Sweet Potato Cake for the The Babe...and me!

In an effort to get a many vitamins and nutrients into The Babe's diet I have found myself "hiding" veg in our food.  I always thought that "hidden veg" was crazy...I thought "my child will eat all sorts of vegetables"...but that was before I had a child, and before I realised that children are, in essence, fickle and unpredictable.  The Babe will love something one day, absolutely gorge herself on it and then the next day toss it aside like it is the most disgusting thing I have ever put on her plate.  So, in a bid to stop scraping pieces of vegetable off the floor after most meals I have done what I thought I would never do...I have started hiding vegetables in our food.  

I made this Maple and Sweet Potato Loaf Cake during the week and it has been a huge hit.  The Babe really loved sweet potatoes while were in Canada in July, she gobbled up her sweet potato fries like it was nobody's business, but since we've been home my efforts have been met with less enthusiasm. Turning to Pinterst for help I found loads of great ways to use sweet potato in sweet dishes...brownies, muffins, cakes and pies.  I liked the recipe I chose because it was very close to the recipe I use for banana bread.  

I halved the sugar in the recipe and used Macadamia Milk instead of water to loosen the batter a bit (only because I had Macadamia Milk in the fridge needing to be used up).  To save some time I baked a large sweet potato the night before and then left it in the fridge overnight.  If you do this step in advance the cake takes no time at all to prepare, although it does take a while to bake (60 mins).  Once cooled I sliced it up into snack sized portions for The Babe, wrapped them in cling film and popped them into the freezer.  Of course I saved a few portions for immediate enjoyment! 

I slathered mine in butter and pear fruit spread.  It was fantastic.  The cake tastes slightly of sweet potato, but in my opinion it isn't over powering.  It is super moist and slightly dense.  I think it makes a great snacking cake for little ones, and The Babe has really enjoyed the couple of slices she has had.   

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A Very Special Birthday Party

The older Lyra gets the less time I find I have to sit down and update this blog.  Sure, she is still napping during the day (in fact she has gotten BETTER at napping during the day) it is just that I can no longer justify letting housework pile up and NEED to put my feet up every chance I get.  After A YEAR of doing this Mummy thing I really do NEED to spend every second she is not escaping from the living room actually maintaining some semblance of order.

Food wise, Lyra has been eating solid foods for the past 6 months and has developed a good appetite for most of what we eat.  She pretty much eats everything that David and I eat with the exception of broccoli, which I have to sneak into pastas and quiche.  Her favourites, by far, are scrambled eggs, toast with peanut butter and banana, pasta with anything on it, salmon, egg mayo sandwiches and sweet potato fries.  I love watching her eat and the enthusiasm she displays while devouring her meal.  

We were in Canada (again) this past month and celebrated Lyra's first birthday with a small BBQ (Uncle Matt's famous pulled pork) and some very special Carrot Cupcakes.  

I used Annabel Carmel's carrot muffin Recipe (toddler friendly) and topped them with cream cheese icing and "prinkles".  The recipe made 12 regular sized muffins and 12 mini muffins, which was perfect for celebrating with little ones as well as adults (or those who just wanted a little but of something sweet after the awesome BBQ and sides). 

The extra special treat was sharing the celebrations with Grandad, whose birthday is also in July! 

And now onto the next year full of new adventures, new discoveries and new tricks!