Thursday, August 19, 2010

Day 186- And More Potatoes


Potatoes are, it turns out, pretty nutritious, actually. They've got bunches of vitamins, really missing out only on A and D, gobs of minerals, and even some tasty protein (about 7% of the calories). Sure, you'd have to eat 5 pounds of them if it's *all* you ate, but it'd keep you alive.

Now, I'm not eating 5 pounds of potatoes. I'm eating more like 2 pounds of potatoes a day. Plus oil, spices, nutritional yeast (which is, it turns out, some kinda super-protein filled food), salt, and sometimes peas, onions, and tomato sauce.

I bet you could live forever on peas and potatoes. Not sure you'd want to, but for flexibility the potato is it. I've got to wonder how I let any of them go bad.

Anyway, yesterday...

Yesterday I nommed a bunch of potatoes that I nuked, sliced, and covered with spices and salt. Oh, and probably close to 1/2 C of oil. They just soak it up. I think I'd use less oil if I heated the oil in my wok and then mixed the potato cubes and spices in that. Plus, I could add cooked yummy onions then.

Oh, so this "baked" potato thing...

Back when I was a kid, so in the 80's, there was a huge thing with baked potatoes. I vaguely remember restaurants that were all about baked potatoes, and maybe soup and salad, too. But potatoes were where it was at.

They are super flexible. I mean, you need some kinda base for extra filling to go under your flavory food- why not use potatoes. They've got the nutrient thing going on, and the lower calorie thing, and plenty of tasty fiber. Plus, they go with just about any left-ever savory food you might have in the fridge. Curry over potatoes? Yum. Tomato soup over potato? Yum. Chili over potato? Yum. Even just cheese or cheese and broccoli or something- Yum!

The only problem with potatoes is that, as a fresh food, they've got fewer calorie per pound, which increases the cost per calorie. That makes them more expensive than flour, but they don't require too much other stuff to make them eatable. Heck, desperate people could eat them totally plain.

I'm still gonna try and eat something else today- Girl cannot (should not?) live on potatoes alone.

Photo by Ed Bierman

5 comments:

  1. I love potatoes too. I know you hate pb, but a little powdered sugar (ok, a lot) and a little peanut butter and voila, you have potato candy. Very popular in these parts.

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  2. Am I the only one who wants to break into Sam's ode to potatoes from The Two Towers?

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  3. Cyndee- potato candy sounds... strange.

    Kim- I feel like the veg version of the shrimp guy from Forest Gump already. I'd make a very strange hobbit, though. I'm more of a Pratchett kinda girl.

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  4. taters, precious?

    i am living vicariously through your potato munching, they make my arthritis wicked bad. cook em mash em, stick em in a stew!

    (I apologize for my geekiness in advance.)

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  5. I love potatoes too, and there's something that really appeals to me in knowing that potato + little dairy = nutritionally complete meal. I know you don't (usually) eat dairy, but for me it's a happy thing to know I just need to throw some butter on a potato(s) and not have to think about anything for the rest of the day.

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