I'm-not-sure-what-to-call-this Chicken & Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Andy and Christy were over tonight for dinner. I'm not doing dinner rotation anymore, so instead we do a swap each week with the Fosses. This week was our turn. I made some chicken that I tried a couple years ago, but haven't made recently. The recipe is from Kraftfoods and it's called, "Simply Saucy Chicken." I don't really like that name. If you (does anyone actually read this blog?) have a suggestion for a catchy name for it, please comment. AGAIN, PLEASE COMMENT! I had a picture, but it didn't turn out very well, so I deleted it. Sorry.

....Chicken

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1-2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup Cesear dressing (I used Kraft)
Italian seasoning (a shake or two)
cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half (amount up to you)
pre-cooked and crumbled bacon (I use my old stand-by, see post below)

Directions:

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Cook chicken on medium-high heat, on each side until browned. (4-5 minutes each side.) Mix broth, dressing, and seasoning and then add to chicken. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until chicken reaches internal temperature of 165 F. (I got a great little digital thermometer at Target for around $10.) Then add tomatoes and bacon. Turn to low a continue to cook for 2 more minutes.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes or yams
2-4 TBSP butter (more or less to taste)
salt and pepper

Directions:

Peel and cube sweet potatoes. Steam them until tender. In mixing bowl add cooking sweet potatoes and butter. Mix with hand blender until desired texture. Salt and pepper to taste.

The adults and Jacob seemed to enjoy the chicken. I think the other kids would have too, minus the tomatoes, but I was being lazy and served them chicken nuggets. Summer didn't like the sweet potatoes, but Brook and Jake had seconds. I think I prefer mashed sweet potatoes to regular mashed potatoes.

Red Velvet for Valentine's Day!

My daughter is in Kindergarten and getting better at reading and writing. She wanted to make a Valentine, and this is how it turned out. Anyway, Valentine's Day is not my favorite. It all seems so forced. If you really love someone you shouldn't be made to express your love on one particular day in the year. That being said, I do appreciate the interruption in mid-winter. As my brother, Andy, said so eloquently last week, "They just created this holiday so that fewer people would want to kill themselves in the middle of February."
So, I made two New Year's Resolutions for this year. #1 No sugar. #2 Have the dishes done before I go to bed, so that I can wake up to a clean kitchen and clean dishes. Both have been going well. Historically, Valentine's Day really screws with any kind of diet I'm attempting to stick to, because as we all know, it's a candy holiday. Like Halloween. So, I, of course, wanted to make something that was red like all the cute and delicious candy I've been seeing. I've been wanting to try my hand at red velvet cake. I figured if I made cupcakes I could give some away which would help with goal #1. Point being, I haven't tried them. My kids chowed down on them, and I think they look pretty cute. They weren't that hard, so maybe give them a try and let me know how they taste. Thanks!

Some to give away!

Red Velvet Cake (Or Cupcakes)

Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups cake flour
4 TBSP cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 TBSP butter, room temperature
1-2/3 cups sugar
2 large eggs, and 1 egg yolk
1 cup buttermilk, plus 2 TBSP.
1 oz red food coloring (yes, the whole bottle)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 TBSP white vinegar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with cupcake papers. If using foil liners, spray with cooking spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt. (If possible, repeat a few times.) In a large bowl gently beat together the butter and sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time. Slowly mix in buttermilk. Then add remaining food coloring, vinegar, and vanilla. Be sure to scrape sides thoroughly. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet and mix until smooth and thoroughly combined.

Divide the batter evenly among the cupcake tins about 2/3 filled. Bake for about 20 to 22 minutes. Test the cupcakes with a toothpick. Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting with cream cheese frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
8 oz of cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup of butter at room temperature (1 stick)
2 tsp. vanilla
4-1/2 cups powdered sugar
food coloring, optional

Directions:
Cream together cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and mix in well. Add powdered sugar 2 cups at a time, mixing on low until sugar is incorporated. Add food coloring if you want. Once all the sugar is mixed in, give it a good mixing on a higher speed for about 30 seconds. Use immediately. Refrigerate left overs. For these cupcakes, I spooned the frosting into a Ziploc bag and cut a corner off, then used it as a piping bag to apply the frosting. My kids were pretty impressed. They thought I bought them at the store. Whatever happened to homemade being better?

These would also be cute on the 4th of July with white frosting and blue sprinkles.