Happy new week! My gosh, I went through withdrawal last week when we were down!! I thought all was well and we were back for good this morning,but poof! it crashed when I went to post this thread. Once we're back again, it sticks this time!

Is it too early to start focusing on Thanksgiving? We're having 24 (at last count) and next week is going to be a major cook-a-thon. So I'm pulling out recipes and making grocery lists now. Do any of you have suggestions for a good, not sweet, sweet potato dish? Maybe a little fancier than my plain baked sweet potatoes, but definitely without marshmallows and all that stuff that turns them into dessert, not a side dish! I want to find a recipe that lets the natural flavor of the potato shine though. No luck so far.

Great food find! (although I may be the last to discover it ) HiLo cereal. 90 calories per half cup, 12 g protein, only 1 g sugar, 7 g fiber. Very filling and delicious!

I'm a sucker for diet and fitness books and bought Rachel Cosgrove's The Female Body Breakthrough. Not so much for the diet part, but I'm interested in the workouts. She's married to Alwyn Cosgrove, who did the workouts for New Rules Of Lifting (and for NROL for Women) and the workouts look similar. If I try any, I'll post a report.

Other than that, same old, same old. Yesterday I cooked for the week, so have no excuses for off-plan eating!

OK, time for the gym. I'm a little late today but slept in a bit. Still super tired from being sick. It takes two mugs of coffee to get me in the proper gym frame of mind!

How was your weekend and what are your Thanksgiving plans?

Meg, I saw an ad for that book, let me know if you like it! As for the sweet potatoes, you could go for a sweet potato soup. They are usually not as sweet as the other sweet potato sides. Or how about making twice baked sweet potatoes? I've never done it but it seems like it would be good -- bake them, mash up the filling with a little butter and skim milk, refill the jackets, sprinkle with cinnamon, and bake again? Or you could just roast sweet potato chunks and put them in a salad maybe with spinach, pecans, and a cranberry vinaigrette.

I'm a sucker for sweet sweet potatoes though. My mom makes the best candied yams and I think I'm going to make this year the same casserole I did last year (from Cooking Light, recipe here), which does have marshmallows.

I'm tired this morning too. I went to bed at 10, but DH was up late watching football so of course I woke up when he came to bed (which, BTW, we won, go Colts!). Then even though he was tired he was too excited from the dramatic ending of the game to fall asleep right away and tossed and turned for a while.

Weekend was good. I got in workouts both days, which is especially good because today it's raining so I don't know if today's run will happen or not. Ate too much at our cooking club meetup last night, but it was my planned indulgence for the week, so I'm not worried -- yet. Scale is up this morning with the usual Monday water weight. I'm still hoping to hit my 140 mini-goal this week.

I never did understand why sweet potatoes had to be adorned with marshmallows and brown sugar ! How about baking or boiling them and then whipping the heck out of them ala mashed white potatoes ? I think besides tasting good could be very attractively served in one of your nicest serving dishes.

Thanks for the sweet potato suggestions -- they all sound delicious! Even if I don't end up making them for T-giving, they're on my list to try. Bargoo, I never liked "sweetened" sweet potatoes either. To me, they're nature's candy, along with pineapple. Funny, since I like almost everything else sweet! (except wine, can't stand sweet wine ) I may end up doing just what you suggested: mashing them, and probably adding some cinnamon. Maybe a little light butter?

My favorite way to make sweet potatoes these days is as baked fries, with a little chipolte chili powder.

My old kitty (the 18-year old) is not doing very well and I'm waiting for the vet to call me back. We may be getting close to the end.

Meg, sorry about your kitty. Our pets are so important to us , aren't they ? A few years ago my dog , for no apparent reason, bit my neighbor, it was suggested to me at the time that I have him euthanized, when they told me that , my knees buckled and I had to grab hold of the counter to stay on my feet. I didn't do it but have warned him that he has had his "free bite ". Just remember that your kitty has had a loving home for all these years.

Mmm, me too!

