Whatever Wednesday Writings - Schizo Sah-weet Potato Feast

Have you ever had one of those nights where one kid is raptly begging you to take them to a favorite restaurant; while the other kid is on the couch just wanting saltine crackers and to feel better; then the husband is following you around like a puppy wondering what is for dinner? Or is it just my family?

This is one of those guilt-don’t waste - search Pinterest - be grateful for what you have type of concoctions. So I found something that had the main ingredient I was trying not to waste by letting it go to Rottville…Sah-weet Potatoes and even though the recipe was only four ingredients, I pinned it, thanks to menopause. The recipe was named “Baked Sweet Potato with Salsa, Avocado & Fried Egg”, but I renamed it. Can you believe no one gave it a like or even re-pinned it? Probably because it looks and sounds so appetizing huh? Poor, lonely sweet potatoes who have been branded and confined to the holidays.

When you read the ingredient list it sounds like it came out of a diabetic magazine. Just for the record I like those recipes, but my mom, who happens to be a diabetic, is convinced that the entire diabetic eating plan is created by people who are high (yes, she said that), so it probably originated in Colorado, just sayin.

So with the four ingredients in mind I dragged myself into the kitchen, with husband following, pulled out the sweet potatoes I got for a good deal at Aldi’s and begin to wash and prepare them to bake in the oven. I don’t know too many people who like sweet potatoes outside of the holidays. Grant it sweet potatoes are ugly and often crooked but did you know they pack a serious punch of Vitamin A? They truly are nutritional Superstars! One sweet potato provides about two and a half (2 ½) times the RDA (recommended dietary allowance) of vitamin A, plus fiber (and who doesn’t need more fiber in their diet?), potassium and vitamin C. See? Superstar! By the way every time I say the word Superstar, I say it like Mary Katherine Gallagher. See! All good things we need that God created and provided for us to enjoy and we get snooty and act like they are only for the special holiday meals, shame on us!

While the potatoes were baking I went to the store to get saltine crackers for the sick kid and when I returned my sweet crooked babies were baked and ready, see how I am warming up to these Superstars? The beggar child and her stalking dad went to church; so I asked my sickly child, would you like some saltine crackers or pigs in a blanket? My trick to see if my children are really sick is to offer them food I know they like, devious I know! I prefer to think of it as Momma’s Sickness Gauge and mind you it did not take hundreds of thousands of government dollars to research its effectiveness. The reply?  Pigs in a blanket.  Really? After I got out in the cold and trekked to the store in misty rain for the saltines? So pigs it was for my piglet because I am short order cook in case you didn’t know. So here is my variation of the four ingredients Sweet Potato recipe from Pinterest along with its new name.

Schizo Sah-weet Potato

1 Medium Sweet Potato, baked

¼ cup of black beans, rinsed

2 oz of egg substitute (or you can live dangerously and use one real egg, yolk and all), fried

¼ cup of reduced fat shredded cheese (your favorite kind – I used WeightWatchers Mexican Style Blend)

¼ of an avocado

2 Tablespoons of Salsa (I like the HOT kind)

Pinch of Cumin

Pinch of Chili Powder

Pinch of Cayenne Pepper (told you I like it HOT)

Salt and Pepper if desired

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash your sweet potato, pierce it several times with a fork (great therapy) and wrap in aluminum foil (or not) and bake for 50 minutes or until you can insert a fork in the middle and it is soft.   Once baked (take off the aluminum foil if you used it) and put on a plate, slice it open and mashed it up like you do a baked potato. Then put in a pinch of cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper and mix in to the potato.  Next, top the potato with ¼ cup of black beans and cheese. Then spray your skillet with cooking spray and once heated, fry your egg or egg substitute, salt and pepper if you like. Once the egg is fried, flop it on top of your potato that has the beans/cheese on it. Then top that with salsa and avocado and enjoy!

