Hey All! Meet Shana from Organized Chaos! She's here guest posting today while I try to figure out how to be a parent to our new guys and not lose my mind! Thanks Shana! :)
Get Your Little One to Eat Sweet Potato!!
Hi Handy Andy readers! I'm Shana and I blog over at Organized Chaos.
I found Liz through a little group on Facebook and immediately fell in love with her blog! When I heard about the exciting news of them expanding their family, I couldn't wait to jump in and help! I blog about a world of topics, but being a mommy is one of my favorite! Parenting brings a lot of issues to the table that a person may not have previously thought to much about.
Things such as potty training, language, and even what we're eating all of the sudden become front runners! For me, what we're eating has been a HOT topic since the day Lil Mister was born! I had just known I was going to breastfeed and it was going to be perfect. Ah-hem....well no things didn't work out as planned and Lil Mister was switched to formula.
When it came time to introduce solids, I was bombarded with 'words of wisdom' from many. I was told what to do, when to do it, and how. Luckily, my MIL was understanding and helped guide me through the waters of all this 'expert information.' We found a wonderful website for baby foods. I suggest you check it out if you're still in the beginning phases! What I did learn through all of this is about how important the proper nutrition is! Kids will eat what you teach them to eat! If you've never given your child fish sticks, he won't know he wants fish sticks! I LOVE eating healthy and wanted my children to do the same. However, I also enjoy to indulge and may have introduced a few...umm....goodies to Lil Mister.
So, I'm always on the lookout for how to combine some great nutrition with great tasting recipes! Did you know that sweet potatoes are SO much better for you than the normal white potato?? Hey, I'm not dissin' on some mash here! I love some good ol' southern mashed potatoes. But reality is that sweet potatoes are jammed packed with good stuff! Sweet potatoes are actually loaded with Vitamin A of which a white potato has none! Try 39.2 mg Vitamin C in a sweet potato versus the 20 in a white. Potassium is winner too with more than 300 mg more in a sweet potato! Calcium, Iron, and magnesium are also ALL HIGHER!
But...what I didn't like (okay I loved it...thank you Grandma!) was how I'd always been exposed to sweet potatoes. Smother them in some syrup, brown sugar, and marshmallows and bake them till SUPER ah-mazing! As tasty as this is, sweet potatoes are sweet enough on their own and what good is all the nutrients if we're just turning them into the latest fad dessert?? Personally, sweet potatoes were one of the first foods I introduced to Lil Mister and simply mashed them and added a little of his milk to it for texture. After months of mashed foods though, kids get sick of it! Finger foods are where it is at people!
As Lil Mister has gotten older...well he has learnt more about the 'goodies' this world can offer. Fries being one of his favorite! Honestly, the thought of slivers of potatoes soaking it up in hot oil and then being smothered with salt and sugary tomato sauce...well it sends chills down my spine. As delicious as it can be, it is giving my child NOTHING but nonsense. That was when I discovered this absolutely b.e.a.utiful recipe for sweet potato chips! They're oven baked and use minimal oil. They're so naturally sweet that no dip is necessary and Lil Mister will devour an entire large potato on his own if I allow him! Even Hubby Dearest approves! So here you go....I hope you enjoy! ;-)
Oven-baked Sweet Potato Chips
Ingredients:
4 medium-large Sweet Potatoes
1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of sea salt (ground)
Directions:
1) Peal your potatoes and cut them in half width wise (the cutting them in half is just because heck...these things are MUCH harder than a normal potato if you've never had them before so it makes it easier to deal with!)
2) Cut your potatoes into chip shape. I don't feel this needs a lot of instruction. You've all seen or eaten a french fry before so cut up your potato into 1/4" sections and go from there. If your potato has the pointy ends that most sweet potatoes have...I suggest you cut those suckers off! ;-)
3) Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray. I prefer using this as to oil or grease. It is quick and doesn't put as much onto the food.
4) Space your chips out evenly on the pan. DO NOT LET THEM TOUCH! If they're touching or too close together they will become soggy and you will not be happy and I will blame you for not following directions!
5) Drizzle your oil evenly over all of the chips. It is enough!! Don't worry...you DO NOT want them sitting in oil! Just enough to give them a bit of a shine!
6) Sprinkle with pepper and salt and pop them into a preheated oven of about 200 C!
7) Bake them for 15 minutes. DO NOT OPEN the oven. Leave them to simmer and bake! No testing the product before it's finished so just go keep yourself busy!
8) Now you can open the oven, only to flip them over! Flip each chip keeping the spacing between them and bake another 10 minutes!
Your product should now be crispy and yummy!! Go ahead...taste it. It's soooo good! ;-)
Shana..
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