Faith is believing...

Gluten Free Loaded Sweet Potato Skins

I saw this gluten free recipe on pinterest...looks so yummy!

Loaded Sweet Potato Skins

total time: 1 HOUR, 30 MINUTES

Credit

Enjoy a big plate of extra crispy, extra loaded sweet potato skins in no time! This game-time favorite is hard to resist.

Yield: 8 potato skins, may easily be doubled or tripled for a crowd

photo credit

Ingredients:

• 4 medium sweet potatoes
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 cup milk1
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ground pepper, to taste
• 1 cup shredded cheese (I use half sharp cheddar and half mozzarella)
• 4 strips bacon, cooked until crispy, and crumbled
• sour cream and chopped chives for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Pierce each sweet potato a few times and bake for 40-50 minutes or until soft. Allow the potatoes to cool slightly. Slice potatoes in half lengthwise.
2. Reduce oven temperature to 375F degrees. Scoop out sweet potato flesh, leaving a thin layer of sweet potato inside, and add flesh to a medium bowl. Place skins back on the baking sheet face up, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 10 minutes.
3. Mash the sweet potato flesh with milk, salt, and pepper until smooth and creamy. After 10 minutes, remove the skins from the oven. Fill each with an equal amount of mashed sweet potato and top each with cheese. Bake for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and top with bacon. Serve with sour cream and chopped chives, if desired.
4. Skins are best enjoyed immediately. Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Recipe Notes:

1. Buttermilk, whole milk, or half-and-half is best. Try to avoid low fat milks. You want a very thick, creamy mash.

Easy Valentine Cakes

credit

Easy Valentine’s Day Mini Cakes
yield: 8 small cakes

Ingredients

• 
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 3 cups cold heavy cream
• 3/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1 9 oz package (about 48 cookies) chocolate wafers
• Valentine’s Day candy! You can use whatever you like. I used:
• Pink & white dark chocolate nonpareils
• Valentine Sixlets
• Mellocreme candy hearts
• Red mini hearts
• Sour lips
• Valentine’s gumballs
•  Red and white M&Ms
• Combine the cream and powdered sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment.
• Whip the cream on medium-high speed until firm peaks form.
• You can use a knife to spread the whipped cream between each layer of cookie, but if you have a piping bag, I recommend putting the cream in a piping bag fitted with a round tip–it’s faster and neater. Either way, spread a thin layer of cream on the bottom of a cookie, and place the cookie onto a plate, cardboard round, or other serving surface. After the cakes are assembled the cookies will soften into a cakey texture, so it’s difficult to transfer them later. I put mine on doily-covered cardboard rounds, so they were easy to serve individually.
• Pipe or spread a thin, even layer of whipped cream on top of the cookie.
• Top the first cookie with a second, and continue to layer cream and cookies until you have a stack of six cookies. (You can play with the height–I found that six cookies made a nice, tall cake that seemed substantial but wasn’t too overwhelming. You can find what height works for you!)
• Pipe or spread more whipped cream along the top and outside of the cake.
• Use an offset spatula or a knife to spread it into a smooth layer. The cake might shift around while you’re working on it, since whipped cream is delicate, so be gentle! Don’t worry about having a perfect finish, because you can always cover up any trouble spots with candy later on.
  After all of the cakes are assembled, refrigerate the cakes for at least 3 hours, to give the cookies time to soften. The cakes can be made several days in advance and kept, refrigerated, until you’re ready to decorate them.
• Now for the fun part! Decorate the cakes with an assortment of Valentine’s Day candy, and additional whipped cream, if desired. Depending on the candy you choose, the coloring might start to seep into the whipped cream as it sits, so that’s why it’s best to decorate these shortly before you plan on serving them.
• 
  

Best Valentine

Happy New Year

A Little Christmasy....

CITRUS SALAD DRESSING

For Christmas Eve I made a salad to contribute to the lovely meal my sister in law prepared. Thought I'd share the new recipe with you-it was a big hit!

photo & credit

Citrus Salad Dressing

1. • 1 cup plus 3 tablespoons orange juice
   • 6 tablespoons dried cranberries
2. • 3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
   • 2 tablespoons Apple Cider vinegar
   • 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
3. • 2 bags of mixed baby greens
   • 3 oranges, peel and white pith removed, segmented
   • 3/4 cup pecans, toasted
4. 1. Bring 1 cup orange juice to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Remove from heat. Mix in dried cranberries. Let stand until softened, about 30 minutes. Drain well; discard soaking juice.
   2. Whisk oil, vinegar, orange peel and remaining 3 tablespoons orange juice in small bowl to blend. Mix in cranberries. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.)
5. 1. Place greens in large bowl. Toss with dressing, then top salad with orange segments and pecans.