Spaghetti Dinners (and other recipes)

Well, I've accomplished the recipe goal so far this month- and I've already lined up recipes to try over the next few months!  Fun stuff- however, I should probably confess that at least over the next several weeks, there probably won't be any super fancy cooking going on at my house.  The accountant's busy season is an ugly one, and with Ryan working 16 hour days, never coming home for dinner or seeing the kids before bed, I'm not real motivated to whip up a 4 course meal for myself and the girls.  So that means spaghetti dinners- probably once a week because the girls love it

And Ryan would probably love it, too, since spaghetti is one of his favorite meals.  But the poor guy gets to eat out every single night, choosing from an array of awesome restaurants,  paid for by the client.  So what happens when I want to go out for dinner on the weekend?  Ryan is sick of eating out and just wants something home-made.  Ugh.  We're trying to work out a happy balance :)

Anyway, so here is what I tried during the month of January.

Sweet Potato Turkey Burgers- saw this recipe in the newspaper and it sounded interesting to me.  And I'll tell you right now, I really love a good ol' fashion yummy cheeseburger, but this recipe is probably a lot less likely to clog your arteries.  It was kind of skeptical the first few bites, but I actually thought these were pretty tasty.  We had ours on whole wheat buns with havarti cheese, lettuce, and tomato.

Recipe:
1 1/2 - 2 cups mashed sweet potato
1 package ground turkey (1.25 pounds)
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
oil for sauteing

Directions:  In a small pan over medium heat, add oil and onions; cook and stir until soft; set aside.  In large bowl, mash together sweet potatoes, turkey, salt, cumin, and onion.  Form patties and grill.

Black Bean and Chicken Enchiladas- I think most chicken enchiladas are pretty similar when it comes to ingredients (cream of chicken soup, sour cream, enchilada sauce, etc) but this recipe had a few healthy ingredients added in there and still tasted great!  Find the recipe here:  http://sisterscafe.blogspot.com/2010/01/black-bean-enchiladas.html
(Also, search for their honey-lime enchiladas- they are really good, too)  I've already tried them so I can't use it as a new one!

Shortbread Delights- nothing fancy here, just needed a quick FHE treat with ingredients on hand, and found this in my mom's R.S. Cookbook.  I love shortbread, and since they were topped with a Hershey kiss, it was even better!

Recipe:
1 cup butter
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract (I love just about anything with almond extract!)
2 cups flour
Hershey kisses

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Beat in extract, and add flour until dough forms a ball.  Roll into 1-inch balls and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 until edges are just set.  Remove from oven and place Hershey kiss in center of each cookie.  ( I think they're best when eaten warm with the soft, melty chocolate!)