Sweet Potato Dream Cake

Sweet Potato Dream Cake

1 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 tbsp cinnamon (optional)

1 whole egg

1 egg yolk

1 medium sweet potato - boiled until tender and then mashed

1.5 tsp baking soda

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 tsp salt

Dump everything into a bowl except sweet potato and mix, then add sweet potato and mix again.

Oil bundt pan, add cake mix, bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until not wobbly. Remove pan from oven, let rest for 5 minutes then turn upside down onto a plate or cutting board. Let cool completely.

Icing is a cream cheese butter cream

1 stick of butter

1/2 package of cream cheese

1 tbsp milk

powdered sugar - varies by sweetness level and consistency

Use mixer to incorporate icing ingredients until smooth.

Trail Mix Quinoa Balls

Image courtesy of www.eatliverun.com I was looking for a gluten-free recipe to make for a friend when I stumbled across these delish little babies! They're healthy, sweet and satisfying. I found the recipe here. Chocolate Chip Quinoa Trail Mix Balls makes about 14 bite-sized balls Ingredients: 1 cup old fashioned or quick-cooking oats, dry 1/4 cup quinoa, dry + 3/4 cup water 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut 1/3 cup unsalted sunflower seeds 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips 1/3 cup dried cherries, raisins or cranberries 1 tsp vanilla extract 1/2 tsp sea salt 1 tbsp peanut butter 1/3 cup honey Directions: Combine the quinoa and water in a small saucepot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for about 12 minutes, until quinoa has absorbed all the liquid. Fluff and scoop quinoa into a large mixing bowl. Add sunflower seeds, oats, dried cherries and coconut to quinoa and mix well. Bring honey to a simmer on the stove then stir in the vanilla extract and pour on top of nuts and seeds. Mix until well combined. Let mixture cool before adding the chocolate chips, peanut butter and sea salt. Mix well with your hands so the peanut butter is evenly dispersed but be careful not to melt the chocolate chips! Chill dough in fridge for an hour. Using wet hands, gently roll mixture into golf ball-sized balls. Place balls on a plate and chill for at least two hours until firm. Time: 2 1/2 hours (includes time to chill)

BANANA PUDDING

Bananas (the riper the better)
Nilla Wafers (vanilla wafers to people not from the South)
Large box of instant vanilla pudding (using pie directions)
6 oz sour cream
6 oz cool whip


Mix pudding as directed and then add the sour cream and cool whip.
Layer bananas and wafers on top of a layer of pudding, continue layering until full. Top with cool whip.

(Not Spaghetti) Squash

Cook the squash by cutting it in half and removing the seeds. Put it in a baking dish with 1/2 inch of water. Cover tightly with foil, bake 400 for 1 hour. In a frying pan add 1T olive oil, add 1 chopped onion and cook for a few minutes. Add 2 cloves of garlic, cook. Add squash and 1 can of diced tomatoes with liquid. Cover and cook 10 minutes. Uncover and cook until liquid reduces, 5-8 minutes more. Yummy! I think it would be even more yummy with a little parm cheese sprinkled on it. Makes 6 servings. 121 cals, 3g fat, 2g protein, 20g carbs, 0 cholesterol, 80mg sodium

Balsamic Chicken

I made Balsamic Chicken tonight and it was a big hit with my family. I super simplified a recipe a friend had posted on a low carb site- 6 chicken breasts, some shakes of italian seasoning, a can of diced tomatoes, 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar. Throw it all in the crockpot and cook all afternoon. My kids ate theirs over rice but I had mine over green beans and it was awesome! Plus it makes your house smell amazing!

Bean Salad

This bean salad is AWESOME! My parents made this while we were visiting for Thanksgiving and they raved about how good it was and that I had to try it. I was not excited, but after awhile decided I had better give it a try. One bite and I was hooked, I couldn't stop eating it! This recipe makes a big vat of bean salad because each ingredient is 1 can. It will be loved by all, but I wouldn't make it just for 2 people unless you have someone to share it with.

This salad is good after 24 hours, better after 48 hours and perfect at 72 hours.

Ingredients

1 can green beans
1 can wax beans
1 can light kidney beans
1 can dark kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 can lima beans
1 can chick peas
1 can green peas
1 can corn
Or any combination of canned beans
1 green pepper, sliced or chopped (I use yellow peppers)
1 onion, sliced into rings
4 celery stalks, sliced or chopped
1 pimento, sliced or chopped (I found a small jar of pimento at the grocery and tossed in a couple tablespoons)
1 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper

Directions

Drain beans and rinse. Drain peas and corn. Combine with green pepper, celery, onion and pimento. In a separate bowl combine vinegar, oil, sugar, salt and pepper. Pour over vegetables. Marinate overnight in refrigerator.

Shortbread

Last night was Cultural Cooking and the theme was a food from your dream vacation. I've always wanted to go to Scotland so here is a delicious recipe for Scottish Shortbread. I used the recipe below for simple shortbread but I also had some fresh raspberries that needed to be eaten so I took some extra piece of dough, rolled them into balls, squished them into a mini muffin tin leaving a depression for 2-3 raspberries, sprinkled with vanilla sugar and baked until lightly brown. These were delicious!

This comes from the Joy of Baking website. There is an extensive set of instructions on the website, but here are the basics.

Shortbread Cookies:

2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon (2 grams) salt

1 cup (2 sticks) (226 grams) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/2 cup (60 grams) powdered (confectioners or icing) sugar

1 teaspoon (4 grams) pure vanilla extract

Shortbreads: In a separate bowl whisk the flour with the salt. Set aside.

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter until smooth and creamy (about 1 minute). Add the sugar and beat until smooth (about 2 minutes). Beat in the vanilla extract. Gently stir in the flour mixture just until incorporated. Flatten the dough into a disk shape, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill the dough for at least an hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) with the rack in the middle of the oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

On a lightly floured surface roll out the dough into a 1/4 inch (.6 cm) thick circle. Cut into rounds or other shapes using a lightly floured cookie cutter. Place on the prepared baking sheets and place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. (This will firm up the dough so the cookies will maintain their shape when baked.) Bake for 8 -10 minutes, or until cookies are very lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.

For Chocolate Dipped Shortbreads: Place 3 ounces (90 grams) of the finely chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and place it over a saucepan of simmering water. Once the chocolate has melted, remove it from the heat. Add the remaining chocolate and stir with a wooden spoon until it has completely melted and is smooth and glossy. Taking one cookie at a time, dip one end of each cookie in the melted chocolate and place it on a parchment lined baking sheet. Once all the cookies have been dipped in the chocolate, place the baking sheets in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes, or until the chocolate has hardened.

Shortbread cookies with keep in an airtight container for about a week or they can be frozen.

Makes about 20 shortbread cookies.