I put it with a side of nothing because it was just that good! This concoction is one of the best unsuspected food combinations known to man and my life seriously went from a mundane evening to glories untold as I sank my teeth in to all that God had made. I may have heard singing it was that good. Eating sweet potatoes out of their natural territory of Thanksgiving and Christmas meals required me to take a risk and see things differently and it paid off! My tummy and eyes thanked me. Nobody else did though. I made it the next evening for Darryl; but after the first bite I can tell if he thinks it is good or not because the first bite is followed by a Mmmmmmmm, well this time it wasn't. Sweet Potato Snob!

I am so glad I took the risk to see something differently. I vote for Sah-weet Potatoes Year Around!

Whatever you do, whether you eat or drink, do it all for the glory of God. 1 Corin 10:31

Husband's Delight

This past week I made "Husband's Delight" a meal that I made often when Darryl and I were first married, that is once I learned to venture out beyond the box. Since I have not made in a long time, I thought it would be good to make again. Guess what? It is still good and the dish was empty at the end of dinner. I looked for it online so I could put on my Pinterest Board “Recipes I’ve Tried and Liked”, but all the ones I found were different than the one that was given to me, thus this blog. I wished I could remember who gave it to me, or where I found it, but that little piece of information has completely escaped me.

Husband’s Delight

1 pound of ground turkey

2 cans of tomato sauce

1 ½ tsp. Salt

1 ½ tsp. Pepper

1 ½ tsp. Garlic Salt

1 medium onion chopped

1 container of Weight Watchers Whipped Cream Cheese, softened

1 8-ounce carton of fat free sour cream

1 8-oounce package of elbow or penne noodles

Grated Cheese

Cook noodles according to directions on package. Brown meat in skillet. Add tomato sauce and seasonings to the meat and continued to heat on medium. In a separate bowl combine chopped onion, cream cheese, and sour cream and mix well. In a baking dish layer cooked noodles, ground turkey mixture and top with sour cream mixture top with grated cheese and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Serve with salad and French bread.

It kind of looks gross, but it is creamy yumminess = comfort food!

We had a salad and French bread with the Husband’s Delight, but since we received some monstrous sized home grown tomatoes from family in Shawnee, I decided to try another Pinterest receipe as a side dish. It is called Cheesy Tomatoes that was pinned by my friend Heather Dorsey and they were yummy too!

Proverbs 5:18 says: "Let your fountain be blessed,
         And rejoice in the wife of your youth."

for she makes Husband's Delight and Cheesy Tomatoes.

So the Bible doesn't say the last part about Husband's Delight and Cheesy Tomatoes, but it does instruct men to delight in their own wife, and let him be very fond of her, not only because she is the wife that he himself has chosen and he ought to be pleased with his own choice, but because she is the wife that God in His providence appointed for him and he ought much more to be pleased with the divine appointment, pleased with her because she is his own. Let thy fountain be blessed and delight in the food she prepares for him. <Smile>

My New Motto: Pumpkins are made for Eating not Carving

This morning I posted on Facebook “Prayers needed for my sanity today, please! Darya is doing prep work for some medical procedures tomorrow and she is not cooperating. Yes, this too will pass, but right now it is very possible I may be wearing an orange suit soon! Whew,..okay I feel better. Wow, confessions really do work.” So since that confession felt great I thought I would open this blog with more confessions.

I love the fall.

I love the clothes that accompany cool weather, especially boots. Yes, I know I am an Indian wearing Cowboy boots, but I do stay away from cow-patties, all shapes and sizes!

I love the crisp, freshness of walking out in cool weather and inhaling deep allowing all that goodness deep in my lungs. Although I haven’t had that experience yet this season, it is just not that cool yet, but I am looking forward to that  moment.

I love comfort food! The kind that makes you want to crawl up on the couch with a good read! Are you with me?

To my last confession for this blog, I am not a pumpkin fan.

