Changes to make a Recipe Healthy!

We know that every know and then we get a craving for something we used to eat as a kid (comfort food) —like mom’s macaroni and cheese, or lasagna, or really any fat- and calorie-laden comfort food dish that doesn't exactly fit the description of health food. What’s should you do? You don't want to deprive yourself, that is not the answer. So why not try the recipe with a lighter flair. There are a few simple tips that can make just about any recipe more figure-friendly. Just keep in mind that making a recipe healthy does change it a little. So sometimes you may need to experiment with a few different substitutions until you’re happy with the final product. Here are some things to remember: Choose lean cuts of meat and poultry instead of what the original recipe calls for. • You can replace ground beef with ground white meat turkey. • Roast or bake poultry with skin (to retain the flavor) but serve without to reduce calories and fat. • Make your own dressings with a vinegar base instead of buying dressing or serving with heavy cream based dressing. • Replace mayo with mustard when possible, and if not, replace with light mayo. • Reduce sugar in a recipe by ¼ cup increments each time you make the recipe until desired sweetness is reached. When the recipe calls for this replace with that: 1 whole egg (substitute) 2 egg whites or ¼ cup egg (substitute) 1 cup sugar (substitute) ½- ¾ cup sugar Butter/margarine (substitute) Smart Balance butter Sour cream (substitute) Nonfat sour cream Cream cheese (substitute) Light cream cheese Sauce with butter or drippings (substitute) Make sauce with wine, fat free broth, or fruit juice Vegetable oil for frying (substitute) Non stick vegetable spray 2/3 cup oil (substitute) Replace 1/3 with applesauce and use 1/3 fat Whole milk (substitute) Skim milk or buttermilk Ricotta cheese (substitute) Part skim or nonfat ricotta Cottage cheese (substitute) 1% or nonfat cottage cheese 2 pie crusts (substitute) 1 pie crust on the bottom Recipes are all about trial and error, most of the substitutes I have tried and they have all been really good!