Sweet or Spicy Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Squash

I have decided I am going to try to create one dish entirely on my own each week and I have been craving some nice roasted veggies and here is what I came up with.

1/2 Butternut Squash, seeded and cubed
3 Medium Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cubed
4 Tbsp olive oil
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Creole Seasoning

I had so many I had two trays, so I thought I would try them two different ways.

First combine all the potatoes and squash and add olive oil to mix around and a little on each pan. Mix around so it the potatoes and squash are lightly covered in oil.  Disperse evenly between two baking sheets.

The Sweet:
On the sweet pan, lightly sprinkle cinnamon and nutmeg to your liking and mix around.

The Spicy:
For the spicy pan, lightly sprinkle with creole seasoning and mix.

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, flipping every 15 minutes.  If you like them soft, this worked perfect.  If you like them a little crispy, I'd leave them in another 15 minutes.

Sweet & Spicy Rice

My roommate and I had a plan to make Bourbon Chik'n tonight, until we realized it had to marinate overnight in the sauce.  We had already started the rice in our rice steamer, and I was starving, so I decided to make something up and fast!

I remembered a spanish rice recipe my friends mom used to make with rice and salsa. and I had just bought an interesting jar of salsa from Walmart that I wanted to try on my burgers.

Sweet & Spicy Rice (makes 1 bowl)
1½-2c White Rice, cooked
¼-½c Peach Pineapple Chipotle Salsa (I used Great Value brand)
Fresh ground pepper to Taste

Cook the rice however you'd like, I used a rice steamer. Mix in the salsa until all the rice is covered and add some fresh ground pepper for an extra kick.

Strawberry Chik'n Salad

After seeing Vega founder Brendan Brazier, I decided I needed more greens in my diet.  I saw an idea for a raspberry salad dressing on the side of a Good Seasons box and it gave me the idea for this salad.

Salad:
Bag of Veggie Lovers salad mix
Morningstar Farms Chik'n Strips, cooked to package
Strawberries, cut
Candied nuts (although I forgot to put them in for this salad!)

Dressing:
¼c Apple Cider Vinegar
3 Tbsp Water
½ Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Raspberry Jam (I like Polmer's brand)
1 pkg Good Seasons

Bourbon Baked Beans

I must admit, I was a little hesitant to make this recipe at first.  I am not a drinker, and having never cooked with alcohol before, I was unsure of the taste.

I found the cheapest and smallest bottle of bourbon I could find ($1.49 at a local wine & liquor store) and decided to give it a shot.

I used the recipe from the Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker book.

Verdict: Not too bad.  Would make a good side for a vegan cookout!

Banana Muffins & Banana Bread

While searching the vegan sites I came across this recipe.  Seeing how our bananas always ripen too fast, I thought this would be a good recipe to keep on hand!

Peta.org |  Banana Muffins

I used melted Earth Balance margarine instead of oil, and used Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips inside.  Since there wasn't a time listed in the recipe, I wasn't really keeping track, just testing it every so often.  I would guess the muffins were in about 20 minutes, but the bread was in about 50 with aluminum foil on top for the last 10.  All in all both turned out delish! 

Verdict: I give both versions an A.