Unusual food combos that replace other things

Nothing new, but zoodles in place of spaghetti. They don't have the same consistency, but everything else about them makes them go fine with pasta sauce and Parmesan, at least for me. Sometimes I'll have that as a side, along with a smaller portion of pasta than I would normally have.

Lettuce instead of rice.
Well, I still have rice just less of a portion just lettuce. This makes me feel like I have a lot more rice then I really do. I do this with both fish and chicken, not steak.
This helped me with my biggest hurdle, how much rice I eat (700 Cals a day...)

I guess I’ve always eaten hummus and dips with veggies, so that one isn’t too odd to me. I add sautéed mushrooms and/or beets to Italian red meat sauces to bulk them up and sneak in some extra veggies. Shirataki noodles instead of ramen noodles in soup. Sour cream or Greek yogurt instead of mayo in chicken salad, artichoke dip, etc. Apple slices instead of crackers for cheese.

Great substitutes for traditional pasta include green lentil or black bean pastas. I use the brand name "Tolerant" and have found them excellent! Each one is organic and loaded with protein and fiber.

I add black beans to ground beef or white beans to chicken when I'm making tacos and enchiladas. Not necessarily because the calories are way less, but for more filling fiber.

Being gluten free, I have gotten pretty good at this. I think my most creative was using sliced polenta (aka mush) from a tube in place of bread for an egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. I have also made sandwiches using roasted sliced eggplant.

I am always looking for ways to cut calories but maintain flavor. With hummus, I dip raw sugar snap peas- very crunchy. Also, pb2 (a must) instead of real peanut butter. Bagel thins versus normal bagels save approx. 130 calories per bagel. For salad dressings I use just vinegar, no oil, which can add up in cals, and load up on spices/herbs for flavor. Agree with PP regarding cauli rice. It is a great substitute for normal rice.

fresh orange chunks in oatmeal instead of the milk and sugar. not a calorie-cutting thing when i came up with it, just a pregnancy workaround. nothing else except oatmeal killed my hungries, and i have never got along nicely with milk.

it's surprisingly good so long as you dont' have the oatmeal so hot that it actually cooks the oranges. because steamed or boiled orange is weird.

Quark or cottage cheese or even both mixed with tuna instead of mayo, I also mix quark or cottage cheese or both into my veggies with a little seasoning which make them super tasty in my opinion, not unusual to me but others I have told have said its weird lol trying to think of other things....

I do use the zoodles they're okay I would like to try spaghetti squash it looks and sounds really good. Cauliflower rice I'm surprised I didn't think it would be that good as a rice substitute but it is really like it better than using regular rice.

what I really like is to take raw sunflower and pumpkin seeds place them on a cookie sheet and slow roast them after coating them in a little sea salt and different seasonings that I like it varies according to what I feel like at the time. very the flavoring according to what I am feeling like at the time. The the only calories is in the sees themselves which can be a little high at times so I just have about a fourth of a cup As a treat and within my calorie limit for the day but all they taste so good when you do it yourself and I like that slow roasted taste. I even eat themsometimes when their still a little still warm They taste so good I'm not a huge snacker so I don't have too much of problem with overdoing treats.

I use frozen fruit (with juices after thawed), on my salad instead of dressing