One evening this past week I was on a search for new recipe inspirations when I found a blog called SkinnyTaste, it was featuring Crock PotTurkey White Bean Pumpkin Chili, wow that is a mouthful for all the measurements be sure to check it out at SkinnyTaste at the link above. The picture looked yummy until I read the ingredients and reached "one can of pumpkin puree (not pie filling)". First off I am “Hamburger HelpMe Harjo” not Paula Deen, Rachael Ray or even the Pioneer Woman and for this reason I don’t know the difference between pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling. So when I don’t understand, I ask. A friend from WeightWatchers and the lady from the blog both answered, the pumpkin pie filling has spices in it, but pumpkin puree is 100% pumpkin. That was simple and painless.

I am pretty adventurous and because of that trait I am willing to try new things and it is the only reason that I have moved beyond the box. I posted the link on Facebook and come to find out my parents and sister both said, "it sounds yucky". Yes, they did, they said "yucky". So here is my pictorial, outcome and verdict. Hang on because it is a culinary powerhouse of comfort food!

Here is the line up...minus one ingredient that I later discovered missing.
Another reason you will want to visit SkinnyTaste to get all the ingredients right.

Brown the ground turkey in a cast iron skillet, it will make you feel like the Pioneer Woman.

In case you are visual like me, this is the ground turkey all browned up with no pink in it.
Now for the fun! Transfer the meat to your crockpot.
I love crockpots they make me feel like a Culinary Rockstar!

Then back to the laptop to see what's next. I love cooking with my laptop.
It's a relationship that I've been developing. Shhhhh...don't tell my can opener.

Next, saute the chopped onion and minced garlic in the oil for about 3 minutes.

Add the cumin and continue to cook. The onions started to caramelize, ohhh....what flavor!
Next, add this to the meat in the crockpot.

Time for Commercial Break...I love these silicone oven mitts!
They are some of the hitchhikers that came home with me from Dallas on Spring Break.

Like I said, I do not consider myself a great cook or a baker, but I have moved beyond the box. When Darryl and I first got married I did my shopping only on the boxed food isle and the end caps, if they weren’t there I didn’t get them. Now I supermarket sweep the place and now with coupons!

I have to diverge a bit to share a “green book story” – which is a green book I begin to keep in 1996 when I married Darryl and became an instant mom to Megan and Brandon. They were so funny I had to write things down and I am so glad I did! The green book holds funny stories and things our children have said or done. This is one of those green book stories.

 The day I became an instant Mom.

I still remember the first time when Darryl, Megan and Brandon came to my apartment the kids asked for something to eat. Sad to say my fridge and cabinets consisted only of ramen noodles, mustard and the most necessary condiment on earth…ketchup.

The Green Book

I was doing my boxed food and end isles shopping at the commissary when a meat lovin’ crazed woman was beckoning shoppers over to tell them that the ribs were .98 pound. I looked cluelessly

 Don't you love that artwork? Yes, I am related to Spongebob Squarepants.

BREAK over, back to the Crockpot Sensation!



See how confusing this can be? Doesn't it look like this should be pumpkin pie filling?
My can opener is still on the scene and a favorite of mine.

Then add all the remaining ingredients to the crockpot and mix together.
Set the crockpot on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours and walk away!
Go to work, go shopping, just go and forget it. Speaking of forgetting it,
remember that one ingredient I mentioned that I forgot?

Well....it isn't these.
The missing ingredient was "Red Cayenne Pepper"

   

So what do you do when you are missing an ingredient? I Googled it and Yahoo! Answered.

Red Cayenne Pepper Substitute

1 teaspoon paprika
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
2 teaspoons garlic powder

However, this would make more than I needed, so instead of jumping in my bug, which we have named “Fashion” I improvised with ¼ teaspoon of ground cumin, ¼ teaspoon of ground red pepper, dash of favorite hot sauce, okay – maybe it wasn't in this substitute concoction but it was in another and I thought one dash wasn't sufficient so I added two or three dashes and 1/2 teaspoon of the most essential spice in an Okie's cabinet...Lawry’s Seasoned Salt.

See that Bay Leaf swimming in there? Bay Leaves are  odd. The look like
something you could just pick up out of your yard. Of course, I didn't have
Bay Leaves and I was telling a co-worker about it and she brought me some
of hers. I hope they weren't out of her yard.

