Comfort Food Alternatives

Both Mexican and Italian foods are pretty easy to tweak to make healthy and lower calorie. For Italian pasta dishes, try substituting zoodles (zucchini noodles) or spaghetti squash for spaghetti, and eggplant or mushrooms instead of pasta in lasagna. Keep an eye on the cheese, which tends to be high calorie, and watch the oils you add. With Mexican food, more grilled stuff, less cheese and sauce, and modest portions of carbs.

Black bean, turkey, and pumpkin chili is a great comfort food! I also like mac and cheese with pumpkin subbed for part of the cheese, and about half veggies instead of noodles.

When I am thinking about some of my comfort foods, first I try to establish if I am actually hungry or thirsty. In winter I have a good cup of coffee first, in summer some iced tea and usually I don't feel "hungry" any longer, just because I was thirsty. Sometimes I include some comfort food in my daily meal plan - but my biggest problem is still portion control.

Slices of sweet potato roasted with a little spray of oil, topped with shredded chicken breast simmered in broth and lime juice and mexican seasonings ( remove from liquid before shredding). Diced tomatoes, spring onion , 1.5 oz avocado. Sprinkle of cheese and dollop of natural yogurt. Hits the spot for me when I'm craving comfort foods

Hi there, take a look into the Mediterranean Diet. Whilst is it not a diet it is more of a way of life. The foods are amazing and taste great! Check it out and give it a go. U should have no problems finding books on this topic.

Best of luck friend!!

Not Mexican, but delish. I make lazy man casserole. Fill a buttered (lightly) casserole dish with chopped cabbage. In a separate bowl mix extra lean ground beef(1-2 lbs depending on how many your serving) with salt, pepper, 3 tbs of rice (1/4 cup for 2 lbs of beef) and 1/2 finely chopped onion (or a few good shakes of dehydrated onion if you want to be quick). Mix together and lay the meat mixture on top. Pour 1 can of tomato soup on top then 1can of water. You can add a can of diced tomatoes too. Perhaps add some of your preferred spices here. Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about an hour. The cabbage should be sweet and the sauce is so yummy. You can’t screw it up because it’s all to your preference or needs. Just adjust. It’s nice on a cold day and filling. Great leftovers too!

Thank goodness for Pinterest! And it came out like the picture!! 😋

Nothing wrong with rice and beans.

Or carne guisada, that's simple to make and there's nothing actually 'bad' in it beyond a couple tablesppons of flour mixed into a giant pot. Ladle a scoop over rice and skip the tortilla.

I live in the south with some amazing Tex Mex! Sometimes I just want those gooey cheese enchiladas! If you eat beans, taco soup topped with a bit of shredded cheese can take care of that fix. Or make enchiladas using deli cut chicken slices as tortillas with cheese inside and the red enchilada sauce.

I made roasted cherry tomatoes the other night. Each bite was a delicious burst of the freshest tasting tomato sauce - I didn’t miss the pasta. (But I’m not a pasta person anyway).