Once a Month Cooking? Umm...No.

I have a book on once a month cooking that I have never actually used. I pulled it out again this week and read through it trying to decide if I could do it. The cooking part? Yes! The recipes, well... no. I don't like using a lot of meat -- especially prepared meats. Not to say that we never eat meat because we do, but not too often and when we do, it's usually poultry or fish.

Sooo, instead I'm going to peruse more of my recipe books for crockpot meals, and casseroles that will allow me to double them and then freeze them. I need the peace of mind to know that if I am totally uninspired in the kitchen or am going to have a busy week, that I can just pull something out of the freezer and warm it up in the crockpot or in the oven. I am also hoping to get back into menu planning. I always seem to be very faithful about it for a few months and suddenly it stops altogether again. I still haven't figured out why.

Here is one of our favorite recipes. It makes for great freezer fare too!

Sweet Potato Soup

2 sweet potatoes (about 2 1/4 lb)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 small onion chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp ginger root ground
2 tsp mild curry paste
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock

In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium hear, cook onion, garlic, ginger, and curry paste 3 minutes or until softened. Add stock, and peeled, chopped potatoes, bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Puree soup.

*** You can double or triple this recipe. We like to change it up a bit with amounts of onion, ginger, garlic, etc, or by adding a can of coconut milk.

You can also serve it with sour cream, or yogurt, pesto, chopped fresh herbs, hot pepper flakes, feta cheese, shredded cheese , red and green peppers, croutons, or whatever else you choose.

Enjoy!