Stacey's Favorite Books

Friday, July 31, 2015

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     Here's a cool twist on an great comfort food from iowagirleats.com!!


Sweet Potato Tots with Creamy Ketchup
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Make your own tots at home! These Sweet Potato Tots are the perfect indulgence - and better for you than the fast food tots! Plus a review of Superfoods at Every Meal.
Author: 
Serves: 24-36 tots
Ingredients
Sweet Potato Tots:
  • 1 large sweet potato, peeled
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup (30g) all-purpose flour
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
  • 3 cups oil, for deep frying*
Creamy Ketchup:
  • ¼ cup (58g) plain Greek yogurt
  • ¼ cup (60g) ketchup
Instructions
For the tots:
  1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the whole sweet potato and cook for about 15 minutes. You want it to be slightly softened, but not easily mashed - you will need to be able to grate it. Drain and let it sit until cool enough to handle, then grate with a cheese grater.
  2. Combine the shredded potato and egg in a medium bowl and use a fork to combine. In another bowl, combine the flour, salt, paprika and garlic powder. Add the flour mixture to the potato and stir to combine.
  3. Pour the oil into a deep fryer or in to a heavy pot. Heat the oil until it is 375ºF. Place a few sheets of paper towels on a plate to drain the tots when they are done cooking.
  4. Form the potato mixture into 1-inch balls** and add to the hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd the pot. (It will take you several batches to cook all of the potato mixture.) Fry for 3 minutes, then remove with a slotted spoon and drain on the paper-towel lined plate. Repeat with the remaining batter, allowing the oil to come back to temperature between batches.
For the sauce:
  1. In a small bowl, combine the yogurt and the ketchup. Serve with the hot tots.
Notes
*the recipe calls for peanut oil, but I don’t usually keep peanut oil on hand, so I used vegetable oil.

**I used a small cookie scoop to make the balls. It worked perfectly!

***I sprinkled my tots with kosher salt after they came out of the oil. I always like doing this with fried foods - I think it adds a lot of extra flavor.

Recipe from Superfoods at Every Meal, shared with permission by Fair Winds Press


This recipe also spoke to me this week...from www.thepioneerwoman.com

Strawberry Pretzel Pie

Prep Time:
 
 
Cook Time:
 
 
Difficulty:
 Easy
 
Servings:
 8

Ingredients

  • 4 cups Pretzel Sticks
  • 1 stick (8 Tablespoons) Butter, Melted
  • 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
  • 1-1/2 cup Sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons Cornstarch
  • 1 package (3.5 Ounce) Strawberry-flavored Jello
  • 1-1/2 cup Water
  • 3 pints Strawberries, Hulled And Halved
  •  Unsweetened Whipped Cream

Preparation Instructions

For the pretzel crust: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Crush the pretzels in a large resealable plastic bag with a rolling pin. Mix in a bowl with the butter and brown sugar. Press into a pie pan and bake for 8 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.
For the strawberry filling: Put 1 1/2 cups water, the granulated sugar, cornstarch and gelatin powder in a saucepan. Stir together and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and cook until it starts to thicken, about 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from the heat. Let the liquid cool for a good 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Put the strawberries in a bowl and pour over the sauce, gently tossing together. Allow to sit for 5-7 minutes, then carefully pile the coated strawberries into the cooled pie crust. Spoon over a little leftover sauce if needed, and refrigerate, uncovered, for 4 hours.
Cut into slices and serve with whipped cream. (Unsweetened is nice because the pie is so sweet!)

I think I should stay home and cook!! How about you?


Monday, July 27, 2015

Sharing a recipe on Monday....

     I got home from a long weekend of camping and walked out to my garden...which should more appropriately be called my weed garden, but that's another story...Anyway, I found that I had zucchini growing!! What to do with it?! I've never had zucchini, so I didn't know what to do. I remember people talking about using it in bread and brownies, so I looked up some recipes...

This one got 5 stars with something like 5,000 ratings. Ought to at least be worth a try!
Mom's Zucchini Bread
recipe image
Rated:rating
Submitted By: v monte
Photo By: sarah
Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 1 Hour
Ready In: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
Servings: 24
"A moist and delicious zucchini bread flavored with walnuts and cinnamon. Easy to bake and freeze, this recipe makes two loaves."
INGREDIENTS:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts
DIRECTIONS:
1.Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2.Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3.Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well. Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pans.
4.Bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2015 Allrecipes.comPrinted from Allrecipes.com 7/27/2015

Here's one I found for brownies!! Then no one knows what's in it...nothing like sneaking veggies into your kids! Or your husband! :)

Zucchini Brownies
 
recipe image
Rated:rating
Submitted By: Marian
Photo By: mominml
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 30 Minutes
Ready In: 45 Minutes
Servings: 24
"Delicious and moist, these zucchini brownies will send you reeling with pleasure!"
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
 
6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x13 inch baking pan.
2.In a large bowl, mix together the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan.
3.Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched. To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners' sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2015 Allrecipes.comPrinted from Allrecipes.com 7/27/2015

Monday, July 20, 2015

Book Trailer Monday...

     We've been really adding to our graphic novel sections here at the library; our junior fiction section, young adult fiction section and our adult fiction section of graphic novels. My youngest son loves graphic novels!! I figure, why not? He's reading and loving it! But, I have never really read one. I wouldn't know where to begin. Recently,  I stumbled across this book trailer recommending some graphic novels and I thought it was as a good starting point as any.




What do you think? Are you an avid graphic novel reader or are you like me, and just getting your feet wet? What would you recommend?

Friday, July 10, 2015

From Our Recipe Box to Yours...

     Here's a change of pace from the regular recipes I put on here. This one's for all of you fishermen out there!! (And anyone who just loves fish!) It's a tried an true recipe from a coworker and out of 6,000 reviews it got 5 stars!!!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?recipeID=50644&origin=detail&servings=8&metric=false

Broiled Tilapia Parmesan
 
recipe image
Rated:rating
Submitted By: Phoebe
Photo By: Dianne
Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Cook Time: 10 Minutes
Ready In: 15 Minutes
Servings: 8
"Flavorful recipe for this farm raised fish that is easy and done in minutes! The fish is broiled with a creamy cheese coating for an impressive flavor and texture."
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon celery salt
2 pounds tilapia fillets
DIRECTIONS:
1.Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
2.In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.
3.Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork. Be careful not to over cook the fish.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2015 Allrecipes.comPrinted from Allrecipes.com 7/10/2015

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

What do you think?

Saw this map this morning. What do you think?

Agree or disagree? Add your thoughts in the comments!

Monday, July 6, 2015