Sweet Potato Fries

There are certain foods that most folks eating a paleo diet indulge on – sweet potato fries being one of them. Having never eaten a sweet potato in my life, I didn’t understand how these could replace the craving for my standard, salty, starchy fries. There are a lot of foods I miss that I can find suitable replacements for, but most aren’t as good as whatever I’m trying to replicate. Do sweet potato fries taste just like regular fries? No, of course not. But they do taste super good and have nearly eliminated my desire for the fries I used to like so much.

Since discovering these tasty fries a few months ago I’ve been consuming them largely as an evening snack. However, I’ve also eaten them as a small lunch on weekend days when I’m not particularly hungry. While it’s not something I’m going to make a habit of, it’s a great way to get some extra vitamins. One sweet potato contains 13% of your daily potassium, 15% of your daily fiber, and a whopping 369% of your vitamin A. It’s also a good source of vitamin B6, manganese, copper and a few others.

The last thing to take note of is that there are two different kinds of sweet potatoes sold in your average grocery store. There is the orange-skinned variety, often called yams, or the pale-skinned variety. We prefer the pale-skinned.

Sweet Potato Fries

Source: Inspired by lots of blogs, perfected by us

Ingredients

One sweet potato

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Peel and cut sweet potato into strips. It’s quite dense, so make sure you have a good knife and possibly somebody strong. In a medium sized bowl, drizzle with olive oil and toss. Dash on some salt and pepper and toss again.

Place neatly onto a cookie sheet line with parchment paper. Bake for 18-22 minutes, turning halfway through. They’ll still be somewhat soft depending on how thick you cut your slices. They are still delicious though!

Almond Thins

One of the hardest parts of eating a low carb, paleo diet is the lack of convenience foods available. I’m often running behind in the morning so I need to be able to grab something for lunch quickly, and pre-packaged foods used to be a common solution. I could just grab a box of crackers or a bag of chips, throw some food in a zip lock and be on my way.

My new eating habits definitely require a bit more planning and preparation. I can still have my grab-and-go lunch foods, I just need to prepare them in advance. One of my favorite options are the Almond Thins from Linda’s Low Carb. They are very easy to make and are way more nutritious than the boxed versions from the store. I always make a double batch so there is plenty to go around for an evening snack with cheese or to throw into my lunch in a hurry.

A terrible picture, but an example of how thin your dough should be.

Almond Thins

From Linda’s Low Carb

3/4 cup almond flour
2 teaspoons granular Splenda (You can use liquid, but it doesn’t blend as well. I’ve found a few extra sweet crackers as a result)
1 egg white
3/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix everything together well in a small bowl

Rip out two sheets of parchment paper. Lay one piece down on the counter, and coat the second piece with oil. Almond flour dough is incredibly sticky, and without the oil you won’t be able to peel off the parchment paper without taking your crackers with it. Place the dough in the middle of the unoiled parchment paper and place the oiled piece on top. Using a rolling pin, spread and level out the dough to about 1/8” thickness. Remove the top piece of parchment paper and using a greased pizza cutter, cut squares into the dough.

Place the parchment and dough onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10-20 minutes until the crackers are golden brown. They all finish at different times, so you’ll want to keep a close eye on them after 10 minutes. I often have to take a few crackers off using a spatula and continue baking the rest several times throughout the process.  Break them apart on the score lines and let cool. They will keep for over a week in an airtight container.