Oven Baked Fries

I can’t think of a wrong way to bake a potato, but I can think of a *better* way: Baked fries. I brunched in the New Year with these oven-baked fries tossed with F. Oliver’s Tuscan Spice Blend and Heady Garlic extra virgin olive oil. I’m giving my spuds a makeover in 2017…no more boring tots for me.

First off, let’s dispell any myths that potatoes are horrible for diabetics. They aren’t. I probably eat a 5 pound bag of white potatoes every week and my A1C is in the non-diabetic range even after a year of serious spud-binging. As a matter of fact, it’s lower than it was a year ago (my A1C dropped from 6.2 to 5.6).  Who knew that baked fries could actually be good for you!

Now, what you put *on* that potato after it’s baked is a whole different story. Load up your baked potato with bacon bits, sour cream, cheddar cheese, and butter and you’re inviting a world of hurt to the diabetes department to be sure. And don’t think for minute that McDonald’s french fries are on the ‘safe’ list. They aren’t. McDonald’s french fries actually contain 19 ingredients, only 1 of which is actually “potato”. That’s not a typo. I said “19″ ingredients (including milk, wheat, and beef…I got this info directly from the McDonalds official website, so, sorry my Vegan friends.). Plus, they’re not baked, they’re fried…so that makes 20 reasons not to eat them.

When I was first diagnosed with Type II diabetes, I was told “no more starchy foods”. The problem is, people LOVE starchy foods, and potatoes are the KING of starchy comfort foods. I roller-coastered on-and-off of “diabetic-friendly” diets until I finally discovered that potatoes are actually our friends…very delicious and very healthy friends. And that’s the very reason my blood sugars went down eating a food that the so-called diabetic ‘experts’ told me would make it go up. Potatoes are satisfying. And filling. When I am satisfied and full, I stop eating and I’m not tempted to eat unhealthy junk later (or binge when I’m half-starved after 5 days into a low-carb diet.).

All this to say…it’s how you prepare them that makes all the difference. Just keep it simple and keep them as close to a ‘whole’ food as possible. I simply bake/broil mine with a minimal amount of oil, tossed in some herbs and spices. The result is that deliciousness you see in the picture above. Crispy salty goodness. That’s all you really need for the ultimate comfort food. Just don’t load them up with junk and your blood sugar will get along with baked fries just fine.

The point of this post was NOT provide a recipe for roasted potatoes…that’s easy enough:

How to make Oven Baked Fries:

Just pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees, toss some potatoes wedges, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and some herbs (rosemary is nice) in a ziplock bag and shake to coat, then spread on a cookie-sheet and bake for 40-50 minutes. If you’re so inclined, you can flip them half-way for double the crisp. Done!

FYI, F. Oliver’s Tuscan Spice Blend is hand mixed from garlic, salt, onion, black pepper, sugar, red bell pepper, rosemary and paprika. That’s what I used in the above recipe and you can purchase it on their website. It’s good. Really good.

No, the point of this post was to let you know that potatoes are not the enemy in the war on diabetes. Meat and dairy and all the other crap you put ON TOP of your potatoes are the enemy of diabetes. Keep it simple. Eat real, whole food.