Leftovers Recipe: Cranberry Apple Sweet Potato Crisp

The sweet potato casserole is often a favorite, so you may not always have many leftovers, but if you do, it sometimes seems lacking on subsequent days. Here is a creative and interesting way to dress up that leftover casserole, and make it shine anew. The tartness of the apples and cranberries provide a perfect foil to the sweet creaminess of the leftover casserole, and the addition of a crunchy topping provides textural interest as well as tantalizing your taste buds!

Cranberry Apple Sweet Potato Crisp

Ingredients:

4 cups leftover sweet potato casserole
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, room temperature
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped tart apples
2 cups leftover cranberry orange relish
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp brown sugar
3 cups oat or corn flake cereal

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a shallow casserole dish.
2. Put the leftover sweet potatoes in a bowl with the cream cheese and mix with an electric mixer until smooth.  Add the brown sugar and cinnamon and mix again until smooth. Note: If your sweet potato casserole is very sweet, you can omit the added brown sugar and cinnamon.  If your sweet potatoes are unsweetened, then be sure to add these ingredients. 
3. Layer the sweet potato mixture into the casserole dish, distributing evenly.
4. Sprinkle the apple pieces evenly over the top.
5. Spoon the cranberry orange relish evenly on the top.
6. Sprinkle the walnuts over the top.
7. Put the butter, flour, and brown sugar in a bowl and cut with pastry cutter or with forks until mixture is crumbly. Add the cereal flakes and toss until combined.
8. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the casserole.
9. Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the casserole is hot and bubbly and the crunchy topping is lightly browned.

Recipe: Famous Pumpkin Pancakes

Give your breakfast a nutritious boost with these tasty pancakes, enhanced with pumpkin for extra fiber and a lovely fall color! Cinnamon and allspice add a spice kick to this new twist on a classic breakfast favorite. For an extra decadent touch, top with a dollop of whipped cream!

Famous Pumpkin Pancakes
(Serves 3-4.)

Ingredients:

(Photo credit: Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton)

2 whole eggs, beaten with a fork
1 1/4 cup buttermilk
4 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp pumpkin puree (not spiced)
1/4 cup white sugar (granulated)
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, mix with your electric beater the eggs, buttermilk, butter, pumpkin, sugar, and salt until combined well.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and allspice. 
3. With beaters running on low, slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients until you have a smooth batter.
4. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, pour out portions onto a greased preheated skillet or griddle.
5. Cook first side for about 1 to 2 minutes, or until bubbles form on the top and the pancakes start to brown around the edges; then flip and cook the second side until golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes.
6. Serve hot with butter & maple syrup, or top with a dollop of whipped cream.

Recipe: Morning Blueberry Quinoa

Start off your day right with a boost of protein from this delicious grain (really a seed). This simple recipe incorporates several healthy, whole, and tasty ingredients to give you a great start to your day and keep you full 'til lunchtime.

Morning Blueberry Quinoa
(Serves 2.)
 
Ingredients:

Cooked red quinoa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2 cups milk (preferably whole and non-homogenized - raw is even better for you if you can find it)
1 cup quinoa, well-rinsed
3 tbsp light-brown sugar (or 2 TB maple syrup if preferred)
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup fresh blueberries

Instructions:

1. In a small saucepan, bring milk just to a boil, then add quinoa and return just to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer about 15 minutes, until 2/3 of the milk has been absorbed.
2. Stir in cinnamon and sugar or maple syrup, cover, and cook an additional 8 minutes, until most of the remaining milk has been absorbed. 
3. Stir in blueberries and cook for just 30 seconds 'til warmed through. 
4. Serve with additional cinnamon, sugar, milk, and blueberries as desired.

Recipe: Cinnamon Nut Breakfast Quinoa

To start including quinoa in your diet, why not start off with quinoa to begin your day? This tasty and high-protein grain will give you a great boost of lasting energy to get through your morning and do the things you need to get done. When combined with healthy raw whole milk, fruit, and nuts, this is a healthy and delicious way to start the day off right!

