Sweet Potato Souffle

I made this tonight as an experiment...and it's probably one of the BEST experiments I've ever tried. It taste like candy. DEFINITELY will make this again.

Ingredients

• 6 sweet potatoes
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• 1 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Directions

1. Bake sweet potatoes in a 425 oven for 60 minutes. Cool enough to handle. Peel and mash
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease or butter one 2 quart casserole dish.
3. Place potatoes in a mixing bowl and with an electric mixer, beat on low speed until potatoes begin to break up. Increase speed to medium high and blend until smooth.
4. Reduce speed to low and add sugar, milk, butter, vanilla, eggs and salt. Mix well.
5. Allow any potato 'fibers' to remain on the beater and remove. Pour sweet potato mixture into the casserole dish.
6. Prepare the topping in a small bowl by whisking together the brown sugar, flour, butter and pecans. Sprinkle mixture over potato mixture and bake for 40 minutes.

NOTES:
I used chopped almonds because that's what i had in my pantry and it was still really yummy!

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Isn't peanut butter and chocolate a match made in heaven? I found this frosting recipe to go along with some chocolate cupcakes I made...

Peanut Butter Frosting
Makes about 5 cups

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
5 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2/3 cup smooth peanut butter, preferably a commercial brand (because oil doesn’t separate out)

1. In a large bowl with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl often. Continue to beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

2. Add the peanut butter and beat until thoroughly blended.

Or if you'd like a more peanut buttery taste, my SIL, Tamara, gave me this recipe.
Peanut Butter Frosting

1 cube butter
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup peanut butter
4-6 cups powdered sugar (I have to kind of eye it. Not too much or it is too hard to pipe out. Not too little or it doesn't frost right)

Cream everything but powdered sugar together until smooth. Add powdered sugar.

I highly recommend both recipes. yum yum yum.

Mac 'n Cheese

My friend brought this over for me after I had my surgery and I insisted on the recipe. quick and easy to make and SUPER yummy!

Mary's Macaroni & Cheese

12 oz. uncooked macaroni(cook as directed) (16 oz dry = 3 Cups)

2 C cottage cheese - blend in blender (3 C)

1/3 C butter (1/2 C)

1/3 C flour (1/2 C)

1/2 t salt (1t)

1/4 t white pepper (1/2 t)

2 C half and half (3 C)

2/3 C milk (1 C)

3 C grated cheddar cheese (4-5 C)

1-2 C crushed cheese its or cheese nips

1/4 C melted butter

1/2-1 C crumbled bacon

Cook macaroni in large pot and drain. Put back in pot. Blend cottage cheese in blender. Set aside. Melt butter in med size sauce pan. Add flour, salt, and white pepper. Stir with whisk to make a thick paste. Gradually add the half and half and milk. Continue whisking until thick and smooth. Pour over noodles. Add cottage cheese and cheddar cheese. Add some crumbled bacon if desired. Stir until combined. Pour in sprayed 9x13 baking dish or if making the larger recipe pour in 8x8 and 9x13. Sprinkle bacon on top. Combine melted butter and cheese its. Sprinkle on top. Bake 20-25 min at 400*. Let sit 5-10 min before serving.

*When I make this for another family I use the amounts in parentheses.

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

For our upcoming family dinner, my sister in law asked me to bring a pasta salad. Ok, pathetically enough...I've NEVER made a pasta salad. So of course, I jumped on the internet and started searching for recipes. My two criteria were that it had to be a 5 star recipe and I have to currently have all the ingredients in my house. I thought this might be a challenge, but lo and behold, I found a recipe...and since I'm afraid I won't be able to find it again, I thought I'd post it now. It sounds different than your basic pasta salad, but then again, I don't really like your basic pasta salad so I'm excited to try it! I will tell you right now that I will be omitting the olives because I think olives are GROSS and should be withheld from ALL food and I'm going to use medium cheese instead of sharp cuz that's what's in my fridge right now. Hope my family is ok with it, otherwise they'll learn not to assign me pasta salad. hahahaha

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

• 1 (12 ounce) package uncooked tri-color rotini pasta
• 10 slices bacon
• 1 cup mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons dry ranch salad dressing mix
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic pepper
• 1/2 cup milk, or as needed
• 1 large tomato, chopped
• 1 (4.25 ounce) can sliced black olives
• 1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Stir in rotini pasta and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Place bacon in a skillet over medium-high heat and cook until evenly brown. Drain and chop.
3. In a large bowl, mix mayonnaise, ranch dressing mix, garlic powder, and garlic pepper. Stir in milk until smooth. Place bacon, tomato, black olives and cheese in bowl and toss to coat with dressing. Cover and chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator. Toss with additional milk if the salad seems a little dry.