Recipes – Living Trader Joe's

Roasted Sweet Potatoes: The Easy Way

January 24, 2016/2 Comments/in Meatless Monday, Recipes, The Scoop! /by Delaina & Kris

* * Ultimate Roasted Sweet Potatoes * *

You will love this EASY & FAST Recipe!

Sweet Potatoes are wonderful – they add a delicious flavor – and color- to your meals. They team up with BBQ & perk up leftover night with their color and creamy- sweet flavor.

I love Roasted Sweet Potoates especially when I accidentally (or maybe not … ) burn them a little on the bottom- so they have a dark brown, almost black really, spot where they were sitting on the pan. This adds a wonderful flavor to the sweet, soft potatoes that we enjoy- and think you might too….

Yum!

You will love how simple & easy they are to make – and how delicious they are to eat. These are so good even a few days later – so you can make a BIG batch today (eat half) and then take some for lunch (if there are any left …)

A Pan of Roasted Sweet Potato Chunks – Note the dark brown spots- You want that!

HOW to make the Ultimate Roasted Sweet Potatoes

You will need:

Sweet Potatoes
Olive Oil
Salt

Yes- That is all you need to make the most awesome tasting sweet potatoes!

Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.
Wash your sweet potatoes (with a brush) and dry off with a kitchen towel.
Now cut into the same size pieces – This means try and keep them all the same -ish thickness. This is so all the pieces will cook at the same rate.
Toss the potato chunks in a little bit of Olive Oil and sprinkle with salt.
Spread out on a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil and pop into the oven.
Check every 5- 10 minutes or until they are soft and have some nice color on them.

Delicious!

Washed & Dried … the Sweet Potatoes await their fate …..

Cut your potatoes in half the long way, and place them cut side down (no rock-n-roll here!) then cut in half and into chunks.

Toss in Olive Oil, and sprinkle with salt

Pop them into your pre-heated oven for 30-40 minutes – checking on them frequently.

The finished product – soft on the inside and crispy on the outside – make sure to save the browned pieces for yourself!

Finished!

So there you have it!

A wonderful side dish or main for a Meatless Monday type meal (great with a big green salad).

Easy-sweet-potatoes-living-trader-joes

Trader Joe’s Cheese Pizza Dip

January 15, 2015/in Recipes, The Scoop! /by Delaina & Kris

This was the sample last week at our Trader Joe’s in Kansas City.

I wanted to share it with you because even thought it is a bit different, I found myself thinking about it a few times. This is basically a warm dip that you can serve in the crock pot with little bread sticks- or at least that is what they did at Trader Joe’s.

It tastes just like a slice of cheese pizza!

I was brainstorming how I might use this (it makes a LOT of dip) are a few ideas like a fun addition to a super bowl party as a hot dip (love those on these cold days) but I found myself thinking … what else could we do with this tasty dip ….hmmmm

So here is a short list of ideas that I thought up:

Pour over steamed veggies
Pour over hot baked potatoes
Use as a pizza sauce on any kind of flat bread (a tortilla, english muffin, Nan etc..)
Use as a hot dip for cold veggies (carrots & celery)

I am sure that there are plenty more fabulous ideas out there- Please share yours in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

So without further ado…here is the recipe:

Trader Joe’s Cheese Pizza Dip

2 wedges of Trader Joe’s Fontina Cheese (shredded up)

1 Pint Half & Half

1 jar of Trader Joe’s Fat Free Pizza Sauce

1 Tub (8oz) Fresh shaved Parmesan /Asiago/ Romano cheese blend

In a crock pot, combine over medium heat (or start with high and then switch to low after everything is melted) the Fontana cheese and Half & Half until blended.

Next, add the pizza sauce and the tub of the Fresh Shaved Parmesan cheese and stir together until it is all combined.

Reduce heat to LOW to serve.

Use Trader Joe’s Italian Bread sticks for dipping (that is what they used at the store) OR use what ever makes sense to you… get creative….

So YES I will be making this for my next party … I only hope I can last until the Superbowl!

How To Make Garlic Aioli

July 5, 2014/in Learn 2 Cook, Recipes /by Delaina & Kris

Add Garlic Aioli to your meal tonight!

Garlic Aioli is a wonderful garlicky mayonnaise that add a wonderful “something extra” to a wide variety of vegetables and meats. I like to make it when I have an assortment of raw veggies for dinner- as a dip with a punch. Another way I use Aioli is to jazz up my leftovers- it really makes cold cooked potatoes come to life.

Garlic Aioli is so easy and flavorful, it is a great recipe to have on hand and make at the last minute to make a meal shine.

Here is the super easy way to have delicious garlic aioli:

Spoon some mayo into a small bow, say 1/2 cup

Add 1 or 2 cloves freshly grated garlic to taste – start with 1 clove (or even a 1/2 clove and taste to see how strong the flavor is before adding the rest of the clove).

Add a pinch of sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.

Optional: squeeze fresh lemon juice in the garlic Aioli

That is all there is to it! Super easy, right??

Need some ideas of how to use your Garlic Aioli? Check out this list:

Serve with cooked Potatoes – hot or cold
Dip your Steamed asparagus in Garlic Aioli
Use as a spread on a sandwich
Use as a dip for raw veggies (great with carrots)
Fantastic with plain shrimp served hot or cold.

So whip up a batch of Garlic Aioli today and see how many meals will be just that much better because of the addition of a little zippy mayo!

Make Ahead Kefir Breakfast Parfaits

June 25, 2014/in Recipes, The Scoop! /by Delaina & Kris

Super Easy Breakfast Parfaits with Kefir

Kefir is a wonderful fermented milk beverage that looks similar to yogurt, but packs more of a nutritional punch or pizazz! Kefir is loaded with lots of beneficial bacteria that can work wonders in our guts. To learn more about the benefits of Kefir, check out this site: http://www.culturedfoodlife.com/what-is-kefir/

Kefir makes a fabulous and easy make ahead breakfast that we have been enjoying for a few months now. We make it the night before – and even make 2-3 days worth of breakfast jars at a time. This way in the morning, breakfast is essentially done, we just add some crunchy slivered almonds or sunflower seeds and a spoon.

Super Easy & An Awesome Start to the day!

Here is what we do:

Pour 1 cup Kefir into a wide mouth glass jar with lid
Add 1/4 to 1/3 Old Fashioned or Quick Oats, dry OR 1/3 cup cooked brown rice
Add 1 tsp chia seeds
Add 1 Tbsp ground flax meal
Add 1/4 cup raisins

Then we stir the whole thing together, put a lid on it, and stick them in the refrigerator.

When we are ready to eat (usually in the AM, but we did enjoy one as a “breakfast for dinner” type quick meal recently) we add some crunchy topping such as slivered almonds or sunflower seeds or even granola. Use your imagination & get creative and add what you like.

These Kefir Breakfast Parfaits are wonderful with fresh fruits instead of the raisins. We purchased the big box of peaches recently and cut up a peach each day- just lovely! Blueberries, raspberry and strawberries have also found their way into our breakfast and on occasion an over ripe banana too.

Added benefit: These parfaits seem to take me further so that I am less hungry!