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Just like Grandma’s, but better!

Discover simple and healthy recipe swaps to enjoy your favorite meals guilt-free. Learn easy tricks to add fiber, lean protein, and veggies to your classics!

Hands preparing healthy ingredients: various grains on spoons, red onion slices, and a cooking pot on a bright yellow background
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Sheri, RN

Head of Nursing Services

When you start a weight loss journey, or a health journey, one of the toughest parts, is knowing what you have to give up. What if you had a few tricks to make some of your favorite recipes!

A dash of this and a pinch of that!

I have so many recipes that bring me back to childhood. We all do. However, some of my favorites don’t exactly fit into the lifestyle I am trying to achieve. There are a few swap outs, that can make your old family favorites, your NEW family favorites!

The simplest change I make, is the protein. Swapping out the protein for a leaner option. My mom’s infamous meatball recipe…… taking out the ground pork and adding lean turkey. My father in law’s Frittata, taking out half the egg yolks, and just using the whites. And wherever possible, I switch sour cream for Greek yogurt! Adding a lean protein source, where one didn’t exist. Simple fix!

My children are great veggie eaters, and I like to think it was all the exposure to them when they were young, even if they had no clue! My biggest one was homemade Mac N Cheese. I would eliminate half the cheese and replace it with butternut squash! Mild, soft and loaded with fiber! Hamburgers, meatballs and meatloaf would be lean turkey, and a box of frozen spinach, or pureed carrots. Make half your mashed potatoes with mashed cauliflower. Adding a veggie is another quick swap, you just have to be inventive!

Bring on the fiber. My last tip is to add fiber whenever possible. Fiber has many benefits. Healthier gut, better insulin sensitivity, cleaner digestion, fuller for longer and lower blood sugars. Adding fiber to a recipe, is as simple as swapping a simple carb for whole grain carbs (like white pasta for whole grain pasta). But be cautious of whole grain imposters! Made with whole grains, and being whole grain are not the same. So read your labels and be a smart shopper!

There are many swap outs you can use to make your recipes healthier for you and your family. Some of mine, have become family favorites! And some of them are still a secret!!! Be inventive and share with me some of your tips and tricks for reinventing the wheel on dinner!

Be good to yourselves,

Warmly,

Sheri

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