Prep Day Sweet Potatoes and 4 Simple Sweet Potato Breakfast Ideas!

Getting a nourishing breakfast in is easy with prep day sweet potatoes and these 4 simple sweet potato breakfast ideas!

A post just for *you,* dear momma

Dear momma, I know what you have been seeing in your news feeds, social media, and email box for the last few weeks. Weight loss this, “new you” that, and everything in between. I get it. I’m a New Year, fresh start, “jump-in-with-both-feet” kind of a person to the core. But I am here to tell you that we don’t need to complicate this whole healthy lifestyle thing. In fact, I prefer to simply call it, taking care of ourselves.

No guilt. No shame. No fear.

When we have healthy relationships with our bodies and the food that fuels it, we know that over doing processed foods will make us feel crummy. So we can positively make the decision to treat ourselves like the temples that they are – with respect, and with food that will make us feel amazing. With simple food. Real food. It doesn’t need to be fancy or filled with a zillion steps or ingredients. A simple bowl of soup and boiled eggs makes one of my favorite breakfasts.

I remember the exact moment I made this mind shift.

I grew up on Cheerios and toast, so this was a huge shift. I had my second baby and I was….exhausted. In fact, exhausted doesn’t even begin to describe it. One morning the only thing I had time to eat before she cried again was leftover soup from dinner and my toddlers leftover boiled eggs. The energy I felt was almost instantaneous. My mind could think. I felt clearer…my body had some fuel. From that point on I knew I needed to feed myself so that I could be my best for my babies. Did it happen perfectly every day? Not even close. But as I practiced, I got better. A rhythm formed in my kitchen. A framework for how my meals flowed was formed. And I never turned back.

Do you know how good you were meant to feel, dear momma?

Your kids are watching you. They see how you care for yourself, and will imitate that. I certainly was. And my mom was only imitating what she saw growing up. Be the cycle breaker in your family. Put the oxygen mask to yourself first so you can care for those around you. When a firefighter runs into a burning building, he doesn’t neglect himself to save those inside. He puts the oxygen mask to himself first so that he has the stamina to save the rest. He is literally no good to those inside the burning building if he falls over from lack of oxygen. Your kids deserve having a mom at her best.

But I have a baby…this sounds impossible!

I so hear you, dear momma, although those endless nights and jam-packed days are even more reason to care for yourself. You need fuel if you are ever going to make it! Here are some practical tips that I found helpful during this season…and I promise that it is only a season!

• Put baby in a sling or carrier while you warm up leftovers or fix your breakfast, so you have hands free movement with baby close to you.
• There is absolutely nothing wrong with setting baby down on a soft blanket or bouncy seat near a window so she can look outside or at something interesting while you warm up your leftovers or make your breakfast for 5 or 10 minutes. Even just setting them down to watch you in the kitchen is eye catching for them. If they fuss for a few minutes they will still be ok – I promise! As they get older into their baby years, it is good for them to learn how to occupy themselves and play independently.
• Utilize siblings if they are around! Even your toddlers make great entertainment while you prepare your food! They will feel so proud to be the one to show baby that book, or shake the rattle for their baby brother or sister!
• Food prep when you have extra hands on the weekends. Let daddy or older siblings take a turn at holding the baby so that you can prep easy staples like muffins, soups, or these sweet potatoes so that during the week your meals are easier to grab. While I’m all for napping when the baby naps, sometimes prepping during naptime is helpful too. Listen to your body however, and don’t do this every day.

But I have a toddler…how do I make this work?

After the shift into toddlerhood, many parents find they wished their non-stop toddler was back to that infant that would just lay on a blanket for 5 minutes! In some ways toddlerhood is even tougher. Here are some tips for this season…and again it is truly just a season!

