Eating healthy is a never-ending responsibility. Avoiding certain foods is a good start, but it can be easier to avoid one or two ingredients in each meal, as opposed to a dish altogether. Why miss out completely on something you love when you can avoid just as much of the “bad” stuff by switching up a few small items throughout the day?
Here’s a list of some favorite recipe substitutions that you may find useful:
- When a recipe calls for wheat flour, try substituting with almond flour instead. Keep in mind that almond flower is heavier, so start by swapping out ¼ of the required wheat flour with almond flour to avoid weighing down your baked goods.
- Here’s an obvious one for you cereal eaters, skim milk. Switch up your whole milk for nonfat or even 1%.
- Generally speaking, ½ teaspoon of vanilla extract can be used instead of 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Mashed potatoes are delicious. Also delicious: mashed cauliflower. If you’re hesitant to try this, mix up your next batch of mashed goodness with ½ potatoes and ½ cauliflowers.
- Taco night? Ditch the flour tortillas and go for corn. You’ll cut out half of the calories and fat.
These are just a few of many, many ingredients substitutions you will discover on the internet from hundreds of websites, blogs, and cooking professionals. If you’d like to read more, check out AARP’s Simple Changes to Lose Weight. If you’re looking for help with particular ingredients, search the internet and find the substitution that will work for you. As always, please consult a physician before trying a new food to ensure you will have no allergic or other negative reaction.
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