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Sometimes we can become accustom to consistency and to what comforts us- especially in terms of food. I mean, what’s more satisfying and reliable than good ol’ comfort food? And while adults can recognize this and can take note of the fact that many of our favorite dishes aren’t necessarily the most nutritious, our children don’t always have the same thought process, and tend to think more in terms of flavor than nutrition.
To combat this issue, today we’re going to be taking you through a list of our favorite, healthy ingredient swaps. That way, we can still satisfy our cravings, but with a little less guilt.
1.Dates Balls for Cookies: One of the more difficult cravings to satisfy is our ever present sweet tooth. Added sugar is something that can quickly become addictive, and is definitely something you don’t want to feed into. Rather than relying on candy to satisfy your craving for something sweet, try whipping up a date based recipe. Filled with potassium copper, iron, manganese, magnesium and vitamin B6, we fully recommend trying out something like a Date Bliss Ball rather than a standard cookie- which lacks pretty much any nutritional value.
2. Spaghetti Squash for Pasta: Raise your hand if you love carbs! Of course you do- carbs are indeed essential to living a healthy lifestyle, but if you’re looking to lose weight or simply to gain nutrients that you don’t get from regular pasta, we love substituting our traditional noodles for Spaghetti Squash noodles. Not only is spaghetti squash filled with Vitamins C and A, Potassium, Calcium, a standard serving of this yummy goodness has about 9% of your DRV of fiber! And there’s so many different ways you can eat it. Here are a few of our favorites
3. Frozen Bananas for Ice Cream: One of the most popular food hacks the internet has seen lately, is swapping your standard bowl of sugary, dairy filled ice cream for a heaping bowl of Banana Nice Cream. Just pop some bananas in the freezer, blend them up, and you’ve got a dish of cold, refreshing, and delicious banana nice cream. This is an incredible swap for your standard ice cream cone considering simple frozen bananas aren’t polluted with the excess sugar, cream and sodium that is found in most ice creams on the market. And to top it off, there are SO many delicious recipes that you’ll never get sick of this deliciously healthy sweet treat.
4. Cacao Nibs for Chocolate: Chocolate can be a tricky one. In all seriousness, dark chocolate actually does have numerous health benefits that we cannot deny. That being said, it also has a high fat content that we aren’t totally on board with. So we recommend making the switch to cacao nibs. Cacao is essentially raw chocolate that is rich in antioxidants, and that help absorb free radicals that cause damage in the body. These nibs are also the highest plant based source of iron, and have more calcium than cow’s milk. And like it’s traditional chocolate counterpart, cacao nibs are known to be a natural mood booster. So in your next batch of pancakes or to top off your bowl of Banana Nice Cream, try giving these a whirl.
5. Homemade Potato Wedges for French Fries: I’ll be the first to admit that one of my guilty pleasures is the same of so many other people- French fries. There’s just something so intrinsically satisfying about a good batch of fries, that it makes it hard to turn them down. While I’m all for treating yourself on occasion, however, eating fries on the daily is not at all good for the gut, or for your health in general. So, rather than taking your kids out for some old fashioned fast food, try making your own oil-free potato wedges at home. While many people often associate potatoes with unhealthy lifestyles, you have to consider the context. For the most part, the potatoes that we think of are often covered in grease, cheese, sour cream and other foods that are bad for us, plain and simple. But when you take away the toppings and additions that we so often add to our spuds, potatoes have a slew of health benefits. With fiber, potassium, vitamin C and B6, did you know that potatoes actually support heart health? Not to mention that their significant amount of fiber aids in lowering cholesterol. So rather than spend your money on greasy fries, we recommend buying a couple potatoes, and (with no oil) sprinkling on some turmeric, chili powder, chicken seasoning, and maybe some garlic and onion powder. This will produce KFC worthy wedges without clogging your arteries with oil, or making you overload on sodium.
