I sort of got addicted to their delicious, filling nature, so I've kept 'em around, and I think I could eat them in some form at every meal, they are so tasty. I like them best roasted (just throw them in the oven at 400 F for 45 minutes or so, with the skins on) and then cooled (I actually like them the day after, the flavor and consistency is more pleasing to me this way and I always take off the skin). So I make a big batch and store them in the fridge so I always have them ready and available to eat. Roasted, as opposed to steaming, intensifies the flavor.
Here's what I ate this morning (most days I start my day with my shake, then I have what you might call, Breakfast: Part 2, usually midmorning). More impressive than the color of the food, is the nutritional info. Check out the nutrition info! Where's your protein? Hah! This little dish delivers 11% calories from protein (or 16 g for about 500 calories), definately delivering.
I calculated the nutritional info using the CRON-o-Meter, a free nutritional database, that I love. I like a lot of texture, flavor, and color in my food. I understand others do not (like my husband, J, who shirks from anything that has more than like, three ingredients). So if you're a "variety is my kinda thing" girl, I think you'll like this. Since you have a lot of sweetness coming from the sweet potatoes themselves (not to mention the blueberries and bananas), you don't really need any added sweetener. But if you're in the mood, add a bit of agave or maple syrup to make it extra sweet.
Ingredients:- 1 medium roasted sweet potato without the skin, slightly mashed
- 1/2 cup multi-grain oatmeal (I use a 6-grain cereal), dry
- 1/2 c. blueberries (I use frozen blueberries from Costco)
- 1 medium ripe banana, sliced
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1 c. nonfat soy milk
Simply layer ingredients in the order listed.
Nutritional Info:Percentages are based on the daily recommended values for a 2000 calorie diet.
85% calories from carbohydrate
11% from protein
4% from fat (if you want more fat, use regular vanilla soy milk, which will bump up the calories from fat to 9%)
508 calories
16 g protein
2.2 g fat (.159 g omega-3, .673 g omega-6, an excellent ratio of Omega 3's to 6's, no greater than 1:4 is recommended)
17 g fiber
42 g sugar
Vitamin A 704%
Folate 16%
B1 (Thiamine) 24%
B2 (Riboflavin) 45%
B3 (Niacin) 26%
B12 9%
Vitamin C 79%
Vitamin d 24%
Vitamin E 10%
Vitamin K 23%
Calcium 38%
Copper 29%
Iron 21%
Magnesium 38%
Manganese 130%
Phosphorus 48%
Potassium 49%
Selenium 27%
Sodium 8%
Zinc 15%
mmm
ReplyDeletesimple, healthy, yummy
just what i love!
i'll be layering this one together :)
This sounds delicious. I'm getting a bit bored with cereal and/or smoothies for breakfast, but never have time to make something more elaborate. As long as I roast the sweet potato the night before, this seems just as quick and easy (but much tastier) than a bowl of cereal. Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteCan you comment on your thoughts about the calories and sugar? 508 calories seems high for something that is a snack. It also seems to have a lot of sugar (42g I think). I was totally with you until I saw those 2 things. Granted I'm not a vegan, but I'm trying some of your ideas for weight loss/healthier living. I don't think a 500 calorie snack will help my weight loss :)
ReplyDeleteHi - it's Monday, I'm checking in for the contest. Things started out well and I had a good plan set up for the week, but the weekend was pretty awful. I think what I need to do it pick a few things to do at a time. This week is no caffiene and learning to cook without oil. I'm good with sauteing with water and that, but how do I roast? How do I subsitute in my recipes? My hummus was crumbly :(
ReplyDeleteThings are doing better today.
Tia:
ReplyDeleteI don't consider this a snack. I don't like the concept of snacking anyhow, I'd rather think of it as a mini-meal. This would definately be a meal for most people. If you wanted to cut back on the calories, use half a sweet potato or a small sweet potato (calories here are based on a medium sweet potato), half the banana, blueberries, and milk, and you've cut the calories in half. If you are an active person, say you went out and ran 8 miles, this would be a great post workout "snack" or mini-meal.
Most days, I have my morning shake (about 400 calories) around 6:30 in the morning, after teaching class. Then around 10ish, after I've taught another class, I'll eat something like this. I can do this, because my body needs to refuel due to my activity level. For someone who is sedentary or maybe not as active, I would definately cut the portion size if this were to be a mini-meal, but for breakfast, lunch or dinner, 500 calories is an appropriate amount for most people. If I eat something like this during the morning, I'll be satieted and full for several hours (like I was yesterday, until midafternoon, so I didn't eat again until like 3 in the afternoon). I'm totally not into counting calories, if you are eating high fiber, whole foods, it's really difficult to overconsume because the fiber will stop you from eating too much (I mean, just try and eat 3 sweet potatoes in one sitting!). Yes this is 500 calories, but it's going to fill you up and is a very nutrient dense, no empty calories. I was not hungry for about 5 hours after eating this, I think I said that already:). So, yes, higher in calories, but these are nutrient-dense calories.
In regards to the sugar, the sugar is coming from the food itself, not from isolated sugars like honey, cane sugar, ect. When sugar comes in the package nature intended (with fiber and all, 17 g of fiber in this, btw), I don't have a problem with it. I usually have 2-4 servings of fruit a day, so this would definately count towards those servings. 42 g of sugar is nothing compared to a 12 oz. can of pop (49 grams of sugar, no fiber) or 2 oz. candy bar (snickers has 29 grams of sugar).
I don't restrict calories, that said, I do use the CRON-o-Meter to measure nutrient intake, and it does tell me how many calories I consume a day. Not breastfeeding, I average about 2000-2400 a day (not intentional, this is just the range I tend to be in), but I'm a pretty active, taller (69.25 inches) person. Everyone's caloric intake and needs are going to be different, so going back to your original question about the high calories for this food, it might not be appropriate as a "snack" for one person but it may be for another based on gender, height, muscle mass, activity level, ect.
A good rule of thumb, rather than counting calories, or even portion sizes, eat whole, unprocessed foods until you are full. Don't eat again until you are hungry. It's really that simple. I try not to be too rigid about when I do or don't eat, rather, I try to listen to my body, and do more intutitive eating.
Hope this answers your questions!
Another thing along the calorie line, calorie needs vary greatly from one individual to the next. A 5'2" woman with a small frame, little/no activity may only require 1200 calories or less a day to maintain her weight. That same woman, if she ran 30 miles a week (so greatly upped her activity level) would now require significantly more calories to maintain her weight, somewhere between 1800-2000 calories a day.
ReplyDeleteOur calorie needs vary from day to day, depending on our activity levels. It's very difficult to accurately gauge how many calories our bodies really require, so counting calories ONLY is a very imprecise mechanism. Not only that, if you are getting calories from a food label, be aware that the FDA allows up to a 20% variance between calories listed and actual calories in the food. Meaning, you could be eating a Lean Cuisine dinner and calories listed per serving is 300, but it could actually be 15-20% more calories than that (or really more like 360 calories).
There are a lot more issues with calorie counting than I have time to discuss here, but I recommend reading Eat Right, Live Longer, by Dr. Neal Barnard (available at my Amazon store) as he discusses calorie counting in further detail.
Also, if you go to this link: http://drmcdougall.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=9962, scroll down and read registered dietician, JeffN's response, which I think may be helpful.
Thanks for your thoughtful response! I'm not as active now that I have a 50+ hour a week desk job and 2 hours a day commuting (ugh!), so it totally makes sense that it would be a fine breakfast for me, but not ok as a second breakfast (since I didn't exercise between those times).
ReplyDelete