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Healthy Eating Habits

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes

A traditional staple on Thanksgiving Day is something your children should eat all year long...Sweet Potatoes! This month, we make it easy to make this super nutritious and kid-friendly vegetable a year-round favorite for your family. Sweet potatoes pack a super nutritious punch—providing vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, and potassium. Fiber and potassium are two nutrients that are lacking in almost all preschoolers’ diets. So stock up and try these easy recipes to add sweet potatoes to your weekly meals.

How your preschooler can help

  • have your preschooler pick out the sweet potatoes at the store, counting as she fills the bag with the number you need
  • let your preschooler wash sweet potatoes in a bowl of water and dry them
  • let your preschooler fork mash cooled baked sweet potato with her favorite ingredients, such as cinnamon, plain yogurt, margarine, or orange juice

What adults can do

  • offer only soft cooked sweet potatoes to your preschooler
  • make these delicious recipes for your preschooler—and your whole family

Sneaky Sweet Potato Leftovers

  • Add leftover mashed sweet potatoes (and nutrition) to pancake batter, pasta sauce, or tomato soup for a nutrition boost only you will know about.
Ingredients

Make as a special treat or snack cake.

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 can (15 oz.) mashed sweet potatoes or unsweetened sweet potatoes, rinsed, drained, and mashed 1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar 3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable oil 1 cup (6 oz.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels - optional
1/2 cup water

Instructions

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Lightly grease and flour one 13 x 9-inch or two 9-inch-round baking pans.


COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger in small bowl. Combine sweet potatoes, granulated sugar and brown sugar in large bowl. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add oil; beat until well blended. Stir in morsels and water. Stir in flour mixture; mix until blended. Pour into prepared pan(s).


BAKE for 35 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan(s) on wire rack(s). For layer cakes, remove from pans after 10 minutes.


Recipe makes 12 servings.


*Recipe adapted from Meals.com

Ingredients

A kid-friendly presentation and apples may convince a picky-preschooler to eat her veggies!

1 package (12 ounces) Classic Dishes Harvest Apples, defrosted* 1 can (22 ounces) sweet potatoes or yams, drained
2 large eggs 2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon granulated sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Instructions

PREHEAT oven to 400° F. Lightly grease baking sheet.


WHIP sweet potatoes until smooth in large mixer bowl. Add eggs, butter, sugar, vanilla extract and nutmeg; beat until well combined. Season with salt.


SPOON mixture onto prepared baking sheet, forming 6 mounds, 2 inches apart. Make a depression in each mound using back of a spoon to form a nest. Fill centers of nests with Harvest Apples.


BAKE for 30 minutes.


Recipe makes 6 servings.


*DEFROST Harvest Apples in microwave on MEDIUM (50%) power for 6 to 7 minutes.


*Recipe adapted from Meals.com