When mistakes turn into really good muffins...

I promise that not all of my posts will be food related.  This one is coming a little late I suppose, but I just never found time to write it.

I had planned Thanksgiving Dinner completely over the course of a couple of weeks.  In the past it has always been a family collaboration, but this year I got to make dinner for my family, and I was excited.  I wanted elegance and perfection.  For the most part, the dinner turned out well but there were some things that I thought were pure disasters.  One of those was the Sweet Potato Casserole. 

There is only one recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole that my mom really loves.  It is a recipe that she was given a long time ago.  I looked everywhere for the recipe, but I couldn't find it anywhere.  Long story short after about an hour, I finally found the recipe; but my can of yams had somehow been damaged and was unusable.  The only can of yams I could find at that point was this giant economy-sized can left over from some event.  In my excitement over finding the right recipe and a usable can of yams I forgot to double or even triple the other ingredients of the casserole.  So my giant can of yams ended up making the casserole runny.  I wasn't a very happy girl. 

It was yet another example of my misplaced focus.  I was so focused on making everything perfect and on all of the things that weren't turning out that I was missing everything that was beautiful about Thanksgiving.  I wanted my first attempt at a Thanksgiving Dinner to be perfect... which was completely ridiculous.  After I realized that the Sweet Potato Casserole wasn't going to happen, I handled it like any mature self-respecting person would.  I put it in the refrigerator so I wouldn't have to look at it for a couple of days.  My mom suggested draining the sweet potatoes and turning them into a pie.  Later, she ended up taking the casserole, draining the sweet potatoes, and making some amazingly good muffins (Recipe below). Isn't that just how life is.  This morning I was thinking about my life, how my plans have not always turned out the way I imagined, and that this usually leaves me frustrated.  Yet time and time again, God has this amazing way of taking the things that I consider ruined and turning them into something unbelievably good.  God promises us in Romans 8:28 that God works all things for the good of those who love Him.  So if things in your world aren't exactly as you would like them to be, hang in there.  Something sweet will come out of this.

Sweet Potato Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Note: The muffins my mom made already had some cream and other ingredients of Sweet Potato Casserole in them so the taste will vary from this recipe.  I can post her Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe if you are interested.

Directions

1. Combine sugar and oil; beat well. Add eggs and beat. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir flour mixture into egg mixture alternately with water. Stir in sweet potatoes and chopped nuts.
2. Pour batter into greased 9x5 inch loaf pan (or 2 small loaf pans). Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about one hour.

Nutritional Information 

Amount Per Serving  Calories: 303 | Total Fat: 13.5g | Cholesterol: 35mg