Creamy Sweet Potatoes

Growing up I never liked candied yams or sweet potatoe casseroles served at Thanksgiving. This year I had an idea! (I know, you're not supposed to experiment on a sometimes stressful meal prep.) It was amazingly delicious!

1 pound Sweet Potatoes ( 2 really big ones or 3-4 smaller ones)
1 pint Heavy Cream
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1 teaspoon ground Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground Cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
Handful of Marshmallows for top

Peel and slice sweet potatoes and arrange in 1-2 layers in a casserole dish. In bowl, combine cream, sugar, and spices. Pour over potatoes. {This can be done the night before and left in the fridge.} Bake along side Turkey or whatever else is in the oven at 250 degrees for 3 hours. When you pull it out top with marshmallows (as much or as little as you like)...They will melt and be super yummy.

So easy and seriously amazing! Enjoy!

Cinnamon Vinaigrette

For a Sunday night dinner at my Aunt's house, she made a delicious salad with avocado, strawberries, candied pecans and red onion and the vinaigrette below. It was AMAZING!

Cinnamon Vinaigrette

1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 cup Raspberry or Currant Vinegar

3 tablespoons Sugar

1/4 teaspoon Pepper

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Tabasco

Veggie Quiche Cups To Go

I've been cooking from the South Beach Diet book by Arthur Agatston, M.D. for my father. I'm finding some really delicious recipes. These breakfast cups are good! Anything in bold and italic is how I've modified the recipe.

1 pkg (10 oz) frozen, chopped Spinach

1 cup Egg Whites

3/4 cup Extra sharp cheddar cheese

1/4 cup Bell Pepper

1/4 cup diced Onion

3 drops Hot Sauce (optional)

12 pieces Canadian Bacon

Pinch of salt and pepper

Microwave spinach for 2-3 minutes on high. Drain excess liquid.

Line a 12-cup muffin pan with foil baking cups. Spray the cups with cooking spray. Place 1 piece of Canadian bacon in each cup.

Combine egg, cheese, peppers, onions and spinach in a bowl. Mix well. Divide evenly among muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, until knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

*Can be frozen and reheated in the microwave. Make a pan of them and then you have a delicious, nutritious, breakfast...even on the go!

Rootbeer Cookies!

This is a recipe from my good friend Rachel and these cookies are awesome! They would be super delicious with some vanilla ice cream!

Cookies:
2 cups Brown Sugar
1 cup Crisco
2 Eggs

*Cream together the ingredients above, then add the following:

1/4 cup Buttermilk
2 teaspoons Root beer Extract
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
3 1/2 cups Flour

*Refrigerate for 1 hour. Then roll into balls and bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes.

Glaze: Dip the cookies upside down while they're still warm. This time I made mine a bit thicker, like frosting, and frosted the cookies.

2 cups Powdered Sugar
1/3 cup Butter
1 1/2 teaspoons Root beer Extract
2 teaspoons Hot Water (more of less depending on the consistency you want)

Aaaa-mazing!






Root Beer

Microwave Caramel Corn

1/2 cup Butter
1 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Karo Syrup
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda


Cook butter, brown sugar, and Karo syrup for 3-3 1/2 minutes in the microwave. When it bubbles, take it out of microwave and add vanilla & baking soda. Stir in about 8 cups of popped popcorn.

Twinkie Filling

I'm still working on perfecting my twinkie cake recipe. However, the filling has been through many trials and is awesome! It's delicious in any kind of cupcake!

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
1/4 cup Flour
1 cup Milk
3/4 cup Crisco Shortening (Use regular Crisco only! NOT buttered flavor.)
1/4 cup Butter
1 tsp Vanilla
3/4 cup Sugar
1. In a small sauce pan, combine the flour, powdered sugar, and milk over medium-high heat. Stir constantly until it thickens. About 2-5 minutes. Set aside and let it cool.

2. Cream Crisco, butter, vanilla and sugar in a stand mixer until well combined. (You can use a hand held mixer but just a warning, the motor may not be able to handle the next step!)

3. Add cooled sugar, flour, milk mixture to creamed sugar, butter, vanilla and Crisco. Mix for at least 5 minutes. It will be completely combined, light, and fluffy.

4. Spoon mixture into a pastry bag with a tip. I just put a tip in the corner of a Zip-lock bag. It works great, and you can just throw the bag away when you're done!

5. Fill cupcakes with filling.

6. Enjoy!

Mushroom and White Bean Quinoa

Mushroom lovers rejoice! This is awesome! Makes a great lunch, side dish served with chicken or beef, or main dish served with some bread with melted cheese!

