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Healthifying Family Favorites

Do you have some very tasty but not so healthy traditional family favorites that you would like to healthify? I know some of you have already figured out how easy it is to healthify your favorite recipes and you are probably much better at it then I am. But for those of you who were wondering some of the basic "tricks of the trade" here is a list of some Simple, Healthy, Tasty substitutions that will at the very least take away the guilt in what you make and at the most make your meals much more nourishing! Now all I ask in return is that if you come up with a really good favorite recipe that you will be sure to share it with me!


Substitution List for Healthifying Family Favorites

Coconut Oil: I use this in place of Butter, Shortening, Margarine etc. It's even great on toast and things like that.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Use in place of Vegetable oils, Canola oil, etc. I do use other oils like grape seed, sesame, almond etc. I always make sure they are cold pressed but I mostly just use the olive oil just for simplicity we buy it in bulk.

Nutritional Yeast and Raw Cashews: I keep these on hand to make yummy cheezy type sauces, nutritional yeast has a nice cheesy flavor and helps you to not miss cheese so much.

Long or Short Grain Brown Rice: I use this in place of white rice.

Whole Wheat Flour: I always grind my own and I use it in place of white flour. When making breads, tortillas, and things like that I use the hard red and/or hard white wheat. When making cookies and cakes I use either hard or soft white wheat.

Kamut or Spelt: From what I understand these are the non-hybrid version of wheat and contain less gluten some people with gluten intolerance or Celiacs can tolerate these grains they can be ground to flour just like wheat.

Flax Seed: I use this in place of egg I grind the flax seed in my blender and then mix about 2 Tablespoons ground flax with 1/4 cup water let gel and then use in place of 1 egg. Note that this obviously won't work for things like Quiche ;) I also use a product called Energy Egg Replacer in place of eggs for certain things.

Sucanat, Pure Maple Syrup, Honey, Agave
: I use these in place of white granulated sugar, corn syrup, (agave seems to work really well for this) and other overly refined sweeteners. You can use Sucanat cup for cup in place of sugar I find it to be more rich and usually use less. Honey is quite a bit sweeter then sugar and obviously the texture is more liquid so you have to adjust accordingly. I also sometimes use organic sugar and raw sugar I personally do not think these are as healthy. Although I feel they are still better than white granulated sugar. I judge it by the color I always figure the darker the color the more vitamins and minerals are still in them. These sugars are much lighter. I also try to get the dark agave, and grade B or even C maple syrup I will settle for grade A but I prefer the other. Also note that brown sugar is not good. They have just taken refined white sugar and added some Molasses back to it.

Carob Powder: I use this in place of Coco powder

Carob Chips: I use these in place of Chocolate Chips

Nama Shoyu: I use these in place of Soy Sauce

Coconut Milk: The creamy stuff in a can I use it to make whipped creme or in place of cream in Alfredo type recipes and of course Ice cream!

Rice or Almond Milk: I use these in place of Cow's milk

Sorry I don't have any good meat substitutes. I have found most of the "fake meats" are so full of MSG, and other very unnatural ingredients you would probably be better off eating the meat. Personally I lost a taste for meat anyway so I don't really even care for the fake stuff. When I'm making a meal and I want to replace ground beef or something I usually just add more veggies. Mushroom especially Portobello work good, cauliflower is another favorite that I will use in place of ground beef and really brown rice works pretty good in some dishes too! And of course depending on the dish beans are GREAT!

Alright there's my list! If I think of anything else I will be sure to add it. If you know of some I forgot please remind me! If you have questions feel free to ask! Also if you have not already read this be sure to and this! They should help also! Have fun and Happy Healthifying!


7 comments:

Permission to Mother said...

Great Summary!

Emily said...

Nicely done...Sista!

Love you loads!

Anonymous said...

Off the topic of food, have you done any research on "healthifying" personal products like shampoo and bath soap? I am just starting my research on this and wondered if you had any advice.

Thanks.

Tammie said...

Anonymous: Great question! I certainly have! You didn't think I was just an ingredient freak with food did you. You absorb more quickly through your skin then through eating so it's very important to put only healthy things on your skin. I would love to say I make all my own soap, shampoos etc. but I have not done that yet but I hope to one day. But I do read ingredients on all my beauty products and I also try to keep it very SIMPLE too since I am easily overwhelmed! ;) It will make another great info post. I will try to post about it SOON!

In the meantime if you can find the book "Cancer Why We're Dying to Know the Truth" by Philip Day it a great read and he addresses the subject!

Paul, Annabell, and Kidlings said...

where do you buy your sucanat? Since you use a lot of it, I am interested in buying it in bulk.

Tammie said...

Paul, Annabel, and Kidlings: I buy my Sucanat in 50 pound bags from Azure Standard. It's a food co-op that delivers once a month to my area. You can see if they are in your area by going to www.azurestandard.com

Nicole said...

This is a wonderful list!
the only thing I would like to clairfy is that if a person is Celiacs they will not be able to tolerate any gluten, so kamut an spelt are def. out. If they are gluten intolerant, I suppose it would depend, but for those I have known (my daughter being one), no gluten is safe--low, ancient, whatnot...
However, in our pre gluten free days, kamut and spelt were our favorite flours!