Yam Balls

This is a recipe Marianne made for Thanksgiving years ago. Very good.

Yam Balls

2 pounds sweet potatoes (yams)

Brown Sugar topping:
1/2 c. packed brown sugar
3 T margarine
3 T water

Prepare and cook sweet potatoes: Heat enough salted water to cover sweet potatoes (1/2 t. salt to 1 c. water) to boiling. Add potatoes. Cover and heat to boiling; reduce heat. Boil until tender, 30-35 minutes. drain. Slip off skins.
Mash potatoes. Scoop up a handful of potatoes (please wash your hands first, you slob) and put a large marshmallow in the middle of it. Roll the ball in crushed Raisin Bran or corn flakes. Place ball in a 9 x 13 pan. Continue until all the potatoes are used up. Pour brown sugar mixture over all the balls. Bake at 350 until the potatoes are heated through.

Note: Marianne said she was guessing at the amount of yams, so you may need to make more of the brown sugar topping. I think you should just make more anyway. How could you ever possibly have enough brown sugar topping?

Slow Cooker Creamy Corn Chowder

Some of my best recipes have come to me during the "What am I going to make for dinner?" moments. I look in the fridge, pantry, freezer, and just throw a bunch of ingredients together. This is also how my very worst concoctions have come to pass, but that's another topic for another day. Here is the chowder I came up with on a Sunday afternoon when it was almost time to leave for church & I realized I hadn't started anything for dinner. I liked it because it came out creamy in the end, but this was achieved through patience instead of through using heavy cream or something else I shouldn't be eating.

Slow Cooker Creamy Corn Chowder

1 bag frozen corn
1/2 cube margarine or butter (you can use light & you can also use less)
Baby carrots (as much as you want to add)
Milk (I used fat free; you just use enough to cover all the ingredients)
1/2 package ranch dressing mix (or more, according to your deepest desires)
Freshly ground black pepper
Dill weed to taste
1 tsp. or so paprika (I believe in precise measurements, as you can tell)
1 tsp. or so seasoned salt
Bacon (just add as much as your little heart desires)(sorry, I don't mean to suggest you have a little heart; your hearts are all very big, but not in an unhealthy way)

Dump everything except the bacon into the crock pot. Stir a little. Put the lid on & let 'er cook while you go to church (or, if you're a heathen--no offense to heathens-- let 'er cook from about lunch time to about dinner time). When you get home from church, add crumbled bacon & serve.

Quiche

In a former life I hated quiche. I thought the texture was weird. I finally gave it another try a while back and decided I do in fact like it. But I never make it, mostly because all the recipes seemed to call for heavy cream, which just is not an ingredient that I tend to have on hand (plus, who really needs the calories?). In my search for an easy and semi-healthy quiche recipe, I was glad to find this one, which calls for milk (I usually only have 1% on hand, and this worked out pretty well, although I had to bake it for a little longer to get it to firm up).

Instead of bacon I used breakfast sausage, and I used cheddar cheese instead of swiss. I also added some sauteed green bell pepper. In short, you can make this recipe your own--it's a great base.

Quiche Lorraine

Wicked Good Spice Apple Cake

They served this cake, topped with freshly whipped cream, at a stake leadership training I attended last week & it is singlehandedly responsible for me falling off the sugar wagon. It's that good. Be careful.

Spice Apple Cake (from Deanne Lamont)

1 spice cake mix – I used Duncan Hines brand
3 eggs
1 can apple pie filling
3 T. water
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)

* * *

½ cup sugar
½ cup flour
1 t. cinnamon
¼ cup margarine or butter - ½ stick

Mix cake mix, eggs, and water well. Add pie filling (and nuts if desired) last so some of the apples stay in small chunks. Pour in a 9 X 13 inch pan (sprayed with cooking spray). Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon and margarine (or butter) together with a pastry blender in a small bowl. Sprinkle mixture on top of cake evenly to cover. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm or cool with whipped topping or vanilla ice cream.

Sweet Potato-Peanut Bisque- BEST SOUP EVER!!! (*okay maybe it depends on your tastebuds)

Cindy made me think of this, i actually just had it at work the other day. AND.I.LOVED.IT.! My friend Katie showed me this website eating well. I would put a link on here, but i never can seem to get it right so... here goes:

http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/sweet_potato_peanut_bisque.html

Ingredients

* 2 large sweet potatoes (10-12 ounces each)
* 1 tablespoon canola oil
* 1 small yellow onion, chopped
* 1 large clove garlic, minced
* 3 cups reduced-sodium tomato-vegetable juice blend or tomato juice
* 1 4-ounce can diced green chiles, preferably hot, drained
* 2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
* 1 teaspoon ground allspice
* 1 15-ounce can vegetable broth
* 1/2 cup smooth natural peanut butter
* Freshly ground pepper to taste
* Chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish

Preparation

1. Prick sweet potatoes in several places with a fork. Microwave on High until just cooked through, 7 to 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, until it just begins to brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute more. Stir in juice, green chiles, ginger and allspice. Adjust the heat so the mixture boils gently; cook for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, peel the sweet potatoes and chop into bite-size pieces. Add half to the pot. Place the other half in a food processor or blender along with broth and peanut butter. Puree until completely smooth. Add the puree to the pot and stir well to combine. Thin the bisque with water, if desired. Season with pepper. Heat until hot. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.

Tips & Notes

* Make Ahead Tip: Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Thin with water before reheating, if desired.


Nutrition

Per serving: 291 calories; 16 g fat (3 g sat, 8 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 30 g carbohydrates; 1 g added sugars; 10 g protein; 6 g fiber; 474 mg sodium; 1011 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin A (300% daily value), Vitamin C (100% dv), Potassium (29% dv), Magnesium (15% dv).

1 1/2 Carbohydrate Serving

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 1/2 high fat meat, 1/2 fat

Chili?

I made this for my ward chili cook-off, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't really count as chili. It has beans. That's about the only similarity. HOWEVER, I did get lots of compliments and had a couple people ask for the recipe, and Eric liked it, so I guess it was a success. I didn't win, though. Haters. Just kidding :)

Warm Heart Stew

Pumpkin Curry Soup

1 small onion
2 large cloves of garlic
2-3 teaspoons curry powder
2 Tblspoons butter
3 cups chicken broth (you can use vegetable broth or bullion cubes with water)
15 oz. canned pumpkin (be sure you don't get pumpkin pie mix)
12 oz. evaporated milk
white pepper and salt to taste (you can use black pepper instead)

in a largish pot:
-saute onion and garlic in butter until onions are clear add curry (saute for 2-3 min)
-add broth and pumpkin and bring mixture to a boil reduce heat and simmer for 15 min
-add evap. milk and cook for another 2-3 min

cup soup into a blender and whip on high for a few min (make sure the garlic and onions get mixed well) don't put too much of the soup in at a time because it should fluff up a bit and because it's super hot--and it won't mix as well.