Sweet Potato Breakfast Casserole

I'm trying a new casserole for breakfast. I tasted it tonight and I love it! Thank you, Oh She Glows! (I can't figure out why my recipe is being cut off along the left side, so click on the link below to get the proper measurements.)

Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole (link )

1/2 cup regular oats (or G-Free hot cereal mix)

2 cups milk

1 small sweet potato, peeled, chopped (made 2 cups raw or 1.5 cups cooked)

1 ripe large banana

· 1-2 tsp pure vanilla extract

· 1 1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8th tsp nutmeg + 1/4 tsp kosher salt, or to taste

2 2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Crunchy Pecan Topping:

· 1/3 cup chopped pecans

2 tbsp Butter

· 2 tbsp flour

· 1/4 cup brown sugar

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Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Bring several cups of water to a boil in a medium sized pot. Add in the peeled and chopped sweet potato. Cook over medium heat, for about 5 minutes, until fork tender. Drain and set aside.

2. Give the pot a quick rinse and then add in the oats, milk, and chia seeds. Whisk well and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently.

3. With a potato masher, mash in the cooked sweet potato and the banana into the pot. I left some chunks for texture. Now stir in the cinnamon, maple syrup, nutmeg, and salt to taste. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Cook on low for another few minutes.

4. Make the crunchy pecan topping by mixing together the pecans, flour, Earth Balance (or butter), and brown sugar with a fork. until very clumpy. Pour the oatmeal into a baker dish (I used a 4 cup/8 inch casserole dish) and spread out evenly. Now sprinkle on the pecan topping.

5. Transfer the oats to a casserole dish (8inch/4cup or whatever you have!) and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes, at 350F. After 20 minutes, set oven to BROIL and broil on low for a couple minutes, watching very closely so you do not burn the topping. Remove from oven and serve. makes 3-4 servings.

Note: You can reheat the oatmeal by mixing in a bit of milk and heating in the microwave. However, it is also very good COLD, straight from the fridge with a splash of milk too! YUM!

Nutritonal Info (based on 4 servings with soy milk, without topping): 217kcal, 4 grams fat, 7 grams protein, 6 grams fibre.

Bacon Cookies, Potatoes, Marinade

I've tried a few new recipes this week that I thought I'd share.

The other night I got together with a few friends for a chocolate night. We sat in a friend's living room, talked and sampled various chocolates. It was soo fun!! A much needed MNO (Mommy's Night Out). I found a new favorite that night. It's Lindt Dark Chocolate with Sea salt. It's so creamy and delicious! I baked something to share with the girls. Every once in a while I hear of a fad food and get curious to try it. This time my curiosity was peaked about the combo of chocolate with bacon. I found a chocolate chocolate chip cookie with bacon recipe. The boys and I baked it as a project one day. I made half the batch with bacon and half without. It was a fun recipe to experiment with, but I doubt I'll make them again. It was fun just to say I tried it. :)

One night I made the following recipe as a side dish and I think it'll be a new fav at our house. This is something similar to what my Dad makes.

Skillet Potatoes

4-5 red potatoes

1/4 cup EVOO

1 teaspoon salt

dash poultry seasoning

dash pepper

Poke potatoes with fork. Microwave for ten minutes or until mostly cooked. Stir remaining ingredients in skillet. Slice cooked potatoes then add to EVOO mixture in skillet. Stir to coat potatoes. Cook on medium-high until crispy brown. Four potatoes made plenty for D and I to eat for dinner and I had some leftovers. Tomorrow morning I'm going to use up the rest of the potatoes to make a breakfast skillet. I'll add a couple scrambled egg whites and some turkey bacon (leftover from cookies) to the potatoes for a yummy breakfast.

Tonight for supper I tried a new marinade for our grilled chicken. Here it is below. I ate my chicken plain, but D made his into a yummy sammy. He put a couple slices of turkey bacon and one slice of cheese on top of the chicken and it was delicious!

Delicious Grilled Chicken Marinade

Courtesy of food.com

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 5 ounce Worcestershire Sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons italian seasoning
• 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon white pepper (I didn't have this)

1. Put the amount of chicken that you want to grill in the bottom of a big bowl.
2. In another bowl put all above ingredients in and whisk together.
3. Then pour the prepared marinade over the chicken, and refrigerate overnight, or for 4-5 hours.

