What I have been cooking/baking...

I hate to cook. Since it is just my hubby & me at home and we rarely ear the same thing, my cooking consists of popping some Tyson chicken strips in the microwave. I remember when I was a teenager and my mom was trying to get me to cook. I would literally cry when it is was 'my night' to cook. I hated it.

But for some strange reason, I love to bake. Probably because I give away my baked items and people seem to appreciate them.

We go to a small church - around 100-120 people - and they have snacks in the back of the sanctuary. The church goers take turns baking and bringing items so there is no real cost to the church budget.

I signed up for this weekend because I knew Valentine's Day is right around the corner. Today I baked hundreds of cookies for our church on Sunday: peanut butter, oatmeal, sugar (iced and non-iced) and chocolate chip cookies.

Here is the photo of most of the cookies. I already separated the ones for my father-in-law and the mailman.

My father-in-law always appreciates the snacks. He is turning 86 this month and I have been helping him out with meals that he can freeze and then thaw & heat in the microwave. Since he eats differently than we do, I make his meals special.

Last week I tried (for the first time ever) a sweet potato casserole. I got the recipe online and modified it a bit. I mashed the sweet potatoes instead of leaving them in chunks and I added marshmallows on top. The result looked good (to those who eat sweet potatoes - not me!) and I made a large batch. I froze 1/2 of what I made so when I make up plates for him in the future I can use the frozen batch.

Here is what the casserole looked like:

And here is what the plates look like before I freeze them:

Does anyone have any good recipes for any other starch? I have done mashed potatoes and now sweet potatoes. I am out of ideas. Ha!