Gently spiced black beans with baked sweet potatoes

I really, really like this recipe.  It's not very spicy, but is flavorful enough to tickle the taste-buds.  The flavors of the beans and the sweet potatoes complement each other very well.  It's fast and can easily be doubled or tripled depending on how many mouths are around to feed.  It's one I'll make and turn into brown-bag lunches for a week.

I adapted the recipe from EatingWell.  While you could zap the sweet potatoes in your microwave on short notice, as EatingWell recommends, I suggest baking them in the oven.  Baking takes planning ahead, but zapped sweet potatoes don't carmelize like baked ones do.

The sweet potatoes take about an hour and a half to bake (they're super forgiving on time).  About twenty minutes before they're done, start the black beans and you're good to go.  :)  If making a larger batch, allot more time for it to come to a simmer.

Yogurt makes a nice garnish and helps make this a complete protein.  This meal is fairly heavy, so I recommend serving with crackers or flatbread.

48th Thankful Thursday: Beans :)

I have 48 cans of beans and more than two pounds of dried beans in my pantry.  Refried, canellini, kidney, black, garbanzo, great northern, baby lima, original baked, chili....   Thank goodness for case lot sales and a mother who is willing to stock up her daughter's pantry.  :)

We'll see how long this supply lasts.  ;)

This week:  What is a food you consider totally essential to your meal planning?  

PREVIEW:  I'm going to post one of my newest favorite recipes this weekend: an Indian-spiced black bean and baked sweet potato recipe.  :)  SO, so good.  :)

47th Thankful Thursday: Doing things of greatest worth

"We are not only to do good, but, most importantly, to do the things of greatest worth—things of the heart that we know we should do but often don’t do."

--James E. Faust, "Sins of Omission", Friend, June 1998, inside front cover

46th Thankful Thursday: Supermom skills in the kitchen

189 jars (mostly quarts) of veggies and fruit
107 cups of salsa and sweet chili sauce
284 cups of jams and jellies

That is what my Supermom canned just this past autumn.  She cans food every autumn, working tens of hours in a hot kitchen.  I think one year she canned over 150 quarts of grape juice. If she's doing tomatoes she boils the tomatoes and skins every one.  Peaches are peeled with a paring knife.  Jams and jellies require near-constant stirring over a steamy pot, most batches take at least half an hour and only produce about 12 cups of jam each.  Applesauce requires the apples to be cooked and then squished through a food mill.

45th Thankful Thursday: Superdad skills

Last evening, my dad fixed my "broken" car key-hole with WD-40 in a freezing garage.  He used duct tape to patch some rips under the car door frame.   He taught me how to grease the rubber rim thingys of the car doors with Vaseline to prevent them from freezing shut.  Then he took apart and put back together my mom's old laptop, replacing some widget to help it run better.

I love my dad.  I'm grateful he would be both willing and able to help me (and do other service too) when he was so tired after a long day from work.

This week: What are some examples of your Superdad's skills or service?