Chilaquiles

I tried something new at a local Mexican restaurant a few weeks ago and I fell in love! So much that I crave it every weekend. Every time I eat the dish I think "I could totally make this at home." So I tried making it at home tonight....and I must say it turned out really good! When I searched "chilaquiles" online I found a wide variety of results. Some were dinner dishes, some breakfast. I took three recipes and put them together with my own twist. Here's what I ended up with.

Chilaquiles (pronounced chilla-key-las)

1lb Lean ground beef

2 (14 oz) cans petite diced tomatoes

1 pkg taco seasoning

1/2 teaspoon lawry's seasoning salt

I added the following:

Pinch cinnamon

Pinch chipolte powder

Pinch cummin

1 pkg restaurant style tortilla chips

Mexican melting cheese

Reduced sour cream

Monterey Jack shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Brown lean ground beef. Drain. Set aside. Pour undrained tomatoes, taco seasoning, lawry's, cinnamon and chili powder into the pan used for browning beef. Simmer ten minutes. Pour meat back into pan and let meat and sauce simmer five minutes. Spoon just enough sauce on bottom of greased casserole dish to barely cover dish. Next layer with chips, meat and sauce mix and Mexican melting cheese. Bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Smear sour cream on top of dish, sprinkle monterey jack cheese on top of sour cream. Return to oven to bake at 325 an additional 10 minutes. Serve with tortilla chips for scooping.

Chicken Pot Pie (CPP)

I got The Pioneer Woman's cookbook for Christmas this year. I have tried making two recipes and both were yummy. I took the chicken pot pie recipe PW has printed in her cookbook and combined it with the one posted on her blog "Tasty Kitchen" to come up with the recipe below. I'm putting changes in parenthesis. I post recipes on my blog to share with you, but I also do it for myself so I can remember how I made the recipe. Here it goes.

4 TBSP butter

1 cube chicken bouillon (dissolved in about 1/8 cup water)

1 teaspoon ground thyme (I used 3/4 teaspoon)

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup flour

Dash garlic salt

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 cup heavy cream (I used fat free half and half)

3 cups frozen mixed veggies (PW uses fresh veggies)

1/2 cup frozen cubed potatoes (I added this)

2 cups cooked chicken

Store bought pie crust

I wasn't sure how well the frozen veggies would do in the CPP. I was afraid if I cooked them in the pie from frozen they either wouldn't cook all the way or they'd thaw in the pie and create too much extra water, so I cooked and drained them separately before adding them to the CPP.

Cook butter, thyme, flour, salt, garlic on low heat until bubbly. Add broth and cream. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly till thick. Fold together sauce with chicken and vegetables. Pour into greased casserole dish. I made this a little healthier by omitting the bottom pie crust. Lay pie crust on top of chicken and veggie mixture. Vent like you would an apple pie. Bake in preheated oven @425 for 30 minutes.

Cookie Dough Truffles

I saw this cookie dough truffle recipe online and my mouth instantly started watering. I didn't have all the ingredients the recipe calls for, but I did have a bag of chocolate chip cookie mix in the pantry. So I improvised. I combined the cookie mix and one stick of butter as the recipe on the back of the bag calls for. I omitted the egg. I scooped the dough using my cookie scoop and placed them in the freezer. I ended up leaving them in the freezer longer than I originally intended, so before rolling them in chocolate I let them thaw for a bit in the fridge. I slowly melted dark chocolate chips in the microwave and rolled the dough balls in the chocolate. I let them sit for a while to dry. I served them at my family Christmas and they were a hit. They were sooo delicious! Rich but delish! To recap, this is what I used:

One bag cookie mix

One stick butter

Dark chocolate chips (Ghiradelli 60% are the best!!)

Peppermint Popcorn

I actually made this recipe several weeks ago, but because I gave it to a friend as her Secret Santa, I haven't been able to post it. Here it is. It's yummy. I think if I did it over again I'd use the seedless popcorn that comes already popped in the bag. I say that because, for some reason, my popcorn had lots of seeds in it which made it a little hard to enjoy this yummy treat.

Peppermint Popcorn

2 Bags popcorn (or about 16 cups already popped popcorn)

1 box candy canes

2 cups white chocolate chips

Smash candy canes. I put the candy canes in a small bag and put that small bag into a larger bag to reduce the candy cane mess. Pop the popcorn. Melt chocolate chips. Mix crushed candy canes into melted chocolate. Pour over popcorn. Stir popcorn and chocolate to evenly coat. Lay out on wax paper to cool.

