Love Of Oats

A blog dedicated to balancing a healthy and fun life… with oats!

Daily Archives: October 7, 2008

Spiced Wafers

In keeping with my little tradition of Fall = October, tonight I decided to partake in a snack that essentially screams Fall (and Winter/Christmas – gingerbread, anyone?) to me:  Sweetzels Spiced Wafers aka Philadelphia’s Original Gingersnap!

While browsing through the grocery store over the weekend, I spotted these guys, which are a local favorite and made in my very own home state of Pennsylvania.  I have been dying to open up the box but told myself I wouldn’t open them immediately when I bought them for fear of devouring them :)   So I made it a whole two days without opening them and then I couldn’t wait any longer!

The ginger and cinnamon flavors in these cookies are clearly present but not too overpowering… and seeing how I love foods jam-packed with “crunch”, you really can’t get much more “crunchier” than these guys…

There are essentially two ways that I like to consume these fun ginger cookies and that is either alongside a glass of cold milk OR a cup of hot steamy tea with milk.  The latter is what I chose this time and it was in everyway fabulous :)   I especially love dipping them into the hot tea, which obviously changes the texture – clearly, I am still a kid at heart.  Plus did I mention that you can savor three for only 130 calories?  Not too bad, for those of you calorie-counters!

Anyway the bottom line is if you see this box in your local supermarket, give it a while… and then come back here and let me know if you agree with me or not!

Now it’s off to bed!

Sweet Potato Chips

Since I bought a huge bag of sweet potatoes from the produce store (super inexpensive too!), I tried to be creative the other night with dinner and opt to create “sweet potato chips” instead of my standard “fries” or “rounds”… The cooking method is essentially the same, but the prepping is what is different.

Ingredients:

  • 2 Sweet Potatoes (or Yams)
  • Salt & Pepper (I prefer to use the Grindable Sea Salt & Black Pepper)
  • Non-stick Olive Oil Cooking Spray

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Using a peeler, begin to peel potato into “peels”.  Please note that I love eating the skin of potatoes, but if you do not, be sure to completely peel the skin off the potato before beginning this process.  For thicker (as opposed to thinner) slices, apply pressure to potato as you peel each slice.  This peeling method will result in different sizes, shapes, and textures.
  • Continue peeling until you have nothing left of the potato.  There comes a point where you have a little “stub” of a potato left so I just wound up chopping it very thinly and added it to the mix.  Place the peeled potato slices on top of a greased baking sheet.
  • Spray potatoes lightly with cooking spray and then sprinkle with salt & pepper, as desired.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, flipping & separating (the only downfall is they tend to stick together in clumps while baking) until done.  I knew they were done simply by taste-testing a few pieces throughout the process!
  • During the last 5 minutes or so of cooking time, I usually switch from baking mode to a low broil to get them a tad bit crispier.
  • Serve & enjoy!