Sweet Potato Pancakes

I know this isn't anything new or magical, and I am sure you've all heard of or had Sweet Potato Pancakes before, but what you may not know is how easy they really can be to make! Plus it's a great way to sneek in some veggies that taste great! We (I), especially love this aspect of this yummy breakfast for my particular 2 year old eater! Anytime I can get her to eat fruits or vegetables without a fight, I am a happy mamma!

I like to buy sweet potatoes when they're on sale, or when I have produce coupons since they're more expensive.  I steam ours, puree it in my blender (adding some water because our blender is so....sad). I place them in ice cube tray(s), once frozen, I store in a freezer ziplock bag for easy use in the future.

We also make our own pancake mix. You can use store bought, it works just the same. On the morning we decide to make these pancakes, we whip out our pancake mix as directed (adding the liquid-water or milk until the end to make it the consistency we like) and add:
4 sweet potato cubes
1/2 cup of apple sauce
1 tsp of cinnamon (you can add more if you like)
1 tsp vanilla

...And Wha-la! You have tasty sweet potato pancakes! I've found they need to be cooked at a slightly lower temperature than regular pancakes, because the sweet potato makes it "thicker/more dense" and if cooked too high, the outside will burn and inside be gooey.

Here is our pancake mix we like best (I am working on making this healthier, or find a healthier mix-but I haven't found one we love yet!)

Classic Pancakes from Allrecipes.com          Makes 6-7 medium-large pancakes

1 c all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbs sugar or honey
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Silk pure almond milk or vanilla *regular milk/evaporated works just as well
2 Tbs canola oil
1 egg

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Add milk, oil, and egg, mix until slightly smooth. Cook pancakes on a griddle over medium heat.

*I want to try it one day with oat flour, now that I have a mill, I can! I also want to try lowering the milk amount so that we can continue using this recipe in an emergency, and use less milk.

Crock Pot Freezer Meal Series

Crockpot meals are always nice when life is crazy! Sadly, i wish i was better about doing this lately! Our typical conversation at about 4:30pm is, "So, what do you want for dinner?" Because we haven't planned our meals out (I hate that!) Here are a few of our favorite "go to meals"

 Southwestern Chicken: (I got this from a website a long time ago but can't remember where, so sorry I can't give proper credit)

1 small bag frozen corn
1 can black beans
2 lg boneless, skinless ckicken breast
1-16 oz jar of medium heat salsa

TOPPINGS:
shredded cheese
tortillas or chips
sour cream
cilantro
avacado

Pour bag of frozen corn in bottom of crockpot. Place chicken breasts on top of corn and cover with rinsed and drained black beans, salsa, and cilantro. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. Serve with toppings and chips or tortillas.
*can also place all ingredients in freezer zip l8ck bag and cook on a later date.

Garlic & Pineapple Chicken:

1 lb chicken breast
1/4 tsp onion powder & garlic powder *I like a lot so I do 1 tsp.
8 oz pineapple chunk in juice (save 1/4 cup)
1 Tbsp. Brown sugar
5 oz sweet & sour sauce
16 oz frozen mixed veggies (broccoli,  peas, peppers,  whatever you like. We do Mediterranean blend)

In a bowl add wet ingredients, powders, and sugar, mix well. Place in greased crockpot over chicken. Cook on low for 4-6 hours, add chopped veggies last 30 minutes, cook on high. Serve over rice.

Chicken Cassiatoré: *we just had this last week and loved it!

1-10oz can tomato soup
1 28oz can chopped/diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 tsp minced garlic (we like 1 tsp)
1 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1/2 c chopped green pepper
1/2 c chopped mushrooms (we uses 1 can)
1/2 c onion, chopped
1 lb chicken breast
Pasta or rice *we did spaghetti noodles

Mix sauces, add to crock pot. Add rest of ingredients, except rice or noodles. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.  Serve with rice or pasta al dente.

Ham & Cheesy Potatoes:

1 bag frozen diced potatoes with onions and peppers (thawed)
8 oz shredded cheddar & monterey jack cheese blend
1 can cream of celery soup
8 oz sour cream
3 lb fully cooked smoked ham *or 3 cups cubed ham

Spray cooker. Add ingredients to crockpot. Cut ham lenth wise in half and place in potatoe mixture. Cover and cook on low 5-6 hours or until potatoes are done. Remove ham and slice for serving.

Steak and noodles (from Families on the go)

2lbs stew meat
2 cans french onion soup (undiluted)
2 cans cream of mushroom soup (undiluted)
1 pkg wide egg noodles
*I like to add chopped zucchini
* I also like to add 1 can worth of water

Combine all ingredients into slow cooker except noodles. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over noodles.