Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:

• 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes, peeled, diced into 1 inch pieces
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter

Preparations:

1. Add them to a pot, and fill with water until they are covered by about an inch. Season with salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, and cook until they are fork tender, about 12 minutes.
2. Drain the water, leaving a bit at the bottom of the pot. Mash them using a potato masher or a fork.
3. Stir in brown sugar and butter. 

Cook Time: 25 minutes
Serves: 8

Rice and Chile Casserole

Ingredients:

• 4 cups cooked brown rice 
• 2 tbsp butter 
• Half a large onion, cut into 1 x 0.25 in pieces 
• 3 small chiles or 1 large chile, stemmed, seeded, and sliced. 
• 1 14oz can of diced tomatoes, drained  
• 1 cup corn kernels, fresh, thawed from frozen or canned and drained  
• 1 tsp kosher salt or to taste  
• 1/2 cup sour cream 
• 1/2 cup queso fresco (or half of grocery store wheel), can substitute with farmers, basket or ricotta cheese  
• 1 1/2 cup shredded 2% Mexican cheese

Preparations:

1. Place the butter in a saute pan set over medium heat.  Once it melts, add the slivered onion and allow it to sweat for about 12 minutes, until translucent and soft.  
2. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the tomatoes and cook for about 2 minutes.  Stir in the chile strips, corn, salt, and black pepper and cook for about 3 more minutes.  
3. Add the cream and queso fresco and continue cooking, stirring from time to time, until the sauce thickens a bit and seasons, for 10 to 12 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Greased a 8 x11 or 9 x 9 baking dish.  Layer the rice in the baking dish and press it down gently with a spatula.  Pour the chile mixture on top.  For the last layer, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top.
5. Bake the casserole in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese has completely melted and is golden brown.

Cook Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 8-10

Apple Pie

Ingredients:

• 9 inch pie crust (in the frozen food section) 
• 6 large or 7 medium apples
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, roughly
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 2 tbsp flour 
• .5 tsp cinnamon 
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg 
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 1/2 cup flour 
• 1/2 cup brown sugar 
• 3 tbsp butter, cold

Preparations:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Peel and slice apples. Chunk a couple of them. Place sliced apples in a large bowl. As chopping the apples, I sprinkle each apple with lemon juice to keep it from browning.
3. In a small bowl, mix together white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, corn starch, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Spoon mixture into pie crust.
4. To make the crumb top, mix together 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar in a small bowl. Cut butter into small pieces. Cut in butter into flour mixture until it's crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple filling. Cover top loosely with aluminum foil.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Slow Cooker Apple Sauce

Ingredients:

• 10 medium Granny Smith apples
• 3/4 cups water
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp honey 
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar 
• 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

Preparations:

1. Peel the apples by cutting off the tops and bottoms of the apples, peeling each one with a vegetable peeler, and then cutting the apple away from the core.
2. Add all ingredients to the slow cooker and give it a quick stir. 
3. Set the slow cooker to 4 hours on high, stirring occasionally.