Liquid Reese's and Smashed Sweets

It's time to catch up on some odds and ends I'd planned to share. Tonight, I'll deal with some food tips.

There was a tip, a "food hack," that I found online and I pinned it so I wouldn't lose it or forget it. Tonight I tried it. 

I use approximately one small jar (16 oz) of creamy peanut butter a week. Every other morning, I make hot oatmeal and I put a big glob of PB in that and stir it - yummy. The day I do not do that, I use about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup some other way. I've even spread it on a warm corn tortilla and sprinkled either dried raisins or dried cranberries on top, and eaten that as a treat/snack, like a soft taco. 

This means I need to deal with the leftover PB residue in the jars. I really, really hate to waste it. I scoop as much as I can, carefully scraping the inside sides of the jar with a long iced tea spoon. Then I saw a tip online that told me how to wash them easily. I just put a drop of dish liquid, or a splash of dishwater, in the jar, add warm or hot water to within about 1/2 to an inch, cap it, shake, and let it soak its own self - after a while, I shake again. Eventually, later in the day, the jar is almost clean and the rest is easily rubbed out with a dishcloth.

The tip I just tried, though, said to take that jar with the PB residue and add hot chocolate. Tonight, I boiled some water, and put enough (according to directions on the pouch) into the jar, added the powder, and about 1/4 cup of low-fat milk (I like just a little more milk in mine). I shook it and shook it, gently, and poured out what tasted like a liquid peanut butter cup. I didn't have a lot of PB in this jar, so next time I might leave just a little more and not scrape the sides so diligently. Nice treat - and delicious for the winter, especially.

A few weeks ago, I ran into a lot of big sweet potatoes. Again, I found something online that told me I could wash them, and put them into the slow cooker, whole, no added water, and slow cook until tender. When they were done, I halved them and scooped out the pulp into individual serving containers. The other night, I took the first one out of the freezer, defrosted it, and heated it as a side with some poached salmon.

That was the softest, creamiest, tastiest "mashed" sweet potato I've ever eaten. I plan to buy a few more sacks of them while they are in season and put them up into my freezer after I slow cook them. Talk about easy???? I never even got around to adding brown sugar or maple syrup or ginger or anything - might do this with big ol' white baking potatoes and see if they make good white mashies, as well.