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No-Potato Sheppard's Pie .. ideas?


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That's news to me. Everything I've read over the years ranked potatos even higher than white bread and even some kinds of sugar when it came to glycemic impact.

 

Skin's the best part anyway.

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Yah, potatoes are kind of notrious for spiking blood sugar levels, it was one of the things I had to give up on mostly...but still do indulge from time to time, as well as rice, and curtailing that was pretty hard. Hardest thing was actually giving up sugar in my coffee. In more daring days, I was up to 5 teaspons of sugar a cup, yeah... say that again lol... but now have gotten completely used to having no sugar at all in my coffee, and in fact the other day accidentally sipped someone els'es and pretty much bleched...tasted so weird :lol:

I posted this question on Facebook and one of my friends, Vivian, who is diabetic as well, had some suggestions, saying that sweet potatoe is a bit better on the glycemic index, and that she actually makes mashed now with...get this...

Mashed Cauliflower!!

Yes!

I'm thinking a few bacon bits and I could have the makings of a great photo for us?

 

Booyah

 

:dance:

gogo

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I had a ladyfriend once who made me a meal with mashed cauliflower in place of mashed taters, since I was strictly following a low glycemic diet at the time. It was a lovely thought but...it left something to be desired. Maybe bacon is what was missing lol.

 

Sweet potatoes are a good alternative too. I remember seeing a surge in sweet potato fries in restaurants at about the same time.

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Sweet potato mash is a great idea, or a type of squash/pumpkin mash/puree. I know butternut is medium-high depending on how it is prepared... But should taste great all the same.

Cut the unnecesary fat of the bacon though...

 

Delta!

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Diabetes and potato is still a lot in the discussion. There are high differences between european and american studies.

The main difference is that the american studies compared between all people and then just asked for potato consume, but not what else was eaten. So the fact that beef and pork is more at the potato eaters while fish more at rice eaters was ignored.

The european study compared areas with rutabega to areas with potato used for same nearly same recipes. The result was that it is more what is served to the potato than the potato itself. However there is still a small advantage for the rutabega.

 

What I would do:

Buying some Futterkartoffel (feeding potato used for animal feeding, high mineral, strong potato taste, less sweet) and Steckrüben (rutabega). I used the german words because I am not sure if the translation is really the same.

Rutabega are known to have very low taste on themself but to adapt to the taste what they are mixed with. The local Futterkartoffel is small in size because of a stony ground and has a strong potato taste which is too much normally for salade or serving boiled. Roasted they are real fine, mashed and mixed with rutabega they are nice too.

But I am in no way sure if it is allowed to sell potato used for animal feeding for human use in america. Also the Futterkartoffel in areas with good ground (former vulcanos just north of Frankfurt) are way bigger and nowhere comparable to ours.

The what could be used in your case: Try to mix normal potato and rutabega ?

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No Way!!! I honest-to-God was thinking about suggesting substituting potato with rutabaga, but I didn't , due to the fact that I have no clue how rutabaga cooks up. Things like cabbage, rutabaga, carrots, turnips,kohlrabi,..... I like raw. Potatoes are the only veggie I like cooked, and green beans are the only thing I like steamed. I think it's the crunch aspect. I don't like my veggies mushy/soggy. Veggies are the only thing I'm picky about. I have never had shepherd's pie, but I found all types of recipes using rutabaga instead of potatoes, all of them sound tasty.

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The winter 1917 was called rutabega winter in germany. Misharvest in potato, blockade of harbours cause of war, ... Hundreds of rutabega recipes have their origin in this winter: soup, pie, dusted and roasted like a schnitzel...

 

That was the time that rutabega were used to 'longer' other vegs: carrots mashed with rutabega, potato with rutabega,...

 

But you have to look: here the yellow flesh variant has nearly no own taste and is great to be eaten mixed with vegs you like the taste. The white flesh variant has a stronger taste and is the one for raw salades.

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My wife was advised by her dietician to reduce potato consumption and substitute something less starchy when she was diagnosed with diabetes. For example she stopped eating 'fries' and substituted rutabega 'fries' baked in the oven. Far tastier actually! Here we call the white fleshed varety Turnips and the orange fleshed variety Swedes. (Love Swedes, but hate trunips!)

Edited by podgie_bear
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If you have a garden you can reduce the amount of starch in potato a lot. Choosing the right sort, ground, amount of water... The colourful (pink, yellow or red flesh) ones often have less starch and stronger taste. Mixed with rutabega they are close to normal potato in taste by only a 10th in starch.

And there is a side effect, you burn calories at garden work ;)

 

From a medical journal of my wife I learned that making mashed potato yourself is less riscy than buying instant mashed potato as a powder. Even if the amount of starch is maybe same - the speed of the body to get it into the blood is slower when selfmade. So you avoid peak leavels of blood sugar more likely. Eating some meat and not vegs to the mashed potato slows even more. It is a very complex thing and highly depends on the individual.

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We soak our potatoes (other than the ones we bake) in cold water and Kosher salt for several hours to remove some of he starch in the potato. Learned that back when I was working in a restaurant.

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Ta Dah!

 

Raw carrots, mashed carrots, butter, sweet potatoes, and ground beef.

Wanted to try it with mash cauliflower, but pretty expensive this time of year

Leftovers here, lots, who want!

 

:)

 

gogo

2014-02-03 16.17.21.jpg

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Probably the closest to a sheppard#s pie we do:

 

Day -210: do seeds of ritabega in your garden

Day -30: cure ham with curing salt between layers of linnen in the windy fresh air place below the roof of the barn.

Day -1: water your clay pot

Day 0, morning: Mix of half potato and half yellow rutabega cut in discs, boil it till nearly soft.

Get your watered clay pot and do layers of the mix and slices of cured ham into it, cover with a bit bouillon.

Add spicy vegs as you like.

Into the oven

Day 0, noon: enjoy

Day 1, noon: warm up the rests enjoy.

 

Obviously we do it mainly saturdays and in winter to save time on a sunday which is full of sports for the kids.

 

There is no salt at the potato and the rutabega. The cured ham (mainly young boar in my case) has enough. By doing it in a watered clay pot the dangerous temperature for nitrit building is not reached. Theer are always water bubbles between the surface of the pot and the food.

Curing between linnen sucks up some of the salty liquid which would stick if curing and drying in the sun.

Slowing growing in garden without fertillizer reduces the amount of nitrat in the rutabegas. There were researches that fertilzed fast growing vegs had more nitrit than the cured pork :(

Our niece studied food medicine and she brought a probe to a lab at university 2 years back after we had a discussion if it would be healthy. The result was that the food was among the lowest tested, less than most vegs actually even it contained cured ham.

 

That proved my old theory that you can eat 'unhealthy' if you know how to prepare it. And careless eating is most dangerous, even if the raw vegs should be healthy but aren't because they are beyond your control.

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