Maple-Orange Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

This was another dish I brought to my husband's family Christmas this year. I just tossed all the ingredients into a crockpot and let it cook for about 4 hours. It was really tasty...a wonderful combination of sweet fruits and vegetables!

Maple-Orange Sweet Potatoes and Carrots From Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook
16 oz of carrots, peeled
2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 1/2" pieces
1 cup snipped apricots (I snipped into halves and quarters)
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup water
2 T butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Lightly coat the inside of a 4 qt crockpot with cooking spray. Add carrots. Top with sweet potatoes and dried apricots. In a small bowl stir together maple syrup, orange juice concentrate, water, melted butter, salt, white pepper, and cinnamon. Pour over potato mixture in cooker. Cover and cook on low heat setting for 8 hours to 9 hours or on high heat setting for 4 to 4 1/2 hours. Serve with a slotted spoon.

Bourbon Sweet Potatoes

Today was a wonderful, lazy day. I enjoyed sleeping in, watching some football and some more being lazy. I like to try to make a bigger dinner on Sunday nights since I usually have more time on Sunday to prepare a meal than I want to spend on dinner during the week. Tonight we had Honey Glazed ham, buttery spaghetti squash, bourbon sweet potatoes and applesauce. So good! It was actually a pretty simple dinner to put together-little prep time and long cooking times made for a yummy Sunday night dinner.

Bourbon Sweet Potatoes From Everyday Food
3 1/2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" wedges
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 T bourbon
coarse salt and pepper
3 T butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange sweet potatoes in a 9 x 13" pan. Add sugar and bourbon and toss to combine; season with salt and pepper. Bake until sweet potatoes are tender and glazed, 1 to 1 1/2 hours, tossing every 30 minutes. Stir in butter before serving.

Sweet Potato Fries

If you have never tried sweet potatoes you are missing out. They are slightly sweet with a soft, squash-like texture when cooked. I love sweet potatoes for Thanksgiving with the brown sugar and butter or maple syrup and marshmallows, but sweet potatoes are delicious at anytime. They are also very good for you, full of Vitamin C and betacarotene. I have also used sweet potatoes in making quick breads and purees for different dishes, but one of our favorite ways of preparing sweet potatoes is baking them like oven fries. My husband loves sweet potato fries and he can be kind of picky sometimes. So, if you've never tried sweet potatoes or don't think you'll like them. Give them a try with this recipe.

Sweet Potato Fries

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in strips (I had to cut my potatoes in half and then into strips, they tend to be pretty big)
chili powder
salt
olive oil

Preheat oven to 450. Spread the sweet potato fries on the bottom of a 10x15" greased pan. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle chili powder and salt over the fries. Bake for 20-30 minutes to desired level of crispness. Turn fries over halfway through cooking.