I wish I could bottle up the aroma and post it here so you could smell it, like a Scratch and Sniff Monitor Screen. Wouldn't that be lovely?

The final product

So I may not be totally against pumpkin now. After all, God created pumpkins and all that He has made is good. In fact, pumpkin may just change my kitchen life especially when you get an entire cup of this stuff for a measly three points it will be easy not to grow weary in eating good. For three points you can either double up or if you prefer add some cheese or chips. Next recipe with pumpkin, the Super Moist Low Fat Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Glaze.

A Sunday I Will Never Forget

I finished Ree Drummond's "The Pioneer Woman Black Heels to Tractor Wheels - A Love Story" It was a fun read. There were several spots that I found myself laughing out loud at her stories, most which I could identify with in some way. Like her, I am a city-lovin and livin' gal and like Marlboro Man, Darryl is was a small town guy. Although we are opposites in many ways, it is our common belief in Jesus Christ that has united us in love and a successful marriage, it certainly wasn't my cooking. When it comes to love stories, I am a sucker. I love to hear how people have met and fallen in love and even more so when they’ve been married for years and they still have a twinkle in their eye for each other.

In the back of the book she listed some of her favorite recipes. Sunday I made my first Pioneer Woman's recipe, the Chicken Spaghetti. It is said to “soothes the soul…and warms a cowboy”. It was only a 50/50 hit at our house, I suppose because I was missing seasoned salt, cayenne pepper and a cowboy. She did say the key was seasoning it adequately, which I guess I did not accomplish. The kids tried it, but said, “it don’t taste good”. I couldn’t pry anything out past that description. I guess they will not ever be paid food critics.

On the other taste bud, Darryl and I loved it. As mentioned, I didn’t follow the recipe to a T. Since I didn’t have seasoned salt and cayenne pepper so I used Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb and Lemon Pepper instead, then I forgot to use the reserved 2 cups of broth from the chicken until the end. You are supposed to mix it in with all the ingredients, but I missed that, so instead I poured about 1 cup over the top after I had already topped it with cheese. I also choose to use the fat free version of the cream of mushroom soup and chicken breast instead of the cut-up fyer.

Cut up Chicken Breast, yum-o!

This is where I forgot to add the 2 cups of reserved broth

I realize that cut up fryers are cheaper and you get the full flavor of white and dark meat, but I just can’t cut up or tear apart a chicken, just doesn’t seem right hearing the bones crack and joints pop. When I have cooked a whole chicken guess who gets to debone it? Yep you guessed it…Darryl. In my opinion that is a man’s job. I can’t imagine having grown up in the days when you had to catch the chicken and ring it’s neck, we would have starved or just been vegetarians.

This is the point I remembered the broth, so I poured only one cup on top.

The kids were certainly fascinated that their Go-Go (grandma) took part in this activity of “ringing a chicken’s neck”, Darryl shared how his Aunt would chop the head off and that is were we get the term “running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off”. As you can see we had some valuable education going on at our house this weekend, it’s our policy!

Final product!! Doesn't it look FAB-U-LOS-US!?

Sunday night was discipleship training with our young women in the youth. We’ve been on Bible Intake for some time and last night we looked at prayer as a discipline in a Christian’s life.

I wanted to do an activity with the girls that would get them up and moving since we had just sat through the PM service. I know when you think about prayer you probably think about either corporate or personal prayer time. Most believers participate in corporate prayer time but not really personal prayer time, so we looked at that. Why is that? We also looked at why we should discipline ourselves in personal prayer time. I know a lot of times prayer is only viewed as something to do when you are in a fix, when you need something, but prayer is much more than us and meeting our needs. Sure our Father wants to give us the desires of our heart according to His will and we can petition for those things. Personal prayer time can also include praying for and on behalf of others, seeking wisdom and guidance, seek forgiveness, mercy and grace, to gain strength and comfort, but personal prayer time is ultimately about my relationship with God, with His Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. It isn’t just repeating words or following formulas, God is looking for that heartfelt one-on-one relationship with us. Personal prayer time doesn’t come easy that is why it is one of the spiritual disciplines, it takes devotion, effort and time.

