Growing up in Arkansas I was (and still am) a huge potato fan. I eat them however you can cook them: fried, baked, grilled, mashed, smashed, boiled, french fries, home fries, sliced and diced, roasted or toasted! Well when I moved to Florida I learned really quick to become a fan of rice.....and beans. Now I love rice, any kind of rice. Brown rice, white rice, island rice, Spanish rice, rice pilaf, you name it I'll eat it.
But...when I started the study for losing weight, I thought my starchy carb days are over and it was a bit sad. I quickly realized that I can have my potatoes & rice and eat them too! On my plan, potatoes are considered a healthy food and as long as I eat brown rice (or white rice in moderation) it is healthy too. When I first started cooking brown rice though it was a disaster. It stuck to the pot and turned out terrible and I thought I was doomed. By accident though, I discovered a great product from Uncle Ben's. Its Uncle Ben's Ready Rice (click on the link to access their website). You pop it in the microwave for 90 seconds and its done! It comes in lots of varieties too. There is Wild and Brown rice, Santa Fe Rice, plain Brown rice and if your not a big brown rice fan, they have Caribbean Rice with red beans, Jasmine rice and Spanish style rice (and many more). Oh and by the way they are on sale this week at Publix - 3/$4 and use either $1/2 Uncle Ben's ready rice RP 5/16 or .75/2 Uncle Ben's products printable to make it even cheaper!
As for the potatoes, I no longer traditionally fry them (well, on occasion I do). I usually roast them in the oven with different seasonings and flavors with olive oil. I also make homemade mashed potatoes from time to time. I use Promise fat free butter and fat free sour cream to add flavor. I will admit though that fat free sour cream is something you have to get used to but now I can't tell the difference. Oh and fat free butter doesn't melt like real butter but it has the same great taste!
This is how I do potatoes and rice in my world.
I luvluv me some potatoes too, go look at this Publix Apron's recipe and scroll down to the Butter basted potatoes.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.publix.com/aprons/meals/AllRecipes/SimpleMeal.do?mealId=2668&mealGroupId=1000
YUMMO
Oh yumm those look so good. I might have to try them!! Hey its skos from webby chat :)!!! How are you?? Welcome to my blog
ReplyDeleteSara,
ReplyDeleteYou have to try these! There are so good!!!!
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/06/crash-hot-potatoes/
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ReplyDeleteYou're giving me some great food ideas here. I've recently lost 93 pounds and have a little more to go :)
http://goobergrapemonkeyman.blogspot.com
I can't give up my taters & rice either.
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Have a great weekend!
Thanks for the tips! I'm also steering away from the "white" foods on my diet and going for whole grains and brown rice. I never knew that Uncle Ben's makes a variety of brown rice dishes....I will have to check them out! I'm not all that fond of brown rice, so this will be a welcome change! :)
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