Help The Students Event: Day 1

Welcome to the kick off of Help the Students event.  For the next month you will be seeing recipes that are student friendly.  Recipes that use simple, easy to find ingredients.  Recipes that are straight forward and easy to prepare.  You will also find tips, tricks, shopping ideas, economical ideas and special guest posts from fantastic food bloggers.

I thought I would kick off day one with a simple homemade oven fries recipe.  This guys are so versatile and great at anytime of the day.  Yes you read it right!  Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner – these are a hit!  My Dad used to tell me growing up that fries in brown paper bags are the best.

I have had them a few times at restaurants and I do agree with him.  A fun novelty that you can for sure create at home.

Ingredients

• 3-4 Baking Potatoes (sliced)
• 2 Tbsp. Olive oil
• 1 Tsp. Garlic powder
• 1 Tsp. Salt
• 1 Tsp. Black pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line cookie sheet with parchment paper
2. Slice potatoes and then rinse well and pat dry with paper towel.
3. In a large bowl add potatoes, olive oil, salt, garlic, black pepper and mix well
4. Pour out on a cookie sheet and bake 20-25 minutes turning occasionally until golden brown.
5. Remove from oven and serve on plate or in a brown paper bag.
6. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Ensure the potatoes are very dry before starting the baking process.  If any amount of liquid is present, the potatoes will steam and not become crispy.  Once they come out of the oven and screaming hot… hit them with a little bit of salt.

Freestyle Variation: Add some heat if you are in the mood by tossing with a little cayenne pepper or a few dashes of hot sauce.  A nice finishing touch is to add Parmesan cheese with about 5 minutes to go in the cooking process.

I hope you enjoyed Day 1 of Help The Student event.  Feel free to send along your recipe or tips if you would like to be featured this month.  Students all over the world will benefit from your experiences.  Have a super Wednesday.

Take care

zesty

Ok, so I have to confess a little bit here. I totally forgot to post yesterday being Monday and all do to the holiday. My apologies for that. To make it up to you I think I have a pretty tasty recipe that you can try at home and I think you even may be impressed at the fact it is “HEALTHY“. Whole grain oatmeal raisin cookies with a couple of unique ingredients that I have been dying to try for a while now.  Agave nectar and apple juice in cookies really keeps them on the healthy and lighter side by avoiding the heaviness of the oil and the sugar.

Let me know what you think of the recipe but I think they turned out quite good. They are chewy in texture as well as being soft. They are nice right out of the oven or slightly warmed in the microwave.  I like 18 seconds of warming time depending on your microwave of course.

Ingredients

• 2 Cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 3/4 Cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 Cup organic unbleached white flour
• 2 Tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 Tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/2 Tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 Cup raisins
• 1/4 Cup flax seeds
• 1/2 Cup low Fat Plain Yogurt
• 1/2 Cup Apple Juice
• 1/4 Cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp. Agave Nectar
• 1 Tsp. pure vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, flours, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, raisins and nuts.
3. In another bowl or blender combine remaining liquid ingredients.
4. Mix together the wet and dry ingredients.
5. Drop batter by heaping tablespoons, about two inches apart, on to the baking sheets.
6. Press each cookie with moisten fingers or a spoon to flatten.
7. Bake 17 to 20 minutes or until golden brown on the bottom.
8. Transfer cookies to a rack to cool.



9. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: For an even softer cookie, I like to slightly under cook the cookie as it will continue to cook internally after you take them out.  The apple juice and yogurt will also aide in the moisture department.

So there you have it, a fun healthy recipe you can try at home.  I had to test the cookies out of course as I watched the Olympics.  They turned out just as I hoped.  Is anybody else following the Olympics closely?

Stay tuned for a post that you will not want to miss tomorrow.  It is all about Zesty and Opensky giving back to all of you.  Have a fantastic Monday Tuesday and I will talk to you bright and early in the morning.

Take care

zesty