I saw on serious eats they've done 'Starch Madness' for the past couple of years, coming up with a whole bracket system to vote on the top 64 of whatever category they did - pasta 2 years and potatoes last year. That got me to thinking that I could easily come up with 31 starches, 1 for every day of March, but I have no desire to make 64 and pit them against each other! I'm even questioning if I want to eat and post 31 different starches in a row - might be fun, might be fattening, might be boring... LOL.
I'll just do this Monday thru Friday, that's only 23 starchy things to come up with haha - let's see how far I get with 'starch madness'. To start off the month here's some info on starchy foods:
I combed a few websites for lists of starchy foods - I mean everyone probably knows what the basic starches are like potatoes, pasta, bread, canned beans - but what about ones you might not think of like tortillas, water chestnuts, quinoa? Popcorn? I guess popcorn might be obvious but I didn't think of it. Here's some info I found if you're curious for a list of starches, and remember - starchy foods do not mean 'bad' foods, complex carbohydrates are important for our body and health. I'm not a nutritionist obviously and if you're doing Atkins or another low-carb diet don't yell at me for sharing this info haha, I'm just passing on what others are sharing.
Starchy foods often need to be limited if you're following a low-carb diet. However, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends you fill one-fourth of your plate with these foods at each meal since they provide essential nutrients. Starchy foods, sometimes called complex carbohydrates, include grains, beans and legumes and starchy vegetables.
*BREAD AND GRAINS
Foods in this group include pasta, breads, popcorn, crackers, tortillas, cereals, rice, oatmeal, barley, wheat, millet and other grains like buckwheat, farro, and quinoa.
Breads and grains provide you with fiber, B vitamins, iron, selenium and magnesium, especially if you choose the healthier whole-grain versions of these foods, which may lower your risk for heart disease and constipation and help you manage your weight.
*STARCHY VEGETABLES
Starchy vegetables include peas, corn, cassava, taro, water chestnuts, plantains, green bananas, lima beans, butternut squash, acorn squash, pumpkin, potatoes and other root vegetables such as parsnips, turnips, beets
While they shouldn't be the only vegetables you eat, these vegetables can help you meet your recommended nutrient intake for a number of nutrients, including fiber, potassium and vitamins A and C, potentially lowering your risk for high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
*BEANS AND OTHER LEGUMES
Beans and other legumes have the distinction of counting as both starchy foods and protein foods. These include lentils, kidney beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas, black beans, white beans, pinto beans and any other types of dried beans.
Eating these foods will help you increase your protein, fiber, zinc, iron, potassium and folate intake.
*HOW MUCH STARCH SHOULD YOU EAT?
Your daily starch intake will likely come from a range of foods from different groups in the dietary guidelines. Adults need 5 to 8 ounces per day from the breads and grains group, depending on their age and activity level, at least half of which should come from whole grains.
A slice of bread, one-half cup of oatmeal or rice, a mini bagel, a cup of dry cereal and 3 cups of popcorn are all equivalent to 1 ounce. They should also consume 4 to 6 cups of starchy vegetables and 1 to 2 cups of beans each week as a part of their daily recommended intake of 2 to 3 cups of vegetables.
most of this info came from here, I added a couple examples to the lists.
3.1.22: TT microwave baked potatoes (here's a first starch madness recipe for you to try!)
