Family Favorite Friday: Sausage, Spinach and Potato Skillet

Today's Family Favorite is a new favorite I recently whipped up. It was such a huge hit I decided to go ahead and give it "fam fave" status since it's still fresh in my mind. The brand of sausage is a great one because not only is it tasty, but also organic at a fair price. The addition of feta to the combo of flavorful chicken sausage, green spinach, and the mildly sweet Yukon Golds (which were also featured on this week's Meatless Monday) makes this a unique dish that you can mix-up with other veggies, such as bell peppers, black olives and fresh tomato, if desired. 


Sausage, Spinach and Potato Skillet
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients


3 links of chicken sausage 
3 cubed Yukon Gold or Russet potatoes
1 cup baby spinach
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil + extra
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
About 1/2 cup crumbled feta for topping


Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a medium-large skillet over medium-low heat for about 3 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, and paprika to the garlic and onion and fry, stirring, for a few more minutes or until fragrant. You can add extra paprika if you want, but I felt it would be too overpowering. Add the potatoes and mix up with the rest of the skillet's contents and then cover, cooking over medium-low heat. Cook for 15 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.

Meanwhile, slice the sausages into sections. Once the potatoes are ready, add the sausage and spinach to the pan and stir. Add more olive oil if it looks dry. Cover and cook for 5-7 minutes more. Remove from heat and serve with a sprinkling of feta cheese. We had ours with some sliced avocado drizzled with lemon juice and a smattering of salt and pepper.

brand I used, but you can use any sausage you like, although I recommend using a garlic or other mild blend

It's not the prettiest looking dish, but it sure is tasty! This sausage in particular is very good. Like I said before, I especially like it because it's organic and not too pricey! I found Bilinski's at Shop Rite.


Babies 3-6 months can enjoy some nummy mashed potato mixed with steamed spinach and a little olive oil, and babies over 9 months can have some of the sausage and avocado as well. Avocado and olive oil are good for baby's skin and contain many nutrients to support their growth, such as omega-3s and healthy fats. And we all know iron-packed spinach is good for everyone!


You may not know that potatoes are surprisingly nutritious, and not just the starchy, carb-packed vegetable that they've been labeled as by some. They actually contain a high amount of vitamin c, vitamin b6, potassium, and magnesium.
Potatoes- especially those with darker colors, such as Yukon Gold and Blue -contain high amounts of carotenoids and flavonoids, and they even contain more phytonutrients than broccoli, components that guard against cardiovascular disease, respiratory problems and certain cancers! That is something I just learned!


So don't ditch the potato...maybe just lay off the chips and fries!


Have a great weekend!

NEW Family Favorite: Black Bean, Sweet Potato and Garlic Sausage Skillet

So, after having all these leftover black beans from the soup I made last weekend, I decided to use them up yesterday. I also had some garlic chicken sausage leftover from the sauerkraut skillet I made on Saturday (I can post a recipe for that next week if anyone's interested), plus some sweet potatoes. That was when inspiration struck and I recalled how nicely the Cuban-style Black Bean Soup went with a baked yam. Then I thought, How 'bout I just throw this altogether in a pan and see what happens? And that's what I did :)

Black Bean, Sweet Potato and Garlic Sausage Skillet

makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

2 cups cooked black beans, undrained

1 large or 2 medium/small sweet potatoes, cubed

2 links sliced garlic chicken sausage (I used Al Fresco Roasted Garlic)

3 cloves garlic, diced

1 small onion, diced

1 cup tomato sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp hot sauce

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Shredded cheddar cheese and/or sour cream for topping

In a large pot, boil some water then put the cubed sweet potato in and cook until slightly tender, but do not overcook as they will be added to the skillet and you don't want them to get mushy. Drain and set aside. If you have not already sliced the sausage, do so now; I sliced mine into little half moon-shaped slices as you can see in the picture below. I also removed the casing, but that is optional and up to you (my pup, Ogum, was happy to have them). Heat olive oil in medium/large skillet over low heat, and then add the onion and garlic, and saute for about 5-7 minutes, or until soft and fragrant. Add the sausage slices and stir with the onion and garlic for about a minute. Add the beans and tomato sauce and bring to a low simmer. Stir in all the seasonings, and add more to taste if desired. Lastly, add in the cubed yams and mix well, cooking for about another minute or two, then remove from heat and serve with a dollop of sour cream and/or shredded cheddar on top.

The red bell peppers were a nice touch that you could even throw into the skillet along with the onions and garlic

I discovered I was all out of sour cream when I made this, but I am guessing it will go well with this recipe for sure. Some fresh chopped cilantro would be a nice touch too! Alternatively, you could make everything separate from the yams and instead bake the yams whole, then cut open with the black beans and sausage served on top. Yummmm. The main reason I did not do that myself was because I didn't feel like waiting for the yams to bake. Some other add-ins could be:

• sliced jalapenos
• bell peppers
• diced fresh tomato

I will be honest: Lily turned her nose up at this when I put some in front of her, but once I got her try it, she gobbled it all up. So, if you face a similar issue with your kid(s), just try to convince them to take one bite, and hopefully they will be as pleasantly surprised as Lily was. The flavor combination of garlic, cheese, sweetness, and a light spiciness made this an interesting dish, like a Southwestern-style party in your mouth (insert dirty joke here). I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Sweet potatoes are usually a big favorite for kids, but Lily is not very into them. I recently had a Facebook convo with my sister-in-law and some of her friends about how weird it was that we all have kids who seem to prefer broccoli to yams! Not that we're complaining, just pleasantly surprised!

