Ready for a really easy, really delicious sweet potato recipe? Are ya?
This popped up on my Facebook feed last week, and Roxie made it for our Sunday Thanksgiving this past weekend. Try it! You'll like it!
Sweet Potato Crescent Bites
You will need the following:
3 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/4 pound), scrubbed clean
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 (8 ounces) refrigerated Crescent Rolls
3/4 cup mini marshmallows
24 whole pecans
1 tablespoon maple syrup, for serving (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and grease a mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Pierce sweet potatoes 3 to 4 times with a fork. Place potato on microwave-safe plate and microwave 15 minutes. If your potatoes aren't fork tender after 15 minutes, continue microwaving in 30 second increments.
3. When potatoes are cooked through, scrape filling into a large bowl and discard skin. Using a potato masher or fork, mash sweet potatoes until smooth.
4. Add brown sugar, heavy cream, cinnamon, vanilla and salt and whisk to combine.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out crescent dough and pinch together seams. Cut into 24 squares and place in muffin tin cups.
6. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of sweet potato mixture into each crescent square, then top with mini marshmallows and bake until crescent pastry is golden, about 15 minutes.
7. Add a pecan to the center of each bite and bake 5 minutes more. If using, brush pecans with maple syrup before serving.
Pinterest Stuff NOTE FROM THE ENCHANTING BELINDA - One of my favorite parts of Pinterest would have to be the multitude of lists it offers for EVERY subject. Lists are a wonderful thing!
16 Experiences To Give Your Kids
1. Amusement Park Tickets - My kids get tickets to our local amusement park each year from their Grandma, and it has given them more memories than any toy ever will.
2. Movie Tickets - A favorite family memory of ours is going to the movies. Who doesn’t love popcorn and candy and a big screen? (Did you know you could buy movie gift certificates right on Amazon?)
3. Sporting Event Tickets - We are a sports-loving family. If your kids love watching, go see it in person!
4. Pottery Painting - We did this over the summer and the kids are still so proud of their masterpieces.
5. Spa Day - My little girl adores heading to the salon for a hair cut and big “princess curls."
6. New Family Friend (dog, cat, lizard, hamster) - I know you’ve got to have a certain mindset to do this, but our new family puppy has been so good for our kids. All the memories of growing up next to a puppy are priceless.
7. Dress-Up Clothes - My little ones are growing up together with fond memories of dressing up together and putting on hilarious shows. There is nothing more special in their childhood than them giggling in their bedroom together, picking out different things to wear and what song to sing next.
8. Music Lessons - Let your kids explore their creative side with piano lessons, guitar lessons or any other fun instrument they want to learn.
9. Trampoline - If there is one thing we have bought that has given our kids tons of laughs, fun and exercise, it’s our trampoline.
10. Pool Passes - We love spending summers at the pool. Not just during summer, but during the winter at the local YMCA indoor pool.
11. Zoo Passes - Visiting a zoo during the year and seeing your favorite animals up close is so fun.
12. Trampoline Parks Passes - Any jumping place is a blast for kids.
13. Vacations - Big family vacations are my most favorite childhood memories. However, the small vacations are just as good! Find some places within a couple hours and find all they have to offer. (If you want to help your family out, grab a Southwest Airlines gift certificate or one for Hotels.com they can save).
14. Rent a Boat - Spending a day or two out on the water will fill the kids with so much joy and memories.
15. Train, Hot Air Balloon or Helicopter Ride - Self-explanatory!
16. Items for a New Family Hobby - Get supplies for something the whole family can do together all the time! Maybe binoculars for bird watching, bikes for bike riding or a compass for geo-caching. The opportunities are endless!
RANDOMNESS #1 - A Zip Lining Story... (or should I say THE Zip Lining Story) - A couple of weeks ago, Roxie and I went on our first ever Mother/Daughter Trip. We spend a good amount of time together, but a one-on-one weekend getaway had never really been attempted. I was a little apprehensive as to how the weekend would unfold. I didn't know if my "old woman ways" would get on her very last nerve. I hoped it wouldn't be an issue, but those of you who have been around me know my "ways" (while charming and funny to me) can cause others to openly gasp and gape.
That's right. I said it. Gasp AND gape.
I had no doubt I would love every minute of the weekend. The Chick is a lot of fun and good company 92 percent of the time.
Of the two of us, I was most definitely the "wild card."
All of the above being taken into consideration, I had to plan carefully. In order for this trip to be successful, it had to meet the following criteria...
1. It had to take place in the Fall. Hot, hot weather tends to make my "old woman ways" more pronounced. Plus, I look better in Fall clothing. It's the whole bulky sweater vs. bathing suit scenario. Bulky sweater wins every single time.
2. It had to be less than three hours away from home. Neither one of us felt like driving ALL DAY LONG! We wanted to get there!
3. Good food was also a must.
4. As was a fireplace AND a big, cozy bed.
5. And finally, we needed a fun-to-both-of-us activity.
As some of you may recall, Roxie jumped out of a flying airplane, swam with great white sharks and seals AND bungee jumped off the highest "bungee jumping off" bridge in the world this past summer. I wasn't trying to "beat" those moments because that would have been impossible.