So to facilitate and bring an introduction to prayer, we did an activity. One of our girls volunteered to stand in the middle of our circle. The rest of us each held two squishy pool balls to toss to her at the same time for her to catch (12 balls in all). The only instructions on round one was that nobody could talk and that on the count of three we were all to toss them to her. End of round one, she caught one ball. My next question to her was did she have any new ideas on how to catch more balls? She did. She elected to use her shirt to catch more. On the count of three we all tossed our balls to her and she caught four! Round three, I asked those tossing the balls if they had any advice for her to try and catch more balls. They were so funny and cute. They said, FOCUS!! Another said, say a prayer! In the end she developed a plan to use a bag, lie down on the floor and ask us to aim and throw them in the bag. End of round three – she caught five! After the activity I asked her how she felt about the process of trying to catch all the balls and having never done it before and she said it was a little bit overwhelming and was able to catch more balls each time. Prayer is the same way in the beginning, it can be overwhelming and difficult, may even feel awkward, but the more we pray the more comfortable we become, personal prayer time becomes easier and we begin to reap the benefits of that discipline. The other take away lesson was to have a plan. When we fail to plan, we plan to fail. So set a time, find a quiet and uninterrupted location to spend time in prayer.

Round Three!!

As you might know, Jayden was able to get a full size GI Joe and sand cruiser to play with, but everyone knows you can’t make an Army of one GI Joe. We looked on Ebay and found many full size GI Joes, most of them started at about $15 each plus shipping. The vehicles were more expensive and then you have the accessories to purchase. Jayden was ready to hit that bid or buy it now button, but I was not so ready. I told Jayden we had not even prayed about the purchase and that if we will pray and ask God that God was able to provide exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ask or think. So with that promise, Jayden asked God if it would be alright for us to make the purchase and if we would bless us with a good deal. After Jayden said amen, he begins to clarify the process with me talking with his hands. It was so cute. I learned that he understood that he may or may not be able to get more GI Joes.

The SMILE of an answered prayer. See the guy on the hood of the vehicle?
Jayden has determine he is called "Veteran", he lost a leg in battle.

The next day Darryl looked on Craigslist and found 6 full size GI Joes, two Army trucks and a trailer, plus accessories for $50 and no shipping! I am so thankful God choose to answer that prayer for Jayden increasing his faith in the power of prayer and our God. My lesson is I, too, need to learn to pray about everything, even the small stuff because I don’t want to be out of His will or protection and because I know my God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that I can ask or think! That night I just prayed and in that prayer I asked God to keep us all safe as we left and traveled to our homes. I believe God answered that prayer.

We finished up the evening discipleship class. Most all of the girls, except Syd, left together to go to their vehicles. Then Syd, Darya and I left together. Syd was parked down at the far end of our church parking lot. She said, “don’t leave without me” I assured her that I would make sure she got in her vehicle and left before I left. She did. After Syd pulled out and left another vehicle pulled into the church parking lot. A truck. The rest I am about to tell you happened so fast, but I know without a doubt my prayers for protection that evening as well as the love of my heavenly father protected Darya and I.

