As Orange As An Oompa Loompa

IF I turn as orange as an Oompa Loompa, blame it on sweet potatoes! It’s official, I’m in love with this vegetable.

Sweet potatoes are one of the most nutritious AND delicious vegetables. The high levels of Vitamin A and beta-carotene are great for your skin.  You can skip the super-expensive skin products at the pharmacy and stock up on cheap filling sweet potatoes instead.

I have a small sweet potatoes with my dinner almost every night. I eat a lot of frozen meals, but even the “gourmet” frozen meals from Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s don’t fill me up alone. The sweet potato makes my dinner complete.

Sweet Potatoes in New Zealand (Photo by: James Shook)

One of my favorite blogs, NarcoGirl’s Adventures of A Narcoleptic posted about her recent struggles with nighttime eating. NarcoGirl’s nurse recommended a good carbohydrate in the evening would help her blood sugar from dropping at night.

Reading this, I realized I’d had a similar experience and perhaps subconsciously, began eating sweet potatoes with dinner to ensure I wouldn’t be hungry later in the night (this is important because I’m not supposed to eat while on my nighttime medication).

If I still feel hungry less than two hours before bedtime, I allow myself a handful of dry cereal, graham crackers or pita chips.

I cook my sweet potato simply by poking fork holes in it, wrapping it loosely in paper towels and cooking on high in the microwave for 5 to 8 minutes (depending on size). I add a little Smart/Earth Balance (butter substitute) and enjoy!

I’m hoping my skin reaps the benefits too – just as long as I don’t turn as orange as an Oompa Loompa!

3 Comments

  1. NarcoGirl on March 1, 2012 at 2:53 pm

    Its just too cool to read a blog post about sweet potatos!!! You rock Julie!
    And thanks for the shout out too 🙂

  2. Gail on March 3, 2012 at 1:41 pm

    Great idea! I can't wait to be off my ideal protein diet to add back sweet potatoes into my diet. For some reason I always reserved them for thanksgiving.

  3. Melissa on March 6, 2012 at 2:26 pm

    Yummy! Do sweet potato fries count? 😉

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