sweet potato apples

No time for yammering tonight!  Let’s get right to it.

I am up to 11 apples total…and Chris, well, obviously he’s still only at 1.

Dicing an apple and topping it on oats is a GREAT idea.  I always love crunch on my oats, but piles of granola are pretty calorie dense.  Enter, a diced apple!  And, since I don’t like baked, hot, soft, mushy apple, this raw apple topping was perfect!

I liked this method much more than when I cooked the grated apple into the oats.   It’s a no brainer to top apple with peanut butter.

Ahhh, drippy peanut butter, I love you SO. 

A few people asked if I refrigerate my nut butters.  Typically no.  There shouldn’t be any harm, especially if you go through it as fast as I do.  It will definitely keep longer in the fridge, but it should be good for at least a few months, when stored in a dark cool place. 

I looked up some info on dry roasting nuts but need to spend more time checking it all out.  I found some conflicting methods, so i’ll definitely get back to you on that.  Also, I found the organic, un-salted pnuts in bulk at Whole Foods.  However, you can’t always find them in their bulk section.  Sometimes they are in a pre-bagged area.  Your best bet and probably best deal, would be to order them online.

Enough about oatmeal. 

Let’s talk more about apples.  And sweet potatoes.  And my cooking extravaganza on Wednesday.

It started at noon with sweet potatoes + apples.   

And it didn’t end until 8pm, when Chris and I were shoveling my homemade naan into our faces.  Don’t worry, I’ll fill you in on that meal soon.  But yes, that was the mystery bread from yesterday.

Who doesn’t love a delicious potato pancake every now + again??  My favorite topping for potato pancakes is applesauce.  So, I thought combining apples + potato would be a great together.  Thanks to Naomi, for suggesting the idea to use sweet potato!  Brilliant.

I checked out about 5 different recipes for potato pancakes, just to get an idea of ratios.

I veganized these suckers too!

Sweet Tater Apple Pancakes [used this recipe for appx. ratios potato apple pancakes]

• 1 large sweet potato [this was about 6” long]
• 5 small apples, or 2 large apples [I used the local apples my aunt gave me – they were very crisp, sweet with a slight sour bite – I would suggest a nice crisp apple for this and nothing too sour]
• 2T ground flax meal + 6T water [or 2 eggs, lightly beaten]
• 1/4c whole wheat flour
• 1t salt
• 1T pure cane sugar
• 1t [rounded] cinnamon
• olive oil for cooking

1. Whisk together the flax + water and set aside.
2. Grate apple + sweet potato.  Your arm will feel like it’s going to fall off, but it will be worth it.
3. Press grated apple between paper towels to soak up some of the moisture. 
4. In a large bowl mix together sweet potato, apple, flour, salt, sugar + cinnamon.
5. Add in flax mixture and stir well to combine.
6. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-low heat with a few Tbs of olive oil.
7. Form into balls, about 1/4c worth, place in the pan and flatten with a spatula [about 1/4- 1/2” thick].
8. Let cook until a deep brown color is reached [about 5min] and flip to cook on the other side.
9. Transfer to baking sheet with oven on 250* to keep warm, while you cook the rest of the batch.
10. Add a little more oil to the pan if needed, and let heat up before adding in more of the batter.

*You want to make sure the pan is not too hot, because it will brown the bottoms too quickly and your potato won’t have enough time to cook.  It takes some patience!

**Be very careful when flipping.  I use stainless steel pans and they did want to stick to the pan a bit.  At this point though it was my first batch and they needed a little extra flour.  The second batch, with more flour worked much better.  [at first I used 2T but recommend using the full 1/4c as noted in my recipe]  If your apples seem dry, try adding less at first.  You don’t want to over-do it with the flour because they won’t have the nice potato/apple texture, they will be too thick and floury. 

It was a little tricky figuring out the flour but after the first batch in the pan, I got the hang of it.  And, that first batch was still more than edible, just a little broken apart. :)

Typically, I think more oil is used.  But I wanted to keep this light + healthy. 

While I was cooking these, I stuck whole kale stems in the oven, at 350* topped with olive oil + salt.

While it looks pretty, it made it impossible to eat.  When you go to bite the crunchy kale it breaks off the stem from hitting your face.  It was a mess.  I had to shuck it all off the stem.  Then I shoveled it in my mouth with my hands.  It was not a pretty scene!

MmmmmMMMMmmmm

What to top them with?  It’s more like what CAN’T you top these with??

In order from favorite [1] to least favorite [4].

1. peanut butter
2. applesauce
3. coconut butter
4. Greek yogurt

But they were all really tasty!!  I was so excited about these.  It’s definitely a bit of a process to make, but in my mind, totally worth it.  The flavor + texture was great and they are super healthy!  Also, they make great leftovers.  I have even been munching on them cold out of the fridge. :)  These 4 pancakes [about 3-4” diameter] made me SO full. 

The dogs are LOVING the huge backyard.  This is actually not a depressed Dakota, for a change.  It’s an “I’m completely exhausted about to collapse” Dakota.

Here eyes were closing while standing.

Kenna-Beans has been wearing herself out as well.  When they do finally come inside, they RUN to the bedroom to get their sleep on.  It’s pretty funny.

Kenna is healing from a moving accident we had. :(  Of the 20 windows we had in our old house, literally, only 3 opened and one of them wouldn’t stay open.  Well Kenna happened to put her head in the window that doesn’t stay open, and Chris forgot that it just slams shut when you let go.  Poor thing.  She was fine 2 seconds later though!  Just a little fur missing.

Delicious Thursday leftovers. 

1. Reheat.
2. Add banana.
3. Add yogurt.
4. Top with drippy peanut butter.

Complete satisfaction.

I’m so excited for Saturday.  We’re heading to the Sustainable Living Fair, right here in Ft. Collins.  Come check it out if you’re in the area!!  Happy Friday friends!! :)

Ashley