Low Carb Mashed “Potatoes”

Fall is upon us. Yes, believe it or not, we do have fall in Florida.  I miss the change in foliage, the fall colors, but we do have a noticeable change in temperature. The weather is turning cooler, the air is crisp, and my mind immediately goes to comfort food.  Because, my mind immediately goes to food all the time.  Unfortunately, the comfort food I know and love is not very healthy or prep-friendly.  As my days are counting down and I am less than three weeks away from my second bikini competition, I need to get fancy with my low calorie options before I go crazy.  I am not–and will never be– the type of person that can just eat chicken and broccoli for every single meal of every day.  That will never happen.  Which is why I have been having such a great success with IIFYM, or If It Fits Your Macros style of dieting.  It is flexible dieting and I can eat what I what in moderation, as long as it fits into my macros (daily grams of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins–as well as calories)  For more information on IIFYM, you can visit my page here

Comfort food, to me, is meat and potatoes.  Hearty and full.  Gravy comes to mind–and now I’m drooling.  Anyway, before I force you to read a paragraph of me describing potatoes and gravy, I wanted to share with you my recipe for mashed cauliflower.

Yes, mashed CAULIFLOWER.  What? Cauliflower is certainly not potatoes– how could this even be a legitimate substitution, you may ask.  If you make it this way, you get a creamy, silky, mashed vegetable that is so close to mashed potatoes, you could fool your family if you wanted to.

Coming from my boyfriend, a man picky with his vegetables, he loves this recipe.  He admitted that he thought they were potatoes at first, just a little lighter of texture.  After eating, you do not have the heaviness or feeling of a lead brick in your belly!

Ingredients needed:

• 1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1/4 cup greek yogurt, nonfat, plain
• 1 oz. fat free cream cheese
• SEASONINGS: Per Preference!!  Suggestions:

— garlic powder, sea salt, and rosemary

— 1/2 packet of hidden valley ranch powder (personal FAVORITE)

— chives

Steam the cauliflower.  I use a vegetable steamer on the stovetop. Steam about ten minutes, or until cauliflower is tender.  Put cauliflower into food processor or blender.

If you are in search of a food processor, click here: Black & Decker 8-Cup Food ProcessorIt is the one I own, it wasn’t too expensive (LESS THAN 40 DOLLARS WHOOP WHOOP!) It is super simple to clean, AND I’ve had it for well over a year without any difficulties in functioning!  I love it!

May have to do small amounts at a time depending on your processor or blender.  I processed half, then added the remaining cauliflower, and a little bit of the water I used to steam, the remaining ingredients–including your spices/seasonings, and processed the rest.

  Once all the ingredients are nicely incorporated and the cauliflower is nice and smooth you are ready to meal prep, or eat!  It’s that simple!  The most tedious part is cutting up the cauliflower, and if you buy from the freezer selection and “Steam in Bag”  this recipe will be CAKE.   They also have pre-cut cauliflower florets in the produce section, but it is cheaper to buy by the head.

I am meal prepping for the week with my cauliflower mashed “potatoes”  I found a serving size to be 1/2cup, which is a good hefty portion.

Macros for 1/2cup portion

Calories: 56   fat: 0.4g  carbs: 9.9g   protein 4.6g

Let’s compare this to “Mashed Red Potatoes”

1/2 cup:    Calories: 124   fat: 4.7  carbs: 18.1g  protein: 2.3

So, essentially, you could have DOUBLE the amount of my mashed cauliflower, for a single serving of mashed potatoes.   I don’t know about you, but I like double food!  Best part is, 1/2cup fills me up, but it’s nice to know that if I want an extra serving, I can!

Meat and potatoes, like I said!  I prepped my meals with lean sirloin steak  (4 ounces) and 1 cup of green beans.  I marinated the sirloin overnight so it had juices I cooked it in on the stove– I used the remaining juice as a “Au jous” or “gravy” so to speak, for my mashed cauliflower. Not too shabby!
 I hope I have convinced some of you to utilize this, often feared and hated, vegetable for meals coming up.  I’m sure those skeptical will be pleasantly surprised!