Sweet Potato Grits

Sean made this with dinner tonight (along with eggs and fried green tomatoes). It was a very yummy dinner, and probably the best dish made with grits I've ever had. 

Sweet Potato Grits

Boil 2 cups of water with 1/2 cup Quick Grits. Add in about 2 tablespoons of butter, a tablespoon of sugar and a medium-sized pureed sweet potato. Mix it all together.

Serves about 4 people.

Yummy Zucchini Bread

We have zucchini growing in our garden, so every few days we have 3 or 4 large zucchini to eat up. I've been making a lot of zucchini bread, and I just tried a new recipe. It's very light and fluffy and delicious! Thought I'd share (it's from divascancook.com):

3 cups all-purpose flour (I used whole wheat)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2-3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup chopped walnut or pecans (I had to leave this out b/c of Noah's allergy)


Combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, ginger and cinnamon.

In another bowl with a hand mixer, combine white sugar and oil. Then add brown sugar, eggs and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients. Add grated zucchini and nuts.

Put batter into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 325 for about an hour.

(I had enough batter for a loaf and about 9 muffins)

Blueberry Oat Muffins

1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries

In a small bowl, combine the oats, flours, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat the eggs, brown sugar, milk, oil and vanilla. Stir in dry ingredients until well mixed. Stir in blueberries.

Fill greased (or paper-lined) muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

***

We had some leftover batter and just put it all into a small corningwear dish. We had to bake it a little longer (20 or so minutes), but it turned out great. Next time we do this, I think we're going to make a loaf of bread instead of the muffins.

Why didn't we do this sooner?

A while ago, we heard the suggestion of making your own popcorn, instead of doing what everyone does...buying expensive, artificially flavored, preservative-filled popcorn with too much salt and sugar.

Finally we tried it last night and we will never go back to store bought again! It was super easy and probably only cost about 10 cents.

Here's what you do:

Get a bag of the kernels and some brown paper bags. In a bowl, mix up 1/2 cup of kernels with a teaspoon of vegetable oil. Add some salt. Put the kernels in the brown bag and fold it over a couple of times. Microwave it for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. This is about a 2 person serving size. If you want, melt some butter (I did 2 tablespoons and it was enough) and pour it over the popcorn. Maybe add more salt.

It tastes good and you know exactly what you're eating since you made it yourself.

PB & J Pancakes

We didn't have many options for lunch today, so I was going to do some scrambled eggs. I thought that was kinda boring by itself, so I decided on pancakes too (one of Erin's favorite foods). I wanted to add something like a banana or a sweet potato (which we often do) but we didn't have anything to add.

So I came up with this (modified from our Fluffy Pancake recipe):

Cheryl & Erin's Whole Wheat Peanut Butter and Jelly Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour (or white flour)
1 tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup shortening, melted
1/3 cup peanut butter, softened (I used crunchy natural peanut butter)

Topping: any flavor of jam (I used strawberry)

In a medium-sized bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine the egg, milk and shortening; stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Stir peanut butter into batter.

Pour batter by 1/4 cupful onto a greased hot griddle. Flip!

Makes 8 pancakes

Possibly the Best Banana Bread I've Ever Made

I slightly modified this recipe and it came out super yummy. Below is exactly what I did, but just so you know this is what I changed: whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, plain yogurt instead of sour cream and I left out the walnuts.

1/4 cup softened butter
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 mashed ripe bananas
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2-1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup to a cup of chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl, mix butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Stir in bananas and yogurt.

Combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Stir into banana mixture and then add chocolate chips.

Put into a greased loaf pan. Bake at 350 for an hour (or until toothpick comes out clean).

(another thing I did differently is divide the batter into two pans and cook them for 40 minutes)

Apple Cider

I've never thought much about apple cider. But I made some for the play date I had over here yesterday and it turned out really, really yummy.

I thought I'd share since it's very easy to do and a good alternative to hot chocolate or coffee to keep you warm:

1 quart apple juice (no sugar added)
2 cups cranberry juice (no sugar added)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks

In a pot on the stove, combine apple juice, cranberry juice and brown sugar. Place cloves and cinnamon sticks in a double thickness of cheesecloth (bring up the corners and tie with string to make a bag) and add to pot.

Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Take out the spice bag and you are ready to serve!