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| Sweet Potatoes - Simply Delicious! |
We had a fabulous family vacation out to North Dakota to see my mom's side of the family. Our little guy got to meet my Grandma for the first time (my only living Grandparent left, no sorrow, please) and my husband and I got to go golfing too. It was wonderful!
I have to admit, I missed blogging. I've been on a 2-3 time per week rampage lately, and I hope to continue with it.
Today, however, I didn't come to talk to you about my vacation or my life. Nope, we're back on a weekly track for health and wellness. First week we talked about bananas, followed by reading the labels, last week I talked about having the nerve to move forward with changing lifestyle and this week we're talking about (you guessed it) SWEET POTATOES and why they're friggin' amazing.
You don't like sweet potatoes? Fooey I say! Sweet Potatoes can be prepared in all kinds of ways (that even include REAL butter and honey) and still be nutritious and delicious! Best of all, sweet potatoes are just that, they're sweet all on their own and with a touch of butter or olive oil, they're super duper yummiriffic - yep, I just made that word up.
My first challenge to you with incorporating the sweet potato into your diet is to replace it with any white potatoes that you're currently eating. I don't care what it is... Regular baked potatoes, french fries, hash browns, you name it and replace it with a sweet potato. For any of you that say white potatoes count as a vegetable, you're so wrong. White potatoes are a starch, which means it is a carbohydrate, which means it turns to sugar in your system. If you're staying sedentary, or going to exercise, it's not an ideal fuel for your body. If you're hooked on the white potato, by all means, that's fine. I then challenge you to add onion and peppers to your potatoes and have the white potato serve as your only starch on the table.
Now to the most important part - the Nutritional Value in this sweet little thing...
Sweet potatoes are rich in complex carbohydrates (easily digested by the body to use for energy), dietary fiber (good for digestion track), beta carotene, Vitamin A, Vitamin C (probably one of the most amazing Vitamins for your body EVER - Wikipedia it for more info) and Vitamin B6 (assists in controlling sodium and potassium and production of red blood cells or hemoglobin). Sweet potatoes rank the highest in nutritional value against other vegetables, particularly the white potato (I can't stress this point enough).
Sweet potatoes are also a healthier alternative to pumpkin when making pumpkin pie (sweet potato pie).
Although simple, my goal is that you learn something and become motivated to incorporate some of the healthier suggestions of diet and lifestyle into your own habits. There are all kinds of excuses to not change and keep doing what you're doing, but the time is now to start making better decisions and take care of your body!
Take care of yourself, if you don't, who will?
In the meantime, get in the car, go buy some sweet potatoes and try this recipe:
Skin and slice two or three sweet potatoes into small, french fry sized pieces.
Place on cookie sheet with or without foil.
Drizzle with olive oil and sea salt.
Bake at 425 degrees until crispy.
Enjoy with sour cream or all natural ketchup.
Delish!
Yummy!!!
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