Substitutions

mdrichardsons

What are some of you favorite substitutions or simple was of cutting out some calories? I always cook will almond milk instead of cows milk 90 cal skim milk vs 30 almond. I'm looking for more "tricks" like this. Thanks.

MinmoInk

Think about your favorite caloric dish, think about what you like about it. Subtract the things from it. For instance I'm a nacho fiend and I wanted to fit a large portion into my daily calorie budget so I took out the chips and the sour cream. Having a bowl of loaded refried beans was totally fine with me and helped me with that.

With pizza from outside I order mine without cheese and I add parm from the table and be mindful of how much I add.

Zoodles gets my pasta cravings in check if I'm wanting a big bowl.

I'm a volume eater from time to time so eating less of things doesn't always work in my favor.

Zella_11

mdrichardsons wrote: »

What are some of you favorite substitutions or simple was of cutting out some calories? I always cook will almond milk instead of cows milk 90 cal skim milk vs 30 almond. I'm looking for more "tricks" like this. Thanks.

Butter lettuce is one of my favorite foods (only 20 calories for an entire Fresh Express bag), but salad dressing was killing me on caloric intake. Started substituting red wine vinegar (2 calories per tbsp) for half of my dressing serving--mixing a yummy dressing with the red wine vinegar dressing-- delicious and tangy and much lower in calories.

I love the almond milk idea! Thanks!

dos775

Adding a little sea salt to Greek yogurt is a good substitute for sour cream

I also use it in salads...1/2 light/FF mayo 1/2 Greek yogurt mixture for tuna/egg/or chicken salad with salt/pepper/garlic powder/onion powder to taste

If you like spicy, you can substitute a little habanero salsa on top of fried sliced tomatoes for ketsup (love it on eggs with sautéed spinach) that is a an awesome five-minute one pan recipe two eggs, sliced tomato, handful of fresh spinach season with see salt and pepper to taste when it's done serve it with 100 cal sandwich thin or Sara Lee multigrain toast 45 cal a slice

sunnybeaches105

I focus my diet on lean meat and dairy, fish, fruit and vegetables and I don't eat much in the way of fried foods. That leaves me plenty of flexibility for foods I want without making many substitutions. My wife and I do eat homemade salad dressings but they're still mostly oil and vinegar based.

mdrichardsons

These are awesome ideas thanks! I knew there was something not quite right with the Greek yogurt for sour cream.. I'll try adding salt. Half vinegar... Genius! I never would have thought to put my own cheese on the pizza. Love it. Gotta look up zoodles.

EddieP50

Substitute sugar free pancake syrup in hot cereal such as oats instead of granulated sugar. For salad dressing I usually just get the low cal fat free versions of Ranch or Italian.

augustremulous

Making a dish into a soup. Basically taking whatever the dish is and making a big brothy version of it.

momof4girls48

Spaghetti squash to replace pasta or rice pasta for wheat pasta. brown rice in taco salad instead of taco chips.

gmallan

I'm not totally on board with the whole cauliflower rice/mash thing but have found that if I do half/half I can barely notice the difference. I sometime make mash with half potato half cauliflower or risotto with half rice half cauliflower rice. Saves a lot of cals but you still have the carby satisfaction

scrap

Sub Laughing cow light Swiss wedge for cheese. 35 calories of creamy goodness. Add to whole wheat noodles for faux Alfredo.

mjwarbeck

I try not to substitute....i will just have a lesser amount.

mdrichardsons

gmallan wrote: »

I'm not totally on board with the whole cauliflower rice/mash thing but have found that if I do half/half I can barely notice the difference. I sometime make mash with half potato half cauliflower or risotto with half rice half cauliflower rice. Saves a lot of cals but you still have the carby satisfaction

Yes heard of the cauliflower trade never tried it though that's good thinking mixing half and half.

scrap wrote: »

Sub Laughing cow light Swiss wedge for cheese. 35 calories of creamy goodness. Add to whole wheat noodles for faux Alfredo.

