Skillet Sweet Potatoes

My post is a trifle late this week.  It was a busy week filled with preparations for Easter; baking hot cross buns and steeling myself from eating all the lovely chocolate treats I bought for the kids.  We spent the weekend in Cardston celebrating and feasting with family, and as wonderful as that was it is good to be back home.

I had purchased steaks on Sunday last week, along with the shrimp I prepared for Sunday supper.  Emily decided that she could manage the barbecue and I suggested she do the sweet potato recipe I discovered last week.  While she peeled and diced a pair of sweet potatoes (yams, actually, but whatever...) I seasoned the steaks with a seasoning blend I make myself.
I helped her measure a couple of teaspoons of coconut oil into a large skillet.  She added the sweet potatoes, tossing them gently to coat.  Once the potatoes were coated with the oil she sprinkled them with a mixture of sea salt, cinnamon and parsley.  I thought I had been a trifle sparse with the test batch, so I decided to add a little extra cinnamon to her salt mixture....but the bottle slipped, and I wound up adding far too much!  Oops.  Still they turned out ok.
I helped Emily light the barbecue, and once the steaks were on she came in to prepare some broccoli to steam.  She also wanted corn, but decided 1 can was not enough.  For the record two cans is far too much.
Nonetheless, errors in measurement and judgement aside, dinner was delicious.

Skillet Sweet Potatoes

1 sweet potato

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon dried parsley

ground cinnamon to taste 

2 teaspoons coconut oil

Peel & dice the sweet potato into bite sized pieces (about 1/2" cubes)

Over medium heat heat the coconut oil.  Once the oil is hot add the sweet potatoes, stir to coat all the potatoes with the coconut oil, then add the salt, parsley & cinnamon.  Mix well.  

Cook the potatoes, stirring occasionally for about 15-20 minutes.  Don't let them burn but make sure they get nice & crispy.  Cooking time may vary depending on the size of your potatoes and the heat of  your stove.

*We doubled this, one sweet potato is not enough- unless you buy a very large one.

Prairie Casserole

It's been a busy week again, and the time change, losing that hour of sleep, did nothing to help.  While it does mark the beginning of Spring and has not really upset my internal clock much since my kids were babies (when the time change meant meal times & naps were slow to re-coordinate)
I'm still trying to get my feet back under me though.  The flu hit me hard and I"m still battling a lack of energy.
Emily had seen this recipe in my notebook last week and thought it looked good.  As it happens it is good.  I haven't made it in ages because I don't want leftovers for too long, but now that Emily is eating almost adult sized portions and taking leftovers to school it isn't such a big issue.  And if there is still too much I make TV dinners to freeze for Peter to eat when he's working.
When I got home from work Monday I suggested Emily start cooking, since the casserole takes 30 minutes to bake, plus cooking & prep time.  While she chopped the onion I grated the heels of a couple of blocks of cheese.
The recipe calls for a 6 ounce can of tomato paste or sauce.  Since I rarely use these things, and often simply omit it from this recipe I had neglected to buy it.  But Emily wanted it, so I dashed off to the store, leaving her to start browning the ground beef with the onion and starting water to boil to cook the noodles.
Once the water was boiling I handed Emily the package of broad egg noodles.  She glanced at her recipe and told me it called for "flat noodles", not egg noodles.  I explained that the egg noodles were what I usually used, and they are indeed flat.  I have, incidentally, used rotini in a pinch, and once even used rice.
Once the meat was browned she spooned it into a casserole dish and then stirred in two cans of tomato soup, the cheese and the cooked noodles, along with a can of corn.  As I helped her stir (It is easier to mix everything in the skillet, if you choose a big, deep one) I noticed she had forgotten the tomato paste!.
While the casserole baked Emily did the dishes, cleaning up her considerable cooking mess.
Dinner was, as always, very good.  The casserole tasted the way I remembered it.  It was one of my favourites for pot luck suppers once upon a time.

Prairie Casserole

1/2 package flat noodles (broad egg noodles)      1 can niblet corn

1 cup sliced onion                                                 1 garlic clove, minced (optional)

1 pound ground beef                                             1/2 cup green pepper, chopped (optional)

1-6 ounce can tomato paste or sauce                    2 cans tomato soup, or 12 ounce can tomato juice

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce                        2 cups grated cheese

Cook the noodles according to the package directions, drain & set aside.  Meanwhile brown the beef, onions, pepper & garlic.  Combine all the ingredients in a 3 quart casserole dish.  Bake, uncovered at 350 F for 30 minutes.

