A few days ago, my family sat down for a meal, and when I saw the pumpkin place mats and baked sweet potatoes, it occurred to me that fall is here (even though the weather seems to think summer is just at its peak)! When we finished eating, we packed the leftovers into bags and tupperwares, as usual, but — my word, were there a ton of sweet potatoes left over! I thought “oh no! I hope those precious commodities don’t go to waste…but how can we ever eat all of these without overdosing on beta-carotene??” Seriously. Big dilemma. Hundreds killed, as my good Irish friend Mary would say.
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| More sweet potatoes than we we could handle… |
Then, I wondered: “What if I freeze some of the sweet potatoes and use them later?”…Genius plan!
This morning, when I faced my daily moral crossroad: “What should I eat for breakfast?”…the frozen sweet spuds immediately sprung to my conscious mind. Yes! I shall make what I used to make during my college swimming and running days…something that I have long suppressed my feelings for and nearly forgotten about.
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| Topped with homemade whipped cream and granola, served with pumpkin spice coffee. Y.U.M. |
(Recipe Serves 2)
In blender, combine:
- 1 banana (I used frozen)
- 1 cooked (baked/microwaved/steamed) and cooled sweet potato
- 2-4 T peanut or other nut butter
- 1 t. cinnamon
- 1 t. vanilla
- 1/2-1 cup milk (cow/soy/almond…)
- 1/2-1 cup orange juice (optional)
- vanilla ice cream (optional) for shakes
I have secretly enjoyed this for a long time, as an early morning pre-workout fuel, midday snack, or dessert. Throughout the years, I have told only my closest friends about my obsession, because I worried that people would not understand it, or think me very unusual. But, after arriving at the conclusion that I am indeed unusual in my food preferences, this likelihood no longer bothers me, and I am free to share my appreciation with all! Also, I know that others have been publicly proclaiming their love affair for similar recipes, and I am certainly not the only fanatic. Besides, these things are delicious and good for your body, with lots of beta carotene (sweet potatoes), potassium (bananas), calcium (milk), and good fats (nut butters)…
- cook sweet potato in microwave by poking holes in it and and cooking for 4-5 minutes (or bake in oven, or reheat)
- prepare as above in blender until pureed (omit ice cream, use fresh banana if desired or omit)
- experiment 🙂
- cook oatmeal as desired (steel cut slow cooked oats preferred!)
- stir in cooked, mashed sweet potatoes (and/or canned pumpkin!)…about 1:1 oatmeal-to-potatoes ratio.
- stir in peanut butter/other nut butter
- stir in soymilk/other milk
- add cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger to taste
- add honey/other sweetener to taste
- top with fresh sliced banana