Spicy Baked Sweet Potato Slices

2-3 sweet potatoes (orange flesh), sliced about 1/8" thick

1-2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder or cayenne

1 tsp. onion powder

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Mix olive oil and spices together and drizzle over sweet potatoes and toss together until all the slices are coated. Spread the slices on a large pan lined with aluminum foil (I also used some cooking spray), and bake for 20-30 minutes, turning occasionally.

I found this recipe online after looking for a healthy way to prepare sweet potatoes.

Verdict: Delicious!

A few things to note:

• These did not become crispy. I used about about 1 1/2 Tbsp. of the olive oil, but I don't think that more oil would have equaled more crispiness. I think you could go down to just 1 Tbsp. and be fine - might cut a few more calories, etc.
• I baked mine for the whole 30 minutes and they were perfect - firm enough to hold their shape in a serving dish and stirring around on the baking sheet.
• This spice level would be great for little kids...I wanted more. Next time I will probably double the cumin and chili powder. I think you can play around with it to suit individual tastes. Extra spice could also be added after baking.
• I peeled my sweet potatoes even though the recipe didn't say to. I think I'll leave the skins on when I make this again. More fiber.
• There were a few slices that got a little dark -not charred, but definitely a deep brown. They were just a little bit chewy and by far my favorite part. Yummy! I'll use the broiler for a minute or two next time.
• Sweet Potatoes are VERY good for you! Eat them!
• I seem to have a lot of "next time" thoughts about this recipe - sorry - I've only made it once. It was really really good, so don't think you have to play around around with it to get good results. If you make them and find any other tweaking type things, please put them in your comments!!
• I'm serious about that nutrition thing.
• Also, they said to eat them.

Quick Easy Dressed up Oreos

Sorry this is past the season for candy canes but they taste really good(to my mom and me)Enjoy when you try them. Kieran

Ingredients
Almond bark
Candy canes
Oreos

1. melt 2 squares of Almond bark in the microwave(or stove doesn't matter)
2. Unwrap your candy canes and crush them in a bowl till they are in small little chunks
3.place the bowl of chocolate,crushed candy canes. and Oreos side by side (for an assembly line type thing)
4.dip the Oreos one at a time in the chocolate. covering them half way
5.then dip the chocolate side of the Oreo into the candy canes
6. Set to dry on wax paper(or something of the sort)
7. wait till the chocolate is hard then enjoy

Quick and Easy Pizza Crust

I'm not posting this because it is The Best Pizza Crust Ever. I've never even had any other homemade crust that I know of. I am posting this because it is quick and easy and tastes really good. Way better than Boboli, or whatever that stuff is called and you know exactly what's in it. You can top it with anything you'd like, obviously. The opportunities are endless. One of our faves is BBQ chicken pizza.

Just top with BBQ sauce, cheese, sauteed red onion (or any onion, really) and chicken (diced), and cilantro (if you like that). Mmmm!

Quick and Easy Pizza Crust

1 (.25 oz) package of dry active yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp salt


1. Preheat oven to 450. In medium bowl dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

2. Stir in flour salt, and oil. Beat until smooth, (I just use a spoon, not a mixer). Let rest for 5 minutes.

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. (I just press it onto a greased cookie sheet). Transfer crust to a lightly greased pizza pan dusted with cornmeal. Spread with desired toppings and bake in a preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Chip Cake

Another tried and true for thirty years.
2 cups All Purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cups dairy sour cream
2/3 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Heat oven to 350 degrees or 325 for a glass pan. Grease 13 x 9-inch pan. In large bowl, combine first nine ingredients. Blend 1 minute at low speed; beat 3 minutes at medium speed. Pour half of batter (about 2 1/2 cups) into greased pan. In small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle half of sugar mixture and chocolate chips over batter. Repeat with remaining batter, sugar mixture and chocolate chips. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (High altitude over 3500 feet: Decrease baking powder to 1 teaspoon. Bake at 375 degrees (350 for glass pan) for 30 to 35 minutes. It really makes a difference.) This cake doesn't need frosting.

