Chicken and Chicken Broth

This past week Harris Teeter had split chicken breasts on sale for .77/lb! That's the cheapest that I've seen it in a while. When I find a good deal like this I stock up on as much as I can.

I like split chicken breasts b/c you have the side benefit of getting broth out of it. I go ahead & put some whole breasts in the freezer but I also like to prepare some as a convenience.

I have a big stock pot (thanks Mom!) that I just fill up with water. I wash at least 2 packets of split chicken breasts (the packages I got had 3 breasts in each package). I cooked the chicken breasts, let them cool & pulled the meat off of the bone. I put the broth in containers after it cooled. I stuck everything in the freezer so that I'd have it available when I needed those items for a quick meal.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

To celebrate having the laptop back (finally!) & sweet potatoes being harvested (& the fact that I have some of the best friends in the world that let me come pick some today!) I thought I would post a new recipe. This recipe is from my Deceptively Delicious cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld (yeah, I jumped on that bandwagon for a brief time. It does have some good recipes in it though-I need recipes b/c other than throwing some wheat flour in things I'm extremely recipe dependent).

So, to prepare the SWEET POTATO PUREE

Prep: Do not peel. Cut into quarters, if steaming. If roating leave whole. Cook: Steam for 40-45 minutes. ROAST AT 400 f for 50-60 MINUTES (Can you tell which one I do?)
Puree: Scoop out the flesh & puree in a food processor or blender (definitely just pulse the food processor b/c if you don't it throws it onto the sides & you have to keep taking the lid off & scraping it off of the sides. You all probably already know that but I had to figure that out the hard way today).


SWEET POTATO PANCAKES (they are soooo easy & were a big hit with everyone again)
1 c. water
1/2 c. sweet potato puree
1/4 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (optional)-I used cinnamon (& a little more than 1/4 a tsp.)
1 c. pancake mix
nonstick cooking spray
1 tbs. canola or vegetable oil
syrup, for serving

1-In a large bowl, mix the water, sweet potato puree, & cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice, if using. Add the pancake mix & stir just to combine-the batter should be lumpy.

2-Coat a griddle or large nonstick skillet with cooking spray & set it over medium=high heat. When the pan is hot, add the oil, & spoon the batter onto the griddle or pan, using 1/4 c. batter for each pancake.

3- Cook until bubbles form on top of the pancakes & the batter is set, 2-3 minutes. Then use a spatula to flip the pancakes & cook them until golden brown on the other side, 2-3 minutes.

***I didn't have "pancake mix" tonight so I used baking mix. I fixed ours according to the recipe on the back of the box for pancakes, using slightly less milk & they turned out fine.


For interesting info on the sweet potato you can follow this link