“I am enjoying being a mom to older kids! We have great conversations,” shared Stephanie Jeck. “We can still goof off and have fun, but our relationships are deeper and stronger.”
Stephanie and her husband Tony have been married for 20 years and have two teenagers, Jonah (18) and Raena (16), living at home.
“Jonah just finished his freshman year at Auburn University, majoring in Music Education. He’s also in the marching band and loves it,” said Stephanie. “Raena will be a junior at Auburn High School in the fall. She is an ambassador for AHS and loves dancing at Variations Dance Studio!”
With older children, the days of carpooling everyone around have passed, and Tony and Stephanie can spend a lot more quality time together. Date nights often make their way to the calendar in between work and family time.
Tony is the Director of the Auburn Wesley Foundation, which is a campus ministry for students. Stephanie, well, she is a “Jeck of all trades”, acting as the Director of Operations and Artist-in-Residence at Foundry Methodist Church. She also has a few bookkeeping/insurance billing gigs and runs her own small business – Sweet Virginia Mae’s Bakery.
“We love traveling, playing putt-putt golf, bowling, playing card games, and just hanging out together,” Stephanie shared. “However, we are rarely all home at the same time for dinner. On the rare occasion when we are actually together, we try to eat at the kitchen table and play cards or another game.”
A few years ago Stephanie ran across a Sweet Potato Hash Recipe and decided to give it a try. After years of making this dish and many minor adjustments later, she wanted to share the meal with AOP readers.
“This is one of our family’s favorite dinners. It is fairly easy to make, comes together pretty quickly – so it’s perfect for a busy weeknight, and is delicious,” Stephanie said. “We never have leftovers! I came across this several years ago when I was looking for sweet potato recipes. I’ve tweaked it over the years to become what it is today.”
Stephanie’s jobs recently moved around a bit, giving her more flexibility in her schedule and more time to focus on her cookie baking and decorating. She is anxious to try some new recipes out through the summer.
“We usually take a vacation together every summer,” she shared. “We spend a lot of time at West Point Lake with our family friends at their lake cabin, swimming, water skiing, and just eating yummy food.”
Sweet Potato Hash (serves 4)
Ingredients:
- 1 lb breakfast sausage roll (or plant-based sausage like Beyond Breakfast Sausage)
- 1 medium onion (chopped)
- 2 12 oz bags of frozen sweet potatoes
- 8 eggs
- olive oil (for pan)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- fresh or dried rosemary (to taste)
- chopped green onions and cilantro
- Sriracha (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Heat a large pan (that is oven-safe) on medium-high and add olive oil. Brown sausage and add onions when sausage is almost done browning. Cook until sausage is done and onions are translucent. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Add sweet potatoes (and more olive oil) to the pan. Add salt, pepper, and rosemary. Stir to combine. Cover and cook until tender (8-10 minutes), stirring occasionally.
- Add sausage and onions back into the pan and stir to combine everything.
- Crack 8 eggs over the hash and place the pan in the oven for 8-10 minutes (depending on how set you want your eggs to be).
- Remove the pan from the oven and allow it to cool for a couple of minutes. Serve topped with green onions, cilantro, and Sriracha (if desired), and enjoy!
