Sweet!

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What is wrong with me that I have never eaten and enjoyed sweet potatoes before?

Well, that's not exactly true. I have eaten sweet potatoes at the Detroit Rescue Mission while doing outreach events there... couldn't waste anything on the plate... But those were canned yams with mini marshmallows on top.

Tonight it all changed. I think I'm gonna be a sweet potato fan forever.

The book I'm reading on maintaining weight loss and losing those last 15 pounds suggests buying a new vegetable that you've never tried every time you go into the grocery store. Two nights ago it was eggplant. Tonight it was sweet potatoes. I bought four small-medium sized sweet potatoes from the produce aisle and took them home, hoping I'd be brave enough to actually cook and eat them.

I was all prepared to somehow choke them down. I researched the calories of the sweet potatoes themselves, in addition to honey, brown sugar, butter, etc... hoping to glaze my way through some healthy eating.

I scrubbed the potatoes, then popped those bad boys in the oven for about an hour. When they were fork-tender I took them out and began to scrape the flesh out from the skin, wondering if the teaspoon of brown sugar and 1/2 tablespoon of butter would cover up what I was sure was going to be a less than desireable veggie taste.

Just for kicks, as I was scraping out the flesh, I tasted a small bit wondering what I was getting myself into. To my great surprise... IT WAS DELICIOUS!! I stood there in the kitchen wondering how in the world I had missed out on this delicious and nutritious vegetable for my entire life.

I didn't need the brown sugar or the butter! I ate 1/2 a cup of mashed sweet potato with just a bit of black pepper on top. Saved myself 75 extra calories by leaving off the condiments... and now I can't wait to eat the leftovers tomorrow night.

Hail, hail, the delightfully tasty sweet potato! I can't wait to start making more things with this new healthy find.

~lk

Comments

Kim G. said…
Yummo - What about sweet potato baked fries? I think I remember Oprah having a recipe for this years ago. Maybe google them and see what comes up.

I enjoyed your last post! It is a challenge isn't it, to find ways to fill the well of our spirits with the things we love so there's enough there to sustain us during the "dry" times of our lives.
7:53 AM
Matt Deane said…
Sweet Potatoes are icky.
3:27 PM
Kris said…
I agree sweet potatoes are a little known treasure. My mother-in-law introduced me to them at our first Thanksgiving. Just wrapped them in foil with a little bit of butter and baked them for an hour. Yum. I have a recipe for roasted sweet potatoes if you want it. Dice them and add a little bit of olive oil and some spices and bake. Don't know why anyone buries them under marshmallow and brown sugar.
8:45 PM
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