Smashing good substitutes for Mashed Potatoes

Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite everyday comfort foods. Unfortunately, they are not a dieter's dream, especially with all the butter, milk and gravy that accompanies the innocent vegetable. Here are some lower fat and healthier alternatives to the traditional mashed potatoes with gravy.

Add other vegetables: Turnips, parsnips and cauliflower all make great mashed potato mix-ins. To add even more flavor, add some horseradish or garlic.

Skip the potatoes all together: I often make sweet potatoes or turnips instead of potatoes. Just the other day, quite by accident, we made a delicious vegetable soup by adding red peppers to the turnips we were boiling on the stove. You never know when you will come up with a yummy combo like that.

Use non-fat dairy: Substitute down the fat content of dairy products by using things such as non-fat half and half or skim milk and a buttery spread with no trans-fat such as Smart Balance. The same goes for baked potatoes, instead of loading them up with butter and sour cream add broccoli and spray with Parkay. You can also add fat free sour cream. The main thing is to get the fat out of your dairy products. It makes a big difference.

Here are a couple of recipe links to get you started:

Horseradish Smashers from The Healing Gourmet
and
Hungry Girl's Miracle Mashies a one-point garlic mashed potatoes with cauliflower recipe.

Yum!