Twice-Baked Sweet Potatoes

The past two weeks I have run out of my prepped food by Thursday, leaving me hunting around the house and possibly making bad decisions by Friday. That combined with being ultra-tired last week made me extremely emotional and just not myself. After being on top of my game at work all day, trying to push it at the gym, I was spent when I got home to do my most important job of all... being a mommy. This week I am trying to make sure evenings go smoother and spent more time prepping food. This is what my table looked like when I was about half way done:

And this is what the dishes looked like in my kitchen at that point. I don't have a dishwasher and was cleaning mid-prep because I had run out of pans/bowls.

Last night it paid off and I had one of my twice-baked sweet potatoes with some grilled chicken I had also made. The chicken was basted in my homemade "bbq" sauce: equal amounts of tomato paste (no sugar added) and balsamic vinegar with a splash of fish sauce. Although these are more work than the average baked potato they add variety to my side dishes. 

Twice- Baked Sweet Potatoes

(makes 6 Halves)

- 4 Sweet Potatoes

- 6 Pieces of Bacon

- 2 Green onions, chopped

- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper

- Coconut Milk (optional)

1. Prick the potatoes with a knife and bake them 50 min- 1 hr at 400 degrees. 

2. While the potatoes are baking, cook the bacon in a skillet until very crispy. Reserve the grease.

3. When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half and scoop out the insides leaving about a 1/2 inch boarder in the potato. 

4. Add the bacon grease (and milk) and pepper. With a potato masher, or hand-blender for more fluffy potatoes, mash (blend) the potatoes until the consistency is what you like. Stir in the bacon and onion reserving a few tablespoons.

5. Stuff the potatoes with the filling, sprinkle with leftover bacon and bake an addition 10-15 minutes until they are crispy on top. When filling the potatoes you will only use 3 of the 4.