With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I tested this recipe out on several little ginuea pigs. I made these for a recent “kid’s dinner party” that my friends and I do every week and I can’t even tell you how hard I laughed when I pulled these sweet potatoes out of the oven and three of the kids simultaneously yelled “cupcakes”! No matter what we said they decided the orange and white “cupcakes” were a holiday treat and scarfed them down. The only “oops” moment came when one the little girls looked at me with a huge hunk of orange peel in her mouth and said, “I don’t like the wrapper”. Whoops!
These heavenly treats only take minutes to prepare, and they made quite a visual and edible impact on the kids and adults alike. I’m a big fan of cooking this dish with evaporated skim milk because it makes the potatoes really fluffy without the added fat of heavy cream. I usually don’t like to use foods that have a ton of sugar, but just a few mini marshmallows really take this recipe to the next level for kids and makes it fun for them. After all, it’s the “icing”! They’re not essential to the recipe, so you can easily leave them out.
This recipe is also a time saver when you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner, because the orange pulp that you scoop out goes right into the weelicious cranberry sauce recipe! A green vegetable, some succulent turkey and you have a perfect meal for the entire family with a few leftovers for the next day.
*Check out the Thanksgiving article and pictures on one of my favorite websites, CafeMom:

Sweet Potatoes in Orange Cups (Serves 6 Big Kids)

2 Lbs. Sweet Potatoes (you want to use potatoes that are really orange, also known as yams)
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1/2 Cup Evaporated Skimmed Milk (you can substitute it with regular milk)
1/2 Tsp Kosher or Sea Salt
3 Navel Oranges
Mini Marshmallows

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poke the yams several times with a fork or knife to pierce the skin.
2. Place on foil or a sheet tray in the oven and bake for 1 hour.
3. Let yams cool for several minutes, cut in half and scoop out the fluffy insides (I love eating the high fiber skin as a snack).
4. Mash the yams with butter, maple syrup, evaporated milk and salt until creamy and fluffy.
5. Cut the oranges in half and slice a very thin disk from the bottom so they rest flat. The skins are actually going to be the “bowls”.
6. With a pairing knife cut around the inside rim of the orange removing the orange sections and pulp. Place any of the orange juice and pulp in a bowl and discard the white membranes and seeds. Save the juice and pulp for cranberry sauce recipe or just enjoy as a snack.
7. Fill each orange cup with 1/4 cup of puree and top with several mini marshmallows (you can cover and refrigerate these overnight).
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
9. Place on a sheet tray and bake for 20-25 minutes.
10. Serve.

OK, seriously, who doesn’t like a potato chip? Left to my own devices I could devour an entire bagful in one sitting. However, your average store-bought bag of chips is laden with saturated fat and calories that I don’t want or need, and while I don’t want to deprive Kenya of the great treat of chips, I certainly want to keep him away from bad fats and mega-doses of sodium. Sure, most chip makers offer “healthy” versions, but they’re still not great for you and why spend the extra money when you can make even better ones on your own for a huge fraction of the price?
I’ve been making these “potato chips” for me and my husband for years and now Kenya gets to be part of the fun. You can make them with almost any kind of potato (the sweet potato version is AMAZING and loaded with vitamins and minerals). They only take minutes to prepare and are a fantastic snack for kids’ lunch boxes too.

“Potato Chips” (Makes 2-3 Cups of Chips)

2 Potatoes, unpeeled (sweet and/or Idaho/Russet Potatoes)
1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
Sea or Kosher Salt to taste
Vegetable Oil Spray

1. Slice the potato into “chips” using a knife or a mandolin, about 1/8 inch thick.
2. Combine the potatoes, oil and salt in a bowl or resealable bag and coat the potato chips.
3. Spray 2 cookie sheets with a thin coating of vegetable spray and make one layer of potato chips on the cookie sheet.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until chips start to turn golden. Turn the chips to the other side and continue to cook 15 more minutes (some of the chips may turn golden before others, so make sure to keep an eye on them and remove them when their crisp).
5. Cool and serve.

Sweet, creamy, beautiful, delicious… there are so many words to describe these little edible jewels filled with silky puree. These bites are easy to pick up with your fingers and look gorgeous on a platter. You could even serve these at a fabulous cocktail party and make extras for the kids.
But back to the recipe. Purses?? Huh? Well, I found some gorgeous gala apples at the farmer’s market and was trying to think a fun and original recipe for a birthday party. I had also kept passing wonton wrappers at the market and wanted to play around with them. Apples are full of fiber and vitamin C and sweet potatoes are a powerhouse of nutrition especially given their abundance of beta-carotene and vitamin C and E.
These only took minutes to prepare and you can serve them warm or cool. You could also serve the puree on its own to babies over the age of 8 months.
Of course Kenya ate almost the entire recipe in one sitting (that seems to be the norm with him these days), so I highly recommend making a double batch!