1 cup Quinoa
3 cups Chicken or Beef Stock (or substitute water or veggie stock to make it vegetarian)
1 can White Beans, drained and rinsed
8 oz sliced Mushrooms, sliced (about 15 mushrooms of your favorite kind. I like white button.)
1 teaspoon fresh Rosemary, finely chopped
1 clove Garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon butter and extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

In small sauce pan cook 1 cup Quinoa in 3 cups of liquid (stock or water) according to package directions. In saute pan, saute sliced mushrooms in butter and olive oil for a few minutes on medium/high heat. Add garlic and rosemary and continue to cook mushrooms until slightly browned. Salt and pepper to taste. Add to a serving bowl with white beans and cooked quinoa. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm.

Easy Key Lime Pie

Some family friends shared this recipe years ago and it is my go-to dessert!

1/4 c boiling Water
1 small pkg Lime Jello
2 containers Yoplait Key Lime Yogurt
1 container Cool Whip
Zest of 1 Lime
1 pre-made Graham Cracker Crust


Mix boiling water with Jello until dissolved. Mix in the yogurt and the Cool Whip. Zest in 1 lime. Pour into crust and chill for at least an hour. It sets up so fast you can serve it sooner than that if you need, but an hour is usually the perfect amount of time.

Easy Spring Rolls

So simply, easy, light and delicious!

1 pkg Spring Roll Sheets (can be found at Asian Markets)

1 bunch Fresh Spinach

Cilantro

1 bag Broccoli Slaw (in the produce section of the grocery store)

Fill a shallow dish (that is large enough to put a spring roll sheet in) with about a cup of warm water. One at a time, place a spring roll sheet into the water until it becomes soft. Usually takes about a minute. Remove from the water, and put about 1/4 c broccoli slaw in the middle on top of a few leaves of spinach and cilantro. Fold up like a burrito. Continue until all the broccoli slaw is used up. You may need to add more warm water as you go along. Serve promptly.

Dipping Sauce:
1/4 c. Peanut Butter
A few dashed of Soy Sauce
1/4 c. Sweet Chili sauce (more or less depending on the consistency you like)

Sugar Cookies with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

I became a sugar cookie pro and frosting expert this week in preparation for baby girl's birthday party! Below is the best cookie recipe, and the Lemon frosting was a hit. There is also a great swiss meringue buttercream recipe over at Our Best Bites. Check out more pics from the party HERE.

Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (8 oz) pkg Cream Cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup Butter

2 tsp Lemon Extract

4 cups Powdered Sugar

Zest of 1 Lemon

Combine cream cheese and butter with electric hand mixer or in stand mixer. Add powdered sugar 1 cup at a time and mix until smooth. Add lemon extract and zest and mix until incorporated. *Add up to 2 tablespoons of milk if it's too thick for your liking.*

Lion House Sugar Cookies:

1 1/2 cups Sugar

2/3 Butter flavor Crisco

2 beaten Eggs

2 tablespoons Milk

1 teaspoon Vanilla

3 cups Flour

2 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Cream together sugar and shortening. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients combining thoroughly. With hands, shape dough into a ball, wrap with cling wrap, and refrigerate about an hour. Roll out on floured surface until 1/2"-1/3" thick. Cut out desired shapes. Bake at 400 degrees for 8 minutes or until center is cooked but the bottom is not yet browned.

Kalua Ham

Unless you're Hawaiian, you've never had ham this good! This is the easiest way to prepare it too!

Take your ham (I usually do a 4-6 pound ham, but you can do it with any size), remove it from it's packaging and rise well with water. Wrap the entire ham in a few layers of tin foil. It needs to be well wrapped so the juices don't escape.

Bake on 225 degrees for 6-8 hours. When it comes out of the oven. Remove the tin foil and flake it apart with 2 forks. Serve warm.

Seriously, that's it! No seasoning, just a piece of ham in oven. Awesome!

Party Food: Apple Mustard Glazed Kielbasa

This is an east-coast recipe from my cousin Tom!

This is an awesome party food that is a great crowd pleaser. Even better, it can stay in a crock-pot and be eaten all throughout the party or big game!

2 pkgs Kielbasa

1 jar Apple Jelly

3 tablespoons Dijon Mustard

Cut up Kielbasa and brown in a saute pan. Put kielbasa on paper towels to drain fat after it's been browned. Put in a crock pot with jelly and mustard. Cook on low for 1-2 hours. Serve warm.