Peppermint Mocha

I'm in love with mint and chocolate right now. This happens to me every winter. Last year I was introduced to Starbuck's Peppermint mocha. Yummmmm! For whatever reason I usually don't crave warm coffee drinks during the day. It's night time when I'm in the mood for one. And, wouldn't you know it, that's the time of day when it's the least convenient for me to swing through my local coffee place to get one. So, I'm experi-minting (har, har. I had to) with making mine own at home. Now, keep in mind, I do not have an espresso machine, so this doesn't taste quite as good as a nice, fluffy latte, but it'll do in a pinch. I've been making mine with decaf. If I drink caffeine after, say 2pm, I'd be up all night. But, if you want to make yours caffienated, go for it! I have a tiny coffee pot (makes 4 cups), so these measurements are created with my coffee pot in mind.

Decaf coffee

1 packet your fav hot cocoa (Coldstone creamery's 70 cal packs are yummy)

1-2 peppermint patties or one miniature candy cane (I suppose you could use mint extract too)

1 packet Splenda

Brew your coffee. Pour cocoa into cup. Mix coffee and cocoa. Drop in your peppermint. Stir and enjoy.

Breakfast Casserole (8x8)

I took this egg casserole to a (morning) Halloween party this year and have been asked several times for the recipe. Here it is folks. Enjoy! I tried Jimmy Dean's already cooked crumbled turkey sausage for this recipe the other night. It tasted good and made this recipe that much easier to make!

8x8 Breakfast Casserole

4 Hash brown patties, frozen

1-lb sausage or bacon, crumbled (I used turkey sausage)

6 oz. cheddar cheese, grated

6 eggs (3 egg whites, 3 whole eggs)

1 cup milk (skim)

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon dry mustard

1. Line an 8x8 baking dish with frozen hash browns.

2. Sprinkle hash browns with crumbled sausage or bacon.

3. Top with grated cheddar cheese.

4. Mix together eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and dry mustard

5. Pour over meat and hash browns.

6. Refrigerate over night.

7. Cook at 350 degrees for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

I found this recipe at the following website, but have tweaked it a tiny bit to make it healthier. http://www.mountain-breeze.com/kitchen/breakfast/44.html

Slow Cooked Pork Chops

The other night I made a yummy recipe that I hadn't made in a while. Mmmmm. It tasted good!

6-8 pork chops

1/2 c flour

1 TBSP salt

1 1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 TBSP oil

1 can chicken barley mushroom soup (you can also use chicken noodle soup)

Mix flour, salt, mustard, garlic powder. Dredge chops in flour mixture and brown in oil on stove top. When browned, place in the crock pot. Top with soup. Cook on low 6-8 hour, on high 3-4 hours.

Mexican Lasagna

I tried a new recipe using Lawyr's "Chimichurri Burrito Casserole" seasoning mix and it was yummy! I made it like a Mexican lasagna.

Chimichurri Burrito Casserole

1 pkg. Lawrys Chimichurri Burrito Carrerole Spices & Seasonings

1-1/2 Cups Water

1 Can (8 oz) Tomato Sauce

1 lb Ground Beef (lean ground beef)
1 Can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
8 flour tortillias (8-inch), Warmed (wheat tortillas)
1-1/2 Cup Shredded Mexican Cheese Blend

Directions:

MIX water, Seasoning Mix and Tomato Sauce until well blended.

BROWN meat in large skillet on medium heat. Drain Fat. Stir in one cup of the sauce mixture and beans. Spoon about 1/2 cup meat mixture into each tortilla and fold over sides. Place seam side down in greased 13x9x2 inch baking dish. Top with remaining sauce and sprinkle with cheese.

BAKE in preheated oven at 350 for 15 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

You can make this recipe as burritos as written above or you can layer it in a casserole dish like you'd make a lasagna. This is what I did. The package says to prepare the sauce and meat mixture as directed. Alternately layer tortillas and meat mixture in baking dish, beginning and ending with tortillas. Top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with cheese and bake as directed above.