But I did think long and hard about this specific part of the trip, because when it was all said and done, the activity was going to be the memory we both would carry away from our trip. Not the fireplace, bed or food.
Nope.
It would be that all-important activity a 57 year-old woman and 22 year-old daredevil could agree upon. Not so tame as to bore the 22 year-old, but not so dangerous as to break any 57 year-old bones.
That's when it hit me. I had always wanted to zip line!
And when I Googled "zip lining resorts" a place called Banning Mills, Georgia popped up on my computer screen. Not only did it have world-class zip lines, but it had good food, a fireplace AND a big, cozy bed.
I checked with Roxie, made the reservations and could hardly wait until November 10 when we were scheduled to embark on this new-to-us journey. We arrived after dark Friday night, so we weren't able to check out our surroundings very well. Our room overlooking a large creek was rustic and super clean. The main lodge was beautiful.
And our zip lining experience was set to begin at 9:30 sharp the next morning.
Roxie was excited, but I was becoming more and more anxious.
By the time Saturday morning arrived, I had left "anxiety" and had moved quickly to the "terror" portion of the trip.
By the time breakfast was over and Roxie and I were instructed to head over to the official Zip Lining Class, "terror" became "acute deafness." While I nodded and repeated everything I was asked during the class, I knew I was retaining NOTHING.
The instructors then told us step-by-step how to put on our harness, helmet, gloves, etc. and when they came around to check, I discovered I had done everything correctly because they cleared me for take-off... so to speak.
During our hike to the 100-foot tower (which, by the way, had no working elevator), "acute deafness" turned into "dry mouth" and "numbness in the extremities."
Roxie and I climbed the tower and then crossed a very unevenly built bridge. (I don't want to exaggerate this point. The bridge was safe in that it was very sturdy AND we were hooked onto a zip line the entire time for safety sake. However, it was definitely built to move and sway. Toward the end of the bridge, it went almost straight up a tree, but it wasn't ladder-like because we couldn't bend down and climb like a ladder. We had to hold onto the wires and climb until a guide could grab us and hoist us onto the platform.)
I'll be honest with you. I don't personally know of a 57 year-old woman who wants to be hoisted by anyone EVER in front of anyone EVER!
I am no exception.
You will see a picture below of about one-fourth of the bridge.
Thankfully, the Level 1 Course had only two bridges (one short and one very long) and one tower. If we had added the Level 2 Course on top of the Level 1 Course, there would have been extra towers and a total of SIX bridges.
Just so you know, I was limp after conquering the bridge and we still had not zip lined. Also, just so you know, The Chick was surprised at how difficult the bridge was, too, so it wasn't just little ol' me.
As I stood on the platform mentally preparing for my first of nine zip lines, one of our guides announced, "That was the hardest part of the course. Now we're going to have fun!"
Relief flooded over me.
Don't get me wrong.
There was absolutely no doubt in my mind zip lining was not going to end well for The Enchanting Belinda, but we had come for an adventure and NOTHING was going to stop us from having one...
A great one!
There is more to this story, but time is of the essence this week, so I am going to ask you to be satisfied with the above for just a few more days.
I haven't even begun to talk about the guides (two of my favorite people on the planet now), the food or the final overall rating of our trip...
So please enjoy the pics and wait a few days more for the rest of the story!
Roxie loved the giant leaves...
As you can tell from these three (out of 132) pics.
Absolutely loved.
Isn't she lovely?
No need to respond.
I already know the answer.
RANDOMNESS #2 - Let's Play - Melia was off work for Veteran's Day, so she and I took RT and Judith to Let's Play for a few hours thinking it would be a fun way for them to burn energy on a cold, wet November day, AND it wouldn't be very crowded.
At least we were right about the burning energy part.
RT enjoys taking the occasional "rest" break here and there...
But don't we all?
This was one of their favorite places on this particular day. You climb in the padded circle, brace yourself and wait as it slowly turns.
RT joined Judith after a few seconds of watching and decided he liked the padded circle.
He liked it very much.
Please notice the "big" kid leaning against the circle.
Okay. Now you'll see two "big" kids, one on either side of the padded circle.What you cannot see is the "big" kids bending over and talking to Judith and RT, three, four and then five times.
As best I could tell, they were trying to convince the little guys it was their turn in the padded circle.
The Grand-Tots were not intimidated in the least and stayed in the padded circle for a couple more minutes before moving on to the next play area.
Had they stayed in the circle an unusually long period of time?
Nope. Barely three minutes total.
Did the big kids enjoy the padded circle when the time came for them to play in it?
Nope. They were WAY too big.
And just a reminder...
I am a lover of all kids (big and small).
The older guys weren't mean. I just told the story because I enjoyed how RT and Judith handled the situation all by themselves.
The way both of them tuned out the bigger kids was epic.
They are going to be great teenagers one day!
I hope you and yours have a most wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Talk to you soon!
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
P.S. Hope these little tidbits taken from Facebook/Instagram/Church Signs, etc. will make you smile!
"Two year-old referred to her coat pockets as 'snack holes, and that is what I shall forever call them."
"I have a bumper sticker that says, 'Honk if you think I'm sexy.' Then I just sit at green lights until I feel better about myself."
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