Whipped Sweet Potatoes & Pumpkin Cake

For the potatoes:22-24 oz. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces

3/4 stick (6 Tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
1 large egg
6 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
Pinch of salt

For the topping:
1 1/2 cups crushed corn flakes
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
3/4 stick (6 Tbsp) unsalted butter, melted

Make the sweet potatoes:
Place the sweet potatoes in a large pot of water and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, transfer to a large bowl and add the butter. Beat until smooth. Add the egg, sugar, spices and salt and blend. Transfer to an 8 x 8" baking dish (you can cover with foil and chill at this point to make it ahead. To bake, bring to room temperature before going on).
Bake covered with foil for about 25 minutes at 350 degrees (35 minutes if doubling recipe and using a large baking dish).

Prepare topping:
Mix the topping ingredients together. Spoon over the potatoes for the last 10 minutes of baking time without the foil.

This recipe is from Patch O' Dirt Farm 


Pumpkin Cake

1 can pumpkin (29 oz.)
1 C sugar
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz.)
3 eggs
1 box yellow cake mix
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C melted butter
1 C chopped pecans

Combine pumpkin, sugar, evap. milk, eggs, spices, and salt in mixing bowl. Beat well. Pour into greased and floured 9x13 glass pan. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over mixture. Sprinkle the pecans over the cake mix. Pour melted butter over all. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes. Watch closely, burns easily. (Knife inserted in the middle of cake should come out clean when done.)

This recipe is from Just Call Me Jamin

An Uncontrolled Experiment on American Children

Many people are intrigued by my home business. I love what I do . . . . my passion is to help de-tox households . . . .  one home at a time.
Many people have also asked me why I dedcided to work in this field of wellness. Here is part of an article from National Geographic Magazine that just may help answer that question.

Although many health statistics have been improving over the past few decades, a few illnesses are rising mysteriously.

• From the early 1980s through the late 1990s, autism increased tenfold; from the early 1970s through the mid-1990s
• one type of leukemia was up 62 percent
• male birth defects doubled
• childhood brain cancer was up 40 percent. 

Some experts suspect a link to the man-made chemicals that pervade our food, water, and air. There's little firm evidence. But over the years, one chemical after another that was thought to be harmless turned out otherwise once the facts were in. 

The classic example is lead.  This picture shows a lead paint Xray. 

In 1971 the U.S. Surgeon General declared that lead levels of 40 micrograms per deciliter of blood were safe. It's now known that any detectable lead can cause neurological damage in children, shaving off IQ points. 

From DDT to PCBs, the chemical industry has released compounds first and discovered damaging health effects later.

Regulators have often allowed a standard of innocent until proven guilty in what Leo Trasande, a pediatrician and environmental health specialist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, calls "an uncontrolled experiment on America's children."

 A helpful resource and place to request more information.

Pioneer Woman to Visit Texas

The Pioneer Woman is coming to Houston!

Saturday, December 5, 2009
1:00 pm
BLUE WILLOW BOOKS
14532 Memorial Drive
Houston, TX

If you do not know who she is you just might want to check out her blog!
The cooking section is especially pertinent to her book tour!  :-) 

Homemade Taco Seasoning - Secret Ingredients

I started some taco soup today and did not have any taco seasoning on hand . . . . .what was I thinking, right?

Well, now I proclaim, "Taco Seasoning in a pre-mixed packet?  Pshaw!"

Here are the Secret Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
  
• several cloves of fresh garlic chopped OR if storing for future use . . . . . 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 fresh onion chopped OR if storing for future use . . . . . 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika (I often do not have this on hand - the seasoning is a-o-k w/o it)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
  
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

E Mealz

OK, I have just learned about this . . . .  a blogger friend says she likes it.
Dave Ramsey recommends it.  I am thinking of giving it a whirl.

Here is what I know so far - links provided.

E MEALZ   How Does It Work?
You choose the store. They provide the plan!
Each week you receive a brand new plan AND a complete, aisle-by-aisle grocery list.



This is what one happy subscriber says,

E-Mealz was created by two sisters who were frustrated with their own hodge-podge menu planning systems, but longed to create easy, wholesome meals for their growing families. The goal of E-Mealz, and a core belief that drives these sisters' efforts, is,  Make Time for Family. 

 

So, how does E-Mealz simplify your life? You choose the grocery store you most often visit (if the store you go to is not on their list, you can select the "Any Store" option). 

Each week you will receive a detailed menu plan (complete with side dishes AND instructions) and an itemized, aisle-by-aisle grocery list with ample room to jot down additional items you need to pick up while shopping. 

In addition to the store options, you can further customize your plan by choosing the Family Plan (feeds 4-6) or the Couples' Plan, and either the regular, low-fat, low-carb, vegetarian, or Weight Watchers Points plan.

 

The meals are kid-friendly AND easy to prepare. They do ALL the time-consuming planning, and they base the menus according to what's on sale at your chosen store for the week! They even provide the prices so you can see just what your grocery tab will be before you even walk through the door. For just $1.25/week to sign up for the service, my family has chopped our food-budget in half since using E-Z Mealz!

Did He Just Say, "Castrating a Lamb With His Teeth?"

This is well worth viewing. How many knew that this guy was so intelligent and well spoken! This video is not ground breaking but I found it funny and inspiring. Get a cuppa tea or a cuppa jo and "listen for a spell."


Drawing on his experiences picking up roadkill, feeding swine, and castrating a lamb with his teeth, Mike Rowe, host of Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs, discusses how modern American culture belittles necessary labor.
Note: might not be suitable for young ears. Case in point - the title of this post!!

Mike Rowe has, most probably, had more jobs than you. In fact, Mike has probably had more jobs than anyone. As the creator and executive producer of Discovery Channels Emmy-nominated series Dirty Jobs With Mike Rowe, Mike has spent years traveling the country, working as an apprentice on more than 200 jobs that most people would go out of their way to avoid.

From coal mining to roustabouting, maggot farming to sheep castrating, Mike has worked in just about every industry and filmed the show in almost every state, celebrating the hard-working Americans who make civilized life possible for the rest of us.

On Labor Day 2008, Mike launched a Web site called mikeroweWORKS.com, where skilled labor and hard work are celebrated in the hope of calling attention to the steady decline in the trades and bolstering enrollment in trade schools and technical colleges.

Pizza in a Jiffy

<~~~~~ One of my guilty pleasures & secret passions . . .
It is so easy (and soooo cheating) to make pizza with this starter mix!

AND - I recently found that Jiffy has a muffin mix.
Compare to others at almost $3.00 a box. Jiffy was $0.56 a box. And, yes, both boxes make the same amount of muffins!

I haven't made the Jiffy muffins yet. But if it is as good the pizza mix we are in for a treat!

Jiffy also has a cool recipe website.