Banana Muffins, Sweet Potato Muffins

Now that fall is knocking at our door, I'm getting excited to make muffins and soups. I haven't gotten around to making an soups, but I have made two types of muffins. I made the recipe below couresty of Cooking Light and myrecipes.com. I really liked the muffins, but wanted to vary them, so I made them a second time with sweet potatoes. Both recipes are below. Delish. :)

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Courtesy cooking light found here

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
• 1/2 cup egg substitute (1 egg, 1 egg white. Didn't have egg sub on hand)
• 1/3 cup plain lite yogurt (I used light sour cream,didn't have yogurt on hand)
• *Dash vanilla or almond extract
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (I used 60% dark crushed choc chips)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg substitute, vanilla and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Stir in chocolate chips.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

*I reached into my pantry to add a dash of vanilla extract for more flavor. I accidentally picked up my almond extract and put that in the muffin. I'm glad I did because that tasted really good!

Sweet Potato Muffins

Courtesy cooking light

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (could do 1/2 white flour, 1/2 wheat flour)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups mashed sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup egg substitute (1 egg, 1 egg white. Didn't have egg sub on hand)
• *1/3 cup Vanilla low-fat yogurt
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 350°.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add banana, egg substitute, and yogurt; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

*The vanilla yogurt provided plenty of vanilla flavor, so I did not use vanilla extract in this case.

Chocolate Cherry Swirl Cake

So, I did a first today. I entered a local cooking contest. The contest is held in conjunction with the town fair going on this weekend. The festival is called "The Cherry Festival" and the cooking contest was themed around that, so the recipe had to contain at least one 1/2 cup of cherries. I, by no means, consider myself a cooking or baking expert. I do like to try new recipes and often find myself finding several of a similar recipe, combining the ingredients and cooking instructions together and creating a recipe from that. That is what I did in this case. I toyed with the idea of making cherry chicken salad served on a croissant, then I considered granola bars with cherries and other fruits and nuts in it. Then the other night I made a recipe I found on TastefullySimple.com. The recipe used a TS Absolutely Almond cake mix, caramel ice cream topping, chocolate chips, evaporated milk, etc. It is baked like a layer bar with half the almond cake batter on the bottom, the caramel and chocolate in the middle. The rest of the cake batter is put on top and baked like a yummy, gooey deep dish pizza dessert...or cookie bar. That turned out really well. I used that recipe as my inspiration for my cherry contest recipe entry. I thought the flavor of the almond in the cake mix would pair nicely with cherries. So, I revised the recipe to use cherry pie filling instead of caramel sauce. I also attempted to make my own version of the Absolutely Almond cake mix using a yellow cake mix and almond extract. All in all, the end product turned out more like a cake than a cookie bar... So, with just minutes to spare until I had to turn my "piece" in I changed the name of my entry from Chocolate Cherry Cookie Bars to Chocolate Cherry Swirl Cake. I figured I could "make lemonade out of lemons" by changing the name and I would still have something to turn in to the contest. That's what I did. The contest judges "Presentation, Taste, Appearance, Skill and Originality." To make my cake stand out a little bit from the others I "plated it" (don't I sound like a pro. Ha!!!) on a cranberry red (or shall I say a cherry red?) square plate with rounded edges. I cut four large corner pieces out of the cake and placed them together to match the shape of the plate. I typed up my recipe and added some photographed images of cherries and chocolate chips to give it some appearance. I framed the recipe in a 4x6 acrylic photo frame that will sit in front of my cake. So, the red in the cake, the red in the plate and the red in the recipe all looked cute together and went with the whole cherry theme. I can totally see how the contestants on those competition shows you see on the Food Network get really nervous during their contests. I got a little nervous doing mine because I felt like I was racing the clock, especially when my recipe didn't turn out as expected. I can't imagine having a camera and an audience watching my every move! So, it's been fun to do this contest. We'll see how this one goes. I don't expect to take home any of the prizes, but I will really excited if I do. Prizes range from a $100 gift card to our chamber of commerce (the gift card can be used at a large number of the local businesses), a large gift basket of products from the kitchen store who sponsored the event, a gift card to a free cooking class at the cooking store, etc, etc. There are three prizes given in each age category... Sadly enough.. I now qualify for the oldest age category available. :(

I did come up with one trick when I was preparing to transport this cake. As I said above, I had to placed on a plate and I wanted to transport it inside my cake carrier, but the surface of the cake carrier and the bottom of the plate were both very slick, so I put one of those silicone hot pads between the two and the plate did not move while I was driving. Yay!

My cake is shown below. It actually looks much more appetizing in person...Needless to say, I won't be entering a photo contest any time soon. Ha!!