BEST WAY TO BAKE A SWEET POTATO

Today has been one of those "catch-up" days for me. Yesterday there was nothing on my calendar for the day. My husband got up at 6:15 to go play golf. That meant I would have the complete morning to myself.  

As I couldn't go back to sleep after the alarm went off, I mentally planned out my day while still "asleep" in bed. I have known since the beginning of the week that one thing I had to do today was some of that "daily" cleaning that never gets done at my house on a daily basis .... cause I don't enjoy cleaning. Don't get me wrong, I really like a clean house, I would just rather spend my time doing something else with my time. BUT since I have been sick for about two weeks and during that time we went away for my husband's high school reunion, I knew I would have to spend at least part of today, cleaning. 

Last night we went to HyVee and bought another 4 lbs of strawberries before they went off sale at the end of the day. SO I remembered that and knew I needed to make some preserves today with them.

There was also an estate sale starting today close to Friend Janice's neighborhood and I had sent her an email last night about possibly going.

So as I laid in bed, I realized my day was getting full.  

Since it was supposed to get down in the 60s last night, I decided I should take advantage of the cooler temps and make the strawberry preserves first. I wrote a post last year about how easy this is to do. You can check it out here. .

So when my husband left at 7, I got up and started on the jam.  By 8:25 I was finished with four and a half pints. They sure did look pretty.

Since I hadn't heard from Janice, I decided to send her a text. So 20 minutes later, I was meeting her to go to the estate sale. She didn't buy anything, but I got a necklace ($5) and a Longaberger Bread Basket Brick ($3).

After I got back home, I couldn't think of anything to do to distract me from cleaning, so .....

I did stop at 11:00 to try this new way of "baking" sweet potatoes. I think I saw it on Facebook.  (Sorry my memory is getting bad.) I didn't know what else I was going to cook to go with them for dinner but at least it was a start. Well....skipping ahead to dinner ... they turned out so good. They were cooked thoroughly and were also really sweet. I was thinking of sprinkling a little brown sugar on mine, but after taking a bite, I realized they didn't need any. I don't know if it was the method of cooking or if the potato was just really sweet. Anyway, I loved the results. I used to cook mine in the microwave, but they were never done enough. Baking them in the oven is nice in the winter (helps heat up the house), but not so nice in the summer. Well, I will never bake them any other way. That's for sure.

Here is what I did.....

BEST WAY TO BAKE SWEET POTATOES

*Wash and scrub the sweet potatoes.

*Using a sharp knife (like a paring knife), quickly stab around the potato. ( stab close to top, near middle, and near bottom - four times around the potato)

*Place potatoes in your slow cooker.

*Cook on low for 6 hours.







*Here's the really nice thing....if you aren't really to eat, just turn your slow cooker to "keep warm".

They were perfect!






I did get quite a bit done...washing 3 loads of clothes and doing some of that other boring cleaning. And best of all I called and talked to my cousin Carol for almost an hour to wish her a happy birthday.

It turned out being a busy, but good day. I have to have one ever once in a while. Tomorrow I am back to a New Neighbor gathering in the afternoon ... playing canasta. That should be fun (especially if I am on a winning team). What?  At least, I'm honest. 

Until next time.