Frugal Friday: Day-After-Mashed-Potatoes Potato Skins

What do people usually do when they are making a batch of mashed potatoes? They usually use a potato peeler to remove the skins and then they boil the potato pieces. What a waste of nutrients and those yummy skins! You lose some of the water-soluble vitamins from the potatoes in the cooking water (which you pour down the sink) and you lose all the fiber, phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals from the potato skins (which you throw away).

But here's a frugal Friday solution...Cook the potatoes in the microwave instead, then cut them in half lengthwise and scoop out most of the soft potato (for the mashed potatoes). The potato skins can then be used to make a side dish or appetizer the next day! I actually do this every time I make mashed potatoes.

Here's a recipe that you can try the day after you make mashed potatoes - Pesto Provolone Potato Skins. Of course you can also make the traditional potato skins with cheddar cheese and top it with turkey bacon broken into pieces and chopped green onions.

PESTO PROVOLONE POTATO SKINS

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

10 russet potato skins (5 russet potatoes cooked in the microwave and then cut in half lengthwise with a majority of the potato flesh scooped out)
About 2 teaspoons canola oil
2 1/2 tablespoons pesto
3 to 4 ounces sliced or shredded reduced fat provolone
3 green onions, white and part green, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450-degrees.
2. Place the potato skin halves on a nonstick cookie sheet, skin-side down and brush the inside of each potato half lightly with canola oil using a silicon brush. Bake potato skins in the preheated oven for about 10 minutes, until lightly brown.
3. Spread about 3/4-teaspoon pesto inside each potato skin. Place 1/3 to 1/2 of a provolone slice (or a heaping tablespoon of shredded provolone) in each potato half.
4. Bake potato skins until the cheese is bubbly, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle chopped green onions over the top of the potato skins and serve!

Yield: 10 potato skins (5 servings of 2 skins each)

Nutrition Information per 2 potato skins: 182 calories, 8.5 g protein, 19 g carbohydrate, 8 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 2.2 g monounsaturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat, 12 mg cholesterol, 3.5 g fiber, 255 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 39 percent.

Related Topics:

• 10 Easy Entrees You Can Make for $5 or Less.
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

The Mashed Potato Makeover

Comfort Food Makeover #1

The original recipe for this dish comes from MarthaStewart.com and it calls for a stick of butter (which we completely deleted) and 1 1/2-cups heavy cream (which we substituted with fat free half and half).

WHAT YOU SAVE
Making these changes cuts from each serving:

• 180 calories
• 20 grams total fat
• 12.5 grams saturated fat
• 65 mg cholesterol

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Photo: Elaine Magee

Ingredients:

2 large heads garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
4 pounds potatoes, peeled and quartered
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste (optional)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Slice about 1/4-inch off the top of the garlic heads, throw the tops away, and place heads on a piece of foil. Drizzle olive oil over the top of the garlic heads and wrap them well in the foil. Bake until tender and golden, (about 35-45 minutes). Remove from oven and let stand until cool enough to handle. Peel the skin away from the garlic cloves.
2. Add the garlic cloves to a small nonstick saucepan along with the fat-free half-and-half. Simmer the mixture over medium heat until cream is hot. Reduce heat, cover the pan and continue to simmer for a couple of more minutes. Turn the heat off and lift out the garlic cloves with a slotted spoon, place in custard cup, and set aside. Leave the saucepan with half-and-half on the stove until needed.
3. Place quartered potatoes in a large stockpot, cover with cold salted water, and bring to a boil. Cook until very tender, about 12 minutes. Drain potato pieces in a colander.
4. Add hot, steaming, and drained potato pieces directly to a large mixing bowl and beat on low while you slowly pour in the fat-free half-and-half. Season with salt and pepper if desired and gently stir in the roasted garlic cloves. Serve!

Yield: 10 servings

Nutritional Information:
Per serving: 200 Calories, 7 g protein, 45 g carbohydrate, 0.7 g fat (0.1 g saturated fat), 1 mg cholesterol, 3 g fiber, 55 mg sodium. Calories from fat: 3 percent.

Journal as: 3/4 cup starchy foods without added fat.


The Series:

• Comfort Food Makeovers
• The Mashed Potato Makeover
• Macaroni and Cheese, Please!
• The Fried Chicken Makeover
• Top-Rated Gourmet Meatloaf
• Ooey Gooey Chocolate Chip Cookies

Related Topics:

• Healthy Eating: Cutting Unhealthy Fats from your Diet
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox

Taste Test Tuesday: Nutritionally Tempting Tater Tots?

Alexia Potato Nuggets (Yukon Gold Potatoes with Seasoned Salt)

I can't remember the last time I've tasted a tater tot. My kids have only seen them when the cafeteria happened to serve them at their elementary school. I don't have anything against the tator tot per se, it's just that most companies that make them use saturated and trans fat to hold the tot together.

An alternative frozen food brand, Alexia, makes a 0 gram trans fat + 1 gram saturated fat tator tot look-a-like made with canola oil and/or sunflower oil or safflower oil. I found this brand at Whole Foods but it is also available at assorted stores across the country (Costco Wholesale, Sam's Club, Super Target, Target GM, Wal-Mart, Wild Oats, and more).

The bad news is these tots are still pretty high in fat (8 grams of fat per 3 ounce serving) but the good news is most of those 8 grams are from monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat.

A 3-ounce serving contains (if you bake them):

150 calories
8 grams fat
1 gram saturated fat
0 g trans fat
0 mg cholesterol
340 mg sodium
18 g carbohydrate
1 g fiber
2 g protein

How did it taste? Way better than I can ever remember tater tots tasting from my youth. They can definitely be part of a healthful meal when paired with lean meats or lower fat vegetarian entrees plus a nice serving of steamed vegetables (like a broccoli) and fresh fruit!

Related Topics:

• On the Lighter Side... Baked Potatoes
• WebMD Video: Keeping Kids From Becoming Couch Potatoes
• Healthy Cooking with Elaine Magee, RD
• Healthy Cooking Newsletter - recipes, kitchen and shopping advice in your inbox