February is National Sweetpotato Month! Join me in celebrating, starting with a creamy healthy tasty breakfast shake.
Did you know North Carolina grows more sweetpotatoes than any other state? That’s right, two-thirds of American grown sweetpotatoes are from good ole North Carolina dirt. Our own dirt candy! 
And did you know they are shipped to more than 3 dozen countries around the world?
Sweetpotatoes are a favorite of young and old, and even athletes incorporate sweetpotatoes into post-workout replenishment because of all the beneficial healthy components of this delicious vegetable. Find lots nutritional information along with more recipes on the North Carolina SweetPotato Commission’s website.
When you’ll be puttering around the house for a spell, roast yourself up a mess of sweetpotatoes to flash freeze and have on hand to grab from your freezer to enjoy anytime (see recipe below)… to throw into your breakfast shakes, serve as a tasty side dish, or to enjoy as a full-of-flavor snack for yourself or your little ones too. Click here or hop over to the “search” box to the right and look for my other sweetpotato recipes.
Be sure to tune into RFD-TV’s new show “Where The food Comes From” and the 2 part North Carolina Sweetpotato feature debuting on Thursday, February 24th. (Subject to change by network so watch their facebook page for any updates.)
The show is produced by new friend Chip Carter who I met along
with his kind wife Donna this week at the NC Sweetpotato Commission’s debut event in Johnston County, NC at The Barn at Broadslab by Broadslab Distillery.
(And next time it snows, be sure to have some of their Carolina Coast Spiced Rum on hand to make my Spic-y Ice-y Snow Cocktails!)
This is such beautiful facility in Johnston County (where the roots of my maternal family are embedded and our small farmland is too) and was such a fun event where we got to see these new episodes along with so many local sweetpotato farmers and their families… don’t miss ’em.
5 🍠🍠🍠🍠🍠
kudos to friends Michele Grainger… Executive Director of The NC SweetPotato Commission, along with her team, “CoCo” Daughtry & Cindy Vanderhoof, for an outstandingly produced event!
And PS… are you thinking “that girl needs a spell checker!” I understand. I only recently became aware that officially, since 1989, sweetpotato is one word! when judging last fall at the NC State Fair. 
Read all about it here on my other blog post about that. And right click on “add to dictionary” when it pops us as a misspelled word to “fix” your spell checker like I did. LOL
Old habits die hard, but I’m doing my best to get it right going forward… come join me!
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Look for these #hashtags on social media…
#sweetpotatooneword #makeitncsweet #eatsweetnc #ncsweetpotatoes #ncsweettaters #dirtcandy #ncag #ncagriculture #gtbnc #gottobenc #ncsweetpotatocommission #johnstoncountync
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This recipe created for and published in Carolina Country Magazine February 2022.
Food styling and photography by Wendy Perry.
Creamy Sweetpotato & Oat Milk Breakfast Shake
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups frozen sweetpotato (approximately)
- 1 small ripe banana
- 1 cup creamy oat milk
- ½ cup vanilla yogurt
- 1 tablespoon hemp or chia seeds (we used a combination)
- 1 teaspoon each vanilla and almond extracts
- 1 tablespoon honey
- pinch salt
- couple dashes cinnamon
Instructions
To do ahead of time:
- Peel several sweetpotatoes (any kind) and cut into same size chunks. Spray with pan spray or toss lightly with oil and roast (425) until caramelized and tender. Flash freeze pieces on a tray. Put frozen pieces into a zippered bag once frozen to use as little or as much when needed.Or... simply roast whole, peel, and flash free in "blobs" (yes, that's a Wendy culinary term) on a tray to throw into a zippered bag for quick uses too.
To make shakes:
- Throw all ingredients into a blender and whirl until nice and creamy. If too thick, add a little more milk for the consistency you like.
