Sweet Potato with Quinoa, Spinach & Cranberries

Here's a great, super easy, fast Meatless Monday dish! I came across it on Pinterest, but it didn't actually  link to a recipe...so I just kind of guessed as to how much of what went into it. I saved some time by having quinoa already cooked (at one point I made a bunch, divided it up, and froze it) and by using the frozen chopped spinach. It turned out pretty tasty!

Here's what you need:
1 sweet potato
EVOO
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup diced white onion
1/2 cup chopped spinach 
2-4 TBSP dried cranberries
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
Salt & pepper to taste

This is how you do it:

• Heat up a small pan with a little EVOO in the bottom. Add the garlic & onion with some salt & pepper; cook until soft. Add in the dried cranberries, followed by the spinach and finally quinoa. Cook until everything's heated up.
• Meanwhile, cook your sweet potato in the microwave. Mine has a really great potato setting. And everything ended up being done at the same time. Perfect. 

I have to say, I'm enjoying this fall weather. And the rain. I switched out my sandals for boots. Pulled out my sweaters. Got out my big, fluffy blanket. There are various fall Scentsy smells warming throughout the house. It's kind of wonderful. Plus, I started watching "Parenthood." Why have I never seen this before?! Decent stuff. Tomorrow I will begin a work marathon of sorts...so I'll be accepting coffee deliveries through Sunday. But Seriously. 

I hope everyone's week is off to a great start!

Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potato

I am digging this Meatless Monday business. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE a good piece of meat. Especially something nice and juicy off the grill. But I like Meatless Monday because then it somewhat narrows down the options for what to cook...kind of...maybe I'll start Fish Friday too. This was a Pinterest find. I decided I should probably make it this week since the brother is still gone, and he doesn't like sweet potatoes or spinach. I think they turned out to be quite delicious. I did change up the original recipe a little bit by just omitting the water chestnuts (who really likes those anyways?), and I "baked" the potatoes the first time around in the microwave (instead of in the oven)...because we have a really great 1-touch sensor setting thing that works really well (and it's really easy). Enjoy!


Spinach Stuffed Sweet Potato

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes
2 cups spinach (fresh or frozen)
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup light ricotta cheese
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
Parmesan cheese for sprinkling
EVOO for drizzling your pan
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

• Bake your sweet potatoes in the microwave or oven, whichever you prefer. If you use the microwave, go ahead and preheat your oven to 250 degrees.
• Meanwhile, drizzle a saute pan with your EVOO and heat it up. Add onion and garlic and cook until the onion is becoming translucent. Add the spinach and cook until it just begins to wilt (fresh) or thaws (frozen). 
• In a large bowl, combine the yogurt and ricotta. 
• When the sweet potatoes are done baking, slice them down the middle and scoop out some to mix with the yogurt/ricotta mixture. Don't scoop out too much...you want it to hold it's shape. Place the skins in a baking dish.
• Add your onion/garlic/spinach mixture to the yogurt/ricotta/sweet potato one and mix it together. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Spoon the mixture into the skins and bake until warmed through. (I think I just did about 15 minutes.)
• Sprinkle the parmesan on top and put back in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Turkey Day

This year's Turkey Day was somewhat (or a lot) more laid back and simple than last year's.  The brother skipped town to go to a football game, so it was just the mom and me.  Also, the mom had to work all day, so it really was Thanksgiving dinner versus lunch.  I'm still having stomach troubles, so I kept things pretty light.  And, there was no dessert.  It was all very delicious!  Here is my little plate (yes, that's a salad plate, and I was stuffed):

The Menu:
Cherry-Chipotle Turkey Breast (Rachael Ray)
Rustic Rosemary Bread Sticks (Eat 80/20)
Gingered Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup (Women's Health)
Sauteed Mushrooms with Green Beans & Garlic (you really shouldn't need a recipe for this)

Of course, the day wouldn't have been complete without me burning a chunk of my right ring finger off... I just grabbed the handle of my make-shift roasting pan.  Oops.  It's looking really lovely at this point.  

Usually, I would also spend Thanksgiving Day planning for Black Friday.  I'll admit it's ridiculous to spend a day being thankful and then go crazy shopping the next.  I just like the rush, the excitement.  However, since Black Friday is now apparently Black Thursday, I didn't really go shopping.  I take issue with having that on Thursday evening.  I think it should be for the committed, willing to stay up all night or wake up really early, people.  Not to mention, people really should be spending time with their families on Thanksgiving Day.  Just my opinion.  Kohl's literally had ALL their BF specials online with free shipping, so I hit that up.  Victoria's Secret also had their sale online with free shipping on Thanksgiving too.  Then, I'll confess, I'm an Amazon addict...so I had alarms set for "Lightening Deals" all day.  Those kind of give you a rush...for like 5 seconds.  Not quite the same, however it was super nice not waiting in lines.

Since we opted to skip Thursday evening shopping, the mom and I took a couple of movie passes to AMC and saw "Skyfall."  I actually really liked it.  Also, the Adele song is great.  We were pretty crazy and went to the 2110 showing, so it was really late (or early) by the time we got home and to bed (for a equivalent of a long nap).  I did get up a little early to hit up Express, Famous Footwear and Pet's Mart.  That's what happens when you need new jeans, cross training shoes, and have four dogs.  Ah well.  It was successful.

I hope everyone else was able to enjoy Thanksgiving and the related festivities!