Heart Healthy Idaho Potatoes (Twitter Chat Recap)
Last week I hosted a twitter chat with the Idaho Potato Commission all about heart health and potatoes! Even if you missed it, you can check out the chat on Twitter by looking up the chat hashtag: #HealthySpud.
February is Heart Health Month and I loved chatting with everyone about how potatoes are a great heart-healthy food!
Fun fact: Did you know that one potato has about as much potassium as two bananas? That fact surprised a lot of people, but it’s part of what makes potatoes so good for your heart. Potassium helps keep your muscles moving normally – and your heart is the strongest muscle in your body! Like plenty of the chat participants, I love eating potatoes, avocados, spinach, white beans, and bananas to get my daily potassium intake.
We also chatted about our favorite heart-healthy ways to eat potatoes. My friends over at Idaho Potatoes love them baked, mashed with garlic, and as baked fries (me, too!). Another favorite way I enjoy potatoes is in my Creamy Potato Corn Chowder, which uses a blended “corn cream” instead of heavy cream for richness and helps keep the dish a heart-healthy option.
Our participants had some great ideas, too – like rubbing whole potatoes with olive oil and a spice blend before baking for a super flavorful and crunchy skin. Topping baked potatoes with sliced avocado and making colorful smashed potatoes with purple potatoes are now on my list to try, too.
Thanks to the Idaho Potato Commission we were able to give away some awesome prizes during the Twitter chat. If you missed out on those I’d still love to hear your answers to our chat questions!
- How do you take care of your heart?
- What cooking tips and tricks do you use to make meals healthy?
- When I say Idaho Potato, what’s the first word that comes to mind?
- Which foods do you eat to get in your daily potassium?
- And my favorite – what’s your favorite way to eat Idaho Potatoes?
