If any of you have attempted Whole 30, you know when you find a combination of foods you love that fits into the narrow parameters, it’s like finding a pot of gold.

I discovered this Avocado and Sweet Potato Hash combination on week 2 of my first go at Whole 30. Let me tell you, I loved it so much I had it at least once daily during the 30 day duration. This recipe is made up of tender spiralized sweet potatoes, sliced zucchini, garlic, scrambled eggs, my favorite California Avocados and a splash of hot sauce. It’s one of those incredibly satisfying recipes. It’s so satisfying that you tend to forget what you are giving up when you eat it….

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When I say “Game Day” you all know what I mean, right? It’s football time!!

Game day extends past one day at our house to pretty much any day football is on. Some days friends or family join us in front of the TV (us meaning my husband and son) other days its just us. Either way, the best part about game day for me is the food!

You know who makes game day food pretty great? Alexia foods. Remember them? I worked with Alexia last year on a recipe challenge to create a new fry flavor. I’m excited to share that I’m working with them again and will be using some of their products over the next several months to make meal time and game time easier!

(In addition to their popular varieties of fries, Alexia also has a great lineup of appetizers and artisan breads. Make sure to check out all their products on their webpage!)

Things are always a little nutty around our house and because of that,  I am a huge fan of products that can make my life a little easier. For our most recent game day watching, I used Alexia Sweet Potato bites to re-invent sweet potato casserole, in a bite sized form. Super simple to make and a delicious appetizer to pass around during the game, Sweet Potato Casserole Bites are a fun bite sized app sure to be a hit with game day fans.

Here’s a little video and the recipe is below, so I hope you’ll check it out. Before that though, I have a great giveaway going on from Alexia that I think you’ll love. My friends at Alexia Foods have offered to give a fantastic Tastemaker Kit to one lucky Dine & Dish Reader. Included in the kit is:

• 1 wooden tray with 3 white bowls for your favorite fry dips
• 1 black Alexia apron
• 1 Alexia egg timer
• 1 set of Alexia wine charms
• Coupons for some of my favorite Alexia products!

To enter the giveaway, follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter Widget below! I want to know your ideas for entertaining with Alexia products!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Sweet Potato Casserole Bites

A sweet little game day appetizer using Alexia Sweet Potato Bites.

Ingredients

• 1/2 package Alexia Sweet Potato Puffs
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 sweet onion coarsely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/2 cup mini marshmallows equal to number of sweet potato bites
• Kosher Salt to taste

Instructions

• Bake Alexia Sweet Potato Bites according to package directions.
• While baking, heat a skillet over medium-low heat. Add butter and melt.
• Stir in chopped onions and cook for 2 minutes.
• Stir in brown sugar, cooking until onions are iridescent, soft and caramelized. Remove from heat.
• Thread a toothpick with one mini marshmallow, one chunk of caramelized onions and one Alexia Sweet Potato Bite. Arrange on a serving try. Sprinkle with Kosher Salt, to taste, and serve warm.

I’m happy to be a part of the blogger Tastemaker group with Alexia foods. I have been compensated for my participation and Alexia is providing the giveaway items. All opinions expressed are my own.

The post Game Day With Alexia {Recipe: Sweet Potato Casserole Bites} appeared first on Dine and Dish.

Some of you really like things hot. I know my dad isn’t happy with the heat of something unless he has tears streaming down his face. His “hot” tolerance is off the charts. For most of us though, we may like a  little spice, but we don’t want the heat to take over the flavor of the food. Instead, we prefer for it to simply enhance what we are eating.

For that special kind of spicy zest, I always turn to TABASCO® Original Red to add a little extra flavor to what I’m cooking. In fact, when I was looking back over my soup recipes getting ready for Soup-a-Palooza, I realized that the majority of the recipes I love have a splash or two of TABASCO® sauce to give that extra element of flavor. Try it next time when you are making soup. Add a Tablespoon of TABASCO® to your pot and I promise you will love the subtle yet distinctive flavor it adds.