I thought I would wait for it to pass and then I would back out and leave. I thought it was probably a church member that rode with someone else to eat dinner and was being brought back to church, but the vehicle stopped so I proceeded to back out and leave. As I backed out and started moving forward, the truck came towards us blinding us with the headlights. Darya thought it was Darryl. I wasn’t sure, I thought it may be another church member. The driver got out of the vehicle and came towards us waving his arms. It wasn’t until he got right up on us that I could tell it was no one I knew. I had already locked my doors, I rolled my window down a little bit and he asked if the church was closed. I thought, uh – yeah, I mean it was dark there were no other cars in the parking lot the lights were out. I told him, yes it is closed. He begins to tell us that he was hoping to ask for some gas money to help him get to work tomorrow. Again I told him the church was closed. He asked if I had any money I could spare. I typically never have any cash on me. That night I had four dollars. So I turned around to reach in the backseat to grab my purse and look for the money. When I turned away he went back to his truck on the passenger side and opened the passenger door and was digging around for something. I didn’t see him leave and go over there, but Darya did. Next thing I know Darya says, “there’s another car coming in” and I looked up and that guy closed that passenger door and came back to my vehicle, I handed him the money and a gospel tract and took off. As I pulled out of the parking lot, he remained there. The vehicle that drove in and passed us was the Williams’ family. As I left I noticed that the truck was still there so I turned back in and went to the side where the Williams’ family was and told them. I didn’t know what that guy was going to do, but after I told them, Lisa saw the truck leave. I was soooo shaken up over that whole thing, thinking and wondering what would have happened to Darya and I if the Williams’ family had not shown up. Why did he go back to his truck on the passenger side? What was he getting? All those questions ran through my mind that night. It certainly was terrifying for me and I am so thankful and grateful that God put a hedge of protection around us, that the guy did not show up earlier when our teenage girls were leaving and I was still inside, so thankful that God brought the Williams’ family to the church at that appointed time and that because His eye is on the sparrow, I know He is watching over me, protecting me from harm.

“He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man.” (Psalm 18:48)

If anything would have happened to us, I would have missed seeing
Jayden's creation and impersonation of his new reality TV show called "Fat Biscuit"

Finally! A Victory, Charlie would be so proud!

Nothing like working hard all day then taking time to prepare a hot meal to have your kids moan and groan about what you put before them. Is that what is meant by presenting myself as a living sacrifice? It sure feels like it on those days. So what do you do when your kids moan and groan about what’s for dinner or are mine the only picky ones? I followed my parent’s lead and gave the notable reason why they should be grateful for having a hot meal! You know all the starving children in the third world countries.

Both of my children are fairly picky eaters. Darya not so much, as she has grown so has her taste buds; but Jayden just until recently refused to eat anything but just a few items. However, The Mom, me, instituted a new rule that when mom cooks a meal, that is dinner, no cooking your own meal. If you choose not to eat dinner the next meal is breakfast. Jayden has gone to bed several nights without dinner and to his amazement he is still alive and now he at least tries the meal and to his surprise has discovered that he likes parmesan crusted tilapia, lemon pepper grilled tilapia, tator tot casserole and a few other items. Darya, however, hates any fish. She has tried them but doesn’t like any of them.

By the way, I told you I went to that Coupon Class, right? Carrie at Coupon Closet said that you have to change your thinking when it comes to couponing and meal planning. Typically we plan our meals go to the store and buy what we need. The new way of meal planning is make your purchases with coupons then plan your meals on what you have in the pantry and fridge.

So tonight, I used the handy Allrecipes.com website and made “Smiles All Around” which was actually Tuna Casserole. I tweaked it a bit because I didn’t have regular milk only light vanilla soy milk. Plus using water probably saved us some extra calories. When they asked, “What’s for dinner?” I didn’t dare tell them the real name of the recipe. I seen on the Kraft webpage that they referred to the macaroni as smiles, thus the substitute name “Smiles All Around”. Margaret Thatcher said, “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” So with my battle gloves on and my new Anthropologie apron, I set out to bring fish to my table again, this time honoring Starkist Charlie the Tuna.

Much to my surprise, “Smiles All Around” was a big hit and even second helpings were requested! So I want to be a team mom player and share this recipe with you. If you coupon you probably have the Kraft Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese and the rest is stuff you probably have. Some people said on the reviews they didn’t have cream of celery so the substituted it with cream of mushroom or chicken with success. My tweaked recipe added four extra ingredients (Italian bread crumbs, onion powder, garlic powder and French fried onions).

Smiles All Around (Tuna Casserole)

1 box Kraft Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese

Reserve ½ cup water drained from the noodles or ½ cup of milk

2 tablespoons light butter

1 can fat free cream of celery soup, undiluted

1 (6 ounce) can tuna, drained and flaked

¼ cup Italian bread crumbs

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ cup shredded cheese

½ cup of French fried onions

Prepare Kraft Homestyle Macaroni & Cheese according to directions. In place of the milk, I used ½ cup water drained from the cooked noodles. The butter you will use with seasoning mix and cheese from the Kraft Homestyle Mac & Cheese.

