More French than fries

Here at Sugar headquarters, we pride ourselves on shedding vices of the food persuasion. We've given up cheese for Lent and said buh-bye to forty pounds after baby time in late October. Sure, the photo from our high-school hotness-prime seems a bit out of place by the coffee maker. The formerly permissive kitchen is becoming a shrine to skinny.

Regardless of our fervent and rewarding fat-watch, we recognize that we share a freezer and a Kroger discount card with someone who eats a heartier diet than we do. We also happen to adore time spent enjoying meals with him. We'd like to share these meals beyond middle age. So we push the health. Champion alternatives to Cheetos (organic), bacon (turkey), and cooking with cream (fat free plain yogurt) are staples now.

Out of true and abiding love, we've long searched for a french fry substitute. Now, not even the most well-meaning meal assembler could locate low-fat french fries. But a starchy, crunchy side that could hang with ketchup had to be waiting somewhere out there.

Hallelujah, there it was in the freezer aisle, right beside its lardy nemesis:

Ore Ida's Country-Style Hash Browns

Qualifier number one: 70 calories per generous 1 1/4 cup serving.

And two: the old-school, home cookin' factor.

These shredded lovelies can go where fries can't (or shouldn't, anyway):

Breakfast

Casseroles

Nifty french pancakes

Patties!

Next on the Banish and Replace list: Powdered donuts. Leads welcome.