Oven Stew

I really do enjoy cooking most of the time. I like to fix a nice meal and have everyone ooh and ah and tell me how good it is. Of course, I have had my share of cooking failures. And I'm always looking for new recipes. About 10 years ago I cleaned out my file of recipes that I'd clipped from magazines or brought home from Relief Society. I knew I wouldn't live long enough to try all those recipes. Guess what, I've got a whole new file of recipes to try. I'm a compulsive recipe clipper. And I buy new cookbooks. The problem is that cooking is so daily. I wake up every morning asking myself what I will be fixing for dinner that night. I like things that I can start early in the day and are ready at 5 PM or meals that can be fixed in less than a half hour. I especially like meat that can be grilled. I've tried making monthly meal plans. Or even two weeks. Or one week. And for those of you who do that, I envy you. But I could never make it work. I used to think I was organizationally impaired. But that's too negative. Now I say that I like to be spontaneous and flexible. Anyway, I enjoy cooking, but I love Fridays when the cook (me) has the night off.
There are many variations of this oven stew, but I've been making this for thirty years. It is tried and true.

1 1/2 pounds stew beef
1 onion, diced
2 carrots, sliced 1/4 inch
2 potatoes, cubed
2 ribs celery, sliced 1/2 inch
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tablespoons tapioca
2-8 oz. cans tomato sauce
3 cups water
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
Mix all ingredients in a Dutch oven. Cover and bake at 275-300 degrees for 4-5 hours.

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Quite often I find myself in the same predicament which requires me to come up with dinner, or dessert with whatever I have in the pantry or fridge. We were having some friends over on Sunday night for dinner. Things got away from me on Saturday and I didn't have time to get to the store. So, I figured out dinner, but still wanted to have something for dessert. I found this recipe, and it turned out great. As I was making it, Dan brought up the topic of cake mix vs. scratch cake. I am a huge fan of cake mix, it's easy and delicious. He feels the same and expressed his doubts over this cake from scratch. But later that night as he was cutting his second slice, he said, "Well, this might be better than a mix". So here's the recipe for this dense and moist yellow cake!




Yellow Cake

1 cup butter
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups milk

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9 inch round pans or one 9x13 pan. (I used two 9" rounds. I trace the pan on paper, cut it out and lay it on the bottom of the pans, just like my Mama taught me. It ensures the cake comes out super easy.)

2. Cream together the butter and the sugar. Then beat in the eggs and the vanilla.

3. In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together.

4. Alternately add flour and milk to the creamed mixture. Mix well and pour into prepared pans.

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. (mine took less time than recipe and browned a little on the edges. So just keep half an eye on it.)

I layered the two cakes and frosted with chocolate frosting. This is from the back of the Hershey Cocoa box.

Chocolate Frosting

1 stick butter/margarine
2/3 cup cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar (I used a 1/2 cup more)
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

1. Melt butter and stir in cocoa

2. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating on medium speed to spreading consistency. Add more milk if needed. Stir in vanilla. Makes about 2 cups frosting.

So if you're ever in a similar predicament or just want to try a scratch cake, this one'll do ya!

Creamy Italian Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (thawed)
1 envelope dry Italian salad dressing mix
1/2 cup water
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1 can cream of chicken soup (undiluted)
1 can mushrooms, stems and pieces, drained

Place chicken in the bottom of the crockpot.
Combine salad dressing mix and water; pour over chicken.
Cover and cook on LOW for 3 hours.

In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and soup until blended. Stir in mushrooms and pour over chicken.

Cook 1 hour longer, or until chicken juices run clear.

Remove chicken, stir sauce to blend everything really well. You can cut the chicken up into small pieces and return to the sauce, or just leave it as whole pieces.

Serve over rice or pasta. I like to use bowtie pasta.