Sweet Potato Pie is a traditional dessert, originating in the Southern United States. It is often served during the American holiday season, especially during Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

For our Thanksgiving dinner last week, I decided to make a Sweet Potato Pie for dessert. Sweet potatoes are also frequently used in Singaporean cuisine, often as a dessert as well, such as "Sweet Potato Soup". At times, we would simply wrap the whole sweet potato in foil and place them in hot charcoal while we grill our main meal and then have the hot, soft sweet potato as a dessert.

This Sweet Potato Pie recipe is made easy and simple with store bought pie crust and canned sweet potatoes. The pie filling was quick & easy to make and so tasty & delicious. I actually found it to be pretty light too. It did not feel too dense nor too sweet. I will definitely be making this recipe again for Christmas!

Sweet Potato Pie
by Miss Crumbs A Lot, adapted from Trisha Yearwood

Ingredients
1 29oz Canned Sweet Potato
3/4 cup Sugar (divided)
2 Eggs
4 tbsp Butter
1/4 cup Whole Milk
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Ground Nutmeg
Pinch of Salt
1 Unbaked 9" Pie Crust (I used Pillsbury)

Cooking Method
1. Drain the liquid out from the canned sweet potatoes and blend them in a food processor until a smooth puree is formed.
2. In a bowl, beat 4 tbsp butter with 1/2 cup sugar with an electric mixer until creamy.
3. Add in 2 eggs, 1/4 cup whole milk, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg and a pinch of salt. Mix well with the electric mixer.
4. Place pie crust in a pie dish and pour mixture in. Sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar with a sieve (for an even spread) over and allow the pie to stand for 10 to 15 minutes before baking (to let sugar melt).
5. Bake at 300 degrees F for 60 minutes. Cool thoroughly and serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken is a wonderful recipe that you can just prepare in your slow cooker and then just forget about it. In a matter of a couple of hours, you'll have an extremely flavorful chicken dish that will be great over rice or pasta.

My little brother is currently visiting from Singapore and we've been hanging out, going to the gym together and both Bella & Jamie are absolutely thrilled to have their uncle around. I had been looking forward to his visit and to cooking meals for him too. Last week, I made Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken for dinner and he loved it. I make this dish pretty often and my family never gets tired of it. We usually have it with rice but this time, I paired it with spaghetti. The flavorful lemon garlic sauce was so tasty and went so well with the spaghetti. It reminded me of Vongole Pasta. 

Slow Cooker Lemon Garlic Chicken
by Miss Crumbs A Lot, adapted from All Recipes

Recipe
Ingredients
3 to 4 lbs Chicken Thighs (with skin and bone) (approx. 6 to 8 pcs)
2 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper Powder
4 tbsp Butter
1/2 cup Water
5 tbsp Lemon Juice
5 cloves Garlic (chopped)
2 tsp Chicken Bouillon
1/2 cup Chopped Cilantro (divided)

Cooking Method
1. Mix 2 tsp dried oregano, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper powder in a small bowl. Rub the mixture onto the chicken pieces and set aside.
2. Mix 1/2 cup water, 5 tbsp lemon juice, 5 cloves chopped garlic and 2 tsp chicken bouillon in another bowl and set aside for later use.
3. In a wok or cast iron pot/pan, melt 4 tbsp butter over medium heat. Brown the chicken pieces in the melted butter for 3 to 5 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Place the browned chicken pieces in the slow cooker.
4. Add the liquid mixture that was set aside earlier to the remaining butter in the wok or cast iron pot/pan and bring it to a boil. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker over the chicken pieces.
5. Cook on low for 5 hours, adding in 1/2 the portion of chopped cilantro at the last 15 to 30 minutes.
6. Serve chicken pieces over rice or pasta with the sauce and garnish with more chopped cilantro, if desired.

Makes 4 servings

Slow Cooker Chinese Char Siu Pork Ribs is an extremely easy recipe to make at home, with a delicious sweet, sticky and savory flavor. Char Siu is a popular way to flavor and prepare barbecue pork in Cantonese cuisine. This Slow Cooker Chinese Char Siu Pork Ribs is a slight variation from the Chinese Char Siu Pork (Pot Roast Style) that I had shared a while.

