In the kitchen on Thursday: Healthy Latkes

Baked Sweet Potato and Apple Latkes*

Preheat oven to 400. Grate 2 medium sweet potatoes (aka Yams). Peel half a granny smith apple and grate into the potatoes. Add 1/3 C. oat flour and 2 beaten eggs. Mix all the ingredients together. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper and grease with olive oil. Shape mixture into large "meatballs" and flatten on cookie sheet. Brush tops with olive oil. Bake for 15-25 minutes. Serve warm. Makes 12. Latkes can be refrigerated overnight.

(There is no picture because I forgot to take one before I served them and they were devoured.)

"It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I stay with problems longer." — Albert Einstein

In the kitchen on Thursday: Overnight oatmeal

1 C. Water
3/4 C. Oats

Place ingredients in lidded jar or bowl and shake. Place in the fridge overnight. In the morning warm up the oatmeal with whatever add-ins you like.

Wednesday's words on exercise

”A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise.”― Winnie the Pooh

Tuesday's tip: Water. Water, everywhere

I just read that to be fully hydrated, you should divide you weight in half and drink that many ounces of water per day.

For example: 150/2=75, so 75 oz.

What is family?

Yesterday, I attended the birthday party of my mother's boyfriend and every family member of his had the same last name except for a cousin (and his wife) on the boyfriends mother's side and it made me wonder what is family, so I answered my own question when I though about my close friend and her husband that my daughter calls grandma and grandpa and came to conclusion that family is what you make it.

(P.S. So Marco [our Havanese puppy] welcome to the family)

In the kitchen on Thursday: A Southern style cake

This recipe originally came from the Betty Crocker website.

Caramel Cake

Cake

1 moist yellow cake mix

1 C. Milk

1/3 Butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp. Vanilla extract

3 eggs

Caramel Frosting

1/2 C. Butter

1 C. Powdered Sugar

1/2 C. Cake batter (reserved)

1/2 C. Evaporated milk

1 tsp. Vanilla.

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together for the cake. You can use an electric mixer on a low speed or a wooden spoon. When it is all combined, remove 1/2 C. of batter for the icing. Pour the batter into two greased 8" round pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes and allow to cool.

For icing, melt the butter in a 2 qt. saue pot. Add in the rest of the ingredients and cook for several  minutes until the mixture thickens and turns "caramel" colored. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

Remove a cake layer from its pan and place on a plate. Ice the top with caramel frosting. Place on top the next layer and ice the top and sides.

I made this from my mother's birthday (she is Southern) and it was gobbled up before I could take a picture. I can say it is really delicious.