Basic Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes are a staple of little A's diet. He is not a big fan of green veggies, so I make him a lot of orange & yellow veggies to make up for it. I make sweet potatoes several different ways, but this one uses coconut milk, which makes me feel a little better than loading them up with butter and cream. Although, I have been known to do that, too! Again, if you are not trying to fatten up your baby, just replace the full fat coconut milk for low fat or just use whatever you child's usual milk is or breast milk/formula for the under 1 crowd.

I always bake sweet potatoes, there is such a big difference in the taste of baked vs. steamed or boiled - baking brings out the sweetness. And can I just say - I still don't know the difference between yams and sweet potatoes, I call these sweet potatoes, but I use yams?!?! I don't get it ;)

Baked Sweet Potatoes with Coconut Milk

3 medium sized garnet or jewel yams (the ones with the red skin)

1/2 of a 14 oz. can of full fat coconut milk, about a cup

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash and dry the sweet potatoes - do not poke them! Place them on a piece of tin foil on the center wrack of the oven. The tin foil catches any juices that would otherwise light your oven on fire (just kidding, but they can make a mess). Bake them for 45-60 minutes, depending on how big they are - a fork should go right through them. Remove them from the oven and let them cool for 15 minutes.

Peel the skin off, it is usually pretty easy to do with just your fingers, but use a knife if you need to. Cut then into 1" chunks and place them in a food processor.

Add the coconut milk and puree until you reach your desired consistency, stirring occasionally. You may need to add a bit more milk to get a smoother puree.

 

 

Serve or spoon into ice cube trays for freezing. So easy! Minimal ingredients and not a lot of prep time! 

The best thing is that you have a good building block for a baby meal. Little A likes them with chicken and broccoli and LOVES them with apples or pears and a little cinnamon.