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Sweet Potatoes Khmer

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As those of you who regularly frequent my blog know, on Fridays I document our food waste. One of the most obvious ways that I know to avoid food waste is to cook food that your family actually likes. But sometimes there are those food items that you prepare at holidays because they are a tradition. Then they end up neglected by everyone except for the family members who survived the great depression and have acquired the ability to eat anything. After a couple of years of tossing out leftover yams, I decided that something had to be done. Skipping yams on Thanksgiving was not an option, so I put out the word to my family and friends, and my husband’s aunt came to the rescue with this delicious recipe:

sweet potato

2 (29 oz.*) cans sweet potatoes, drained

1 (8 oz.*) small can crushed pineapple, drained but save juice

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup brown sugar

3 Tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

2 cooking apples, peeled and diced

1 jigger Jamaican rum (optional)

1/2 cup pecans, diced

Mash sweet potatoes. Mix with crushed pineapple and diced apples.

Prepare a syrup: Melt butter in saucepan, add brown sugar, and stir until smooth. Add juice from canned pineapple and water, continue stirring until smooth. Add spices and rum. Stir well. Pour half of the syrup into the sweet potato mixture; mix thoroughly. Spoon into a buttered 9 x 12 baking dish. Spread the remainder of the syrup on top of the sweet potatoes. Sprinkle with pecan pieces. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

*This is a recipe that I have adapted from an aunt’s adaptation of an old family recipe. Packaging sizes change over time, so go with the closest size to what the recipe calls for, if your can’t find the exact size.

Do you cook something that you don’t really like because it is a family tradition? Have you adapted some of those old recipes to make them edible?

This post has been linked to Foodie Friday, Family Recipe Friday, Friday Feasts, and Food On Fridays.

About Alea Milham

Alea Milham is the owner of Premeditated Leftovers and the author of Prep-Ahead Meals from Scatch. She shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes. She believes it is possible to live fully and eat well while spending less.

Comments

  1. Iris says

    That sounds amazing! I'm actually the one who usually eats all the sweet potatoes at Thanksgiving, so there wouldn't be any left to make anything else. But I might make this because I'm always looking for new sweet potato recipes.

    Reply

  3. Alea says

    Jane, My cats would love to visit you after Thanksgiving!

    Rebecca, Oyster Corn Casserole would definitely test the limits of my marriage! How very nice of your mom to make it for your dh and it just shows that a good cook can make anything palatable.

    Reply

  4. Rebecca says

    Hey, Alea – We are haunted by the Thanksgiving tradition of Oyster Corn Casserole. My husband grew up with it, and my mother in law made it every year. I think it was a can of creamed corn and a can of oysters with crushed saltines on top.

    The year my MIL passed away, my own mother couldn't bear to allow her son in law to endure Thanksgiving without this casserole. She, in her amazing capable cook way, jazzed it up with egg to firm it up and I'm not sure what else. It looked more palatable than the versions I had seen in previous years, but I think my hubby and my dad were the only ones who indulged in the "treat." 😛

    I'm not nearly as compassionate as my mom, so I don't make Oyster Corn Casserole.

    Reply

  5. Michael Lee West says

    What a brilliant idea.
    Jamaican rum, here Gollum comes.
    Thanks for participating in Foodie Friday!
    Hugs,
    G

    Reply

  7. Mary says

    With Thanksgiving just around the corner this is a very timely recipe. Thanks for sharing it with us. Have a wonderful day.

    Reply

  11. The Thrifty Countrywoman says

    That sounds good! Planted sweet potatoes this year, but it was to cold and they didn't grow. We always have a pate made with chicken livers. It's ok,but a few crackers of it is all anyone can stand. Don't know what I can do with it, except to feed the leftovers to the stray cats!

    Jane

    Reply

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Welcome. I'm Alea!

On Premeditated Leftovers I share simple recipes made with whole foods, practical shopping tips, time saving techniques, and meal planning strategies. I also share tips for minimizing food waste, so more of the food that is purchased ends up on the table.

While volunteering as a budget counselor, I realized that food is the element of most people’s budgets where they have the greatest control. I set out to develop low-cost recipes from scratch to prove it’s possible to create delicious meals on a limited budget. Eating well while spending less is about more than just creating recipes using inexpensive ingredients; it’s about creatively combining ingredients so you don’t feel deprived and are inspired to stick to your budget.