Sweet Potatoes- and some Marshmallow Mischief

So we've covered green beans and cranberry sauce, now we get to talk about sweet potatoes. I love sweet potatoes!! I've always enjoyed them, but it wasn't until my Uncle Todd made sweet potatoes with pumpkin pie spices when I was a teenager, that they became my favorite side at Thanksgiving. Here is my version:

2 large sweet potatoes (yams- whatever- the orange ones)

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 dashes grown nutmeg

1 dash ground ginger

1 dash ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

(splash of vanilla- optional)

(mini marshmallows- optional- but so yummy!!)

If you don't have all these individual spices- use about a teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.

Peel and slice the sweet potatoes. Put in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil for 20-25 minutes. They are done when they are very tender when poked with a fork.

(Look at all these colors together- isn't cooking exciting!! Okay, back to our sweet potatoes.)

Drain the water and add the other ingredients. Get out your hand mixer and whip it all together. Now don't go too crazy with the mixing. Just until the major lumps are out is just fine. We don't want it getting soupy from the starch.

You can serve them as is, or you can put a layer of mini marshmallows on top (my preferred method), and toast in the oven at 425 degrees. Keep an eye on them until they are golden brown on top. 

It doesn't take long.

As I was taking pictures of the food for this post, my 2 youngest were jumping right in the mix. It was post naps, and the bed head and sweaty faces were in full force. I had them playing with oranges while I tried to sneak in a couple more shots. 

As you know, I take all my pictures on my porch (and was again, back in my pajamas- it was nap time!!), and the baby kept tossing the oranges down my driveway. My daughter would scream and worry about the oranges, so I had to go running quickly to rescue the entertainment in between photo shoots. Well, the baby must've had this planned from the beginning, because as soon as I was out of the way, he crawled over at super speed and dug his little fist smack into my bowl of sweet potatoes. Sticky marshmallows all over his hands.

When I tried to pull him away, he put both hands in my hair  (which of course had just been washed that morning). Such a sticky mess!

But who could be mad at that little face?? I just had to laugh out loud as they both started in on the green beans next. They were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Maybe I should start a series on how to get your kids to eat their vegetables?? 

A little reverse psychology goes a long way, apparently.