Today they eat. Tomorrow everything is “yucky”. If you are or have been the parent of a toddler, you know this phase very well. It’s a cycle that is on constant repeat like a broken record. Better yet, like Charlie Brown’s teacher, “wah wah wah — wah wah wah wah wah”. This is one of the reasons why I love cooking together with our mini chef. If she makes it, she seems much more interested in at least trying it, although sometimes even then it’s yucky to her. It’s also the reason that no matter what I’m making, nine times out of ten it’s going to have a lot of veggies and protein inside. I’ve literally seen her go a whole day on maybe half a banana and a handful of pretzels. This Sweet Potato Stew, though, she loves. It’s packed full of delicious stuff and it’s perfect this time of year.
Another way I get her to try new things is to read books with her that involve cooking or food. We have found a ton of books at the library about food and cooking and since she’s in awesome reading phase, it’s been great the past few months. We recently received a copy of Mother Bruce, a book about a bear that likes to eat eggs, but his recent eggs ended up hatching! Skibbles thought that was funny. Now Mother Bruce has to think up recipes that don’t have the possibility of hatching. I told Skibbles that there’s no worries with our Sweet Potato Stew hatching.
There is a lot of chopping with this recipe and I do most of that. We’ve been slowly teaching her how to use a knife. (I actually just heard about this product to help kids cut veggies without the fear of them cutting themselves and I plan to try it out). But there’s still so much she can do with this recipe. She clean the potatoes, peels the garlic, puts everything in the food processor and turns that out, and then she throws everything into the pot for it to start cooking. I absolutely love doing this with her.
The final product is a beautiful bowl of stew that is perfect on a chilly day or when you are sick. Packed full of nutrients like vitamin c, calcium, and betacarotene, you will want your toddler’s eating it too.

- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 green pepper
- 1 carrot
- 1 can 15oz black beans
- 1 can 15oz red kidney beans
- 3 cups diced sweet potatoes
- 5 cups bone broth or chicken broth
- 1 tsp cajun seasoning recipe follows
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cayenne
- 2 1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
-
In a food processor, chop onion, garlic, green pepper, and carrot.
-
Heat a large pot on medium, add olive oil and heat.
-
Add vegetables mixture from the food processor and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, not to let the onions or garlic burn.
-
Add beans, broth, and sweet potatoes, stirring to combine.
-
Add in cajun seasoning.
-
Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 45 minutes.
-
Serve immediately.
I am hosting Mini Chef Mondays along with 11 fabulous bloggers!
Be sure to check out each of their Mini Chef posts as well. We would love it if you would share your Mini Chef posts with us each week, too! Follow along socially and join in on the fun by using our hashtag #MiniChefMondays to share creations your mini chef created in the kitchen. Additionally, if you have a kid-friendly recipe that kids can easily recreate link up! Don’t have a blog? Share the URL of your instagram photo in our linky below.
- Teddy Bear English Muffins // Courtney’s Sweets
- Mother Bruce Teddy Bear Toast – Mini Chef Mondays// Momma Lew
- Cream Cheese Bear Claws // Baby Loving Mama
- Sweet Potato Stew // We’re Parents
- Mother Bruce’s Lemonade Cake // Frugal Novice
- How To Scramble Eggs // Eating Richly
- Bear Claw Cookies // Giggles, Gobbles and Gulps
- Pizza Burger Sliders // Step Stool Chef
- Deviled Eggs with Capers // Vegging at the Shore
- Bacon & Broccoli Mini Quiches // Mom’s Messy Miracles
- Ham and Vegetable Quiche Cups // O’Boy! Organic
- Teddy Bear Picnic // Can’t Google Everything
Leave a Reply