Simple Substitutions

This process doesn't have to be an all or nothing. With a little effort you can actually find foods that can stand in for some of your favorites but save you some serious calories, fats, or carbs.

For instance, did you know that substituting ground turkey for ground beef can save you almost 40 calories a serving (and the turkey serving is one gram larger) and 4 grams of fat? Now, if you eat ground sirloin the difference is less significant, but no everyone grabs the ground sirloin.

Whole grain pasta instead of regular enriched pasta saves another 50 calories, 6 grams of carbohydrates, and adds 3 more grams of fiber. (Having the protein-enriched pasta doesn't really change things too much from the regular spaghetti but makes a good choice if you don't have a meat sauce.)

Now, I wouldn't share that if I didn't eat it. Although my family tree doesn't show it, there HAS to be some Italian in there somewhere! I love a good bowl of pasta (had one tonight as a matter of fact) and I wouldn't eat it with whole wheat pasta and turkey if it wasn't good.

And I almost didn't. The very first time I was served whole wheat pasta it was disgusting. It was cooked to absolute and complete mush! But it made an overall negative impression so it was a long time before I tried it again. Yes, it does taste a little different. But it isn't intolerable and with a really good sauce you don't even know the difference!

Now, Billy and I have not (knowingly) eaten red meat since the mid-90s. We gave it up for humanitarian reasons and didn't look back.

At all.

With ground turkey you may need to season it a little more during the browning process, but you're really adding another layer of flavor. And that is a very good thing.

If you're not into meat at all or want to cut down on it, there are veggie alternatives out there. Morningstar Farms makes meal started crumbles - regular and sausage style that stands in for ground beef or Italian sausage. Only 90 calories and 5 grams of carbohydrates, no fat and tons of protein! (I will say that we found them to be a little bit on the salty side so we had to make some adjustments when making tacos or chili or other dishes where we needed a seasoning packet of some sort.)

Like I said, I'm trying to toss out ideas that I've actually tried and like. I'd be more than happy to get your suggestions for simple substitutes that don't make us feel like we're giving anything up.

Getting, and staying, healthy doesn't have to be a chore or a pain or an unpleasant process. We've just to look around, do a little research, make some better choices.

And be willing to push our envelopes and get outside our comfort zones and try new things.

So, add your thoughts and help me branch out! I'm ready!