Baked Sweet Potato Tots and US Wellness Meats Ground Pork Veggie Meatballs

Tots and meatballs – A combination sure to tickle your tastebuds. Amy Slater’s Baked Sweet Potato Tots and Ground Pork Veggie Meatballs check all the boxes for taste, nutrition, and ease of preparation. It’s a genuine triple threat.

Amy’s recipes fuel families with nutritionally packed ingredients while making prep and cooking accessible in our busy lives. Ensuring your family meets their nutritional needs can be something other than another full-time job – It can be a fun adventure for the whole family! With some creative thinking, planning, and help from Amy, you will soon see and feel the difference that fueled-focused family eating will bring.

 

This is technically two recipes in one! Follow along with the Baked Sweet Potato Tots first, then the Pork Veggie Meatballs below that. 

 

 

Baked Sweet Potato Tots and US Wellness Meats Ground Pork Veggie Meatballs

Recipe By: Amy Slater with Health Focused Additions by Nutrivore

USWM Shopping List: Raw Cheddar Cheese, Ground Pork 

 

Baked Sweet Potato Tots 

Ingredients

• 2 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes (about 1 ½ -2 medium sweet potatoes)
• ½ cup almond flour (you could also use pumpkin seeds ground into a flour)
• ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese (Raw Cheddar From US Wellness If Desired)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tsp curry powder or any other seasoning of choice

 

Putting it together

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean up.
2. Wash the potatoes well and pat dry. Poke holes all around each potato using a fork. Place the potatoes on the middle rack of the oven use a foil lined baking sheet underneath to catch the drippings. Roast until tender, about 40-45 minutes. Allow the potatoes to cool completely
3. Peel and add the sweet potatoes to a large bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork. You will need 2 cups. Do not over mash! You want a rough mash not a puree. 
4. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine. 
5. Spoon 1 Tbsp of mixture into your hands and shape into tots. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping halfway through until golden. 

 

Why Sweet Potatoes?

The star of this recipe is sweet potato! Nutrivore tells us that sweet potatoes are a best source (>50% daily value) of carotenoids and vitamin A. As moms, we should care about vitamin A because it is important for protecting our kids’ vision, developing reproductive health, thyroid health, immunity and cell to cell communication. Every single cell in our body requires it for growth! It is important to note that, although vitamin A precursors found in plant foods is a great source, we only convert a small amount into a usable form which is why we can take advantage of other products from US Wellness Meats, like their grass-finished liver and organ meat sausages. Nutrivore also tells us that sweet potatoes are an excellent source of copper which is a key player in development and repair of bone, connective tissue (think joints, tendons, ligaments, fascia) and organs including the brain and heart! Sweet potatoes also give us 4 g of fiber per cup which is fantastic to support healthy bowel movements and elimination of toxins from the body. Give this simple recipe a try and enjoy watching your kids come home happy and satisfied!

Sources: https://bit.ly/40wQbxs , https://bit.ly/3QyJ0jE

 

Ground Pork and Veggie Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 pound US Wellness Meats Pastured Ground Pork
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 medium apple, diced
• 1 medium bell pepper
• 1 small bunch sage, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced 
• 1 Tbsp avocado oil

 

Putting it all together

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic, onion and pepper until soft. Remove from heat to cool slightly. 
3. In a medium bowl, combine pork, apple, sauteed vegetables, and sage. Mix well to combine. 
4. Form into 1 inch meatballs and bake on 350 for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked through.

 

Why Ground Pork?

Ground pork is a great meat to pack into lunchboxes as it is palatable both cold and warm. Pack a meatball with veggies and give yourself a pat on the back for making a huge dent in your kid’s nutrient needs for the day. This helps to protect their brain, stabilize their blood sugar, support learning and aid in growth and repair! 

Nutrivore gives us a tremendous lens into WHY we as moms should reach for the high quality, pasture raised ground pork. Ground pork is a best source (>50% daily value) of coQ10 and selenium. As moms, this is a home run because, Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) is a strong antioxidant and helps the cells in our body produce energy! Although CoQ10 is also found in smaller amounts in brassica vegetables (see the broccoli pesto recipe), oily fish, organ meats (link to liverwurst), beef chicken and pork are best sources! Providing best sources of this nutrient helps to provide our kids the protective effects of this important nutrient! According to Minger from Nutrivore, “It has been shown to improve everything from heart health to mitochondrial diseases, to fertility, to autoimmune disease and more!”.

Ground pork is also an excellent source of protein. If the kids eat three of these meatballs, they will have 18g of protein from the ground pork alone!! On a very basic level, protein helps to balance blood sugar which we know also equals more consistent energy and better sleep! Nutrivore also tells us that proteins drive chemical reactions in the body, signal hormones and transport and store nutrients.

Sources: https://bit.ly/3StsRyH , https://bit.ly/47oKTGp

 

As a past Featured Chef, Amy has shared a collection of recipes. Browse Homemade Spaghetti O’s with Liverwurst, Beef Heart Kabobs, and More!

 

---