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/

Smoothie Formula

Let's talk about smoothies!  I really love smoothies and I've actually used them to stay healthy.  In 2007 I was really sick.  There really wasn't much solid food I could eat, everything hurt to eat.  I had really bad panic attacks and stomach ulcers. 

Knowing that I wasn't getting enough solid food to sustain proper nutrition I turned to smoothies. In college I had studied 3 courses in Nutrition; General Nutrition, Diet Therapy, and Child and Adolescent Nutrition.  I knew what fruits and vegetables and combination of other foods to use in order to attempt to sustain my nutrition.

I was on Pinterest the other night and found this great chart for smoothies!  With this chart it is easy to make the perfect smoothie.  It is broken down into sections like: fruit/veggies, base, thickener, flavor, and power boost. The sections say how much to add and a basic reason why.

 

Some of these combinations I've never tried but look like they would be fantastic.  My standard shake was a combination of different fruits and vegetables.  I used whatever I had on hand, often bananas, strawberries, frozen pineapple and mango and veggies was usually carrots and spinach.  I used either chocolate or vanilla protein powder, yogurt, and soy milk.


Sources:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/390476230166868407/

Thrifty Healthy Frozen Meals

If you're like me you may not feel like cooking during the week.  I work until around 8pm and when I get home I just don't feel like cooking.  If I don't prepare ahead of time I could give into temptation and get something that is quick that will take more money out of my budget.  If I plan ahead I'm more likely to come home and just warm up something delicious and healthy that I've already made.

I'm off on the weekends so I like to cook on Sunday's.  I plan to make one or two dishes that I can easily pack for lunch and eat for dinner.  Any excess food that is left over will be frozen to be enjoyed at another time.

Some foods that work really well for this method are:

• Pastas
• Best with marinara or cream sauce.
• Works with meat and veggies.
• Soups
• Can freeze soup in gallon bags and lay flat in freezer.
• Stir-fry
• Works well with rice. May need extra liquid when reheating.
• Works with steamed veggies and meats.
• Casseroles
• Works on basically any casserole.
• Quiche
• Works on any type of quiche.
• Portioned servings of Meat
• You can portion out cooked meats to be reheated later.
• Pancakes and Waffles
• You can make these great breakfast foods ahead of time and freeze them and thaw and reheat them just like the store bought versions.
• Enchiladas, Burritos, Quesadillas, Taquitos
• You can make different versions of these and if wrapped properly freeze well.

These are just some of the things I've successfully frozen. There are literally a ton of recipes on the internet for frozen meals.  There is are even groups who make extra and exchange meals in a club.

I only make one or two meals a week or sometimes every 2 weeks.  I live alone so this only has to cover my lunches and dinners for that time period.  If there are more people in your household you may entertain the idea of clearing an entire day to cook so that you do not have to clean for the rest of the week.

Some of my favorite websites with the best recipes are:

• http://happymoneysaver.com/making-50-freezer-meals-in-one-day/
• http://thrivinghomeblog.com/healthy-recipes-index/healthy-freezer-meals-recipes/
• http://www.southernliving.com/food/whats-for-supper/freezer-friendly-recipes
• http://onceamonthmeals.com/menus/paleo/
• http://paleogrubs.com/freezer-meal-recipes