10 Easy Substitutions

    Every little bit helps. You may be sick of hearing this phrase - it is a bit cliche. However, it's entirely true! It is unreasonable to expect people to overhaul their diets overnight - it requires time and commitment to a healthy lifestyle, not just cutting out fast food (among other things). Here are some simple ingredient swaps that will add nutritional content to your recipes without removing taste.  

Instead of…	Try…
vegetable or canola oil	unsweetened applesauce
cow’s milk	almond milk (only 40 calories per cup!)
white refined sugar	stevia*, honey, agave, truvia, sucanat, or evaporated cane juice
white all-purpose flour	half white/ half whole wheat flour**
salad dressing	plain balsamic vinegar
white bread	whole or sprouted grain bread
ground beef	lean ground turkey
regular pasta	whole grain or spelt pasta
lunchmeat	grilled chicken
ketchup	all-natural salsa

*stevia is 25-30 times sweeter than sugar so use caution when subbing!

**whole wheat flour is much more dense than white flour, so substituting wheat for all of the white flour is not going to turn out very well.  

You'll need to experiment when using substitutions in baking.  For example, I've never had trouble subbing applesauce for oil; on the other hand, desserts that need to "set" (i.e. pudding) can't be made with almond milk because they won't set.  Another interesting note about sugar in baking is that you can easily reduce the amount called for by half and still have a sweet taste; you may even be able to reduce it by more. 

While the texture of whole grain pasta may take some getting used to, it's a much healthier alternative.  You can also try using polenta in any dish that is served with sauce over top (spaghetti, lasagna, etc.) or shiritaki noodles in place of traditional pasta.

No matter how little the change you make today - every little bit helps!

Stay healthy!