Sweet potato and peanut stew

Sweet potatoes, peanuts, and chickpeas may sound like an odd combination, but this stew is actually really good! It's pretty easy to prepare too, and it freezes well.

Recipe as it appears in the magazine:

3 med. sweet potatoes, well scrubbed & cut into 1 1/2 " chunks
1 T. Olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed with garlic press (or 1 generous tsp minced garlic from the jar)
1 1/2 t. ground cumin
1/2 t. salt (optional)
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
1/8 t. crushed red pepper (optional)
2 cans (15 to 19 oz. each) garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 oz) vegetable broth (1 3/4 c.)
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes
1/4 c. creamy peanut butter
1/2 c. loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

1. Place potatoes in 2 1/2 quart microwave safe dish. Cover dish and
microwave on high about 8 mintues or until fork-tender.

2. Meanwhile, in 5 or 6 quart saucepot, heat oil over med-high heat. Add
garlic, cumin, salt, cinnamon, and crushed red pepper, and cook 30 seconds,
stirring. Stir in beans, broth, tomatoes, and peanut butter until blended;
heat to boiling and cook 1 minute, stirring occasionally.

3. Reduce heat to med low; add sweet potatoes to bean mixture and simmer 2
minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cilantro.

*The magazine says the potatoes only take about 8 minutes to microwave--this probably depends on what type of microwave you have, but in ours it takes about half again as long. Just make sure they're pretty much fully cooked before you add them to the stew.

*When I make this, I usually use dried cilantro instead of fresh. If you do this, add it a little bit earlier (when you add the sweet potato) so that its flavor has longer to be absorbed.

Carolyn Cookies

Outside of our family these are probably known as yogurt cookies, but our family friend Carolyn always made them for birthdays and other occasions, so we've called them Carolyn Cookies for as long as I can remember. No one can make them as well as she does, but when I brought these to Emily's house the consensus was that mine came out just fine. :-)

Ingredients:

1 cup sour milk or 8 oz yogurt, any flavor (strawberry or lemon adds a nice touch)

1 1/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup shortening

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Cream shortening and sugar; add eggs. Sift dry ingredients. Add soda to sour milk/yogurt. Add alternately with dry ingredients. Add vanilla; mix well. Bake 10-15 min at 375F. Cool and frost with favorite frosting and top with sprinkles.

Buttercream frosting:

2 cups powdered sugar

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

3 Tbsp milk

2 tsp vanilla

Beat with electric mixer. Add milk as needed to get the right consistency.

Pita Bread

I found this recipe at: http://mideastfood.about.com/od/breadsrice/r/pitabreadrecipe.htm

I wasn't sure if they would work, but they did! A perfect pocket in the middle.

Ingredients:

1 pkg of yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1/2 cup warm water

3 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

1 cup lukewarm water

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup warm water. Add sugar; stir until dissolved. Let sit 10-15 min until water is frothy.

Combine flour and salt in large bowl.

Make a small depression in the middle of the flour and pour yeast water into it.

Slowly add 1 cup lukewarm water and stir until elastic (use wooden spoon or rubber spatula).

Place dough on floured surface and knead 10-15 min until dough is smooth and elastic, not sticky. (You may need to keep adding flour to the surface.)

Coat large bowl (I used the one I mixed the dough in) with oil. Put dough in and flip it over so all sides are greased.

Allow to sit in a warm place for about 3 hours or until it has doubled in size (it took 2 hours for mine).

Once doubled, preheat oven to 500F. Position rack as low as possible in the oven, and put in your baking sheet to preheat. Roll dough into a rope and make into 10-12 small balls. Let sit on a floured surface for 10 min.

Roll out each ball into circles about 5-6 inches across and about 1/4 inch thick.

Back each circle for 4 min until bread puffs up. Turn over and bake 2 more min. Remove from baking sheet (and repeat for next set of circles).

Gently push down on the puff. Immediately place in storage bags. Can be stored for a week without being frozen or a month if frozen.

Banana-Oatmeal Cookies

This recipe is from Tori. I think she invented it, hence the vague amounts.

Ingredients:

Bananas (the riper the better)

Oatmeal

Olive Oil

Anything else you want to add-- I used walnuts and chocolate chips.

Mash up the bananas and add oatmeal. It took more than I initially expected-- I don't have an exact amount, but enough to make everything hold together well. Add a bit of olive oil. The bananas I used were ripe enough that I barely needed any. Add whatever else you're putting in-- chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, etc. Bake at 350F until they're done (oatmeal crispy/slightly browned). It took 8 minutes for mine. Makes... well, that depends on how many bananas you want to use and how big you make the cookies. I used 3 bananas and it made about 2 dozen small cookies.

And... that's it! Very easy and very tasty.

***edit from tori

I also like to add a teaspoon (quite literally, considering I don't have measuring spoons) of cinnamon and a half a teaspoon of nutmeg. Also, a half a teaspoon of chili powder is a nice kick...so are raisins. ***