I discovered long ago that I could get my kids to eat any orange vegetable if I season it with pumpkin pie spices. I decided to take that idea and kick it up a notch and apply it to Sunday Dinner.

This is an easy one-pot dinner. It is also quite frugal for a fancy Sunday dinner. Pork roasts go on sale for as little as .99 cents  a pound in my area and sweet potatoes have been on sale for around .50 cents a pound.

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We live in an agricultural area and the kids have enjoyed watching the crews harvesting sweet potatoes as we drive by on the way to school over the past month.  It’s very interesting how they bring in a couple of old retrofitted school buses early in the morning and fill them completely up by lunchtime while pulling the sweet potatoes out of the turned earth by hand to keep from bruising them.  Not only are sweet potatoes yummy and inexpensive, but they’re also rich in Vitamin A and a great source of calcium, fiber and antioxidants so they’re on our menu quite a bit while they’re in season.  Since I’ve got five little ones who love to ‘help’ in the kitchen and not a lot of extra time, I like to keep it simple for every day meals so I thought I’d share with you three of our favorite fast and easy ways to prepare sweet potatoes.

I’d love to hear about your favorite sweet potato recipes so please share with us in the comments below!

Baked sweet potatoes are perhaps the easiest to make, and they’re even elegant enough for fancy dinners!  Crush one tablespoon of cumin seeds and mix with two tablespoons of coarse salt (I like to use sea salt) then rub the mixture over scrubbed sweet potatoes while they’re still moist and bake directly on the rack for an hour at 375 degrees.

Steamed sweet potatoes are a super healthy version of mashed potatoes and they’re even easier to make.  I have a Tupperware microwave steaming dish that I love to use, but you can use any microwave safe bowl or casserole dish with a lid or covered in plastic wrap with a hole for venting.

Put a couple tablespoons of water in the bottom of your steamer or bowl then grate two to three large peeled sweet potatoes into the dish.  Add two or three pats of butter to the top and sprinkle with brown sugar then microwave on high for about 10 to 12 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove, stir and serve.

And finally, my kids all time favorite side dish, these tasty baked sweet potato fries!

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So I was chatting with a friend the other day about sweet potatoes…how much Tyler loves them, different ways to cook them, how they grow.  I said, “You know, I’ve never grilled them.” She replied, “Me neither…but I’ll let you figure it out and I’ll wait for the post on the website.”

Naturally, I turned to grillmaster Bobby Flay for his help.

Well, I didn’t ask him personally…but I was able to find the perfect cooking method from one of his recipes! I wanted these fries to be on the softer side so that the kids would be more apt to eat them, so I thought boiling would help. I will plan to make them again later this summer without boiling them first…just sticking the wedges straight on the grill.  See which ones the kiddos prefer best!

Without further ado…

The smoky, delicious and “can we have these again tomorrow, mom” sweet potato fries!

Peel. Lop off the ends if they are super skinny.

Chop in half.

Stand on flat end and slice off wedges.

Take the pile of wedges and boil them in salted water for 4-5 minutes.

While boiling, set up a cold water dunking bowl with large bowl and colander.

Once the sweet potato wedges have boiled for 4-5 minutes, drain them in the colander in the sink…then plunge them into the cold water. Let sit for 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk up the oil, maple syrup, cinnamon.

Remove the now cold wedges…dump out the water from the big bowl and give it a quick dry with a towel.

Return the wedges to the dry bowl and toss with the oil and maple mixture.

Toss on the grill basket…or straight on the grill if the wedges are large enough to not fall through the cracks.

Turn a few times during cooking. Use a hot pad. Grill basket handle will burn you

Enjoy with your favorite burger, grilled chicken, steak, pork chop!

I was unable to find a small ham for our Christmas dinner, so I went ahead and purchased a large one. I have had fun coming up with new ways to use the leftover ham, especially since this has given me an excuse to play with some of my Christmas presents.

My entire family loved the scalloped sweet potatoes with ham,  giving it the highest compliment in their vocabulary, “this is bloggable”.

