Home Fries

I'm having this problem lately where I buy a five pound bag of potatoes because they are on sale, and then I feel like I have about two days to eat all of them before they go bad.  Consequently, lots of mashed potatoes and home fries have been made, and I've just about tweaked my own home fries recipe to the way I like 'em.

Ingredients

6 medium-sized potatoes, diced
1 small onion, chopped (shallots work too)
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1-2 teaspoons salt (depending on how salty you want them)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
3/4 teaspoon fresh thyme

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of peanut oil in a saute pan over medium heat until hot. Add chopped onion and cook until translucent.  Add potatoes and remaining peanut oil and cover for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender.

2. Uncover potatoes and add salt and paprika.  Increase the heat to medium-high until potatoes and stir occasionally until potatoes are golden brown/crispy.  Add thyme and mix together; cook for another minute or two. 


Mmm potatoes:

Gettin crispy:

Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

I'm going to justify the influx of pumpkin-based recipes by showing you a photo that shows just how long I've been this enthusiastic about pumpkins. That's me (or was me) on the left, my lovely sister on the right.

I found this recipe from a blog called Slim Shoppin' by googling pumpkin cranberry muffins, because I had all of the ingredients to make them. They came out great and are reasonably healthy.   I've made them twice already; the second time I used slightly less sugar, which is the 3/4 cup you see below.  I liked them a little less sweet, but if you want them to be sweeter, use a full cup of sugar.

After I commented on the recipe, the blogger was nice enough to send me a bunch of delicious looking muffin recipes, so check out her site. Muffins are a great portable breakfast!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin or pumpkin puree
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 TB. canola oil
1 large egg
2/3 cup chopped cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, ginger, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and cloves.

3. Beat together: sugar, pumpkin, buttermilk, brown sugar, oil, and egg and gradually add in the flour mixture until well combined.

4. Stir in cranberries and pour into a muffin pan (makes 12). Cook for about 25 minutes.


Chopped cranberries: 

Ready to go: