Pumpkin Patch Fever

There's still lots of pumpkins at Perdido Bay Baptist Church. Proceeds benefit their Missions program.
Here's our son so into his costume, he forgot his mask was still on.
"Frolic" I say! Bibleman & Tinker Bell enjoying the pumkin patch.

They gave us a Pumpkin Prayer card when we bought our pumpkins . We've prayed it a few times already. Then I found this story called A Pumpkin Parable by Liz Curtis Higgs. So much about Halloween is focused on darkness, this story brings light and a great message for our kids.

I found it here, but you can just play it now.


Below is a fun craft based on the book above. Valerie is awesome with crafts and curriculum. Visit her here for Thanksgiving crafts!



I hope you will have a safe and fun Halloween!

Super Shopping Around Town

For family fun, we stopped at Chuck-e-Cheese to redeem my son's FREE 20 Birthday tokens and 20 FREE Halloween tokens. I think you have to sign-up, but the Halloween coupon is good through Nov. 1. We had the BEST time there. They open at 9am and we went in at 9:06am. No one was there and our kids got to just run around and not have to wait their turn. Then hubs totally rocked with the basketball game, making an all-time store record of 203! Baby girl even got lots of tickets from Battleship. Early mornings on weekdays is the best time to go!
Payless has 50% off ANY shoes today for the Oprah Show viewers. We stopped by the mall to get $2 Costumes at Old Navy but left disappointed. That frown turned quickly to a smile for right across from Old Navy at Cordova is Payless! We bought shoes for the entire family (two for Mommy- how nice!) for $53 for 5 pairs. The last time I bought new shoes was before 2000! It was a real treat buying these for about $10 a pair!

Next to Old Navy was Victoria's Secret. I had a long-awaited bra fitting. I've been wearing the wrong size all these years. Blame it on having kids! Since I signed-up for Pink Nation, I was able to print a coupon for $10 off any bra. Plus I used a Q for FREE lip gloss w/ bra fitting. It only cost $15 for my bra and lipgloss. A savings of $17!

Walgreens had a few irresistible deals:
Brita pitcher for $8.49
-$5 Coupon
-$3 RR printed
----------------
$0.49! Just like Hip to Save reported!

I also bought 2 contact paper rolls for $0.87 each, $0.75 deck of cards for Low Vision challenged (that's what it says on there) and a box of gloves for $5. We use these disposables for cleaning the toilet, behind the faucet, gardening and such. The Stacy's Pitas were $1 each after Q & RR. I also bought two 1Minute Quaker Oats for $1.70. But it didn't print the $5 RR. So I might return it since I can get it cheaper at Wal-Mart. I need to just leave a box in the car for returns when I can't take care of the problem right then.

The monthly RRs are still working: Vaseline and Dentek printed RRs to make them FREE! I'll roll these RRs at Publix to buy All Small & Mighty ($2.99 sale). With the RRs I can get at least 5 bottles free.

Some No-Gos:
Old Navy opened with a line of at least 40 people waiting to get in. The 1st 50 got a nice Reusable bag and 50% off. The catch was that you had to show your Old Navy card or sign-up for one. So they wouldn't let us have a bag. Bummer. There's no way I would get another card for a long, long, time.

Only a few costumes were left and all were winter-wear, like fuzzy fleece butterfly. There were Halloween T-shirts, socks, etc for $2.

Bath and Body Works also has a FREE Pocketbac with purchase. But it was so small and the gift bag too (purchase can be as little as a $1 item) so I just gave my coupons away to a lady.

Publix has this $4 off 4 GM or Nature Valley items In-Ad Q. But it appears to be only for the GM Cereal and granola on sale. Unlike our blogger friends in GA, we are not getting that deal- I even called corporate's marketing dept! Now they are passing me off to the District Manager. We'll see, the deal end Tuesday so I still have time.

Oct 31 Halloween Events in Pensacola

UPDATE: More Fun Added-

Applebees FREE costumed kids get FREE kids meal with adut entree.

Taco Bell has FREE JAck Black Taco 6pm-12am (Thanks Thrifty Mama!)

Sonic Drive-Thru 50 cent corndog from 4pm-?

Sams Fun City Free mini golf if costumed

Chuck E Cheese FREE 20 tokens from Oct 30-Nov1 (Ithink you have to sign up on their site to get coupons

There's a lot going on by Cordova mall that day. Enjoy!
Publix 4pm-7pm Trick or Treating at the store (call to confirm)
Fun in every department. Thanks al.com

Myrtle Grove Baptist Church (down Lillian Ave) 5:30-7pm

Pleasant Grove Baptist Church 6-7pm

Olive Baptist Church 10am-1pm Free Fall Fest (FREE Food too!)