You can use yams instead of sweet potatoes, though there was some debate about whether you should change the name to Scalloped Yams with Ham if you do. We universally agreed that scalloped yams did not sound as delicious as scalloped sweet potatoes, but some of the younger members thought that Scalloped Yams with Ham sounded like something from a Dr. Seuss book. If you spend a little too much time sounding like Sam-I-Am at the dinner table, you should probably go with the most appetizing name you can think of.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons butter (or dairy free margarine)
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon cornstarch (or 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour)
2 cups milk (or almond or rice milk)
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon ginger
1 Tablespoon parsley
3 medium sweet potatoes (~2lbs.), peeled and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups diced ham

Directions:

In a sauce pan, cook the onion in butter until it is tender.

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and milk.  Add the milk mixture to the onions. Cook over a medium flame until it begins to boil, stirring regularly. Remove from heat and stir in spices.

Place a third of the sweet potatoes in a large greased casserole dish. Then top with a 1/2 cup of diced ham:

Cover with a third of the sauce:

Repeat the layers.

Bake, covered at 350 for 40 minutes. Uncover; bake for an additional 30 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

The top layer of sweet potatoes are slighlty crisp while the underlayers are tender.

While foraging yesterday, I found some Smokehouse Maple grill seasoning hanging out amongst the other spices in the spice cabinet. Hmmm….let’s try this with some chicken. And I just so happened to have picked up a few packages of chicken at the store this morning.

This could not have been an easier chicken to make. It went something like this…

Sprinkle.

Grill.

Eat.

Seriously Simple. And it was oh-so-tasty! The chicken had a smokey, sweet, and savory flavor to it…but it wasn’t too sweet nor too smokey. It was perfect!

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts ($2.42) I grilled some extras too!
Smokehouse Maple spices (free) Match coupon with $1 sale price

Salad from the garden
Homemade Dressing ($.25)
Sweet potatoes ($1.29)

Directions

1. Bake the sweet potatoes.

2. Sprinkle the seasonings onto both sides of the chicken.  Then grill (until cooked through).

It really was that simple. And so much flavor for not really doing much other than sprinkling on the seasonings!

2. Meanwhile, prepare salad with greens from the garden.

3. Serve the Smokehouse Maple Chicken with Sweet Potatoes and Salad.

Cost $3.96

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Looking for another great way to use up those UBER CHEAP sweet potatoes?!? This is a great week to buy sweet potatoes, as many stores have them priced as low as $.25/lb!!!

You can also cook, mash and freeze them for use in future meals!

If you’ve had your share of sweet potato pie or casserole, then give these a try with the extras!  Would be delicious with a BBQ Turkey Sandwich!

Ingredients
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into strips
2 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Salt and pepper, a few dashes of each

Directions

Peel sweet potatoes.

Cut in half.

Cut into strips.  The thinner the strips, the faster they will bake.

Rinse all the strips and pat dry.

Place all the sweet potato strips into a bowl and add the oil, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt and pepper.  Toss well.

Lay the strips in a single layer on an ungreased baking sheet.

Bake at 400 for 25-35 minutes, turning once after about 15 minutes.  Baking time will vary depending on thickness of the strips and how crispy you want them!

I’ve waited as long as I can.

I just had to go and pull the carrots!!!

Here’s what I pulled from 3 squares in the garden.  There were some itty-bittys (that I ended up munching on), and some larger ones that I threw into the slow cooker with tonight’s dinner.  (Final garden update coming this weekend)

Sweet, crisp and simply delicious!

Tonight’s dinner is a simple beef roast with carrots from the garden, celery and some spices.  I plan to strain and save the juices for beef stock.

I bought a 2.4 lb. top round roast when it was on sale for $1.99/lb (reg. $3.99/lb) a few weeks ago.  I let it thaw in the fridge and then added it to the slow cooker after breakfast.  Easy as that! 

And since we can’t/won’t eat 2.4 lbs of beef in one meal, I plan to use half for this meal and the other half soon!

