Sweet Potato Casserole

In honor of Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I'd post one of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes...sweet potato casserole! Warning: You may want to eat this until you make yourself sick. And then you'll probably want to eat some more.

Ingredients:

Filling:
4 c sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1/2 c sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 c milk
1/2 tsp vanilla

Topping:
1/2 c packed brown sugar
1/3 c flour
3 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 c chopped pecans (optional if you're not in to that kind of thing.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°. Put sweet potatoes into a saucepan and cover with water. Cook over medium high heat until tender (Poke them with a fork to test, don't stick your fingers in there. Trust me, it will burn you.) Drain, peel, and mash.

2.In a large bowl (probably the same one you mashed the potatoes in, since they're already in there), mix sweet potatoes, eggs, salt, 4 tbsp butter, milk, and vanilla. Mix until smooth. Pour into greased 13x9 dish.

3. In a medium bowl, mix the sugar and the flour. Cut in the 3 tbsp butter until the mixture is crumbly. Stir in pecans. Sprinkle this over the sweet potato mixture.

4. Bake for 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.

5. Try your best to wait until Thanksgiving dinner to dig in. If resisting is not possible, CAREFULLY transfer the rest of the casserole to a smaller dish so as to avoid being judged by your family/guests at Thanksgiving.

Chocolate Chunk Pumpkin Coffee Bread

This is one of my absolute favorite pumpkin recipes.  It's like heaven in a pumpkin loaf, topped off with a coffee flavored icing.  Mmmm...I think I drooled on my computer just thinking about it.  Make it.  It's that good.

Here's what you need:

Wet Ingredients:

1 c sugar
½ c brown sugar, firmly packed
1 c pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
½ c applesauce
½ c strong brewed coffee, cooled completely
1 egg

Dry Ingredients:

1 2/3 c unbleached flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp baking powder

1 bag semi-sweet chocolate chunks


Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 1 loaf pan, 4 small loaf pans, OR a dozen muffin cups.

1. Combine the wet ingredients in a bowl, mix well.
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients slowly to the dry, mixing well as you combine.
3. Stir in the chocolate chunks.
4. Pour into pan, place on center rack of the oven. Bake until tooth pick comes out clean—about 35-40 minutes for large loaf, 25 minutes for small loaves, 15 for muffins.
5. Remove from oven, allow to cool before removing from pan. Cool completely before icing.

Icing Recipe:

3 c powdered sugar
¼ c strong brewed coffee, cooled completely
2 tbsp melted butter

Beat all ingredients on low speed until well blended and reaches the consistency of icing. Spread over top of COOLED bread. (Will melt and run off otherwise). Enjoy!!

Grilled BBQ Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas

I made these for dinner last night and YUM!  They turned out great.  I hope you enjoy them as much as Jeremy and I did.

Here's what you need:

• 8 whole Whole WheatFlour Tortillas
• Just a little Butter Or Margarine
• 2 cups Grilled Pineapple, Sliced
• 3 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• 3 cups Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Sliced
• Cilantro
• 3 Tablespoons Barbecue Sauce

Of course, the amounts vary depending on how many people you're feeding.

What to do:

1. Grill your pineapple in a grill pan (or on a real grill if you're feeling adventurous.  Me?  I was feeling lazy.  So I used the pan.)

2.  Put your chicken breasts into a large Ziploc bag, pound with a mallot (or a large jar of spagetti sauce if you have the same proper culinary etiquette as me) it to make it flat.  It will grill quicker this way. 

3. Season the flattened chicken with seasoning of  your choice.  I threw a little salt, pepper, and ground red pepper on mine.

4.  Spray grill pan with cooking spray and grill chicken until no pink shows in the middle.  Brush a little BBQ sauce over it as it finishes grilling.  Dice chicken into bite sized pieces.

5.  Grill tortilla on both sides with a bit of butter on them.

6.  To assemble quesadillas:
-Spread cheese over 4 grilled tortilla
- Arrange chicken pieces evenly over the cheese
-Add pineapple slices and jalapeno slices
-Drizzle BBQ sauce over top (you could add cilantro here if you're a fan.  I did not.)
- Add 2nd grilled tortilla on top of each one, giving you 4 complete quesdillas.

7.  Put in oven for a few minutes to warm or throw back into the grill pan (Careful not to miss the pan when you throw them though.)

8.  Cut each quesadilla into 6 wedges, serve with a slice of lime, sour cream, pico de gallo, whatever you fancy with your quesadillas!  Enjoy!

Stuffed Pepper Soup

I made this soup for the first time the other night.  It was yummy and it freezes well, so you can save some for later!

**The amounts in the recipe are intended to be either for a large group of people, or for you to eat a few meals now and freeze some for later.  If you don't want to do that, cut it in half.**

Ingredients
2 lbs lean ground beef or ground turkey
2 green peppers, seeded and chopped
2 red peppers, seeded and chopped
5 cans lower sodium tomato soup + 5 soup cans of water
1 can lower sodium beef broth
2 tsp brown sugar
2 small can tomato sauce
1 c uncooked brown rice
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
Black pepper to taste

What to do

1.  Brown your beef and peppers together until cooked through.  Drain.
2. Put into large pot.  Add remaining ingredients except for cheese.  Allow soup to simmer on low until rice is cooked, about 20-30 minutes.  Stir in cheese to melt in the last 5 minutes to prevent sticking.

If the soup seems too thick, you can add more water as needed.