Sweet Potato Goodness

Don’t get me wrong, I love all of the traditional Thanksgiving sides. Well, not the Green Bean Casserole, that just freaks me out in so many ways. But all the rest of them…cranberry salad, stuffing, sweet potatoes, yep I love them. I probably love the side dishes way more the main showcase of the Turkey. Thanksgiving just would not be the same with all of those yummy dishes. However, with all of the hustle and bustle of the big day, sometimes it is nice to have a somewhat simpler variation on those old time favorites.

The other night for dinner I wanted to have a mini Thanksgiving just for Mr. J and I. I used this opportunity to make many of the dishes that appear on my mom’s marvelous Thanksgiving table without spending the whole day in the kitchen. First off is my all-time favorite Sweet Potato Casserole.

I thought I had more sweet potatoes than I actually did...funny how that always happens.  No real big problem, I had plenty of squash and substituted in one for the remaining amount of sweet potoato.

I roasted one butternut squash and one cut up sweet potato in the oven for 40 minutes at 375 degrees.  Once cooled, remove peel by scraping out all of the flesh with a spoon into a bowl.  You should have about 2 cups of sweet potato/squash.  I then added about 1/4 orange juice, 1 tsp cinnamon and 2 Tbsp of maple syrup. You can also use brown sugar.  I don't like mine too sweet and once the marshmallows are added there is plenty of extra sugar.

Spread out into a shallow baking dish. Cut large marshmallows in 1/2 and place on top of squash mixture.  Bake on the middle rack until marshmallows start to turn brown, about 15 minutes.

I have been known to have this as leftover breakfast, lunch, and dinner.