• Establishing a routine is key. Toddlers adore a rhythm and expectations. If you tell them this is breakfast making time and give them expectations, they will catch on! Give them 2 choices – “While mommy fixes breakfast you can either color with these crayons on this paper, or play with the toys in this basket. You could also give the choice of standing on a stool to watch you prep (or help if there is something to help with). Before you know it, that certain time of day will just be associated with breakfast prep and you won’t need to remind them much at all what is expected of them during this time.
• Keep a small drawer/cupboard of toys or safe kitchen tools (like wooden spoons and measuring cups) down low for them to reach so that they can play near you while you work in the kitchen. Many times these little ones just want to be near – unless they have a sibling they are following around, you are the center of their world and they are social beings! They can have their own drawer that they can reach themselves to play near you.
• Pull up a stool, little helper stander, or a chair and make them a part of your meal making. Set them up with hard boiled eggs to peel, or at the sink with potatoes to wash. Even if you are just giving them a few cups in the sink to play with in a bowl full of water, they will be happily by your side.
• Utilize older siblings to help if they are around! This is a great opportunity to show your older kids that you trust them with a task! Ask them to read your toddler a book, or play a game with them. You can put THEM in charge. My oldest loved creating a “schedule” for her little sisters when I needed kitchen prep time. And toddlers naturally follow older children’s whims and ideas (better than adults most of the time!).

But we have to be out the door for school SO early…how can we do this?

This is the season that I am in right now, and I’m sure I will have more to add to this as we go along, but for now, here are some tips that I am finding help!

• Meal plan. This is NOT my favorite, nor do I even have an elaborate meal plan book – it isn’t even written out. Collective *gasp* from the real food crowd. I simply have a framework. I like to have some wiggle room – I don’t like to be nailed down to something if I’m feeling like having something else for breakfast. If you like a more rigid schedule, go for it! I have a certain flow that I like my week to look like and we do that. For instance, the girls have oatmeal on Mondays – I change it up with whatever fruit is in season or was on sale that week, and we throw add-in’s from the pantry. Or breakfast cookie Fridays! We pull from the freezer stash or make them fresh the night before.
• Assign tasks for the kids for more help. Maybe your older children have a day of the week that they are responsible for the breakfast so everyone is helping. Maybe your younger children are helping you prep the egg cups or muffin batter the night before, or peeling the hard boiled eggs for you.
• 10 minute prep the night before! This is a game changer for many. Just 10 minutes. You can do so much in the 10 minutes before you go to bed. Mix up muffin batter or get egg casserole or egg cups in the pan. You can take waffles or baked oatmeal out of the freezer to thaw. Lately, I have actually been baking in the evening so that I don’t have to do literally anything in the morning! It works for us right now and is pure bliss!
• Breakfast bars! When you have all of the components all ready, such as breakfast cookies or muffins, and hard boiled eggs or yogurt, you can have the older kids set up a breakfast bar and everyone serves themselves! And if they are old enough to serve themselves, they are old enough to wash up their own dishes by the way dear momma!

SO, let’s prep some sweet potatoes!

Simple right?! My goal is to see you NOT over complicate eating well. I wanted to start with this concept because it is one of the first things that I was able to wiggle into my routine as a new mom. I had time to put sweet potatoes in the oven. I had time for simple sides like hard boiled eggs or sausage. And I had time to utilize leftovers.

How to prep ahead sweet potatoes

It doesn’t get any easier. Simply pre-heat the oven, poke your sweet potatoes, oil them up and bake them off. You are hands free while they bake and your sweet potatoes are ready for the week!

Ok! So how do I serve my sweet potatoes?!

The possibilities are endless but here are some of my favorite combos that require very little prepping or time! These ideas are pretty low carb and no grain because I do best that way for my breakfast. There is absolutely nothing wrong with adding more carbs or some grain if you do better that way! If you have young children that you are serving these to, you may want to add some fruit or grain, or some raw honey on the sweet potato!

Prepped ahead sweet potato, prepped ahead hard boiled eggs (or you could fry them!), and avocado slices.

Prepped ahead sweet potato with leftover caramelized peppers/onion/spinach from paninis we had for dinner, and sauerkraut (I LOVE kimchi here even better!), and coconut yogurt (or regular yogurt if you do dairy) with granola, bee pollen, collagen, and acai powder.

Prepped ahead sweet potato with leftover stir fry from dinner, bacon, and avo

Prepped head sweet potato with avocado, crushed walnuts, and raw honey, and bacon