Island Time

A day on Block Island, Rhode Island is always a good day, especially when you have enough water, a full tummy, and your love is by your side.  Well, that got my boyfriend and me to start thinking, "What 3 foods would we request on a desert island?"  Hmm... I said to my boyfriend, "Peanut butter, sweet potatoes, and milk.... and I'll share the water you requested!"  This got me to telling him about all of the wonders of sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes are nutrient dense, which means they are jam-packed with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants in each potato.  This orange, versatile veggie is loaded with vitamins A and C, which research shows may help with night vision, healing cuts, and fighting infections.  The best news is that this veggie is yummy mashed, baked, roasted, and of course, fried.  Apart from the frying on special occasions, let's focus on the mashing and baking of this veggie.  Kids love this vegetable because it's naturally sweet, but parents and caregivers secretly know it's loaded with fiber and potassium.  So how can we eat more of this veggie?  I have a few favorite recipes below:

A recipe that blatantly features sweet potatoes for sweet potato lovers:

Sweet Potato Quesadillas

A recipe that uses sweet potatoes in a more subtle way for encouragement to those who are not such lovers of the potato:

Sweet Potato Macaroni & Cheese

Bottom line: Sweet potatoes are oh-so-yummy and oh-so-good for us too!  The even better part is their price!  Raw sweet potatoes usually range from $0.50-$1.00 each, while yams (sweet potatoes) are sold canned at about $0.07/ounce.  Just remember: canned yams are usually in a thick syrup, so be sure to rinse off the extra sugar before using them in the kitchen.

Nonetheless, I didn't bring sweet potatoes with us on the not-so-desert Block Island, so here we are with our peanut butter & banana and peanut butter and apricot jam sandwiches on whole wheat.  That get's me thinking about peanut butter!  We'll save that for next time at the table... thanks for checking in!