Sweet Potato Crescent Rolls

 TOTAL TIME: Prep: 30 min. + rising Bake: 15 min.

YIELD: 3 dozen.

Ingredients

• 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1 can (15-3/4 ounces) cut sweet potatoes, drained and mashed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 large egg
• 1-1/2 teaspoons salt
• 5 to 5-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions

• 1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water; let stand for 5 minutes. Beat in the sweet potatoes, sugar, shortening, egg, salt and 3 cups flour. Add enough remaining flour to form a stiff dough.
• 2. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.
• 3. Punch dough down; divide into thirds. Roll each portion into a 12-in. circle; cut each into 12 wedges. Brush with butter. Roll up from the wide end and place, pointed end down, 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.
• 4. Bake at 375° for 13-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans to wire racks.

Oatmeal Caramelitas

Ingredients
2 2/3 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 2/3 cups oatmeal
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups butter, melted

1 cup chocolate chips
2/3 cups cashews, chopped
1 cup caramel ice cream topping

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 and grease a 9x12 casserole dish.

Combine flour, baking soda, oatmeal, vanilla, brown sugar, salt, and butter. Mix to combine. Mixture will be very crumbly.

Press 1/2 of the mixture into the bottom of the pan (sometimes it takes just a little more than half). Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle the chocolate chips and cashews over the top of the cruse and then drizzle with your caramel.

Top with the remaining oatmeal mixture. You will need to break it into small pieces to cover.

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Let cool before cutting.


Nutritional Information
If you cut these into 20 squares, they are 296 calories each

Nutrition Facts
Servings 20.0
Amount Per Serving
calories 296
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 6 g	9 %
Saturated Fat 3 g	13 %
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 5 mg	2 %
Sodium 121 mg	5 %
Potassium 20 mg	1 %
Total Carbohydrate 58 g	19 %
Dietary Fiber 2 g	7 %
Sugars 34 g
Protein 5 g	9 %

Mom's Baked Beans (with some alterations)

Ingredients:

2 28oz cans Bush’s Baked Beans (Brown Sugar Hickory  or Maple & Cured Bacon are my favorites)

1 can light red kidney beans - drained

1 can dark red kidney beans - drained

2 cans great northern beans - drained

1 roll Italian sausage – cooked and drained

(The rest of these ingredients I just wing and do it to taste, but hopefully these amounts will get you in the ballpark)

2 tbsp (heavy) Minced Garlic (you can never have too much Garlic)
1/8 cup Worcestershire Sauce

¼ - ½ cup Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Ground Mustard

1 tsp Onion Powder

1 tbsp Madras Curry (my Curry is from Nashville Spice Company, ingredients: coriander, turmeric, brown mustard, fenugreek seed, cumin, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, ginger, black pepper and cardamom)

Directions:

Combine all beans (do not drain the Bush’s Baked Beans first), sausage, and seasonings into the crock pot and stir well. Cook on low until heated through or until you are ready to eat. The longer it all sits together, the better the taste, so if they are getting too hot, turn your crockpot on warm instead. Once the mixture is warmed through, I always taste the “sauce” to make sure it’s the right sweetness vs spice that I am looking for. If it needs more sweet, add a little more brown sugar, if it needs more spice, add a bit more Worcestershire, ground mustard, and Madras curry. Stir well and retaste after a few minutes.

Disclaimer – I am a spice person, so mine never tastes the same twice. The Garlic, Madras Curry, and the Ground Mustard are always in it, but occasionally I put other seasonings in it as well.

Pork Carnitas

INGREDIENTS:

4lb bnls pork roast, fat trimmed and cut into 2" cubes

2 med orange, juiced & keep the spent halves

2 tbs fresh lime juice (about 1 lime)

1 1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp pepper

1 tsp ground cumin
4-6 garlic cloves

1 onion, peeled and halved

1 tsp dried oregano

1.5 C water

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Other items needed: Soft Tortilla Shells, 
Cheese, Lettuce, and other toppings.

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DIRECTIONS:

1. Combine all the ingredients in a crock pot, including the spent orange halves. Cook on low for about 8 hours (or until meat is easy to pull apart).

2. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the crock pot and place it on a large foil-lined pan. Remove and discard everything from the crockpot except for the cooking liquid.

3. Pour liquid from crock pot into a pot. Place pot over high heat on the stove and boil until thick and syrupy (about 20 minutes). You should have about 1 C of liquid remaining when it is finished.

4. While the liquid is reducing on the stove top, use two forks to pull each cube of pork into three equal sized pieces and then preheat the broiler. Once the liquid has become a syrup, gently fold in the pieces of pork into the pot. Try not to break up the pork any further. Taste and add additional salt and pepper.  

5. Spread the pork back onto the foil lined pan and evenly spread the meat around so there is a single layer of meat. Place the pan on the lower middle rack of the oven and broil until the top of the meat is well browned and edges are slightly crisp, about 5 to 8 minutes. Using a wide metal spatula, flip the pieces of meat and broil the other side until well browned and edges are slightly crisp, 5 to 8 minutes.

6. Serve immediately in a tortilla with all your favorite toppings.

Makes 14-16 servings Serving Size: 4oz Calories 186 Nutrition Facts are for meat only and are based upon 15  4oz servings.

Total Fat 10g     Saturated Fat 4g     Monosat. Fat 0g     Polyunsat. Fat 0g     Trans Fat 0g Cholesterol 59mg

Sodium 504mg Potassium 53mg Total Carbohydrate 4g Dietary Fiber 1g Sugars 2g Protein 23g

Three Envelope Roast

Ingredients:
3 pound beef roast such as chuck roast
1 envelope of dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 envelope of dry ranch salad dressing mix
1 envelope of dry brown gravy mix
2 cups water

Instructions :
Put the water in a measuring cup that is larger then the amount of water you are using.
Now add and mix all three envelopes to the water.
Mix until blended completely.
Brown the roast (if desired).
Add the meat to your cooker.
Pour the water, salad dressing mixture over the roast.
In the slow cooker cook it on high for about 4 hours on low about 8 hours.