Skinny Southern Sweet Potato Casserole

A traditional southern sweet potato casserole- kept all the yum and remove the excess fat and calories to remove the guilt! 

I got some skills.... Fat cutting, flavor keeping skills!  I'm not a self tooting horn usually, but in this case I shall toot toot away! 

This skinny sweet potato casserole kicks some serious taste buds! I do it for me, but I mostly do it for you guys out there! 

Ye asked and ye shall receive!

You guys told me via social media you were really looking forward to sweet potato casserole. You said you wanted some slimmed up classics.

So I got your back! 

This recipe usually is a calorie killer- also loaded with carbs and fat. So I employed a couple of my own tricks to keep this recipe as true to the original but cut out the guilt!

It's got HALF THE FAT, LESS CARBS and 172 calories less per serving!! 

Time to do a happy dance!

I totally added this gif in honor of Fork and Good's Emma!

Trick 1- this is not just sweet potatoes, I added half pumpkin purée. So right there I cut a whole lotta carbs. I sleiged them! Dead! Ps- you cannot tell at all! It tastes just like the original! Seriously, scouts honor!

Trick 2- cut out the extra butter and sugar. The original recipe called for a cup of butter and a cup of sugar for the filling alone. Yowsa! Seriously this was bad ya'll! I refuse to ever use that much butter unless it's a cookie. So I went with 2 tablespoons of butter, it was buttery enough, went with the third cup of sugar- totally sweet enough! Besides- it's got candied pecan topping! I also cut out extra butter and sugar from the topping too!

Okay so you're all like- why did you do this?! I love my casserole as is.

Well I love it too and I totally assure you this is jut as good. All that extra fat and sugar is fun, but there is a threshold where you cannot taste it anymore and it just doesn't need to be there.

It's like frosting a cake and then adding chocolate ganache on top-

Like a third nipple- who needs one of those?  Pointless! (Having flash backs of Chandler's third nipple on Friends)

So quit your whinning and try this recipe! Then you can crawl on back and tell me how it rocked your world!

Drooling yet??

Recipe skinnified and adapted from this recipe here.

What you need:

Sweet Potato Filling

4 small sweet potatoes, mashed
1 can pumpkin puree
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup lowfat milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Candied Pecan topping

1 cup pecans
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter

How to make it

1- Preheat oven to 350º
2- Combine all ingredients for sweet potato filling in a bowl, place in a medium casserole dish, I used a 8" circular dish.
3- Combine all ingredients for topping, sprinkle over the top of filling.
4- Bake 30-40 minutes until topping has browned.

Nutritional Information

Before

After

Friendsgiving 2013- Recap, Recipes and Infusions

Friendsgiving 2013 was a a complete success and better than EVER! I wanted to share with you a few pictures, a couple of my recipes and the recipes of the amazing bloggers and chefs that inspire me. They may inspire you as well!

Excuse the less than stellar photos, I had hungry people waiting for me to snap a pic.

Replace Black Friday with Friendsgiving!

Every year the holiday season starts sooner and sooner! Is it because Americans love to do good will toward men? Nope- tis the season that makes corporations some serious cash. A few years ago a woman was trampled to death in Wal*Mart on Black Friday. Seriously. To me it was a complete visual metaphor for what this greed had made the holiday season into. Greed on the part of corporations and American shoppers. I am not here to stand on my soapbox and look down on those that shop on black Friday, but I do want to be here as a agent of change. To be the change and offer a substitute.

About a year ago I posted about the holiday I created Friendsgiving (seems I am not the only one that celebrates it). It all started when I was broke and unemployed, this darkest of times made me realize that money and career are a distant second to friends and family. Since Thanksgiving is typically a family holiday, I wanted to create my own holiday the day after to celebrate those I do not share DNA with, but share everything else. It is the perfect day for a celebration: it's a Friday, you still have leftovers and food to share and you didn't get to celebrate the day before with your friends! 

So would you rather freeze your butt off for a cheaper laptop or stay toasty and cozy with your friends and some awesome food at home?  Come on...

Friendsgiving is celebrated with a Turkey dinner and all the trimmings, NY Foodgasm style of course. There is always a twist and I always lower the fat. I send out the word to my very closest friends, the ones that mean the most. I ask everyone bring a dish or a drink to contribute and the dining table turns into a buffet of amazing food! Great food, amazing company and I always like to give a little speech.

This is a time to show how much you really love all of your friends. To show gratitude and to be really serious for a minute and really tell people from the heart how you feel and what they do for you. Many days we are light hearted and rarely REALLY say how we feel and let people know how they affect us and make our lives better. This is the time. The time to make it all real.

My friends actually have come to look forward to this tradition. They expect it and enjoy it more than Thanksgiving itself. No drama, no repressed anger that is sometimes present with family. You can just sit back and enjoy.

This year I have chosen to give thanks to all my fellow chefs and foodbloggers I am most inspired by. Here is the menu.

Beer Brined Turkey- The Beeroness. She beerifes everything, she is cool and she knows her craft beer YAY!)
Thanksgiving Nachos- Inspired by Half Baked Harvest. I have tried at least 5 recipes by her and they ALL rock!
Italian Stuffing- my man Fabio Viviani, He's the BEST! He's seXXXy, he was on Top Chef, he makes me smile and I love his fresh food with an Italian spin!
Maple Pumpkin Brulle cheesecake- Baker's Royale. Her photos have made me swoon since I started blogging, they are gorgeous!

Stay tuned for more details!

Mini Maple Bourbon Pastry Apple Pies

Why is this a Foodgasm?

 Apple Pie is just so yesterday. I mean it is a classic and all, but you know we can always step it up a bit and make it more exciting, ummm and add bourbon!  Yes please, you know that's how I roll! I don't f&$k around in the kitchen.

Sometimes a classic is key, if it is done perfectly, BUT we all have had apple pie, so let our palettes explore a bit further.

This idea was a no brainer, I wanted to make apple pie more special but how?! So bourbon came to mind and some maple syrup. Tis the season. I thought of adding bacon, but I thought that may be tooooo much!

Technically this is not low fat or really healthy, but these are in mini portion controlled sizes so, it ain't so bad. I also really let the apple shine without adding any additional sugar, just what comes from the bourbon and cider.

Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving

Autumn is here, we're already mid-October and thanksgiving is around the corner. Usually during the holiday we 're so consumed with the preparations and the food that we can forget the very words that make the days Thanks and Giving. The very essence of this holiday is about Giving Thanks. Giving thanks for what we have: the roof over our heads, the food we eat, the clothes on our back and the wonderful people we have in our lives. I was asked to be a part of Cooking Planits "Giving Thanks for Thanksgiving" giveaway and I immediately accepted. This contest celebrates the biggest giver you know. Write a story about them and both the nominee and you can win prizes! This is a beautiful way to give back to these people!  I think it is really important to remember not only what we are thankful for, but who we are thankful for!

Before I tell you about the giveaway- I want to tell you about my own special story of giving thanks!

In 2007 I was unemployed and very, very depressed. I felt like I had nothing and I would never find a job. It felt hopeless. In a capitalistic society, like ours, if you don't have money you cannot exist and you feel insignificant. I gained MORE weight, I cried most days and I couldn't afford to do anything except pay bills. But I realized that my wealth was with my friends. The lives that I can touch, the people that will remember me. The people that listened to my problems and held me when I cried. That year, with what little money I had, I started a tradition called Friendsgiving. I invited those friends you can count on one hand: the ones you rely on and the you're not scared to cry in front of. I invited them over for dinner the Friday after Thanksgiving to celebrate them, to show just how much I appreciate them! That was my way of giving back in the best way I knew how. (More about Friendsgiving here.)

How to Enter

This contest is very simple. All you have to do is go to Cooking Planit's Blog or Facebook Page to nominate someone that you are thankful for. Someone that always puts others needs before their own. This is your way to give back to them, to let them feel appreciated like I did for my friends! Both the hero and the writer win a prize!! So what do you have to lose?! Nominate and win.

Guidelines for submissions

When writing your story, consider the following guidelines:

• •In 300 words or less, recognize an individual who is making the difference in the lives of others in your community; whether it be by donating their time, energy or love with a focus on helping others without necessarily thinking of themselves.
• •Provide details on how/what they are doing to improve or impact the lives of others.

We reserve the right not to post your story if it contains any of the following types of content:

• Obscenities, discriminatory language, or other language not suitable for a public forum
• Advertisements, “spam” content, or references to other products, offers, or websites
• Email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, physical addresses, or other forms of contact information
• Critical or spiteful comments on other stories posted on the page or their authors

In addition, if you wish to share feedback with us about Cooking Planit or other customer service issues, do not submit this feedback through the Cooking Planit Stories platform. Instead, contact us directly.

Enjoy writing your story!

Prizes

5 runners up receive a $100 Visa Gift card for the story author & $250 to their Hidden Hero (story subject)

The 1st place winner will also get the opportunity to select a local charity to which Cooking Planit will donate $1000.

I hope you all take part and nominate someone you really believe deserves this. People that give are often overlooked and this is a lovely way to make them know just how very special they are. Enjoy!