But, don't let the yam's sweet deliciousness fool you into thinking it's anything less than good for you. Sweet potatoes contain a high amount of vitamin c, as well as fiber, potassium and manganese. They also provide cardiovascular support, and blood sugar and weight controlling capabilities due to their high amounts of dietary fiber and complex carbs. Wild yams are even used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine to help clean the kidneys, support the digestive system, and even help balance your hormones during menopause. It's a pretty incredible little root! Read more about it here.

Yams are a perfect first food for baby. It's soft texture and subtle sweetness is ideal for easing your little bundle into the world of solid foods. It's popularly sold by companies like Gerber and Earth's Best in ready-to-eat containers, but why bother when it's so simple to just bake or boil one yourself and mash it up with some breast milk or formula? 

For baby, simply mash up 1-2 tbsps of cold well-cooked sweet potato with a tbsp of breast milk or formula and serve. Baby will love it! For babies over 9 months:

1 tbsp cooked black beans

1 tbsp mashed or cubed cooked yam

1 tbsp plain yogurt

Mix together and serve it up, they will love it! Top with some cheddar cheese, too, if they like that. 

Well, that's all for today. Have a wonderful weekend and please stop by next week for the second Meatless Monday blog hop and a new meat-free recipe!

Frozen Summer Treat!

I’ve been wanting to post a tried and tested summer treat recipe, but hadn’t really hit any goals that I thought were worth sharing. I made a few different flavors of popsicles, but none were exciting or even tasty enough to gab about, and the ones that did taste good weren’t exactly healthy. I got an ice cream maker last spring and did some experimenting with that, but really the best flavors were the classics- vanilla and chocolate –and whenever I did come up with a flavor that was anything other than those, it was only because I used a flavor extract like mint or orange. In other words, it would be lazy of me to post a recipe for such things.

But, then, I remembered an old frozen treat from my childhood that I didn’t only enjoy eating, but also enjoyed making myself. It could be messy, but fun, and my mom was usually more than pleased to make these with me, because besides being delicious, there were actually nutritious qualities to it too. Many of you will probably know this one, but I wonder how many have actually ever made…

Chocolate-covered Frozen Bananas

2 bananas, cut in half

¾ cup chocolate chips

2 tbsp coconut oil

Extra toppings choices: shredded coconut, chopped nuts, granola, chopped dried cranberries or cherries, sprinkles, chopped espresso beans, etc.

Stick a popsicle stick or chopstick or whatever you have available to use for a handle into the bottom of each banana half, length-wise. Place the halved bananas on a tray or plate in freezer and freeze for at least 30 minutes. When the bananas are close to ready, melt the chocolate chips and coconut oil in a small saucepan or in a Pyrex glass in the microwave on high for 30 seconds. Mix until smooth. Remove from heat, then get the bananas out and carefully dip them into the chocolate, covering them, then lay on a piece of parchment paper on a tray or plate to put back into the freezer. Sprinkle with toppings of your choice. Put them back into the freezer for another 30 minutes or until set (may not take very long depending on how cold your freezer is). Best to enjoy these bananas outside under the sun!

And there you have it- a sweet, yet healthier option to store-bought popsicles and they don’t take very long to make, with little effort to boot. If you have kids that are of an age where they can handle dipping bananas into chocolate without dumping it all over themselves, they will enjoy helping you with this, and also getting to apply their very own toppings. Baby can obviously enjoy some mashed up bananas, but for an extra treat, add some shredded coconut topping. Toddlers can enjoy this at your discretion, as you may not want to give them chocolate yet or their teeth may be sensitive to the cold.

As everyone knows, bananas are super-healthy and incredibly versatile in many recipes. They are loaded with potassium, protein, vitamin B6 and vitamin C. Bananas help to improve cardiovascular and kidney health, and even contain a lesser-known prebiotic compound called fructooligosaccharide, which helps the body absorb nutrients such as calcium more efficiently, thus promoting denser bones.

One thing I’ve always noticed bananas are good for is as the perfect on-the-go snack for a burst of energy. I eat them just about every day either right out of the rind, sliced up on whole wheat toast with peanut butter and honey, in freshly-made smoothies, or in desserts such as the frozen bananas and caramelized with frozen yogurt (or vanilla ice cream!).

Since I’m also talking about chocolate here, I want to bring up a lesser-known plight that is taking place mainly in Africa that involves the way cocoa beans are harvested. Many children are forced into cocoa bean harvesting- which is very hard labor –either because it is the only way they can make money for their families, or far worse, they are often kidnapped and forced to work as slaves. They work for hours on end in the blistering sun, usually without breaks and without eating or drinking anything. Children reportedly as young as 8 years old are doing this work. And, even though many of the major chocolate companies like Nestle and Cadbury say they are doing their part to only use Fair Trade cocoa beans, it is incredibly difficult to track just where these beans are actually coming from (like a “blood diamond”).  Furthermore, many farmers in these impoverished countries are being taken advantage of and not receiving fair wages from the yields they provide.

There are a few brands that are taking greater strides to ensure they know where their cocoa beans are coming from, brands like Dagoba, Newman’s Own Organic, and Endangered Species all use organically grown beans which are also Fair Trade. Click this link to learn more about how they are certified and to see other brands that use organic and Fair Trade cocoa beans.

I don’t want to plant a guilt trip on anybody- I mean, how awful is it to have to worry if kids were breaking their backs over the cocoa used to make the delicious Godiva truffle you’re about to enjoy (sadly, they most likely were!). This issue only very recently came to my attention as it has received very little coverage in the news, like most child labor issues do, and I’m sad to say coffee beans are effected similarly. So, even though Fair Trade and organic brands do tend to cost a bit more than Hershey’s and Folgers, if you can afford it and want to make a difference, indulge your sweet tooth with a bar labeled Fair Trade Certified and/or Slave-Free to ensure you are not giving money to the types of people who would put children’s well-being at risk just to make some money.