Once you have completed the Mac and Cheese according to the package directions, combine the soup, tuna, bread crumbs, and onion & garlic powder, mix well. Pour into a baking dish and top with cheese, the topping from the Macaroni & Cheese dinner and the French fried onions and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve with a veggie! We had green beans.

If you make it, I hope you and your kids like it as much as we did, us moms have to stick together!

May I leave you with some Spiritual food to feast on? The Bread of Life always satisfies. No additives or substitutes needed. Time on your knees, heart humbled before Him and time in His Word is all we need. He gives me the kind of meal I always want to super size! And unlike pasta after eating the Spiritual food you aren’t left feeling empty an hour later.

“Therefore, brethren (and sisters), by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Romans 12:1-2

Comfort Food!! Chicken & Sweet Potato Chili



Just because you don't have diabetes doesn't mean you can't eat like a diabetic.

Today we celebrated Martin Luther King's day which meant federal holiday! Paige and I were discussing meal planning at church last night and neither one of us are fans, but with families know the necessity of planning. If I don't plan my meals we end up eating things we don't need to eat or I spend extra precious evening minutes walking from the pantry to the fridge and back to the pantry.

I am getting tired of the same ole' meals so I spend time this weekend turning pages in my recipe books in hopes of finding something new to try. My plan was to cook “Chicken & Sweet Potato Chili” last night after church that I found in this Diabetic Cooking magazine. However, after a full day of church, plus hospital visits and grocery shopping we were tired plus my knee was tired and hurting and I still had to do my therapy! So when Mary Jane mentioned Fish Tacos at Long John Silvers were only a $1, Darryl said, “lets’s just grab something to eat so you don’t have to cook”. No cooking? Hmmm, let’s see that was an easy decision. Although it was very tasty and very cheap, I prefer grilled fish and corn tortillas.



I discovered that 3/4 pound of chicken was about 2 chicken breasts.

So with my new Anthropologie apron and Darryl with a knife in his hands we made Chicken & Sweet Potato Chili. Here is the recipe as posted and my pictorial of the few changes I made and you will notice I didn't get pictures of each step.

1 to 2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into ½ inch chunks
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 cup of chopped onion
¾ pound boneless, skinless chicken breast (or chicken tenders) cut into ¾ inch chunks*
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 can (14 ½ ounces) diced fire roasted tomatoes, undrained
1 can (16 ounces) no-salt added kidney beans or pinto beans, drained
½ cup chipotle or jalapeno salsa

*this is easier to do if the chicken is partially frozen

1.   Place sweet potatoes in large saucepan. Add enough water just to cover sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes or until almost tender. Drain mixture with colander into dry saucepan. Add oil to same saucepan. Add onion; cook over medium heat 5 minutes.

2.   Add chicken, garlic and chili powder to same saucepan; cook 3 minutes stirring frequently. Add tomatoes with their juices, beans, salsa and partially cooked sweet potatoes; bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Makes 4 servings – (1 ½ cup servings) 6 points plus

Note: Sweet potatoes are the star of this chili and they’re nutritional superstars, too. One sweet potato provides about two and half times the RDA for healthy adults of vitamin A, plus fiber, potassium and vitamin C.


I did not use a full cup of onion or did I have on hand no-salt added beans, but I rinsed them well!
I also couldn't find the chipotle or jalapeno salsa, so we went with the habanera.



Step one, boiling the sweet potatoes. Forgot to get a picture of draining the sweet potatoes in the colander. :(

Cooking the onion. I only used about 1/2 cup instead of the full cup of onions.

Cooking the chicken with the onions, garlic and chili powder.

Adding the tomatoes, kidney beans, salsa and the partially cooked sweet potatoes.

The final product!

For only 6 points you get a huge helping! It was very good! Next time I think I will add more garlic or garlic powder.