Healthy Ingredient Substitutes
For my first Monday Recipe post, I am sharing healthy ingredient substitutes. If you follow this guide, you will make your tried and true recipes healthier. These are the substitutions I often use when following traditional recipes. Making these small changes in your cooking habits can significantly lower your cholesterol level and result in a more nutritious meal. You may find by using these substitutes, your meals taste even better!
- Sauté – Butter -> Healthy Oil
- My first choice substitute is Organic Extra Virgin Cold Press Olive Oil. Olive oil is very heart healthy and is high in Vitamin E, K, as well as a number of other nutrients. http://www.amazingoliveoil.com/nutrients-in-olive-oil.html http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fats-and-oils/509/2
- My second choice is Canola Oil. It’s not as healthy as Olive Oil, but it cooks much cooler, so I will usually use it when browning meat. http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/fats-and-oils/7577/2
- Baking – Vegetable Oil -> Applesauce
- I use this for baked goods when I can. For cakes I will usually only substitute half as pure applesauce can make them dry.
- Traditional Pastas -> Whole Wheat, or Vegetable Pastas
- Check if there are substitutes for the pastas you usually use. My favorite regular spaghetti substitute is Garofalo’s Organic Whole Wheat Spaghetti.
- White Flour -> Whole Wheat or Oat Flour
- These Flours make great substitutes for fried chicken or other non-baking uses
- Whole Wheat Flour is heavier than White Flour. If you would like fluffy muffins, substitute half for Whole Wheat. They’ll still be a little heavy, but healthier for you. http://www.ehow.com/how_2299938_substitute-wholewheat-flour-white.html
- Also when baking muffins or cookies, I will add other items such as Oat Bran, Ground Flaxseed or Whole Oats. If I am substituting 2 cups white flour, I will use a combination like – 1 cup Whole Wheat, ½ cup Whole Oats, ¼ cup ground flaxseed, and ¼ cup oat bran – for a super nutrient boost. Experiment with these ingredients to create the mix you like best.
- White Rice –> Brown or Wild Rice
- Canned Vegetables –> Fresh or Frozen
- Iceberg Lettuce –> Romaine lettuce and/or spinach
- White Sugar –> Organic Cane Sugar
- I NEVER use synthetic sweeteners. I think they are worse for you than the sugar itself. However, if you are diabetic, they are the best tasting alternative – unfortunately. In this case Sucralose is probably best. See here to read more about sugar. http://www.everydiet.org/1001/sugar-and-artificial-sugar-facts
See here for more substitution ideas:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/healthy-recipes/NU00585
My favorite Healthy Recipe site is http://www.eatingwell.com. They will make all of the substitutions for you!
Stay tuned for health boosting spices and herbs to add to all of your recipes.
Do you have a healthy ingredient substitute you would like to share?
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Naomi Davidson
My vegan friend often mentions using apple sauce. Sounds a little funky to me.
Did you see the video I posted on fructose? Marlon showed it to me! Yuck! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM
I use oil and vinegar as salad dressing, and dried fruit as “candy” for Roman. We substitue beans for meat (black bean burger) and panko instead of bread crumbs. We also do a lot of the things you mentioned above.
I had a bean Burger the other day… have to do more of that if I’m gonna continue to watch my girlish figure. As long as it ain’t tofu.
I think it would be pertinent to explain why iceberg lettuce is completely devoid of nutritional value and why romaine and spinach are far better choices for salad making, etc.
Besides that, this is great! I will keep reading, but I think recipe/ food related Monday updates is a great idea!
This is my favorite site for gathering nutrtional data: http://www.nutritiondata.com/
This site shows Iceberg lettuce has very low levels of Vitamins A and C, Calcium and Iron. Spinach is going to give you the most as far as nutrients go, but Romaine has a higher level of A and C than Iceberg.
Some people don’t like a straight Spinach salad, so Romaine is better than Iceberg to toss it with.
Be sure you are comparing the same serving sizes on this site! I was confused until I realized I was comparing 1 cup of Iceberg to one leaf of Romaine!