My Cooking Spot

When Girl Meets Kitchen



Loaded Sweet Potato Chips

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sweet potato chips dipped in cinnamon white chocolate and topped with marshmallows and pecans! my favorite side dish in snack form! loaded sweet potato chips!
About a year ago, my life changed.  I went on a girls weekend to Chicago to visit some of my best friends. where there is a girls weekend, you can guarantee there will be a LOT of food.  My friend Melissa brought some goodies, including CHOCOLATE COVERED POTATO CHIPS.  at first I was unsure…but after tasting them, I realized life would never be the same.  Um, wow.  They were so so good.  Who knew?!
sweet potato chips dipped in cinnamon white chocolate and topped with marshmallows and pecans! my favorite side dish in snack form! loaded sweet potato chips!
It seemed like all of a sudden, everyone knew what I knew.  Chocolate covered potato chips were the perfect treat.  Trader Joe’s started selling them and I saw recipes all over pinterest.  People had caught on to the goodness.  Sweet and salty, what could be better? This week, I found something better.  Loaded sweet potato chips? Yes, please!!!
sweet potato chips dipped in cinnamon white chocolate and topped with marshmallows and pecans! my favorite side dish in snack form! loaded sweet potato chips!

Prime Time – Roast Beef with Horseradish Cream & Parsnip Fingerling Mash

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The weather is chilly, dare I say frigid, in most of our country in the cold, cold January of this year and the glory and bustle of the Holidays are over. The time for waiting out the winter has come. I love this time of year though, as time seems to slow, almost to a standstill. The frost collects on the windows, the snow on the ground and long shadows stretch from the skeletons’ of trees. The canned goods of summer pop open and fill pots and pans with memories of sun, heat and blossoms. I light the candles around the house; welcoming their warm light into my home and sip hot tea, settling in for the early nights and evenings of day dreaming. These twilight evenings seem to beg for quiet evenings at home, building a fire, bundled in a favorite blanket or sitting down for a warm dinner with family and friends.

One of my favorite things to make this time of year is a roast with root vegetables. Really relishing in the flavors of the season. You may think these dinners take time and skill but you couldn’t be more wrong. Today I want to share with you a roast dinner anyone can make to warm up your stomach, heart and home on these midwinter nights. The best part of this meal is that it only takes 40 minutes to make after you preheat your oven. So turn up the oven and settle in for a night around the table filling your heart with joy and laughter and your heart full of warmth.

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YOU WILL NEED

  • 1 top or bottom round beef roast, tied
  • Coarse salt
  • Grape seed oil or other high heat oil
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 Cup pearl onions halved
  • 1 Cup sour cream
  • 1/4 Cup fresh horseradish
  • 2 large parsnips – cut into chunks about the size of the potatoes
  • 2 Cups fingerling potatoes

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and set potatoes and diced parsnips in large pot of water on high heat.

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Chocolate Cake Batter Dip

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Sometimes…. there are chocolate cravings. And days when nothing else will do.

You know the kind of day I’m talking about. A day when the dog got into the garbage and made a big mess, and there wasn’t enough hot water in my shower, and I can’t find a thing in my fridge to eat for lunch.

Ugh.

Days like these make chocolate something of a necessity.

Do you ever just go rooting through the pantry for ingredients for something sweet? Please say it’s not just me! Today I found a cake mix and some cream cheese, and knew I had the beginnings of something great.

The great thing about a dip like this is that it works just as well for an after school snack is it does for a game night with friends. Though, I will admit that although I serve it to the kids with apple slices, I myself prefer it on graham crackers. It reminds me of the “graham cracker cookies” my mom used to make. When she had more frosting than she needed, she would frost a few graham crackers and refrigerate them. It really was one of my favorite treats.

I love recreating those good childhood memories with my own kids. I just have to do it in my own way. You know, put my own twist on it! Like using chocolate dip instead of frosting.

Now that I’ve satisfied my chocolate cravings, I guess it’s time to prepare some meals, and take that hot shower, and figure out how to train the dog to stay out of the trash.

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Very Berry Double Chocolate Cookies

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I love cookies and am always up for trying a new recipe. I’ve seen numerous recipes for chocolate cherry cookies and thought I’d try my own twist on that cookie using a couple of my favorite ingredients…..berries and dark chocolate.

Aldi sells an all-natural dried fruit mix called Mixed Berries, with dried cranberries, cherries, and blueberries.  I actually have not seen anything like this in the same package anywhere else, although Ocean Spray sells each flavor individually.  Just the smell of the berries makes you want to eat the whole package!
So here’s what you’ll need in addition to the berries to make these tasty cookies:

  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon instant coffee granules
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup Hershey’s dark chocolate chips
  • 1/2 cup dried mixed berries

Begin by whisking together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.

 

In another bowl, beat the butter, sugar, and brown sugar for about 3 minutes with an electric mixer.  Add in the egg, instant coffee, and vanilla and beat until combined.

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