Summer Meets Fall: Sweet Potato Refreshment!

Tiny is looking forward to the start of a new season, because it means a whole new world of fruits and vegetables to explore at the market! Although summer vacation may be at an end, there is still a lot of sunshine to enjoy... and nothing helps keep Tiny cool like one of her favorite warm-weather treats, a yummy, healthy milkshake. This week, Tiny tried a new Fall veggie in her shake: the sweet potato.

Sweet potatoes (just like carrots and beets) are root vegetables, the edible roots of a plant. Sweet potatoes grow best in warm weather, which means that while Tiny and her friends were playing outside in the sun all summer, the sweet potato crop was nestled safely underground, getting ready for the fall harvest. And just like the sun helps this vegetable grow big and strong, the sweet potato is full of vitamins and nutrients to help kids grow up strong, too! 

Beta-carotene, which is what gives sweet potatoes their bright orange color, turns into Vitamin A inside your body - it is an important vitamin to help keep your eyes and immune system healthy. 

Sweet Potato Milkshake

1 sweet potato, medium to large

4 dates, pitted

2 medium bananas, frozen in chunks

1 1/3 cups milk, or any milk substitute of your choice

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Whipped coconut cream (optional)

Next, an adult can chop the pitted dates while the potato is cooling in the refrigerator.

This recipe makes enough for 2 snack-sized portions.

Variations:

* The sweet potatoes can be cooked in the oven rather than the microwave, if desired. Heat the oven to 400F, poke holes in each potato with a fork as directed above, wrap in foil, and cook for 45 minutes. Or just use up your left-over sweet potatoes from dinner this way!

* Fresh bananas can be used instead of frozen bananas in this recipe. If so, simply add a few ice cubes to help keep the shake cool and creamy. 

* Dashes of allspice, pumpkin pie spice, ginger, and/or cardamom would all be great substitutes for or additions to the cinnamon - you can try making your own combinations!


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With Cassie Sciortino and Kat Craddock

Healthy After-School Snacks... With a Side of Guacamole!

Whenever Tiny gets back home from her adventures, she is so hungry that she could eat just about anything! So she likes to fix a few little snacks ahead of time to hold her over until dinner. Tiny's friends over at Super Healthy Kids have some great ideas for make-ahead recipes to enjoy after a long day of exploring or school.

Be sure to try their yummy mango guacamole! 

From Super Healthy Kids!

If you want to stretch your avocados a little bit further or for a lower-fat variation, try adding a mashed banana of two to the recipe.

We hope that you are enjoying the beginning of your school year!

Visit us at www.TinyTastesWorld.com
With Kat Craddock

A Lesson in Culture: The Wide World of Yogurt

Exciting Ingredients: Part 3

Since she started learning to cook, Tiny keeps finding herself reaching for the yogurt when she goes to the fridge. And not that super-sweet flavored kind, either! 

Tiny has learned that smooth and tangy plain yogurt is a delicious way to add wholesome, creamy goodness to all kinds of sweet and savory recipes.

The word “yogurt” comes from the Turkish language but people all over the world enjoy eating it these days. It was first produced thousands of years ago somewhere in Central Asia or the Middle East and it is widely considered one of the first “processed foods” in human history. This process of adding friendly microbes to fresh milk to prevent spoiling was a brilliant invention in the days before refrigerators. Also known as "cultured" milk, yogurt is easier to digest than regular milk (it contains less lactose!), and it helps balance the friendly bacteria in your belly, keeping your body healthy and strong to fight off germs and infections.

Traditionally, North Americans and Western Europeans enjoy yogurt as a sweet breakfast or in desserts, while folks in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and India use it as an ingredient in their savory recipes. 

In the morning, Tiny likes to eat it topped with granola, berries, and jam, or in her easy overnight oatmeal. For lunch, she might dunk pita bread and carrot sticks in a savory, veggie-based dip, like her famous beet tzatziki or this zesty spinach version.

For a hearty supper, you can try stirring a creamy scoop of Greek yogurt into this simple, Indian-inspired lentil soup. If you'd like to try a fruity, yogurt based dessert, these strawberry rhubarb freezer pops or mango lassi can be whipped up ahead of time. The flavors can be switched out for just about any of your favorite fruits, so be adventurous!