Ingredients
1 2.4 lb. beef roast ($4.77/2=$2.38)
Carrots from the garden (free) Substitute 2-3 carrots sticks
2 celery stalks ($.20)
Garlic salt
Pepper
Handful green beans (free from the garden)
2 potatoes (for the Hubs and I) ($.30)
1 large sweet potato (for the boys…oldest is allergic to potatoes!) ($.45)
Butter/margarine for potatoes ($.20)
Salt and pepper

Directions
1. Place 1/2 cup of water in the base of the slow cooker. (I like to do this to dilute out the juices for saving them as beef stock.) Place beef roast into the slow cooker. Add carrots and chopped celery around the beef. Season with garlic salt and pepper. Set slow cooker on low and cook for 8 hours.
2. Wash and snap off ends of green beans. Steam in stovetop steamer or saucepan with 1/2 cup of water for 4-5 minutes.
3. Bake (or microwave) potatoes and sweet potatoes. Vent with fork or cut slits with knife. Bake for 45-60 minutes, until soft. Cooking time will depend on thickness of potatoes. To microwave, vent in same way and cook for 5-7 minutes, or until soft all the way through.
4. Serve sliced Beef Roast with Garden Carrots, Green Beans and Baked Potatoes.

Cost $3.54

This uses the sauce in  this recipe from All Recipes that I originally found here at Once a Month Mom. 

Basically, I just made the sauce and poured it over a beef roast, instead of chicken, in the slow cooker.  Time to prep: 2 minutes. 

Served with some baked sweet potatoes. Time to prep: 2 minutes.

And some steamed green beans from the garden (they keep coming and coming and coming…) Time to prep: 5 minutes.

Seriously, a very hands off meal to prepare!  Just needs time in the slow cooker and in the oven!

(Oh, and the other half of the beef roast went into the freezer!)

Ingredients
2.2 lb. beef roast ($5.15 divided by 2 = $2.60)
1 cup BBQ sauce (free) This was the last of my free BBQ sauce! Bought with $1 coupon when on sale for $1.
1/2 cup Italian dressing ($.10) Bought the bottle for $.49 this week!
2 Tbsp brown sugar ($.02)
2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce ($.05)
3 large sweet potatoes (about 1.5 lbs.) ($1.32) Bought for $.88/lb…these will be MUCH cheaper in the coming months.
1-2 tsp cinnamon ($.05)
Butter or margarine, if you prefer! We don’t.
Green Beans (from the garden)

Directions
1. Place beef roast in the slow cooker.
2. In small bowl, whisk together BBQ sauce, Italian dressing, brown sugar and worcestershire sauce. Pour over the beef roast. Set slow cooker on low and cook for 8 hours.
3. Cut slits into sweet potatoes. Place in glass baking dish with 1/4 inch of water and cover with foil. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are soft and cooked through. Cooking time can vary depending on thickness of the sweet potatoes. Serve with some sprinkles of cinnamon and butter/margarine if you prefer.
4. Wash and cut stems from green beans. Steam in stovetop steamer, or in microwavable dish with water, covered in plastic.
5. Serve Zesty BBQ Beef Roast with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans.

Cost $4.14

Julie shared this recipe with me and I thought I’d give it a whirl!  I left off the sour cream lime sauce (trying to keep it dairy free!).  Paired with corn and sweet potato circles.  A fabulous and tasteful meal!

Since I bought a GINORMOUS sweet potato, I only grated half of it and then sliced the other half into thin circles that I added to the cookie sheets for broiling.  They cooked up perfectly along side the bean cakes!

This meal makes 8 spicy bean cakes, plus sweet potatoes and corn!  I was doubtful this would be enough for us…but the spicy bean cakes were quite filling!  Fiber fills you up!!!  We were all stuffed after this meal.  Even my “beans make me throw up” child liked these!  That is a direct quote from this afternoon when I was preparing these!

We all LOVED these! 

