In My Oven . . .

I assure you -- 110% -- I'm not pregnant. And yet . . . more fries. I just crave . . . oven-baked fries -- usually sweet potato, but last night we made some amazing ones with Russet potatoes.

I want them.
All the time.
Right now, even.

And you've not HAD fries until you've tried Ashley's (Edible Perspective, not speaking in the third person here) beer-soaked variety. I made them this weekend with sweet potatoes.

By far, they win for flavor . . . 


Ashley says to soak them for 15 minutes. I did that . . . plus like three hours. Oops! I started them while I was doing a million other things and didn't read that far ahead in the recipe. But they still turned out great. Seasoned with some rosemary + salt, too.

FUN FRIES TO TRY:

Adrianna's Cornmeal Crusted Eggplant Fries
Rebecca's Baked Chickpea Fries
Angela's Nut Butter Parsnip Fries
Kristianne's Baked Asparagus Fries
Lauren's Raw Avocado Fries
Julia's Baked Kohlrabi Fries
Megan's Shortbread Fries w/ Strawberry Jam
Gourmet's Herbed Polenta Fries
Our Dessert Parsnip Fries
Hayley's Tofu Fries

What's your current food obsession? Or what's your favorite fries recipe?

Tomorrow I'll be back with stuff about grocery budget as promised in my last post. I am so happy to have gotten most of the cooking done for the week. I used to be a pro at doing it all ahead of time, but it's becoming necessity. Off to bake another loaf of sourdough!

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...

Wednesday

I have another run to add to my Fun and Fast Treadmill Workouts post. This one is a true interval workout and, therefore, a metabolism booster. Just what I need to shed some of those pregnancy pounds.

The Workout: Just over 4 miles. 5 minute warmup at 6.7 MPH. Then alternate between 7 MPH and 8 MPH, 1 minute each for 10 minutes. Drop speed back to 6.7 MPH. Then repeat the 10 minute fartlek (speed play) workout. Finish with another 5 minutes at 6.7 MPH.

I'm finally over my sickness and went out for a speedy 5 mile run in the cold this evening. Stephen surprised me by making OSG's Nut Butter Parsnip Fries -- all while watching the baby. If you haven't before heard of or tried that recipe, it truly will "change you life," as Angela says on her site.

For dinner, we're enjoying some baked tofu! A nice change from all the veggie stir-fries we've been eating lately.


Otherwise, we're celebrating Ada's entrance into the double digits for age. She's 10 weeks old today. It's so true what they say. Babies go from this:


To THIS in a blink of an eye . . .


Today on (never home)maker, baby! there's a brief video post about our nature "hike." Yup -- Ada and I got the chance to take a walk outside. It was glorious -- and rare in upstate NY to enjoy "balmy" weather in January.

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!

Read more...

Dessert Fries

I glossed over some of the good eats I enjoyed this weekend -- and there were a ton. But one of my favorites resulted from a creative change in ingredients because I forgot I didn't have something on hand. OK. What am I talking about??? I love the Nut Butter Parsnip Fries Angela (over at Oh She Glows) posted a while ago. I've made all different variations, including parsnip fries WITHOUT nut butter on them. When I craved the sweet and salty combo Saturday night but found I was missing plain almond butter, I got a bit nutty (pun most certainly intended).

So, these may not be the healthiest fries in the world. They're also not the most unhealthy. And despite what you may think (maybe something like: "Ew! Parsnips and chocolate?! Disgusting!), the chocolate isn't over powering. In fact, it adds this spectacular flavor note. It's more like a mole sauce versus a slice of chocolate cake. I added black and cayenne pepper for punch, too.

If you love the whole salty, sweet, chocolate-peanut butter combo, you'll love these kicked-up-a-notch parsnip fries. And they're not for dessert, really. I was just kidding in my post title. Enjoy as a snack or with lunch or dinner!


What you'll need . . .

• 3 medium parsnips, peeled
• 1 tablespoon dark chocolate almond butter (you can also mix in 1/2 tablespoon of cocoa powder into some almond butter, or just use plain for plain nut butter fries)
• 2 tablespoons natural honey peanut butter (again, you can use plain PB)
• 1 tablespoon sunflower oil (or canola)
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Method . . .

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Lay out a cookie pan with a sheet of parchment paper (to avoid mess).
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the nut butters, peppers, and oil. Set aside.
3. Slice your parsnips into fry-like pieces (thin, but not too thin). Place in a medium bowl and pour the nut butter mixture onto them. Mix with a spoon (or your hands).
4. When they're well coated, transfer the parsnip strips to the cookie sheet and spread out to allow for even baking.
5. Set the timer for 15 minutes. Then, when that 15 minutes has passed, take the to-be fries out and flip. Set the timer for another 20 minutes.
6. Flip them again and bake for another 5 to 10 minutes -- they'll be slightly crisp. Slightly burn-y (but in a good way).
7. Then enjoy!

Looking for more creative ways to use parsnips in your cooking and baking? Check out this post for parsnip dumplings. And check out Angela's original post for nut butter parsnip fries. As she writes, they will truly "change your life!"

Like what you just read? You can subscribe to the feed of these posts or follow us on Twitter or Facebook to be the first to know what the (never home)makers are up to. And we’ll love you forever!!

Read more...