Hamiltons Whipped Sweet Potato

This is really yummy but not so good if you are watching your sugar or calorie intake.

3 large sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into pieces and boiled till tender)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:

1/3 cup melted butter

1/3 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon cinnamon

Combine and whip first five ingredients. Layer mix into a baking pan. Top mixture with melted butter. Mix the four topping ingredients and coat sweet potato mixture evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Snack!

I haven't cooked anything spectacular lately, but i've been taking time to appreciate some of my childhood snacks. Specifically, ritz crackers with hotdogs, cheese, and ketsup. (Did we ever have a real name for those?) They have been my meal of the day on more than several occasions (what can i say, i'm in college!)

This can also be done in the oven on broil, but since i like things done quick, i use the microwave.

Arrange ritz crackers so as many as possible can fit on your plate.

Put cheese (grated or sliced) on cracker.

Put hot dog slices on cheese.

Heat in microwave until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Put a dab of ketsup on each hotdog.

ENJOY!

(I really do love these amazingly)

Yummy Bok Choy Salad

In our Farmer's Market Co-op this week, we got some baby bok choy. I had to search online looking at pictures of leafy green vegetables before I could identify it by picture. I decided to go for it and made this salad. It was very good!

Yummy Bok Choy Salad

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/3 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 bunches baby bok choy, cleaned and sliced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1/8 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/2 (6 ounce) package chow mein noodles

1. In a glass jar with a lid, mix together olive oil, white vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce. Close the lid, and shake until well mixed.
2. Combine the bok choy, green onions, almonds, and chow mein noodles in a salad bowl. Toss with dressing, and serve.

I'm not sure how you're supposed to cut up bok choy so I just broke the leaves off at the base and cut them into bite sized pieces, including the white lower leaf, which tasted fine so I figured you were supposed to eat that part too. I didn't have chow mein noodles so I substituted fried onions and it was pretty good. Also, the dressing makes like 10 times too much so I made a Chinese chicken/cabbage salad and put the rest on that and it was enough dressing for the entire med/small head of cabbage.

Supreme Scalloped Potatoes

We had these potatoes the other night, along with some barbecue chicken. It was very tasty, although I wish it didn't involve pre-cooking the potatoes.

8 medium potatoes, peeled
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese, divided
1/3 cup chopped onion
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 cup sour cream
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

In a Dutch oven or large kettle, cook potatoes in boiling salted water until tender. Cool completely; shred and place in a large bowl. Add 1 cup cheese and onion. Combine remaining ingredients; pour over potato mixture.
Transfer to a greased 2-1/2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly.

Zuppa Tuscano Soup

I've been meaning to share this recipe for a while, and I found the magazine while cleaning my room today, so here it is. I made it for soup night a while ago, and it was a big hit! Since I was making large quantities, I fudged and added some more of stuff, but this is the basic:

12 oz. Jimmy Dean hot pork sausage

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 tsp. garlic, minced

2 c. collard greens

1 49 oz. can and 1 14 oz. can chicken broth

4 russet potatoes, chopped with skins on

2 tsp. red pepper flakes

2 tsp. Italian seasonings

1 point heavy cream (can use milk)

salt & pepper to taste

Heat wok or large soup pot. Add sausage, onion, and garlic. Fry until sausage is cooked through and onions are tender. Break sausage into small pieces as it is cooking. Add chopped collard greens and saute 3 minutes. Add chicken broth, potatoes, and seasonings. Bring to a boil then reduce head and let simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Stir in cream and warm through. Adjust seasonings and serve. Serves 6-8

This is delicious, and easy to tweak according to needs. I would probably drain the fat from the sausage sauteing, but it doesn't matter too much.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Really fast, easy, and super good.
Ingredients:
1 T vegetable oil
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1-inch pieces
3 cups assorted cut up vegetables (carrots, tomatoes, onions, red and green bell peppers)
1 can pineapple chunks, drained
1 cup sweet and sour sauce (use store bought or see recipe below)
Rice

Heat wok over high heat. Once hot add oil and coat sides of wok. Add chicken and stir-fry about 3 minutes or until no longer pink. add vegetables and stir-fry about 2 minutes or until carrots are crisp but tender. Stir in pineapple and sweet and sour sauce. Cook and stir 1-2 minutes more. Serve over rice.

Sweet and Sour Sauce
1 cup sugar
3 T cornstarch
4 T soy sauce
2/3 cup vinegar

Cook and stir until thick and bubbly.

Mexican Lasagna

This was really really good and not too hard to make. It required about 30 minutes of prep time and then 30 minutes bake time.

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1/2 c chopped onion
1/2 c chopped green pepper
2 1/2 c chunky salsa
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
12 corn tortillas
1 container cottage cheese
1 cup shredded cheese
1 can sliced olives, drained

Preheat oven to 375. In a large skillet brown the beef and drain. Add onions and peppers and cook until they are crisp-tender. Add salsa, corn, beans, and seasonings and mix well. In a 13x9 baking dish, layer one third of the meat mixture then half of the tortillas. Put a layer of cottage cheese and then another layer of meat and tortillas. Finish up with a final layer of cottage cheese and the last of the meat. Cover with shredded cheese and olives. Bake for 30 minutes or until heated through.
This also tastes great as leftovers.