After a long week interning in critical care, I decided to do something extra to celebrate the weekend. Something I always do after a long week is go to either Trader Joes or Wegmans (sometimes both) and purchase random items- and then brainstorm what  I can do to make something out of it. This week- I bought sweet potatoes. I ended up making a sweet potato breakfast sandwich in a few simple steps. Instructions below: 






Yield: 3 
Ingredients:
- 1 medium, round sweet potato
-  2 eggs
- 2 alfresco's Chicken sausages ( I like this brand because it  has a chicken sausage option and is lower in saturated fat, sodium, and is made without preservatives) 
- 1/2 avocado 
- 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions:
1) Slice the sweet potato into 1/2 -1 inch rounded pieces. Coat in olive oil and bake at 400F for 15 minutes.
2) Microwave or pan-fry chicken sausages. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces. 
3) Prepare eggs on stove top, omelette style  (this makes it easy to cut out for the sandwich, and you can add cheese or vegetables as you wish)
4) Slice avocado
5) Put together your sandwiches and enjoy!

This past weekend, I took home a great deal of my week's unfinished carrots. As I always strive to finish an entire bag by myself at school, I was excited to brainstorm ways to finish them. The recipe I ended up preparing was called "Garlic Parmesan Baked Carrot Fries" on Tasty.co. It is one of my little sister's favorites.  After making slight modifications, I followed the following instructions:

Ingredients:
- 2 large carrots
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt (optional) 
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley or basil (chopped)
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
(Link to vegan option):
http://www.goveggiefoods.com/products/grated-topping/vegan/parmesan

Instructions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 400F

2. Slice carrots into 3 portions lengthwise, and in halves for width

3. Toss with garlic, pepper, cheese, and avocado oil

4. Lay carrots evenly onto baking tray 

5.  Sprinkle chopped parsley on top of carrots

6. Bake for 20 minutes (I like them to be crispy!) :) 

I ended up using a total of four carrots because I enjoyed them that much. These would be a great snack to include at a family dinner or for a social gathering with friends. If you click the button below, you can also see a dip that Tasty.co created for them. 

Avocado Cilantro Dip

As I have been missing the warmer months, I reflected on the recipes I would prepare for my beach trips in the summer. I remembered craving a dip with a summery twist before leaving for my friend Allison's beach house. The dip I had decided to make was modified from  Rachael Ray’s Creamy Avocado-Cilantro dip. The ingredients were simple. It had avocados, sour cream, cilantro and lime juice. Modifications I made were replacing the sour cream with plan Greek yogurt, while adding a higher exchange of yogurt in place of sour cream. My reasoning behind this change was that it would add more protein while decreasing the calories in the dip. 



Below are the ingredients I made the dip with:

Yield: 1 ½ cups
Ingredients:
2 large avocados
6 oz nonfat plain Greek yogurt (I used one single serve container of Chobani’s brand)
1 tbsp lime juice
½ cup fresh cilantro

After combining these ingredients in a blender, you can mix all of them together. I personally like to use my NutriBullet, because it is easy to transport.