Sweet Potato Pudding

Everyone in my family loves sweetpotatoes (id est, Dear Sister, Brother1 and Mommy), or is at least indifferent to them (id est, Daddy and Brother2)... except me. I gag on sweetpotatoes and I can't--literally, for some strange reason I can't--choke down more than a few bites. Don't ask me why; I don't get it myself...


...and that's why it's so ironic that out of this whole family of sweetpotato lovers no one loves sweetpotato pudding half as much as I do. So that's why you must try it (just to warn you, if you eat a lot of sugar on a regular basis than this will not be as good to you as it is to me, but if you haven't had something too sweet in a while you will love this). The best part is that this is good for you, as sweetpotatoes are actually some of the best possible things that you could eat, so you can have it as much and as often as you like!


I've written how we make it here:


INGREDIENTS:

1. 1 large or two small-ish sweetpotatoes (I cannot stress enough how imperative it is to have SWEETPOTATOES and NOT yams. Yams are orange on the inside, sweetpotatoes are more off-white; trust me, this will NOT turn out good if you use yams).
2. 6-8 pieces of pineapple; more or less to taste
3. 1/4 cup orange juice (I'd start with a little less and add more or less to taste)
4. 2 handfuls of walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cook the sweetpotatoes by placing them in an oven at 350 degrees for one hour. Check on them then by poking them with a fork; if they aren't a near pudding-like texture leave them in longer. Sometimes they can take two or more hours to finish. Once you've cooked them just peel off the skin; it should be easy if you've baked them long enough.
2. Place the sweetpotato, pineapple, orange juice and walnuts in a blender. Blend it all together for 30-ish seconds, stop, and then stir. Repeat this until the pudding looks white-ish and is creamy.
3. Taste and add more of anything you think it needs more of; it's near impossible to get it just right.
4. Bon appetite!

Warning: DO NOT USE YAMS--USE SWEETPOTATOES!!!

Honestly, this stuff is divine!--and this is from someone who hates sweetpotatoes!

Galaxy

Galaxy's Pudin' Filled Crusties

Here is a recipe I invented. I've tried it many times and it's become a family favorite... hope you like it!!!

COOKIE CRUST:

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
½ tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
⅓ cup powdered walnuts

Wet Ingredients:

⅓ cup water
¼ cup apple sauce
2 tsp vanilla

FILLING:

1½ cup crumbled tofu
⅔ cup cane sugar
⅓ cup carob powder
2 tsp vanilla
Pinch of salt

Dark chocolate chips for garnish (optional).

Cookie Crust:

1: Place the dry ingredients in a large mixing boll and stir well.
2: Place the wet ingredients in a medium mixing boll and stir well.
3: Preheat the oven to 350oF
4: Poor the dry ingredients into the wet and mix well.
5: Take a small portion of the dough, roll into a ball and flatten on a cookie sheet. Repeat until the cookie sheet is covered. Place the crusts in the oven for fifteen minutes.

Filling:

1: Boil a small pan of water and place one tofu in it for five minutes. Crumble the needed amount and place it in the blender.
2: Place the remaining ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth and creamy.

Puddin’ Filled Crusties:

1: When the crusts are done let them cool slightly and then remove from the cookie sheet with a pancake flipper.
2: Spread a very thick layer of the filling in the middle and fold the other end of the crust over; garnish with the chocolate chips (optional).

Serve immediately.

Approximately five Crusties.

Galaxy’s Tips:

The filling should be blended for a long time before stopping. That way the filling will as smooth and creamy as possible—but be sure not to blend too long, as the filling will stop being creamy and become pasty.

Easter '08

Wondering what I did on Easter? Well, here's your answer in the form of this mile long post!

The first few hours we didn't really do anything, we had some Over-Night Oatmeal for breakfast (it's absolutely devine. 1 cup of porridge, 1 cup of soymilk or apple juice, half a teaspoon of cinnamon and a tablespoon of currents or raisins. It's wonderful with raisins, but it's best with currents), and we just hung out while we waited for Nana and Don to come.

When they did arrive, we played around for a while and Dear Sister and I started to stuff some Easter Eggs with some confetti and tokens. When we were done, we had a lot of eggs. Mean while, Mommy was making some split-pea soup for dinner, and Brother1, Nana, Don and Daddy were practicing finding/hiding Easter Eggs.

After Dear Sister and were done with the eggs, we made some bunny ears for each other and Brother1. After that, we did a silly little dance my sister and I had choreographed together called 'The Bunny Hop' while the soup was cooking. I tried to get a video on this post, but unfortunately I couldn't get it to work. Sometime I'll put a post up of just the video if I ever CAN get it on... Sorry!

Once that was done we all just hung out until dinner was ready, after which we had our Easter Egg Hunt. It was a lot of fun. Here are all the Easter Goodies I found:

A 'Peter' token

(made by Dear Sister)

A 'Cottontail' token

(made by Dear Sister)

A fuzzy pink ball

A little egg

A tiny little animal thingy

Another Egg

A Bunny Token

(made by Dear Sister)

And a little bunny popping out of an egg

After all this, I took pictures and we all just sat around and talked. By now it was getting a little late, and Nana and Don had to go. We said our long goodbyes and with sad hearts watched them leave.

After that we were bored so we decided to rent a movie. We picked out a few we wanted, and Daddy went to the movie-rental place. Here's a list of what we wanted to get:

1. Enchanted. And if they didn't have that then we wanted...
2. Nancy Drew. And if we couldn't have that then...
3. Bee Movie. And if not that...
4. The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising.

Anyway, while Daddy was gone I made some Brownies (yes, it is possible to have devine brownies without dairy) and Mommy made some praline. Daddy got home and while the brownies were cooking we watched the movie (which turned out to be Nancy Drew). In the middle of the show the brownies were done, and I took them out while Mommy made some whipped cream (again, it is possible to have wonderful whipped cream without dairy). Then we put the praline on the Brownies, and the whipped cream on top of the praline. Here's a picture of the brownies just to torment you (and me, every time I come to look at my blog):

So, we finished the brownies (sniff, sniff) and finished the movie and after that it was time for bed. We gave each other our hugs and kisses goodnight and went to bed to end this wonderful day.

I had an awesome Easter.... I hope you did too!

Galaxy