Orange Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet Potato Pie?

Um, no thank you.

ORANGE Sweet Potato Pie?

YES PLEASE!

It may sound like a weird combination, but this orange-y tasty goodness has now become a reason for me to buy sweet potatoes in bulk. Thanks to Nick's Grandma, I have obtained a delicious recipe.

I was given a sweet potato grown by my husband's grandfather, and decided this was the best use for it. This thing was huge!!

Dude, seriously, that is a big sweet potato!

This is a recipe for the filling only. It doesn't include the bottom crust or crumb topping.

Orange Sweet Potato Pie

1 recipe bottom and top crust

3 eggs

2lbs sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed

5oz milk or yogurt

1 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. butter, melted

4 tsp grated orange peel

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground allspice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk all ingredients together until smooth.

(note: I used the yogurt in this recipe because I was out of milk. The original recipe actually called for evaporated milk, but I think mine came out just fine.)

Pour into prepared crust. Bake for 30 minutes.

Add top crust. Bake 15-20 minutes more.

Oh. Yeah.

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A Classic: Cappuccino Mousse Pie

This is my absolute favorite fallback recipe for dessert.

It's delicious.

It's fancy.

It's the easiest dessert to make, ever.

My mom found it in a magazine somewhere, in the corner of the page, where it would normally be overlooked. Thankfully, Mom's super observant.

Cappuccino Mousse Pie

1 1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

2 c. heavy whipping cream

3 Tbsp instant coffee granules

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 graham cracker crust

Melt chocolate chips in microwave for about 1-1 1/2 minutes. Stir until smooth.

You want it to cool enough to add to the cream, but not so cool that it turns back to chocolate chips.

Meanwhile, beat cream, coffee, sugar and vanilla until stiff peaks form.

Remove and reserve 1 1/2 cups cream. Gently fold cooled melted chocolate into remaining whipped cream until well blended. Pour and spread evenly in crust.

Drop reserved cream by spoonfuls all over top of chocolate layer and spread evenly.

Shave chocolate and coffee beans on top to garnish.

YUM!!!

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A Healthier Twist On Zucchini Bread

A while back I posted a recipe for Zucchini Bread that is absolutely fab!

But, I found that Ryder ended up eating it everyday, and this started concerning me considering the sugar content. It's not too bad, but enough to make me pause.

So I decided to come up with a more breakfast-y bread that was sugar free, and even more healthy than the original recipe.

*Keep in mind, this recipe isn't as sweet as the original.

Sugar Free Zucchini Bread

1/3 c. agave nectar

2 bananas, mashed

1 c. applesauce

2 c. shredded zucchini

3 eggs, beaten

1 Tbsp vanilla

3 c. flour

3/4 c. bran

1/4 c. flax seed

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 c. raisins

1 c. nuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease two loaf pans.

Mix together agave, bananas and applesauce till smooth. Then add zucchini, eggs and vanilla. Set aside.

Mix flour, bran, flax seed, cinnamon, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Add raisins, then nuts. Combine with zucchini mixture.

Pour dough into prepared pans. Bake for 30 minutes.

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Stampeding Towards Home

Well, as you can tell we were a little too busy enjoying ourselves for me to have time to write about the last part of our trip.

We enjoyed the fabulous Dixie Stampede dinner show! Surprisingly all the kids did really great and seemed to like it. Ryder didn't seem to know what to think about one of the riders.

Ryder really got the hang of going to church.

One day we went to Gatlinburg. It's a really cool town and you can walk anywhere you want to go. I didn't get any pictures while we were there, but we enjoyed it all the same. 

We basically spent the last few days enjoying the time we had left with family. It was nice that we had the entire Flynn clan together, and of course we had to take a whole family shot.

What a good looking family!

We made it home in one piece, and although Ryder is struggling with a cold, we brought home good memories.

I leave you with this beautiful sunrise shot.

Awesome.

 

Rainbows, Rafting...Dollywood!

Time passes by when you're having fun!

We've been busily running ourselves all over the place. Or, more like, the parents are running and the grandparents have been busily babysitting.

First, I'd like to share a couple of cool rainbow pictures from a couple of days ago. It's been raining a lot since we've been here, and we came home to this beautiful view of a rainbow!

It went all the way across!

Yesterday, a group of us went ziplining and white water rafting. The ziplining was so-so for anyone who isn't adrenaline rushless (me), but the rafting was better than expected, especially to my husband. As a seasoned canoer, it's surprising he's never been before. I think he's found a new passion.

Starting off all happy go lucky.

Whoa! Gettin' dicy!

And we're wet.

We had a lot of fun, definitely worth doing.

Today we went to Dollywood! As amusement parks go, this has to be by far the best I've been to. Of course I'm no authority on the subject seeing as I never step foot on a roller coaster. Some of us just hung out with the kids while others went to get their "screams" as Andrea put it.

Driving Miss Selene.

Aunt Kelly Rocks!

Ryder finally got to go on a brrm brrm! Too bad it was pink...

Aunt Kelly riding with Xander.

Uncle Jake riding with Selene.

There weren't a whole lot of rides the kids could go on mainly because they are so young, but the couple we went on seem to be pleasing to them.

Well, mostly.

Tuckered out.

Tomorrow will be mostly uneventful because the girls are going shopping!

Snip Snip!

Well I did it.

I got Ryder's hair cut.

I know. How could I get rid of those precious curls?

Don't worry, I still have them, ready to be put in his baby book. I mean, you have to admit, he was starting to have a mullet, and honestly I thought he looked a little like Fraiser with the scraggly hair in the back and what looked like nothing up top.

Thankfully, I have a wonderful amazing sister-in-law that cuts hair and was happy to give him a little trim. Yea!

I love how Selene had to check everything out.

I guess it was quite a family affair.

Doesn't he look great?!

The cousins are really starting to play together.

The next day we didn't do much (again). We ran to the store in the afternoon.

Ryder was worn out.

Later on, while a group went to opening night services, a group of us stayed behind and babysat. (I'm still sick, I might even have to miss the first holy day, we'll just see how it goes).

 Gram is the best of all!

Nick built this circular tower and Selene climbed in and sat right down in the middle of it.

Uncle Nick was pretty popular, he made popcorn!

Today we'll be resting for the most part, but tomorrow we go rafting and ziplining! Woo Hoo!