SPICY Chicken Taco Meat recipe for you!!

This is a basic taco meat recipe that was passed on to me by a family that really knows their Mexican cooking!  They make traditional Mexican fare daily but also have a few tricks or fall back recipes for busy weeknights, such as this one.  

The "no fuss" part comes from using a rotisserie chicken that's cooked and ready to go from the grocery store.  Or you can use any leftover chicken you may have, just shred it up!  The opportune word in this title is SPICY, at least to me it is.  

By using a can of El Pato Hot Style Tomato Sauce, that you can pick up in the Latin section of most any grocery store, this will create a sauce with some nice heat to it.  The sauce is made with fresh chilies, tomatoes, onions, cilantro and garlic and has great flavor.  Now chilies have a heat source that hit people differently in their mouth.  This particular chile that is used is way up there for me on the heat scale, but may be milder to others.  So if you haven't tried this sauce before do a taste test before dumping the whole can in with the chicken.  I've already added some water to the recipe to dilute the flavor a little but you can certainly add more if needed.  Also, I would be careful if feeding this to kids, it may be too spicy.

This dish is pretty simple.  Sauté some onions, and then add the chicken and the sauce and some water and let it simmer.  This staple taco meat can be used in anything from tacos, enchiladas, burritos, tostadas to soup.  It's very versatile and you will want to have this recipe in the back of your pocket to pull out every now and again.

Enjoy!





No Fuss Spicy Chicken Taco Meat

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded or leftover shredded chicken
1 can of El Pato Hot Style Tomato Sauce (yellow can)
1/2 cup water
1 Onion, sliced
1 Tbls canola oil

Preheat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add canola oil and allow to warm up.  Add sliced onion to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently about 5 minutes until translucent.  Add shredded chicken, tomato sauce and water.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low.  Simmer about 10 minutes until chicken has warmed through and tomato sauce has cooked down a bit and has thickened.  This should not be a watery sauce.  If need be add additional time to cooking to thicken sauce to your liking.

Use taco meat in enchiladas, soft tacos, tostadas, etc...  Any leftover can be refrigerated for several days.

Herbed Scrambled Eggs in Toast Cups

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We are just loving our spring weather.  We have lots of sunshiny days along with some that they call "May Grey" but either way the days are nice, the flowers are in bloom, and everything seems just fine!

When we have a nice sunny morning on the weekend we tend to gravitate toward our patio.  Mornings are nice and cool, and quiet which makes the perfect atmosphere for sitting down with a nice cup of coffee or tea and enjoying some conversation before the days activities start.

Today we are having breakfast on the patio.  A nice special breakfast, something that is quick and easy to make.  So Herbed Scrambled Eggs are in order and I've placed them in Toast Cups.  Toast cups are simply bread that you place in muffin tins to form "cups" and toast them in the oven.  They are so cute when they come out!  The perfect little vehicle to hold your scrambled eggs.

HERBED SCRAMBLED EGGS IN TOAST CUPS

So get out your muffin tin and make these cute little toast cups.  You can even make them a day ahead and just reheat them.  And what's easier than scrambled eggs.  These have some fresh herbs mixed in along with some cheese to jazz them up a bit.  Add some bacon or sausage and your meal is complete.

Keep these in mind for a nice Brunch party, they are really cute to serve your guests.  Remember to keep it simple, and enjoy the outdoors by having breakfast or brunch on your patio or porch soon!

Enjoy!

Toast Cups

French bread slices
Butter

Preheat oven 350 degrees. Butter on side of the French bread.

Press bread, butter side down, into the cups of a regular sized muffin tin. The crust will be sticking out to help form the cup.

Bake cups in oven for 20 minutes. (Watch so they do not brown too much) They should be slightly browned and crispy.  Remove cups from muffin pan. Set aside. 

Herbed Scrambled Eggs

serves 2 

4 large eggs

1/4 cup 2% milk

salt and pepper

3 Tbls cheese, grated ( I used Swiss cheese)

1 tsp of thyme, chopped
1 tsp of chives, chopped
2 Tbls no-salt butter

Heat butter in a skillet over medium low heat.

In a bowl break eggs and add the milk.  Whisk together until fluffy.  Add a pinch of salt and pepper.  Whisk to combine.

Add eggs and allow to set up on the bottom slightly.  Push edges toward the center and tilt skillet to allow liquid to move to the edges.  Continue cooking and pushing edges to the middle until the eggs are soft and liquid is cooked.  Add herbs and cheese and allow to melt.  Stir to combine and then serve in toast cups if desired.


adapted from Stonegable