(both pics are from Olive Baptist Website)
Lifeway: Kids Day Harvest Party 11am-1pm (we always win books or DVDs here. You don't need to be present for door prizes)

Old Navy- Oct 30 & 31 Get Halloween costumes for $2

Michael's (next to Target by the Mall) 10am-12pm FREE treat pail & Craft (Make & Take Picture Frame)

Sears (University Mall) FREE Mattel toy for kids dressed up in costumes
Go to A Thrifty Mom for some of these links.

Publix Oct 28 - Nov3

Frugal for You is proud to be part of the Grocery Gathering!
See the Publix Ad here.
Go to I Heart Publix for coupon match-ups.

Check out the Essentials for this week here
$1.99 White Potatoes, 5 lb (buy 3 Submit for Potatoes Rebate)
*Thanks I Heart Publix!
$0.99/lb whole fresh picnic
$0.99/lb whole fresh chicken
$1.88 tangerines, 3lbs
$0.25 each fresh sweet corn
$0.50 each cucumber
$1.49/lb asparagus

BOGO Breakstones Sour Cream, 2/$1.03
BOGO Mueller's Past, 2/$1.39 (use $1/2 from Winn-Dixie)
BOGO Uncle Bens Country Inn Rice, 2/$1.49
BOGO Near East Rice Pilaf or Couscous, 2/$2.19
BOGO Cheeze It
BOGO Green Giant Frozen Veg 14-24 oz (Use $0.40 Q)
$2 Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls (use $1 off Target Print)

4/$10 General Mills Cereal or Nature Valley
(Use $4 Off 4 In-Ad coupon, Target $1 off 2 Cereal, plus Manuf Q's)
Only Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs, Trix, Golden Grahams, Cinn Toast Crunch are listed in the ad

Greer's Weekly Deals Oct 28 - Nov 3

Greer's Food Tiger

$1.88/lb Boneless Beef Shoulder Roast, Family Pack
$0.88/lb Boston Butt Pork Roast, Family Pack
$1.50 Kraft American Singles, 12 oz
$0.68/lb Chicken Thighs
$1.50 Carolina Pride Smoked Sausage Loop
$2.50 Washington Apples, 3l bag: Golden, Gala, Granny Smith
$2 Best Choice Russet Potatoes, 5lb
$2.50 Navel Oranges, 4lb bag
$1.68 Kraft Cheese, Shreds or Block 7-8oz
$2 Best Choice Vegetable Oil, 2

Saturday 12-hour Sale:
$1.18/lb Pork Spareribs
$1.25 Oscar Mayer Wiener 16 oz, Reg, Jumbo, Bun Size
$1 Best Choice Shredded Cheese, 8oz
$1 Best Choice Flour, 5lb
$1.50 Onions, 3lb bag

Winn-Dixie Deals Oct 28-Nov 3

Frugal for You is proud to be part of the Grocery Gathering!
See the Winn-Dixie ad here. They have coupons here too!

Not much going on this week

$3 Frosted Mini Wheats (use $1.50 off 2)
*Buy 3 Get FREE Milk on your next purchase

BOGO Crisco Olive Oil 2/$6.26
(Use two $0.75 off from 9-13 RP; pay $2.38 each!)

$1.49/lb Asstd. Porkchops
$1.29lb Pork Loin Rib End Roast
BOGO Smithfield Ham, 16 oz, Cooked or Honey
$2.50 Bertolli Organic Pasta Sauce
$1.25 Heartland Organic Pasta: Penne, Rotini, Spaghetti
$2 Simply Potatoes
$1 Bird's Eye Veg or Steamfresh, 12-16oz
$3 El Monterey Chimichangas or Burritos 32 oz
BOGO Kraft BBQ Sauce, 2/$1.69
$1 Rotel (use $0.50 Print)
BOGO Arm and Hammer 2x Detergent, 2/$5
BOGO Arm and Hammer dryer sheets, 2/$4
$1.29 each broccoli bunch

Target Shopping

Target is my flavor of the week! Lots of good, cheap stuff. While I was there again today (hey, a girl's gotta get out of the house for some fresh air, right?) I saw they have the Dollar Spot: 30% off on items with a Green Dot. They also moved out all of the Halloween $1 items will be rearranging things. Of course they'll be on clearance Nov 1st!

