Healthier/Low-Cal Food Substitutions

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KevinWH87
KevinWH87 Posts: 74 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Here are some that I like to employ:

Greek yogurt in place of sour cream

Lentil/bean noodles in place of flour noodles

Mashed cauliflower + cottage cheese in place of mashed potatoes

Have you got any other good ones?

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  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
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    I actually do like zoodles in place of pasta. Not always, but if I need to save calories. Also, Trader Joe’s stir fried cauliflower rice—I mix it with white rice to reduce calories, and sometimes have it alone.

    I once made a chocolate mousse with silken tofu, similar to what Whole Foods sells on its salad bar. That was awesome!
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
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    Raw veggies with dip instead of chips. I use plain yogurt to replace mayo in dip recipes(basically just dry soup mixed in with yogurt). Mozzarella is usually less calories and fat than other cheeses. Homemade pico instead of salad dressing. Many times we just have a pile of veggies instead if any other sides at dinner, or a large salad.
  • hope25
    hope25 Posts: 188 Member
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    Basalmic vinager with herbs in place of dressings

    Pork skins or rice cakes instead of chips

    Chocolate humus with strawberries in place of dessert

  • bmeadows380
    bmeadows380 Posts: 2,981 Member
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    greek yogurt in place of some or all of the butter or margarine in baking cakes and brownies. Avocado works okay in brownies, but I find it makes them dry.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,637 Member
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    The pappadoms and asian prawn crackers sold for deep frying at home puff up to a crisp zapped in the microwave. About a minute for pappadoms and 30 seconds for prawn crackers.
  • chris89topher
    chris89topher Posts: 389 Member
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    Katmary71 wrote: »
    I like spaghetti squash more than noodles though I don't think they taste anything like pasta. Greek yogurt is so much better on potatoes than sour cream! Cassava is supposed to be a good potato replacement but it's higher calorie. Tastes pretty good though!

    I love spaghetti squash too! It actually fills me up too. I have to watch my portion because it'll make me feel OVER full pretty quick. Good stuff.
  • puffbrat
    puffbrat Posts: 2,806 Member
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    Not a substitution, but I fluff up a lot of recipes with zucchini. It adds little to no flavor to most recipes but does add low calorie volume. This allows me to have the same size serving of something for fewer calories, plus the recipe will make more servings of that size.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,637 Member
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    just_Tomek wrote: »
    acpgee wrote: »
    The pappadoms and asian prawn crackers sold for deep frying at home puff up to a crisp zapped in the microwave. About a minute for pappadoms and 30 seconds for prawn crackers.

    Pappadoms I love and use for a long long time now, also make them in the microwave (God knows how much radiation if coming off of me now).

    I am curious about the crackers.... what do you buy? What should I look for in my Asian shop?

    The prawn casava crackers typically served deep fried in asian restaurants as a starter. They don't work quite as well as the poppadoms because they are easy to burn before the entire surface is puffed up. If there are are hard edges after 30 seconds, remove the ones that are puffed and zap the stragglers at 10 second intervals.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,637 Member
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    This is what the uncooked prawn crackers look like.
    https://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/prawn-crackers-uncooked-14730-p.asp?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlO-MwMzs5wIVArTtCh0RlATlEAQYBSABEgLN9fD_BwE
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,637 Member
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    These are shelf stable. Just like poppadoms. Also the Vietnamese rice papers that you soak to make summer rolls crisp up in the microwave. They need to be brushed or dipped into a sauce because the rice papers are unsalted. But makes a nice treat if you just want something crunchy and brittle.
  • acpgee
    acpgee Posts: 7,637 Member
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    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g60NMsMQ7iI
  • angelexperiment
    angelexperiment Posts: 1,917 Member
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    @KevinWH87 how does the cauliflower cottage cheese thing taste?
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,592 Member
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    I completely forgot salsa on salad instead of dressing though Bolthouse dressings are pretty good and low calorie. I like regular salsa on salad but really like ones with fruit in it, like a pineapple or peach with habanero. It's especially good with black beans.
  • heidiwebs
    heidiwebs Posts: 82 Member
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    chris89topher wrote: »
    Katmary71 wrote: »
    I like spaghetti squash more than noodles though I don't think they taste anything like pasta. Greek yogurt is so much better on potatoes than sour cream! Cassava is supposed to be a good potato replacement but it's higher calorie. Tastes pretty good though!

    I love spaghetti squash too! It actually fills me up too. I have to watch my portion because it'll make me feel OVER full pretty quick. Good stuff.

    Yes, I LOVE spaghetti squash. I eat it several times a week. Toss in a little grilled chicken, some fresh red or yellow pepper strips and maybe a little goat cheese and I'm a happy girl!!
  • cheryldumais
    cheryldumais Posts: 1,907 Member
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    I use shredded cabbage in so many things these days. It is very filling and I like cabbage anyway. I add it to tacos instead of lettuce. I add it to stir fry. I've added it to pasta dishes to make them stretch. I buy the bagged stuff cause I'm lazy and use it almost daily. If I were a bit less lazy I'd buy the whole cabbage and slice it myself since it is so cheap.
  • Katmary71
    Katmary71 Posts: 6,592 Member
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    cheryldumais wrote: »
    I use shredded cabbage in so many things these days. It is very filling and I like cabbage anyway. I add it to tacos instead of lettuce. I add it to stir fry. I've added it to pasta dishes to make them stretch. I buy the bagged stuff cause I'm lazy and use it almost daily. If I were a bit less lazy I'd buy the whole cabbage and slice it myself since it is so cheap.

    I used to hate cabbage but would "suffer" through it in tacos. I recently had it in a sweet coleslaw dressing (don't like the regular one and hate raw celery so the seeds were gross) and eat it every day in my lunch salad now. I have to explore ways of cooking it.

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