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Post-Thanksgiving, a Sweet Potato Casserole Recipe, and Holiday Thoughts
Wasn’t it JUST 4th of July?? Weren’t we just shooting off fireworks?
Crazy how long this year has been, but also how fast it has gone by in some ways too. I just can’t be-wreath it! Had to do it. Sorry, hope you like puns.
So, Thanksgiving is LONG gone since now all we’re seeing is Christmas ads and sales here and there and everywhere with a sprinkle of Mariah Carey any chance we get. The stress is starting to sink in as an adult. The boys’ lists are getting made. Our budget is finalized. Christmas tree is up, music is on 24/7 (and Hallmark Channel movies, obviously.)
I hope you all did have a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving, whatever you did and whoever you celebrated with. For us, it was just the four of us, and we made all the sides, and just grazed throughout the day. I am one for charcuterie plates, so I got to use my fancy bamboo plates for the first time since last year. We also did a 1,000 piece puzzle! The weather was gorgeous, and we went around the table saying what we were most thankful for.
For just the four of us, and 2 of us don’t even eat anything but mac’n’cheese, this was SO. MUCH. FOOD. My favorite dish was the sweet potato casserole! I did not want to spend all day baking and peeling and blending them, so I actually found FROZEN sweet potato pieces. All I had to do was put them in a pan with some water and stir for 10 minutes. I could not believe how simple it was. I will never go back to doing it the pain in the butt way again. To finish it off, I added some brown sugar and butter, gave it one more stir. Poured in a casserole dish (as shown, bottom left on table picture), sprinkled pecan pieces and covered with marshmallows. And then baked for 30 min at 350 degrees. DELICIOUS!
Recipe for Easy Peasy Sweet Potato Casserole:
PREP TIME – 10 minutes
COOK TIME – 30 minutes
TOTAL TIME – 40 minutes
SERVINGS – 8 servings
AUTHOR – Jackie, One Top Knot Mama
COURSE – Side Dish
CUISINE – American
INGREDIENTS
- 1 bag frozen sweet potatoes (I used PictSweet)
- 1 cup water
- 2-3 TBSP butter
- 2 TBSP brown sugar
- 1/4 cup crushed pecans
- 1 cup marshmallows
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 350° F
- Pour frozen sweet potatoes in pan with 1 cup of water (just follow instructions on bag)
- Stir for a good 8-10 minutes until creamy
- Add brown sugar and butter and stir until melted
- Pour mixture into greased casserole dish
- Sprinkle pecans over top, followed by marshmallows.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until marshmallows turn golden brown
Enjoy!
Our puzzle turned out great too, except we ended up missing 2 pieces that either the cat ate or never came in the package. I’m going to go with they forgot to put them in the package so we don’t continue to go crazy searching the house for 2 tiny pieces of cardboard. We actually do a couple of puzzles a year, they are so fun to frame and we have quite a collection of them in our house.
We finally finished the puzzle at 1am Thanksgiving night, so we were pooped by the end of the day. I didn’t even get my afternoon nap in! But we had such a great day just the four of us, although we missed our family so much. We did facetime with them and got in some Mario Kart time on the Nintendo Switch.
And the next day was BEAUTIFUL, so we were outside in our cul de sac all afternoon pretty much, and got to enjoy a beautiful fire with our neighbors. I think our theme this year is simple. Don’t overcomplicate things. Time well spent is sometimes doing nothing at all, having no plans, no motives. Just being with one another.
I think Christmas will be a lot like the same, only the boys will have presents. We are going simple on presents this year too. They really do not need anything, and we have bought them toys throughout the year because, mainly, we just feel so sorry for what they are going through. For what we are all going through. We usually tend to go overboard, regardless, just because Joey’s birthday is ON Christmas day, and Max’s is 3 weeks later. So holidays and birthdays go hand in hand in our house. Extra presents, Christmas AND Birthday wrapping paper, pumpkin pie AND cake, Christmas decorations and birthday balloons.
But this is my favorite month of the year. December is just so magical. When you have kids of your own, and you catch them staring at the tree you all decorated, or you see their excitement when they see the Christmas decorations at the neighbors’ houses, it just fills you with love and hope and magic. I hope you all feel that same way. I know this time of year is hard on a lot of people. I don’t take that lightly. But I hope you do all find some joy this month.
Even if it’s just a Hallmark Christmas movie.
Cheers to the Holidays,
Jackie