Ingredients
1/4 large red onion, finely chopped ($.25)
2 hot peppers, finely chopped (from the garden)
3-4 cloves garlic, crushed ($.10)
1 Tbsp olive oil ($.10)
1 Tbsp ground cumin ($.10)
2 cans black beans, no salt added ($1.66)
1 large sweet potato (about 1.3 lb.) ($1.16)
1 egg ($.08)
1/2 cup bread crumbs ($.20)
4 corn cobs ($1) On sale this week!

Directions

1. Chop red onion, hot peppers.  Crush garlic.  Add to skillet with olive oil and ground cumin.  Saute for 2-3 minutes.

2.  Drain and rinse 2 cans of black beans.  I forgot to cook dried beans in time to get this ready.  Oh well!  It would have been MUCH cheaper to have made my own beans   Add to bowl and mash with potato masher.

3.  Once peppers and onions have sauted, add to mashed beans.

4. Grate 1 sweet potato.  Add grated sweet potato, egg and bread crumbs in with the beans and sauteed veggies.

5. Mix well until it all sticks together.

6.  Divide into 8 balls and place the bean balls on a greased baking sheet. (**See note below.)

7.  Flatten into patties.

8. Slice the leftover sweet potato (if you have extra sweet potato) and add to baking sheet in between the bean patties. (I used 2 baking sheets to fit all the patties and sweet potatoes.)

9. Broil for 10 minutes, then flip both the bean cakes and the sweet potato circles.  Broil for another 3-4 minutes.  (Flip carefully…the first few that I flipped sorta fell apart and I had to piece them back together.  The smaller and thinner patties stayed together during flipping.  **I suggest making 12 smaller and thinner patties for these to be successful!).  Sweet potatoes will be ready to eat at this point.  If you want them to be a bit crispier, then remove the bean cakes and return the sweet potato circles under the broiler for 4-8 minutes, or until they reach your desired crispiness.

10. Boil corn for 4-5 minutes in large saucepan.

11. Serve Spicy Bean Cakes with Sweet Potato Circles and Corn Cobs.

This would also be great with brown rice! And the boys liked mixing the bean cake with the corn!

Cost $4.65

So I was NOT thinking clearly about the new dairy allergy when I wrote up my meal plan for the week and included pizza!  Hello, CHEESE!  So this pizza is cheeseless!  I thought it tasted fine without the cheese, as the BBQ and red onions gave it a rich flavor.  (But still, there’s just something odd about a cheeseless pizza!)

I’m on this “lets see how few dishes I can use,” so I’ve started marinating meats in the dish I plan to cook them in (except when grilling of course!)

Let’s get to the recipe!

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts ($1.66)
1 cup BBQ sauce (free) Used $1 Kraft coupon when on sale for $.98
Homemade Pizza Crust ($.80)
1/2 large red onion ($.29)
2 crushed garlic cloves ($.10)
1/2 – 1 cup BBQ sauce (free)
Lettuce from the garden (free from the garden)
1 Roma tomato ($.35) Also on sale this week!
1/2 cucumber ($.25) On sale for $.50 each this week!
2 small sweet potatoes ($.99) for the boys, as they are not big salad eaters!

Directions
1. Dice chicken breasts and pour 1 cup of BBQ sauce over the pieces. Marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Saute chicken pieces in skillet over medium high heat for 8-10 minutes, or until chicken has cooked through.
2. Prepare homemade pizza dough in the bread machine. Recipe/Directions here.
3. Meanwhile, saute chopped red onions and garlic in 1 tsp olive oil for 4-5 minutes, or until onions become more opaque.

3. Roll pizza crust onto pizza pan or baking stone. Top with 1/2 – 1 cup of BBQ sauce and spread around with spoon.

4. Top with cooked diced chicken and sauted red onions. (Top with 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese!)
5. Dice tomato and cucumber. Toss with lettuce and salad dressing.
6. Slit or vent sweet potatoees. Bake sweet potatoes at 350 for 1 hour in glass baking dish with 1 cup of water, or microwave for 7-10 minutes. Microwave cooking time will vary depending on thickness of each sweet potato.
7. Serve Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza with Garden Salad and Sweet Potatoes.
 
Cost $4.44

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