Meg, so sorry to hear about your kitty! Losing a pet is like losing a child I think. Just remember that you gave him a good life, and keep the end of it as pain free as possible for him too.

I've got a very crazy week ahead of me - papers due for all (3) of the classes I'm taking, plus I'm behind at work... I am meeting with my boss today and as it is she also happens to be my academic advisor, so I'm hoping she will be a little bit forgiving with me. We don't have any major looming deadlines at present because we are just waiting for approval to begin our project.

Hi maintainers,

Meg - Fingers crossed for the site and your kitty.

Site was out this morning for me as well, so I hope its up now for a longer time!

Crazy week ahead of me, and I've decided to let power class go for tonight. I did bike to work today, so I have done my 1 hour. And it was going into strong winds, and with groceries on the way back, so this must count for something!

Have a great day all,
Rabbit

Meg~so sorry to hear about your kitty. I have a 16 year old lab that is just hanging in there. I don't know when his time will come, but I'm sure it will be sooner rather than later. Everyone is sad about it, but as long as he is still able to get around and his tail continues to wag, we know it isn't quite the right time.

I had a good weekend, we went golfing yesterday and my DS helped me make Cooking Light chicken enchiladas for dinner on Saturday. It was fun.

We're going to a wine tasting tonight. I'll have to be careful with the appetizers, but we will probably make that our dinner, so I'll just choose the good stuff.

We may have added one more couple for Thanksgiving, bringing us up to 16 total. Still quite reasonable, but I'm starting to worry about the whole thing. My Mom & Dad, Sister and Brother-in-law all arrive this Saturday and will stay through until Friday, so I have a lot of shopping to do to have enough food on hand for that bunch. Besides that, DD will be home from college for the week starting Friday.

I've decided to grill a small turkey on Thanksgiving and do another regular sized on in my roaster. I bought THIS to use on the grill. I hope it works!

Meg, 24 for dinner--ack! My house wouldn't even hold 24 much less my table. I like this recipe: http://lowfatcooking.about.com/od/th...edsweetpot.htm.

I'm so sorry about your cat. It's hard to lose a pet, but a pet that's been with you for probably longer than your kids lived at home is an especially difficult loss.

Jessica, glad you had a good weekend.

Bargoo, my son's GF made the canned yam/marshmallow thing last year, and I felt obligated to choke down a bite. I'd never had that particular dish before, and this year I said I'd make the sweet pototoes because I never want to have that marshmallow thing again.

Iris, good luck with your crazy week--take care of yourself.

Rabbit, biking into the wind, with groceries no less, must count for two workouts at least!

Allison, a 16-year old Lab is incredible. He's obviously been well taken care of to live that long. Grilling a turkey only happens in CA, I think.

Our kitchen is almost done. The electrician is here, and we should be able to move the stove and refrigerator back in their places. No more fridge in the dining room! No more cooking in the crockpot and toaster oven (although I kind of like the toaster oven)! The plumbing should be done tomorrow, which will be a relief. Doing dishes in the bathtub gets really old. My DH can hardly wait for the dishwasher to be installed.

My DS gave me my granddaughter's bath chair to rehome. He's slowly letting go of some of her stuff. I made my DH go get it because I haven't been able to go into my son's house since the funeral reception. Frankly, I wish he'd move, but I know that's not going to happen, and I know I need to get over it.

Have a good Monday, everyone!

Good afternoon! Quick flyby from my vacation while DH is out buying wasp spray and dish soap.

I love sweet potatoes, have to find more ways to prepare them. I've had the twice baked ones before, but they seemed too sweet for me the way they were prepared. My mom makes the baked ones with pecans and brown sugar but I've never actually tried them. I was such a picky eater in my past... I like the idea of roasting cubes for a salad, but have to admit I don't actually know how to roast potatoes without lots of butter. Hmm.

Meg - sorry about your kitty.

Jessica - that was a great game!

Bargoo - no problems with your dog biting since that incident?

Iris - good luck this week.

Rabbit - the wind and groceries definitely help!

Allison - that looks pretty cool for your grill, I'm sure it will work.

