Sneaky Healthy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
You guys, I’m currently on a sugar detox and it’s totally making me completely bananas.
Ok first a little aside, because I should give a little back story to that statement… I’m not on a “real detox” plan per say. It’s just that I have decide to give up sugar for a week. Actually, to be more specific I’ve decided to give up sugar/fast food/ junk food/ wine/ everything under the sun that tastes good for a week. Plus, I’ve vowed to eat more vegetables. A.K.A. Eat 100% healthy for a week. Oh yeah, I’m also working on doing more of that exercise baloney as well. After a week I will reassess and decide if I need to do another week or can add a minimal amount of sugar back to my diet.
Why am I doing such a torturous thing to myself you might wonder? Well, the main reason, health. Diabetes and high blood sugar among other things seems to be a pre-disposition in my family. I also carry some extra weight which I definitely need to loose. (Unfortunately high sugar consumption tends to = high weight.) Obviously, I want to loose the weight and eat healthier for the aforementioned diabetes risk, but also for the fact that being overweight seems to correlate to every health problem under the sun. Ok, ok, I’m not going to lie to you. Vanity does have a part to play in all this as well. (Who would hate being able to rock skinny jeans?) But I do think the health factor is the major driving force.
Ok, back to the bananas part. Which is also the pathetic part. I’ve been on this sugar free business for 1, count it 1, day now, and I’m quickly going loosing it over here. I know pathetic. But this eating healthy stuff is hard! If you’ve been reading for any length of time, or if you go look at the vegetables category in the archives you’ll notice that I’ve shared X vegetable recipes with you compared to X desert recipes. I will leave you to draw your own conclusions; I’m just saying I could totally go for a doughnut right now.
I heard a quote once, from Cameron Diaz I think. “Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.” Sounds really good on the surface, but unfortunately I’m not sure I really believe that deep down. In fact, I’m reasonably sure a doughnut might in fact taste better then skinny. Hmmm. A deep thought to ponder.
But ok, enough about all the torture. Let’s move on to the positives to this situation (aside from the not getting diabetes thing)! I’m making it my new mission to develop some really, really, delicious healthy recipes (with plenty of vegetables and what not). Since we’re being honest with each other today, you and I both know a lot of healthy recipes suck. I promise start sharing more non-sucky healthy recipes! Starting with today’s Sneaky Healthier Mashed Potatoes.
Now, I’m not one of those people who believe potatoes are nothing but an evil carb masquerading as a healthy vegetable. (FYI potatoes botanically are classified as a vegetable. However, they certainly do contain a lot of starch.) Potatoes do have a lot of health benefits to recommend them including vitamins C and B, fiber, potassium, and more! However, lets be honest, mashed potatoes are often packed out with butter and high fat milk or cream. But, today’s recipe is called sneaky healthy for a reason: it tastes just as good as your go to mashed potatoes recipe, but seriously cuts down on the fat and ups the nutrition content using three sneaky little tricks.
- Subbing in low fat milk and using less butter.
- But upping our flavor by using some chicken broth and plenty of garlic.
- Plus, were swapping out about half of our potatoes for cauliflower.
Wait, wait… what? Cauliflower? Run that by me again. No it’s ok you read right. We’re subbing out half our potatoes for the vitamin packed, low carb, cruciferous cauliflower. And guess what? You can’t even tell the difference. Big flavor. Big nutrition. Skinny Michelle! Skinny you! Enjoy.
Sneaky Healthy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- 2 lb. russet potatoes
- 1 and 1/2 lb. cauliflower
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 6 cloves of garlic minced
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- sea salt to taste
1. Peel potatoes, leaving a little bit of the skin on here and there. Wash the potatoes throughly and cut into large chunks. Place the prepped potatoes in a large pot.
2. Wash the cauliflower and break into large chunks. Add to the pot and cover the potatoes and cauliflower with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to maintain a gentle boil. Cook until the potatoes fall apart when poked.
3. Drain the potatoes and cauliflower and set aside temporarily. Rinse the pot out well and return it to the stove over medium high heat.
4. Add the butter and garlic to the pot and salute until the garlic is golden brown. Reduce the heat to low and return the potatoes and cauliflower to the pot. Add the broth and milk. Mash/mis using a potato masher for a chunkier mashed potato and a spoon or use an immersion blender to produce creamy potatoes. Add sea salt to taste and stir well. Serve hot.
P.S. In case you were worried, I nothing short of a meteor taking out my oven will stop me from baking. Everyone needs a cookies now and again. But I am definitely going to be working on more healthy recipes to share with you all too!