Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Don't knock 'em til you tried 'em!

So, like I mentioned in my last post, I've been experiementing lately with different things in my diet and exercise routine. I've been reading lots of blogs and articles and recently read that Jillian from The Biggest Loser said (something close to/that sounded like,) "If it didn't have a mother or you can't grow it - you shouldn't be eating it." This stuck with me and got me thinking...Hmmmm...Doritoes do not have a mother, nor do they grow on trees. Poptarts and McDonald's Spicy McChickens do not have mothers and I don't believe there is a McChicken tree that I am unaware of. (I guess technically, yes you could argue that there IS parts of chicken in the McChicken. However, I'm going with the "spirit of the law" in this case and though I love McChickens dearly, I fully believe that the "chicken" is just beaks and toenails...which don't count in either the "mothered" or the "grown" categories. But I digress...) Anyway, I decided to try some healthier cooking - which led me to today's experiement - healthy french fries!

I tried this recipe (from Hungry-Girl.com) for "Butternut Squash Fries" tonight. I recently bought the Hungry-Girl cookbook too and it's pretty awesome. Almost all the recipes are for 1 or 2 serving dishes which is sooooo great for me (who is always complaining about how every recipe out there is written for families of 6.)

Butternut Squash Fries
- Take a Butternut Squash (I had to read the labels on the vegetables at H.E.B. to find this because I had never seen one before.) This is what it looks like:




















- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Cut the ends off the squash and then cut it in half
- Using a peeler, remove the skin
- Cut the squash into french fry-esque looking slices
- Arrange on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray
- Quickly spray the tops of the squash with cooking spray and then sprinkle with salt or your favorite seasonings (I used salt but next time will go for some Cajun Seasoning Salt or some Crab Seasoning.)
- Bake in oven for 40 minutes, flipping the fries halfway through

Here is (someone else's) a picture of what the squash fries really do look like when you're done:

















I was pretty amazed at how close to steak fries these actually tasted. You can eat a HUGE serving of them for around 110 calories too. I had a meatless "chicken" patty on an English muffin with them and it was pretty tasty, I'm not gonna lie. Try 'em out and let me know what you think!

DISCLAIMER: I will NEVER EVER give up my frozen ice cream bars or my weekly dinners out with the girls...but really, seriously, that's just asking way too much :-)

3 comments:

  1. Those look good!!! T's mom found some awesome sweet potato french fries in the frozen food section at Bloom. I'm going to try those too.

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  2. Must try this immed. I really like to buy butternut squash, peel and cube it, then brush it with a smidge of olive oil, slat and pepper it and then roast in the over for about 20 min at 400. If you thrown on some grated parmesan cheese at the end it's extra delicious.

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  3. I would totally dig this the squash fries but sadly the hubs wouldn't touch them:( He hates squash:p Good post! I had never heard Jillians remark on that before and it's got me to thinking as well! Also, thanks for the fallow! I'm excited to get to know you better:)

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