Sweet Potatoes or Any Substitute

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megharber
megharber Posts: 13
in Food and Nutrition
Ok, I HATE sweet potatoes of ANY kind. But I am trying to not each a lot of starch or "white" type foods. I'm looking for a substitute food other than brown rice to eat. Does anyone have any good healthy kinds?

I wish I liked sweet potatoes and I would try to make them in fries, but the thought of them makes me queasy.

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  • hiddensecant
    hiddensecant Posts: 2,446 Member
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    Whole wheat couscous, steel cut oats, quinoa, sprouted grain bread ...
  • TheMaidOfAstolat
    TheMaidOfAstolat Posts: 3,222 Member
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    Barley, quinoa, millet, regular baked potato (it's the added stuff that makes them bad for you, not the veggie itself), amaranth, whole wheat cous cous....ect.
  • BikiniTiff
    BikiniTiff Posts: 3
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    Try Quinoa, it is a grain. It has a nutty flavor and has the consistency of wheat grains when cooked--firm but chewy. It is a South American grain and is high in protein. It is really good for you and you don't need much to spice it up--the flavor is great. The boxes also have really good recipes.

    You could also make barley--again a grain, but a different flavor. Also, before you cook the grains, try dry roasting them or toasting them before you cook them. Doing this really adds extra flavor to the grains without having to add butter or salt.
  • amsandoval
    amsandoval Posts: 2 Member
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    What about whole grain pasta?
  • bobball
    bobball Posts: 57
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    Good calls from ghanie and while I understand cutting white rice and white bread since they are high calorie and high starch for little nutritional value, potatoes are not that high of calories and are quite good for you.

    A HUGE baked potato is only 140 calories and some of that is also offset by th the fiber in it too. They are good for you...in spite of what the low carb folks tell ya. The body builders (with less than 5% bodyfat) eat potatoes as a regular part of their diet.

    What I do is cut them in half so I can stil enjoy the potato..and of course try also not to use lots of butter, cheese, and bacon on top of it.... :-)

    As you can tell, I am not a fan of NO carb diets.....lower yes, NO ...no.
  • Samantharose8akaDebbie
    Samantharose8akaDebbie Posts: 407 Member
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    Couscous (with a little curry and chicken..............mmmm and maybe some broccoli), wheat pasta, bulgar, other vegetables (I love stewed tomatoes and zucchini together topped with a little parmesan cheese).

    Oh, and that white baked potato is good for you. I use spray butter and a tbls. of that real bacon that you put on salads(only 25 cals per tbls).....good luck to you!
  • HeadCass
    HeadCass Posts: 1
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    spagetti squash looks like pasta but much healthier and easy to cook
  • megharber
    megharber Posts: 13
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    Great ideas.. THANK you so much.. some of the items (quinoa, millet) I have never heard of before.. But I will be doing some shopping and checking them out. I like whole wheat pasta, but hubby doesn't so I eat that on occasion. He is skinny and I am lucky to get him to eat veggies but he is trying to eat what I do.. but I dont want him to not like his food either.

    I feel better about eating the baked potato now.. I actually LOVE to put cottage cheese or mushrooms light spray butter or other things on it.. even broccoli.. no cheese or bacon..
    i am not trying to do no carbs but stay away from starchy carbs..

    last time i was eating really well, i got tired of the foods fast and quit.. now i want to find new foods and lose weight and keep it forever.

    thanks again.. :)
  • eliaison
    eliaison Posts: 34 Member
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    I had to stop eating wheat and high gluten grains due to an illness for a while. So I discovered the world of "alternative grains," many of which are listed here. I was amazed to learn that humans have been living off all these other grains for millenia-- only in the past 100-150 years has the industrial world begun eating only "White" refined grains and wheat, which are so unhealthy (comparatively).

    I used to make flat bread-- basically, easy "pancakes" in small sizes. For example, I used to use (all organic) buckwheat and a little whole spelt to cut it (buckwheat is very flavorful but is heavier, hard to rise) a bit of baking powder and water, maybe splash of milk, don't even need to add eggs-- and make a pancake. put them in the fridge and toast them later, eat them cold, put peanut butter on them, whatever. a nice alternative to other breads and starches!
  • farr2fun
    farr2fun Posts: 15
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    Regarding the issue of your husband not liking whole grain speghetti/pasta. I also had that problem in my family. My daughter did the shopping one day and bought the Kroger brand instead of the name brand. I found they liked this brand, so it was a good compromise. It takes about 6 to 8 weeks to change your taste buds, so don't give up too quickly. And if you introduce foods more gradually to your family, they will begin to like it too. When I first changed my way of eating, I fixed my food separtely than my familys. I was pleasantly surprised when after a few weeks they began to ask me to prepare some of my dishes for them too. I learned to make sure my plate was very colorful. I'm still shocked that they now prefer whole grain bread. They refused it for so long.
  • d8n3r
    d8n3r Posts: 1
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    Slice a head of cauliflower and grill it or can do in a pan with garlic and olive oil or canola oil. While it's cooking on one side sprinkle red pepper flakes, salt & pepper. Flip it once it's nice a brown. Do the same for the other side. Tastes like potatoes, and is YUM!!

    As far as other grains - kamut, quinoa, brown rice pastas, spelt pasta. I like sweet potatoes any which way, but if you make fries make sure you REALLY crisp them up!! Can bake them with olive oil! No need to fry.
  • sandara
    sandara Posts: 830 Member
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    This is kind of odd but you can use diced turnips in soups and stews that call for white potatoes. They absorb the taste of whatever you are cooking them with and have a similar consistency.

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