It really pays to listen to your friends. (Not all of them though, because if they’re encouraging you to do things that aren’t good for you, maybe you should consider getting new friends.) Well where did that piece of parenting advice come from?
Anyway, I happen to have good friends, so I feel that it is okay to listen to them. It just so happens that I had two friends in one week tell me that I was missing out by not adding sweet potatoes to my menus more often. When the first friend said it, I kind of nodded and smiled. But when a second friend mentioned it a few days later, I sort of wondered if God was trying to tell me something. Okay, I’m pretty sure He is working in bigger ways in my life than sweet potato consumption encouragement. But still. I figured there might be something to this sweet potato thing since it came up twice in one week with two different people at two separate times. (Am I making too much of this? I mean, should I just get around to sharing the recipe already?) Why have I not been eating or feeding my family sweet potatoes very often, as in, pretty much never?
It’s very simple really. As a child, the only way I had been served sweet potatoes was in a casserole with brown sugar and marshmallows at Thanksgiving and I didn’t like it one bit. If I’m going to eat something sweet, I want it to be a dessert – not as a side dish with my turkey. But that’s just me. I’m the one who needs chocolate with my sugar. What can I say? But, per my friends’ suggestions, I decided to try making sweet potato fries. They looked and smelled great. I ate one. Hmmm, it was okay, I guess. But I kept thinking about marshmallows, and couldn’t get past it. By the way, I don’t like marshmallows. But I’m a big girl, and all grown up, so I made myself eat a second sweet potato fry. And then a third. Oh wait. They suddenly began to taste good to me. Then, before I knew it, I had to tell myself to stop eating the sweet potato fries and save some for my family. (I didn’t feel bad though, because usually it’s the other way around and I’m the one asking my family to save me some food before they inhale all of it.)
So it turns out that while I think my friends may have helped me become an addict in this regard, it does pay to give in to sweet potato peer pressure.
How to Make Sweet Potato Fries
Scrub and cut sweet potatoes into wedges or fries – as thin as you like. Toss them in olive oil or coconut oil (about 1 Tablespoon per sweet potato). Place them in a single layer on a baking pan. Sprinkle on sea salt and bake in a 400° oven for 30-40 minutes. or Deep fry the cut sweet potatoes in a fryer (we have this one, which works great) filled with Refined Coconut Oil or Palm Shortening for 3-4 minutes, remove, salt, and eat. 
What is your relationship with sweet potatoes? How do you like them cooked? And while it’s completely irrelevant, I am curious. Do you like marshmallows?