Sweet Potato, Apple, Cheddar Purses (Makes 10 purses)

1/2 Sweet Potato (yams), peeled and cubed
1 Small Apple (about 1/2 Cup), peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp Cheddar Cheese, shredded
1/8 Tsp Cinnamon
10 Wonton Wrappers (found in the refrigerator section of your grocery)
*Bowl of water

1. Place the sweet potatoes in a steamer pot over boiling water and cook for 3 minutes.
2. Add the apples and continue to cook another 3 minutes or until fork tender.
3. Place the apples, sweet potato, cheese and cinnamon in a food
processor and puree until smooth.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
5. Place a wonton wrapper on a clean surface. Place a tablespoon of the puree in the middle of the wonton.
6. Take the four corners of the wonton and lift them up around the
puree.
7. Pinch the wonton together in the middle, just over the puree, to seal. Moisten your fingers with a little water and pinch once more to ensure a good seal.
8. Repeat process with remaining wonton wrappers. When all 10 are formed into purses, place 3-5 at a time in the boiling water.
9. Cook for 2 minutes.
10. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate, cool and serve.

In our house, everything is more fun when it’s a holiday. The entire time we were making these sweet potato pancakes, it felt 
like Hanukkah. Potato pancakes or latkes as they are also known, 
are most commonly eaten in the fall during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. Although it’s 
the middle of July and grossly hot outside, the sweet potatoes at this week’s farmer’s market were incredible and I couldn’t help wanting to 
make something with them.
I decided to pump up the nutritional value in my version by making them with 
sweet potatoes. It’s amazing how delicious the natural sweetness from the potato 
and the savory flavors from the onion and garlic marry into such a delectable 
treat. Kenya was digging them in a big and bad way.
Whenever I hand 
him something whole, especially like these big, crunchy circles he 
looks like he’s hit the food jack pot. 
For your little ones who are getting into dipping, I added apple sauce 
which no latke should ever go without!

Sweet Potato Pancakes (Make 20 Toddler Pancakes)

1 Sweet Potato, grated (this came out to be 3 cups)
2 Tbsp Whole Wheat Flour
2 Eggs, beaten
1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 Tsp Onion Powder
Canola or Vegetable Oil, for pan searing
Apple Sauce

1. Place the first 5 ingredients in a bowl and throughly combine.
2. Place a large saute pan over low to medium heat.
3. Heat 3-4 Tbsp of oil, or enough to coat the bottom of the pan, in the saute pan for 30 seconds.
4. Add a heaping tablespoon of the sweet potato mixture to the pan. Pat down the mixture with the back of a fork and form into a thin, circular patty (you don’t want them to be thick or they won’t cook through).
5. Cook for 5 minutes or until they begin to turn golden. Flip them over.
6. Continue to cook for 5 more minutes or until the bottom is golden.
7. Place the patties on a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining sweet potato mixture.
8. Cool patties and serve.

Thanksgiving is my favorite meal hands down. I’m not sure what I like better, though, the turkey or the fresh cranberry sauce. I actually started freezing the berries when they’re in season so I could eat it all year long. Cranberries are intensely sour, so I added some sweet potato and apple to balance the flavor and give it a little sweetness. This puree has protein from the turkey, beta carotene from the sweet potato and carrots, and vitamin C from the apple. I always trying to expand Kenya’s taste buds with spices, so I added the thyme. It was still missing something, though. The cinnamon gives it that last kick that makes this puree smell of a Thanksgiving feast, baby style of course.

Thanksgiving Dinner (15 Baby Servings, freeze 1/2)

1 Turkey Breast Tender (about 3/4 pound)
1 Small Sweet Potato, peeled and cubed
15 Baby Carrots
1/2 Cup Cranberries
1/2 Apple, peeled
1/4 Tsp Thyme
Pinch of Cinnamon

1. Place turkey in a steamer over boiling water. Sprinkle thyme over it. Cook for 6 minutes.
2. Add sweet potatoes, carrots and cranberries to the pot with the turkey. Cook another 6 minutes or until turkey is cooked though and vegetables are tender.
3. Cool turkey for several minutes, so the juices can redistribute and then cut into cubes.
4. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and puree. Add some of the water from the pot, a tablespoon at a time to make smooth.
5. Cool and serve.

Nothing makes Kenya happier then his oranges vegetables and since they’re both packed with beta-carotene, an antioxidant which protects skin and the lining of the intestines, lungs, nose and throat, it makes Mommy happy too.
These are three staples that I always have in the kitchen, so it’s quick and easy to prepare when you realize that you don’t have a meal in the house for baby to eat.

Chicken with Sweet Potato and Carrots (12 Baby Servings, freeze)

1 Chicken Breast
1 Sweet Potato, peeled and cubed
15 Baby Carrots

1. Place the chicken breast in a steamer pot for boiling water for 3 minutes.
2. Add the sweet potato and carrots for another 5 minutes until all ingredients are tender and chicken is cooked through.
3. Put ingredients in a food processor and puree until smooth.
4. Cool and serve.