By Midterm: 96. NINETY-SIX. The highest score in the class. Me. Sarah Mitchell. Waffle House waitress. Single mother of two. The girl who graduated high school with a 2.8 and no plans. NINETY-SIX.
Dr. Whitfield handed back the exams and when she got to mine she paused, looked at me, and said, "Outstanding work, Ms. Mitchell." She said it in front of everyone. In front of the eighteen-year-olds with their laptop bags and their eight hours of sleep. In front of Tanisha, who squeezed my arm so hard it left a mark. In front of God and Dexter the mannequin head and the fluorescent lights of Room 214. Outstanding work.
I called Mama from the parking lot. She said, "Ninety-six?" I said, "Ninety-six." She said, "Out of a hundred?" I said, "Yes, Mama, out of a hundred." She said, "I'm going to make a cake." And she did. She made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and wrote "96" on it in white icing and when I brought the kids over on Saturday she had it on the kitchen table with a candle in it. Chloe said, "Is it somebody's birthday?" Mama said, "It's your mama's brain birthday." That doesn't make sense, Lorraine. But it made sense enough. We ate the cake. Every bite tasted like proof.
Tanisha got a 90. She was thrilled. We celebrated at the Waffle House — yes, my workplace, because when you're broke, celebrations happen where you get a discount. Mr. Gerald was there (he's always there) and we told him about our scores and he said, "I always knew you two were going places," even though he's never met Tanisha and "knowing" in Mr. Gerald language means "hoping, optimistically, for the young women who serve him waffles." He bought our coffee. First time in three years anyone has bought me coffee at that Waffle House.
Halloween proper was Monday but we already trick-or-treated last week, so tonight was just us at home, eating leftover candy and watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, which Chloe thinks is boring (she wants Frozen; she always wants Frozen) and Jayden slept through. I ate four fun-size Butterfingers and felt zero guilt. A woman who scores 96 on her midterm can eat four Butterfingers. That's science. I'm in science school. I would know.
I made a chili-stuffed sweet potato for dinner — baked sweet potatoes split open, filled with leftover chili from last weekend, topped with cheese and sour cream. Simple, filling, the kind of thing you eat when you're running on fumes and endorphins and chocolate cake. November starts tomorrow. Thanksgiving is coming. The semester is two-thirds done. I am two-thirds of the way to being one-quarter of the way to a new career, and those fractions feel like a fortune.
That chili-stuffed sweet potato I threw together Monday night deserved better than “leftover chili from last weekend” — it deserved a real recipe, one worthy of the ridiculous week that earned it. So here’s the version I’ll actually make on purpose next time: a creamy white turkey chili loaded into perfectly baked sweet potatoes, the kind of meal that feels like a reward without requiring much more than a pot and an hour you’ve somehow scraped together. Two-thirds of the way through a semester, this is the dinner that keeps you going.
Creamy White Turkey Chili-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 55 min | Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 4 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can (15 oz) white cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 can (4 oz) diced green chiles
- 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened and cubed
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- Optional toppings: sliced green onions, pickled jalapeños, fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Bake the sweet potatoes. Preheat oven to 400°F. Pierce each sweet potato several times with a fork, place on a foil-lined baking sheet, and bake for 40–45 minutes until tender when pierced with a knife. (Start the chili while these bake.)
- Brown the turkey. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the ground turkey and cook, breaking it up, for 5–6 minutes until no pink remains. Drain any excess fat.
- Build the base. Add the diced onion to the skillet and cook 3–4 minutes until softened. Stir in the garlic, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, and oregano; cook 1 minute until fragrant.
- Simmer the chili. Add the white beans, green chiles, and chicken broth. Bring to a gentle boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened.
- Make it creamy. Reduce heat to low. Add the cream cheese cubes and stir until fully melted and incorporated into the chili. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Assemble. Split each baked sweet potato lengthwise and gently press the ends to open it wide. Spoon a generous heap of white turkey chili into and over each potato. Top with shredded cheese, a dollop of sour cream, and any optional toppings you like.
- Serve immediately. Eat while hot. You earned this.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 540 | Protein: 38g | Fat: 21g | Carbs: 48g | Fiber: 9g | Sodium: 620mg