Hawaiian Sweet Potato Boats

Hawaiian Sweet Potato Boats

I have been experimenting with new ways to make delicious and inexpensive meals.  The other day I made potato boats stuffed with steak, peppers, onions and topped with shredded cheese. They were so good!  If you missed that recipe, here it is Potato Skin Boats.  I decided to try a new “boat” variety so I made Hawaiian sweet potato boats.   These are not only quick and easy, but they are fun to make plus healthy.  The only ingredients needed are sweet potatoes, ham, crushed pineapple and brown sugar.

For my Hawaiian sweet potato boats, I started by microwaving the sweet potato until the inside was soft. While the potato was cooking I pan fried a small ham steak and cut into pieces. You can also use left over ham or even sliced lunch meat. After removing the potato from the microwave, I cut it in half and scooped out the potato. I left a small amount in the skin and added some butter.  Next I layered the ham pieces in the boat and topped that with the pineapple and brown sugar.  I then put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.  The brown sugar and pineapple combination smelled so good while baking.

When the brown sugar had melted and browned slightly, the Hawaiian sweet potato boats were ready to come out of the oven and they looked so good!  I could have just had sweet potatoes with ham but this idea made the dinner different than the ordinary meat and potatoes dinner. I added corn on the cob to the dinner and the total cost was less than $4.00 for two meals.

Sweet potatoes  are high calorie starch foods however, they don’t contain saturated fats or cholesterol. It’s a rich source of dietary fiber, anti-oxidants, vitamins, and minerals than potatoes. The calorie content mainly comes from starch which is  a complex carbohydrate. Sweet potatoes are high in amylose, a carbohydrate other than glucose.  Amylose raises the blood sugar levels slower in comparison to fruit sugars such as fructose, glucose and it is recommended as a healthy food item even in diabetes.

I was very happy the way my Hawaiian sweet potato boats turned out and how delicious they were.