Sweet yam and pumpkin puff

This was originally a recipe I got from the magazine ParentLife in the Taste of Life section titled "Eat What You Love; yummy fall recipes low in sugar, fat and calories"
But I tweaked it so I could use what I had on hand and so now it's no longer low fat or low in calories but still yummy! :)

Sweet Potato Puff (original title)
Ingredients :

2 lbs dark sweet potatoes or yams (2 cups mashed)
1 cup canned pumpkin puree or fresh if you like
1 large egg
3 large egg whites (this is where I fudged it and just used 3 regular eggs instead of the separate egg ingredients)
1/2 c. light sour cream
2/3 c. splenda or other low calorie sweetener (I used organic sugar instead)
1 Tbs margarine or butter, melted
3/4 tsp. cinnamon (I used 1 tsp because I like to lay on the seasoning)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt (oops I forgot to add this)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 c. chopped pecans (I used almond slices because it was what I had and I don't like pecans much.)

Directions :
Pierce the sweet potatoes with a fork and place in microwave. Cook on high for 10 minutes or until the flesh is soft.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Coat a 2 quart casserole or souffle dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Cut the sweet potatoes or yams in half and scoop out the flesh into a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, except the nuts, and beat until smooth. I put my mix in my kitchenaid mixer unit and had it on a number 4 for about 8 minutes or however long it takes me to fold a load of laundry. ;)
Spoon into the casserole dish and smooth the top. Sprinkle the top with nuts.
Bake for 25-35 minutes or until the center slightly puffs.

Thank you to Marlene Koch and her book Eat What YOU love.

Cooking for 2.....ok it's more then that now.

Wow has it really been since June that I last posted? Wow I am SO sorry! *insert blushing face here*
Life has really gotten away from me and so has my goal of cooking well for my family.
I really want to cook I do, I'm just so rotten at it and not to mention a major procrastinator too.

Early this fall we found out that we are being blessed with another little one come spring and so cooking has taken a back seat or rather far far away vacation from my mind.
Don't get me wrong I LOVE to eat! I just don't like having to prepare it so much anymore....though I still love baking...hmmm

Today's recipe is nothing fancy really, just something I threw together for my son's birthday.

1 box of white cake mix (and coordinating ingredients to make such cake)
orange food coloring or red and yellow to create an orange colored batter (color to taste, in our case it was hunters, fluorescent orange!)
Tub of orange frosting (handy this time of year being October, but if not availiable just color white frosting orange in a bowl.)
Colored frosting for whatever design you are making, I got black and yellow as I am making the bat signal on this cake.

My son loves the color orange and camouflage but since camo is hard for me right now to do on a budget I stuck with orange and am using his Lego batman figurines as cake toppers! Yes I made sure to disinfect them before placing them on the cake.

Prepare cake according to package instructions, cool then frost with orange frosting.
Since I am doing a bat signal on this cake I printed out some batman coloring sheets
for inspiration, you can use them as templates if you trace the design on wax paper and then cut it out like a regular stencil. But make sure your frosting has set and hardened before you do this otherwise you will have frosting all over the stencil and a choppy looking top to your cake! :)