HEALTHY BEEF AND SWEET POTATO PUREE RECIPE

This Beef and Sweet Potato Baby Puree is baby-friendly comfort food in a bowl. Your young one will appreciate this tender, creamy, and savory puree for lunch or dinner.

Sweet potatoes are one of the healthiest foods known and are ranked as the top nutritional vegetable by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The skins of sweet potatoes contain a number of additional nutrients, so it is beneficial to eat your sweet potato with the skin. Scrub them well first to remove any dirt then cook according to preference.

Fiber

The skin of sweet potatoes is high in fiber. A serving of sweet potato baked in the skin provides more fiber than a serving of oatmeal, with a medium baked sweet potato with the skin providing 5 grams of fiber. Men younger than the age of 51 should have at least 38 grams of fiber a day. Women younger than 51 should have 25 grams of fiber. These numbers go down slightly as you age. Fiber has a number of potential health benefits, including normalizing bowel movements, lowering cholesterol and regulating blood sugar.

Sweet potatoes baked with the skin are loaded with beta carotene. A medium size sweet potato has four times the recommended daily value of beta carotene at 26081.9 international units per serving. Beta carotene is an antioxidant that is converted into vitamin A in the body. The health benefits of vitamin A are extensive as it helps to improve eyesight and prevent or treat certain eye conditions. The vitamin strengthens the immune system and may help treat or prevent cancer, according to eMedTV.

Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Folate

Sweet potatoes with skin also have the essential nutrients, vitamin C, vitamin E and folate. A sweet potato has 29.51 milligrams of vitamin C, nearly half the recommended daily value. A serving of sweet potatoes provides 100 percent of the daily recommended value for vitamin E with no saturated fat. Sweet potatoes also have 18.2 micrograms of folate per serving. Vitamin C and E are both antioxidants that may protect against a number of diseases by improving your immune system, says University of Maryland Medical Center.

Potassium and Iron

Sweet potato skins are a good source of potassium. A medium sized sweet potato baked with the skin has 542 milligrams of potassium. Even though the recommended daily intake of potassium is 4,700 milligrams, a sweet potato has one of the higher contents of the nutrient. The skin is also a good source of iron. Especially for people who do not eat meat, the iron found in sweet potato skins is an important nutrient.

BEEF AND SWEET POTATO RECIPE

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes

• 2 tbs butter

• 1/2 cup brown sugar

• 1/4 pound ground beef

STEPS

• Brown beef in a skillet over medium high heat until well done. Set beef aside on paper towel covered plate to drain off excess fat.

• Wrap sweet potatoes in foil and bake in oven at 400 F for about 40-50 minutes. If you are short on time, you can individually wrap the potatoes in plastic wrap and poke each of them with a fork about 6 times. You can then microwave them together for about 7 minutes in your microwave. Be careful when removing them, as they will be hot!

• Once potatoes are done, remove the meat of the potato from the skin and set aside in large bowl. Add beef, butter, and brown sugar to the mixture.
• Puree the mixture to the desired consistency for your little one.

The sweet potato, sometimes known as sweetpotato, is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulaceae family, which includes bindweed and morning glory. Its tuberous roots are big, starchy, and sweet-tasting, and are used as a root vegetable. Greens can be made from the young branches and leaves.

Creamy and tender savoury beef and sweet potato puree with flavorful beef and pungent thyme, rounded out with oh so creamy sweet potatoes… or so I’m told.Try out this easy recipe of beef and sweet potato puree for your baby and let us know in the comments below if you have any questions about the recipe.

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