Slow Baked Potatoes

I did something over the weekend that I shouldn't have. I weighed myself.

Yikes.

I've gained 20 pounds this past year. And I need to do something about that.

So, I've decided to do the South Beach Diet again...starting tomorrow. I did it a few years ago, after my dad was diagnosed with diabetes, more to get healthy than to lose weight.

I'll have to put some of my "plan to cook" recipes--like my search for the perfect macaroni & cheese--on hold while I make healthier dishes. But, that will be a new quest all its own.

As one last act of indulgence, after I ate leftover fettuccine alfredo, I slow baked some potatoes for lunch today. I've been reading about slow roasting vegetables, so I followed Alanna's recipe on A Veggie Venture, which says to roast the spuds at 350 for 3 hours.

The house smelled so good as the potatoes cooked, and I could hear them slightly sizzling & sputtering. I peeked into the oven a few times, and gently poked each potato. The skins were getting really crispy.

When I took the potatoes out of the oven after 3 hours, I was a little skeptical. They felt hard. I wondered if I'd read the recipe wrong and cooked them at too high a temperature. But, those potatoes were so soft and fluffy on the inside, so creamy. I didn't even put butter on them. Instead, I ate them--skins and all--with just a sprinkle of salt.

And now...no potatoes or other starches, no fruit, no sweets for two weeks.