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My friend sent me this recipe a few weeks ago. My first attempt was … just an unmitigated disaster. I should have known it would be. One, I don’t like shallots. Two, I don’t like brown sugar in anything that isn’t a cake or a muffin. I actually shed a tear when I threw away all those brussels sprouts… So sad to see them go, uneaten… because they were terrible. I’m sure the recipe itself is amazing, just not for me.

I decided to give this a second try, but to do it in my own way. And… it worked out. Really well.

This, like everything I make, is super easy. I’m not a very good cook. I can bake, but that’s because baking is exact. Cooking can be, but if you do one thing wrong, or don’t time something right, whatever you were making is ruined.

Now, I can eat all these in one sitting, but for the normal person this makes 2 or 3 servings and is a great side dish. Keep scrolling for the nutrition info according to this recipe calculator.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 lb of brussels sprouts
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp brown mustard
• 1 tsp amber agave nectar

Here’s what you do:

• Wash your sprouts, dummy.
• Cut the hard stems off the sprouts, remove all the gross looking leaves, then cut each sprout into four pieces. I don’t slice, I cross cut them.
• Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, preferrably non-stick
• Put the brussels sprouts, Agave, and brown mustard in the pan
• Mix all the ingredients together, and make sure they’re mixed together really well
• Cover the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally so they don’t get welded to the pan
•  The sprouts should end up looking a little browned and bright green, kind of soft, but not mushy
• Eat, enjoy, tell me if you love them!

This is for the TOTAL recipe, and the calories are almost all in the oil:

I love potatoes. Love. Mashed, baked, sliced, fried, roasted, turned into chips… I love them. Potatoes just aren’t really that good for you…

I posted awhile ago about needing brain food recommendations. While this isn’t brain food, it’s certainly a nice snack while reading for class. It doesn’t take much prep or cook time. Where I would usually microwave a frozen something or eat ice cream, I now have a healthy (uh, … well, healthier, I guess) option.

This is really simple. Almost everything I make is really simple. A monkey could make this.

This recipe makes what I would recommend as 2 servings. I used a nutrition calculator, and this looks to be about 640 calories, 104 carbs, and 11 grams of fat total. Halve that and it’s not nearly as bad as a bag of Lay’s, and definitely a lot more filling!

What you need:

• 4 medium sized potatoes — I used Russet, because they’re mild
• 2 tbsp melted vegan butter, or butter, I don’t care. — I used Earth Balance’s Soy Garden Natural Buttery Spread
• Chipotle chili powder — WARNING: If you don’t like spicy food, just skip this step
• Baking sheet and cooking spray (or your preferred method of non-sticking a baking sheet)

What you do:

• Preheat oven to 500 degrees
• Oil/spray/cover with foil the baking sheet so the potatoes don’t stick
• Wash & scrub your potatoes
• Slice the squeaky clean ‘taters however works for you. Thicker slices will need longer cook time (duh)
• Add a couple sprinkles of the chipotle chili powder to the melted butter
• Brush the chili powder/butter mixture on both sides of the potato slices
• Place the slices flat on the baking sheet, spreading them out so that they don’t touch
• Sprinkle however much off the chili powder over the sliced potatoes
• Bake for 10-15 minutes – the potatoes should be starting to turn brown around the edges
• Flip the potatoes over, sprinkle with some more chili powder
• Bake for another 10-15 minutes
• Remove from oven, put on plate, and eat eat eat!

I know that a recipe like this is common sense to most people who aren’t lazy sad-sacks, but I had to put in effort not to just grab the bag of chips off the top of the fridge and stuff my face. Now that I know there’s another, more filling way to snack, I’ll definitely be making these more often.