Sheila - glad your kitchen is almost done, and that DS is doing well. I would have had a hard time going in the house, too.

I'm not being as careful with my calories this trip, so we will see what happens on the scale on Thursday morning. We have planned meals that aren't terrible for us and aren't stocked up with too much junk, so I'm thinking I'll be okay. Hm.

Good day everyone!

Afternoon. Had a meeting this morning, and went almost immediately to a funeral, which had a full mass and a reception, so went on for a long time. I feel like I ate too much, though it didn't seem like it on my plate.

We had a good weekend, though a cold one. (it was -20F here this morning - way too cold for November )

t

Meg sorry to hear your kitty is not doing so well.

Pat OMG Brrrr!

Hi to everyone else!

Dagmar

Meg-- thinking about you and your kitty as mine purrs and lays on my laptop helping me type....

I can't imagine cooking for so many people. It will only be the 4 of us for Thanksgiving. Dd comes home Friday night from college. I can't wait.

I will respond more later but I need to get to the gym. I am cold and tired and procrastinating so I need to get off of here before I don't go at all.

Happy Monday to everyone!!

I am with the other savory sweet potato eaters. For me the potato's are sweet enough, though I like to add a little spice for the zing of it!

Here are some of my favorites that always get raves;

Curried Mashed Sweet Potatoes
servs: 6

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, quartered
* 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
* 1 medium onion, finely chopped
* 2 teaspoons curry powder
* 1/2 cup Reduced Fat Sour Cream
* 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)


Directions

1. Cook sweet potatoes in boiling water in 3-quart saucepan 15 minutes or until tender. Drain.
2. Meanwhile heat oil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir 4 minutes. Add curry powder; cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
3. Mash cooked sweet potatoes. Stir in onion mixture, sour cream and salt.

** I have also added in cumin and cinnamon to this and it was fabulous.

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I was looking for something pretty and special when I happened across this recipe. I will leave the link as well, you have got to see the picture these are gorgeous on your Thanksgiving table!! I did modify the sweet potato side of this because it called for orange juice & honey. Instead I used skim milk, becel marg, and a wee bit of horse-raddish for the zing. Mashing just like you would normal white potato's... It was fabulous!!

Here is the original recipe;

Two-Potato Swirls
servs: 8

Ingredients

* 3 large russet potatoes, peeled and quartered
* 3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and quartered
* 1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
* 2 tablespoons milk
* 2 tablespoons butter, divided
* 2 tablespoons orange juice
* 1 tablespoon honey


Directions

1. Place the russet potatoes in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Place sweet potatoes in another saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 20-25 minutes until tender.

2. Drain russet potatoes and place in a large mixing bowl; mash until smooth. Add cream cheese, 2 tablespoons milk and 1 tablespoon butter; beat until light and fluffy, adding more milk as needed. Drain sweet potatoes and place in another bowl; mash until smooth. Add the orange juice, honey and remaining butter.

**3. Insert tip #409 into a pastry bag. Spoon russet potato mixture into one side of the bag; spoon sweet potato mixture into the other side.**

4. Pipe 3-in. swirls, forming large rosettes, onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until heated through and tops are lightly browned.

** I find it easier, cleaner, and less messy all the way around to just snip the edge off a large freezer bag and pipe that way. When your done... toss the bag.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Two-Pot...ls/Detail.aspx

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Sometimes compromises from both camps of sweet sweet potato lovers and savory sweet potato lovers are called for. This last recipe fits the bill perfectly!

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Ginger and Honey
servs 12

Ingredients

* 3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
* 1/2 cup honey
* 3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
* 2 tablespoons walnut oil
* 1 teaspoon ground cardamom
* 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

2. In a large bowl, toss together the sweet potatoes, honey, ginger, walnut oil, cardamom, and pepper. Transfer to a large cast iron frying pan.

3. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Stir the potatoes to expose the pieces from the bottom of the pan. Bake for another 20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender and caramelized on the outside.
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I now return you to your weekly chatter.

Yum, that curried sweet potato recipe looks great!