Good ideas. I haven't had much pasta lately because it's so many calories and I want like a whole heeping plate. I will have to try that for sure.

dklibert

I try to use low fat sour cream, 2% cheese, light mayo, half and half instead of cream. I agree greek yogurt is a good sub for sour cream in most cases. Fat free half and half works in soup if you add at the end and do not boil. I still use the good stuff too. It just depends on the dish.

I wanted to share this poem. I always laugh when people mention making substitutions because of it.

Substitutions (from a long ago forgotten local cookbook)

I didn't have potatoes, so I substituted rice.
I didn't have paprika, so I used another spice.
I didn't have tomato sauce, I used tomato paste.
A whole can, not a half a can--I do not like to waste.
A friend gave me the recipe, she said you couldn't beat it!
There must be something wrong with her--I couldn't even eat it.

krazgrl

My favorite is using spaghetti squash instead of pasta for a marina pasta. I sauté some onions, add some cooked ground chicken or diced up chicken/apple sausage, some other veggies and enjoy with some parm. I now prefer the spaghetti squash to pasta.

Keeping on the pasta trend: Cauliflower "alfredo" sauce - got the recipe off ohsheglows.com but I make it with cheese, butter, and milk since I'm not vegan.

I also love the zucchini brownies from chocolatecoveredkatie's site.

I tend to add quite a bit of spice to everything since it's good for weight loss to eat spicy foods. My newest must have for a dash of heat: shichichi togarashi.

moniyq1994

I recently acquired a bag of "Embrace Your Inner Bean" snacks (from Trader Joe's) from a friend and I've been using them as a healthier substitute for croutons on salad and also been using them as a substitute for bread crumbs. Today used them while making hamburger patties. Works amazingly well they have such a light flavor that they blend with most everything.

fenharels

I love using zoodles instead of real pasta.

• 100 g normal pasta > at least 131 calories
• 100 g zucchini > 17 calories

With a good sauce you barely taste the difference, and you can choose if you want the zoodles to be al dente or on the soft side.

angpowers

I didn't read everyone's responses, so sorry if this is a repeat ...

But I use water to cook with on some things ... almost like steaming it ... then when nearly finished, I use my favorite oil or butter because that makes it all sauteed and yummy with flavor but rrrreally cuts down from using 1-2T of oil to just a tsp (ie ~40cal vs 120-240cals)

I also use more spicy sauces rather than creamy bases. There are some really good ones out there and that also tends to cut the cals by 1/2 but you have to read labels because even some of those are loaded with sugar which no big deal, but I'm trying to cut back on that.

I eat a wedge of laughing cow (light has 35cals/wedge and regular is 70cals/wedge) with my apple or veggies rather than 1-2T of peanut butter (saves A LOT of cals & gives a different delish twist to my fruits/veggies)

I do find that sometimes you don't get more for you buck -- meaning, you aren't as satisfied -- sometimes when you eat lowfat cottage cheese vs 4%, or 35cal sliced bread vs a hearty slice etc. First time I used MFP (over 1000 days) -- I FINALLY discovered why some days I just wanted to eat everything -- usually it was when I was eating "light" or "fat-free" etc. I took 2 months off because I was getting bored with logging each and every day which has been nice. But sorry, I digress haha

jaybird1705

In baking I often substitute unsweetened applesauce for oil. I also sometimes cut back on sugar and add raw honey. Recently I have started substituting Blue Diamond Original Unsweetened Almond Milk for whole and/or 2% milk. Lots of the almond milks have a twang flavor, but the unsweetened original is the most neutral in my opinion. I now mix my Dymatize protein mix with almond milk since I discovered the original unsweetened does not have a weird flavor or aftertaste. Lastly, I use Bell Plantation PB2 as a substitute for peanut butter. It's expensive, but it is soooooo much healthier.

becca5446

Lately I have been using hummus as a spread in place of Miracle Whip or mayonnaise on my sandwiches so they aren't dry and I get the extra-filling protein and fiber in the hummus whereas mayonnaise has no protein or fiber. I also like the greek yogurt as sour cream.

smit7633

I like subbing half the ground beef in a recipe with lentils. For example when I make sloppy Joe I only use 8oz meat and 1 cup dried lentils ( then boiled). This gives me calorie space for the bun