Giving thanks...

I know, it has been a whole month but I've been busy, man. Life has a way of intruding into my blogging. What with my daughter's Taekwondo and my tri-weekly workouts, I am a busy gal.

My exercise is going great! I still feel like I am going to die after every workout but it is a kinder, gentler death. I tried a boot camp class and a cardio boxing class, too. The boot camp class is more my style but it was fun trying something different. As I get into better shape perhaps the boxing class will appeal to me more.

Anyway, this past weekend was Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving, it is my top favorite holiday. The extreme commercialism has not yet affected it so it is just filled with the best stuff... family, friends, football and food.

The most difficult thing I struggle with is portion control. Everything looks and smells so good I just want to pile heaping mounds onto my plate. Well, that is my downfall at almost every meal. This year was different. I allowed myself to have a little of everything... the operative term being a LITTLE, like, a heaping tablespoon and that's it. I was amazed at how full and satisfied I was but not so that I wished I wasn't wearing pants.

Another way to combat the bursting pants is to modify recipes slightly in order to make them more healthy and less fat/calorie/carb laden. I made the cranberry sauce with maple syrup instead of refined sugar. Maple syrup is lower in calories than refined, white sugar and maple syrup is filled with antioxidents. I also made apple sauce using Stevia instead of sugar. Stevia is a natural product (unlike Splenda), has no carbs or calories and tastes every bit as good as more conventional sweetners.

And this year, I made the sweet potatoes. Back in the cloudy depths of my childhood lingers the memory of butter laden sweet potatoes covered by a thick layer of slightly scorched marshmallows. Those sweet potatoes need to stay in the past. The new, NEW sweet potato is wearing a much better outfit. With the sweet potato's natural sweetness, no added sugar or anything is needed, if anything, the sweetness needs to be toned down a tad with something salty. Without further ado, these are the sweet potatoes I contributed to our family dinner.

Thanksgiving Sweet Potatoes
Serves 8-10

4 large yellow/white fleshed sweet potatoes
4 large garnet/red fleshed sweet potatoes
1 TB dried Italian herb mix (rosemary, oregano, thyme, marjoram)
-or-
2 TB finely chopped fresh herbs
2 TB olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
6 oz pancetta (cured but unsmoked Italian bacon)

Preheat the oven to 350F, placing the racks in the top and bottom thirds of the overn. Line 2 half-sheet trays with parchment paper. Peel the potatoes and chop into 3/4" chunks and put into a big bowl. Pour the olive oil over the potatoes and mix until the oil is evenly distributed. Sprinkle on the herbs and salt and pepper. Mix again until the herbs and spices are well distributed. Divide the potatoes evenly between the 2 sheet pans.

Chop the pancetta into 1/2" chunks then sprinkle the chunks over the two sheet pans with the potatoes.

Roast the sweet potatoes for 20 minutes. Take the pans out of the oven and toss the potatoes. Place the pans back into the oven having switched their places (top to bottom and vice-versa). Roast another 10 minutes, toss potatoes. Roast a final 10 minutes then remove the pans from the oven.

The potatoes can be served immediately or they can be cooled, transfered to a 9x13" pan, covered and chilled. If you chill them, to serve, let them come to room temperature then put them back into a 350F oven, uncovered for 20 minutes until the potatoes are heated through.

The saltiness of the pancetta helps to even out the sweetness of the roasted potatoes. Everyone at our house pronounced them delicious. Who needs marshmallows?