Fries

WAIT!!!  Before you delete this email, let me just tell you that I won’t be telling you not to eat fries!  Everyone knows french fries are not exactly the best choice.  They’re fried in cooking oil and loaded with fat.  Raw potatoes are virtually fat-free so all of that fat comes from the oil the fries are cooked in.  And even though we all know this….we still eat them!  They’re just so good! J

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Many  restaurants are coming up with healthier sides to choose instead of fries.  Kid’s meals are offering fruit, apples or carrots!  What a great idea!  We can also make better choices at home at home as well.  Did you know that you can make sweet potato fries?!  Health-wise, sweet potatoes have superior nutrition. They are high in Vitamin A (one sweet potato has more than four times the recommended daily allowance of this essential nutrient) and fiber and are also a complex carbohydrate (this helps you feel fuller longer!). Sweet potatoes also are a good source of copper, manganese, potassium, iron and vitamins C and B6.  Perhaps one of the most important benefits of the sweet potato is a lower glycemic index than white potatoes, meaning they will cause a smaller, slower "sugar spike" in the bloodstream, despite their sugary taste.  Lower glycemic foods are less likely to result in weight gain, and less likely to contribute to diabetes than high-glycemic foods like white potatoes.

 

Here’s a SUPER easy recipe for making sweet potato fries:
Cut one large sweet potato into sticks. Lay the sticks onto a baking sheet and drizzle with a quarter tbsp. of olive oil. Then, add a quarter tsp. of salt and a small pinch of cayenne pepper. You can also add your own favorite seasonings (garlic, rosemary, chipotle, etc).  Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until lightly browned. This version has only 122 calories and 5 g of fat, plus 3 g of fiber and 2 g protein.   

 YUM!

Food for Thought:  WebMD did a study featuring 14 fast food chains and their fries.  Here’s what they came up with:

“HEALTHIEST” FRIES (although NO fries are actually healthy)
Sonic Drive-In's regular fries are lowest in calories, fat grams, percentage of calories from fat, and total amount of "bad fats,” as well as second lowest in sodium.

McDonald's small fries ranked second lowest in calories, fat grams, and "bad fats."

WORST FRIES
Carl's Jr. Natural Cut French Fries are highest in calories and grams of fat.

Jack in the Box Natural Cut fries, which are shockingly high in "bad fats" (4 grams saturated fat and 5 grams trans fat).

Luckily we don’t have either of those restaurants around here.  But also making their worst list were Arby’s Curly Fries, Chick-Fil-A Waffle Fries and Long John Silver’s Basket Combo Fries.

So just like your parents use to tell you…………MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!!  Have a great weekend!!!