Let’s talk about Christmas cookies. And cakes. And pies. And potluck dinners with mac n’ cheese. And Christmas parties with multitudes of tiny finger foods that pile up on your plate until you have eaten your weight in pigs-in-a-blanket. Hello December, you taste delicious. Earlier this week someone left a bunch of Christmas cookies at our house and here was my logic:

1. These cookies are bad for me.
2. I should eat vegetables.
3. But first the cookies must disappear.
4. So I should eat them all now, for breakfast, so that they aren’t a temptation later.
5. Lunch is here. WHERE ARE MY COOKIES AND WHY DID I EAT THEM ALL AT ONCE?
6. Do we have any peanut brittle left?

What’s that,  you are of the same rationalizing sort as me? Welcome to being human.

Yet somewhere in that delicious haze of frosted snowmen and buckeyes, I decided that there needed to be a couple healthy meals in the middle of our weeks. After so long of doing mostly clean eating following our Whole30, we have fallen soundly off the wagon this fall. I just got tired, tired of planning, chopping endless veggies, reading labels – the works. I know that’s not an excuse, but it is reality.  Of course, I simply do not feel as awesome when I live off of cookies- this is also reality. So this month, we have worked a couple Whole30 meals back into our rotation. Nothing fancy, just some simple comfort food. We had a Friendsgiving right before actual Thanksgiving, and a friend of mine made the tastiest sweet potato casserole. I love all sweet potato casseroles, but this one was extra good because it wasn’t too sweet. It was topped with crispy pecans and bacon instead of marshmallows, making it a much better savory side than the standard fare. When she passed on the recipe, I realized that I could make it compliant pretty easily, and voilà — something clean that still tastes just a little bit like all the decadence that is December. Whole30 Sweet Potato Casserole with “Candied” Pecans and Bacon

• 4-5 large sweet potatoes
• about 6 TBS ghee (or butter if you are eating clean, but not Whole30)
• 1/2 cup coconut milk (the thicker and creamier the better!)
• 2/3 cup pecans, chopped
• 4 pieces compliant sugar-free bacon (plus a 5th to eat before it makes it to the casserole… because we all know it’s inevitable)
• nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger to taste
• 2 TBS coconut sugar (omit if doing strict Whole30)

1. Cook bacon, crumble and set aside.
2. Mix 1 TBS coconut sugar and spices to taste. In another bowl, melt 2 TBS ghee. Stir pecans into butter and then rub sugar and spice mixture on them. Set aside.
3. Peel and cube sweet potatoes. Boil and mash.
4. Stir cream, 4 TBS ghee, spices (to taste- I just used a tad), and sugar if using into mashed sweet potatoes.
5. Spread into greased dish and top with nuts.
6. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. Add bacon and bake for 4 more.

You know you were just dying for me to drag my dinner under the tree for a pic, right? Tis the season.

PS: At the risk of totally undoing any healthy image I created with this post… you should make these. And then eat them all.