All of these are really FREE except for the 2 pizza ($7.32)
Buy 2 12" DiGiorno Frozen Pizza $5.50 each and get a FREE 7" DiGiorno or California Pizza Kitchen for One
Use 2 $1.50/1 DiGiorno coupons from here
Plus, use the $1/1 California Pizza Kitchen coupon from the 9/27SS
(or use $1/2 if you plan to do this deal twice & don't have Q above)
Final cost $7--for all 3 pizza products!
Thanks Hip To Save! I baked this right away when we got home. After the kids went to bed had a pizza date and watched our FREE movie from Kelloggs (Eight Men Out).
Go here or just scroll down to the next post to see the breakdown of the rest of the prices.

On the shelf , the price for Ocean Spray still says $2.79. So I checked the price on the price scanner and found it was on sale for $1.98. I used $1 Target Q plus overage from other items and got it for FREE!

So when you check the prices from other blogs and it's not the same for your store, check it on the price scanner because they may just be on sale after all!

Buy 4 Kellogg's FiberPlus Antioxidant Bars (5 count) at $1.99 each and get $5 Target gift card!
Use 4 $0.75 off Q here
Pay $5, Get $5 Gift Card - FREE after GC!

*There are still a lot of this left at my store and the Gift Card promotion is STILL unadvertised. But I checked it on the price scanner and sure enough, the promotion is still going on! I bought these a while back when I had $1 off coupons (no longer available) and got $1 overage.

Target Price Matching Deals and FREE Cookies!

Hip to Save just posted Keebler Chips Deluxe. Comes out to $0.08 each! That's right, FREE cookies:

Keebler cookies (including Chips Deluxe) $2--buy 2, get 1 FREE
Deal Scenario:
Buy 6 packages $2 each=$12
Minus Buy 2, get 1 FREE sale=$8
Use 3 $1/2 Keebler Chips Deluxe Target coupons
Plus, use 3 $1.50/2 coupons from here


And here is my contribution, some clever price-matches:
The PG insert usually has $1 off Olay bodywash or barpack. I've been able to use this for the single bar in the travel/trial size section.


$0.67 Olay Single Bar
-$1 off 1 coupon
----------------------
FREE plus $0.33 overage!


CVS has Chex Mix for $1.50
Buy 2 at $1.50
-$1/2 Target Print Q
-$.50 x 2 Manuf Q
only $1 for 2


Kmart $1.88 candy, Nestle is included.
The catch is you have to buy 4 to get that price.

"Limit 4. Purchases of less than or more than 4 are $2.49 each"

Buy 4 Nestle 11.5 to 12.5 oz, $1.88 each
Use 4 $1 off print Q (sign-up)
Pay $0.88 each bag!

Walgreens has Jimmy Dean Breakfasts $2
(Jimmy Dean Breakfast Bowls, 7 or 8 oz.
2 pack Biscuit Sandwiches)
Use $1 off 1 Target Print
Price $1!

Walmart has Duncan Hines Brownies $1
Use $0.50 Target Print coupon
Price $0.50 a box!
(pictured are the baking mixes I bought and also used the $0.50 Target Q)

CVS has Kellogg's Cereals for $2
Use $1/1 Target Q
Price: $1!
(also found $1/2 blinkies at Publix)

Lastly, I saw a coupon peelie on some Kashi TLC bars (found hidden at endcaps). there were 2 Qs good for any Kashi: $1/1 Kashi Target Q and $3/2 Kashi Manuf Q.

So I got 2 Kashi Waffles, $1.99 each
Used two $1/1 Kashi Target peelie
Used $3/2 Kashi Manuf peelie
Got 2 FREE waffles plus $1 overage!

This is just a few great finds this week at Target. Check-out Thrifty Mama's Mr. Linky post on other great Target deals!

FREE Lysol Freshmatic Refill

Check out this awesome deal at Walgreens:

Lysol Freshmatic Refill on sale for $3.50,

it's FREE with this $4 coupon

Read Hip to Save for details.

Check out all their coupons for Airwick, Finish and Lysol. I would personally do this deal at Wal-Mart and price-match it there to get the overage. I wonder if these work with the Air Wick Freshmatic. Because refills without the thing to RE-fill is pretty silly. But call me coupon crazy, I think I'll still get it anyway!

