Real Food Friday Feast - Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

No matter what the weather, I just love soup. I'm always looking for new soup recipes and this one appealed to me because I love sweet potatoes and I'm always looking for new ways to cook them. The nice thing about them is that they are naturally sweet and sweet dishes are always so much easier to get kids to eat! But this is the kind of sweet dish you WANT them to eat because it's all real food, all good for them and very tasty.

Here is what your sweet potato soup will be doing for you and your family, nutritionally:

• Sweet potatoes are high in vitamin B6. Vitamin B6, along with vitamin B12, helps reduce the chemical homocysteine in our bodies. Homocysteine is an amino acid in our bodies made from dietary protein. It has been linked with heart disease, strokes and deep vein thrombosis. Since our bodies don't produce vitamin B, and it is essential to our health, we need to get it from our diet.
• They're a good source of vitamin C. We all know that vitamin C can help keep colds and flu at bay, but not many people know that it also plays an important role in bone and tooth formation, digestion, and blood cell formation. It helps accelerate wound healing, produces collagen which helps maintain skin’s youthful elasticity, and is essen­tial to helping us cope with stress. It even appears to help protect our body against toxins that may be linked to cancer.
• They contain Vitamin D which is vital for immune system and overall health. Vitamin D is both a vitamin AND a hormone and it's made in our bodies when we are in sunlight. If you have been to European countries, you may have heard about seasonal affective disorder (or SAD) SAD has been linked to inadequate sunlight and a vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D plays an important role in our energy levels, moods, and helps to build healthy bones, heart, nerves, skin, and teeth. It also supports the thyroid gland.
• They contain iron. Iron is necessary to give us energy, but it's also needed for red and white blood cell production, resistance to stress, proper im­mune system functioning, and the metabolizing of protein.
• They're a good source of mag­nesium, which is the relaxation and anti-stress mineral. Magnesium is necessary for healthy artery, blood, bone, heart, muscle, and nerve function, yet experts have found that most people are deficient in this very important mineral.
• They're a source of potassium, which helps regulate heartbeat and nerve signals. It also relaxes muscle contractions, reduces swelling, and protects and controls the kidneys.
• They are naturally sweet-tasting but they contain natural sugars which are slowly released into the bloodstream, providing a balanced and regular source of energy, without the blood sugar spikes you'd usually get from sweet dishes that are  linked to fatigue and weight gain.
• Sweet potatoes with orange flesh are high in carotenoids like beta carotene, which is the precursor to vitamin A in your body. Carotenoids improve our eyesight and our immunity against diseases. They are powerful antioxidants that help protect against cancer and the effects of aging. Studies at Harvard University of more than 124,000 people showed a 32% reduction in risk of lung cancer in people who ate a variety of carotenoid-rich foods as part of their regular diet. Another study of women who had finished treatment for early stage breast cancer found that women with the highest blood concentrations of carotenoids had the least likelihood of cancer recurrence.

Sweet potato soup

3 organic, large sweet potatoes

1 large organic carrot
450ml bone broth
1 Tbs raw honey
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg
Black pepper
Cayenne pepper (optional)
1/3 cup cream (make sure it's free range or organic. Woolies sells organic. I used coconut cream which I got from the Byranston Organic Market)

Method

• Scrub potatoes and carrot and chop into small chunks
• Add the bone broth to a pot and put on medium heat
• Add potato and carrots
• Place lid on and bring to a boil then allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes
• Stir in the honey, salt, nutmeg, black pepper, and cayenne pepper
• Cover and let simmer for 10 minutes
• Remove from heat
• Use a hand blender to puree or place in a normal blender
• Stir in cream
• Serve

Enjoy!