Cinnamon Nut Breakfast Quinoa
(4 Servings)

Cooked red quinoa (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ingredients:
1 cup organic whole milk (preferably raw)
1 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped pecans, lightly roasted
4 tsp agave nectar, raw honey, or maple syrup
1 cup red quinoa, well-rinsed
2 cups fresh blackberries

Directions:

• In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa, water, and milk and bring to a boil over high heat.
• Reduce heat, cover, and simmer over medium heat for fifteen minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. 
• While the quinoa is cooking, roast the pecans in a dry skillet for three minutes on medium heat or in a toaster oven at 350 degrees F for about five or six minutes.
• Remove quinoa from heat and let stand covered for five minutes. 
• Stir in cinnamon and blackberries, then transfer to four bowls and top with roasted pecans. Drizzle one teaspoon of agave nectar, honey, or maple syrup over each serving.

Christmas Recipe: Apple Citrus Spirited Wassail

Remember the song, here we go a-wassailing? If you haven't had wassail before, you're in for a treat. Wassail is a tradition that goes back over a hundred years, putting the "spirits" in the Christmas spirit! While younger generations may not be as familiar with this Christmas tradition, your grandmother surely knows what wassail is. And it's actually quite easy to make - warm up your holiday cheer this Christmas Eve with an old Christmas tradition - which just may become a new one once you try it! The recipe below will serve a good-sized party, but feel free to cut down or increase the recipe as needed. (As an added bonus, your house will smell amazing while this is simmering! Please drink responsibly.)

Also, on a related note, we will not be posting next week, as we will be traveling and spending time with our families for the holidays. But be sure to check back on the 31st for some tasty New Year's Eve treats! In the meantime, have a wonderful, safe, fun, and of course YUMMY holiday!  :-)

Apple Citrus Spirited Wassail
(Makes about 2 gallons of wassail or about twenty 12-oz servings.)

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ingredients:

1 gallon good apple cider
6 cinnamon sticks
1 lemon, washed and cut into wedges
1 orange, washed and cut into wedges
1 Tbsp whole cloves
1 Tbsp allspice
1 gallon white wine, room temperature
2 cups rum, room temperature

For garnish:
1 lemon, washed and sliced into thin circles, seeds removed
1 orange, washed and sliced into thin circles, seeds removed
cinnamon sticks

Directions:

1. Put apple cider, cinnamon sticks, lemon wedges, orange wedges, whole cloves, and allspice into a large (non reactive) pot.
2. Place over low heat, stir, and simmer slowly over very low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Pour the liquid through a fine mesh sieve to strain, then pour back into pot.
4. Add the wine, rum, and the slices of lemon and orange, stir and serve.
5. If the wassail cooled down too much when you added the spirits and fruit, you can warm it up on low just until heated again, but don't let boil.
6. Serve warm or hot in large mugs, making sure to get a slice or two of citrus in each serving. Add a cinnamon stick to each mug if desired for a 'swizzle stick.'

Recipe: Holiday Sprinkled Snickerdoodles

We don't do a lot of desserts here, but once in a while it's okay to indulge, and our philosophy is, it's better to indulge in something home-made, when you know what's in it. Snickerdoodles are always a favorite at holiday parties, and with this simple recipe you can be sure to please even the pickiest co-worker palate at your office Christmas party.

Holiday Sprinkled Snickerdoodles
(Makes about 2 dozen.)

Snickerdoodles ready to bake. (Photo credit: wEnDaLicious)

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp red sugar sprinkles
1 Tbsp ground cinnamon, divided
2 Tbsp green sugar sprinkles
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup all-natural shortening
1/2 cup organic butter, softened (homemade butter is really easy to make, and much cheaper than buying it, especially organic - we'll feature instructions in a future post soon!)
2 eggs from pastured chickens
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Prepare the sprinkles:  Get out 2 shallow bowls. In one put the red sugar sprinkles and 1 1/2 teaspoons of the cinnamon, in the other put the green sugar sprinkles and remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons of cinnamon. Mix the sprinkles and cinnamon together; set aside. 
3. Prepare the dough:  In large bowl, put the sugar, shortening, butter, and eggs and beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt.
5. With electric mixer running on low, slowly add the flour mixture until incorporated and a dough forms.
6. Using a melon baller or teaspoon, shape balls out of the dough, about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter.
7. Roll the balls of dough through the sugar sprinkle mixtures, some in each, combinations of colors, or as you like.
8. Place the dough balls on an ungreased cookie sheet, keeping about 2 inches between each one.
9. Bake in preheated oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
10. Remove and let cool on cookie sheet for 1 minute, then remove to a cooling rack.
11. Let cool completely before storing in an air-tight container.

Make Your Holidays Tasty: