Maple-Pecan Sweet Potato Slices -

You know how everyone says you gain 15 pounds during your first semester in college? The “freshman fifteen”?

Why did nobody warn me about the “honeymoon fifteen”?!

I’ve seriously gained 15 pounds since our wedding. Granted, the holidays were thrown in right after our wedding in October, so that didn’t help any. I’m now absolutely unhappy with my body and scrambling to change. Healthy foods! Exercise! It’s way harder than that. There’s constantly donuts, cookies, bacon and breakfast kolaches being filtered through my work. I get insanely hungry right before my 5 am show and I have no idea why. When I get off work I half-starved stumble my way through everything in the kitchen. Ugh. The struggle is real.

It’s also really hard for me to motivate myself to go to the gym. Starting Monday, I plan to change all of that. Workouts 5 days a week, better foods and snacks, and overall being healthier. It’s time to change it up.

Eating healthier doesn’t mean you have to starve yourself or eat boring foods. I’ve got a whole arsenal of delicious foods that are just a little better for you, but not so boring you’d rather eat sand.

One good thing is sweet potatoes. I adore those orange tubers. Roasted or just straight up baked, mashed or sauteed, the slightly-sweet potatoes are the best. I made these little slices to go with some oven-baked chicken drumsticks this week and loved them. The best part? They’re so easy to make, and so easy to snack on. I even ate a few cold, straight out of the refrigerator! They’re best right out of the oven with their little caramelized bottoms and hot syrupy goodness on top.

Buying real maple syrup makes all the difference here. Don’t get the plastic-bottled, corn-syrupy version! Pay a little extra to get the good-good. Also, does anybody have a hoard of old nuts in their pantry? I’ve had this package of chopped pecans lingering in my pantry for, literally, two years. Does anyone know if nuts go bad?

Anyway, make this special side dish when you want to just lighten up your meal a smidge. It’s also great to snack on!

Maple-Pecan Sweet Potato Slices

Servings: 4-6
Time: 25 mins
Difficulty: Easy
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Caramelized sweet potato slices with a maple-pecan topping.

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes, cleaned, peeled and sliced
1 TBS. olive oil
salt & pepper
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 TBS. brown sugar
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt and peper. Lay out on a baking sheet in one layer. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.
In a small bowl, stir together maple syrup and brown sugar. Pour over sweet potatoes and return to oven for 10-15 minutes.
Top sweet potatoes with chopped pecans and serve.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt and peper. Lay out on a baking sheet in one layer. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.