Sweet (Potato) September

I ventured over to Costco the other day and stumbled across a huge box of sweet potatoes for $6.49! I scooped up the whole box because there's nothing I like more than sweet potatoes and pumpkin to welcome the Fall. Well, maybe a steaming Chai Tea Latte on a cool, crisp day...but I digress. 


I had no idea what I was going to do with all these sweet potatoes but was having fun dreaming of all the tasty possibilties. A couple days later, my mother-in-law showed up with all sorts of yummy goodness from the Farmer's Market. I mumbled to my hubby, "I sure hope she didn't bring any sweet potatoes..." But, too late. Out came the GIGANTIC sweet potatoes she had found for us. So now I have to come up with even more clever recipes to use up these bad boys. 


So far we've experimented with sweet potato pancakes. UH-mazing. Tasty, healthy and different than your usual, run-of-the mill hot cakes. I can't wait for the little guy to be big enough to try these! I actually made these because I heard on the radio it was National Pancake Day. That's reason enough for me! :)


Next, we tried plain old microwaved sweet potatoes just using the "Baked Potato" setting. I usually don't prefer to microwave veggies, but let's face it -- I'm busy, and hungry usually wins out. To mine and hub's surprise, they actually came out quite nicely. Easy-peasy for a weeknight dinner. Top with whatever you like (just salt, pepper and dab of butter or olive oil for me!) and enjoy in less than 5 minutes. 


Next on the list for this weekend is this healthy, low glycemic Spicy Crock Pot Sweet Potato recipe. Again, ingredient list is pretty short and it has some KICK which I like. I can't wait to come up home to the yummy aromas of this one!


I may even try my hand at some sweet potato bread. I make a mean pumpkin bread so I can imagine this one would be equally as good, just maybe not as sweet. Pair it with a nice cup of coffee on a fall morning...heaven! (ETA: this was super delicious. For the last few years, I've used use a pumpkin bread base from my favorite redheaded chef, Bobby Flay, and this blog has a great pictorial!)


Lastly, I've been itching to try making pureed sweet potatoes for the little guy since those Gerber jars are kinda pricey. With 10 lbs of sweet potatoes for $6.49 I can make a year's supply of baby food (well, you know what I mean)! I plan on peeling, cubing, then steaming the potatoes before pureeing in my trusty food processor. I thought about buying a Baby Bullet, but for 60 bucks I think it's just a fancy-schmancy marketing ploy. I'll stick to my old-skool way, thank you!


But sweet potatoes are not only super tasty, they're also super healthy! Topping the charts in nutrient density, they're one of the best super-foods for your buck.


What are your fave sweet potato recipes? Anything I'm missing that I should try??