Easiest Pumpkin Bread

Pantry Pumpkin Bread

This recipe is so easy it borders on non-recipe.

1 box Duncan Hines Spice Cake

1 can pumpkin, 15 oz

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Mix and pour in greased pan or muffin tins.

Bake 20-30 minutes until done.

Voila! These are so, SO, moist! And, a nutritional tidbit, adding pumpkin adds only 20 calories per serving! Baking it the regular way with eggs and oil adds a whopping 90 calories per muffin. So, stock up on cake mix and cans of pumpkin (you can also use 2 cups fresh) when they go on sale this holiday season. Last year, I was able to snag a case of 25 cans of pumpkin for $0.25 each. The cake mix was only $1.15. So only $1.35 for the whole thing!

Do you love pumpkin? I mix it in soups and sauces too. When my friend told me about this recipe, I was so intrigued I had to try it. I'm glad I did because my other recipe called for shortening which totally cancels out healthy pumpkin! But never again will I substitute it for oil in a brownie recipe unless I try to make biscotti. Let's just say the "brownie" was great for dunkin' in coffee.

How I Organize our Toiletries

I don't think I'll be CVSing this morning so I thought I might share something about our family, well, about me... I'm a recovering packrat!

Since I have started doing the drugstore "game" a few years ago, I noticed the quick accumulation of toothpaste and shampoo overflowing the only real storage space we have- under the bathroom sink. So last year, I determined to corral all these wonderful bargains in a more presentable manner.

Presenting the Bathroom Sink makeover:
First, I got all the stuff I crammed in there out in the bedroom and started with a fresh clean slate.

Then I took storage boxes, like you find for $1, and catgorized each:
hair care, dental care, shaving needs, pain meds, flu and allergy, lotions, soaps, bodywash, and face cae. I put enough in each to last us 6months to a year in each box. (Click the image to enlarge if you want.)


Then I stacked them back in there, with labels. Why didn't I label these sooner? I put my feminine stuff in the back with the Listerine bottles. We also have a first aid kit, hair dryer, and haircut tools. Later I added a spa bag, sunscreen bin, and candles. I have no idea how all these things can fit in there but they do!

It's now very convenient and accessible. And I know that we have enough for a long, long time. So when I get free items from CVS or Walgreens, I designate those in a giveaway box. Or I upgrade what's under the sink. I now don't feel the need to rush in the store for that free toothpaste! Oh yeah, I have some anxiety issues about bargain shopping too. I'm a mess but at least our toiletries are not!

How about you? Where do you keep your stash?

How I Find Drugstore Deals

Every Saturday and Sunday, I check out the deals posted on my favorite blogs and also in the newspaper sales ads. I write down my shopping list in my notebook. Then during the week, when it's time for me to go shopping, I check those blogs again to see the coupon match-up and deal updates. This way I never do the deal searching by myself. I use the wealth of time and resources of the couponing community found in these bolgsites. It used to take me a whole day to figure out the CVS and Walgreens deals before we had internet. (I did this for two years!)That's why I usually don't post deals myself as much. If I do find something myself, like from my own shopping trips, then I do my best to take a picture and pass that info on to you. Why reinvent the wheel?

These are my fave sites for Sunday deals:
Money Saving Mom
Hip to Save
The Thrifty Mama
(I check others too but these are my faves.)

View the ads here:
These I Heart sites have the ad scans at least a week early! Plus, lots of coupon match-ups.

I Heart CVS
I Heart Wags
I Heart Rite Aid
Target
Kmart

Menu Plan Monday, Oct 26

I'm getting started menu planning early this time. Can you believe it's almost November? We still have food leftover from September's freezer stash. Since there's always lots of great deals after Halloween (pumpkins and candy galore), plus Thanksgiving brings cheap meats, we'll have to start making some room in the freezer.

I don't get what the obsession is but I join 300+ bloggers every Monday and show off my meager menu plan. Check out the hype here.

Breakfast

Waffles (FREE) & Banana compote

Cereal (FREE) and Smoothies

Oatmeal ($1.25 a box) with Raisins

Cheesy Grits (FREE with WIC)

Egg & Sausage Biscuit ($0.50 Grands!)

Pumpkin Bread (only $1.35)

Lunch

Salsa Sloppy Joes

Chicken Quesadillas

BBQ Cupcakes

Chicken Nuggets ($1/lb)

Mc Donald's Meal (Free!)

