Hola, from the Tropics! I am home with my two little minions, safe & sound and enjoying some downtime with my parents and extended family. I joke that you sort of need a vacation to recover from the 5 plus hour direct flight with 2 kids under 5, solo… But the honest truth is; they were perfect little angels. And I don’t say this in a smug, sort of braggy way. In this space; I am both humble & open about my own struggles with motherhood.

But I do think that the multiple times we’ve made the journey down South- (7th time my eldest visits) has resulted in them becoming acclimatized to long travel days. They’re seasoned little travelers, each carrying their own neck pillow, books and in-flight entertainment. They start taking off their little shoes as soon as they see we’re approaching security and they eagerly tippy-toe to load their belongings into the scanning bins. My eldest is quick to grab a tray for each one of us. “Here you go, mama!” he says with a wide grin. He does so in a way that makes him seem far older than his years. He also helps Gracie put her shoes back on while I collect everything as soon as it emerges on the other end of the band. Seeing this makes me smile & feel a profound sense of relief. I also wonder if they’re the same kids that were fighting me over dinner the night before. It’s getting easier. It really does get easier. The moms who said it to me weren’t lying, after all…

Because I sure remember (much, much) crazier days when I had a 10 month-old screaming baby and a 2 year-old toddler and I was making the same trip and all 3 of us were crying. Almost. Sometimes at the same time. And that first time I made that trip solo taking advantage of my then maternity leave and a big snow storm in late November (first one of the season) caused the pilot to divert the flight adding an extra hour and 30 minutes to our in-flight time. I cried. Probably more than my kids.

So am home for a full month because my sister’s getting married (which has me doing some odd & ongoing happy little dance of sorts)…And this recipe is inspired by my current struggle to find great tasting gluten-free or ancient grain bread around here.. so I’ve been relying on homemade corn tortillas and most recently; vegetables doubling up as toast for my morning breakfast or dinner. This recipe is paleo, because it is fully grain-free using sweet potatoes as the perfect healthy, unrefined carb to go along with your eggs and avocado. And they are firm, can be as crispy as you want them to be and hold up just like toast. Depending on the size and shape of your sweet potatoes, you can get anywhere from 4-6 “toast slices”.

Just make sure to buy a sweet potato that is both wide and long (and preferably somewhat flat). Most sweet potatoes will work; just don’t buy the monster ones that look like they’re growing two heads, OK? funny enough, when you eat organic… you’re more likely to find quirky, misfit looking vegetables. And guess what? I love funny-looking vegetables and always pick them up at farmers markets across Toronto. So here we go.. Give sweet potato toast a try, you will love!