Since I love TABASCO® sauce in soup, I decided to head over to the TABASCO® website to see if there were any soup recipes there to try out. Not only did I find this great Spicy Sweet Potato Soup recipe, I also discovered a multitude of recipes I can’t wait to try out! (By the way if you are still trying to decide what to make for Soup-a-Palooza, they have so many delicious looking soup recipes on their website!)

The Spicy Sweet Potato Soup recipe is the perfect example of a medly of flavors blending together brilliantly. If you love sweet potatoes and the richness of a broth and cream based soup, you will really enjoy this soup recipe. With a touch of TABASCO® Original Red it has all of the elements of a perfect soup recipe!

If you’re still in need of ideas for all those sweet potatoes you have on hand, give this Sweet Potato Cake a try!

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Spicy Sweet Potato Soup with Tabasco Original Red

Spicy Sweet Potato Soup (slightly adapted from Tabasco.com)

Author Dine & Dish

Ingredients

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 3 cups diced peeled sweet potatoes (about 1 pound)
• 3 tablespoons fresh orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 1/4 half and half cream
• 2 teaspoons Original TABASCO® brand Pepper Sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

Instructions

• Bring chicken broth to a boil in a large saucepan. Add sweet potatoes; cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 to 20 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
• Using a hand-held blender or food processor, puree sweet potatoes and chicken broth until smooth; stir in orange juice, zest, half and half, TABASCO® Sauce, and nutmeg. Place over low heat and heat through.
• Garnish each serving with cilantro.

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Thanksgiving was really quiet at our house this year. We typically have a group of neighbors over who do not have family nearby and we all enjoy a loud, raucous, delicious Thanksgiving together. This year, however, everyone was heading out of town which left us to a house with, well… just us.

I was a little bummed about it at first, afraid that my kids would not think the day was special. I planned on still cooking up a big Thanksgiving feast with the typical goodies to eat, but it would be strange not having other people here. How would my kids differentiate this day from any other?

As I was cooking up our feast, I looked over in my produce basket and noticed a few sweet potatoes. We don’t typically have sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving, but you know what? This year is anything but typical. I grabbed up the sweet potatoes and thought about what to do with them. Should I make Amy’s Scalloped Sweet Potatoes? How about Shari’s Crab Stuffed Sweet Potatoes? Maybe Lori’s Glazed Sweet Potatoes would be the recipe to adorn our Thanksgiving table? Those all sounded delicious, but what I was really craving was Sweet Potato Fries. Totally not something you would normally find on the table at Thanksgiving, right?

Right then and there is when I figured out that there was some joy and benefit in having a quiet, just us Thanksgiving. It didn’t matter that Sweet Potato Fries aren’t a typical Thanksgiving feast food. This was our Thanksgiving, and there was no one else here to tell me that there are other things that my sweet potatoes should be used for on Thanksgiving that would be more appropriate.

I baked up the sweet potato fries and Nick, Leah and I ate them up as an appetizer to our Thanksgiving meal. The other kids didn’t even get the chance to snack on them because we kept this little secret to ourselves.

We ended up having a very happy Thanksgiving, special indeed because it was what we made of it. We hope your day was just as special!

Recipe: Baked Sweet Potato Fries (from Paula Deen and The Food Network)

I didn’t end up making a large batch of House Seasoning. I just sprinkled what I thought would be a good amount of each ingredient onto the potatoes.

House Seasoning

• 1 cup salt
• 1/4 cup black pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic powder
• Olive Oil, for tossing (I used Avocado Oil that we received at BlogHer Food)
• 5 sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4-inch long slices, then 1/4-wide inch strips, using a crinkle cut knife
• Oil
• 1 tablespoon House Seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika

For the House Seasoning: Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Line a sheet tray with parchment. In a large bowl toss sweet potatoes with just enough oil to coat. Sprinkle with House Seasoning and paprika. Spread sweet potatoes in single layer on prepared baking sheet, being sure not to overcrowd. Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and golden brown, turning occasionally, about 20 minutes. Let cool 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

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