Dishing about Simple Swaps for Healthy Recipes

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Eating healthy doesn’t mean that you have to cut out all the things you love or eat food with no taste. Or that you have to eat stuff that tastes like cardboard or has no taste at all!! However, it may require for you to make some changes. We went on the Dish and talked about some of these simple recipe swaps you can make to some favorite meals to save on calories, cholesterol and provide more nutrients to your body is some of your favorite dishes. Also, we have a few other baking suggestions for you to experiment with in your own kitchen! If you missed the segment, you can view it here...

Simple Swaps for Healthy Recipes





And then like always, here are the notes and recipes from the segment for you to view here also!!



1.       Sweet Potatoes instead of potatoes still give you some good carbs but pack some many more nutrients into the dish. Plus to make potatoes taste good you need to add a lot of butter, cream or whatever. Sweet potatoes naturally taste good and sweet so they just require a little to make them an incredible side dish.  See nutrient facts below.

1 C. Mashed Potatoes Potatoes Butter Sour Cream Milk Salt   Calories: 237 Fat: 8.9 g Cholesterol: 23.1 mg Sodium: 457 mg Carbs: 35.2 g

1 C. Mashed Sweet Potatoes Sweet Potatoes Cinnamon Applesauce or Orange Juice Dash of Salt   Calories: 1 Fat: 0 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Sodium: 72 mg Carbs: 20.5

 

For more good recipes with sweet potatoes and how to use them as a side dish, you can click here.

 

2.       Spaghetti is a great dish. It is quick and easy to make for a big family…however can be huge in the calories and fat you are consuming. We took a simple turkey/tomato sauce and combined them with noodles and then put them over spaghetti squash. Once again, serving the sauce over spaghetti squash instead of noodles will give many more nutrients plus cut down your calories by about 200 calories per serving. See the nutrition facts of just the noodles below.

 

1 c. Spaghetti Noodles Calories: 220 Fat: 1.5 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Carbs: 37 g

1 C. Spaghetti Squash Calories: 42 Fat: 0.4 g Cholesterol: 0 mg Carbs: 10 g

 

Simple Turkey Spaghetti Sauce

Extra Lean Ground Turkey

Red Peppers, chopped

Onion, chopped

Mushrooms

 Sauté all the ingredients together. You don't even need to add oil in your pan. If needed, spray your pan with a little Pam spray. Add a little garlic and salt and pepper. 

2 cans Fire Roasted Tomatoes

Tomato paste

Tomato Puree

Oregano, Basil or Italian Seasoning

Garlic Salt

 Add tomatoes and seasonings to taste. If you can, try to get all of your tomatoes that are pre-done low sodium, or use tomatoes you have canned yourself. Serve over spaghetti squash!!!

 

3.       Brownies are a favorite in our family. But we have found a way to make them a little healthier and they still taste great served with some vanilla frozen yogurt. The secret is Black Beans…Before we give you the recipe, here is the nutrition breakdown for each!

 

2x2 Brownie Bites   Calories: 160 Fat: 8.5 g Sodium: 80 mg Carbs: 23 g Sugars: 16 g Protein: 2 g

2x2 Black Bean Brownie Bites   Calories: 67 Fat: 1 g Sodium: 65 mg Carbs: 9.1 g Sugars: 2.1 g Protein: 3 g

 

Black Bean Brownies

1-15 oz. can drained, rinsed Black Beans

2 T Hershey’s Dark Cocoa Powder

½ c. Rolled Oats

1 T. ground Flax Seed

¼ t. salt

1/3 c. applesauce

3 packets stevia

1 t. chia seeds

3 Egg whites

1 T. Almond Milk

2 tsp. vanilla

½ t. Baking Powder

1 T Cacao Nibs or Dark Chocolate Chips or Bites

 Preheat Oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8x8 pan. Combine all the ingredients using a food processor or blender, except for the Cacao Nibs. Blend until smooth. Stir in the Cacao Nibs. Pour into pan. Bake for 15-20 mins. Let cool a few mins before you cut and serve!! Enjoy!!

 Baking can be the biggest hold up for eating healthy! Here is a chart for you to experiment with of some other healthier options for all your baking needs!!!

 

Traditional Ingredients 1 c. Flour   1 c. Rice Krispy’s   1 c. Sugar   1 c. Oil or Butter   1 C. Butter/Oil 1 C. Oil or Butter   1 Egg    1 C. Sour Cream

Healthy Substitute 1 c. Black Bean, pureed 1 c. Brown Rice Cereal + 2 T Flax   1 c. Applesauce   ¾ c. Applesauce + ¼ c. Fat   1 C. Avocado, pureed 1 C Mashed Banana 1 T Chia Seeds + 1 C Water (let sit for 15 mins) ¾ C. Greek Yogurt

Best Used…. Brownies Rice Krispy’s or Chicken coating Lots of stuff…especially cookies   Any sweet bread! Brownies, chocolate cookies. Brownies, cookies. Pretty much anything with baking.  Lots…try as toppings too!

 

Like we mentioned before…eating healthy doesn’t have to take the taste away. Learn how to swap things in recipes to cut down fat and increase nutrition for your benefit and those around you. If you have any specific nutrition questions, feel free to contact us!!

What is something you like to swap on recipes to make them more healthy??