Chinese Noodle Casserole

I spent much of last weekend shuttling Emily to and from a birthday party and making giant cookies for the Grade six band bake sale this past Thursday.  A triple batch of my favourite oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe made a full 25 cookies 6" across.  They were a hit at the bake sale too, it seemed.
Emily wanted to make Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, but they can't go to school because they have a nut-free policy.  I put her off, but she decided, since they were no bake, she could make them on Monday while I was at work, since she had (another!) day off school.  I can't help but wonder if I could get a day off for spiritual development....
While I was making supper Sunday night I found myself hungry for an old favourite.  I looked up the recipe and decided Emily could manage it, so instead of asking her what she wanted to make, I simply took ground bison out of the freezer and told her this was the menu.
Monday afternoon I got a call at the office.  "Mom, what is a "oz"?  I went on Google and asked how much was 12 oz of chocolate, but Google's being dumb."
I had to laugh.  She was looking at my handwritten recipe, that calls for 12 ounces of chocolate chips, which I have abbreviated "oz".  I explained that oz was short for ounce, and she needed about a cup and a half of chips.
Later that afternoon, once I was home, she started preparing the casserole for supper, assuring me she could do it by herself.  It wasn't long before she asked me if I'd chop the onions for her, until I reminded her she said she was doing it alone.  The chewing gum trick still doesn't work.
The recipe she was using is another handwritten one, copied years ago out of a newspaper.  I kept my transcription brief, details were not necessary I didn't believe.   At least not until Emily asked if she was supposed to cut the celery up.  I laughed and told her that no, she could just stick a whole stalk into the casserole.  Then I explained about leaving out words when I copy recipes because to me some things just go without saying.  She chopped the celery.
We had a similar conversation after she collected her ingredients.  I had written "Brown onion, celery and beef..."  and she asked what she should brown it in.  I asked her what she thought - a mixing bowl?  the kitchen sink? the microwave?  A skillet she decided.  From there it was smooth sailing, until she cut her finger on a soup can lid.  I bandaged her up and sent her back to the stove.  She did manage to make dinner all by herself, although I did help pour the meat and sauce into a casserole dish.
As she was cooking Emily noticed another recipe on the facing page, and commented that it looked good too.  She's right, it is good, and will be on this week's menu.

Chinese Noodle Casserole

1 cup chopped onion                             1 cup chopped celery

1 can tomato soup                                  1 lb ground beef

2 tablespoons soy sauce                         1 can mushroom soup

4 ounces chow mein noodles

Brown onion, celery and beef in a large skillet.  Stir in soups and soy sauce along with 3/4 of the noodles.  Stir to combine and pour into a medium sized (1 1/2 quart) casserole dish. Sprinkle with the remaining noodles.  Bake, uncovered 45 minutes at 350F

* I like lots of noodles so I add several generous handfuls rather than measuring.

Reese's Bars

2 1/2 cups Graham wafer crumbs           1 cup melted margarine

12 ounces chocolate chips                       2 3/4 cups icing sugar

1 cup peanut butter

Melt the chocolate and set aside.  Combine the remaining ingredients and press into an ungreased 9x13" pan.  Pour the chocolate over.  Refrigerate, cut into squares before completely cool, after about 15 minutes in the fridge.  Decorate each square with a peanut if desired.

Parmesan Crusted Stuffed Chicken

Another week has flown by.  Spring seems to be upon us, in the flower bed I can see my tulips bravely emerging from the accumulated detritus of the past several months, and their hopeful appearance has me starting to feel the itch to go out and dig in the dirt.  I know it is early March and winter will probably make one or even two more rages at us before retreating again for summer's tenure.  So I'll ignore that itch and leave the snow shovel & block heater cord out for another week or so, a superstitious concession I'm sure but I still believe in Murphey's Law.
Anyway.  Emily spent the weekend with her dad and when she got home Sunday night dug around the internet for a recipe for Monday's dinner.  Although I believe I have made this before, with a friend after a long day cooped up with small children during a mid winter power outage.    But, as always, I digress.
I did a quick survey of the pantry and made a grocery list, stopping at the store on my way home.
I sliced the chicken breasts almost in half for Emily, creating a pocket.  Rather than buying expensive pre-shredded cheese I bought a block of mozzarella shredded a mixture of it and cheddar cheese. I showed Emily how to trim the asparagus spears and left her to it.  Once her ingredients were prepared and assembled I showed her how to lay a couple of spears of asparagus on the chicken breast along with some shredded cheese, then folding the breast closed again.  Assembled on the pan she topped the chicken with Parmesan and baked it for about 20 minutes.
While the chicken baked I made a salad and had Emily steam the remainder of the asparagus.  As a side dish she made a packet of stuffing mix, although I think a wild rice blend would have been a nice compliment too.
Dinner was delicious again.  So good in fact, I forgot to take a picture.  You'll just have to take my word for it.


Parmesan -Crusted Stuffed Chicken

4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts           
8 fresh asparagus spears, trimmed
1/2 cup shredded cheese blend (Italiano)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Heat the oven to 400F.
Make a cut in the long side of each chicken breast, making sure not to cut it all the way through..  Fill pockets with asparagus and shredded cheese.
Place on a greased baking sheet, top with Parmesan cheese.
Bake 20 minutes, until the chicken is done.