Summer Recipes and “There’s Always Room For One More”
Beat the Heat with this Treat!
Maria starts off this week’s podcast with a kid-friendly recipe for popsicles. It is perfect for a tropical “staycation” or relaxing beside a pool while your kids play in the pool to escape the heat of the summer. These ice pops create a fun and easy activity for parents to bond with their kids over, as they can make this recipe in 5 minutes!
Pina Colada Sweet Potato Ice Pops
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cup of coconut cream
- 3/4 cup of cooked, mashed sweet potatoes
- 3/4 cup of diced pineapple
- 2 tbs of honey
- 1 tbs of lime juice
- Optional: coconut flakes to garnish the tops of the popsicles.
Instructions:
- In a food processor or blender, add the coconut cream, mashed sweet potatoes, pineapple chunks, honey, and lime juice for a few minutes on medium until a smooth consistency is reached.
- Place the popsicle mixture into the molds.
- If desired, add coconut flakes to the tops of the popsicles. Place in the freezer for 3-4 hours until the mixture is solid.
FUN FACT: The one-word spelling of “sweet potato” was adopted by the National Sweet Potato Collaborators in 1989 in an effort to avoid confusion with the potato and yam among shippers, distributors, warehouse workers, and consumers.
FUN FACT: A sweet potato is not even botanically related to a white potato. They are two entirely different species from one another.
The more you know! And you can share these fun facts with your kids, while you wait for your tasty treats to be ready to eat!
“There’s Always Room for One More”
This novel was written by Sandra L. Kearse Stockton, with credit also attributed to her husband, Aaron Stockton, as it details her and her husband’s life as they fostered over 100 children. Sandra included many details that could be helpful for people who want to start fostering, but don’t know where to start or know if it is the right fit for them. The Stocktons started fostering in 1994 after their own 4 kids had grown and left the nest. Sandra was sitting in their large house and noticed how empty it was, which lead her to an advertisement in their local newspaper about a fostering agency looking for foster parents for a little caucasian girl. Sandra and Aaron went down to the agency and inquired about the little girl, only to find that she wasn’t in need of a foster parent. Their interests were already peaked, so they decided to take a foster parent course to see if this was the right path for them. They met a lot of great people in the class and decided that this was something that they wanted to do. Sandra and Aaron both came from big families with a single mother supporting their households, and Sandra was inspired by her mother’s hospitable nature, which lead her to develop a natural maternal instinct. Their first foster was a little caucasian girl named Michelle, and they had fought to get her since the Department of Social Services was not too keen on the interracial placement. In the end, Michelle was placed with the Stocktons and she grew up wanting to marry a military man like her foster dad, Aaron. Michelle connected with Sandra over Facebook many years later, and Sandra discovered that she was living in Germany with her military husband.
“Our house was like a train station. People were always coming and going.” -Aaron Stockton
Over the course of their 20 years as foster parents, Sandra and Aaron fostered over 100 children. In the earlier years, they only fostered girls, but after reading about an incident in the paper about a girl accusing her foster father of inappropriate behavior, Sandra decided to switch to boys so they could learn what it means to be a respectful and responsible man from Aaron. Aaron believes that even though they switched to fostering boys, they fostered girls for 4-5 years and he believes that he showed them what a good father should look like. The Stocktons had a good experience with their foster kids, and they truly believe that there is always room for one more!
You can check out their book on Amazon by searching the title, “There’s Always Room for One More” by Sandra L. Kearse Stockton! Be sure to check it out and you will find more information on the important terminology associated with the fostering system!
Be sure to check out Maria on her other socials to stay up to date with her new projects and recipes!
You can find her on the following platforms:
Instagram: @MariaLiberati
Twitter: MariaLiberati
Facebook: @ChefMariaLiberati
And check out her Roku Channel, titled “The Basic Art of Cooking.”