Less fat and fewer calories doesn’t have to mean less flavor and fewer reasons to enjoy any given food! Here are six simple swaps you can make to lighten your meals.
Delicious, but smart, too
Many indulgent foods have some less fattening alternatives. For instance, applesauce can replace butter or eggs in many baking recipes, and fat free sour cream or cream cheese is a healthier alternative to mayonnaise or butter.
Here are some more food swaps to consider:
Instead of having potato chips and dip, get baked tortilla or pita chips and salsa.
Each has less calories and fat than fatty fried chips — and salsa is not only fat-free, but the tomatoes, peppers and other veggies are great for you!
Instead of mashed potatoes with gravy, try mashed cauliflower instead. It’s easy to make — simply steam the cauliflower and pulverize it in the food processor with fat-free cream cheese or sour cream. It’s not fattening, and tastes delicious.
Instead of having a fattening frozen, creamy coffee drink, have an iced coffee with fat free half and half and splenda — or with a shot of sugar-free caramel, vanilla or hazelnut flavor. It’s still a cool and refreshingly great-tasting beverage. (Find out about the health benefits of coffee here.)
Instead of having an ice cream sundae, have some frozen yogurt with fat-free chocolate or fat-free caramel syrup. It’s still a wonderful, decadent treat — but you end up with a lot fewer calories to worry about!
Instead of making a meat-filled lasagna, make a vegetable version with spinach, zucchini, eggplant and/or mushrooms. A skim or part-skim mozzarella and ricotta will take out even more fat and calories. Get a great veggie lasagna recipe here!
Instead of using vegetable oil, butter or olive oil to cook your veggies, sautéing vegetables in an olive oil-flavored cooking spray. It doesn’t take away from the flavor, and offers a healthy alternative. (For another way to cook vegetables, check out how to make them on the grill!)
You’ll find that most people are pretty good sports when it comes to my finding healthier substitutes. For example, someone might not like egg substitutes for his omelets, but won’t mind the faux egg when used in cooking and baking.
Don’t be afraid to swap out fattening foods with healthier alternatives — so experiment a little!
Get more ideas for food swaps/food substitutions here!
- Healthy ingredient substitutions for family meals
- Simple swaps for healthier lunches
- How to make emergency food substitutions
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