Healthy Ingredient Substitutions

I really enjoy cooking.  If you enjoy it as much as I do you've probably at one point or another had to substitute an ingredient either because you were missing something or to make it healthier.  I found a few great lists of great healthy food substitutions and I'm going to share some great ones below.

• Bacon
• No nitrate bacon, turkey bacon, vegetarian bacon, Canadian-style bacon.
• Bread Crumbs
• Rolled oats
• Brown Sugar
• 1 cup organic brown sugar, coconut sugar, date sugar, or agave nectar
• Butter
• 1/2 the called for butter use unsweetened applesauce, baby food prunes, tofu, or pureed white beans. For 1/4 the called for butter use 1/4 the called for butter using flaxseed meal.
• Baking Powder
• Instead of 1tsp baking powder use 1/2 tsp cream of tartar and 1/4 tsp baking soda.
• Cheese
• Instead of 8oz mascarpone use 8oz cream cheese. For 8oz cream cheese use 8oz ricotta cheese or Neufchatel cheese.
• Chocolate
• Instead of 1oz semisweet chocolate use 3 tbsp. semisweet chocolate pieces or 1oz unsweetened chocolate and 1 tbsp. sugar.  Instead of 4oz sweet baking chocolate use 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1/3 cup sugar and 1 tbsp. cooking oil or melted shortening. Instead of 1oz unsweetened chocolate use 3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder plus 1 tbsp. cooking oil or melted shortening.
• Eggs
• Instead of 1 whole egg use 2 egg whites or 1/4 c egg substitute.  Instead of 1 egg use 1tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 tbsp. water.
• Flour Tortillas
• Corn tortillas
• Jam/Jelly
• Mashed fresh berries
• Oil based Marinades
• wine, balsamic vinegar, fruit juice, fat-free broth
• Mayo
• Hummus, pesto, mashed avocado, mustard (on sandwiches) Greek yogurt can be used in dressings and casseroles.
• Soy Sauce
• Sweet and Sour sauce, hot mustard sauce, Bragg's amino.
• Sour Cream
• Nonfat or Greek yogurt.
• Vegetable Oil
• Coconut oil 1:1.

I've personally used the bacon, baking soda, cheese, chocolate, flour tortillas, mayo, soy sauce, sour cream and vegetable oil substitutes.  I've had excellent success with all substitutions.  I actually really enjoy some of the substitutes better than the original ingredient.
I always substitute corn tortillas for flour ones. I love using hummus and avocados on my sandwiches.  I often make my own marinades and salad dressings.  I recently tried coconut oil and love it so far.

Sources

• http://www.pinterest.com/pin/216735800792533318/
• http://www.bhg.com/recipes/healthy/healthy-substitutions/?socsrc=bhgpin071114healthysubstitutions&crlt.pid=camp.zuWHn1yGUhxA
• http://www.pinterest.com/pin/329536897709144217/