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This post created by Kat Craddock

Photo credits: Cassie Sciortino

Keep The Beet With This Colorful Treat!

This week, Tiny tried beets for the first time. What surprised her the most was how bright and colorful fresh beets could be… just like carrots! Even the ordinary red beets that look dark and strange at the market are full of vibrant purple juice. She decided she wanted to learn how to make something for lunchtime and this colorful, electric pink dip is a perfect mid-day pick-me-up.

Closely related to the Greek cucumber and yogurt sauce, tzatziki (listen here for help with pronunciation), this recipe combines cooked red beets with creamy Greek yogurt, lemon, and herbs for a bright, tangy-sweet sauce. 

You will definitely want to use fresh beets instead of canned. Some grocery stores sell peeled and cooked fresh beets, which work great if you can find them; for the rest of us, cooking instructions are included below. Do keep in mind that beet juice stains easily, so this might be a good time to wear an apron!

The dip is loaded with calcium, protein, and vitamins, so it will help keep you strong and healthy, but Tiny is sure that the best part is the taste! Try it with soft or crispy pita bread, raw veggies, or even falafel balls.

1 pound red beets (about 4 tennis-ball sized beets), greens removed and scrubbed

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups whole milk plain Greek yogurt 
    (or 2% if you prefer)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

Juice of ½ a lemon or 1-2 tablespoons of bottled lemon juice

Salt to taste

Have an adult help with chopping the garlic and herbs before you get started.

Cooking the Beets

Bring a medium saucepan of water to boil and add the beets. They should all fit easily and be fully submerged to cook evenly. Cook the beets at a low boil for 20-30 minutes, or until they are soft when you poke them with a knife.

Beet tzatziki can be eaten right away with raw veggies, pita, or falafel, but it gets even better if you let it sit in the fridge for a few hours. Tiny usually makes this in the morning for lunch or an afternoon snack, but you can even make it day ahead if you prefer. This recipe makes just about 3 cups of beet tzatziki– plenty for lunch for 2 adults and 2 kids. Leftovers will keep well in the fridge for 2-3 days. 

Visit us at www.TinyTastesWorld.com

This post created by Kat Craddock
Recipe adapted from Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean by Ana Sortun

Photo credits: Cassie Sciortino

Tiny Meets A New Fruity Family: The Stonefruits

Exciting Ingredients: Part 2

This summer, Tiny can’t get enough of the delicious fruits and vegetables at her local farmers’ market. When she realized that most of her favorite fruits have a great big pit inside, she decided to ask some of her farmer friends why that is. 

It turns out that Tiny’s favorite summer fruits…peaches, cherries, and plums… are all a part of the Prunus plant family. This family also includes apricots, nectarines, and even almonds! Members of the Prunus family are all considered “drupes” or “stonefruits”– soft-skinned, usually sweet fruit surrounding a central stone that contains a single seed. 

There are tons of delicious stonefruits to choose from­ – olives, dates and mangoes are all drupes too! But this season, the juicy and delicious Prunus fruits are the stars of Tiny’s Kitchen. Whenever possible, Tiny choses “tree-ripened” stonefruit for eating raw, either by themselves, in your morning oatmeal or as a sweet surprise in this fresh salad. 

While unripe fruit will soften off of the tree, they never get any sweeter than the day that they were picked. The firmer, under-ripe varieties, though, are easier to cut and perfect for cooking. 

Try peaches or apricots with something a little bit spicy or salty like these great green beans or grilled pork chops. For the best summertime desserts, they are great in a silky shortcake, a cozy cobbler, or a perfect pie. 

And sometimes, Tiny simply cuts fresh apricots in half, pops out the pit, and warms them up on the grill – cut side down – till they are just a little bit browned. With a scoop of ricotta, greek yogurt, or vanilla ice cream, and maybe a drizzle of runny honey, this is Tiny’s favorite way to end a cookout!