With this recipe, simply marinate the ribs and then allow the slow cooker to do its job. Once that is done, baste and broil the ribs before serving. The ribs are so tender from the slow cooking and lightly charred from the broiling. 

Slow Cooker Chinese Char Siu Pork Ribs
by Miss Crumbs A Lot

Recipe
Ingredients
3 lbs Pork Spare Ribs (cut)
2 oz Ginger (skinned)
6 cloves Garlic
1/4 cup Hoisin Sauce
1/4 cup Honey
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
4 tsp Light Soy Sauce
4 tsp Dark Soy Sauce
1 tbsp Sambal Olek
2 tsp Sesame Oil
1/4 cup + 4 tbsp Water
2 tbsp Cornstarch
Sesame Seeds

Cooking Method
1. In a food processor, combine 2 oz ginger, 6 cloves of garlic, 1/4 cup hoisin sauce, 1/4 cup honey, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 4 tsp light soy sauce, 4 tsp dark soy sauce, 2 tsp sesame oil and 1/4 cup water. Blend until a smooth marinade is formed.
2. Place ribs into the slow cooker and pour marinade over. Mix well and ensure that the ribs are covered with the marinade. Allow it to marinate for 1 hour (or overnight in a ziploc bag, if time permits).
3. Cook on low for 5 hours in the slow cooker.
4. When cooked, remove ribs and place them onto a baking tray. Baste the ribs with the sauce from the slow cooker. Broil on high for 2 minute on a rack that is about 6 to 8 inches from the top. Baste the ribs again with the sauce and broil on high for another 2 minutes.
5. Pour the sauce into a sauce pot and bring it to a boil. Mix 2 tbsp cornstarch with 4 tbsp water and pour mixture into the boiling sauce, allowing it to thicken.
6. Baste the ribs with the thicken sauce and garnish with sesame seeds before serving.

Makes 4 servings

Slow Cooker Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup is my go-to recipe using one of my favorite cooking tool in the home, the slow cooker. This is one of the simplest recipe and it is essentially just tossing all the ingredients in the slow cooker, set it and forget about it, until it is time for dinner. Based on my previous slow cooker recipes that I have posted, I realized that many readers share the same amount of love for their slow cookers as well.

Let's be honest, even if we decided to make the simplest meal for dinner, you would still need some time to prepare the ingredients and to actually cook it. At least 15 to 20 minutes? And this can be really challenging for me, especially on the days when we get home from after-school activities at around 6.45pm. Bella and Jamie will be famished by then and giving them a snack is not an option as it would just ruin their appetite. Hence, they cannot wait 20 minutes for me cook them their dinner, no matter how quick and easy the recipe may be. They turn into "hangry" monsters, I get frustrated because they cannot be patient and the evening can just spiral out of control.

So, during the school year, I use the slow cooker a lot. I cannot express enough how helpful it is. Especially on days where I know that Kian's work commitments prevents him from taking the kids to their activities, I will prepare my slow cooker meals while the kids are in school, set it to be ready at the required time and when we get home that evening, all they need to do is to wash their hands and dinner is served!

Slow Cooker Chunky Chicken Noodle Soup
by Miss Crumbs A Lot

Recipe
Ingredients
3 pieces Chicken Breast (approx. 2 to 2 1/2 lbs)
Salt & Pepper
1 to 2 Yellow Squash (cut into bite size)
1 to 2 Zucchini (cut into bite size)
4 to 6 Carrots (cut into bite size)
5 stalks Celery (cut into small pieces)
2 medium Onions (cut into wedges)
8 cups Chicken Stock
2 Bay Leaves
1 tsp Oregano
Extra Wide egg noodles (cooked and drained)
Avocado (sliced) (optional)

Cooking Method
1. Place 3 pieces of chicken breast at the bottom of the slow cooker insert. Season with salt and pepper. 
2. Add in cut yellow squash, zucchini, carrots, celery, onions, chicken stock, 2 bay leaves and 1 tsp oregano. Cook on low for 5 hours.
3. Before serving, add in cooked egg noodles, top with sliced avocado and garnish with cilantro, if desired. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.

Makes 4 to 6 servings