Steamfresh for Two ($1.75)

Sunday Crockpot Casserole

Dinner
Porkchops ($1/lb this week)
Fish and Chips (Fishsticks $2.10)
Beef Stew
Steamfresh for Two
Chicken Salad ($1 for chicken and lettuce this week)
Broccoli Stirfry ($1 broccoli)
Leftovers

Walmart Shopping

This is for the SC Johnson Rebate: Cost $3.50 + tax

Bird's Eye Steamfresh for Two is on sale for $4.98 . I had two BOGO coupons and two $1.50 off 1 coupons (expires tomorrow). So instead of paying $20, it was $7 for 4--- only $1.75 each! This is what we'll eat for lunch this week. The Air Wick was FREE after two $6 coupons. I tried to use these coupons at Target, but they were priced at $5.99 and the cashier said his boss would not let them use that $6 Q because they'll take a loss. Sounds like he needed coupon education. (Not from me, I just got the same deal at Wal-Mart, no hassle!)

The Rayovac is FREE using the $1 off coupon from the paper. They have them at Target also. The Duncan Hines is regular price. Target did not have spice cake. A friend gave me a simple pumpkin bread recipe using only the cake mix and 1 can of pumpkin. Intriguing. I'm going to try it and let you know how it turns out!

FREE Movie Tickets from Target DVD's

UPDATE: I went back to Target tonight. These movies are from the $5 wall but cost us only $9 (used $2 off Q). And we got 3 FREE Movie tickets from them. The Chex cost $1.50 (after $1 Target Q and $1/2 Manuf Q). The Target $1 off 1 expires tonight but there's another $1 off 2 Target Print. They're $1.50 at CVS starting Sunday! Price-match at Target Customer Service like in this scenario:

Price Match Scenario (bring CVS Ad):
$1.50 x 2 Chex Mix
-$1 x 2 Target Print Q
-$1/2 Chex Manuf Q
----------------------
$1 for 2 Chex... still a good deal!

See that yellow sticker? It says: Get A Movie Ticket! Up to $7.50 for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs or Planet 51. You just enter the code on the back of the sticker here and print the movie ticket.

Most major theaters accept these printable tickets. We've watched a few this summer using the free movie tickets from Kmart and Pop-Tarts (this promo is ongoing through June 2010!)

I got this movie a while back but hesitated to post it because this was the only copy I saw there. But today, I saw a few other movies from the $5 wall that had it: Swan Lake Princess and Jumanji. And at the regular movie section, there were a few $9.99 DVDs that had the sticker too. The great thing about this is that I used that Staycation DVD $2 coupon here. So the DVD was only $3, plus a FREE movie ticket! This coupon was posted by Hip To Save in July. It's still good through Oct 31!

The $3 movies will make great stocking stuffers. But getting FREE movie tickets to boot just takes it to a new level of Family Entertainment. Even if you don't care for the DVD & buy it just for the free movie ticket, remember Christmas is coming up. This will be great for Christmas Angel Tree presents, too!

SC Johnson Rebate- Limit 3 Per Household!

I was getting ready to mail the SC Johnson Rebate when I read the fine print:


"Limit 3 SC Johnson rebates per household. Each $5 Rebate must be mailed separately..."

This means $15 back! So far I have two to submit:
from CVS- a $5 moneymaker
from Publix- a $2.50 moneymaker
from Wal-Mart- a $2.50 moneymaker

(UPDATE: I found $5 Sense and Spray tonight at Wal-Mart and one scented oil tin that had $1.50 Q inside. So it cost $3.50 for 3. After the $5 Rebate, it's a $2.50 moneymaker!)

Then I was thinking of buying 3 Ziploc bags (included in the Rebate) for the 3rd form. Or maybe the small Glade candles using this $3 off 2 coupon. Target and Wal-Mart both have $3 candles.

$3 x 4 Small Glade Candle
-$3 x 2 Print Coupon
-$1 Target Glade (Real Simple Nov 09)
---------------------------------------
Pay $5 But get $5 Rebate so it's FREE!

CVS FREE Glade!

Thanks A Thifty Mom! She posted CVS Store Coupons for Glade Sense and Spray and Lasting Impressions. These are on sale through today for $5. I was able to snag 4 FREE Glade products.

These can be submitted for Rebates:
SC Johnson Rebate: Buy 3, Get $5 by mail
or Ernergizer: Buy 3, Get FREE Pink Journal

$5 x 4 Glade
-$3 x 4 CVS coupons here
-$3 x 4 Manuf Q in the box
--------------------------
$4 Overage, 4 FREE Glade
(Sbmit for the Rebate and Get $9 total overage!)