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This post created by Kat Craddock

Photo credits: Cassie Sciortino

Easy Oaty Pudding

Tiny knows how important it is to eat a healthy breakfast before a big day of exploring… one that includes whole grains, fruit, protein and a little bit of fat. But when you're still sleepy, that can be a lot to think about in the morning. To help get her day off to an easy and delicious start, Tiny learned how to make this creamy oatmeal pudding. She simply mixes all the ingredients in a jar before bed. By morning, breakfast is ready to eat and Tiny is ready to greet the world!

The best part about this recipe is that you can add whatever you like… dried, fresh, or frozen fruit, nuts, seeds, spices. 

Some of Tiny’s favorite combinations are listed down below, but don’t be afraid to use your imagination and try some new things. You can switch out the milk and yogurt for nondairy or reduced fat varieties if you like, but try to stick to the plain, unsweetened types.

The Pudding

1/3 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not instant, not steel-cut)

1/3 cup whole milk

1/3 cup whole milk yogurt

2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup

¼ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract

pinch of salt

Optional:

1 tablespoon millet (for extra crunch) or 1 tablespoon chia seed (for a silkier pudding)

On Summer mornings, Tiny enjoys this recipe right out of the fridge, but if you prefer a hot cereal, 30-45 seconds in the microwave is enough to warm it right up. This is also a great camping breakfast… just be sure to keep it chilled overnight in a cooler or insulated thermos.

Variations:

These are just a handful of Tiny’s favorite mix-ins. Be creative and use this opportunity to try some fun new fruits and spices. If you decide to add a very juicy fresh fruit, the pudding might be a little runny, so just use a bit less milk (1/4 cup instead of 1/3 cup).

Summer Stone Fruit Oaty Pudding:  Reduce the milk in the recipe to ¼ cup. Add 2 tablespoons of diced fresh peaches or plums, 1 tablespoon of dried cherries, and (optional) 1 tablespoon of sliced, natural (with skin) almonds.

Apple Crisp Oaty Pudding:  Add 2 tablespoons of diced fresh or dried apple, ¼ teaspoon of apple pie spice, and 2 tablespoons of your favorite granola.

            

 

Tropical Oaty Pudding:  Use light coconut milk in place of the whole milk and add ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 tablespoons of fresh or dried diced mango, and 2 tablespoons of unsweetened coconut flakes.

Holiday Oaty Pudding:  Add 2 tablespoons of cranberries, 1 tablespoon of slivered almonds, 2 teaspoons of minced candied ginger, and 1 pinch each of ground clove and ground cinnamon.

We hope you have fun trying a variety of flavors as you add your own twist to Tiny's basic oaty pudding recipe! Feel free to share some of your favorite mix-ins below.

Visit us at www.TinyTastesWorld.com

This post created by Kat Craddock

Photo credits: Cassie Sciortino

"What's Up, Doc?" A Fresh Look at Carrots

Exciting Ingredients: Part 1
Tiny is so excited to share with you everything that she is learning about food! 

This week, she explored the Union Square Greenmarket in New York City and she was amazed by all the different kinds of carrots. 

We bet you’ve seen normal orange carrots at the grocery store or on your dinner table, but did you know that carrots, just like people, come in all different shapes, colors and sizes?  

At the market, Tiny saw red, purple, yellow, white, and pink carrots alongside the more common orange carrot.  

Some carrots were nearly a foot long and some were even smaller than a mouse...

 

Some were long and pointy, or little and squat, or even twisted up like rope....

And they all tasted like delicious, sweet carrots.

Carrots are close relatives to parsley, parsnip, fennel, dill, and cumin, and all of these cousins make delicious additions to carrot recipes. One of the farmers at the market told Tiny that both the greens and the root part of the carrot plant are edible. She also learned that the biggest carrots are usually the sweetest, but that the little ones are the most tender.

We always try to find as many different colors as we can when we eat fruits and vegetables, because their colors work like secret codes: they let you know that there are different types of nutrients inside, and the more colors you choose, the stronger you can be!

We like to cook large carrots in soups like these, or shred them up for a nutritious cake or muffins. The little guys are most delicious simmered with a little butter and honey, or in this crunchy raw salad.

How do you and your family like to eat carrots? Please share your own recipe in the comment section below if you have one that you like!

Visit us at www.TinyTastesWorld.com

This post created by Kat Craddock

Photo credits: Cassie Sciortino