Sweet Potato Waffles or Pancakes

These are no guilt pancakes for a healthy version of breakfast that tastes delicious too! If you’re in a crunch for time you can replace all of the dry ingredients with one and a half +cups pancake mix of your choice. The sweet potatoes can also be cooked and puréed ahead of time and frozen in a Ziploc bag flat in the freezer to be thawed when you’re ready to bake.

Sweet Potato Waffles or Pancakes

1 1/4 cup milk
2/3 cup sweet potato peeled, cubed, steamed, puréed, and cooled
1 egg beaten
1/1/2 tsp vanilla
4 drops pure stevia (optional for a sweeter pancake)
1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (or Spelt, or Einkorn or . . .)
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp kerrygold butter or coconut oil melted and more for your griddle
Pure Maple syrup for serving

1. In a medium bowl combine cinnamon, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl whisk together the milk, sweet potato purée, egg, vanilla, stevia, and butter.

2. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the wet ingredients into the well and then whisking it together. Add more milk if it is too thick.

3. Heat your lightly oiled griddle or frying pan to medium high heat and pour the pancake batter a 1/4 cup at a time. When the pancake batter starts to bubble after two or three minutes use a metal spatula to flip it until it’s golden brown on the other side. Serve with pure maple syrup.

Honey Pistachio Goat Cheese Appetizer

I have to admit that I have a small obsession with honey. When I travel, the souvenir I always come home with is honey from that region. I think my love for honey began when I first tasted honey in the honey comb that my grandpa Kempton brought his “grand chickens” to taste. Its smooth sweetness had a depth to it that was and still is indescribable. I caught  glimpses of him tending to his bees on his St David, Arizona land. Land he loved deep in his soul. I think amazing honey tastes like love and nurturing, and feels like watching the brilliant colors of a desert sunset on the roof of a barn as the heat of the day mellows into the peace of evening. Remember how much you are loved as you bite into this bit of savory, sweet, crunchy goodness!

Honey Pistachio Goat Cheese Appetizer 

1 log of goat cheese halved lengthwise
1/4 cup raw unfiltered honey (I order mine from Blessed Buy Isreal)
2 Tbsp fig preserves
1/2 cup pistachios roughly chopped
Appetizer crackers for serving

Set the goat cheese on your serving dish. Warm the honey and fig preserves in a glass dish in the microwave for a few seconds. Stir  and drizzle the honey mixture evenly over the goat cheese. Sprinkle with pistachios and serve with crackers.

Ultimate Grilled Chicken Sandwich

This is a perfect summertime sandwich with mouthwatering flavors. We always eat the sandwich with a side of corn on the cob and fresh watermelon cubes. It’s a family favorite!

Ultimate Grilled Chicken Sandwich 

5 chicken breasts
1 cup cilantro chopped
1 red onion sliced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 loaf French bread or sourdough bread sliced
2 Tbsp Kerrygold butter
Garlic bread sprinkle
1-2 avocados sliced
1-2 tomatoes slices
6 slices Monterey Jack cheese
Ranch dressing (preferably homemade or from your favorite restaurant)

1. Place the chicken breasts in a plastic ziplock bag and use the flat side of a meat mallet or a rolling pin to pound out the chicken to about 1/2 inch thick. Transfer the chicken to a fresh ziplock bag just in case the pounding broke through the other bag. Add the cilantro, red onion, garlic, milk, olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Gently massage the bag to separate the onions and evenly coat the chicken with the marinade. Let it sit in the refrigerator for 4 to 8 hours.

2. Before you start grilling the chicken, slice the avocados and tomatoes and butter one side of each slice of French bread.

2. Once the chicken is marinated preheat your grill to a medium heat and then grill the chicken for about 5 minutes on one side and then flip it over and place 1 slice of Monterey Jack cheese on each piece of chicken. Break up the extra slice of cheese to cover any extra portions of the chicken breast. After the chicken is grilled on the second side and cooked through, put the chicken on a covered plate to rest for 6-10 minutes.

3. While the chicken is resting, toast the bread in the oven at 400° with the buttered side up for about 4 to 5 minutes. Serve the sandwiches either open faced with one piece of bread or closed with two pieces, and top the bread buttered side out with tomato slices, avocado slices, chicken, and ranch.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Spinach Artichoke Dip

14.5 ounc jar of artichoke hearts drained
1 cup mayonnaise
4 ounces goat cheese or cream cheese
4 ounces sour cream
1 cup Parmesan cheese grated fresh
1 clove garlic, minced
Dash hot sauce (optional)
Dash Worcestershire sauce (optional)
2 cups fresh spinach chopped

. In a mixing bowl beat the goat or cream cheese and slowly add the mayonnaise and sour cream to that while beating. Add the garlic, artichoke hearts, and Parmesan cheese giving it another quick beat. Stir in the chopped spinach and spread the final mixture into a 9 x 13 dish, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 350°. Serve with thin slices of toasted homemade French bread recipe, or crackers.

Barbecue Chicken Cobb Salad

A perfectly light summer dinner salad that’s delicious with the Buttery Croissant Roll recipe. Adapted from the cookbook Our Best Bites

Barbecue Chicken Cob Salad

6 cups romaine lettuce  or spring mix
6 cups spinach
1 large chicken breast grilled with your favorite BBQ sauce and diced
4-6 pieces cooked bacon chopped
2 Roma tomatoes diced
1 large avocado diced
3 soft boiled eggs diced
4 scallions sliced
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Ranch dressing (homemade or Wingstop Ranch is delicious!)

Fill a large chilled salad bowl with the lettuce and spinach mixed together. Top with cooled grilled chicken, bacon, Roma tomatoes, avocado, hard-boiled eggs, green onions, and shredded cheddar cheese. Let everyone view your beautiful presentation before topping with the dressing and tossing the whole salad together.

Strawberry Sauce

This recipe is so versatile to use for ice cream sundaes (Blue Bell Dutch Chocolate ice cream with chopped bananas and topped with this sauce), drizzling over waffles or cheesecake, or blended with milk and vanilla ice cream for strawberry milkshakes.

Strawberry Sauce 

1 pint chopped strawberries (or frozen)
1/4 cup sugar or agave or honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice (optional)
2-4 drops pure liquid stevia (optional)

1. Combine berries, sugar or agave, and lemon juice in a medium sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for five minutes, stirring constantly and breaking up strawberries with a wooden spoon or potato mashing tool. If you choose to sweeten with honey, add it after the strawberries have been simmered and slightly cooled.

2. Remove from heat and cool before blending. Add the vanilla.  Taste the sauce for sweetness, and add the Stevia if you want a little extra sweetness without the extra calories.  Pulse until you reach your desired consistency, and refrigerate unused sauce for up to a week or freeze for up to three months.

Buttermilk Caramel Syrup

Picture this sauce being drizzled over a hot waffle - yes please! This is the kind of recipe I save for a big Sunday morning breakfast, or Christmas day, or for bringing to a home group breakfast potluck. It’s indulgent and it’s worth it!

Buttermilk Caramel Syrup 

3/4 cup buttermilk or 3/4 cup milk with 3/4 tsp lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup blue agave
1/2 cup kerrygold butter
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. In a large pot or saucepan combine buttermilk, sugar, blue agave, and butter. Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup has thickened.

2. Take off the heat and whisk in the baking soda. It will bubble up quite a lot and then settle back down.

3. When the sauce is called a little bit add the vanilla and taste the sauce to see if it’s sweet enough for you. Add more agave if you wish.  It can be stored in the fridge for about a week.