Sweet Potato Casserole

This casserole is a staple on my Thanksgiving table.  It's more like a dessert.  Even if you don't like sweet potatoes, I promise you will like this one.  ( I hate sweet potatoes!)

Sweet Potato Casserole

3 large cooked sweet potatoes, mashed
2 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar, less if preferred
cinnamon and nutmeg to taste

Mix all ingredients well. Put in a greased casserole and top with the following mixture:


1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/3 stick butter
1 cup chopped pecans

Cut butter into remaining ingredients and sprinkle on top of sweet potato mixture in casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Greek Chicken and Pasta

Because I work a 40 hour a week job OUTSIDE my home, I don't like to spend a lot of time in the kitchen during the week.  Call me crazy, but I like to relax after work and after the chores are done.  I LOVE to cook, and I like to think I"m a pretty good cook.  But I take a lot of shortcuts during the week for our meals.  I drag out the Paula Deen and Pioneer Woman cookbooks on the weekends!  So the chicken I used in this recipe is pre-cooked packaged chicken you can find at the grocery store.  It saved a little bit of time. 

Greek Chicken and Pasta

2 cups uncooked penne pasta

1/4 cup butter or margarine

1 large onion, chopped

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 can chicken broth

1 cup crumbled feta cheese OR shredded Havarti cheese.  (I like the Havarti better)

3 cups chopped chicken

1 six oz. jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained

1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped

1/3 cup sliced kalamata olives ( I just used black olives.  Any variety will work, so pick your favorite.)

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (dried if you don't have it. Saves another step of chopping)

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 2 quart glass baking dish with cooking spray.  Cook and drain pasta according to directions on package.  Meanwhile, in 3 quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onion; cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Stir in flour; cook and stir for 30 seconds.  Slowly stir in broth; heat to boiling.  Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until thickened.  Remove from heat; stir in cheese.  Gently stir in cooked pasta, chicken, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, olives and parsley.  Spoon into baking dish.  Bake uncovered 25 to 30 minutes or until hot.  Garnish with additional fresh parsley if desired.

I serve this with warm, crusty French bread, courtesy of Pillsbury!  It bakes at the same time as the casserole, so there's no extra waiting on the bread.

Carpe' diem!

Banana Split Pizza

If you really love your family, you will make this for them tonight!  You never know, they might sing you love songs or make up a poem about how great you are. Or at the very least, they might clean up the kitchen for you when they are finished!  Seriously, this is very delicious and it makes a WHOLE bunch. So you might want to share it with a neighbor like I did! ;) But I wouldn't blame you if you kept the whole thing for yourself.


1 package (18 oz.) refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 container (8 oz) Cool Whip, thawed
1/4 chopped peanuts (optional)
2 Hershey bars (I used one of those BIG bars in the candy section)
2 bananas, sliced
1 can (8 oz.) pineapple tidbits, drained
1/2 cup strawberry ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 350.  Shape cookie dough into a ball on a large, floured cookie sheet.  I used a pizza pan.  Roll the dough to a 14 inch circle, about 1/4 inch thick.  Bake 16-18 minutes until light golden brown.  Cool 10 minutes.  Carefully loosen cookie from pan.  Cool completely on the pan.  Microwave the cream cheese on HIGH for 30 seconds or until softened; whisk until smooth.  Add Cool Whip and whisk until smooth.  Mixture will be thick.  Spread cream cheese mixture over cookie to within 1/2 of edge.  Coarsely chop chocolate bars.  Sprinkle peanuts and chocolate over the pizza.  Arrange banana slices and pineapple tidbits evenly over pizza.  Drizzle Strawberry topping all over to taste. Cut with a pizza cutter into  16 wedges and serve to your VERY grateful family!!!

 Carpe' diem

Strawberry Cheesecake Bars

Even though the city called off it's firework display due to rain and high winds, my family still grilled out and I made a yummy dessert!  After all, it's STILL the 4th of July!  Happy Birthday America!  The original recipe for this cheescake calls for a box of Betty Crocker Cherry Chip cake mix and frosting.  However, the store was OUT of that kind.  So I bought Strawberry Cake mix and Strawberry Frosting.  YUM!  I think next time I make this, I'll try lemon cake and frosting!

Cheesecake Bars

1 box Betty Crocker Strawberry Cake mix

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 pkgs. (8 oz. each) softened cream cheese

1 container B.C. Strawberry Frosting

3 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl, beat dry cake mix and butter on low speed til crumbly; reserve 1 cup.  Press remaining mixtue in bottom of 13 X 9 inch pan.  In the same bowl, beat cream cheese and frosting on medium speed until smooth.  Beat in eggs until blended. Pour over crust; sprinkle with reserved crumbly mixture.  Bake about 45 minutes or until set.  Cool completely.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  For bars, cut into squares.  Store covered in the refrigerator. 

Sour Cream Burritos

I haven't posted a recipe in awhile, so I decided to post my good old stand-by, Sour Cream Burritos.  I'm famous in 2 churches for these!  They are even better left-over the next day.   Now, I have made these "skinny", by using fat free products, and my family threatened to stone me if I ever did that again!  I do still use fat free sour cream, though.  I serve these with refried beans, home-made salsa and chips.  Hope you enjoy them!

1 pound ground beef
3 green onions, sliced thin
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 16 oz. tub of Sour Cream
 1  small can green chilis, drained
  1 package shredded cheddar cheese
    1 package burrito sized flour tortillas

Brown the ground beef in a large skillet.  When the meat is almost done, throw in the green onions and green chilis.  When the beef is done, drain it and return to skillet.  Add the soup, sour cream and about half of the cheese.  Mix well, over low heat, until the cheese is melted.  Spread a flour tortilla with a heaping wooden spoonful of the mixture and loosely roll up.  Place in a large casserole pan.  Repeat with remaining tortillas.  There WILL be mixture leftover!  This is spread on top of the filled tortillas and topped with the remaining shredded cheese.  Pop into a 350 degree oven and cook until the cheese on top is bubbly. 

Sunny Sunday

Today was a rare sunny day, when we weren't stuck in our offices or classrooms.  My family and I skipped church this morning just to take it all in.  Jay I realized, as we lay in our bed talking, that this was the first conversation that we had had ALL week long!  It's been that crazy!  He and I have been running in different directions all week so it was nice to just spend the morning visiting and relaxing.  The four of us spent the rest of the day outside, working in the yard.  Jay and I made lists of what needs to be repaired and what we'd like to do to improve the house.  For supper, my Grillmaster Jay, grilled lemon pepper Tilapia.  It's my favorite type of fish, next to fried catfish.  It has a nice, firm texture and the lemon pepper sets it off nicely.  It's not hard to make...just sprinkle the lemon pepper seasoning all over the fish and put it on the grill until it's done.  We use a fish pan on the grill for fish.  It's solid, with holes in it for the heat to go through.  It makes grilling delicate things much easier. It's great for vegetables, too.   Just remember to spray cooking spray over the pan before you put the food on it.  I hope your Sunny Sunday was as peaceful as mine was today.
Carpe' diem!