$9.99 EnergizerMax (use $1 Q here too)
$0.99 Peanuts (filler)
-$6.98 ECB (from Glade candle on Sunday)
-$4 Overage from above
-----------------------------
FREE, just paid $2.25 for Tax!

I could have saved even more if I used a $5 off $25 Survey coupon and the $1 Energizer Q. But I am happy to get so much for so little (especially that many batteries). The only problem now is that I am all out of ECBs!

Target Trip- Price Match Savings and Clearance

Price-matching at Target is best when Target coupons are also available. Thanks to Hip to Save, I was able to snag some cheap items this morning by matching Walgreens ad and using Target coupons.
Everything below cost $1.19!!!
Select Kellogg's Cereals are $1.75 and Chex is $1.50 at Walgreens (good only through Saturday): $1.75 x 4 Cereal
-$1 x 4 Target coupon
-$1/2 x 2 Kelloggs Q (from blinkie at Publix)
--------------------------------------------
$1 for 4 or $0.25 a box!


$1.50 x 3 Chex Mix
-$1 x 3 Target coupon
-$0.50 x 3 Print Q (2 regular, 1 chocolate chex)
-----------------------------------------------
$0, 3 FREE Chex!


Price-Matching Rocks! So keep a look out this week for other deals you can match at Target or Wal-Mart. If your family does not like it, please donate to your local Food Pantry. They are thankful for any help!



Want more FREE stuff? I found peelie coupons on Kashi TLC (at the endcaps). These were good on ANY Kashi so I bought frozen waffles because they are the cheapest Kashi items. I took 2 peelies off since we don't need that many. It's not against the law to take off a bunch of peelies but it's important to stay courteous and stay under the radar as much as possible!

$1.99 x 2 Kashi waffles
-$1 x 2 Target coupon
-$3 off 2 Manuf. coupon
------------------------
$1 overage, 2 FREE boxes!

$1.17 x 2Duncan Hines
-$0.50 x 2 Target coupon
-$0.55 off 2 Manuf. coupon
-------------------------
$1.19 for 2!


My total for both pictures came out to $4.85 and most of that was from above. I am pretty impressed with the prices for pantry and dairy staples at Target. They are comparable to Wal-Mart for lots of items:

$1.17 eggs
$1.77 butter
$1.14 Campbells soup (also use $1 off 2)
$2.09 Dannon Yogurt (FREE Q from calling 1-800 #)

Baking Day

On Monday, I baked a whole bunch of stuff:
Pumpkin Bread
Brownies
Biscuits
Orange Sweet Rolls
Cinnamon Rolls

Looks like hard work... but I cheated. Pumpkin bread was the only thing from scratch. Thanks Pillsbury and Betty! The biscuits and sweet rolls were only $0.50 per can or free a couple of weeks ago. I'm not ashamed. Gone are the days of homemade cinnamon rolls. I've accepted that!
FYI: Do not substitute pumpkin for oil (even for just part of it) when making brownies. You can really tell they healthier (ie tougher, but great for dunkin' in coffee).

Sweet Potato Dishes

A few weeks ago, I bought sweet potatoes on sale for 3lbs for $1. They were still in great shape considering I left them out in a bowl on the kitchen counter all this time. Since I bought broccoli this week, I decided to make stirfry. This was from a recipe I've made that also included ham and noodles. But they veggies by themselves tasted great. All I did was saute it with onion and garlic and seasoned it with Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper. What a healthy side dish this makes!
To avoid using the oven, I made this no-bake sweet potato "casserole" by simply boiling 2 chopped sweet potatoes. Then I mashed it (still in the pot) and added a few tablespoons of brown sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp vanilla. After mixing, I smoothed it into the pie plate and added the marshmallows on top. (Which were frozen- yes, I freeze my marshmallows so they don't get all mushy in this Florida heat!) Voila! No butter, no baking, but tastes just as great.

These are all the sweet potatoes I used for these two dishes. The small ones on the right are from our sweet potato plant. Yes, you can grown this in a 5 gallon bucket! I don't know how long I should have kept them in there to get them to grow as big as the store bought. But it was amazing to pull them out of the bucket.

The plant itself is so unassuming, there was no way to tell of the gems hidden in the soil below. When we have an in-ground (not in-buckets) garden then I am definitely planting sweet potatoes. Plus you can use the top leaves for soups. How cool is that!